TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-FOUR : Those Who Reach (completed)
Next Chapter: March 12 (approximate)
It's a long one! I do prefer it all together, so I'll be calling it one chapter after all.
******
a few years ago
******
Marleck tea stains ringed the glazed blue interior of the cup that Thenn-ar had been sipping from all day. Ro-den stood at a sterilizing basin in one of the low hazard research rooms of his facility on Thegund, looking into the cup and admiring those stains through the fog of post-coital mellowing.
Here in his hands was proof of his favorite lover’s existence and the hard work she’d devoted to his ideas and goals since they’d met. He had known her before this facility was built, but right now he felt he grasped the truth of her more clearly.
She was a few steps to his left, lying on the warm cushion of magic he’d made for them on the floor. The light from her tablet shone on her face. She was probably thinking about one or two of the experiments that were underway.
Those experiments were…there were some of them happening. There were always some happening. Ro didn’t actually care enough to bring the details to the surface of his mind when he was so relaxed. But it seemed particularly wonderful to him that Thenn was managing them here where he could watch her doing it.
She brought the tablet closer to her eyes. Perhaps she was chasing a brilliant idea of her own. He found himself eager to hear it.
“Have you caught a scent of genius, Thenn?”
She chortled. “Do I look like I have?”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m making tea for you.”
“I know, Ro. I’ll drink it.”
“I’ve decided to leave the stains in your cup. Because they are evidence of you.”
He intended to carry her deeper into understanding that revelation with his next words. But then the patch he’d adhered to his upper arm as soon as she’d suggested they take this sort of break together activated, injecting him with one of his own custom potion blends. It was a swifter, more aggressive reversal than the commonly available stuff, and sometimes it made him swing too far in the opposite direction and become irritable. He’d find time to tweak the blend again soon, but for now it was better than letting nature have its way.
He made Thenn’s tea without any further silly comments, and by the time he passed the cup to her and fell back onto the comfortable spell beside her, he was thinking like his usual self.
“You could have let yourself enjoy it,” said Thenn, frowning at her tea in lieu of him. “It’s only the two of us for a change, and I’m a considerate mate. I wouldn’t leave you to become easy prey for the beasts or bring someone who usually annoys you back to join us when you’re in that state.”
“I’d prefer to stay sharp enough to kill the beasts and the annoying people, if you don’t mind.”
She minded a little, he knew, but she wouldn’t press. This was a quarrel that never germinated.
He put his hands behind his head. The spell cradled him, but he’d mastered it too long ago to appreciate it anymore. Instead, he fixed one eye on a recording of a mishap in the main lab from a couple of days before and the other on her.
“The loss of version eighteen and the demonic sample from Gathos was a stupid mistake,” he said. “Veesa-get’s team spent a season preparing eighteen’s body for it, and I’m not sure how many times I had to talk to that dull wretch on Artona I who calls himself a scientist before I could drag that tiny sample out of his wrinkled hands. But I know I must have taken some kind of mental injury from the experience….then I pushed harder than I should have. Now we have to repair the vault again, and we hardly got any data from the Gathos piece.”
“All of that is true,” said Thenn.
“I believe my flaw may be that I always reach for more than I should. Faster than I should. The next thing and the next before the last is settled. Courage has its drawbacks.”
“Courage?” she asked.
“Of a type,” Ro answered. “My courage and confidence in my abilities gave us this lab. And they are also the roots of occasional…ambitious errors. This time they’ve ruined the vault and wasted everyone’s efforts. We race upwards only to fall half the way back down.”
Thenn set her tablet on the floor and looked at him as if she would say something, but the silence swelled around them instead.
“What will you do after we succeed with the artificial demon?” she finally asked.
“I was worried you were about to say something harsh! I’ll accept my Trimeritorious. No longer owe any of my credit to fools. Build a large addition or several to this facility. Move on to the next project.”
“What is the next project?”
“Something impressive and to the temporary betterment of lifeforms everywhere I’m sure.”
“Here on Thegund?”
“The lab is here. I haven’t had it for that long, and it’s a little difficult to move. Maybe I’ll let you decide what truths we should uncover next. We children of this neglected stonechild could pick away at her troubles for a long time, don’t you think?”
He let his old accent return for just a few words, hoping it would amuse her.
She leaned over and put her mouth close to the side of his neck. A hand rested against his cheek. He expected her lips to touch his throat, but instead her words cut his ears.
“If I were the Trimeritorious wizard Thenn-ar, my story would not end in this small place,” she said. “If my authority could carry me to wherever the broken heart of the universe lies, I would go there and study it until I understood how to fix it.”
Ro pulled back from her. “I know a wizard must bear the expectations of those who tie their lives to his, but I had been feeling like the others were applying unreasonable pressure lately…until now. I should apologize to them. They’re very reasonable after all.”
“You asked me to help you find talented people who were too ambitious to fit in on Thegund and too Thegundese to have left for a better place. Those who would believe in wizardry instead of wordchains, but not follow most wizards. Who could and would learn anything you taught, whether it is legal for you to teach it or not. Here we are. And you are our only wizard.” She rose to her feet and looked down at him. Her smile was soft, but her eyes were thoughtful. “You are a great wizard. In many ways. Almost enough.”
“Almost?”
“Worli Ro-den, you do shine. That such a bright star was born in this place and survived this place is a wonder and an excuse for pride. You have achieved much and will achieve more. You lead your people where others would never take us. We do not mind that you are sometimes reckless on the way there.”
“This has turned quite complimentary. Keep going.”
“You can be kind to those you care about,” said Thenn. “I will keep this lab running for as long as it’s yours, and I won’t regret following you wherever we go. But I don’t think you are ‘reaching for more’ in the way you imagine…and I’m afraid you can’t blame courage for anything. You have almost none of it.”
She dropped the empty cup. He might not have caught it if not for the help of one of his rings.
“I sometimes think I love you, Ro. Keep this and know that. Someone told me the tea stains are evidence of me.”
******
******
a very short while ago
******
******
Thenn-ar’s cup hadn’t broken when the box holding it flew across campus after the cart mishap. Ro had stored it well enough to protect it from anything short of another wizard’s deliberate attack. But it had been one of the last things he found that afternoon, hiding under a bush, and a few days later, as he sat in Hot Lab 7 drafting educationally scathing critiques for his students with one half of his thoughts, an eye stayed fixed on the spot where the cup now sat on his office shelf. He kept looking for damage that wasn’t there.
It was good that Jeneth-art’h’s son had skipped Ro’s classes so far this week. That flash of fear he’d felt when he’d finally found the box and looked within to check on the cup had bloomed into the kind of anger that couldn’t safely be directed at anyone. Even if he had dared to unleash it, a socially incompetent child who went around squeaking about duty, shame, and evil wouldn’t be much of an opponent. And being the son of a man who Ro-den felt a deep, old twinge of indebtedness toward made him an even more inappropriate target.
That man being the Primary would also complicate things.
Why couldn’t the little oddity have gone to DawnStep like every other knightling?
A flicker of red light from his monocle earned a fragment of his attention. It was his periodic reminder of another oddity. The flickers came precisely once every Earth hour, a sure sign that Alden Thorn had scheduled his calls through the Contract.
Ro had spent much too long considering every possible reason the human Ryeh-b’t might want to have a conversation with him and had concluded that there wasn’t a single one that should prompt him to respond.
He should have called a hundred times the first day. As if he were in a panic. The curiosity would have forced me to answer if nothing else. Scheduling them indicates he has a certain lingering feeling of entitlement to my time even after what I said to him. I won’t encourage it.
But he allowed the notification to continue flashing when he was awake. If Ro-den had endured long years of guilty twinges about the young knight who’d now become the Primary, then he might as well feel a few for the Avowed he’d taken advantage of.
They were nothing compared to his regret about everything else anyway.
I reached for too much.
Another call came. It was from the very student he couldn’t squash. Ro tried to take pleasure in ignoring Stu-art’h, but it really wasn’t enough.
The boy called again, almost immediately after the first was rejected, and both of Ro’s eyes drifted to the cup.
Ro set his monocle to show no evidence at all of Stu-art’h’s existence for the rest of the night.
There’s a certain similarity to my two pesterers, as ridiculous as that is. One was an art’h, the beloved son of one of the Triplanets’ most powerful weapons. The other was an orphaned human. But they both had an egregious ignorance about how life worked. Alden’s must be somewhat willful. I suspect Stu-art’h’s is more than a little genetic—
The next call that came was thankfully from a drone waiting with a delivery outside. Ro let it in and left his chair to collect it.
“A formal envelope? From…” He stared at it. And then at the small black hover drone, as if the thing might have an explanation.
“I only just rejected his last call. He didn’t have time to send a letter.”
But somehow, he had. Ro remembered those unwavering eyes. And that peculiar declaration that his evil would be fixed.
He opened the envelope. “It’s calligraphed by hand.”
Master Worli Ro-den,
I invite you to a place of warmth and provender, where you may exchange truths with me under the shade of my protection.
“Ha! He’s serious.” Ro had to set aside his amusement to read down the next line.
Outside Vethedya there is a House of Healing that has brought succor to me. The greeting house for travelers to that place is where many, including myself, have chosen to speak honesties and cleanse themselves before walking the road of healing. You have permission and privacy to speak there.
I would like to hear your words. And I will make a request of you. It is my belief that agreeing to the request is not beyond your means and is to the benefit of your honor. But knowing of your disposition—
“I think he’s about to insult me.”
But knowing of your disposition, I have prepared generous payment as well.
I await you at my table, which is laid with bowls of welcome. Come in truth, and I will answer in truth.
Sina Stu-art’h
“Who writes like this? Does he think I’m just going to go and confess to whatever evil he imagines I’ve done?” Ro was considering blowing his nose on the pretentious invitation and sending it back by poet courier.
Go. Don’t go. He heaved a sigh. I have to go so that he doesn’t show up on campus in the middle of the night and start shouting that I’ve done something terrible. I haven’t recently, but the accusation might sound believable.
An eye landed on the cup. His anger bubbled up.
It sounds like he wants…to make a deal. Something ‘generous’ in exchange for this confession?
Ro could see his own reflection if he focused on a few different shiny surfaces in the office. His skin was covered in tattoos. Almost all of them could be considered deals he had gotten the better half of.
He smiled.
“I won’t hurt him, Jeneth-art’h,” he said to the drone and the empty office. “I’m just going to teach him a lesson about how life works. It’s what an instructor should do.”
******
******
Shortly after Ro-den headed to the summonarium, the drone received its next set of orders from Stu-art’h. It soared across campus and down to a disposal area behind one of the buildings, where it dropped the alternative letters it held down a chute to be destroyed.
They were all addressed to Ro-den, though he’d never know about them now. They turned into compost one after the other.
******
******
Whenever it was possible, Ro liked to take control of a new environment as soon as he arrived in it. Sometimes that meant showing off. Sometimes it meant showing disdain. There were a thousand options in between, depending on the place or the people.
But the place in this case would have baffled him if anyone else had suggested it as meeting spot.
Other than the patients on their way to the House of Healing, it might see the rare local passing through. Perhaps every now and then someone who wanted to look at the spaceship under construction from an odd angle came here.
Not quite a public location or a private one, this was a building that had its own purpose. And that purpose didn’t usually include students trying to offer moral correction to their professors.
One of Ro’s eyes took in the details while the other focused on his host.
Stu-art’h sat at a table set with the promised bowls of welcome. Diamonds of dark, darker, and darkest wood patterned the floor beneath him, and the rafters overhead were amber yellow. There was a door that must lead to a ritual cleansing room. A hearth burned behind the boy’s chair. It was designed to let just a thread of scented smoke touch a guest’s nose, and Ro was sure there was a patch of herbs somewhere outside to be collected for burning and bathing. The windows at eye level were shuttered, but the room was being caressed by the last glow of the sun through an angled skylight.
The physical space was very nice, but not too much beyond what might be expected…if one ignored Declared Stu-art’h and the things he’d obviously brought here himself. The boy stood and greeted Ro like he was inviting him into the Primary’s own home, mixing normal expressions of welcome with lines of formal excess almost identical to the contents of his letter. As if he suspected Ro might not have read it all the way through.
The shade of his protection, cleansing and honesty, so on and so forth…
Ro was more attentive to his items than his words. There was a large, expensive-looking chest on the floor to the right of Stu-art’h’s chair. And an impressive stick was propped against the table.
A noisy impressive stick.
It was practically forcing Ro to know it was powerful, ancient, and meaningful. He wasn’t going to approach its territory and try to figure out exactly what it was, since defiling an art’h family heirloom—or being injured by one—wasn’t on his list of things to do during this unfortunate period of his life.
And it wasn’t such an irresistible mystery. There were a few possible reasons for its presence here.
The only other thing he made note of before accepting the welcome and heading toward the table was that the wizard who’d laid the pervading magic on this building hadn’t been a slouch. It was fairly common for places to have a carefully managed aura that helped visitors to feel what they should. This spot exuding welcome, safety, and comfort was appropriate. But those things being so potent that Ro almost lost his alertness and his urge to be spiteful was an achievement.
Which the wizard responsible clearly knew since they’d left their name written on the floor in front of the alcove as part of a dedication that welcomed all travelers who came in search of healing.
Either the healers saved this Master’s life, or it’s someone trying to show off how helpful they can be in preparation for a service evaluation.
Clever idea if it’s the second.
Powerful people would have to step over that wizard’s name on their way to receive mind healing. Mind healing tended to be a profound positive experience, so the name got a favorable polish due to the healers’ efforts.
Even the art’h family and other knights came through here, and Stu-art’h apparently found this building so comfortable that he thought it would help him fix Ro.
I might be sorry I hadn’t thought of contributing to a place like this myself if this kind of work was my specialty.
Maybe it was actually smart of Stu-art’h to hold the meeting here in familiar territory that would help him stay calm.
Ro decided to unsettle him right away.
He began instructing his student the very moment he sat down.
The boy had brought a recording page, which Ro disabled with the touch of a ring. And he’d provided very good wine, which Ro made a show of sniffing suspiciously before he began testing it for potions. Stu-art’h had also brought snacks that were simple but purposeful. Ro considered the best looking one—a kind of seed candy that the boy said was traditional in the region around his home—before picking up the bowl and dumping the whole thing into one of his own pockets.
“You’re…taking all of it?” Stu-art’h stared like he’d just seen Ro take a bite out of the table itself.
“You said I was welcome to it.”
“Of course you are,” he said, collecting himself much too quickly for Ro’s liking. “I hope you will enjoy it.”
“Perhaps I shall, now that I’ve made it safe to eat. Did you think you were clever using enchanted dishes on a guest?” He injected scorn into his tone as he whipped a collapsible cup out of another pocket and transferred some of the wine to it. “Nobody does that except in children’s stories.”
“They are well-maintained antiques,” Stu-art’h said mildly. “If you eat and drink from them with another person, you may hide secrets but not speak lies. ”
“Or I may drink out of this and say what I want to,” Ro informed him, taking a gulp of the wine and setting the cup back on the table.
“As you wish.” Stu-art’h shifted in his seat, but he really didn’t look that uncomfortable. “I was going to warn you.”
Irritatingly, that was probably true. The recording page had been openly displayed on the table, as if they were going to make a paper contract together. And the dishes weren’t enchanted in a way designed for subtlety. Ro was embarrassed that he’d almost failed to notice. Ignoring the stick and rejecting the influence of the building took a little concentration. He might have drunk straight out of the bottle if he hadn’t decided to insult his young host with the potion check instead.
“Did you rob a parent’s closet?”
Stu-art’h blinked and touched the silky gray tunic he wore. “This is Father’s, but he doesn’t mind sharing clothes for special occasions.”
“I meant for that.” Ro looked at the stick.
The most charitable assumption was that Stu-art’h was trying to be as formal as possible to show respect. A moderately charitable one was that he was afraid he wouldn’t be taken seriously, so he’d brought along something that he thought made him look more like an adult. And the uncharitable one was that he was doing what some wizards with remarkable lineages were prone to do—flaunting an ancestor’s accomplishments in hopes that they would be mistaken for his own.
Ro suspected it wasn’t the last one. But he had loathed enough people of that sort over the course of his life that venom came more easily than sugar to his tone when he added, “Carrying something like that to a meeting with your instructor is an interesting choice.”
Stu-art’h took a sip of his own wine, then ate a piece of dried fruit before he answered.
“If you’re implying that it’s not really mine, you’re mistaken. But if you sincerely mean that it’s of interest to you, and you want to examine it more closely, I will consider making the study of it a part of our agreement. The brief, non-damaging study of it.”
It’s really his? I guess they must have given it to him as a present when he declared or something like that. Assigning an heirloom to a scion of their house…
Ro ate some seed candy from his pocket.
Stu-art’h smiled. “Do you like it?”
“It’s tolerable.”
Stu-art’h smiled more.
What’s wrong with him? He’s not complaining enough.
Too hard to irritate even considering the atmosphere in this place.
Something about the boy’s behavior was definitely off compared to class. He wouldn’t always say an impropriety bothered him, but he did tend to visibly bristle at the mildest provocation. And taking all of the candy from the bowl right away was so rude that even young children would have known not to do it.
Maybe it was actually ingenious of him to meet in this place. It’s grounding him more than I thought.
Fine. We’re just getting started.
“I take it that the contents of that chest is my ‘generous payment’ for doing whatever it is that you want? Bribing an evil person! Who would have suspected it of you?”
Stu-art’h’s eyes fixed on the large chest in the corner before returning to Ro’s face. He placed his hands flat on the table in front of him. “I would first like to suggest an opportunity to you instead of a bribe.”
“Ahhhh. An opportunity.”
“If you show your willingness to correct a serious mistake you’ve made, I will ask for a meeting with your team of executioners as soon as I become a knight. I’ll request that your service be transferred to the Rapports. Our council of votaries will decide where to use your talents. You won’t be honored as a votary, of course, since you are a criminal being punished. But you will restore yourself to your former prominence more quickly working for us than you will working for LeafSong.”
“That sounds like impossible perfection,” Ro said brightly.
“Does it? The Instructor of Instructors at LeafSong agreed to yield you to us with no complaint. I have her promise. So there would be no delay.”
“Yes. What a lucky person I am! I’ve always longed to be bossed around by a bunch of votaries who see me as a particularly juicy wizardberry to dangle in front of whatever nightmares now haunt the forsaken worlds of the Ilket. I’m so smart that I can probably still do a little research with whatever remains of my intelligence after I’ve been masticated and shat out by whatever they order me to handle.”
Stu-art’h glared at him.
“Did you really think I would say yes?” Ro snorted.
“I thought it was right to give you the opportunity. I felt sure you hadn’t been afforded one like it in many years, since you are untrustworthy.”
Ro covered his eyes with his hands. “I’m blinded by your insight.”
“I hoped you would accept that, but I did not expect you to,” Stu-art’h said a little stiffly. “So. I’ve also brought payment. If you do what I ask of your own free will, I will give you that chest.”
Ro looked over at it.
Stu-art’h took a deep breath. “It contains what remains of the hide of a demon killed by my grandfather Hn’tyon Renjen-art’h, late in his life. There are a few claws in there, too.”
“Oh…is that all?” Ro asked. As if he didn’t want to dive for the chest and open it up to inspect the contents immediately. “Late in his life” was not an irrelevant detail. It would almost certainly have been a fascinating demon.
The Primary’s son gazed at him steadily. “Do you want it?”
Now was the time to be at his most careful. Ro hadn’t expected something like this to be on offer, and he did intend to leave here with that chest if it was at all possible. “Yes, I want it. But not enough to do anything particularly inconvenient for it. You may have noticed my research at LeafSong is somewhat different than what I used to do. And I’m busy teaching.”
Stu-art’h didn’t seem flustered.
I hoped to fluster him a little. What he wants might be more trouble than I want to deal with if he’s trying to pay with this.
“The hide was modified to remove the taint, of course,” said Stu-art’h. “The goal was to preserve some of the demon’s abilities in the final material. That process was successful to an unusual degree, possibly because the demon was so stable…for a demon. Compared to its assumed origin species, it exhibited smaller size, a synergistic relationship with wind, a remarkable camouflaging ability—”
Ro shot a regretful look at the chest. “That does sound fascinating.”
No doubt Stu-art’h knew it was valuable. But at his age, raised in his circumstances, he might not realize quite how valuable. It wasn’t only chaos researchers who wanted such things. Crafter wizards and anyone who studied anything remotely related to the properties the demon had exhibited in life would also be after it. Ro’s brain was still scrawling the list of things he could do with it.
He’d probably only allow himself to truly experiment with a tiny bit of the hide. Everything else would need to be carefully planned and executed to maximize his chances of success. He needed a sure victory or three in the coming years, and this was the kind of opportunity that couldn’t be wasted on anything too risky.
Even if he doesn’t completely grasp what he’s giving me, the boy’s not that stupid. Downplaying the offer too much would be a mistake.
