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Runic Ocean plunges deeper into the mystical and treacherous world of Qi, Cultivation, and gods. Leon Jäger, still adjusting to life in this strange land, finds himself drawn toward new horizons—and new dangers—when the winds of fate guide him to the cliffside city of Wavecrest. But even a knight hardened by war and tempered by cultivation must tread carefully, for the cliffs of Wavecrest conceal more than just crashing waves.

Just as Leon starts to find his footing, someone close to him disappears, forcing him into a desperate search through a city rife with deceit and ambition. As he and his companions follow the trail, they uncover power struggles that threaten not just their mission, but their lives. To make matters worse, Leon's enemies are not only numerous but some are far beyond his current abilities, leaving him no choice but to outthink, outmaneuver and, potentially, endure brutal defeat.

Haunted by the toll of past battles and loss, Leon’s path as a Cultivator begins to falter under the effects of Qi Deviation—a dangerous imbalance that threatens to unravel both his cultivation and his sanity. With every misstep, the line between friend and foe blurs, and Leon must fight to hold on to who he is—or risk being consumed by the very power he seeks to master.

Runic Ocean continues the immersive blend of western fantasy, Chinese cultivation, and LitRPG adventure introduced in Steel Foundations. With enemies both known and unseen, battles fought with more than just weapons, and a relentless storm rising on every front, Leon must evolve—or be swept beneath the tides.

520 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2024

548 people are currently reading
53 people want to read

About the author

Jay Krauss

15 books52 followers
Jay is an animal lover, software developer, traditional blacksmith, modern woodworker, terrible mechanic, avid reader, and author.

A master of no trades, perhaps, but a consummate dabbler.

Writing in both Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres.

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5 stars
1,331 (66%)
4 stars
483 (24%)
3 stars
142 (7%)
2 stars
25 (1%)
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10 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
Profile Image for Michael Burnett.
1,265 reviews7 followers
November 3, 2024
Great book

Great book I can't wait to read the next book in the series I would recommend this author to anyone
Profile Image for Hannah.
64 reviews6 followers
December 2, 2024
Character and world building? Fun adventures? Badass characters? HELL YEAH
Profile Image for Brady McMahon.
32 reviews1 follower
February 1, 2025
I am kinda obsessed with the RPG fantasy type of book. I am whore for a book that forms a good crew with some banter. The only thing that frustrates me is they make it so easy for the main character. Like I get it.. you are good looking and once and lifetime warrior.
Profile Image for Mike Goodman.
1,596 reviews12 followers
February 19, 2025
Absolutely Fantastic

This story of an Earth Middle Ages man going to a cultivation system world where he becomes a gods champion was a great read.
1,361 reviews6 followers
November 1, 2024
Fanfreakingtastic!

What an amazing book! I absolutely loved this book and such wonderful characters! I can not wait for the next book to come out!
Profile Image for Andrew G.
148 reviews10 followers
October 8, 2025
This series isn’t top shelf progression, unfortunately, even if the rather sloppy first book seemed to have the foundations (no pun intended) of one, BUT it is FUN. Book 2 continues the sloppiness trend in new and unfortunate ways, but unlike other sloppy series that becoming frustrating, this one is sloppy fun. So I’m gonna keep reading and hope it develops with time, as many authors in this genre have done.

First, unlike some reviewers, I don’t mind the pace of progression being very fast in this series, however the magic system and world building the author has established wouldn’t work. At the end of the book, our MC’s master comes along to smite a foe too strong for the MC… and then allows the MC to take the dead sop’s Qi essence! If this was possible, ANYONE with means in this world could pay high realm cultivators (or have them in their clans or families) to power level. If the MC can progress through the stages and realms so quickly, two full realms in two months, then virtually anyone should be able to and not have to lift a finger to do it. That means this world he’s established doesn’t work, it doesn’t follow from the circumstances of the magic system he’s built.

That said, he does attempt to rectify this by having different areas of the world have different Qi concentrations. This means higher cultivators cannot cultivate in lower areas, which should limit the growth potential of people to the potential of their areas. But this also doesn’t make sense and isn’t used with logical consistency. It doesn’t make sense because how can people be born in these higher areas if the Qi is so concentrated and oppressive as described? It’s not logically consistent because the MCs master lived for a century in the red grass town, and the sprite dude lived for millennia in a slightly higher Qi area.

