THREE HUNDRED SEVEN: Observe
Next Update: August 3 (approximate)
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Am I in over my head?
He hadn’t been at first. He’d answered their questions about what he was doing here and how he and Stuart had dealt with Olget-ovekondo after the wand incident. Seth-wereft had explained the basics of their current activity to him, as she’d promised. But then the four young knights had switched from being interested in the alien that had joined them to making plans for their training quest, and Alden was suddenly scrambling to get more than a surface-level understanding of what they were talking about.
New people, new terminology, and new magic. Even a new way of holding an effective meeting. They could each pay attention to two things at once. They all had equal control of the display on the table that was projecting the three-dimensional map.
When he listened, he was having trouble telling who was talking to whom. When he tried to study the terrain, it kept spinning like a top and zooming in and out. And when they used a word he didn’t know, he could barely finish reading the definition on his interface before another one needed to be defined.
“I know you all like the flockers, but I hope Forduan has let some larger ones slide through his pools into our field by now.”
“Split into two groups like that time under sticks?”
“It looks like we can still request a yamset’t or a pass-winder, but the delivery time’s increased. We should assume our pick-up is going to be delayed, too, with the way things are going to the west.”
“Do you think we can drag Postor out of his sulking nest if we tell him we’ll die without a castle?”
“We should shove Emban into the nest with him at this point.”
“Tilliver.”
“Let’s stay together for it. It looks like they’ve progressed enough for a new world keeper to be established two patches to the south. If we could get there on our own instead of waiting for pick-up, it would be a stitch on our coats. But I worry we’re not fast enough to do it without the treat degrading too much.”
I know what a world keeper is, thought Alden, looking away from the spinning map to give his eyes a rest on the calmer, more comprehensible parts of the room.
There was a patterned rug under the green table. The vathas had begun to leave, so the boat’s windows and skylight were only half-covered, and sunlight shone on a music box built into the wall to his right. They’d turned it on shortly after he’d arrived. Through the clear front, he could watch green and silver beads fall onto glasslike threads to produce the songs.
It was cool, but he hadn’t had any time to listen to it while he was trying to keep up with the planning session.
Every few sentences, it’s one thing I know and fifty I don’t.
He wasn’t actually a part of their conversation, so that was fine. But, on the other hand, he’d asked to stay because he wanted to be involved in conversations just like this one in the nearish future.
Being this lost…
His excitement at running into a group of knights the right age doing a thing he’d thought he could easily grasp was beginning to turn into anxiety.
He’d been taking notes, but they’d devolved into strings of questions to ask Stuart. What did under sticks mean? Who did all of these random names belong to? Did everyone call their quest objectives in this kind of training a “treat” or was that just a word this particular squad had come up with?
And did Emban get mad at her friends for being welcoming to Divin-zadja and leave the boat to avoid socializing with her?
Alden thought he might be doing a better job of picking up on the squad’s interpersonal drama than he was at building a mental image of how they would perform their actual mission. He cared more about the second, but Seth-wereft’s explanation earlier just hadn’t been enough. He still didn’t get what all of their skills did. They kept referring to in-group knowledge instead of actually describing how they would do things.
Half of what they say sounds like, “We could ask for a thingamajig and use it to try the fiddly-widdly maneuver we heard about Somebody-somebody using once upon a time on Planet Hisshiss.” And I’m not even sure the hissing was a planet name. That might have been a noise of disagreement.
Despite far fewer words being said about their relationships with each other, he did think he understood that the one in pink, Divin-zadja, had asked to join this squad for their next trip to Goldbush and Emban had feelings about it. They were practicing together today for only the second time. She brought her own experiences and insights to the table, and everyone here seemed to get along with her. But Bithe was growing more antsy to have Emban return from wherever she’d gone, and Tilliver-gare had half-apologized to Divin-zadja about the absence a while ago.
It sounds like they were being professional this morning, and then maybe something happened at the beginning of their break and Emban dipped out in a way that wasn’t as nice as it could’ve been.
And one member of the original squad, Postor, hadn’t joined them today at all.
Alden could imagine that Ryada-bess’s shadow was darkening the mood. It didn’t seem, to him, like Divin-zadja was supposed to be a replacement for her. From what Stuart had told him, squad sizes could vary. It wasn’t as if the original group had to accept a new member or like accepting one meant Ryada couldn’t come back when she felt better. But maybe Emban and Postor weren’t ready for another change so soon.
If I can understand that much, I should be able to unravel at least a little more of the practical stuff.
He decided to ignore what they were talking about for the next few minutes and sort out some of what he’d already heard. Accessing his notes, he started with their names and what he’d gathered about their skills.
Emban-art’h was The Definer of Grooves. Alden had learned the basics of what she could do when they flew paper airplanes together. Repeated actions leading to more potent effects. “The first arrow falls short. The last pierces the sun,” was in his notes about her. She could define grooves for herself, for objects she held, and a short while ago, he’d learned that she could do it for another person.