“It’s very fascinating, actually. If it were a few years ago…” Ro shook his head. “But now I’m not sure when I might have a real chance to work with something like this. It might even be confiscated by my executioners and given to someone else. As recompense, you know. So I doubt it’s worth quite as much to me as you must be hoping.”
It would never be confiscated. They hadn’t even managed to confiscate the artificial demon. But the hide being confiscated did sound like a thing that might happen to a less competent criminal.
“I will send you the information on it now,” Stu-art’h said stubbornly.
That’s nice of you. Don’t give up on our negotiation! I’ll help you tidy whatever dark corner of your house you found that lovely chest in.
Ro read through the information that appeared in his monocle hungrily. This was good. Better than he’d hoped it would be in several ways, worse in only a couple. Its properties hadn’t been completely understood by the last people who’d been allowed to play with it, back when Ro-den was closer to his own boyhood than where he was now. That was excellent news. It meant they hadn’t been bold enough to risk damaging it.
Probably scared of Renjen-art’h.
Which is understandable, to be fair.
“I see,” he said politely. “Yes…yes, I would like to have this. But that will depend on what you’re expecting in return, Declared Stu-art’h.”
He had no idea what the boy would ask for, but reminding him of his oaths seemed like one way of leading him toward the conclusion that giving Ro the demon’s skin was at least a little beneficial to the Triplanets. It had obviously been sitting in storage. The art’hs hadn’t hatched it, so Ro might as well take it out of their nest.
He stopped looking at his monocle and placed all his thoughts on the young wizard in front of him. “How can I help you?”
Stu-art’h leaned forward, as if he might whisper, but instead, he suddenly spoke like he was trying to hammer Ro over the head with the words.
“Samuel Alden Thorn.”
Ro didn’t flinch with shock, but that was only because he was focused on presenting himself a certain way.
“He will be here soon,” Stu-art’h said, still hammering. “My family has been arranging for him to come to this House of Healing for treatment, and he has an appointment this evening. He has a contract tattoo that I believe is yours. Release him from that contract before the last of the sunlight fades from the sky. I will watch you do it. After it is done, you may have the hide. And the chest that contains it.”
Ro needed all of his attention on Stu-art’h right now, but a mote of it drifted off to touch those repetitive phone calls he’d been ignoring.
A warning? I might have made a mistake. How did this happen? What’s happened exactly?
“I wasn’t aware your family was taking care of Alden in that way,” he said. He sounded calm. He wasn’t. “I’m glad you are.”
The secrecy agreement should hold up to anything normal a mind healer might want to do, but how normal would the mind healing of a human be? And in an addled state, he might not avoid probing questions well. He might not even realize what questions are probing.
Has it been fine up until now? Or is something the healer uncovered why we’re here?
Why is it just Stu-art’h here and not one of his parents?
“Why do you think Alden wants the contract ended? We built a close understanding in the brief time we knew each other, and even after what’s happened, I’m completely confident he wouldn’t want it gone.”
What he wants is irrelevant. This can’t happen. I have to crush it.
In the future, certain people realizing that he’d told Alden how to abuse a weak spot in the Earth Contract and take full advantage of an ancient skill might be fine. The crime could be overlooked. Or it could be overshadowed. And the Primary, upon his eventual discovery of the nature of Alden’s skill, would hear that Ro had made sure it arrived in his hands earlier and in a more useful state of development than it would have if the human had remained ignorant. That addendum to their secrecy agreement was supposed to be a bit of a gibe, a bit of a gift—Ro getting the final word in a conversation that Jeneth-art’h thought had ended long ago.
Right now, though? Anyone finding out Ro had threatened, even in a tiny way, the stability of the Earth contract would be impossible to manage. It didn’t matter whether it had caused harm or not; it was the kind of thing that could and would be used as evidence that he should never be allowed to summon any Avowed ever again. And it was best if Alden wasn’t able to describe in detail what he had taken from the lab. And then there was what would happen if the executioners used this as an excuse for an interview with the Ryeh-b’t.
Never mind nuance. Every infraction, even infractions that were barely infractions on an average day, would be placed on Ro and given nine times the proper weight.
There might be enough infractions there to bury me forever.
“I realize you’re young,” he said, just a little too hastily. Careful. I must be careful now. “But a secrecy agreement between wizards and Avowed is a common thing, and it’s something that shouldn’t be ended at the insistence of another wizard. That’s improper. And unfair to Alden Ryeh-b’t.”
“Are you thinking more about what’s good for Alden right now? Or more about what’s good for yourself?” Stu-art’h’s expression had darkened.
Why? Is this him trying to make up for that day with the mishnen? Trying to bring honor to his aunt’s commendation? What does he know?
I need to know what he knows.
“I realize it may sound unbelievable, but I’m thinking of Alden’s wellbeing every bit as much as my own. I regret that he was lost on Thegund. I don’t wish him harm.”
The boy paused for long enough to give Ro a sliver of hope that he might simply accept it. With a personality like his, some degree of naivety—
“Be glad then,” said Stu-art’h, sitting straight as a reachertree trunk. “After you remove the secrecy agreement from Alden, he can tell me if he wishes I hadn’t done this. I’ll apologize to you both, and I’ll leave you alone so that you can form your agreement again. If that happens, I’ll give you the chest anyway, even if I don’t learn what the contract tattoo covers. So if you’re right, there will be no harm done at all.”
Ro needed to think of a reason why that couldn’t happen.
A reason that someone who suffered from an egregious ignorance about how life worked would understand.
“Is there something wrong with my solution, Master Ro-den?” Stu-art’h asked.
“Wizards do not usually ask other wizards about their private contracts with Avowed,” he said. “It’s unprofessional.”
“I think professionalism is less important than this matter.”
“I think you and I should at least delay this discussion until another day and not confuse an Avowed with something like this. Especially an Avowed who’s undergoing mind healing. The stress—”
Stu-art’h reached for the stick.
Why in the name of the Mother is he reaching for that thing? I need to make an opportunity for myself here somehow.
“I hate to accuse you of anything, but I don’t think your parents gave you permission to give away that demon hide.”
“They didn’t,” said Stu-art’h, fingers closing around wood. “But they’re going to be less upset about that than other things. And I think one demon hide that nobody’s using is worth Alden being able to talk freely about his skill.”
Ro’s heart stopped.
May the unclimbing beasts feed on me slowly. No, may they feed on this boy slowly. The only good thing is that his parents must not know anything about any of this. Yet.
“His skill? I don’t know what you mean.”
Do I have to do something to him?
He didn’t want to. There was something wrong with Stu-art’h’s mind. It was never said loudly, but it was said. Modifying a fragile mind wasn’t a realistic thing for Ro to do. Maybe with potions…
What am I thinking? I might drop dead if I actually try to harm the Primary’s son.
“You know exactly what I mean,” said Stu-art’h. “I know because I can tell when you lie.”
“What?”
“Traveler, you sit at this lord’s own table, under the shadow of his protection,” Stu-art’h said in a resonant voice. “You have accepted my invitation to come in truth and be answered in truth. You have eaten of my food and drunk of my wine. You have warmed yourself by my fire. You have lied thrice—more than thrice actually—and now I command you as the lord of this land to speak no more lies at my table.”
The little greeting house, so comforting and welcoming, suddenly felt colder than a Thegundese night. Ro’s stomach roiled, and his mouth soured as though the candy he’d eaten and the wine he’d drunk were poison. He tried to push back against whatever ancient rule he’d fallen afoul of, but having never been attacked by a lunatic invoking the powers of their ancestors in the form of a ritual courtesy trap…he didn’t know where to start.
“I haven’t lied about—”
The table tried to kill him for those foolish, panicked words. That was what it felt like. It pulled at him like it planned to lay claim to him forever.
“No, don’t hurt him for that one,” Stu-art’h said gently, tapping his stick against the table. “It’s not necessary yet.”
Ro leaped out of his chair and started ordering a teleport out. Traps were rather hard to pull off in modern times if you didn’t immediately incapacitate the wizard you’d trapped. And he wasn’t incapacitated.
“I don’t think you should leave,” Stu-art’h said quickly but calmly. “I won’t stop you, but if you leave, I will immediately call Hn’tyon Esh-erdi and tell him there has been an emergency that necessitates the breaking of Alden’s contract with you. He won’t question it. I think he wants to do it anyway, but obviously you would have made sure Alden couldn’t ask for something like that himself when you established the agreement with him.
“If you find some way to kill me even here in this place and under the Mother’s eye, then my final will has already been recorded. It includes that same message for Esh-erdi plus a message for every single member of my family blaming you for my death. The renowned Healer Yenu-pezth has promised to test my mind for unusual influences tonight. She knows my mind better than I do myself, and given the nature of the request, nothing I can say will stop her from conducting that test now. She will also be here swiftly if I miss my appointment time.
“I’d rather not die or be hurt of course, but I think I’m fairly safe at this point. I’m very glad you came and ate and lied. I had other plans in case you didn’t do all of those things, but this was my favorite one.”
“This…” Ro felt the cold, dark walls looming over him. He was afraid the table could still attack if it was given an order. “We’re outside Vethedya. This isn’t your family’s land. Not in the memory of any living person’s deadest grandmother! Even if your family can do a thing like this…even…you shouldn’t be able to do something like this here!”
It was the roar of a cornered animal. He knew it and couldn’t even feel embarrassed about it.
“This house is mine,” Stu-art’h said in an informative tone. “It’s freshly built of art’h wood, and it’s art’h land until dawn tomorrow, when I will formally gift it to the House of Healing. It’s part of a ritual I had custom designed to go with my walking stick. The stick is more powerful here, too, now. I was worried everyone would question me about the excess of all of this, but because I’ve been coming here since I was a child and I’m soon to go to first binding, it seems like the kind of extravagant magic I might do to mark my adulthood and thank the healers. Only Master Leeter-zis was suspicious, given my urgency and some of my more specific instructions. He received a portion of the materials as payment in exchange for helping me to arrange everything and doing excellent work. There were hundreds of volunteers he gathered here earlier today, calling me their wizard and blessing me as part of the ritual. I was so worried you or someone else inconvenient would hear about it before you arrived.”
The boy looked around the house like he was proud of it. “I’m glad this will be here to welcome others who need mind healing in the future. You can sit down and eat more if you’re not too scared of the table. It’ll only punish you if you lie again while you sit at it. And the quantity consumed doesn’t affect the strength of the magic, so you might as well have a meal if you’re hungry.”
Ro sat down entirely because he didn’t want to look like he was scared of sitting down. It was as much of a victory as he could claim.
“Nobody else would do something like this.” His words sounded pitiful, but they weren’t lies.
“That’s probably because most people can’t,” Stu-art’h said.
“That’s not why!”
“It’s also probably because most people aren’t dealing with you. I know you’re smarter and more experienced than me, so you can’t be allowed to have any room to wriggle at all.”
Ro did not feel smart at the moment.
“Father cut and prepared most of this timber himself,” Stu-art’h said, touching the table and gesturing at the floor. “With his natural strength instead of his magic. It’s something he does when he needs to think.”
“I hope he is enraged until the day he dies at how you’ve used it.”
Stu-art’h had the audacity to let out a little laugh. He ate a roasted nut from one of his accursed bowls of welcome.
“I think I know what Alden’s skill may be,” he said. “But I will not ask you to tell me. It would be too easy now to find out based on how you lie. And unlike some people, I respect his right to do and say what he wants about his own self.”
There it was. Ro’s only hope.
This intractable creature intended to save Alden Thorn. Therefore, Ro needed Alden to say, as quickly and loudly as possible, that he didn’t require saving.
He forced himself to eat another piece of candy while he kept an eye on the teleportation alcove.
I will convince him. He will trust me. I just need to be his friendly old instructor, Joe.
******
******
now
******
******
Alden wasn’t sure if his existence could ring, like ears that had just suffered from a loud sound, but that was how he thought of the feeling as he jumped out of the alcove, gripping his cantaloupe and his grapes. Despite Stuart’s murder face and the staff he’d just swung, being beside him was much better than being trapped in a closet-sized space by Ro-den’s magic.
“What’s happening?” he said. “Someone tell me what—”
“Stay behind me, Alden!” Stuart said, pointing the stick at Ro-den, who was looking at Alden with one eye and the end of the stick with the other. “I’ll protect you.”
Do I need protecting? Ro-den did lunge at me and try to wall me in. That’s bad.
“Alden, please explain to Stu-art’h that—”
“What were you going to do to him!?” Stuart demanded, pressing the stick closer to Ro-den, almost touching his chest. “There is NO GOOD REASON for you to say secret words to him or prevent him from talking to me!”
Alden eyed the professor warily. He targeted Stuart, thinking he’d feel better if he had a nearby entruster at least.
“I entrust you with the nearest chair and ask you to protect yourself with it from any and all harm! Worli Ro-den as the lord who has fed and sheltered you I will exact—”
“Wait, wait, wait now, Stu-art’h! I was just trying to give Alden the choices that you aren’t willing to present to him. You boys both need to open your thoughts to reason before something—”
“I should skewer you! Did you use magic on him? Alden, did he?”
“I’m fine.” Alden was backing toward the nearest chair, trying to keep an eye on the threat and his friend and figure out what they were both talking about. He’d just dropped the grapes onto the table and put his right hand on the chair when the threat suddenly threatened. Alden caught a twitch of motion near Ro-den’s right hand and saw the sheen of a string slinking out of his sleeve to wrap around his thumb.
“Auriad!” he shouted.
And since he couldn’t get between Ro-den and Stuart with his chair shield in time, he flung the only other thing he had. A cantaloupe shot across the room and slammed into Ro-den’s face.
Or into something that sprang into reality around Ro-den’s face. Maybe. Alden barely caught a glimpse of it, but instead of howling in pain from a broken nose, Ro-den was blinking in apparent confusion as melon shards spattered the wall behind him and the suitcase at his knees.
Alden ran at him with the chair, its legs pointed forward to join Stuart’s stick. “Is that thing like a giant wand?” he asked. “He was moving his auriad! Don’t we need to get out of here? Should I—”
Both Artonans were glancing at him in between watching each other.
“You threw fruit at his head.”
“Why did you throw fruit at me?”
“I’ve never had that fruit before,” Stuart said. “This is your fault, Ro-den!”
“I thought he was going to attack you with his auriad!” Alden exclaimed.
“No, it was just moving a little because he’s scared of me.”
“I’m not scared of you.”
“Sit down at my table and say those words!”
Ro-den straightened himself and flicked a piece of melon off his shoulder onto the floor. He turned both eyes on Alden. “I see now,” he said slowly. “If a simple motion of my auriad makes you think I’m trying to attack Stu-art’h, you really have no trust in me at all.”
He looked sad. He sounded a little sad.
Alden’s emotions stirred. Was it wrong of me to throw the cantaloupe? That might have been wrong. I don’t want to hurt anybody.
The hot air in this room smelled sweet and melony.
“Alden…I release you from all the limitations placed on you by the contract we have together, symbolized by the mark we called the Triangle of Absolute Secrecy,” Ro-den said in English.
Alden stilled, then gasped as the words finally made it through his confusion.
Ro-den gave him a familiar, Joeish smile. “I see you’re relieved. But I hope, if there is even the smallest amount of forgiveness in you, that you will hear me out in private before you reveal what was hidden. Telling these secrets is something you may not want to do. I would like to explain why to you.”
Stuart looked at Alden, his whole face lighting up with excitement. Ro-den swept past them both and took a seat in one of the chairs at the table. “Stu-art’h, Alden Thorn now has no contract with me. As you requested.”
Stu waited like he was expecting something to happen for a few seconds. Then he beamed even more. “It’s true! Alden, I did it. I hope it was all right! I hope you’re all right!”
“Alden, I’d like to talk to you alone,” Ro-den said a bit more insistently.
“Do you mean him any harm at all?” Stuart demanded.
“Of course not.”
“Do you intend to lie to him?”
“No.”
“Do you intend to mislead him?”
“I won’t try to.”
Alden thought there was a pause before Ro-den said that. A very slight one. But maybe it was only his imagination.
Stuart caught his eye. “He’s telling the truth,” he said uncomfortably. “I’ve made it so that he has to when he sits at that table.”
Is that why this place looks different than it used to? Stuart did something to it?
“But,” said Stuart, “if…Alden, part of the secret is about your skill, isn’t it? I wish you’d tell me before having a private talk with him. If you don’t want to, I’ll understand. But…I wish it.”
He did this for me, Alden realized. He figured out what was wrong all by himself. I’m not going to have to act like a dick to him and hide the truth for months and months.
That chest in the corner was familiar. What was it doing here? And, somehow, Stuart had gotten Ro-den here, too. And he’d gotten a magic truth table and some kind of epic magic staff involved. There was clearly a story here Alden didn’t know the half of.
But he did all of this just so I could talk to him.
Alden looked at Ro-den. The professor seemed to be trying to convey something serious with his eyes. He glanced at the door.
“If you want to say something, say it now at the truth table,” said Alden. “This is your only chance to convince me a private chat is that important.”
Ro-den took a deep breath. He looked down at the table then back at Alden. “Very well. I believe that if you reveal what was hidden by our agreement, if you reveal what you learned during our final lesson, you’ll most likely be dead before you double your age. You’ll probably die a a more useful death than most people. But you’ll still die.”
“No he won’t!” Stuart said, his voice piercing.
“Is he lying?” Alden asked. He didn’t think Ro-den was. It feels bad to hear it. It’s scary.
“He’s not,” said Stuart, “but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He—”
“I’m much more experienced than either of you,” said Ro-den. “So now would be a good time to hear me. And believe me.”
Alden thought. It wasn’t the kind of warning you could ignore without any thought.
“I believe you’ve told the truth,” he said finally. “I believe there’s more than a small chance you’re right.”
Stuart made a noise.
Ro-den nodded and rose from his seat, already turning toward the door like he’d lead the way outside for their talk.
“It’s just that it doesn’t change my mind about anything,” Alden continued. “I already made my choice. I’m reaching for something important to me, so if I die trying to grab onto it…. I want to live, but I’m still going to reach.”
Ro-den opened his mouth, but Alden was already turning away from him to smile at Stuart.
“Stuart, thank you so much for this. My skill is an old one called The Bearer of All Burdens.” He felt his grin widening as the words came without any resistance. “I’ve really, really wanted to tell you about it. Thank you for figuring out I needed help. Let’s go kill demons with it. You and me.”
******
Comments (619)
One more thing that grows unseen - apart from the number of klerms in Rapport III - is the cast of characters. They get spoon-fed to us between things happening. So how long until Evul sees the tellingbush full of conversations and maybe even memes and arrives to join the fun?
Stu you badass
Stu you glorious overprepared pyscho. Well. Fucking. Done.
Holly shizzzz!! Wha a crazy chapter 🤌
Stu is a faery prince!
I just love how Joe is the first person who is getting such a large portion of truth about our Stu-Alden' future plans. he must be so confused. I hope he remains confused for a long while.
Does the TriMeritous come with a lifelong stipend? Ro-den words suggest getting that title will stop his need to promise a portion of his earned research credits to investors like the "fools" from Yilpack, while still referencing things he could do that would require quite a lot of funding to realize. "'I’ll accept my Trimeritorious. No longer owe any of my credit to fools. Build a large addition or several to this facility. Move on to the next project.'”
I read that as taking credit not money
The payoff is *chef’s kiss*, Sleyca!!! This is probably one of the top chapters.
LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO holy shit the columbo reveal Stuart I love you so much right now
Ro-den is not that interesting character. I want to know how Alden deals with real monstrous villain, who terrorizes innocent students by desecrating educational enviroment. And shoes.
Who is that person? What is his motivation? How does he do it? Did he bribe all sniffers? This villain's fame has already reached Triplanets.
"Approximate" is my new least favourite word
I just wanted to say I’m so excited I can barely do anything else. This fic has me in a chokehold…
I wonder about Alden telling others about BoaB, in the sense that the true skill name, his wizardry, and his fake profile are all different parts of the same secret that can be announced separately. Will he update his profile with the true name, so the school is able to know it? Will he wait until he affixes again to update it at the same time as stopping using the fake profile for the absolute fat level up clout that gives him from humans. Or will it keep staying a secret until his wizardy is known so that no one looks too closely.
Telling Stu is OK, as they are weaving a friendship. But telling people on Earth is a big no-no I believe. It will make Alden stand out in ways that he doesn't want. Telling ANYONE his true skill name is saying "summon me into the path of a bullet". Telling anyone on Earth that he is a wizard is saying the same, but even more so. The first and only human wizard? The only non-artonan wizard for hundreds of years. That is just asking for trouble.
I‘m waiting for Stu knowing Alden‘s skill for a long long time… since Stu‘s growing up story… because (Possible Spoiler hiding space ->) I believe his mother might have had a variant of bearer. She took the burden of all negative things of Stu
Her skill was Ensnarer of Minds, I believe.
