1
The Circle
The world tears open as you find yourself summoned to a realm of ancient magic. With Merlin by your side, you must navigate a world where Arthurian legends collide with hard magic systems.
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Follow the epic journey of the Warden of Systems
2
The Horns
As Merlin's power fades and exhaustion sets in, the sound of horns echoes through the stone halls. Armored soldiers approach, and escape seems impossible as the line of shields closes in.
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3
Into the Dark
Fleeing the soldiers through a hidden tunnel, you discover they fear what lies ahead more than they fear you. As darkness swallows you both, something answers the horns with a roar.
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4
The Long Passage
Deep in the tunnel, Merlin's strength fails as exhaustion takes hold. Finding shelter in a collapsed hollow, you realize something is hunting in the darkness—and it's getting closer.
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5
The Hollow Maw
The hunter reveals itself—a massive creature with countless legs and a grinding maw that fills the tunnel. In a desperate chase through the underground passages, you find refuge in a cavern with a glimpse of daylight above.
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6
The Sky
Climbing through the crack to the surface, you emerge into an alien world where the sky swirls violet and green, the moon is cracked and glowing, and distant towers pierce the heavens. A new world awaits with new rules.
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7
The Stream
Descending into the alien valley, you find a glowing stream and encounter a friendly creature that plays with Merlin. For the first time since the summoning circle, you laugh and begin to believe you can survive in this strange world.
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8
Stillness
Following the stream through the valley, you discover a world of wonder—breathing flowers, crystal-winged birds, and creatures that glow like lanterns. For the first time since arriving, there is peace and beauty instead of fear.
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9
The Ambush
Morning peace shatters when bandits emerge from the treeline, arrows drawn and ropes ready. With Merlin drained and vulnerable, you face armed enemies who seem to recognize the danger he once posed. The world turns dangerous again.
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10
Rope and Steel
Attempting to protect Merlin, you try diplomacy and then fight back with raw strength and leverage. For a moment, you hold your own against the bandits—until the bowman's arrow forces surrender. Outnumbered and unarmed, you face whatever comes next.
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11
The Camp
Bound and helpless in the bandit camp, you meet Tov—a wiry thief with a gap-toothed grin who claims to be the best thief and worst cook. Despite his humor, his calculating eyes suggest he might be a potential ally in escaping this dangerous situation.
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12
Strange Company
Bound in the bandit camp, you observe the chaotic life around you while bandits examine your modern clothing with curiosity and mockery. Your jeans, boots, hoodie, and Stetson mark you as an outsider in this alien world, as strange to them as Merlin is.
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13
Quiet Before the Ledger
Reflecting on your journey and the reality of slavery, you're brought before the bandit leader for interrogation. When asked about your origins, you blurt out "Avalon"—a word that puzzles them. Through wit and negotiation, you convince them you're worth more alive than dead, buying time for escape.
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14
The Ledger of Hunger
Given limited freedom to move around the camp, you observe its systematic organization—loot catalogued, children fed in strict measures, everything marked and balanced. This isn't chaos but a business operation sustained by slavery. You realize you're just another line item in their ledger of hunger.
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15
Cracks
A morning argument reveals internal tensions in the camp—shortages, dues, and a mysterious "caller" who takes priority. Tov explains that when they can't pay their dues, "someone pays with flesh." You realize this organized operation has cracks that could be exploited.
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16
The Caller's Eye
A crimson-cloaked representative of the mysterious "caller" arrives to inspect the camp. Well-dressed and authoritative, he praises their efficiency and organization, calling them "providers" rather than bandits. When he notices you, he declares that "the caller will want to see him"—escalating your situation to a higher authority.
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17
To the Caller
Taken to the Caller's fortress carved into black stone, you meet the mysterious figure who has been orchestrating the bandit operations. When he attacks Merlin, something breaks inside you—and you discover your magical abilities. You can see the hidden threads of power binding the world and manipulate them to escape, collapsing the fortress behind you as you flee into the night.
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18
The Flight
Fleeing the fortress with Merlin across your shoulders, you race down treacherous mountain paths pursued by the Caller's forces. Despite the chase, you manage to escape into a hidden ravine where you find temporary refuge. As you rest, you realize the chilling truth: you escaped only because the Caller let you go, and this is far from over.
