The Price of Nine Steps

Anyone can become a mage. Most people cannot afford to.



At sixteen, everyone gains access to the Mowa their body has accumulated since childhood. Wealthy children begin with years of expensive food behind them—and enough money to buy the beast cores that will carry them higher.



Taren has his father’s hunting lessons, a bow, and no intention of living on his friends’ generosity.



When his father disappears during a noble expedition, the search for answers takes him beyond his village and into a world where a valuable core can matter more than the person who died obtaining it.



Beside him stand Iseya, whose memories of another life hold dangerous knowledge, and Beren, a noble’s son who believes he can turn ideas from Earth into the fortune his training requires.



A pure warrior. A mage. A magic warrior.



Together, they must hunt for their advancement, survive the border’s battles, and decide how much they are willing to risk for one another.



Taren intends to grow strong enough to find his father—and make the people who abandoned him answer.



I am the same author of The Price of Nine Steps on Royal Road!