Next the characters. I really liked the 16th century knight aspect of the character in the first book along with his character traits, being a misanthropic, shy, traumatized but principled and virtuous man. The trauma part is a bit of a trope as we all know the character progression that leads to is overcoming those things, but that’s par for the course in these series. What sucks here is he already had that journey in Book 1! What’s left for him to overcome? I think there’s been a real missed opportunity to have a values clash and how that plays out with his character. I also think the author has basically moved on from the medieval knight aspect alright, which is a mistake in my opinion.

Another common reviewer point is that the MC is overpowered. I actually think this is a feature of this genre and I think contriving stakes by say limiting the MC through some plot contrivance are actually worse than having an OP MC. Where this goes wrong is when the MC never has to struggle to do anything, and that’s actually rare in most series. Sure, the MC is stronger than most at his stage and realm, able to fight up stages. But not realms, he gets his metal ass kicked by someone one realm higher. So I don’t think his power is a problem in this series.

In this book the MC kills a lot of people in a fit of rage, mostly minions of an unjust ruling family, then suddenly a new aspect of the magic system is revealed for the first time. Apparently violence from emotion can lead to “Qi deviation”, people are pushed off their path of I guess zen and into reactionary chaos, and eventually demonic something or other. This feels super contrived with how this revelation and MC’s affliction come from nowhere, and it’s fixed equally as fast. Barely an inconvenience.

The other characters of note are his now two female companions. The author fixed the harem-warning-signs of this in the first book by making the first companion queer. Doesn’t bother me a bit, but the second is basically drooling over the MC. And she’s not the only one. The Adventurer’s Guild Grandmaster from the Red Grass town also drooling over MC, and possibly will be looking to join a party soon as she’s likely to be fired and asks where MC is going next… Then there’s the sprite woman from the same guild who appeared to have been left behind for good. But this book we had an encounter with an ancient Sprite cultivator, dude I mentioned above, who seems to be setting up with a bonding of MC with a sprite in the future, likely Ellie, the sprite girl who’s also in love with the MC.

We have a harem brewing folks. Not my cup of tea, harem stories. It’s a subgenre for a reason and that’s because it’s juvenile fantasy at best. That’s putting it nicely. If this does go the harem route, I will never read another page, same thing I did with Wheel of Time. It makes the is genre, for me, go from harmless escapism to fetishized self-indulgence.

The other side character is the master who’s still mysterious, apparently very old and very powerful. I actually like this aspect. He’s the only ambiguous character. It follows that the MC would pledge to him based on his own experiences with this master so far and his rather naive chivalric worldview. But a world-wise person would be skeptical as to what this master needs MC for. MC doesn’t even think about it. That’s not a bad thing, it’s actually interesting if this plays out in a more sinister way, but I highly doubt that’s what’s going to happen. I think the superficial interpretation is probably right. But I’d love to be wrong.

Unlike some reviewers, I don’t have a problem with the way the story evolves in the first two books by the MC basically just going from one situation to the next. That’s organic to me, better than a predictable plot line. This lets us of lots of combat versus bad guys and the payoffs of those dubs. My issue with the story at large is that it still isn’t understood to the readers WHY it matters that the MC has to hide he’s from another world. It’s clear the gods of this world know about him, so what’s to hide from? It’s contradictory. The story also fails to explain why the MC is doing anything? What’s motivating him to become stronger? Even if it’s just self-interest, that’s okay, but it’s literally never made clear why he pursues power. He tells someone in this book he wants to protect his new family, but he barely knows them and he was pursuing power just a relentlessly before he met these people.

Last book, I listed some of the MANY context errors in the first book, mostly being anachronisms. In this book at least there are much fewer than before, mainly saying things like “cool” and “bro”.

There’s a big error with the rune crafting skill book the MC acquired. Again, I have no problem with the fortuitous way he acquired it. Frankly, that’s was a cool way to do it. My problem is the item doesn’t make sense. Supposedly it’s a tome on rune crafting from some famous ancient smith long dead who’s imbued part of his soul into the book. The item can be read, or it can be absorbed with anyone of a willpower over 50, and anyone with one over 100 may qualify for a legacy from the smith who wrote it. But if anyone absorbed it, it is destroyed in the process. So how has something so precious ended up with some smith in a relatively low Qi area? How is it that no one handling it before ever had the 50 willpower to absorb it? Anyone with a will over 50 would be high second realm of which there are many in the very city the tome was in. Anyone in the third realm or higher would have a high enough will for the inheritance. Just doesn’t make sense that it survived. This could have been easily fixed by simply setting the item’s properties differently.

