Mark of the Fool

Alex Roth is chosen by his city's ancient cycle as the Fool — the hero-party member with no combat blessing at all. So he does the sensible thing: flees to the world's greatest university of magic and studies his way around a divine mandate, exploiting the Mark's loopholes one experiment at a time.

Progression: academy-driven skill growth; the Fool's curse becomes a training multiplier for everything that isn't fighting.

Reader fit: you want clever workarounds over raw power, found family, and school arcs with actual schooling.

Texture: warm, steady, quietly funny.