Earthen Contenders 5 books
A series by Jonathan Brooks
Published Novel
Series status: Ongoing
First published: February 25, 2024
Description: Something went wrong. Something went very wrong….Against his will, Thaden was transported elsewhere in a big flash of light along with millions of other Humans from Earth, to a place where they would train to become Contenders in a whole new world. Unfortunately for him, something occurred during his transference into the “Training” program, and he was ejected from the whole training process and sent into the open mouth of an active volcano for bodily disposal.Through a miraculous and horrifying series of events, Thaden managed to survive, only to find himself alone in the middle of a dungeon with no clothes, no weapons, and no way to defend himself. Worst of all, the strange new Assimilation System automatically assigned a Class to him without his knowledge, which ended up sticking him with a Support-based Class that has absolutely no offensive capabilities. As an Assistant Healer, none of his spells did any damage and he couldn’t even pick up a weapon to defend himself if he wanted to!But all hope isn’t lost, as Thaden quickly learns something unique about himself that might just allow him to survive long enough to escape the dungeon. Sure, all his new magical spells might be focused on healing and protection, but what does it mean when he seemingly won’t ever run out of Mana…?This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-combat Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements. Contains no sexual content or harems.
Published Novel
Series status: Ongoing
First published: May 28, 2024
Description: Exposed as the Contender at the top of the Rankings, Thaden has to make a run for it...
After the Assimilation System inadvertently outed Thaden as a Contender, as well as confirming that he was at the top of most of the Rankings, the Lifewarden has to leave the town of Ashcleft as soon as possible. Why? Because with his Level being over 21, he can now be attacked by other Contenders with a lower Level than him; they are eager to bring him down so that they’ll have a chance at the top spot, which will guarantee that their families back home on Earth will be safe. With the completely unfair Contender versus Contender system in place, he can’t defend himself even if he had that capability, as any damage he might inflict upon them is immediately negated.
Fortunately, Thaden escapes those who wish him harm, but as he travels further from Ashcleft, he realizes that he doesn’t exactly have a plan on how to proceed now that his status has been revealed. Venturing into the wider world of Tarth has its own problems, though the danger to him is largely in the form of other Contenders learning his identity, and not the monsters that roam across the landscape or the dungeons that might challenge him. Despite those dangers, the Lifewarden decides to begin accumulating more of the resources needed to Level-up; but when he unwittingly stumbles upon a challenge that the Assimilation System has designed, Thaden is completely unprepared for the consequences of his actions.
But in reality, it’s the world of Tarth that is completely unprepared for him...
This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-offense-based Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements. Contains no sexual content or harems.
After the Assimilation System inadvertently outed Thaden as a Contender, as well as confirming that he was at the top of most of the Rankings, the Lifewarden has to leave the town of Ashcleft as soon as possible. Why? Because with his Level being over 21, he can now be attacked by other Contenders with a lower Level than him; they are eager to bring him down so that they’ll have a chance at the top spot, which will guarantee that their families back home on Earth will be safe. With the completely unfair Contender versus Contender system in place, he can’t defend himself even if he had that capability, as any damage he might inflict upon them is immediately negated.
Fortunately, Thaden escapes those who wish him harm, but as he travels further from Ashcleft, he realizes that he doesn’t exactly have a plan on how to proceed now that his status has been revealed. Venturing into the wider world of Tarth has its own problems, though the danger to him is largely in the form of other Contenders learning his identity, and not the monsters that roam across the landscape or the dungeons that might challenge him. Despite those dangers, the Lifewarden decides to begin accumulating more of the resources needed to Level-up; but when he unwittingly stumbles upon a challenge that the Assimilation System has designed, Thaden is completely unprepared for the consequences of his actions.
But in reality, it’s the world of Tarth that is completely unprepared for him...
This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-offense-based Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements. Contains no sexual content or harems.