Right…they said she wanted to help Tilliver-gare with his jump. Later, one of them said something about how many options Emban’s new “swap” ability would open up. And…I don’t even remember making a couple of these other notes, but I think it must add up to her being able to transfer a groove she’s made through her own actions to one of the others.
Firing an arrow twenty times, then giving someone else the bow. Or maybe running up that hillside, using her skill along the way to run faster and faster, and then passing the groove on to someone behind her so that they can catch up?
He might not have it exactly right, but it was a start.
Then Bithe. The Vatha Lantern. “That which mesmerizes only to burn.”
Instead, it should be called Sexy Moth Summoner.
The vatha boat situation got funnier the more Alden thought about it. He wondered if Bithe had known this kind of thing would happen before today, or if he was going to come out of his mellowing and have to process what he’d done. And the fact that everyone who lived along the river knew about it.
They must have passed Esh-erdi’s house by now. There was no way Esh saw a boat covered in ten thousand vathas cruise by and didn’t want to know what was going on.
Alden glanced at Bithe. The knight was still happy. He was contributing, but he was delivering compliments to everyone almost as frequently as ideas. Everything they suggested sounded good to him as long as it didn’t involve people splitting off from the group for too long. He said that he couldn’t believe he’d been so upset after this morning’s failure, and he was sure they were going to do well this time.
He caught Alden looking at him and smiled. His bangs had been clipped back. They made a little puff on top of his head.
You poor dude, thought Alden, smiling back. I know you want your squad to get along. I bet you were trying to destress and accelerate your camaraderie with the new member of the team. But people are going to remind you about that time you accidentally made a vatha boat until you’re a grandpa.
Moshk would be gossiping about it at the pitcherhouse tonight.
Then there’s Seth-wereft.
He’d caught the name “Driftseed” for her skill. He was inclined to think that was a shortened version of the full name because they did abbreviate one another’s skill names to make the conversation faster. He looked at all the notes he’d written so far whenever he knew she was the one they were talking about.
I’ve got multiple references to things floating. She said something would be too far away for her to use it once. There was that one mention of her “loosening up the stubborn ones so that Bithe can pull them in, too.”
He remembered her hand sticking out the boat window and the weird movement of the vathas right before he boarded. He’d been attributing most of that to Bithe’s skill, but actually, hadn’t she said she would get rid of them so that Alden wouldn’t step on them?
That wasn’t just them being afraid and scattering. It was them drifting. In response to her skill.
So she makes things float around. I don’t know how much control she had over them individually. But it seems like she can apply it to an area. Or maybe to a category of nearby lifeforms or objects? “All vathas, drift now!” Something like that.
He felt like he suddenly understood at least ten percent more of the plans they’d been hatching.
They were anticipating lots of small enemies surrounding them. If Bithe could attract piles of weak demons, then he could burn a bunch of them. Seth-wereft could make the ones he didn’t instantly kill all float around helplessly so that they couldn’t do damage. And the others could clean up?
That’s a start.
Divin-zadja had helpfully introduced herself to Alden as Divin-zadja, The Recaller of Storms. With a name like that, Alden was going to assume that she was on her way to being something apocalyptic, but for now, she was probably more like a Sky Shaper with extra features?
At least an S-rank Sky Shaper, he decided. Mega Vandy? No, more like Vandy’s mom.
She seemed to have been to Goldbush more often than the rest of them, so he thought she might be several affixations in.
Postor whose last name I don’t know can be left out since he’s not participating.
And then there’s Tilliver.
Alden had learned his last name was gare. His skill…he had one. He hadn’t said its name, though. And they weren’t talking about him doing much at all with it, unless Alden was missing it every time.
He mentioned not liking the flockers and wanting something else. Assuming that was a nickname for swarms of little demons, then he must want to fight something bigger? Maybe he’s better on individual targets. He missed a jump, so I can’t imagine him like a Brute. I’ll pretend he’s an Adjuster with a single-target damage spell until I hear something to the contrary.
So there they are. Definer of Grooves, Vatha Lantern, Driftseed, Sky Shaper, Adjuster.
What else did he know?
Most of them had only been knights for a year. Possibly two. This was a squad that had been put together in hopes of finding compatible partners for inesvul.
Their power is probably comparable to each other since the bond was a goal. Wait, if that’s the case, then maybe Divin-zadja isn’t that much stronger than the rest of them? And I don’t think Emban’s stronger than Stuart, so…
He downgraded Divin-zadja from Vandy’s mom’s level back to Mega Vandy.
They weren’t a squad that repaired the natural environment. Maybe with Postor and Ryada they’d had options along those lines, but these five together seemed more like a group that needed to focus on demon-clearing.
Their objective was very simple. They needed to get up the hill, getting rid of demons along the way, and then they were going to collect the thing on top and take it to the world keeper or protect it until someone else could come pick it up.
The treat.
Seriously, why are we calling it a treat? I’m picturing them fighting demons to save a doughnut.
He closed his notes again and went back to listening. To his surprise, having some ideas about everyone’s skills and power levels, regardless of the accuracy of those ideas, helped him understand a lot more about what was going on. As did boiling down their mission objective to “go uphill.”
