I'm looking for something dark but not edgy. I want the MC to suffer, yet be able to survive using brains whatever he could. I want no cheats, well maybe if it was just a little. I need something that makes me think, not kill my brain cells.
Read the Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence. You won't find anything that doesn't kill braincells on this site And if you want more, just search for grimdark novels. The darkest grimdark series is the broken empire books btw
Before I start talking, I have to 100% recommend you: Dungeon Defense The name is boring, but the content is SUPERB. As for the rest... I feel like it's just a matter of "searching first before asking".