The Bastard Thief

Every thief knows the first rule: don't steal anything that talks back. He stole a ring.

The ring came with a tenant — ancient and blood-hungry: it eats the souls of the dead and pays out in power.

Souls in. Stat points out. He can't say no, but ask him anyway.

They call him the Bastard. No name, no family, no future — just a cell in the Killing Pit, a gladiator stable where the losers leave in buckets. He plans to climb out. Somewhere above sits the GodKing who murdered his mother, guarded by five immortals whose deaths are the only key.

Five locks. One door. And every soul he feeds the ring on the way up makes him strong enough to pick the next one.

There's always a plan. The plan never survives first blood.

Along for the climb: a goblin poisoner-chef with standards no dungeon can lower, and an elven huntress with a filthy mouth and a full quiver.

Don't get attached. I'm the love interest.

He's not the strongest man in the Pit. He's the one who pays attention.

That's usually enough.

It's really not. Come watch.

From a writer of Voltron: Legendary Defender (including the D&D episode), DOTA: Dragon's Blood, and the Death Dealer comics based on Frank Frazetta's art.