Published Novel
Series status: Ongoing
First published: August 23, 2024
Description: Forced to hide his identity up until now, Thaden soon learns that it may cause more trouble than it’s worth…
Even though he never intended it to happen, the events that occurred in the city of Forgestone have set Thaden on a course to fix the problems that he inadvertently caused. His inner sense of responsibility has now put him firmly on the path to eliminate or at least minimize the destruction and loss of life that could occur from the fallout of the SPECIAL Quests he’s been assigned, so he is putting all his focus on accomplishing this feat as soon as possible.Thankfully, his journey and interaction with other Contenders is helped by the changes the Assimilation System put into place a short time ago, reducing—but not eliminating—the likelihood that he will be attacked by those same Contenders. Of course, time will only tell if everyone will get the memo and leave him alone; if not, he still has ways to move about in disguise, which he is hoping will be enough to forgo any problems that may come up.But before he can throw himself into the search for the Anchor dungeons mentioned in the SPECIAL Quests he had been assigned, Thaden and his brand-new Class wants to find some stronger, more specialized gear with which to get himself better outfitted. To that end, his first stop is to visit a dungeon that purportedly has a higher likelihood of having Support-Class drops; however, The Devil’s Nail turns out to be nothing like what he had been expecting….
This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-offense-based Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements. Contains no sexual content or harems.
Even though he never intended it to happen, the events that occurred in the city of Forgestone have set Thaden on a course to fix the problems that he inadvertently caused. His inner sense of responsibility has now put him firmly on the path to eliminate or at least minimize the destruction and loss of life that could occur from the fallout of the SPECIAL Quests he’s been assigned, so he is putting all his focus on accomplishing this feat as soon as possible.Thankfully, his journey and interaction with other Contenders is helped by the changes the Assimilation System put into place a short time ago, reducing—but not eliminating—the likelihood that he will be attacked by those same Contenders. Of course, time will only tell if everyone will get the memo and leave him alone; if not, he still has ways to move about in disguise, which he is hoping will be enough to forgo any problems that may come up.But before he can throw himself into the search for the Anchor dungeons mentioned in the SPECIAL Quests he had been assigned, Thaden and his brand-new Class wants to find some stronger, more specialized gear with which to get himself better outfitted. To that end, his first stop is to visit a dungeon that purportedly has a higher likelihood of having Support-Class drops; however, The Devil’s Nail turns out to be nothing like what he had been expecting….
This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-offense-based Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements. Contains no sexual content or harems.
Published Novel
Series status: Ongoing
First published: November 27, 2024
Description: Thaden is built for running dungeons solo, but in order to progress past his current Level, he’s going to have to find some friends rather quickly…
After resolving all the pending SPECIAL Quests that had been plaguing him, Thaden is finally ready to evolve his Class, where he can then continue to Level-up past his current limit. Unfortunately, his current Evolution Assignment is proving to be a bit more difficult than his last one, as it requires him to complete one of the new Intermediate dungeons with a full Raid Party of at least 100 people without any casualties. Throwing money at the problem might’ve worked in the past, but now there’s a complication that makes such a prospect nearly impossible.The rise of the Contender Guilds.Thaden has had his run-ins with the Guilds in the past, of course, but while he had been away for a while, the Assimilation System has embraced these Guilds and incorporated them into its mechanics, legitimizing them past the relatively loose groups of Contenders they were before and making them official organizations – with specific Quests to go along with them. With Guild Quests including the completion of Intermediate dungeons and a Ranking system with ongoing awards, the competition is fierce – and no one is willing to risk their Ranking by taking someone not affiliated with their Guild along. With these obstacles in place, Thaden struggles to find a Guild willing to accept him as a member, even if only temporarily. This is proving harder than it should be, as while his Class is undoubtedly powerful, information about it and the detrimental drawbacks it enforces on any party he participates in is now widely known. Will he be able to find a Guild inclined to giving him a chance, or will this unaffiliated healer be stuck at his current Level, unable to progress any further?