Exactly how was that scheme Seth-wereft wanted to try going to work? Didn’t matter. Assume Tilliver-gare was going to take care of it with his unidentified Adjuster powers and move along.
Caring less about being sure and more about getting the gist of it all was finally helping Alden hear the things he actually wanted to learn about. How knights trained and interacted with each other. What their expectations for themselves were and what they thought older knights expected from them.
“We can’t let Jatyam-en down a second time today, can we?” Seth-wereft said an hour after Alden had arrived. “And you know the newest ones will be watching this weekend if they aren’t already. Let’s show them what’s ahead for them.”
“I think having a prize is a nice memory to take along, and the barter is a good time,” said Divin-zadja. “You all need to experience it since you haven’t yet. My last squad had two pieces that we passed around every day.”
Tilliver-gare was frowning at an expanded view of the map. “It would help Opnee’s squad if we cleared a lane through their field. And we’d push the whole battle forward a little. But let’s not take advantage of the pass-winder at least. Leave it for someone to have this weekend.”
“Emban’s fine with that,” said Bithe. “She’s started saying no equipment again. I wouldn’t mind impressing the instructor.”
“We have to use some equipment this time,” said Tilliver-gare. “Divin’s right that taking too little and failing is the worse outcome.”
“You’re listed as healed now, Tilliver. We should settle on what we’re doing soon,” said Seth-wereft.
The others all made gestures or sounds of agreement.
And Alden was getting it. Finally. He had enough pieces of the big picture to know what they’d just said.
A large simulated battle against chaos was taking place here in the training fields of Rapport III. It had been going on for several days and would continue for a few more.
The main three regions of the battlefield were assigned to different senior knights. Each of those knights had put out the call for other knights to help. This squad, being one of the most inexperienced ones, had volunteered for one of the smaller tasks in Hn’tyon Jatyam-en’s region.
Something was stabilizing the hilltop compared to the surrounding area. Another knight had figured that out on a flyover yesterday. This morning, the squad had gone to try to find whatever was holding out so well against the chaos so that it could be protected. They were calling it a treat because they knew it would be a prize for them to keep. Tilliver-gare’s injury and their skills being close to exhaustion had forced them to retreat before they reached it.
He hadn’t really been hurt, of course. The Contract informed participants about damage, protected them from real harm, and managed the whole battle.
“Injured” knights didn’t have to sit out for as long as they would have if they were really recovering, but there were consequences to their failures and successes that affected the whole battle.
Other people had had to stop their own work to come help extract them earlier. Their squad had cleared some demons, so the hill wasn’t lost yet. But because the vehicle they’d used on their way in had been declared severely damaged, that vehicle had been removed from the list of tools available to everyone for the duration of the exercise.
Resources were limited. One squad’s victory made another’s easier. Hundreds of people would be involved before the end, but the biggest shifts in the state of the overall battle usually came from the successes and failures of the most powerful knights involved.
Alden thought it must be very tense for people at Jatyam-en’s level. It sounded like if he made a mistake, he’d lose huge amounts of land to chaos and watch dozens of younger knights who were trying to help him “die.”
But there was plenty of difficulty down here at the lowest level, too. Alden was impressed by how much freedom the squad had to use those limited resources and make their own decisions about how to get the job done. They received no orders from any superiors, as far as he could tell. The instructor Bithe had just mentioned was Rel-art’h, but it didn’t seem like he was actively involved in what they did. Alden wasn’t even sure he was here in Rapport III today.
And because it was such a realistic, long event, there were a ton of factors for them to consider. Like Tilliver-gare wishing they could clear a path through someone else’s assigned field. They could just get to the top of their hill, or they could try to do more. And the difference between the two, in terms of difficulty and outcomes, was way bigger than anything that could happen on, say, an obstacle course at Celena North.
They don’t have to care about as much as the more senior knights do, but they still need to have this awareness of how their hill mission is affecting the people working nearby. Maybe they should use more expensive vehicles and enchanted weapons if it’ll put them in a position to help the other groups get farther ahead.
It was way more cooperative than competitive, but that almost made the decisions more difficult.
“If someone like Hn’tyon Opnee or Hn’tyon Forduan has trouble, does your squad need to be ready to go help them? Do you do things to prepare for that, or are you not senior enough to be called for aid?” Alden asked.
Those were the only two names he was sure belonged to people working in areas neighboring the hill.
Everyone stopped talking. That was wild of them considering how much they’d been talking over each other, but he supposed they’d forgotten he was here and he’d startled them. This was the first thing he’d said since he started observing.
He wanted the answer because it was something he’d be worried about when it came to choosing how deeply he’d pull from the shared supplies. And he hadn’t heard them talk about the possibility of needing to completely switch gears and rush to another knight’s aid, even though someone had had to do that for them earlier today.
“If someone like Forduan is in danger, we couldn’t help,” said Bithe. “We could check for an update from Opnee’s squad at the last moment, though. If they’re having enough trouble, I think it would justify us using a high defense flyer to finish the hill quickly and join them.”