For the wordchain of soup summoning, I have poured out my thoughts and dedicated my hopes to the dawn. I will return at day's end with renewed hopes. May sleep find all who sleepless have labored overnight, or lain waking hoping for mind's ease.
Thanks for easing our suffering with your thoughts, JJ!
I'm looking forward to Joe realizing that he reached too far on secrecy as well. If he hadn't over done it, Alden could have said "Mother told me my skill is named the Bearer Of All Burdens. It's one of the original avowed skills..." And misled others into thinking she was the source of all this information. This confrontation never would have happened. His over reach on secrecy broke that secrecy.
the sad-funny part is that this specific overreach probably *was* to protect Alden. back when he saw Alden as an investment.
Feeling mildly obsessed right now with what "visual" components will be part of the visual and oral style of traditional storytelling we are promised will be featured in Warin-doylis' performing arts seminar. Is Warin a wizard, or a member of the ordinary class? Will they be more like a traditional Earth magician, a master of visual illusions, magic lanterns and all?
We know there are Artonan equivalents of television shows ('goodchild' genre and all), and Kibby mentioned there being private radio (?) broadcasts for keeping up with hn'tyon movements. Are there radiodramas or other forms of sound-only storytelling in Artonan culture? Is the tellingbush exclusively Contract-mediated, or is it also accessible on worlds without Contracts? What's the Artonan version of kitchen music (and kitchen magic, for that matter)?
Given we are anticipating more of Healer Yenu next chapter, worth saying: I really treasure having someone's former therapist as a recurring positive influence in their life and the broader story. I feel like this is much rarer in the fiction I love than it should be; may there be more characters like Healer Yenu inspired by this story! (and more real-life people like Healer Yenu encouraged by seeing their profession so honored and respected here.)
Patreon just dropped .. the other story I am following. I was disappointed 😞
I have the bad habit of checking every time I wake up in the night, and the last time I did I hallucinated the chapter dropped and then fell back asleep. When I woke up for real just now it was quite disappointing.
I find it interesting that Stu challenged Olget to go back to university to requalify, and Ro-den's team of executioners made him back to back university to help others qualify for a time. There must be something about returning to the basics that is expected to be enlightening about reconsidering one's path to date and course correcting as needed.
Olget needs it because his wizard skills are awful. Ro-den was sent to prestigious university to continue researching - though not his original demon project. Teaching is just part of it, and you can witness people moving jobs from research institutes be extremely unhappy in universities due to the teaching requirement. It was also measured the university researchers do 1/3 of the research the people in institutes can output. And it is not a funding issue.
I just want to take this opportunity to say that you need to delete at least 4 chapters of Snow. I could go for 6 or 8, but 4 is the bare minimum.
Wow what a thoughtful suggestion, I'm sure you're a very well read individual with deep understanding of nuance, prose, symbology, and dialogue. If only more people of your intellect decided to voice their well thought out wants I'm sure the art of literature would be elevated to new profound heights.
Whelp I must away to sleep. With good fortune may I awake to new passages of grand adventure. Good luck to the continuing refreshing squad
May you sleep well, and wake refreshed! Thank you for all your thoughtful comments; I always treasure getting notifications for your replies.
Interesting to reread 'Normal Teenage Matters' (208) while anticipating the next chapter from here - I do wonder if we're about to see Boe call or teleport in to have a talk with Stu, and then get confronted by the opportunity to also talk with Yenu.
"Alden hadn’t told him about the mind healer until he’d already made the first trip. *He didn’t want me to try to talk him out of it.* "Boe wanted to talk him out of it. And wanted to tell him he hoped it worked for him. And wanted to ask him lots of questions about it. He wasn’t doing any of those things for some reason" (208).
[Whimpering intensifies]
“She dropped the empty cup. He might not have caught it if not for the help of one of his rings.” I don’t know if it was mentioned somewhere lower down in the comments but I just noticed this sentence. I’m curious just how important was that ring for Worli Ro-den and why did he give it to Alden.
I really want to know what Thenn thought when Alden showed up wearing that ring after not being able to come the previous day for the scheduled pickup.
Holy shit the rabbit hole I have to go down these days just to figure out the fucking time of day this chapter got posted.
Patreon's approach to app and site design leaves a lot to be desired these days.
Re-reading the Here to There arc. This so has the vibes of Alden's triumphant blurt. Alden had decided he would help Emban’s cause today by trying to create pockets of semi-alone time for her and Ryada, so that if she was feeling ready, she couldsay, “Hey. How about seeing if we’re deeply compatible as authority partners so we can have better affixations somehow and destroy chaos even harder together?” Only she’d say it better than that. He hoped. She’d had more time to plan.
Also, just reading “Dark Rise”, Stuart and the role of a Steward ( guardian of the old knowledge) is a nice match.
Ro does not know much about Stu, he assumes he is a privileged son of a powerful family, spoiled and a bit odd. He assumed Stu was gifted the walking stick for his declaration. Little does he know.
Unclimbing beasts eat that boy! The table tried to kill Roden! Who does this?!?! Ritual hospitality trap! Arth lord magic revealed to all sorts of wizards and common classes ! Wonder what is going to most make his parents upset?
Whats left on Stu's to do list now before going to first binding. he has confidence because alden enabled it even more. he has permission from his father to ignore everyone elses delay. he's showed off his skill spell to alden a few times. he now knows Alden is completely sorted on the skill problem. he needs to return to the old house with riches and knowledge from foreign lands, whatever that really means. a good nap to recover from all of the lack of sleep. the visit today with Yenu was insurance against Ro, so nothing there really..
Speaking for myself, I am hyped for the 'stowaway to Earth' arc.
Woopooooopooooppopopoooo Yaaaaaahhhhhhooooooooooóoo HE SAID IT!!!!!!!!!!??????????!!!? 😯🥲🤤🥰🤣💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
I believe in the (approximate) Soup! And it believes in us!
Where soup?
The future.
No Sleyca delay comment yet 👀 New chap could be any (approximate) minute now!!
"Bout that time, eh chaps?"
I’m re-reading the chapter, and man, the part where Stu offers to let Ro serve the knights is such a flex. “I will ask for a meeting with your team of executioners as soon as I become a knight.” There is no indication that Ro would have any say in his future if Stu does this. It’s purely between Stu and the executioners. “You won’t be honored as a votary, of course, since you are a criminal being punished.” That’s just mean, man! “The Instructor of Instructors at LeafSong agreed to yield you to us with no complaint. I have her promise.” Stu talked to his boss and everything! Ro-den is trying little gimmicks and tricks to take control of the meeting, and here Stu is, calmly laying out how much power he could exert over Ro-den if he decided to.
That part I at least understood Ro-den not being stoked about lol. “Oh You shouldn’t have…..”
Oh to be watching through the eye rings for Joe and Stu’s next class together…
"Reach inside this ingredient for spell preparation" -> "Why don't you sit at my table and show me how its done."
The people gather and clamor outside the doors of the soup kitchen. "It is approximation day!" they cry. "We need more soup!" they plead. They hold their bowls up to the sky in hopes that the sight of their ravenous hunger shall push the soup barons to action, in a desperate plea for the rich sustenance that they so desperately crave.
I only got here like a week ago, but I’m already in love with all the soup people. Never stop, always soup.
knock knock it’s the March 12 (approximate) with huuge boats (gunboats) “post the chapter. stop having it be unposted.” said the March 12 (approximate)
Rereading some old relevant chapters, one old thing stuck out presumably someone has mentioned it before here or on discord but does Alden ever use or acknowledge the other wardrobe outfits he bought that give stats and are somewhat normal looking. Maybe im misremembering but I dont recall them coming up again and seems like no reason not to he can't be summoned currently.
His clothing advisors (Gus, Tuck, and Yinuo) advised him not to wear them with his current outlook on being summoned. “No, the color reminded me of a coat I bought once. That was a very different shopping experience…by the way, what about the clothes from the Rabbit’s Wardrobe?” “Wear them for the jobs they’re designed for or because you want to take advantage of the nice little enchantments. Be aware that on their own, they’re very recognizably work clothes to wizards who summon humans and to almost all Anesidorans. If you want to wear them without looking like a Rabbit hoping for a summons or a Ryeh-b’t on a summons, then you’ll need to work on them or use them as an under layer..." (ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY: Needle & Wheedle) So even if he can't be summoned right now, wearing them visibly would let summoners and others know that he would prefer to be summoned in the future, which he is adamantly against, and actively tells everybody that he would prefer not to be summoned. I'm sure his trauma is also a big factor, in that he was immediately summoned for putting Ro-den's coat on. I think that was the last mention of his other wardrobe outfits, but honestly not that much time has passed in universe, he might come around to them again. In general, he seems like getting any kind of magical stats is not on his radar, especially since gym forbids the use of any magic clothing/accessories.
Joe is such a fun character to have as the POV character for most of this chapter. He's smart and he's observant, so Stu doesn't have to monologue at him for Ro-den to immediately understand the implications of the trap he just stumbled into. Ro-den's own inner narration just burbles along telling us all how wildly impressive and unexpected Stu's setup is, and how much Stu had to exert himself (and several hundred other people) to enable dominating Ro-den so thoroughly in this specific place for this specific purpose.
Knowing how accomplished Ro-den is, we have a better sense of how accomplished Master Leeter-zis is through the lens of Ro-den's reluctant respect for the potent aura of welcome, comfort, and safety that mass ritual imbued in this place. Master Leeter-zis is clearly deserving of that "Distinguished" title he is pursuing so diligently! Another (albeit former) Distinguished Master had to actively steel himself to maintain his accumulated spite and wary alertness when exposed to the house's aura.
I also wonder where Boe is - it's been a few days now, when is he going to call Alden back? Does Boe think his previous fear about Alden finding someone like him and the two of them hastening each other into early graves has been realized?
"*He’s so damn fucking impossible to live up to. If he somehow manages to find another person just like him in the hero program and they hit it off, they will lead each other straight into early graves.* *Is he really all right?*" (208).
I wonder if Stu was planning for more than the present need in getting involved with welcome house construction and related rituals. How will he choose where to send the ends of his narrow ways once his skill progresses to sending them beyond his current range of sight? Maybe Stu was hoping to start establishing nodes of intense familiarity close to healing resources like Yenu's House of Healing that he could someday use as easy anchorpoints for his narrow ways.
Would Iella have survived if someone with Stu's planned skill had been in the relief group and able to enable her teleporting directly back to a powerful Healer of Mind able to stabilize her without threatening her? I think Stu wants to imagine he could make that kind of difference to other wounded hn'tyons in need of succor someday.
„What am I thinking? I might drop dead if I actually try to harm the Primary’s son.“ I just realized Ro might not be referring to breaking a contract or being killed by the Primary afterwards, but by Mother beforehand. Contracts can intervene when the intervention is less costly than not to intervene. Serious harm coming to Stu would worry the Primary, a worried Primary on a campaign is bad and potentially very costly. Ergo: Mother might stop the naughty wizard. I doubt she would outright kill him, but the consequences would undoubtedly be severe.
Yep pretty sure Joe was being literal here.
How can Boe match any of what Alden is doing right now for their copycat hero arrangement? (from chapters 89 & 90) Alden is taking risks that Boe needs to mirror, but it's so much more complicated than just rescuing X number of people. Sharing secrets should be easier than it is; can Boe even do that? What is the earthly equivalent to an internship on Goldbush? What about becoming a knight?
I don't think the agreement applies because Alden is not risking himself for randos, he is risking himself for his best bro.
You know, Alden’s skill reminds me a lot of the suffering kid in Omelas. Omelas is a fictional utopia where everything is perfect, but the foundation of the society is dependent on the eternal suffering of a single child who bears the burdens of the rest of society. Alden’s powers allow him to bear the burdens of others, it is implied that the stronger versions of his skill can even burden more abstract concepts like pain and fear. What if just like the kid in Omelas, there are those who try to use Alden to make him suffer the burdens of everyone else with no regard for him.
Yeah, there's a lot of stories like that. The oldest one I can think of right now is the Yom Kippur scapegoat, but it's a pretty common family dynamic so it's probably been a story for as long as there have been humans. What I'm not looking forward to is Sleyca finally paying off all the ominous things characters have been saying about the costs of setting up or repairing planetary systems. And what is with the trees eating people?
Chapter predictions (wrong answers only) We transition from this scene to Lutes early days in the palace of unbreaking where he is forced to learn word chains over and over again. And possibly endures the cult vibes/over zealousness of some of the artonans of the palace.
I always wanted to learn how the cultists are feeding the chainers...
I may or may not be checking Patreon every our or two to see the new chapter drop. That cliffhanger!
Next chapter prediction in haiku, or otherwise? This time Stu, Alden Both walk Yenu's inward path Paired for deepening
After their healing Eager for streamview cottage Ow! Banana trap
I didn't see the comment below so I'll post my theory now. My theory is that the Primary's daughter chose this skill bc it can be used to shoulder the pain of affixing for Knights. However it's clearly too much to handle. It's full stop the best possible use for the skill, and even if it killed Alden in a SINGLE year, it'd be insanely useful in the battle against chaos. Prediction: Stuarts going to ask Joe to put the privacy contract back into place and beg Alden to stop leveling it.
Somebody correct me if I'm mistaken, but BoaB is one of the original Avowed skills and not a Knight skill. It's possible she had something similar though.
With all other exiting things, we kinda missed Stu entering politics as a wizard of hundreds, and officially committing to a trip. The trip in particular sounds like a tradition with entrenched rules. It may well be his Grand Tour pre-binding if the trees imposed a shorter timeline for his repayment of foreign riches and knowledge. So my take is that a trip to Earth is due sometimes during the next arc. If they go to Chicago (which would be even greater PR and likely welcome for the city), it has the narrative potential to bind nicely so many loose threads: learning more about Body Drainer, meeting Gorgon, talking to Boe. [Edit: If they end up introducing to the Rapport some potent Earth species that invade everywhere, like Ailanthus, this would be even funnier 😆.] As for becoming a wizard, even if Stu doesn't exactly aim for the Grand Senate, I can see it as a prelude for building his own home with Alden and maybe other artonan and human friends. And over time, also his own social influence.
Is the body drainer a loose thread? It feels complete to me.
Just doing some casual rereading and in chapter 244 Stuart says that Sina’s skill is called Breeze Bearing Leaf. The leaf that dropped on Alden’s head is probably from the tree Sina chose and Alden still has a piece of Stuart’s foot with him then.
That’s just a spell called Breeze bearing leaf, it’s probably used for flight. She was showing Stu her version of the spell that she promised to teach him. So far we have no clue what her skill was
Huh, on a reread and looks like Stu is confirmed right 181 chapters later: c103: Stuart frowned. “Even though my body has been enhanced, it’s still rude of him to guess at it and tell people. And I don’t have any unnatural methods of preventing a loss of consciousness. I was bending nearly my whole mind toward not panicking or fainting. It was effort, not magical modification.” “It was an impressive effort,” Alden said. “I was very confused by you. But undeniably impressed.” “I bet Ro-den has tricks and toys to adjust his consciousness.”
Roden is often arrogant and prideful, but he definitely knows a lot. He has information and understanding about what Alden could struggle with in terms of Artonian culture that perhaps Stu might not understand. He knows a lot about Alden. Knowledge that could be helpful right now and into the future. Maybe not as a full blown instructor as others have suggested, but there's benefits even just needling information out of him that could be useful. The downside would be... that they'll have to work with Roden.
Roden's prediction as to why Alden shouldn't out his skill probably have merit. He's too smart to outright lie. But his knowledge about the situation is extremely lopsided: He thinks Alden is just a Rabbit with BOAB.
Was listening to the elders croak again, and noticed that it mentioned the villagers had word chains even though they barely had wizards. And before wizardry was something actively taught in schools. Is it possible that word chains predate even basic wizardry? If artonans have always had authority sense, they might have discovered ways to trade it between themselves before they discovered how to make the universe bend. Especially since anyone can seemingly perform them (Edit - it would make the power dynamics between the two schools of magic extra interesting if word chains came first, and wizards eventually considered it the lesser version)
On a slightly related side note, I find it interesting we got glimpses into what was supposedly Ro-den being told the elders croak. And Ro-den being fairly disinterested or disagreeing with the story. Then he grew up to become a perfect modern example of the younger brother in the story
Once more the twin curses of "Timezones" and "Approximately" return to these lands.
It makes more sense if the timezone is Hawaii.
I've literally been reading comments for the past 2 hours and it's crazy that there are people who want Roden to become some sort of instructor to Alden or keep playing some sort of mentor role for him????? Yes, Roden is charismatic and charming and fun as a character but can we also acknowledge that he is selfish and manipulative and to top it all off he's arrogant and childish and so short sighted for all his accomplishments and knowledge. He literally allowed people to DIE also while endangering all of existence by breaking the secrecy contracts on how to make an artificial demon just because he didn't get a title. Personally I don't see (or want to see) any redemption for Roden. If Thennar's death couldn't change him I don't know what would. He has no true remorse for her.
Why do you think reality was more in danger by the ordinary class researcher knowing how to make a artificial demon than the corporation willing to leave people to die for politics knowing how to make a artificial demon. Not saying Ro-den is a good person, I mean he chose to try and destroy his research rather than give it to the people who payed him for it because he felt he wasn't getting the recognition he deserved and risked lives over it. But if anything the corporation not having that research is probably safer for realty.
Rumor has it, Ro-den's mouth never closed again.
“What is the next project?” “Something impressive and to the temporary betterment of lifeforms everywhere I’m sure.” Temporary. At first I thought this was a hint at new information, which it still could be. But iirc, Ro-den believes everyone is doomed to chaos eventually and all they can do is postpone the inevitable. That's a good reminder too.
Interesting that we have two sets of last words effectively haunting Ro-den. The first is whatever Jeneth-art'h last said to him when Jeneth is a young knight, words that clearly got under Ro-den's skill and continue to dig at him decades later. The second is Thenn's last words that she entrusted to Alden, and that Alden didn't understand but Alden tried to deliver to Ro anyway, giving Ro-den the emotions she showed on her face and in her voice while she was dying and trying to connect with Ro one last time.
I'm sure Ro-den's imagination is doing worse than reality did for how much pain Thenn-ar was in when she gave Alden her last words to bring back to Ro-den. She might have been sending her forgiveness and her love to him, and he cannot forgive or love himself for being unable to rescue her.
I was thinking about this the other day but what if we find out about Thenn-ar's last words retroactively? Like what if Alden unlocks the memory portion of BOAB and a side effect of the upgrade is having perfect memory. I wonder what her final words were.
Alternatively, Alden might decide that as part of getting closure on Thegund and Joe, he wants to remember everything that was said to him on Thegund. Yenu could help him with that. He might request that so he can judge for himself what kinds of pressures the scientists there were under. I suspect Stu and Joe *both* gave wildly biased accounts of events there.
“You asked me to help you find talented people who were too ambitious to fit in on Thegund and too Thegundese to have left for a better place. Those who would believe in wizardry instead of wordchains, but not follow most wizards." Wow. I'm very interested to learn more about the wordchain vs wizardry dichotomy. This pits them against each other in a way I don't think we've seen before.
As a little addition to this - it's worth noting that when Alden first meets Joe in ch26, he notes that he's "uneven", presumably under the effects of wordchain debt. My best guess on the topic would be that wordchains are considered quaint and archaic: Stu's reaction to mention of the Palace of the unbreaking certainly makes them sound a bit like an artifact of a different time. With that all said, the fact that Alden's skill and Gorgon's general repertoire seem to revolve around the concept of sacrifice, just as wordchains do (in terms of having to give up something later), means that there's probably a fundamentally important truth hiding there about magic.
Wow just noticed this in chapter 135 Waves I, when Alden is helping Zeridee with errands around the ambassador's neighborhood before she is attacked. She gives him a tablet and they communicate through it while he's out running errands. "She had linked her eye rings to his Artonan-made tablet somehow." 👀 Damn, Sleyca you really showed us (and Alden!) that was possible so long ago
some thoughts i had about the turtle-ness of the ritual courtesy trap (home is something you build and carry with you): alden's choosing season where he tries to find his home and where he belongs, ultimately deciding that he belongs with Stu in the dangerous river. Stu, hearing this, making a house of welcoming for Alden, and he chooses to place it at the mind healer. of course logistics and practicality, and its not a truly dangerous place for alden, but it represents alden's struggles and weaknesses and Stu makes it a place of shelter; more than that, a fortress from which to counterattack. "I want to guard your back... and I hope you'll guard mine." (274) Stu hears this and takes the first opportunity to demonstrate exactly how thoroughly and effectively he will guard Alden. when the here-to-there ritual occurred, Stu told Alden who was wrestling with the concept of what home was to him, that longing and hope are enough, even if he doesn't have a home yet. (And Alden, writing in Stu's journal that a few solid bricks are enough.) Alden as knights with Stu, not even getting to potential deepening, is still in the hope stage; we haven't covered the practical reality of exactly how they'll travel to Goldbush, what his responsibilities will look like, who will be told the truth, how he'll be trained, all the tiny minutiae of this life-changing decision. But Stu says that's enough for me to build a home upon, and he does. Stu also acknowledges that his concept of home is strong and unwavering (despite the constant doubt and disbelief of everyone else around him) because of the relative safety and comfort of his life. "What’s easy for me was created through the hard effort of my father, my caregivers, and others. Your path toward home may be more like his was than like mine.” (231) Now, Stu is using the hard effort and resources of his family and himself to make Alden's path easier-- a path where he is statistically expected to die, like Jeneth was, except for Alis being exceptionally talented and given extra resources and gave Jeneth the space to grow under the shelter of her shadow.