After resolving all the pending SPECIAL Quests that had been plaguing him, Thaden is finally ready to evolve his Class, where he can then continue to Level-up past his current limit. Unfortunately, his current Evolution Assignment is proving to be a bit more difficult than his last one, as it requires him to complete one of the new Intermediate dungeons with a full Raid Party of at least 100 people without any casualties. Throwing money at the problem might’ve worked in the past, but now there’s a complication that makes such a prospect nearly impossible.The rise of the Contender Guilds.Thaden has had his run-ins with the Guilds in the past, of course, but while he had been away for a while, the Assimilation System has embraced these Guilds and incorporated them into its mechanics, legitimizing them past the relatively loose groups of Contenders they were before and making them official organizations – with specific Quests to go along with them. With Guild Quests including the completion of Intermediate dungeons and a Ranking system with ongoing awards, the competition is fierce – and no one is willing to risk their Ranking by taking someone not affiliated with their Guild along. With these obstacles in place, Thaden struggles to find a Guild willing to accept him as a member, even if only temporarily. This is proving harder than it should be, as while his Class is undoubtedly powerful, information about it and the detrimental drawbacks it enforces on any party he participates in is now widely known. Will he be able to find a Guild inclined to giving him a chance, or will this unaffiliated healer be stuck at his current Level, unable to progress any further?
Published Novel
Series status: Ongoing
First published: March 16, 2025
Description: The developmental world of Tarth is under attack by the Adversary…
After barely surviving an attack by an Adversarial entity, Thaden helps pick up the pieces of the Guild he’d previously joined. Unfortunately, the outlook for Guilded Glory is bleak, as many important Contenders were lost during the unexpected attack, leaving the future of the Guild uncertain at this point in time.Of course, helping to run a Guild was never Thaden’s responsibility, nor did he really want a leadership position when he joined in the first place. Even more, with his recent need to increase his Level, he’s no longer able to participate in Guild activities because he is entirely too powerful to join a Raid Party with his fellow Guild members. As a result, he finds himself largely on his own again, or at least with only his squirrel companion, Sadia, by his side; this result is perfectly fine with Thaden, though, because now he isn’t restrained by any responsibilities. In other words, he can finally use his newly evolved Class to investigate higher-difficulty Intermediate dungeons, challenging himself in ways he never thought possible – and all without worrying about accidentally killing his Raid Party in the process. But the Adversary isn’t quite done yet with Tarth. The entity that Thaden fought previously was just the beginning of a world-wide infiltration; the threat is serious enough that the System decides to fight back with some agents of its own. Unrestrained by the responsibilities of his Guild and with the freedom and power to basically do what he wants, will Thaden choose to face this growing threat? Or will he be pulled into the fight, regardless of his wishes?
After barely surviving an attack by an Adversarial entity, Thaden helps pick up the pieces of the Guild he’d previously joined. Unfortunately, the outlook for Guilded Glory is bleak, as many important Contenders were lost during the unexpected attack, leaving the future of the Guild uncertain at this point in time.Of course, helping to run a Guild was never Thaden’s responsibility, nor did he really want a leadership position when he joined in the first place. Even more, with his recent need to increase his Level, he’s no longer able to participate in Guild activities because he is entirely too powerful to join a Raid Party with his fellow Guild members. As a result, he finds himself largely on his own again, or at least with only his squirrel companion, Sadia, by his side; this result is perfectly fine with Thaden, though, because now he isn’t restrained by any responsibilities. In other words, he can finally use his newly evolved Class to investigate higher-difficulty Intermediate dungeons, challenging himself in ways he never thought possible – and all without worrying about accidentally killing his Raid Party in the process. But the Adversary isn’t quite done yet with Tarth. The entity that Thaden fought previously was just the beginning of a world-wide infiltration; the threat is serious enough that the System decides to fight back with some agents of its own. Unrestrained by the responsibilities of his Guild and with the freedom and power to basically do what he wants, will Thaden choose to face this growing threat? Or will he be pulled into the fight, regardless of his wishes?