Winter Lord - The Duke's son is a player
The Kingdom of Veridia is a land decaying under the gilded lies of its puppet ruler, King Cedric, who is secretly controlled by his manipulative wife, the High Demoness Queen Valerica. Valerica schemes to gain godlike power and exact revenge upon the heavens, a plan set in motion by manipulating the very foundations of the realm.
The true instability lies in the land's mythic power source: the Thirteen Legendary Beasts, whose strength equals that of the gods, and whose cores are coveted by unseen, powerful forces.
The story begins with Cedric, a discarded prince secretly possessing the Player System, a flawed artifact of the forgotten Creation Goddess. After a desperate confrontation, Cedric consumes an Anomaly-tier core, triggering a system 'glitch' that grants him the rare Dual Class Status of Lord/Cryo-Mage. This cold, raw power transforms him from a political pawn into the Winter Lord, a calculating architect dedicated to survival.
Saga I quickly throws Cedric into direct conflict. He must secure his remote Northern Outpost against the Barbarian hordes, all while hiding his transformation from the Queen’s spies, like the sycophantic Lord Verian. His first strategic triumph involves securing the services of the isolationist Wandering Dwarves by offering them the impossible challenge of forging the nigh-indestructible hide of the slain Drake Mother.
The stakes immediately escalate when a rival Player Lord, the cunning Frost Elf Lord Kaelen, appears, seeking to claim the territory and enslave the local populace. Cedric uses his new abilities and strategic deception to crush Kaelen's initial strike, liberating over two hundred captives who instantly swear fealty, cementing his new title as the Winter Lord.