I thought the arth-ness of the house was more related to the "tree-ness" of the house vs Stu's concept of home. It is made of arth wood, that is still connected to the arth trees from the arth land by an arth artifact that is also imbued with innate arth-ness. The same way that Jel-nor's bowl was still connected to its mother tree. It was like an arth consulate, a tiny enclave of arth-land in Vethedya.
Any differences between the RR chapter that dropped today (275) and the Patreon?
This won't make it to RR for a while.
This has to be the same ring he loaned to Alden in chapter 37: “She dropped the empty cup. He might not have caught it if not for the help of one of his rings.”
In many ways Ro-den was operating so close to the edge of keeping things together. The loss of one Rabbit was all it took for him to loose grip and allow everything to come crashing down.
> If you do what I ask of your own free will, I will give you that chest. Did Roden do what Stu asked 'of his own free will'? Does Roden get the chest?
I would say no. He had no intention of letting Alden free until Stu used the stick instead of the carrot.
Something small I noticed: Stu was wearing a gray tunic the first time he welcomed Alden as an official guest of the Rapport. The same gray tunic he wore today? If he likes to borrow his father's clothes for special occasions that would have qualified.
I hate the patreon app so much. It forced me to upgrade to the newer interface that I specifically downgraded app version to avoid, and now I can't even go to comment replies etc by clicking on the notification. these updates made the experience worse for the user, but since they make people more likely to see and subscribe to other people I guess that's fine by them
Every time I open Patreon the P icon reminds me of Boe and the auriad, Alden’s favourite kidney (chap 86) ‘…”Do you want to see me do it? We can always finish the movie later.” “No. I’m not interested at all.” Alden undid the buckle on his leather cuff bracelet and unwrapped his auriad. “Cool. Is that magic string?” Boe reached out curiously. Alden had been in the process of standing, and at the sight of a hand reaching for the auriad, he reflexively leaped backward. Only to fall over the coffee table full of snacks. “Ow…” he said, staring up at the ceiling. Boe stood with an amused look on his face. “Are you all right? Your Agility stats failed you hard just now.” Alden let his left leg sweep a chip bag to the floor as he yanked it off the table and sat back up. “Yeah. Sorry. That was—” Boe held up his hands. “I will not touch your magic string,” he said, the solemn voice at odds with his growing smile. Alden climbed to his feet. “I know. I know. That looked crazy. Maybe you can touch it. I just haven’t really thought about it, and I panicked.” “Is it delicate, or is it dangerous?” “It’s part of me. I’ve bonded with it, and we’re growing more intertwined as I practice.” “We? Does it have a personality?” Boe asked, lowering his hands. “No. That’s me projecting.” He looked down at his fingers. He was already absently weaving the auriad into the starting position for the elementary school graduation spell. “It’s an auriad. It’s a tool that feels sort of like an extra limb. But it’s also a deep expression of myself. Honestly, I’ve got a little bit of a security blanket thing going on with it, too.” He took a step closer and held the interlaced string out toward his friend. Boe regarded it cautiously. “It’s neat. It’s almost like liquid instead of string to the touch,” Alden said, holding it in front of his nose. “I promise not to fall over the coffee table again.” “I’m good. I’m not sure if we’re talking about me shaking hands with your soul or you offering to let me touch your favorite kidney, but either one sounds unnecessary just to satisfy my curiosity.” Alden shrugged and lowered the auriad. “Well, move Victor off the sofa then, and watch me and my favorite kidney do something cool.”…’
with deepening being on the table, Alden is inadvertently asking Stu to delay his affixation in order to let Alden catch up. In a roundabout way, Alden is directly playing into Stu's family's goals of preventing Stu's affixation. For now.
I understand the logic, but did Stu not say hes already nearing the limit of when he can bind? There's no way Alden can catch up that quickly and deepening and syncing up like that will take much longer time-scales. Also, we don't know if deepening requires binding as a first step or if any/every wizard has the option.
While we wait, does anyone know what chapter Orpheus sells the submerged? I can't find it and wanted to do some research.
CH101, anesidora time 7:15pm
Seeing how Joe sees his own infractions towards Alden and the Earth Contract made me have a better grasp of what Mother meant when she said "Very naughty wizard".
when Mother said "Very naughty wizard" I remind myself that she was speaking to a traumatized teenager. It made Alden smile, she was comforting him while not lying. What she meant was "hardened criminal wizard"
“If I were the Trimeritorious wizard Thenn-ar, my story would not end in this small place,” she said. “If my authority could carry me to wherever the broken heart of the universe lies, I would go there and study it until I understood how to fix it.” - Ro could just do that. I wonder if Alden reminds him that he could try to recover Thenns last words. They may go in that direction…
“Tell Ro ——— ——- ———.” She shook her head. “He always. ————-.” Tell Ro to be brave. He always chose the wrong risks. (Wishful thinking on my part for sure, but...)
So, will Alden finally update his fake profile? I assume he cannot shift to his real profile unless truly becoming a knight and thereby not being summonable ( is that a word?) any longer. If Stu can do this type of old magic, he may also be able to do the declared and vow ceremony for Alden. I am still not sure if that is actually necessary: mother offered him the knights outfit; he got recommended for the type of behavior the future knights were told about in the stories and he already is an avowed. So unless for acceptance by the wider community, what is lacking for him to be truly a knight?
Alden being an avowed feels fundamental to the story. Even if you can tilt your head a certain angle to see Alden as a knight, being an avowed is a much more entrenched label, and the tension between the two labels is an important theme in the story.
Next chapter is on my birthday!
happy almost birthday!!
so this being a fabulous point for it, I started a reread. and found this incredibly thematic line from Gorgon: “I’m not sure two people can be friends when one of them is incapable of presenting themselves as they truly are and the other is incapable of grasping it.” That was Alden and Stu this chapter -- except Stu *was* capable of grasping it, because he's exactly the friend Alden needs right now. If that was deliberate I'm super impressed one way and if it wasn't I'm super impressed another way.
That’s a grate find! I forgot about that line!
‘Ro getting the final word in a conversation that Jeneth-art’h thought had ended long ago.’ I very much hope that a retelling of this conversation is in our future.
My guess is that it went like this: Jeneth: We’re buddies, right? Come be my votary. Ro, squeaking: No! (trying to recover dignity) That would be a waste of my talents. J: A waste? What could be more important than fighting chaos? R: I’ll fight chaos too! But better. Smarter. I’ll learn the root causes and underlying principles. Of course we need some muscleheads for the front lines, but if we ever win it’ll be my way. I’m of much more use where I am. J, with puppy dog eyes: But… friendship?
This chapter certainly adds a few check marks to the "Artonans are Fae" hypothesis. I'm curious why Ro-den himself doesn't seem to realize this, though. I wonder if their Fae-like past is somewhat of a secret in modern times? It will be interesting to see just exactly what Stu's parents are going to be so mad about.
Ro-den seems too dismissive of things in general. “These old rituals from stories couldn’t possibly hurt me.” Almost every single one of his missteps that have led him to the present have been wild miscalculations where he refuses to acknowledge obvious potential dooms. Which is kinda ironic for a dude known for his “cowardice”
I love the explicit contrast of "those who reach" this chapter. Joe is always reaching for more out of greed, fear, and spite. All of the bad consequences he has suffered are because of recklessness, and because he did not actually think through the risks he was taking (I'm afraid you can't blame courage for anything. You have almost none of it). In contrast, Alden at the end of this chapter is reaching for the opposite reasons. He understands the risks, and understands how much it will change his life - he spent the last 200 or so chapters terrified by it. I love seeing Joe used as a foil like this and I'm interested to see his reaction, if he'll even understand the concept or just see Alden as an idiot wasting his life
Conveniently, Alden has already been commended for this mentality, Exceptional Bravery in the Absence of Obligation, and from Quinyeth “It’s not brave if you’re not fearful.” Alden may be risking his life, but he's willing to do it despite the consequences. Ro should would have seen it coming if he wasn't so focused on himself.
People keep ignoring this line: “But they’re going to be less upset about that than other things.” The demon skin is not important.
I suspect the demon skin is important enough to cause plenty of trouble, it’s just that what Stu did at the Old House, plus flexing on a professor, is more troublesome still.
Something I love about Ro-den is that he's done all of this to himself. if he was just a little less self-serving, or even a little willing to consider the *possibility* that he's wrong about himself and others, he'd be doing so, so much better. Instead just keeps arrogantly stepping on rakes. it's such an academic thing to do. As someone who might have been that kind of academic once, I might feel a little sorry for him if he wasn't getting the people who trusted him killed or traumatized.
as someone with a career in academia… now I’m worried about what I’m missing 😅 people in my field joke that you have to be a little bit arrogant to go into it, otherwise you can’t make it through the stress. if I am arrogant I’m pretty sure it’s offset by copious imposter syndrome, but what if I’m stepping on rakes??? how do I tell?? or is this not applicable bc I’m still working on my PhD?
Alden said he's going to try and get into that independent study of other worlds, making learning wordchains his project. The thing is, he can't ask Lute to spend even more time than already on tutoring. He needs someone else, and he's wary of the velras in general. The obvious solution is for Alden to go the the palace of unbreaking to study. Lute's boss is very enthusiastic about him because of the commendation, so I don't think it would be an issue to get an invitation to study a couple of times per week or so. And it would continue the Velra storyline, as he would likely encounter Aulia and Hazel
I hope Hazel gets lost in space I can only imagine the drama she’d stir up if she came back into the story lol
Alden to room mate chat: I’ve been released from my secrecy contract and can finally tell you the dark secrets to gaining unlimited power. Hayao: Yay! Lexi: No. Stay away from me. And Kon. Lute: The grand witch is going to devour your soul and force you to marry a velras. Maybe in reverse order if you’re unlucky.
Also is there a ss discord? I want to ask questions of ss nerds.
Oh! Authority. Overreach. Using vulnerable people versus protecting them. Nicely done :)
Question I've had for a while. There's 300 original, limitless skills. Does this mean all knights only choose from that first batch? That sounds very limiting and skills like Bearer or Maker of Narrow Ways seem to be less popular so are there a bunch of knights with the same skills running around?
What i understand is that the 300 original skills are only for avowed. Knights probably choose from a different list. Which I think explains the entruster limit, they don’t want a powerful avowed with a limitless skill being able to cause harm at will
What would happen to Worli Ro-den's life if Sina Stu-Art'h *did* become his lord and patron in truth, and not just passing trickery?
Ro-den no longer trusts his own judgement when it comes to his ambitions; he fears breaking things, breaking *people*, because of his own tendencies to recklessness and overestimating his own capacity to rescue situations that would not have escalated so far were it not for his own pride and assurance in his own abilities.
One thing I find interesting is Ro-den's exclamation that Stu shouldn't be able to do this ritual here: "We’re outside Vethedya. This isn’t your family’s land. Not in the memory of any living person’s deadest grandmother! " The wording is ambiguous, but doesn't this suggest that maybe this *was* perhaps Art'h land if you go back enough? The memory of the oldest grandmother of the living may be far shorter then than the memory of the trees...
Belonging to a place enables certain spells. It can be created or increased with time, rituals, and spell tools. • Chapter 203: “Sowing on prepared ground shouldn’t take any wizard my age long, unless conditions are strange. I have a strong advantage on this land because my family has lived here for many generations, but a member of the wizard class has to be able to provide food and protection from weather, pest, and infection to enter a university. • Chapter 231: “This home will recognize you!” Leeter-zis shouted. “This land’s fruit will fill your stomachs. The fruit of your body will fill this land. You will hold those you love between the Mother and the sky here. And everything that a home has been and can be will be yours.” • Chapter 261: “I think I know what that is, then,” said Stuart. “Masks like that increase your belonging within an environment. That one must be strong or designed specifically for sneakiness. You wouldn’t be able to shout in an ordinary one without being noticed. They’re a casting tool.” • Chapter 284: “This house is mine,” Stu-art’h said in an informative tone. “It’s freshly built of art’h wood, and it’s art’h land until dawn tomorrow, when I will formally gift it to the House of Healing. It’s part of a ritual I had custom designed to go with my walking stick. “Only Master Leeter-zis was suspicious, given my urgency and some of my more specific instructions. He received a portion of the materials as payment in exchange for helping me to arrange everything and doing excellent work. There were hundreds of volunteers he gathered here earlier today, calling me their wizard and blessing me as part of the ritual. I was so worried you or someone else inconvenient would hear about it before you arrived.”
Yet another reference to devouring authority when Joe was lying at the table, I think there’s going to be some uncomfortable parallels for Alden between Body Drainer, what the Art’hs would do to their enemies, and what Gorgon’s people would do in terms of transferring authority (and how like Gorgon, there are some vestiges of [bloodthirsty] personality in that lent power). And some fun new magic info in that the ability to do higher levels of ritualized magic requires the symbolic connections of ownership to be a living and current status. Especially since Joe might’ve implied Art’h’s were once Artonan royalty, that the specific call of “Not in the memory of any living person’s deadest grandmother” is presumably hundreds of years, maybe a millennium based on what Artonans give themselves for life extension. That’s a long time for magic to fade to be so sure of its impossibility. But we also know old magic gets stronger the longer that it is around, the Here-to-There wand and the submerger are both examples. It makes me think about the System - a resource world’s contract - contracts being maybe the oldest type of magic Artonans know, being around for hundred of years, how strong does it get? Long enough for Avowed to take over the governments of their worlds. Hundreds of years for the magic to settle in, and for the secrets that are kept from Avowed to slowly leak out and harmful effects to diffuse slowly. I can’t help but wonder if Joe spilling the beans about waiting to level is not only problem with the contract, I wonder if everyone was able to read the complete details of the contract from the Artonan POV, if a whole lot of humans, within living memory of what life before the contract realized they were overpowered by the Artonans in their negotiations, that there wasn’t good faith from both sides…would the agreement shatter? There’s some clues in Lute’s chapter but we’re a long ways out from knowing, but I think Alden's existence is going to cause a much much bigger reaction on the Artonan side than we think, especially with Aulia's eugenics program proving that some form of authority sensitivity is possible to develop in humans. I wonder if re-negotiations are going to be on the table in some hundreds of years.
I think the strength with age is expanding upon the concept of "haecceity" that contract 1 used when enabling Aldens ritual of return. (google definition: that property or quality of a thing by virtue of which it is unique or describable as ‘this one’). The longer something exists, the more the universe remembers it, making it easier for it to exert its authority to continue existing. Regarding the Contract(s), Ro implied to Alden that the first version of contract for a resource world was ~2,000 years ago, its unclear, but implied that the artona 1 contract was part of the same project. Artona 3 was found (and Ryeh-b'ts domesticated) more than 20,000 years ago, so modern artonan society has been going for a while. Sreeeakk's contract is still going strong after 1,000 years. The Elders Croak tale kind of implied that BRRR-BRRRRUUP-BRRWEEEEE-eeeeeeeemp! was contracting away his own abilities for the betterment of his tribe, and that was long before that, so its very possible that being a hn'tyon is the oldest "type of magic", if you want to think of it that way..
Next mission : Free Gorgon ! (I hope )
I just think it makes sense now that Alden can talk freely he can say Gorgon recommended the skill and from there figure out what’s going on with his chains and all
I need more roommates stuff they’re my favorite combo by a lot. Stu is always great but when it’s just him and Alden I feel like they match each other’s pace so closely and easily. It’s always engaging but I feel like that dynamic is even better when they’re chatting with a third person or group of ppl.
This chapter was a good example like they’re on the same page for most of it and they leave Ro-den in the dust it’s great. Here to there also had some nice moments. But I feel like the times when he interacts with Stu and another person/other people are comparatively fewer than with other major characters. Maybe I just have a selective memory? Idk give me more studen talking to ppl together
‘That process was successful to an unusual degree, possibly because the demon was so stable…for a demon.’ What if… What if the Artonans f*d up in a way that caused many/most/all of Gorgon’s people (except Gorgon) to become corrupted, to become demons? I vaguely remember that Gorgon was referred to as a demon by humans and his supervisor’s management. What if that’s not just prejudice/hyperbole but because his race became associated with demons? What if that’s demon skin is from one of his people? I can imagine that their magic users, at least, would have made powerful yet unusually stable demons. And Gorgon would have been left with a powerful reason to desire revenge.
Especially if the Artonans opening the way to their worlds brought the chaos.
Shut up I'm not crying You are crying
TFTC
Per the thanksgiving party, there should not be wine on triplanets? Perhaps Stu should say a different word?
Idk, wine being a grape only fermented alcoholic beverage is not even true for humans. Peach wine, rice wine, etc. having aliens who are obsessed with fruit make their own beverages and translating that as wine is perfectly fair imo. Champagne being novel to aliens also makes sense. Headcanon for the fruit obsessed aliens’ taste in alcohol: they like it sweeter than humans do, hence the shock of champagne being both dry and bubbly.
It feels like we're wrapping up a major act right now, doesn't it? Alden's choosing season has come to a close with his declaration to Stu, and Stu's season of shame and recompense around the mishnen accident also seems about to shift onto new footing. What do you all think this next act will include?
Stu may have some hefty debts to pay for the extraordinary magic tricks he just pulled to rescue Alden from his no longer wanted secrecy contract. Has Stu done enough to repay the trees with establishing a (temporary) outpost of new art'h land and a new art'h house about to be gifted to Yenu's House of Healing? The potent stick did appear to benefit from the ritual, so that does seem promising. What does Stu owe those hundreds of volunteers who just showed up earlier that day to proclaim him their wizard? Does he have any responsibilities to them now as their wizard, or was that a one day allegiance thing? An art'h claiming the title of lord, however temporarily intended, does not seem like something that will easily be set aside later. I think Stu may find the land remembers, and his house remembers, and his people are beginning to remember too. You wanted to be a changer of worlds, Stu - maybe the first world you will change will be your own homeworld.
I don't understand Joe's fear. How he weakened Earth's Contract, why what he told Alden about his skill was so naughty. If this has been explained, could someone provide a summary? Or is this a plot point that will be developed in due time?
Joe told Alden that he could refuse to affix and hold out agreeing to cooperate until the contract caved and gave him something better. This knowledge allows an avowed to get more out of a contract (costing it more in expenses) by refusing the contract temporarily (costing it income, which comes from acceptance and agreement) thereby weakening the contract. One avowed doing it isnt so bad, but earth's contract just had a disaster at Matadero and powerful artonans who dont like Joe would have an excuse to punish him more that might work with current heightened distress about earth. Also, if Alden tells others then it might actually weaken earth's contact. However, if you were asking about Joe's fear that Alden will die, on one hand we have knights who will throw him into chaos zones and on the other hand we have a small portion of wizards who are either criminals or irresponsible and existentialy terrified about Artonan supremacy being challenged by other races gaining the ability to use magic without their control and assistance.
I don't know if anyone has brought this up yet, but Feb 23rd Sleya had 3,636 paid members. The Other Side chapter got out on royalroad 10 days ago. Now it is up to 3,968 paid members.
Actually moving the story forward is popular. Who knew?
I am so intrigued by Ro's passing mention that poet couriers are A Thing and a mechanism wizards (and others?) use to send messengers to each other with particular flair. Wonder if Alden would be up for continuing to develop his poetical diction - maybe he could become a poet courier himself someday.
"Ro was considering blowing his nose on the pretentious invitation and sending it back by poet courier" is such a great line. Stu did a remarkable job of peeving Ro without ever quite stepping over into discourtesy, just by choice use of diction. You have a poet's instincts, Stu. No wonder you can praise to make a pear (or an Alden) blush, or goad to make a Master Wizard forget his wits.
Sleyca you are still so stuck in american mindset. I am reading the early chapters, and it is honestly the little things on Anesidora. That there is a car park in front of teleport center. That there is a car park in front of main entrance to that Rosa supermall. If your entire island is cluttered by highrises and mid rise residential buildings, the main transportation is running, walking, cycling and then public transport. Nobody needs a car, if your food is sold in convenience store 100m away. Even less, if most people are rich enough to eat out regularly. It is also suspicious that there is no subway. Since it is the most effective way to get a lot of people around the city and it is not noisy. It could just go above ground and use a bridge if the sea between the islands is inconveniently deep. And there is no tram. Very american way of thinking. Because there was a legit campaign calling trams obsolete, sponsored by car companies across all american cities, in order to rip off the trails and sell more cars. So now there are foced to call them lightrails instead, or they would never sell them. And they quite suck in comparison to passenger comfort in EU.