“It would,” Seth-wereft said after thinking for a moment longer. “And hello, Alden! I know you said you wouldn’t interrupt us, but you didn’t have to be that quiet for that long.”
Bithe’s smile stiffened. He looked at Alden. “Your already impressive knowledge of our language seems to have grown in the short time since we last saw each other.”
“I’m not being quiet because of that one comment from weeks ago about my mouth-wind mutilating your language, Bithe.”
“What’s this?” asked Tilliver-gare, lifting sharply arched white eyebrows.
“I just didn’t have anything to say to you all,” said Alden. “Other than questions you don’t have time for. Since I know so little about you, the only ideas I’m having involve my own skill. If you want to take an Avowed along to hold the thing you’re collecting so that it won’t degrade while you try to make a run for the world keeper, say so. Otherwise, I’m glad you’re letting me listen.”
It sounded like there were observation locations for people who wanted to watch the battle play out live. He hoped to ask them for an invite to one of those before they parted ways so that he could see how all this talking he’d been trying to absorb turned into action.
“I want an Avowed to carry the treat,” said Seth-wereft.
Alden did a really good job of not gaping at her. “All right. If you want to consider me as a possible option, you should probably put an eye on how I use my skill. I have some video of how it works from my training classes at school.”
Seth-wereft jerked like she was going to fall out of her seat. “I apologize,” she said, suddenly losing all of her levity. “I didn’t realize you were sincerely offering.”
She was joking…yeah, that makes more sense.
“It was generous,” Divin-zadja said quickly. “Thank you, Avowed Alden. Seth didn’t mean to make light of it.”
She and Bithe had both winced in unison. Alden wondered if it was more for him or their squadmate.
“It’s fine. I didn’t expect you to want my help,” he said. “But it was a sincere offer. My skill preserves things. It’s also a shield. If one person was wounded, I could hold them until the job was finished or until rescue arrived. I’m sure I’m not as strong as any of you are, but I doubt I’m so much weaker that I would be useless. Or I wouldn’t be if we’d had more experience working together. The main issue would be how unfamiliar I am with everything you’re doing. So you would have to give me a lot of instructions, and having me along might interrupt your flow as a squad.”
He thought that was a fair assessment of himself.
Now seems like a good enough time to ask for favors.
“Actually,” he said, “since you don’t want me for that, I was going to ask you all if you minded me watching from one of the observation places.”
“Of course we don’t mind,” said Seth-wereft.
Bithe and Divin-zadja quickly agreed.
Tilliver-gare had propped an elbow on the table, and two of his fingertips were resting against his chin. One eye was stuck on Alden. “There are so many Avowed summonings left for this battle.”
So summoning Avowed is part of it, too? And there’s a maximum number allowed.
“I think I’m a summoner who would want to choose an Avowed carefully. But you’re already here. You’re volunteering. Nothing bad will actually happen to you. And I like to give people instructions. People who listen, that is.”
The others were all looking uncertain now. Alden honestly didn’t know if he’d rather go with them for a practical experience or enjoy the view of the wider battlefield from what was no doubt a luxurious observation place.
“I suppose it’s a bad idea, though,” Tilliver-gare concluded. “I’d be curious to hear what you think you could have done with your skill to assist after you watch us.”
“I’ll tell you. Or send you a message if we can’t meet easily,” Alden said.
He felt relieved, so he must have been more worried about getting practical experience today than he’d realized.
Makes sense. The chance to humiliate myself during something like they’re doing seems extremely high.
A repeat of every mistake he’d ever made in gym class, but in front of however many knights were observing. And for all he knew, half the residents of the Rapports might watch the replays of this like they were Saturday morning cartoons.
I can’t believe I offered. I must have gone crazy for a second.
He settled down while the conversation went back to where it had been before his question. They’d stopped spinning the map. He could study it now. And he’d gotten control of his spinning thoughts. He could hear the music box.
I feel good about it all.
Just like last night, he’d taken a seat at the table. He’d introduced himself to a few people. He’d shown he cared about the thing they were doing.
And now he got to go spend the rest of his weekend watching knights use their skills.
I’m not even going to take notes while I observe the battlefield. I’m just going to try to absorb what I see.
When Emban finally arrived, the awkwardness he’d expected to well up in him didn’t make an appearance.
Sure, he’d run out of the kitchen and mildly insulted the art’hs, and she’d told him this wasn’t his world. But now Stuart knew the name of Alden’s skill and his wishes for his future. Alden had helped serve wevvi at Esh-erdi’s house. And Emban’s squad had been thoroughly welcoming. If they’d been a little stupid to each other that morning, so what? Bygones.
She came in through a door that had just a couple of vathas left on the outside. Her braid was simpler than others he’d seen her wear, but she had the ribbons in it to match her cream-colored coat.
Everyone greeted her. As she took one of the empty seats, she reported that Ryada had enjoyed watching them this morning, and Alden perked up even more at the thought that he might run into Ryada while he was observing.
“Look who found us!” Seth-wereft said, after Emban finished delivering tips from Ryada to each member of the squad. “Alden Thorn!”