But all that said, the pace is great, the book is fun with lots of payoffs. So this is shaping up to be a decent, if superficial and tropish series. But it is a step back from the first novel, and its logical inconsistencies and world building issues mean more to me than context errors, so I’m giving this three stars, average story.
Profile Image for Bradley.
50 reviews12 followers
March 20, 2025
A uninteresting follow up to an okay book. Any issues with the first were compounded here with the protagonist moving further away from the original concept and towards a generic isekai man with a supporting cast to regular remind us "wow, isn't he amazing and overpowered".

The plot has boiled down to walk here, talk to someone, kill something, get rewarded, repeat. Which made for an uninteresting read in large parts.
Despite the premise of a 16th century knight, the dialogue and actions of the protagonist have lost any semblance of this, becoming another generic American isekai protagonist with an ever growing harem and orbiting powerful people who shouldn't care about him normally.

The protagonist has also become a self righteous, vigilante. Which appears to move further away from the original character too. As in the first book he was considerate and empathetic toward guards and people working, now he kills them outright but maintains he keeping to his code.
72 reviews
December 23, 2024
Poorly written cultivation fantasy

This book like the first one has numerous issues with it. The characters and their interactions are weak and really don't make much sense. The main character's 'sister' is badly written and just doesn't make sense for the world she's in. Her way of speaking and acting destroys any chance at the cultivation fantasy being decent. The other thing that is sorely lacking from this book is details. The whole world is lacking details in every way and seems to have been done lazily so the author could let the mc succeed based purely on him being special in every circumstance.
135 reviews1 follower
January 3, 2025
arbitrary world system

The mc is broken overpowered in an unfamiliar world. He stands there and lets others attack. He doesn’t use equipment, skills, or common sense in battles and still dominates. He advances at the whim of the author with unprecedented speed. The whole system is arbitrary with no rules for looting, experience distribution, stat point allocation, and skill advancement. All while his master gives no guidance. These books are turning into the familiar god complex expressed through the mc.
91 reviews
January 4, 2025
It Was Almost Perfect

I really enjoyed book 2 of this series, well, until the end. I detest books with certain types of topics. I don't even want to write it out. If you're not into books dealing with mentions of devils, etc, just be aware it makes an appearance in ch 17. Lol, I skipped that chapter as soon as I saw where it was heading. Truth of the matter is, that topic came out of nowhere, and that part of the story would've flowed such as smooth without it. Anywho, disappointed and won't be moving fwd in this series.
367 reviews2 followers
June 7, 2025
There are really good concepts for characters here. That is what kept me reading into book 2. But the story is feeling a bit too contrived and laid out. As if any struggle or challenge displayed for the MC is superfluous and he will be handed over the top rewards for breezing through them. It felt to me like almost everyone he meets is a terrible rapist or will like him immediately. And the solid base for characters in the story feel skipped over in favor of more rapid introduction of the next step of power creep in this power fantasy. Some may like it. Not me.
Profile Image for Nathan.
1,085 reviews4 followers
September 1, 2025
courtly love

Good story, complex world with the occasional over the top anime style fight.

Once Leon can take a breath, maybe he can work on runecraft for his growing party (and Clan).

Does cultivation also lead to controlling your libido? Leon either is sublimating like crazy, completely oblivious to his preferred romantic companions, or his insanely high willpower leads to a subconscious leashing of his desire. Probably a good thing, considering a lot of Qi cultivators Leon comes up against seem to think consent is a suggestion.
11 reviews
February 10, 2025
Average at best

Basic plot, very predictable. Like a C grade action movie. Not much in the way of world building or explanation of cultivation mechanics. Getting a creepy harem vibe from it as well. The author is trying to make it sound mutual and respectful but it is patronisingly sexist. Author is living out his fantasies by writing a book. Found myself fluctuating between very mild entertainment and frustration while reading.
Profile Image for XR.
1,980 reviews107 followers
November 29, 2024
This was an enjoyable and entertaining read. I liked how the relationship between Lin Mah and Leon grew stronger in this. Much like his relationship with Hannah as adopted siblings grew in the first book. Leon's a good egg and I can't wait to read his story in the next book... whenever it comes out, that is.
Profile Image for Florin Petre.
8 reviews5 followers
December 4, 2024
And enjoyable sequel to a promising series