It could be true that it would feel more real if trams or subways had been mentioned and that an American mindset led to them not being mentioned so far (as far as I remember), but it is wild to say that having car parks at all is a flaw here.
At this rate, Alden is going to be famous not just on earth, but the artonas too, for the movement of food.
He's going to be preemptively banned from Australia on bio-smuggling charges.
Given how much danger Ro-den feels himself to be in, It's entirely possible that he might not notice the slip-up about the name of Alden's skill until after everyone has left. I'm sure everybody has had that moment when they are taking a shower or whatever and think of an excellent comeback to an argument that they lost hours ago.
treppenwitz
Does this mean that Ro-den still gets the demon skin? He technically did fulfill the demand: " Release him from that contract before the last of the sunlight fades from the sky. I will watch you do it. After it is done, you may have the hide."
Stu will certainly give him the demons skin. He's not the kind of person to promise something in bad faith.
Don’t know if anyone else has said this yet, but if Ro-den manages to figure out why the two of them are being so serious about this and why it’s so important to them, I’m betting instead of going and telling on them to some government wizarding authority, he goes straight to Stu’s parents. It’s the same tactic he used last time he had leverage over a bunch of kids. It would also probably be in his best interest to hand Alden over to the knight faction who’d probably prevent Alden from having his mind read by executioners. He could gain some assurances from them in exchange for his discretion, which is far more than he’d likely receive from anyone else. Because it involves Stu their offer would probably lean toward generous. Also the turnaround from being humiliated and outwitted to then putting the kids on the back foot would be delicious. That’s only if he figures it out though. I’d say there’s a slightly higher than 50/50 chance though, given how smart he is and the information he’s privy to that no one else has. He knows Alden was stuck in the lab with a kid wizard with kiddie wizard lessons, he knows he has an uncapped skill that’d make the knight path more worthwhile. He knows there’s something odd going on with Alden’s authority even if he didn’t initially think wizardry was in the card for him, even so. I’m also betting he’s capable of logically thinking out the particulars of how Alden even survived Thegund. The chances for his rank and level were extremely slim. Even after he leveled it would have been iffy. He probably assumed they holed up in the vault 24/7 to make it barely work and he’s kinda right. But if he considers the possibility of authority growth at the pace of a new wizard it might seem like his chances of survival were more realistic. Idk, I’m spitballing but based on how pleasant the end of this chapter was I’m almost certain the other shoe has yet to drop. And this could be the (admittedly quite large) pebble that triggers the avalanche. Sleyca tends to surprise me though, usually with a more perfect version of events than I could have imagined. Whatever happens I’m here for it.
If it were anyone but Stu involved, I could see this. But Stu's father is Jeneth-art'h, and I can see Ro-den's soul skulking at the very thought of going to Jeneth about anything related to this when he would also have to admit Jeneth's son was *absolutely right* about him. If Ro-den went to Stu's other parents, they would not welcome him kindly, I expect. And then Jeneth Would Know anyway.
Alden is going to be so excited to enthuse to Stu about that 'Burrow of the Raintail' spell, isn't he. I love Alden and Stu getting their nerd on together. <3
“I think I know what Alden’s skill may be,” he said. “But I will not ask you to tell me." Will we find out if Stu guessed correctly? Certainly enough hints had been given.
Given how smart we know Stu is. And how measured he is… I’d be willing to bet he’s right.
"Even if he had dared to unleash it, a socially incompetent child who went around squeaking about duty, shame, and evil wouldn’t be much of an opponent. And being the son of a man who Ro-den felt a deep, old twinge of indebtedness toward made him an even more inappropriate target. " Do we have any idea why Ro-den is indebted to the Primary?
We don't know the details yet! Apparently it was early in Jeneth's career (Ro-den later references Jeneth being "a young knight" at the time), and apparently they had some conversation at the time that got sufficiently under Ro-den's skin that he jumped at the chance of getting in better final words decades later.
This setup was really smart of Stu. And Joe’s behavior was disappointing in many ways. I expected him to be cleverer than this, but he had a lot of emotions interfering with his ability to make good judgements.
I agree. THen again does a wizard who is a bit colder have loud sex with a Grand Senator's wife while suppresing her contract?
I am dearly hoping that during the next chapter Stuart learns the import of the phrase "Sincere Best."
Ironically, it's that very phrase that got Joe in trouble: doing his sincere best required breaking "proper discretion."
I was nervous about this chapter and decided to wait for the full thing. I’m glad I did. With both parts together, it is an exciting chapter.
I liked it better separately because the break point left Joe's narrative ambiguous allowing us to contemplate/debate his motives one more time before the reveal.
I am having a lot of feelings about Alden finally acting to express his sense of betrayal at Ro-den's abuse of his trust, and Alden being empowered to protect himself against Ro-den *because Stu gave Alden a chair at Stu's table.*
Stu established his own table of sustenance and truth to bring Ro-den to account, and gave Alden a seat from his table of power to protect himself with. That is *such* a fae solution to a modern NDA conundrum.
I love this book so much. we've been having many chapters recently that give the feeling of "finally, let's go, finally!" and the long built catharsis is definitely worth all the wait for this
Also apologies I can’t remember who posted about esh breaking contracts in a previous chapter. And I thought he was just good at removing inactive parts. Apparently he can fully remove them and I undersold his ability
I guess he can only do it if there is a crack-a wish to break it, something unequal, or a little mistake in the magic weave
Will Stu finally feel ready to retire his archaic hairdo of shame after this? Stu adopted his positioning as someone working on restoring his honor and understanding his errors to avoid repeating them after the errors he and his classmates made following Jel-nor's led lead them to abusing Alden's service and forcing Alden to call in Worli Ro-den as *more trustworthy and competent* to defend him and to rescue Stu from the consequences of his own folly. All of Stu's hoped for friends were subsequently forced into unfavorable contracts with Ro-den while Stu alone was spared.
And this abuse of Alden's service was fundamentally caused by Stu's own errors! Stu had arrogantly challenged a mishnen in an unfavorable battlefield (the summoning pool) and found himself utterly outclassed and outmatched, losing most of his leg in the process. He thought he understood his opponent and got harshly schooled otherwise. *Worli Ro-den* rightly lectured him on the moral flaws in his conduct, that's how badly Stu messed up. Alden bravely called Stu a prick, but then he also held him safe, and give him loving lies, and alternately insulted and encouraged him from a position of care even when Stu literally could not hear him. Alden took the burden of Stu's error upon himself and gave Stu compassion and grace instead.
I wonder if the high of this encounter will be enough to let Stu affix. Contra: - his family‘s reaction to the trap and Ro might be able to to dim the happiness - Stu himself said he wants to wait to let Alden and himself adjust But one can hope! At the end of this chapter Stu should have so much trust in himself, so much stability that it might be a good moment.
I think he wants to FINALLY discuss Alden's skill, see what Alden might conceivably need or want on his next binding, and only then go to his own. If there's one thing Stu's not going to risk by leaving it undone before his first binding, it's preparation for the well-being of his brother on the path of highest onus together. But the confidence? I think the confidence will be there when that's done.
I love that Ro-den unknowingly compliments stu’s spell work on the trap laid for him lol. Also, I loved Stu in this chapter. This seems like a great coming out party for Stu-arth, the knight. Everyone always focuses so much on his circumstances that they can’t see the person, or in this case, a highly capable wizard with some of the best training money can buy, and some that money can’t.
I actually on a re-read thought it was possibly Leeter-zis’ name on the floor as responsible for the spell work - Stu’s name would have been recognizable by Joe. Not really clear though!
The setting is also appropriate for Stu following Yenu’s path of seeing the right thing to do for someone else and boldly doing it - in her case, kidnapping Stu, in his case, thwarting a powerful professor. In both cases, I think Stu’s dad will end up supportive…feeling a mixture of pride for Stu’s growth and the twinges of the onset of a probable migraine.
Alden many years from now having become a knight and merchant “I am Alden Thorn maker of Baskets - Bearer of Fruit”
Alden needs to set up business exporting fruits to the Rapport and importing meat petal. He'd so make a killing!
And he gets almost completely free (to him) teleports due to Stuart and the Rapports/Mother. So he could literally spend thousands of argold on fruit, trade it at the rapports. get immediate profit. *that’s always sunny conspiracy board of business*
On rereading this I realized we subtley got an answer to a mystery from back in LeafSong. Joe has all his pocket foods because the pockets invalidate most things like the food container artifacts that Stu brought with him by changing the container to be his pocket.
That, but he also knows it's confusing and socially inappropriate so he uses that deliberately to throw people off balance.
this is super much unrelated to the chapter, but if I had access to the contract and was forced to have it follow me around and spy on me all the time, I would also make it remind me of everything. I’m so forgetful. I need reminders of every little thing. it would be so useful for it to say, “now’s a good time to text [x] back,” “I see you’re going to [y], you wanted to bring [z] some [a] then next time you were there,” “based on previous analysis wherein you cannot focus on anything to save your life, now would be a good time to start working on [b].” (I’m sure they have better ADHD meds, or maybe I can hire a sway, but my perception of the focus-earrings is that they don’t necessarily make you get things done faster as opposed to getting them done really well, so they wouldn’t be the best for projects under time constraints; I have still wished on several occasions that I have them, though.)
oh, I’m sure I could ask it to poke me when I’m getting off track.
Alden targeted Stu with his skill ‘just in case’, & not too much later Stu entrusted Alden with a chair for protection. 1) Would entrusting him with the chair have worked if Alden hadn’t already targeted Stu as his entrustor? 2) Can Stu feel & recognize when Alden targets him, like Alden feels it when other Avowed target him with their skills? 3) If Stu can, is it because anyone with an authority sense can or because he has an especially sensitive authority sense?
I think it's: 1. No 2. Yes 3. Everyone with authority sense
I'd like to imagine that Jeneth-art'h liked to split wood before he affixed. He just chose the skill that would let him split wood better. The fairness aspect and planet-cracking potential just happened to be nice bonuses. (And before someone says it, "Yes, I did read the part about him planing timber by hand. That's the joke.")
unfortunately i think it would be the opposite, and its for after affixing, or just general thinking time, like when he was gone for a week after Stu declared. Before he affixed he was in the "training facility" that produced knights and probably wasn't allowed to just wander the forrests.
Sleyca symmetry strikes again! When Alden learned of Stu-art’h’s skill back in chap 162 seed candy and smashed melon also featured, along with the stating of the skill. Alden is not the only one mistreating melons! “… As Emban-art’h walked away, past the line of objects, Stuart’s chant became a breathy shriek that made the hair on Alden’s arms stand up… Alden watched… The wood block closest to where Stuart stood broke open with a crack that was followed by a series of cracks and pops from the other wood blocks. Then the stone one shattered and the sackfruit exploded gloriously, spattering Emban-art’h with red goo…” (Stu says to Alden) “That’s going to be one of the things I can do with my skill—The Maker of Narrow Ways.”
By the Mother, you’ve outdone me again, Alden! You didn’t even need to chant a spell to explode that melon!
"Alden caught a twitch of motion near Ro-den’s right hand and saw the sheen of a string slinking out of his sleeve to wrap around his thumb. “Auriad!” he shouted. And since he couldn’t get between Ro-den and Stuart with his chair shield in time, he flung the only other thing he had. A cantaloupe shot across the room and slammed into Ro-den’s face." This is the second time Alden's reflexively used food in a violent situation. If Stu wants to keep eating Alden's offerings, he's gonna have to snag it from him as soon as he sees it; before it can be destroyed!
Alden needs to practice throwing less-vauable items, like spell ingredients.
„Every infraction…would be placed on Ro and given nine times the proper weight.“ Esh‘s Nine-Edged Son. I wonder if the number nine has special meaning for the Altonan‘s.
Three is important. They have triplets a lot, and like to have tree-fold relations. Alden was also given two other slots for evacuation. So it makes sense three times three would be thrice as special.
A small detail, but we got intruduced the name of the species who lost their home world to chaos. Are the Illket gorgon's race?
I'm fairly sure the Ilket are a different race from Gorgon. Sorry I can't point to specific links; that's just my impressions after a couple of read-throughs of the story.
Go Stewey!
It's so validating and satisfying that Stu's preparations did end up being needed. Roden did avoid Stu's calls, he did lie, he semi-attacked Alden and tried to trick and manipulate both of them, and he even considered trying to mess with Stu's mind for a minute. Stu did so good. And it was so great to get to see Ro-den's pov for this and know for a fact that he didn't think about Alden at all. He made Alden second guess himself at the end, but we know he was pure manipulation and purely focused on himself. I'm sure he did regret getting Alden stuck on Thegund, but his thoughts in this chapter were purely for himself.
Yep, theres no mistake he released alden only because he knew he was completely cornered. His only chance of regaining control of the situation at that point wa appealing to alden for co-operation.
These moments don't feel particularly similar, but I like this pairing: She leaned over and put her mouth close to the side of his neck. A hand rested against his cheek. He expected her lips to touch his throat, but instead her words cut his ears. “If I were the Trimeritorious wizard Thenn-ar, my story would not end in this small place,” she said. -- Stu-art’h leaned forward, as if he might whisper, but instead, he suddenly spoke like he was trying to hammer Ro over the head with the words. “Samuel Alden Thorn.”
I do hope that there is some spell to recover Thenn-ar's words. Not because Joe deserves to hear them so much as she deserves for them to be heard.
The way it was used this chapter, the ritual deceives a guest into a not-so-friendly interrogation. It might be a great social blunder to the art'hs - *if* it's use comes out. But neither Joe nor the boys have any incentive to talk. Yes, Ro-den may want the leverage. Right now, without the contract, using it would be mutually assured destruction. If he talks Alden into re-contracting, he may feel better protected. He may even be tempted to try mild extortion. Mild because he still believes in his family's eyes Stu is the Crown Prince, not a sickly child to be talked out of knighthood. But this has already started changing. Ro-den will eventually get the importance of Stu asking an Awoved - of all people - if someone used magic on them (not if they feel well or *think* magic was used). He is clever and self serving enough to pressure Alden with this knowledge and the weight of what Stu just did. On the other hand, behind all the wary denial lurks a decent person and I do hope this person is not yet smothered by drug abuse and depression. So the bets are off if Alden will give away too much in the private conversation next chapter (he may wonder why still private?), if and how the Gremlin will interfere in a conversational bargain that is not yet a contract. Or if, somehow, the conversation will go back to Thenn who is now much on Ro-den's mind and his regrets will let some of his younger, more idealistic self resurface and make him a teacher again and reluctant ally. All interesting questions with real stakes. Personally I believe Ro-den is a character set up for long-term participation in the story who just got invaluable resources. So they *will* come to some sort of agreement. As a bonus, we may see Alden asking Yenu to help him remember Thenn's dying words. Being on camp Joe is more interesting than ever 😀
I don't think the ritual will be a social blunder? Ro-den was not "deceived" he received multiple warnings and was there under an explicit invitation to speak truth. He's only punishable after he violated that premise and lied multiple times.
I love how Stu’s oddness laid the groundwork for his success. His super formal invitation and greeting, his strange choice of meeting place, the random furniture: all components of the trap he was setting. And Ro-den looked at all of that and was like “lol what a weirdo.”
Also, if Stu’s parents learn the full story of what Ro-den did, the headline for them might not be “Stu went full tree-mode on his teacher over some inconvenient secrecy contract with his awkward avowed friend.” The headline might be “Stu went full tree-mode against a powerful wizard and uncovered a crime that could have destabilized a resource world’s contract.” It’s possible they won’t disapprove of Stu’s actions that much after all. Veln (sp?) in particular seemed proud of Stu’s decisive action against Oglet after the here-to-there.
So does Ro get the preserved demon skin or not? Stu first says: “So. I’ve also brought payment. If you do what I ask of your own free will, I will give you that chest.” Joe, needless to day, is under great duress when he releases Alden. Does that count as 'of your own free will' if his arm is being twisted so hard? However, a few paragraphs later, Stu says: “...Release him from that contract before the last of the sunlight fades from the sky. I will watch you do it. After it is done, you may have the hide. And the chest that contains it.” I am inclined to think that Ro will get the demon hide. However, Questions Will Be Asked in the art'h household as to why Stu traded away something so very valuable for something as worthless as an Avowed friend. So Alden's secret is about to spread.
Re: Alden's worth as an Avowed friend. If they were treating Stu as an actual knight hopeful, and Alden as his actual friend, would they feel the same way? Longer version in one of @Heather White's threads a bit down.
Awww
> “If you eat and drink from them with another person, you may hide secrets but not speak lies. ” > “I think I know what Alden’s skill may be,” he said. “But I will not ask you to tell me. It would be too easy now to find out based on how you lie. And unlike some people, I respect his right to do and say what he wants about his own self.” This may be a light bluff. The ritual might have been upset with *Stu* if he had outright made Ro-den spill secrets.
Ro-den was invited to answer in truth, and he accepted that invitation. Why would Stu's asking that question have gone against the ritual? In case it makes a difference, that first enchantment was on the bowl, and doesn't come into play at all. The ritual has different terms, even if they might be similar.
Yenu needs to help Alden recall what Thenn said to Ro now. I think he needs to hear it to push him to a better path
That would be awesome, but I don't think human memory would work well with that because our brains replace things we don't know or understand with things that we do. So I don't think it's possible for Yenu to pull a fragmented memory of a couple sentences of a difficult foreign language, that Alden didn't speak at the time of hearing, forward accurately.
I quite like that we haven't been able to poke any holes in the planning and execution of this plan of Stu's (at least I haven't seen any?). It really is a testament to Sleyca that the story is incredibly well thought out and planned.
I think part of its genius is that all the theoretical flaws the plan had, were baked into his opponents weaknesses. Meaning that a respectable wizard who went to the meeting friendly or warily might have been in the right mindset to notice the oddities. But Ro-den is known to be arrogant and dismissive. So all the direct references to what Stuart was doing “I’m trying to get you to reveal secrets” was treated with disdain. Stu knew his enemy perfectly. and Ro-den discovered very quickly he didn’t really know Stu lol
I was wondering why Stu had been thinking his family would never trust him after this. Stealing the magic demon skin too valuable/valued to have been trusted to any crafter in the decades since its harvesting? Yeah, Stu, they are definitely revoking your basement privileges.
Let's see... * The demon hide was insanely valuable, even by Art'h standards. * The wood chopped by The Primary is also probably incredibly valuable. * The stick Stu imbued with power via Art'h ancestral rituals is noisy enough that Ro-den thought it might be borrowed. He probably shouldn't have it. * The enchantments on the house are impressive enough that Leeter-zis is probably going to have an excellent evaluation. That can't be cheap either. * Stu isn't even a full Knight yet. * Alden is considered (at the moment) just a human avowed. Stu didn't talk to anyone in his family before attempting this plan because he knew none of them would agree to it. Stu went behind his family's back to trade irreplaceable treasures and expensive resources for something no one else in his family would deem at all valuable. And he did it behind their backs. That's one hell of a breach of trust.
‘You threw fruit at his head.’ ‘Why did you throw fruit at me?’ While Alden understands far more about Artonan motives & priorities than the younger generation of art’h knights believe, some of his actions demonstrate that he doesn’t yet understand everything of importance. (Like the absolute sanctity of fruit on the Triplanets.)
The throwing of fruit at undesirables is a time-honored human tradition.
What a glorious chapter! And that turn around from Alden at the end! I love it so much! Thank you, Sleyca. <3
Ro-den never told Alden the name of his skill. I wonder if he’ll think to be suspicious about how Alden knows
He did tell Alden the number, which was basically the same thing. I can go back to that chapter, but it seemed like Ro-den expected Alden to be able to get the actual name pretty easily once he had the right starting point.
Joe is so smart, but he's also a champion of self-delusion. He tells himself that working the angles and always figuring out how to take advantage of others is just the way the world works, but he's really scrambling frantically because he's can't admit how terrified he really is, deep down. Edit (posted too soon): The scene where he wouldn't even let himself enjoy his afterglow is too important to be glossed over. Even with a partner he apparently loved and trusted, he couldn't let himself just relax and enjoy being with her for five minutes. It made him too vulnerable. He told himself it was efficient, but she called it when she called him a coward.
I would have liked it if Alden said something that helped Joe see how much of his failure here is his own fault. Maybe something like "I would have been satisfied with permission to talk to Stu about my skill and I've been trying to reach you to discuss that but you keep refusing my calls. Thanks for completely removing the oath, though."
I really like reading the comments
Me too.