“Yes, Bithe mentioned him in a message,” said Emban. “This must be our week for visitors.”
It wasn’t rude, to Alden’s ears.
He thought her tone was neutral, leaning pleasant. If there was any inflection on the words “him” or “visitors,” it was so slight he would never have been sure it was there on his own.
But he wasn’t the only person in the room.
Seth-wereft’s smile dropped. Bithe’s more than dropped; he looked like somebody had stolen a cookie from him and stomped on it.
Whether Emban had subtly vocalized something awful that only native speakers could understand or she was on such thin ice with her squadmates today that she wasn’t allowed to have even a tiny slip of the tongue, he didn’t know. But she’d clearly messed up.
Did she send them a bad text message at the same time? Did I miss a translation?
Divin-zadja sighed and reached out to touch Bithe’s hand.
Something about that made Alden think that this might be all about Emban suggesting her fellow knight was only a visitor. That could have been a pretty bad dig, especially if there had been lead-up to it he hadn’t witnessed.
But if Divin-zadja was the person who’d been insulted, he couldn’t grasp what thought process led to the next words spoken in the room: “Alden’s coming with us.”
I’m doing what?
Tilliver-gare, who’d made the declaration, was looking at Emban instead of him. “I’m summoning him to join our battle. He’ll be a critical part of our quest.”
No. We just said I would not be. I generously offered, and you wisely refused, and you moved on to finalizing a plan that has nothing to do with me. I get to observe.
None of them were focused on him except for Emban herself, who was staring at him like she was hoping to find an explanation for what was happening written on his forehead.
“That…doesn’t make sense,” she said.
“Perhaps our choices would make sense to you if you had been here,” said Seth-wereft.
You’re in on it, too, now?
I offered to let you guys use me against chaos, not each other.
“Hn’tyon Tilliver-gare, I think—”
“Please call me Tilliver, Alden. We should all use one another’s first names. We’re about to be busy, and titles take too much time.”
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Comments (225)
🍿🍿🍿OMG Alden is in it now...
On reread, I liked even more the description of Alden listening on their battle plans and the slow buildup of understanding. It could have been written without any actual dialogue, with ’it was hard for him to understand them at first, but gradually he got a faint idea of what they were planning’ I’m so looking forward to the next chapter!
My kind of bad prediction for this arc is that Alden is gonna "die" in the activity, and the baby knights are gonna get lectured for putting his life at risk because of an interpersonal squabble.
I like that idea, but for Aldens sake I hope he would survive but it was obvious that they were willing to sacrifice him. Knights still getting a lecture, but Alden comes out feeling accomplished from his training after thegund.
Next chapter predictions in haiku, or otherwise? Give Alden a taste Of young knight teamwork to come War games for wizards
Lexi's burning whip Bithe's burning lantern hands Who does it better?
I know it doesn’t make sense to refresh and check all the time since it’s unlikely for the chapter to drop early. But I can’t help it🙈
It will be at least 12-16 more hours with a high chance of then coming a delay notice for 24 more hours.
Alden’s been dreaming of taking out a moderately sized demon for ages now. He’s fairly confident he can disable one but often relied on Kibby’s bombs in his dreams to ensure complete success. Now Tilliver shall take the role of Kibby, ensuring that the larger artificial demon that he had been hoping to appear is officially dealt with after being disabled by the surprisingly competent human accompanying them.
Interesting to reread 224 (the first time Alden went into 'combat' with members of this squad) with this chapter in mind - what do we think the main risks are for Alden, and for members of this young knight quad, for the current training exercise?
Alden itemized the Here-to-There mock combat risks as: "They were on Artona I, Alden reminded himself. And protecting the Here-to-There was a mix of meaningful ceremony and roleplaying activity. The dangers were all social. Embarrassing yourself or your traveling companions, ruining the day for the people they were supposed to be caring for, angering somebody who’d hold a grudge—those were the risks." (224)
“[...] you know the newest ones will be watching this weekend if they aren’t already. Let’s show them what’s ahead for them.” Will Asay-tor be one of those 'newest ones' watching in the audience soon, if he isn't already? I bet he will be surprised to see Alden working with older knights he likely admires.
I assume the girl whom Stu met and was hoping ti hear from will be there. Would be nice if Alsen would say something nice to her and give Stus regards, too.
It is now approximate day in my time zone. I wish you all a joyous day, and many happy returns!
It's 2am approximate time! Only 22 hrs to go for go / no go time!
I do hope Alden does well in this exercise. He’s had nearly twelve months experience preparing for things like this—Thegund, MPE, coursing, Bobby, Yenu-Pezth and Stu—so he should be fine. I worry that his nightmares will return if he fails. I hope Tilliver et al don’t waste the valuable resource they have been gifted.
Sounds like Tilliver has a cunning plan! [insert gif of Baldrick coming up with a cunning plan]
Alden doesn't have his usual gym grab bag with him today. I'm really hoping we get to see some great alien doo-dads if they let him assemble a kit from local stuff!
When does aldens summon vacation end?
