Ironbound: (Ironbound, Book 1) Book by Andrew Givler

Ironbound follows Castor, a young man in the Roman-inspired Iron Empire who has spent his life training to join the elite Ironbound. During his final trial to "Ascend" and fuse with a Cor Heart—an otherworldly metal granting elemental powers—his town is devastated by a surprise attack. Castor's dreams of a chosen adventure are shattered when his home is ruined and his family is left in peril.