Stu: "Lay down your king sir." Joe: ".. the impudence." "Lay down your king" ".... I still have time" " I said lay down your-" *CANTALOUPE TO THE FACE* Alden: "Did we win?!"
Is this how Magnus loses? Dripping cantaloupe juices?
I was really bothered by that “my skill is “ line instead of the expected “ I am the bearer of all burdens “ like knights introduce themselves then I realized Roden was still there and if Alden introduced himself that way it would be weird from roden s perspective
After all the funny comments about that melon, I still can't come up with a good twist on the Lord of the Rings joke. You know the one: Door: SPEAK FRIEND AND ENTER Gandalf: It's very simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password. Frodo: What's the elvish word for friend? Gandalf: Mellon. Door: OPENS Gandalf: pikachu.png
Best attempts so far include something like "THROW FRIEND AND ENTER". Stu is very confused when the melon is thrown, instead of himself.
The Glamour was so good, it pushed all these things into motion, across planets. All so Earth gets wizardry. In comparison, our favorite Lute player losing an eye is nothing in comparison. No wonder word chain users are revered among Artonans.
*Gloss - but yes, all bow down in reverence to the power of the Gloss! This shall be our new religion!
Coming to this late, but it really jumps at me that Alden knows things about his skill that Ro-den didn't tell him and never would have considered telling him. The knowledge he did share freed up Mother beautifully. EDITED but can't use new lines: he knows things about both his skill and his skull, thanks autocorrect!
This is a very good point. Ro-den can be called many things, but arrogant takes up slots #1-10. He probably does have some context we’re still missing on why revealing BOAB is dangerous to Alden, but much more importantly he physically cannot conceptualize the idea of Alden having learned important information about his skill outside of Ro-den. If Alden actually mentions his authority sense and wizardry we might get to see if Artonans (split-brained alien stuff and all) are capable of having strokes.
While Alden being a Knight already is important information Joe doesn’t have Two more important pieces of information is the Fourth General burned a Mother favor for Alden and Alden lets Mother solve the Stu problem Mother is restricted in what she can do, but what she can do is nothing Joe can anticipate, or hope to counter Joe may be smart, but Mother literally has access to all thoughts, and knowledge, on Artonan I 🎬
> Mother literally has access to all thoughts, and knowledge, on Artonan I I thought only of contracted people? Thats why wizards need tools to access the system.
HUZZAH
Thinking about some of the implications and possibilities of the contract being gone: -most obviously, and most importantly, telling Stu everything! pursuing an authority bond! -getting Stu's help with understanding his skill and doing cool things like the water shield with an authority "boost" of help. He never got to circle back to that and now he can! -Alden can tell Boe whatever he wants now -Alden can tell *anyone* - I don't think he would do this any time soon, but as an example, he could tell the school "the artonans told me my skill is topless" if they get antsy about rabbit skills. The skill disappeared from the rabbit list after he took it, so that theoretically shouldn't have too big of an impact. Or just say they said it was a level 50 top or something. -when it becomes relevant (after telling more people he is a wizard/knight), Alden can tell other knights and Stu's family about his skill -Alden and Stu could bury Ro-den just like Ro-den was afraid of -the fact that Alden is good at proper discretion means I doubt he'll say much to people other than Stu and Boe about any of it, but that also means he has something huge to hold over Ro-den anytime he wants, and Ro-den very much knows it. -Ro-den will want to protect himself in some way from that possibility. Will he try to take down Alden (and Stu??) in some way to stop him from doing it? Will he try to get Alden to agree to a new, less restrictive contract to limit who and how much he says again (would have to be in exchange for something very very good, and he's got to know he's bound to failure regardless). -Alden can also talk now about what he was really doing on Thegund. He can tell Boe about the people he saved and how and why, or his roommates, or Connie, or Yenu-pezth... He could talk to the authorities about what Ro-den made him bring back from the lab... What else am I missing?
Alden can ask his human gym teachers like Waker for more specific help with how he's working his mindset for Bearer - he can reference 'bearing' as something true about what he's thinking about even if he chooses not to expect the significance of his word choice. He can tell Stu what he was thinking about when he managed to hold Zeridee solely with his authority instead of his arms. He can also tell Stu what he's been afraid of around the apparent geas not to let his burden down when he's in 'ultra' Bearer mode, and how worried the suffering makes the skill stronger component makes him feel. Alden now has even more to worry about a Sway reading from his mind than before, and urgent need to find some alternate method to protect the sanctity of his thoughts before Esh-erdi's instant teleport contingency actually gets needed.
Looking through the comments we are all high on this chapter! It's a casting high! One that Sleyca shared with us! Like Stu and Alden and the beans spell.
Soooo satisfying
This was all so perfect, but it also has me wondering what stopped Stu from going to Esh-erdi in the first place. There must be a strong reason, because he wouldn't have gone this route (blood loss, permanent loss of trust from parents, giving away a demon, tons of effort and resources...) if it were that easy to get Esh to do it. I don't *think* he was lying to Roden about the option. I think he was implied to still be sitting at the table, and him breaking the truth-telling magic seems like it might have stopped him from knowing whether Roden lied later on? I'd be into it if it were a lie though. Anyone able to think of other reasons that asking Esh could have been even more costly or unlikely to work?
I think it might just be that Alden wants to keep his authority sense quiet. Even though Esh might break the contract without asking questions, he might ask about the "emergency" after. This could reveal Alden's abilities or at least bring more attention to their situation. That's my guess anyway.
Don't let anyone convince you Alden's just some kid doing his best. At his core, he's a dirty, down-low fruit flinger.
Why do Alden and Stu have to have a big wedding? Because they cantaloupe !
What am I thinking? I might drop dead if I actually try to harm the Primary’s son. At least he's not a complete idiot:)
This places him well above Bash-nor
I forgot how you're supposed to pronounce Hn'tyon. That said, I am just ignoring the y when reading it. Because if I pronounce the y it sounds way too close to the german word for doggy (as in the diminutive of dog). Just can't take them seriously if I read it like than. Hn'ton however has great gravitas to me cause thats how I've read it since day one. :)
In my mind I say it "Hin (rhyming with jin) ton"
I know its small, it's probably an insignificant change, but I think it would have been so much cooler if the ending was: "You and me. Let's go kill demons it." instead of the other way around.
Is that a reference to something? Minsc? I don’t get it.
Oh this is so satisfying. Bless you Sleyca. I absolutely cannot wait for the next arc.
Narratively bad things are in the future from this high point, but what an incredible high.
I for one am very excited that super supportive has turned into the greatest asexual lovestory ever written
YES THANK YOU
Thennar tells Joe "But I don’t think you are ‘reaching for more’ in the way you imagine…and I’m afraid you can’t blame courage for anything. You have almost none of it.” I believe she is telling him his reach is for merit and accolades, so it is not courage that fuels him but rather ambition and pride. She stated that she would find the broken heart of the universe and fix it. We know that Joe has had interactions with the Primary in the past, was he considering being a knight but lacked the courage? She gives him credit for the research he has done but eggs him on to complete a more dire task with his talents. Whats even more interesting is that Alden uses Joe's own words against him " I’m reaching for something important to me, so if I die trying to grab onto it…. I want to live, but I’m still going to reach.” While Joe reaches for petty things and fails to grasp them, Alden reaches for things on the path of the highest onus and his failure would be a heros death.
I failed to catch that it’s practically Ro-den’s words that Alden uses. Feck that’s so good.
This chapter is most beautiful
“Stuart, thank you so much for this. My skill is an old one called The Bearer of All Burdens.” He felt his grin widening as the words came without any resistance. “I’ve really, really wanted to tell you about it. Thank you for figuring out I needed help. Let’s go kill demons with it. You and me.” Really really hoping the next chapter contains a Ro POV and his thought process upon hearing this whole thing
- Alden knows the true name of his skill? Who told him? - why are they acting so familiar, what have I missed? - why does he want to go kill demons? - is he a knight? Has he already undergone a torturous affixation? The first human knight, and it’s my fault? (Note that Joe’s previous thoughts mentioned that even he considers it immoral to guide someone to knighthood when they don’t have the authority sense needed to give informed consent)
The informant would be proud of Stuart for how he handled Roden
I hadn't thought about that, but it's true. Stu defeated a superior opponent through information control, guile, and by predicting his opponent well enough to prepare countermeasures that turned out to be largely necessary.
Chekhov’s firing squad is letting loose, and every one is aimed at Ro
The parallel's so profound. Both Alden and Ro-den are reaching for things that seem impossible given their backgrounds. Alden is motivated by a meaningful goal that goes beyond himself (everything he's gained so far came from his courage and his choice to be kind). He built that short but concrete tower of confidence from ground up. Arjun's snowball was a symbolic death, the moment he accepted the burden and the worst possible consequences to become the person he wants to be and protect what he can't afford to lose: Stu, Kibby, etc. In a way, he's reaching to be himself. Ro-den, by contrast, has no real purpose, acts for his own benefit and refuses to face the consequences. He keeps looking upward, but never down at the ground, reality, or consequences beneath him. He has never truly carried his burden, or even faced it. He reached for so much but ran from himself.
The part where he thinks Alden is being willfully ignorant about how things really work shows his mindset. He's so ready to use any excuse to cover his own venal behavior that he assumes anyone who isn't grasping for anything they can get is a naive idiot. The thing is, he's too smart not to know that he's wrong, but he can't admit it. Doing so would force him to admit that he's not the misunderstood hero he's always tried to convince himself he is, and he just can't face that.
Note that at this point Ro is not quite yet aware that Alden is a knight and has authority sense. The comment about him dying soon may be a guess at an average case scenario of someone not knowing what they’re getting into (ie massive pain every time they affix, then spending their working hours in a dangerous chaos zone)
All true except the knight bit . Alden is a pre-knight. He needs to gain power, learn some spells regarding feeding and protecting a village, and swear oaths. Only then will he be a knight.
I'm going to have to second every single comment on how Stu pulling this off flawlessly is indeed some fairy tale nonsense. Love it, love the way his brain works. He pulled it off flawlessly.
Total war doctrine
i love that Ro-den calls out the enchanted dishes as the sort of ridiculous thing that only works in stories, and then he falls prey to the ACTUAL oldest trick in stories, the ritual courtesy trap should have learned from Cuchulain when you had the chance! get parleyed on, nerd!
Wish I could double like just for the last sentence alone
If Joe is older than the demon parts that nobody alive knows how to fix, then he must be *ancient*
Yes... only now I realize maybe Joe's significantly older than the Primary...or maybe the case is ancient, not the demon part
Good on Alden to just say it and fully trust his ultimate entruster
I'm fascinated to see Worli Ro-den so far up bullshit creek without a paddle that he doesn't even seem to register how much he's been lying to himself as well as other people. You could be one of the people who reach, Ro. You are capable of courage if you dare admit to yourself that fear has driven you harder than ambition. Bravery isn't the absence of fear; bravery is choosing to act anyway, instead of react by fear's lead.
I suspect that Ro-den has stopped reaching. I hope he finds a better goal to reach for soon.
This will be the foundation of a legendary hero party, who will some day vanquish the greatest demons of Chaos. I wonder who might join next?
Haoyu!
This is going to be so satisfying watching Joe go, "This will never work!" (Thinking that Stuart will either become a knight or die) and have him slowly or quickly be proven wrong.
Peak.
Alden inspired Stu to rescue Klerms, and Stu has pulled the Klerm Alden out of the Carnivorous Plant Ro. Things are coming full circle.
PEAAAAAAK I’m loving this post-Snow arc and all of the release from EVERY bit of tension that’s been built up for so long
Aww so cute... wait... "Let’s go kill demons with it. You and me.”
So, we are in agreement Roden will figure out Alden is a Knight right? And then become his tutor? Make it look to the outside world as if he is making up for his sins, but in reality, Roden is joining the Knight Rabbit Team as an (unofficial) voltary? I’m glad there are literally no other possible options
I hope so. Alden and Stuart could really use an adult to rely on and while that's not Roden, not yet anyway, they could still help each other.
I'm going to be late to work because of this, but it was oh so very good. Thank you :D
And also, Roden’s sadness upon realizing Alden doesn’t trust him, and interestingly, Roden NOT knowing Alden and Stu are closer than brothers would contribute to that. If Roden knew, maybe he would understand Alden’s defensiveness
Pretty sure that was emotional manipulation, not honest sadness at the loss of a relationship.
SLEYCA! I AM FUCKING CRYING FROM JOY
Oh yeah baby
“The boy stood and greeted Ro like he was inviting him into the Primary’s own home.” Little does Ro know how accurate that observation was.
Is Alden wearing his wizard rings? Because 'Lets fight demons together' is such a knightly announcement that I could expect Ro-den to put it together given a few clues
Was this everything I wanted and more? Yes, yes it was. Thank you, Sleyca
Sleyca: Gives us an epic beatdown of Ro-den. Also Sleyca: At the last second does a surprise switch and reveals that this has all along been a crucible... to test STU! >>>“No he won’t!” Stuart said, his voice piercing. >>>“Is he lying?” Alden asked. He didn’t think Ro-den was. It feels bad to hear it. It’s scary. >>>“He’s not,” said Stuart, “but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He—” >>>“I’m much more experienced than either of you,” said Ro-den. “So now would be a good time to hear me. And believe me.” >>>Alden thought. It wasn’t the kind of warning you could ignore without any thought. >>>“I believe you’ve told the truth,” he said finally. “I believe there’s more than a small chance you’re right.” >>>Stuart made a noise. >>>Ro-den nodded and rose from his seat, already turning toward the door like he’d lead the way outside for their talk. >>>“It’s just that it doesn’t change my mind about anything,” Alden continued. Look at the timing here. This was a major life trial. Stuart passed. >>> Alden thought. [...] “I believe you’ve told the truth,” he said finally. [...] Ro-den nodded and rose from his seat, already turning toward the door [...] Alden continued. I'm probably free associating at this point, but it reminds me of (book) Faramir. “We are truth-speakers, we men of Gondor. We boast seldom, and then perform, or die in the attempt. "Not if I found it on the highway would I take it," I said. Even if I were such a man as to desire this thing, and even though I knew not clearly what this thing was when I spoke, still I should take those words as a vow, and be held by them.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Chapter 148 (Everyone, Everywhere II): > If I gave them his old room, I don’t think he’d mind. > She wasn’t sure she’d know if he did. He’d never been a kid that would make you feel too bad. He would put up with a whole lot before he even showed he was annoyed. > Which should’ve made me put in more effort. Not less. Chapter 247 (A Pounce): > I’ve realized that I don’t know what happens when Stu gets tired of fighting. We’ve never been here before, and I don’t think I like it. It’s all so far away from where it’s supposed to be.
Oh. I hadn't drawn this parallel, but you're right. Stu and Alden are both patiently self-sacrificing, to the point where people come to expect it. But they do have a breaking point, and their retributions are frighteningly well thought-out and efficient.
Ok Ro-Den pretty clearly has a contract with the Primary and I am fascinated what exactly it covers and when he got it. Break out the tinfoil hats!
References that come to mind after a quick reread of the chapter: Ro-Den remembers contracts he didn't get the better of, Ro-Den references the fact that he is not aiming to harm Stu but to instruct him, and Ro-Den actually thinks "if I try to hurt Stu, I might die on the spot." My assumptions from this is that Jeneth at some point made a contract with Ro-Den which involved safety for his family and which Ro-Den resents, hence his desire to get one over on Jeneth with Alden's contract. How this came to be is wide open for speculation, but those are the tenets I think are absolutely there.
This is an amazing chapter! I do agree that having the two parts as one works better. It makes it greater than the sum of its parts. :thumbsup:
There is something truly beautiful about his entruster removing a burden from the Bearer of all Burdens. It's such a fantastic symbolic that he isn't there to just bear them for those he chooses to, but that they may also lift his. Not just the ones he was entrusted with either.
Yessssssss. Ro-den wanted to hoard the knowledge of Alden's skill and full potential to himself until he could gift it (and what Alden did to grow it using Ro's teachings) to the Primary. Stu wants to give Alden everything so Alden has as much choice as possible about what burdens are worthy of his bearing. Stu already understands more about Alden, how Alden's skill works, and what Alden needs from trustworthy entrusters than Ro despite Ro-den having half a year's advantage of knowing and prior experiments with Alden to draw on.
Joe truly believes that if the wizarding community knows that Alen has Bearer of all Burdens that Alden will die/ be killed in the next 15 or so years...... The question on the table is why? Why is this knowledge so dangerous to Alden's health..... My guess is that Joe knows that eventually a selfish wizard will force Alden to accept a fatal burden...... It doesn't even have to be a selfish one..... A contract could decide that the value of the life of a critical wizard outweighs the value of the life of a Rabbit Avowed.... Possible fatal burdens? Cancer? Demon infection? Unwillingness to endure the pain of affections? Joe really does believe that Alden is doomed, even from the beginning, and thus was callus in his long-term responsibilities to Alden.
Two thoughts: They probably think the unlimited growth skills are strong enough they can be used in chaos areas so his summons will be much much more dangerous. More importantly IMO, Joe revealed *how* to level those skills and leverage the contract to do so. This being revealed is probably both bad for the Earth contract by being more expensive and may erode humanity's trust in said contract. This would be a massive concern for the Artonan govornment and liable to get Alden summend into the path of a a bullet.
YESSSSSSS GO STUART LETS GOOO
Stu-art’h blinked and touched the silky gray tunic he wore. “This is Father’s, but he doesn’t mind sharing clothes for special occasions.” Did Stuart wear this tunic at another time? It seems familiar although my brain could be making things up.
Also Stu is short for an Artonan… maybe the cloth adjusted itself magically to fit him?
Unlike Ro I intend to enjoy the post chapter mellowing.
On a re-read it's the fruit toss that changes the battle to resolution! Both Stu and Ro are so astonished by the thrown cantaloup that it completely changed the encounter. Brilliant!
Ha! True. Stu used up all the family lumber and made a torture table, but the weaponized cantaloupe was a step too far for the Artonans.
What is Ro-den going to make of that announcement? A reasonable adult would be extremely alarmed. Kid with a penchant for diving into heroics and getting himself killed, gleefully launching into chaos. Even though Ro-den is morally weak he's got to have a problem with this, right? The thing that makes it make sense (Alden is a wizard) is still secret from him. What is he going to infer from all this, especially about Stu? Stu doesn't come off looking so great if he's encouraging it. It's a very odd situation from an outsider's perspective.
I don’t think Ro-den would care on Alden’s behalf. He knows Stu stole the hide from his family, which is both unusual and risky. That also means maybe he can’t accept it anyway, since the Art’hs might reclaim it. However odd Alden and Stu were acting, it probably didn’t matter to Ro-den anymore. He lost the leverage to secure what he wanted
Read this first thing this morning, and I haven’t stopped smiling since (at least on the inside, it would be weird and/or creepy otherwise). Such a great chapter to start the day with. I think this calls for a reread of the whole “choosing season” arc, just to get the full impact of this chapter.
Joe gave a good reason for why Alden should shut up about his skill. He did not give a reason for why this needs to be enforced by more than a firm handshake.
I think his original rationale was that the contract could be bribed to spill the beans on things people know but it cost too much to spill the beans for things inside a secrecy agreement.
Words cannot express how satisfying that was. But also so many of the comments made admirable attempts. This is one of the few stories where I read every one. Sleyca, you have built such an amazing community around this. Thanks for welcoming us to your table for some soup.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH holy shit bless u sleyca for the soup!!!! I cannot tell whose perspective I want next. lowkey joe bc I want to witness him realizing how close alden and stu are? I want to witness the emotional fallout? I don’t think that stu will realize right away that it’s one of the original 300, but I could be wrong. AHHHHHHH seeing from stu’s could be fun in terms of seeing how quickly and without reservations alden told him. I bet that would be really really freeing. I’m sure sleyca would find some way to make alden’s excellent. it’s not occurring to me now but I know there is one. what a thing to wake up to!!!!!!!!!!
LETSSSSSSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO BEST CHAPTER ALERT!!!! BEST CHAPTER BELL RINGING SO CLEAR!!! WHAT’S THAT SOUND? ITS THE BEST CHAPTER ALERT STUART WITH THE WOODEN CHAIR OH MY GOD
Best chapter so *far.* Through our (but honestly mostly Sleyca's) efforts may the way be made closer to perfection
As great as this chapter was, I worry about the blowback from Stu's family for what he did. Evul will probably be excited, but not so much the others. Because this thing would be way easier/cheaper to resolve if Stu just asked an adult. But here's the problem, Stu doesn't trust his family anymore, except his father. So here we see what Evul already predicted, Stu is done fighting, he just doesn't care anymore. But it will be interesting to see the consequences.
Ro-den is one of the few people capable of doing something with that demon hide, so maybe it won't be too terrible. But, yeah... the more Stu talked about how the house was built and what he was offering... that is a LOT of resources to invest in Alden.