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19
Ashes of Breath
In the hidden ravine, you tend to Merlin's wounds and reflect on the reality of your situation. The magical abilities that saved you have vanished, leaving you powerless and uncertain. You realize this is no game—it's life and death. As you care for Merlin and prepare for rest, you understand that the Caller will come again, but for now, you are simply alive.
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20
Stones and Streams
Morning brings the reality of survival in the ravine. You attempt to regain your magical abilities by recreating the emotional state that triggered them, but fail completely. While exploring upstream, you discover three-toed claw marks in the mud—evidence that this ravine is not a refuge but a hunting ground. You realize you'll have to move soon, and the world will be waiting.
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21
Teeth in the Dark
The three-toed predator attacks at night. You fight it with a crude club you'd prepared, using old martial arts training to defeat the scaled creature. After the battle, you butcher the carcass and feed Merlin first, then yourself. For the first time in days, hunger is satisfied. You are bloodied, bruised, but victorious—and alive.
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22
Firelight
A mysterious woman appears in the ravine, humming a carefree tune. She offers food—roots and flatbread—with open palms and no tricks. While you remain cautious with your club, Merlin approaches her and shows trust, licking her palm and pressing against her leg. For the first time, you wonder if this world holds more than enemies.
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23
Bread and Names
Elira introduces herself as an herbalist and trader who wanders the valleys. She's impressed that you killed a "grask" with just a club, noting that most hunters avoid them. She shares bread and roots while Merlin continues to show trust, pressing against her side. You remain silent and cautious, but for the first time, it doesn't feel like you're alone.
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24
Fragments
You break your silence with a strategic lie—claiming amnesia to avoid revealing the truth about your summoning and magical abilities. Elira accepts this and provides crucial information about the world: the "eastern march," bandits controlled by someone higher, and the "caller" who rules from stone halls. She offers herbs for your pain and explains the dangers of the region, including the Hollow Maw in the tunnels.
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25
The Path Out
Elira explains that you can't stay in the ravine—more dangerous creatures will come. She reveals her motivation: keeping strangers alive tips the scales against the caller's growing power. She offers to guide you to a goat track leading to the high forest, which is safer than staying put. After weighing the options and seeing Merlin's trust in her, you decide to follow her out of the ravine.
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26
The Climb
The treacherous goat track leads up from the ravine—a narrow, crumbling path that tests your endurance. You carry Merlin when needed, your ribs screaming from the grask's wounds. Halfway up, you pause to rest and witness the alien world's breathtaking beauty: forests in green and gold, violet-crystal mountains, and spiral lightning storms. Despite the pain, you reach the top and collapse in the grass, alive and out of the hole.
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27
The High Forest
The high forest reveals its alien beauty: cathedral-tall trees with silver-shimmering leaves, glowing vines like lanterns, and color-shifting birds. Merlin delights in exploring, encountering a crystal-horned rabbit creature. You reflect on your extensive travels—seventy countries—but realize this world offers something entirely new. Despite pain and hunger, the old thrill of discovery stirs within you. For the first time in days, you laugh.
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28
The Temple in the Trees
Elira leads you to ancient temple ruins hidden in the forest. The temple's carvings show figures with outstretched hands and radiating lines, plus beasts like wolves and hawks. Elira explains these temples predate the Caller and the First Lords—some say the builders tried to "weave the world itself" and it broke them. The temples "still hum when the right blood walks their halls." You camp among the ruins, experiencing your first peaceful night without chase, chains, or the Caller.
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29
The Sword in Stone
Drawn by instinct, you descend to the temple's lower chamber and rearrange fallen stones like puzzle pieces. When the last stone locks, you discover Excalibur—a sword buried in the altar. You recognize the Arthurian parallel: Avalon Farm, a dog named Merlin, summoned to another world, and now the sword in stone. Despite calling it "cliché," you pull the sword free, briefly seeing the magical lattice again. Merlin and Elira react to the blade, and you realize you're not sure which frightens you more—the absurdity or the reality.