His 8-month mandatory summoning leave ends early May, probably the first week of May. About 3.5 months remaining. But his likelihood of being summoned as an avowed is decreasing more and more as he transitions to Hn'tyon life.
"If we could get there on our own instead of waiting for pick-up, it would be a stitch on our coats. But I worry we’re not fast enough to do it without the treat degrading too much.” This seems the likeliest way Alden might be used. Preserve the treat so it doesn't decrease while they make a push for the world keeper on their own. And it seems an ideal entrustment scenario....strong authority entruster with a real interest in the preservation of the entrusted object.
I could see him making a giant umbrella shield to keep the mini chaos creatures away from the troop. (As an example of other ideas.)
“We will tell them that their strange behavior distracted you from your work.” “Let’s leave whoever they are alone. There was something charming about their greeting. It was why I was curious in the first place.” Ch 119
Lind using the term “charming” ,which definitely is authority related description, when describing Alden s authority might mean she suspects he’s behind that greeting
Random question: does Sleyca have a discord?
She does not, but there’s an active fan discord with Sleyca’s stamp of approval!
OMG I just realized Alden’s practice throwing people to the floating island might be how they get Tilliver across another bad jump. And Seth can use Driftseed to make sure the landing’s safe.
Completely off topic for this chapter, but a thought hit me when I was trying to go (back) to sleep and started thinking about soup (as you do). In Ch 302, we got confirmation that ”chaos potential” is the main (only?) reason that the contract selects someone to become avowed. But we know that Artonans differ in how susceptible they are to chaos (Kibby had to get tested to stay at the lab), and that it’s not related to authority strength. So, everyone is wondering how Lute turned out a (strong) S when his parents are non-avowed. Of course his biological father is very likely avowed, but what if Jessica actually has strong authority, but is inherently ”stable”, and therefore wasn’t selected. I doubt that Alden wants to teach another avowed magic/authority sense even if he could. But if he could find a human who’s not avowed, but has strong authority, he might try. It would be hilarious if the second human wizard is not Aulia, who’s been searching for it all her life, but instead her whiff daughter. Of course, I don’t really believe a word of this, but it was a fun thought.
Even if demon risk/chaos potential is “the” reason people get selected, strength still matters. The worse the consequences, the lower the tolerance one has for risk. Because an S-rank demon can do more damage than a C-rank demon, S’s would get a lower chaos potential threshold for selection than C’s would. And that’s assuming some very generous things about the system and the Artonans. Personally, I’d bet everyone with rank S strength gets selected, regardless of chaos potential, because the Artonans appreciate strong servants.
Emban's skill is Definer of Grooves. I'm starting to get the impression that, while this skill gives her intense power scaling in repeated actions, it also tends to lead her to getting into a rut on tings.
Ah being used during other people's argument is awful... Am really looking forward to next chapter (or more likely the few next chapters). Emban's skill is really cool I hope they make up
Rapport Social Dynamic alert - Alden! Rapport Social Dynamic Alert!
Hopefully they summon team ko to help out. It would be amazing.
For what remains of Aldens quiet rabbit, i dont think team MAHJIKL should be summoned. As fun as it could be, this is a Hn'tyon training situation, and as previously said in story, they are the better choice when it comes to dealing with chaos related issues, so relying on summoning a whole team of avowed to solve the problem sidesteps the reason. Alden may be able to convince someone (esh) to summon them all as guests to sidestep any timer issues, but i assume that theres already a pre-summoned roster of avowed for the trainees to use. the Artonans are not going to be sub-10-second emergency summoning people for training.
Thanks for the chapter! Oh this is gonna be so fun!
I get every author has their own pace but man I need more chapters to reeeeaaddd 😫
I know what you mean! It's been tough going to a four times a month from a six times a month, BUT... quality has improved, imo.
Rereading chapters is so enjoyable! I guess Tilliver's thoughts might be rather straightforward. There is no team flow that Alden can interrupt, since the team is somewhat broken. Rearranging their strategy could help them out of their rut and change the dynamics. I'm excited to read where this unexpected plotline will take us
I'm starting to suspect Tilliver didn't accept Emban's repeatedly offered help with his jump earlier because he didn't want her help after something she said that made *him* feel unwelcome. He jumped on Alden's offer like it solved a problem for him personally, in a way that countered further (patronizing?) offers of help from Emban.
Rapport/non-Rapport people and Anesidora/globies have a lot of parallels. The Rapport people/Anesidorans are brought up in isolated communities which don’t have much contact with the outside world. It gives them knowledge, but also a skewed sense of real life in many cases. It also gives them a sense of superiority toward the rest of the world(s), particularly if they’re a high level/from a famous family. Non-Rapport declared/globies have a more balanced outlook on many things, but they lack the knowledge of their counterparts. They struggle when moving over to the other side, as it were, and are looked down on by the others. (I am guessing Divin is a non-Rapport knight.). But provided they don’t let the prejudice and the obstacles let them down, when they succeed (e.g. Esh/Alden) do they fly.