Joe so drastically underestimated Stuart abd Alden.
frfr to be fair to Joe, has no idea that they’re close and that Alden is essentially a knight (sans oaths) and sharing information about his knight skill is quite literally a matter of life or death. It’s probable Alden would’ve been dead much sooner than Joe’s prediction if the contract was not removed.
BANGGGGGG
"I believe that if you reveal what was hidden by our agreement, if you reveal what you learned during our final lesson, you’ll most likely be dead before you double your age." The fact that he believes that to be true and yet still told Alden what his skill was to make him more useful as a gift to the Primary (and likely cause Alden to level the skill abnormally and die even younger than he would have otherwise) just shows how little Ro-den actually cares about Alden. He wasn't saying that out of concern for Alden. He was saying that to get Alden to shut up and it's crazy that people still think Joe is a good guy. Sleyca wrote such a good narcissistic abuser that there are still commenters simping for him.
Yeah, the way sleyca wrote joe is that we slowly realize just how terrible he is alongside alden.
So we know its Lester's name on the floor?
Leeter-zis? Yeah, it's probably his name on the floor. He might've reached his thesis goals with this particular project.
And so here we see the firing of Checkovs Trees, Checkovs Demon chest and Checkovs Party Wizard all at once.
How many setups do you think are left to leverage?
AWESOME chapter
Wow!!! That was incredible. Thank you for the chapter and more!
"Ro ate some seed candy from his pocket. Stu-art’h smiled. “Do you like it?” “It’s tolerable.” Stu-art’h smiled more." Ro-den all confused at Stu's smile here. I think this must be when Stu's hospitality spell was finalized and Stu was thinking, "Got him!!!"
I like to think that he knew it worked because the he knew Ro was lying about the candy.
IT'S SO PEAK
Gahhhhhhhhh noooooo I want more. Joe, Alden, Stu, this was great. Awesome chapter!
YEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!! FUCK YOU RO'DEN
What an absolute banger of a chapter. 10/10. Thank you. I really like symmetry of what Alden says to Ro-den at the end. Alden is reaching for more than the self-proclaimed “guy who reaches too far” would ever dare. edit: Wait, was the chair Stu entrusted to Alden a special murder chair, to go with the murder table?
Lol chair was normal
I think the grin on my face is becoming painful. Seriously the pacing and energy of this chapter was amazing
I can’t stop smiling either. I like to imagine all of us soup readers around the world giggling to ourselves about Joe and the torture table as we go about our lives.
God, I love your writing. Incredible chapter, great story. Amazing payoff, this was so anticipated and rewarding.
So the artificial demon was real, or at least he believes it was real.
Everyone believes the artificial demon was real. That point was never in question. The surprising thing here is that the artificial demon was probably not destroyed.
I actually read this in two parts. The first in the morning before leaving for work, the second at a quick break and let me tell you those intervening 2 hours I was bubbling with the best nerves and couldn't sit still. How great Stu art. I have only the smallest of dissapointments that Alden didn't do a formal "The Bearer of All Burdens" greets you with an authority bump to Stu but with Joe still around that would be absurdly dangerous.
I actually suspect that this is headed towards Joe finding out about Alden's wizardness: 1. The offer to work for the knights might still be on the table (heh), if Stu feels it appropriate: to do whatever the council of votaries tell him to do (ie. teach Alden). Considering the publicly perceived debt of Joe to Alden, there may not even be a need for Alden to let anyone else know what is being taught. 2. If Alden trusts Joe with the information, what's Ro going to do? Tell people sensitive information? If he does, Alden can respond in kind. Sidesteps the need for further contracts, which is handy. 3. In the future, the potential damage caused by the information coming out is lessened once Alden becomes a knight, after all, he is a much less controversial recipient of such knowledge - which ties in with his original plan to "ripen" Alden up for the Primary and whatnot. Having Alden 'graduate' to knighthood would be good for Joe - a knight should know about affixing less frequently, and a knight is much more trustworthy due to oaths etc. If Alden also 'graduates' as a wizard at the same time, legally speaking, that only reinforces him as being worthy of responsibility. 4. Stu and Alden have both witnessed Joe attempting at the end to act in what he at least believes are Alden's interests, which isn't a bad place to start working on trust. 5. Payment notwithstanding, it sort of takes the sting out of Stu bullying Joe to dissolve the contract if he provides him a path out of the woods: and this is sort of on-brand with their prior interactions, with Stu pushing him to go help Earth, and Joe feeling baffled by Stu's "help". 6. Joe will know something is up already since Alden has used the name of the skill, which he purposely did not give him. 7. From a craft of writing perspective, the demon skin already wrapped up the offer nicely: with no need for the additional alternate offer. Yes, it's in character for Stu to make the offer due to it feeling right and all that, but it's got my plot-hook-senses tingling :P So basically, if Alden and Stu *want* a magic teacher for Alden - one incentivized to keep a secret - it's simply a matter of convincing Joe to accept, and then making sure the votary council makes the appropriate decision. Joe's obviously a mercurial character, and involving him further is probably not the "sensible" choice, but I think it might make for some great storytelling (especially in the aftermath of Stu completely steamrolling him). Oh, and Stu saving the LeafSong students from Joe would undoubtedly make them very happy, so there's that.
The contract also protected Alden from having the information extracted from him. He loses that protection with only a MAD arrangement with Ro. Ro is going to at least try to get them to accept a contract between the 3 of them. It is a triangle after all.
“Nobody else would do something like this.” His words sounded pitiful, but they weren’t lies. “That’s probably because most people can’t,” Stu-art’h said. “That’s not why!” *** Haha this made me laugh out loud, Stuart being Stuart at his best
They're both right. Most people can't, and most people won't. What Stu did was both stupidly expensive and absolutely overkill in 99.9% of cases.
Ro-den's mistake was that he reached so many times that eventually he hit an unlucky streak where the reach didn't pay off. And now he's in a downwards spiral desperately trying to build a staircase on the waterslide he is actively falling down to get back up later.
He's hitting every branch on the way down from the FAFO tree.
Holy shit, this soup was soooo fucking good!! Worth the wait!
"“It’s just that it doesn’t change my mind about anything,” Alden continued. “I already made my choice. I’m reaching for something important to me, so if I die trying to grab onto it…. I want to live, but I’m still going to reach.”" The wording here is so great. It highlights the contrast between Alden's and Ro-den's forms of reaching and courage so beautifully.
I almost missed that parallel, thanks for catching it. This chapter was just layered banger after banger
Thinking back on it, Alden and Stu both did the same thing - had preparations in place, ready to send to all important parties if (important event/decision making) went awry and something happened to them. Super interesting just how much the two of them have become similar without even knowing!
They were similar before they met thats why they were able to connect with each other so deeply. Both had traumatic childhoods that alienated them from their peers and made them much quieter and considerate people. While they both do have friends they never had someone before who could relate to the hurt they carried with them. When they became friends it was because they found someone who would actually listen and carefully consider their words. Honestly their whole friendship is beautiful and i could write essays about it
Reread this chapter twice since i couldn’t get over it and then went back and read the previous chapter
I’ve been reading everything since Alden came out as a wizard repeatedly 😅😂
"This spot exuding welcome, safety, and comfort was appropriate. But those things being so potent that Ro almost lost his alertness and his urge to be spiteful was an achievement. Which the wizard responsible clearly knew since they’d left their name written on the floor in front of the alcove as part of a dedication that welcomed all travelers who came in search of healing. Either the healers saved this Master’s life, or it’s someone trying to show off how helpful they can be in preparation for a service evaluation. Clever idea if it’s the second." ***** Lol this is hilarious, I know it's not the same but I'm imagining Leeter-zis's name printed in sprawling tramp-stamp font across the floor. Leeter's utter delight and greed at being called by an Art'h for a ritual such as this must have been through the roof! I love that he left his name on the floor in Big letters!
Wait. Is their meeting being recorded? Leeter-zis does have his evaluation coming up.
Call me crazy. The only other thing he made note of before accepting the welcome and heading toward the table was that the wizard who’d laid the pervading magic on this building hadn’t been a slouch. It was fairly common for places to have a carefully managed aura that helped visitors to feel what they should. This spot exuding welcome, safety, and comfort was appropriate. But those things being so potent that Ro almost lost his alertness and his urge to be spiteful was an achievement. Is this the rabbit skill Tailor Environment?
No its stuart and leezter working together
RIP cantaloupe. Your sacrifice was a worthy one. 🙏
Alden NEEDS to respect plant life more if he doesn’t want to get eaten by trees. First radishes, and now this
"Only Master Leeter-zis was suspicious, given my urgency and some of my more specific instructions. He received a portion of the materials as payment in exchange for helping me to arrange everything and doing excellent work. There were hundreds of volunteers he gathered here earlier today, calling me their wizard and blessing me as part of the ritual." Stu, you badass!!! You did pull off that party!
I dont think its the kind of party his roommates were thinking of
AHHHHHHH!!!!!! Oh my god. Oh I feel like I just went on a roller coaster and then went to the best chiropractor on earth. Everything about this chapter was magical, thank you so much.
You know, I think Alden should tell Joe that he is a wizard, and therefore a knight. As Joe comments, he is much more experienced and his advice about what to hide and WHY would be invaluable. He did talk about someone more excitable summoning Alden in front of a bullet in Lesson One. Under those circumstances Joe's advice would be useful. After his capitulation, this is how he gets some power back over Alden (and by proxy Stu) through providing information and guidance. Of course once Alden is an acknowledged knight, I think he cannot be summoned as an Avowed any more. Depending on how you read the conversation Mother slipped that fact into the conversation and hid it. “You’re still an Avowed. You can still be summoned into battle. " if I was being a sneaky author and tried to slip that past my audience, since Alden had not accepted being a hyn'ton at that time that would apply, but wouldn't once he choose to accept. There may be an underlying Hyn'ton overrides Avowed going on.
Ro-den is way way way not the right person to trust with that secret.
Jeneth and Ro clearly have history. I wonder if we'll find out what happened at some point
The first rule of fighting a wizard is to never EVER let them choose the battleground. Stu's preparations are absolutely insane. They're also necessary, given how powerful and crafty Ro-den can be. I love it. Beautifully played, Stu.
Amazing, Best set of chapters since the moon.
I’m a little concerned that Ro-den’ stated Alden’s early death with such certainty and specificity. It makes me wonder if the skill reveal has other risks beyond just being summoned to the chaos frontlines.
Endless misery was what he said initially. I think there might be pressure to use it to help knights bear the pain of their affixations, or something with similar long term consequences.
Amazing chapter, I can't believe the secrecy tattoo is gone ! I'm looking forward to Alden and Stu being able to have a normal conversation without Alden dancing around his power.
OMG. That was… orgasmic
Yeah ngl I'm vibin some of that "post coital mellowing" after that catharsis 😌
Calling the skill by its name in front of Ro-den may just be the second slip of Alden in the last chapters that I've noticed. Previously, he said to his roommates that the ring set was an award for his "spell impression" (singular, he doesn't count the candle lighting spell as an impression in his head). Are there other new seeds of future revelations that I missed?
Woah good catch! I forgot he is supposed to have two spell impressions.
I wonder what the broader implications of Alden's skill are. I wonder if Stu is going to have hide both the fact that Alden is a knight, and the fact that Alden has the skill be does. It feels like some permutation of those two secrets will come out inevitably, but I wonder why they are scary together.
The Skill is a Knight skill. He needs one to follow a path of a Knight.
YESSSSSSSSS
What Super Supportive does amazingly well that so many stories fall flat on (especially longer and slice of life type web serials) is set up and execute satisfying payoffs like this.
Yes. I am surprised how well it has handled cliffhangers. They actually pay out instead of continually beeing teased and postponed.
Joe: How did you learn the name of the skill? Alden: Mother says you are a very naughty wizard. ~At the table of truth~
Do you want to give Joe an hearth attack.
Reading the last paragraph instead of Alden saying My skill is an old one called The Bearer of All Burdens. I think he should have named himself in the way that emban's squad did, of knights I am the Bearer of All Burdens.
That would probably imply he has authority sense and recognizes himself as his own authority in some way? Avowed usually don’t feel "I am my skill", so that might have made Ro-den suspicious.
Poor Joe couldn't imagine someone being told that doing something would probably lead to their deaths and still going "well, thanks for the warning, I'm good anyways"
Thats because he is inherently selfish and cowardly person and cannot understand when other people aren’t
This was originally in response to DAK remarking that it was funny that Stu's backup plan was cheaper, easier, and simpler, and instead his primary plan was complex and involved rapidly building an entire building. While responding, I realize why he couldn't just ask Esh, why that would be a type of failure. So mamy of Stu's affectations seem born from his childhood where there was no gravity to anything, no hardship. He fixates on propriety and structure and formalities because they are rules that help him fit himself into a world he can't intuit. This is different. Joe doesn't recognize Stu here. He's confident when old Stu would be shaken. He's conniving when old Stu would be naive, and he's committed when old would hesitate. This Stu is unrecognizable because he not old Stu. This Stu is forcing the world to fit itself to him instead of the other way around, and he's doing it so he can stand up for one of the first things in his life that has real gravity. I think Stu would have called Esh if he had to, because he cares about Alden, but the fact that he didn't have to is huge. I think this was his primary plan because this is the one that proves to himself, and the world, that he has what it takes. If his family could see him like this, they wouldn't doubt him anymore, because this was some knight shit. Proud of you Stu.
I like the way you characterise Stu. He sticks to the rules to make himself fit into the world. But when he needs the world to fit to him, he ignores the rules entirely and exerts his Authority.
I genuinely hope that this moment is Ro’s rock bottom and that he begins to actually become a better person after this. I want that for him. I want him to find a seed of humility and courage he can nurture.
Same
No cantaloupe was harmed in the making of this soup.
Really? In front of my Lord’s Table?
A Burden, released! Ro-den in full panic mode... "How'd he learn its NAME?!"
Stu built a house, the best courtesy trap you’ll ever see from a non-sidhe, and a cool murder-stick just to be able to talk freely with his friend. Alden threw a whole cantaloupe at the face of a wizard - infamous galaxy-wide - for twitching at his friend in a way he didn’t like. May we all find friends as rad as these two.
Also, we should probably all take this as an object lesson in why, despite how satisfying it might feel in the moment, being a petty bitch *literally every chance you get* isn’t always the best idea.
Oh damn, I just now realized why Stu took a vow of celibacy. I thought it was weird that he regarded sex and drugs as being similarly mind-altering, and it was just a slightly flimsy reason why he's happy to bond with an ace alien. But, no, turns out Artonan men literally get high on sex. Fun
I mean humans do too. I assume the "post coital fog" is a bit more intense for artonans, but it sounds like he's just describing and afterglow.
That is like 250 chapters of catharsis. Also I love that Joe was, up until then, kind of a shitbag. Trying to be fake nice to Alden, trying to take advantage of Stu, and even at the end only looking out for himself. I didn't realize that he was putting Alden through all this to get the last word with someone he regretted feeling indebted to. Hilariously, I bet Alden and Stu would have both been down to make a new tattoo protecting Joe if he had been like "I'm worried that if people find out I shared the information that I shared, they will frame it as me sabotaging the contract, and I will be crucified for it". Instead he pretended like he was worried about Alden. Alden is great. Stu is a *bad ass*. The only thread of intruige I see here that is unresolved is the whole "you'll die before you're twice your age". Alden agrees because he fatalistic tbh, but I suspect Joe thinks that because once it's public knowledge, he thinks the primary/ some other wizard is going to use Alden for his skill in some capacity that burns him out or comes at too great a cost. That makes joe's comments about "preparing it for the primary" make sense, because then the tattoo is a way of guaranteeing Alden got to "ripen" before the somebody uses him up. Still, 10/10, the only way it could have been better would be if Jo was stabbed (just a little) by a hungry root.
I agree 100% they would allow for a new tattoo. They don't care about his crime, they only want to talk to each other freely. If he had talked with Alden at any time he would have figured this out, but Joe is his own worst enemy.
There’s so much to love in this chapter, but first: NOOOOOOO, not the cantaloupe! It died for nothing. I love how Alden, despite technically being a wizard & a knight, still interpreted things in such a human way & intervened physically, which of course did nothing—but it was so culturally and strategically unexpected that Ro-den didn’t even get angry, just confused. And Stu blaming Ro-den for the death of an untried fruit? Peak comedy.
It didn't die for nothing. It died to accelerate The Plot. We thank it for its sacrifice.
This is awesome! Now how is this all going to pan out... I have a feeling Stu's family are going to be pissed and more than a little confused 😂
Honestly it could be seen also as payback. This big working of magic and then dedicating it back to the community in the arth name, and he didn't invite them. That's the kind of insult when word of this project spreads will hurt the most. They will have to grit their teeth, smile, and act like Stu didn't cut them out of one of the "tradition" for knights before their bindings.
God, I love hospitality magic. This was such a delight. It’s fascinating to reread Joe and Stuart’s conversation looking for all of Joe’s careless lies that got him into trouble.
He rebuilt the building to be a trap. Now THAT is using first family privileged to your advantage. I love it. Hundreds of people acknowledging him as the wizard to power him up. Fantastic!
YES [part 2]
Fuck yes! (Completed)
FUCK [part 1]
YESSSSSSSSSSS
Alternative chapter title: Go big or go home! Stu doesn’t do half measures. I was only a tiny bit disappointed Alden didn’t say ”I am the Bearer of All Burdens” at the end there.
With how his skill and authority IS him, and how it’ll be his only skill his whole life, he wouldn’t just be epic in that moment, he’d also be very correct
At last! My face is grinning right along with Alden's - he can fully and freely share all of his self with Stu now as he chooses. The little details here stand out: Stu's initial dismay that Ro-den just ...dumped the entire bowl of flatseed candy into his pocket instead of immediately eating a piece (reminds me of Alden's dismay when Liam just...walked calmly at him instead of sprinting when they were practicing together). Stu's pleasure when Ro-den proceeds to nibble (no one could possibly resist delicious flatseed candy, yessssssss). Ro's assumption that Stu's stick is old, when the ritual that empowered it is barely a week old. Ro and Stu conniving at each other with words and mighty magics, each angling for dominion in different ways, only for both of them to reveal something more real about their respective stakes as soon as Alden shows up. The moment Joe realizes he's got two kids pelting him with fruit and menacing him with stick and chair because they're afraid of him, and he hasn't been being impressive at all, he's just been a bully abusing his authority over them until they felt they had to fight him back.
Stu continuing to show that one of his most potent powers is his ability to make places home and protect them for the people he cares about is so good. Trapping Ro-den into dependent status under the shade of his lordship and letting the literal table of sustenance call Ro-den to account for his lies (with an active threat of eating Ro's authority, sounds like) feels like magic out of a children's tale: wondrous and karmic and not a little cruel. I can see why so many people remain terrified of what can be done with art'h wood on art'h land.
This whole chapter was an amazing next step in character development, world building, chicken roost returning, and confirmation of the inevitable and the unknown. And strangely a table channeling Black Forest, Fae misadventure, eternally hair raising, Dark side of the galaxy, physics unraveling smugness is the character that emotionally sticks with me the closest.
Also, I love that Stu’s backup plan was the one that was simplest, cheapest and least time consuming. Call Esh. Ask to break contract. But, no, he goes with building a magic cabin, fiddling with creepy heirlooms, meetings in the woods…
Sleyca hits another one out of the park.
Noooooooo the melón 🍈 😭
Sometimes I only post my giddy messages in the Discord and forget that Sleyca can't see all our interactions there, so just want to say: Thank you again, great chapter! Can't wait to see where it's going. (Even though I fear for Alden now, since we didn't get any reactions to his reveal in this chapter)
I suspect that Stuart already knew the skill, as he mentioned
Wonderful wonderful chapter! Thank you for once again delivering above and beyond. I've read it twice and all the comments, and thoughts are bubbling away. One that occurred to me is that since Stu rebuilt the House, then Master Leeter-zis would have been the master who signed it. I can see him doing that - a little self-advertising. I'm also curious about Ro-den's backstory with the Primary. "What am I thinking? I might drop dead if I actually try to harm the Primary’s son." Is there some kind of contract binding him from harming the art'h? Or does he mean the Primary would catch up with me and kill me.
Yeah it was mentioned that Leeter-zis was going to get his contribution officially reviewed, now he got valuable Art'h wood and nice window for visiblity. I like that Stu was only able to complete this with the help of Leeter-zis and the House of Healing staff—and that the ritual ends up benefiting them and future patients.
So many threads woven together. Even elders croak Roden… “… May the unclimbing beasts feed on me slowly. No, may they feed on this boy slowly…” 🐸
What are the lies Ro-den tells? I have found 2. "It might even be confiscated by my executioners and given to someone else. As recompense, you know. So I doubt it’s worth quite as much to me as you must be hoping.” It would never be confiscated." “I realize it may sound unbelievable, but I’m thinking of Alden’s wellbeing every bit as much as my own."
