The Lord Abel Sebolt looked over the gathering of servants around his empty table. “Is everyone here, then? Good, let’s begin.” He gestured with one hand, opening his palm, and suddenly the table was no longer empty. A metal rock stood upon it, and it took Hector a moment to realize that it must have been a miniature replica of Marshrock. Abel added a few ant-sized people next to it for scale.
Even as he continued listening to Abel speak, he had to admire the precision of the replica. It had tiny windows and balconies and even courtyards and motionless flags. He had no clue how accurate of a representation it actually was, but as a fellow materialization user, he was duly impressed.
“Given the circumstances that brought about this conflict, we must assume that the enemy is fully prepared to receive us,” said Lord Abel. “With our current strength considered, a direct assault on Marshrock has an unknowable outcome, but it would most likely result in the greatest number of casualties for both sides. Therefore, we will be taking a slower approach.
“Our first objective is to construct a soul net. We will organize into three teams headed by myself, Salvador, and Asad. Xuan will remain in a neutral position so that he may rush to the aid of any team that becomes targeted by Melchor. In the meantime, Dimas, I want you to harass the enemy aboveground in order to keep them occupied.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Do not commit to a prolonged attack or attempt to infiltrate the castle,” said Abel. “If you see an opening in their defenses, the opponent is most likely trying to lure you into a trap. Make that clear to anyone you choose to take with you.”
“Understood,” said Dimas.
“Radio coms will be distributed to everyone for observational support. You will also receive physical maps and itineraries in case the enemy employs signal jammers. As for the net, I expect we will be able to complete construction within two-to-three days. Afterwards, we will begin putting true pressure on the castle and seek to infiltrate. Questions?”
Qorvass spoke up. ‘Do you have a list of all known enemy combatants with their corresponding abilities and estimated threat level?’
“My wife will be handling that topic next,” said Abel. “Are there any questions concerning our immediate strategy?” He waited, but there were none. He took a step back from the table and motioned to Amaya.
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
Took me four days to catch up from the very beginning but I did it!
ReplyDeleteWelcome. <3
ReplyDeleteYeah, I only just finished reading everything about 4 pages ago. As much as I love getting the daily-ish updates since, it's almost painful compared to other stories that update a chapter at a time - it's enough to really get my attention and as soon as the story is making progress BAM! end of the page.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't mean I won't read every page as soon as it pops up in my RSS Feed Reader though!
As my first comment leaving an actual review: Pretty happy with the 'magic' system of the story. They different types are pretty cool, and we're continually seeing ways in which the users are wielding their abilities in somewhat trickier manners, using them in ways that aren't immediately apparent (which is something I really enjoyed in Worm which is what lead me here). I tend to read/watch more stories where the main character ends up fairly powerful, and I'm continuously expecting Garovel to have secret after secret and for Hector to just keep ramping up in power compared to 'typical' growth for a servant of his age, but this seems to be happening rather slowly. I'm really hoping Garovel used to be an emperor or something though, it's where I'm expecting the story to go.
I also quite enjoy the changes in perspective, getting to see other sides of the story. It's especially useful in explaining mechanics and the rest of the structure of the world (eg rainlords/sandlords etc) rather than relying on Garovel to have to explain most things, and it works really well IMO =]
Keep up the great work, I especially love how active you are compared to some other authors! Hoping to keep reading this daily for a few years to come yet!
"I take it back, oaf. It seems Axiolis didn't go to you even when he did need a big rock turned into small rocks."
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly possible, although pragmatism would contraindicate this. The reaper is unable to choose a new servant as long as the previous one is still alive, and if they change their mind they'll have to track down the servant to release them, which could take a LOT of time.
ReplyDeleteGiven that they share a telepathic link, finding a lost servant is pretty easy if they decide to be found. Splitting up would still be a massive disadvantage to both parties, though: the reaper can't take a servant they like, and the servant can't get combat boosts or use hyper states.
ReplyDeleteHi! I as well just caught up with the story, seeing it through an ad and immediately getting hooked on it. I've been reading it non-stop the past few days (I have to admit I'm a slow reader) and so glad to have finally made it up to this point. I've been subtlety suggesting it to my friend lately and he told me he just started on it. I don't have much of a way with words but all I can say is I'm going to be sticking around for this story for a looong time and I'm looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteI keep getting this one mental image of a servant who isn't quite a heroic comedic sociopath, but definitely loves a good fight for a good cause, and who is completely sure (despite what his reaper keeps telling him, that he actually went to heaven when he died.
ReplyDeleteA warm welcome to you, and I hope to be seeing you around for a while yet.
ReplyDeleteGood to have you. Along with Skin Deep, TZK is my most recommended web serial.
ReplyDeleteLovely to have you. And thank you for the recommendation. :)
ReplyDeleteAh, forgot to reply to this. Welcome, welcome. Always great to see a new reader leave a comment.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like the perspective changes. I tend to prefer ensemble casts more than just following one character the whole time. I like to understand more of what's going on and see the world in different ways. Seems like a good number of readers only want me to write about Hector, though, haha.
On the other hand, if he's ever destroyed anyone else's reaper, and they double-died, that would have disturbing implications. Namely, that if you lose a fight in heaven, you don't stay in heaven.
ReplyDeleteAre there any servants wandering around out there that have pissed off their reapers or vice versa enough to part ways with them but not so much that the reaper wants to release them?
ReplyDeleteI think he might assume that if he died he would either go somewhere else in heaven, or that it isn't everyone present's heaven, just his. For other servants, it might be earth, or they might be some sort of projection like enemies in a video game.
ReplyDeleteThe pictsies from Discworld believe they're in warrior heaven and think that death in their world is reincarnation in the real world. When they get sad at a death, it's not mourning, it's sympathy.
ReplyDelete