Anesidoran kids' teen years being consumed by when when when (if) they get Selected vs. Rapports kids' teen years being dominated by whether they go hn'tyon or votary or some other path is also a potent parallel/contrast.
It feels to me that Ryada-bess was the glue keeping Emban’s team together. Once she’s out of the picture, the cracks start to show. Without Ryada they weren’t as compatible as everyone thought. Ryada possibly sensed it, too. If the team was 100% supportive to each other, would she have hesitated to tell the others she was having problems? I can’t help but wonder whether keeping the Rapport people in their early-defined groups is the best idea. Some of them would benefit from being moved around early on.
In principle that’s true, but are you going to be the one to tell a suicide risk kid that they can’t be around their friends/preexisting support system?
please God let him do something cool and not have dirt rubbed in his eyes + go home
Even better: teach them a lesson (even if in a gentle and practical way) these young knights would never forget.
Emban has such great potential as an entruster. Every entrustment more entrusting than the last until Alden could be entrusted with the sun.
Emban vouches for another trusted knight and Alden feels as servient to them as he does to her is an interesting combo too! Could be fun
Sips tea; “ahhhh. Drama 💅”
At this point, one must wonder if Alden actually knows the definition of "quiet"
Mother asked him if he wanted to be a Quiet Rabbit. Alden misheard and thought she said Quite Rabbit. So he's been running around ever since...
Tilliver's skill remains unnamed and no one commented on him doing anything in particular. I bet he's a sway and acts as the squad's communications specialist. Also explains why he's not bothered by the idea of giving a bunch of instructions to a last minute avowed if communicating is his whole thing.
Yessssssssssss, I was expecting the same thing! Good thing Alden's gotten so facile with mental texting, I bet that will help him maintain composure about it.
Honestly, after rereading in a less sleepy state I think the word for "visitor" can mean, beyond the obvious "someone who is just temporarily with us" something more akin to "someone who is not originally part of us" as in referring to origins maybe? So that would offend both Divin, who just got in the squad and Emban appears to want out of it, Alden who is a human, so she's being racist, and Bithe, who was originally not part of the Rapports and that's why he looks particularly miffed by the whole situation, even more than the other teammates. Or I'm just reading too much and he's awkward cuz he's kinda friendly with Alden and was working extra hard to make the squad bonding work. Sorry if I wasn't being too coherent.
Also, pretty sad and funny that the Definer of Grooves keeps reaching for those poisoned, low hanging fruits every time she has the chance, seems very in character with the skill and might explain how such an overpowered ability is "balanced" from a certain perspective. You need to have REALLY good character to pick it cuz otherwise your bad tendencies will possibly flare up BADLY after some repetition
I get the sense this isn't the first time Emban has skipped out on spending downtime with her squad in favor of hanging out with Ryada instead. We know from Ryada's conversation with Stu the other week that Emban has been concerned and attentive and overprotective to a near-smothering degree, and Ryada had to argue with her to get time to go take the occasional long walk by herself. Stu and Alden have been benefiting from using Stu's temporary assignment as Emban's votary as cover for Stu missing school without doing anything for that role since Emban and Alden's minute argument in the art'h kitchen before Christmas. It's understandable that Stu would be deeply distracted by Alden's confessions and hopes to deepen with him, but if we give Stu grace for being distracted by Alden and Alden's situation, shouldn't we also give Emban some of the same grace for being distracted by Ryada and Ryada's situation?
Stu's family negotiated with him to work as Emban's temporary votary for more than make-work: Emban demonstrably needs the extra social and magical support around her second affixation. Alden has been bracing for Stu's parents to have a big blowup with Stu around giving away Renjen-art'h's treasured demon hide as a bribe to a disreputable (criminal!) wizard without consulting them, but I wonder if they might actually see Stu deliberately withholding his previous close support of Emban from her so soon after the major upset of Ryada's concealed emotional turmoil when she accepted Emban's hopes of deepening together as the more significant betrayal. Stu agreed to act as Emban's votary in return for getting to have Alden come visit the Rapports any time without any extra supervision of their time together or how frequency they make use of those guesting and teleportation privileges. Stu has paused acting as Emban's votary to punish her but he has continued to invite Alden over to hang out with him in Rapports I, which is contrary to the spirit of the agreement he made with his votary parents. Stu has also been abusing the leeway granted to him in consideration of his votary status by his teachers at school to miss class for reasons entirely unrelated to Emban or Emban's requests. An ungenerous eye could look at this situation and conclude that Stu's absence is as much to blame for Emban's recent social difficulties with her squad as Emban herself. I don't think that's really the case, but I also don't think Stu's absence has had no impact on Emban's mood or the resources she has for apologizing and smoothing various upsets over. She's definitely making matters worse for herself right now, but providing more support for Emban specifically rather than her squad as a whole might do a lot to help her back off from the emotional cliffs she's gotten herself backed up to.