Man lied about liking candy: [Ro ate some seed candy from his pocket. Stu-art’h smiled. “Do you like it?” “It’s tolerable.” Stu-art’h smiled more.]
Peak chapter
You join us in memory of the "Joe Engineered the Thegund Chaos Outbreak On Purpose" personal head canon. May it rest peacefully and continue to tantalise fresh, overly paranoid Super Supportive readers up to Chapter 284. Rest in Peace.
I'm sure the conspiracy theorists will find a way to perform necromancy upon the theory.
Joe will no doubt notice that Alden somehow knew the *name* of the skill, which Joe never told him. I wonder what knots he'll tie his thoughts into trying to figure out where Alden learned that.
This is amazing! So Alden and Stuart are free to do the authority bonding thing and Alden is actually incentivized by the nature of the bond to level his skill as fast as possible until he catches up :)
Excellent!
Amazing chapter. My only complaint is that I always wanted Alden to say “I am the bearer of all burdens “ like knights do and not say “my skill is…”
I hope he introduces himself as that when he reveals himself to other Hn'tyons.
Another amazing chapter Sleyca.
Alden playing with his food... again
Honestly including the marshmallows i think it qualifies as a hobby lol
Stu pulling some Fae bullshit was not what I was expecting lol
Due to the treachery of the villain Ro-den, the hero Stu never knew the taste of cantaloupe
Like Alden won't give him eighty cantaloupe as thanks for all this. xD
I love the way that fragments of the here-to-there, Stu's conversation with Esh-erdi, and the mind healing all feed into this triumphant moment. Such great storytelling.
This is precisely why I don't hold with the faction that wants the story to move faster.
I think one of the tricks with the hospitality trap was that the guest had to be informed of every step of it. Stu'arts overly formal speech conveied exacly what was going to happen. The enchantments on the plates and cups were a description and warning for what would happen if the food was eaten etc. Ingenious!
And Ro-den overestimated his own understanding of magic while underestimating Stu so much that he simply dismissed the phrasing as another bit of Stu-weirdness.
When Stu sets a trap, no half measures are taken! So many layers! Alden is free 🥰 Sleyca is a wizard! Worth every second of waiting the past months.
Don't you DARE let yourself be alone with a known manipulator alden. That's how you got into this whole mess and you've since learned not to trust Ro'den. Please don't be stupid.
YESSSSSSSSS! HELL YEAH, STUART, YOU DID IT!
I love this entire chapter, especially Stuart getting mad about the fruit! Such a weird, silly thing to get mad about yet it fits the scene so well.
The funny thing here is that all the parts of the secrecy contract that Joe thinks would be bad for him are parts that Alden doesn't care about and has no reason to share with anyone. Needing to take his levels in as large a chunk as possible is obvious when affixation hurts. It's advice he has directly from Mother, now, and unless Joe pisses him off (admittedly a bit late on that), no one needs to know anyone else told him. And Alden is unlikely to reveal the details of the devices he smuggled out for Joe, because a) he really doesn't know what they are, b) he wouldn't want to get any of the people he smuggled out in trouble, and c) he and Kibby would very much prefer that no questions be asked about why the lab exploded.
Can Alden get the people smuggled out in trouble? They were operating under their wizard's aegis. So they can't be held accountable for any crimes they committed. It's all on Joe. (I'm extending the 'Avowed can't be held accountable for anything they do under the orders of a wizard' to the Ordinary class. Which, legally speaking, could be entirely distinct.)
The funniest part is Joe is kind of panicking for no reason. Alden and Stu have no desire to drag Joe in front of a court given they want to keep Aldens secret. If anything Stu will want to *thank* Joe for teaching Alden early so he didnt affix another one. Joe is going to have a long time to think about *why* Alden and Stu care so much about Aldens skill and thats dangerous for them though.
I'm imagining the next class Stu has with Ro-den at LeafSong right now...
😆 🤣 😂
It's so interesting that Stu is ultra formal and threatening in the beginning and then reverts back to very casual language. He sounds younger than his age for a moment: >>> Stu waited like he was expecting something to happen for a few seconds. Then he beamed even more. “It’s true! Alden, I did it. I hope it was all right! I hope you’re all right!”
The formality was likely a mark of how guarded he was towards Roden. And partially to disguise him clearly stating the terms of the courtesy trap in a way Roden would disregard as 'meaningless formality'. He reverts to more casual language once he doesn't need anything more from Roden.
Ha! Suck it, Ro!
When Stu commits, he goes big. He had a whole new building constructed just for this trap! And multiple contingency plans. Amazing.
Finally. I'm so glad this is taken care of. This is way more satisfying, than using the escape clause regarding the primary. Also I wonder how Ro'den will fit in the future story. He did sit at the table and say he means no harm to Alden.
He meant no immediate harm at the time he said it. Fae be the trap, and Fae be the thinking around it.
Now we need to see Stu's reaction to find out if he screwed up, lol.
Yes! Great chapter!
Im really afraid Alden will slip up about his secret in front of Joe when hes so excited and suddenly Joe has something *vastly* more interesting to reach for than an Avowed who he slipped some secrets to. The first human wizard? Joe would see that as an opportunity for research and power. I dont think Alden would entertain the idea but if Joe finds out it does give him leverage over both Stu and Alden.
Kinda hoping Alden suggests redoing the absolute secrecy Tattoo to some extent with Ro-den and gets to drop that tidbit in during the dialogue about Thegund. That way Ro-den can get a taste of how the whole skill debacle felt to be unable to talk about. Probably too petty, and dangerous to do. But it feels like an appropriate extra emotional oomf to hit him with Edit (Also tbh I kinda just want to see Ro-dens reaction, so that’s the closest reason I could imagine for it coming up)
Catharsis!
Ro-den kinda had all of this coming for a long time, but man I can’t help but sympathize for the dude as he truly tries to hit every rock on the fall down the mountain side. Think the next chapter or two might be his absolute last chances to avoid the final landing
Joe: "Sure he's the Primary's son but he's just a kid, how dangerous could he be?" Stu: "I'm about to end this man's whole career."
End Joe's whole career in the politest way possible, like a badass king.
Amazing chapter! :-)
*So* good!
Definitely worth the wait.
“I’m not scared of you.” “Sit down at my table and say those words!” 😂🤣😆 This chapter is amazing and satisfying and wonderful and also the first thing to make me laugh and feel positive emotions since Sunday, which I didn't realize how much I needed. Thank you for continuing to write us this wonderful story, week after week, year after year. This is the table I want to be at.
If you're at THIS table, you must be speaking the truth then. ;)
That was epic. It hits so hard with all the background we have of Stu and Roden, what a clash!
Insert kylo ren More meme , Amazing story been hooked ever since i came across it . Keep up the good work!!!
> “I see now,” he said slowly. “If a simple motion of my auriad makes you think I’m trying to attack Stu-art’h, you really have no trust in me at all.” Or translated from Evilspeak to English: “Aw shit. I dun fucked up”
It’s funny how even this was a last ditch attempt to regain a tiny bit of trust to try to influence Alden, and even that was killed in the cradle
Don’t think there’s even words that can describe how utterly fantastic this chapter is. Without a doubt one of my all-time favourites. Thanks for the soup!!
Finally... At long last. Stuart has found out out about The bearer of all burdens
Stuart the whole chapter *rubs hands together righteous manically*
I've never commented before. That was beautifully done, congratulations Sleyca
Joe: if you reveal your skill it could cost you your life. Alden, first human wizard, and knight, and last inheritor of the magical tradition of an extinct race that was the only other known magically talented race in the multiverse: oh, no. Such a big secret. What ever shall I do?
I hope Stu planned the getaway!
"A warning? I might have made a mistake. How did this happen? What’s happened exactly?" It was at this moment he knew he fucked up.
Oh my God that's so good.
Wow. I am very happy for Stu and Alden. However I am worried of the consequences Stu will have to face due to handing over the chest. If he had requested Roden to use it solely for research, that would be great however if he is allowed to sell it piece by piece, it may cause issues. In any case his family will go mad. Hope the primary or at least Allis return soon.
I dont think the Primary will be back any time soon. Esh and lind will be going to join him. He wasn't going to make it for Stu's original binding which would be about 6 months from now. Hopefully Alis will be back soon though
My favorite part of this is the reveal was done with information Joe never even gave him in the first place. The name of the skill.
I'm pretty sure he had the name, actually - he makes a comment on how much of a travesty "let me take your luggage" is to the skill name (chapter 28). He has no reason to believe that Alden would ever learn it, though.
I've wondered (as in, haven't been able to imagine at all!) for a while how Ro'den would come back into Alden's orbit, given how badly Alden's regard for him became. I love that this interaction between all three feels so natural, true to their individual characters and motivations, and is so incredibly satisfying. Joe so quickly deciding he doesn't have any trust to work with after the melon and that his best gamble is to give in a little first in order to still get what he wants is a fun moment. He's sharp enough to make an assessment and decisive enough to adjust his plan, his mind must be racing and he's so stressed, lol. I can't decide if he's honestly sad or playing it up to continue to manipulate. Stuart continues to be intensity level 99.9 with his regular behavior, and Alden gets to reaffirm the choice he's spent so many chapters making in a beautiful way. One of my favorite things about Super Supportive continues to be how often chapters end with an epic, hard hitting last line.
I think he’s honestly sad. Joe actually really does hurt about the fact that he lost the trust of his former people, and emotionally he includes Alden in that, if to a lesser degree. But I also think he’s perfectly willing to use that hurt in this maneuver.
Finally! ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆ I’m so happy he just came out & said it right then & there without giving Jo any chance to sway him!!! I’m really looking forward to the next couple of chapters… As long as Jo doesn’t suddenly lose his mind & decide to murder the both of them on the spot!😅
> My skill is an old one called The Bearer of All Burdens.” He felt his grin widening as the words came without any resistance. “I’ve really, really wanted to tell you about it. Thank you for figuring out I needed help. Let’s go kill demons with it. You and me.” YES ❗️❕‼️❣️
What I didn't understand is why Alden couldn't tell Stu-art'h the official name of his skill. I'm rereading the story for kicks and giggles. While Ro-den told Alden the number of the skill, Alden learned the name of the skill from Mother while she was affixing his authority. The triangle of absolute secrecy covered what Ro-den told him not what he learned from others.
For the same reason that Alden couldn't say he had skill "111 plus 1" And the same reason he couldn't translate the name of the skill to French and tell Stu that. He couldn't share anything that would allow Stu to identify his skill or guess at its unique properties.
Wooooooow. So cool. Both boys taking big risks. And ol’ Joe still being a coward.
Can you de-compost letters? Because I really want to read the ones that drone disposed of. The evidence of Stu having plans within plans is so tantalizing.
Maybe Stu will confide in Alden all the plans he put together for today. We can always hope!
Poor Joe. Even in the end he thought he could convince Alden not to share. If only he'd realized Alden had already shared a much bigger and more dangerous secret with Stu. Also, watching Stu completely dominate the situation and practically bully him into capitulating was spectacular. I love his character, but he's been long overdue for another smackdown. That it was one of his students delivering it just made it all the sweeter. Can't help but feel bad for the rest of his students though. Something tells me he's going to be even more of a nightmare for the foreseeable future.
Joe also doesn't seem to realize that Alden has become something much greater than an Avowed with that particular skill. With his own ability to grow his Authority, he'll probably catch up with Stu a lot faster than Joe could have expected.
That was an absolute gem of a read. I was laughing the whole way through. Definitely going to reread it again later today
I love the idea of a courtesy trap SO much
Yesss! Alden is free! Ro-den can go suck on a lemon.
Lol, given the Artonan love of fruit, he'd probably like it.
Stu's plan was all I wanted it to be and more. Really throwing the ancestral weight around. But one thing I'm confused about. Did Stu forge the environment and the staff which bested Ro-den or was it the Master mentioned?
I believe he cast the spell on the house. But the stick is an older heirloom he was given.
So, at Matadero Ro-den broke off contact with Alden rudely and coldly to try to protect himself from Artonan scrutiny, a choice that broke Alden’s trust in him. Ironically, the trust that he valued not at all and so callously threw away is what would have protected Ro-den tonight. Because if Ro hadn’t broken Alden’s faith in him, Alden would have been persuaded to listen, and Joe might have been able to salvage the situation. Joe, ya done this to yerself.
That little bit of Ro's past we got really helps why Joe explained things as he did here: he's got no courage, and didn't understand Alden's.
That feels like a book-ender chapter, right there. Maybe one or two more for epilogue so the reader can wind down a bit. ...Can they hug? I want them to hug. Just a nice platonic friendship hug, please. I feel like the mutual trust despite significant emotional risk they've demonstrated has earned it.
I had a similar thought. This 100% feels like the end of a volume.
> Let’s go kill demons with it. You and me. Wonder what joes thoughts are here lmao
brain.exe has stop functioning No thought available
This chapter is like a rainbow of emotions, whew! Feels like when a rollercoaster comes to a stop at the end. I think my favorite rainbow color was the schadenfreude... that sweet, sweet schadenfreude.
Noooooooooooooooooo it's not enough!!!!!!!!!
F..K YEAH!!!
What was in Alden and Joe's final lesson again? Its been a while
summary: don't accept level-ups, go the old path that skill #112 makes possible
I got the notification about this just as my lunch break started. It was wonderful.
Why do I feel like Alden ends up with Ro-den anyways? Stu's whole demeanor will change
Could you clarify what you mean by this? I don't understand.
> I will convince him. He will trust me. I just need to be his friendly old instructor, Joe. Oh dear.
Such a beautiful chapter, I can't help but think of Stuart's line a few chapters back, "Yes to everything you are"
That's today's RoyalRoad chapter! The readers are loving that one a lot.
Remind me never to get on Stu’s bad side. The guy is an absolute menace when he wants to be
He did his earnest and sincere best.
I worry that the gremlin will make Alden refuse to say anything and put the contract back once it’s broken
... did you skip the last paragraph?
Royal road getting the chapter of stu finding out Alden is a wizard, and patreon getting the chapter of Stu finding out the skill name... what a momentous day.
Alden has wrecked more fruits and veggies than he has pilfered birds, starting with eleven innocent radishes. He can possibly grow to do the esvulgivnas marriage with Stu, but now they cantaloupe.
hehehehee
> The little greeting house, so comforting and welcoming, suddenly felt colder than a Thegundese night. Ro’s stomach roiled, and his mouth soured as though the candy he’d eaten and the wine he’d drunk were poison. He tried to push back against whatever ancient rule he’d fallen afoul of, but having never been attacked by a lunatic invoking the powers of their ancestors in the form of a ritual courtesy trap…he didn’t know where to start. Lol, lmao even A true masterpiece this chapter is
Glorious
Finally!!
Alden is showing ro-den what it means to reach for something with courage. These chapters lately have been phenomenal (even more so than usual. Always closer to perfection)
My heart! That was beautiful. Everything I could have hoped for. Brilliant badass Stu, freed Alden, confounded Ro-den. An incredibly satisfying trio.
I’ve reread that final paragraph so many times already
Edit Suggestions: The only other thing he made note of before accepting the welcome and heading toward the table was that the wizard who’d laid the pervading magic on this building hadn’t been a slouch. (remove double space) This was good. (remove double space) Stu-art’h had also brought snacks that were simple but purposeful. Ro considered the best looking one (remove double space) You’ll probably die a a more useful death than most people. But you’ll still die.” ->You’ll probably die a more useful death than most people. But you’ll still die.”
Roden probably looks like he bit into the platonic reality of bitterness. Even though he thinks he knows better and that they'll listen to him, he's been so outplayed and doesn't understand younger people. "Kids these days just don't understand!"
Alden has truly grown as a character. Instead of using radishes to defend himself, he now uses a cantaloupe to attack his enemies
Bigger Better Stronger
THANK YOUUUUUUUU!
FINALLY! Praise the sun, Stuart finally knows! Thanks so much for the chapter Sleyca.
AAAAAH. IT'S GONE. THE TRIANGLE IS GONE!!!!! Wow this was so thrilling. Not me squeeing on the bus. Thanks so much for this chapter. I really love it.
The chaos!
Ro-den realised that he had lost the game and capitulated.
Also, you just lost the game
Well, THAT was a heckuva chapter
Yes. Finally. Time to hibernate for a week while the next one’s brewing.
Oh sweet, sweet catharsis. Gods I can't wait for next chapter but this was still so very satisfying. And Stuart! Pulling off that trap, Roden *complimenting the Wizarding work without realizing who did it!* At long, long last.
This is an interesting bit of magic. It’s like in-between wordchains and normal spells.
Holy Mackerel, Stu'Arth! This was incredibly impressive and badass!
Thank you for the chapter !! Ah, it was so satisfying
What a satisfying reveal. It's hard to say whether Alden being able to speak about his skill or Joe being beaten at every single turn was more satisfying. The wording at the end does feel rather cliche, rushed, and out of character though. Alden shouldn't be in a rush right now, him and Stu are seemingly in complete control, it's not like he has to get it out before something happens to him
And Alden cares about doing things the right way, we've seen multiple examples of him not just spilling things out carelessly because he wants to do things properly. My issue isn't that he told Stu the name, he just didn't say it in an Alden way
Such a good job showing what all three of these characters were thinking at every point even just though Joe’s eyes
Stu crash out Alden has your back.
Very very cathartic.
OH MY GOD THAT WAS AMAZING!!!
Gosh darn it now I can’t sleep
It's everything I wanted. This fallout is going to be incredible. I love locking these three in a room to hash this out. And I'm suddenly realizing that Stuart missing Ro-den's classes was subtly foreshadowing how extensively he was preparing.
Once again, Joe showing his manipulation. I still believe he cares about Alden's well being on some extent. He isn't actually immune to guilt. But its a droo in the bucket. He hoped to appeal to emotions clearly for his own sake. Literally the first thing he thought wasn't Alden, but how screwed he was if the truth got out. I do wonder how this reveal will go in the long run. Stuart i believe is more than willing to keep the secret, so long as it doesnt go against any Knightly oath.
Ahhhhh!!! Yessss!!!
Holy shit Stu you outfoxed the wily wizard, Amazing prep work and good god, i hope this helps stu and alden become closer and do amazing things together while able to maintain their relationship. Thanks for the chapter and i cant wait for alden and stu to change the world together
I mean, bringing a big stick is hardly outfoxing. Stu was just genuinely willing to kill Joe outright to end the contract. Impressive in a whole different way.
Aaaaa i actually feel a bit sorry for Ro, dangit! These overwrought teenagers are giving me an alarm. Intensity 99.99% awoooga
Awooooga!
Well, at least Joe knows when to cut his losses.
Yah when he’s already 6ft under lol
DELICIOUS PAYOFF
Hell yeah, Stu, hell yeah.
Thanks for the chapter!
holy Fucking SHIT, Stu'art does NOT take half measures. Amazing, perfection, everything I could have hoped for and absolutely everything I'd expect he could think of and accomplish with his own means
It's such a multilayered trap, too; the food and drink being in containers that prevent you from lying really twists the knife once you see the whole plan lol. Just walking into that oblivious would have been better for him and he knows it, which is a real ego sting.
Ah damn, I do have this sinking feeling that bearer is something really important and it's going to cost alden a lot now that it's theoretically out in the open. Joe is a bit of a dick, but he's a likeable one and I think given all the clues we have and with alden rushing to say something it's going to end up being a gray issue at best. Still, loved the chapter very excited to see next week's and happy to have things moving
Yeah I think Alden might have done an oopsie there
ohhh my god its so good. its SO good. the GLEE with which stu applies consequences (the table tried to kill him, "i could skewer you"). the chaotic dialogue (I'm not scared of you, Ro-den lied). the cantaloupe attack (Stu didn't get to try that fruit before!). the hints that we might really get votary-Roden. and finally the reveal!!!! it's such a good contrast, the start of the chapter lines up really well now - Roden thinking he's reaching, Alden actually reaching.
Votary Ro-den! If he takes care of both Stuart and Alden, he might help them power level to no end.
Payoff years in the making. Great chapter. Damn.
Great chapter but of course Alden just says his skill name so nonchalantly. Where is the gravitas? Where is the drama. ALDEN, COME ON!
Stu is such a good friend he handled the gravitas for him.
WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH I'M SCREAMING I LOVE THIS STORY SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!
This was a triumph. I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS. It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.
So delicious. So sweet. Glad I stayed up until 3am LOL
TFTC Sleyca, now I can sink into the land of dreams that have beckoned me for so long
Excellent. Right as I go to bed, Roden gets a melon to the head.
The fruit of friendship / misguided pig of defense / witnesses truth, lost
Outplayed! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Yay, so long! Long Soup! TFTC! I just woke up in the UK and this was waiting on my phone.
Yes!!!!! Stu pulls out the big guns and wins!
Thanks Sleyca!!
Uhhhhhh! So soon!
Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
chapter
Thank you! Perfect timing for me :)
Praise be