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30
Relic
You examine the sword by the fire, disappointed by its mundane appearance—mottled blade, nicked edge, rotted leather hilt. Testing it reveals nothing magical. Elira explains that relics are ancient artifacts made by "the old ones" that choose when to wake, not the hand that holds them. The Caller hoards relics but they never bow to him—that's why he fears them. She warns that the sword means you're "carrying trouble" and "maybe power, if you can keep it from breaking you." You realize the sword is yours now, and you hate how much that terrifies you.
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31
Rest Among Ruins
Despite instincts to flee, you decide to rest in the temple ruins. Merlin needs recovery, and Elira explains that exhaustion can be as deadly as the forest's dangers. She shares the history of the First Weavers—ancient beings who "saw the world's bones" and tried to hold power in their hands. Some say they succeeded, building relics and shaping rivers; others say it broke them. The Caller claims to be "the last Weaver" but Elira notes that "power like his doesn't come without roots." For the first time since the summoning, you find peace in the ruins.
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32
Ash on the Wind
The peaceful night is shattered when the smell of ash reaches the ruins—not woodsmoke, but the acrid resin burned by the Caller's scouts. Elira explains that the Caller's men burn resin in their fires to mark their presence and carry the smell far. They spot torches moving through the forest below, three or four scouts sweeping in a net pattern. Elira warns that they're hunting the protagonist specifically, not food. If they find the sword, "the joke would end bloody." The group must move at first light or be "ash by nightfall." The peace is broken—there's seldom safety in this world, and never for long.
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33
Flight
At dawn, you prepare to flee with the sword tied across your back like a burden. You try to convince Elira to go her own way, warning that being caught with you means "the pit. Or worse." She laughs, explaining that traders like her "walk with nets around our necks every day" and that the Caller's grip isn't new to her. What's new is "seeing someone slip it." She chooses to stay because "you tilt" the world, and she's "learned not to walk away when the world finally tilts a little." The scouts' torch-smoke rises in the valleys as the net closes. Elira leads east to high ground, sticking to silverleaf that "their torches can't burn clean." For the first time, you don't feel entirely alone.
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34
The Net Tightens
Five scouts emerge through the silverleaf trees, sweeping in a crescent formation. Elira warns they're "too many for silence" and will catch their trail no matter what. The scouts box them in, one grinning about "three strays" and the Caller's payment. Elira strikes first with shimmering dust that blinds one scout. Merlin attacks another with "teeth and fury," dragging him down. The protagonist fights a third scout with his club, cracking his jaw. But the last two scouts ambush him from behind, pinning him to the ground with rough hands and boots. Despite Elira and Merlin's continued efforts, the protagonist is trapped—"the net was closing."
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35
The Spark
Pinned to the ground with scouts' knees grinding into you and their laughter in your ear, you hear Merlin's yelp as he's kicked aside and Elira's voice breaking as she's struck. Something snaps inside you. Suddenly you see the world as lines and threads—balance like a map, every force with a counterpoint, every lock with a hinge. You pull, yanking the scouts' centers of weight out from under them. The threads flare brighter as you strike with the club, guided by invisible geometry. The scouts fall harder than your strength alone could achieve. When the sight blinks out, you realize: the balance you've felt all your life wasn't just instinct—it was the most basic breath of the power you'd dragged from the Caller's hall. And now they've seen it.
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36
The Line
As the surviving scouts attack, you protect Merlin from crossing "this line" by shoving him away despite his pleading eyes. You kill the remaining scouts with brutal efficiency—one with your club, another with the sword. The silence that follows is profound. You realize you've never killed before "properly"—not someone with "a name, a laugh, a stupid grin and a coin-bent tooth." Guilt is immediate, but so is cold clarity: survival required it. You vomit from the shock, then consider the consequences: scouts missing, stories told, the Caller informed. You drive the sword into the ground to anchor yourself, and Elira tends to practical matters. You've crossed a line for Merlin's sake and will carry that crossing with you. The path forward has "narrowed to the width of a blade."
Read ChapterAbout This Serial
Warden of Systems is an epic fantasy serial that combines Arthurian legends with hard magic systems. Follow the journey of a protagonist summoned to a magical realm, accompanied by Merlin—upgraded but still your loyal companion.
New chapters are released regularly, each building upon the last in this tale of magic, adventure, and the bonds of friendship.
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