I really enjoyed the first book and this followup continues the fun. I was a fan of who the MC started out as and am enjoying the character development. The plot and events are interesting and exciting and action scenes are fun. Looking forward to read more from this series and this author.
698 reviews4 followers
January 24, 2025
Very Good

This story was pretty awesome until the End??
Yet overall lot's of action to keep you interested. The Knight is very good fighter and a Palestine or Holy Knight? Very I will protect All and luckily he can. Why the story thinks he should have a Harem of women to fight with is the author's choice???? Now onto the tournament.
455 reviews3 followers
March 19, 2025
Good read

I have enjoyed reading this book immensely. I like the characters and enjoy the story. The world is interesting, to say the least. At times I think I would like a little more drama but that thought passed rather quickly, the story is fine the way it is. On to the next one.
53 reviews1 follower
September 22, 2025
Look, is this the best book ever written, no. But it is very enjoyable and moves along nicely, tells a solid story and I like the RPG style of it. If you are looking for something that just kind of flows, has some hack and slash and childish rom-com elements. This is the book for you. Strong palate cleanser!
12 reviews
November 13, 2024
Book review

THE FUN CONTINUES!!!!! I HAD AS MUCH FUN WITH THIS BOOK 2 AS I HAD WITH BOOK 1! LEON AND GROUP ARE AS ENTERTAINING AS I HAVE FOIND SINCE I JOINED KINDLE! PLEASE WRITE MORE ADVENTURES FOR LEON AND CREW!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!
327 reviews5 followers
November 13, 2024
FANTASTIC SEQUEL

I can’t even begin to describe how much I enjoyed this book. Great highs and lows, battles and down time. Characters that you can’t wait to see what happens to. And a world that is more interesting every book you read.
Profile Image for Jim Phillips.
987 reviews4 followers
November 17, 2024
Fun

This was a blast. Really enjoyable characters and a good storyline. Epilogue was pretty good as well.

To the Author. I know the next installment is not yet written. Hurry up please
6 reviews
November 21, 2024
I love this book.

I have read the first and now the second book. I had Avery hard time putting these books down. Almost missing work even. I am very much hoping that there will be more to come soon.
81 reviews1 follower
December 22, 2024
Great Book 2

This one picked up right after the first book and got rolling with a new location and an interesting conflict. Leon grew along with the size of his party. I like where things are going and can’t wait for book 3!
83 reviews
December 28, 2024
The demon with in your enemies.

Our hero and newly adopted sister go on another adventure. Some past enemies kid nap a member of the team. And the the rest of the party goes on a rampage thru town searching for the other half.
Profile Image for Krisdach.
59 reviews3 followers
December 31, 2024
why…

Is the sidekick almost always the type of incredibly annoying person that no one with a lick of sense would spend a second more with them than they absolutely have to? Downgraded purely because Hannah is so unbelievably bad a character.
Profile Image for LaziMantis Vasquez.
533 reviews
March 8, 2025
Good book

This was an awesome book I like almost everything about it. All except comedy relief I hated in back in the when the last action hero movie was released and I hate it now fortunately not enough to make stop reading this series
3 reviews
May 28, 2025
A fun read

This felt like good progression in the main character's story and fleshing out his personality more. He is still a little OP, but did find something that gave him real challenge without spoiling what it is.
Profile Image for John #Audible.
369 reviews
June 4, 2025
kind of disappointing and everything after this is spoilers.

Profile Image for Devan.
624 reviews19 followers
July 12, 2025
use your skills?!?

Awesome book 2. The MC finally takes the gloves off and gets his hands dirty. Just wish he would use his skills and Ki. As amazing as the world building is the story and fights would be so much better if he actually used all his options and explored things.
Profile Image for SupDudeB-Cide.
16 reviews
November 22, 2024
Irritated. . .

Where is book three? Write faster. Seriously.

But really tho, it is a well written story and the third book better be out soon.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews

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