The Ninth Wonder

Born into an abusive, unstable family and crippled from a young age, Julius grew up with pain as his only constant. Happiness was something he learned about through books—fantasy novels, forgotten histories, and imagined worlds where suffering had meaning. Then he died, and death wasn't the end of his suffering. Reincarnated into a world where humanity survives through supernatural "Awakened" warriors battling creatures from beyond reality, Julius should have been given a second chance. Instead, he was discarded. Thrown out of the noble household he was born into, Julius—now named Harley— lived as a slave in the mines, a circus clown mocked for survival, and a boy the world repeatedly proved was unnecessary. So when fate finally offered him the chance to awaken—to gain power like the others—Julius broke once again. Because after surviving a horrific trial, the power he awakened—although powerful—had a fatal condition that he could never accept.