You know, we're chuckling about Bithe accidentally creating a vatha boat by being a Sexy Moth Summoner, but I do wonder how much attractive power Alden deciding he wants to go seek out some opportunity to use his skill has. Did Alden start luring in every highly burdened person in some absurd radius meeting his entruster selection criteria? That boat of stressed young knights floated downriver towards him like they were magnetically attracted, and with just the right timing for Bithe to be freshly mellowed and get excited about inviting Alden in.
Maybe Alden was the Vatha seduced by a boat glowing red from the sheer tension and a sexy moth summoner, considering his tendency to seek out high intensity situations
What will his school have to say about missing classes? Will Alden explain what he's actually doing? Will Anesidora Secret Service (ASS) interview him about all the secrets he obtains?
No, school won’t care or notice because today is Sunday. And also because we were told from the start that off world = excused absence.
Next chapter: Sink or Swim!
Next Chapter: A Delicious Treat
Remember when Stu told Alden he might find it difficult to find summoners willing to put him in challenging positions? This was when Alden was still imagining being thrown into impossible situations by wizards of questionable morals. How times have changed! I love that he's experiencing a part of young knight life before even Stu does. Thanks Tilliver!
Tilliver is in my top three Artonan names lol
Will be funny them finding out Alden is more useful than a World Keeper.
He will be. That doesn’t mean he’s there yet.
I'm debating myself on what would be the most interesting scenario here. Alden being surprisingly competent here because of his experience in gym, or Alden actually falling behind because he does have a lot less raw power (probably) than the rest of the knights and his 'summoning' mostly being some weird form of spite. Doing surprisingly well would be interesting because seeing the MC being badass is always a treat of course. But we're not exactly lacking moments where Alden does well in gym at this point, and watching him try his best to keep up with 'proper' knights and only barely managing (or even failing) to keep up would show how far Alden still has to go. (I just really hope it won't result in multiple chapters of brooding...)
Alden is pretty good at analysing situations, coming up with creative ideas and being willing to step up and take action.
The little creature name rabbit should be our masterpiece or carry the most important target in a simulation against chaos! You will never be from our world… He’s closer now! said the summoner.
- Can I come and see? - Yes, you will come! - And see?…
Ah after rereading a bunch of chapters Emban's confused reaction to Alden coming along is because shes under the impression he's just a lab bunny. Why the hell would her squad mates want to summon a lab assistant instead of any other more reasonable option?
But she’d know better if she’d been here. :)
Stu is going to freak out. I can’t wait for his reaction
I'm wondering if Bithe has happily messaged him already!
LMAO. In over his head after all.
I like to imagine that "Our Week for Visitors" is the name of a Kwoo-pak episode where Kwoo's family must host unwanted guests.
Alden really does have to catch up with the more mature episodes.
“He Ignacio, I may have a training opportunity for you on the Mother. Keep your knives close and wear sturdy shoes:)”
This is somewhat interesting from a military organization standpoint. In real armies, there's somewhat of a conflict between assigning important assets like artillery to small units like battalions or large units like divisions (which contain many battalions). The advantage of assigning them to larger units is resource prioritization (if there's one fight going on at a logistics hub and another going on in a box canyon in the middle of nowhere, command for the larger unit is more likely to know both fights are going on and prioritize the logistics hub). The benefit of assigning assets to small units is responsiveness (the request for support doesn't have to be repeatedly explained to the next step up the chain of command until it reaches headquarters). Decentralized command has often been seen as better in the past century - and for the Artonans, probably even more so. What they seem to be doing is basically hanging out in the chat thread for the operation and keeping appraised of what other people are doing to try to help prioritize in a decentralized way. For humans, this would likely turn out well until the unit was actually in a firefight, at which point I'd imagine they'd lose a lot of their situational awareness. But Artonans can split their attention perfectly. So why *not* keep watching the chat thread while fighting demons?
That raises an interesting point. In the soldier/warrior divide, modern knights are distinctly warriors rather than soldiers, while all modern human superpowers keep fighting forces composed of soldiers far more than warriors. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a human fighting force that has large scale, is composed entirely from warriors, and benefits from instantaneous communication at a distance. This is something with no good analogue in human military history, isn’t it? It’s worth noting, though, that they won’t have the benefit of Contract-mediated communications on most chaos fields. They may have other ways, but at reduced reliability and throughput, more analogous to radio comms probably.
I wonder if Alden will recommend Worli Ro-den's blast coats since they're dealing with swarms of small "demons" and the coat was pretty good protection against them on Thegund Moon. It would be a good suggestion (assuming the knights can afford them). It would also be a subtle reminder that, "Oh yeah, the weak human ryeh-b't boy actually survived real Chaos that was trying to for real kill him, rescued and cared for an Artonan child and got a Commendation from Alis-art'h for it."
The knight coats should be sufficient, I would think
I’m guessing Divin is brought in as a Ryada replacement and Emban is pissy about it?
Not a replacement, as squads do not have a fixed member count. But Emban is incorrectly perceiving her as a replacement and reacting accordingly.
Alden likes gym so much he goes to gym at other people's schools.
It would be amazing if he did well enough that the knights in training decided to use more avowed summons and suddenly Alden is a school ambassador giving advice on summoning Jeffy to deal with the water obstacle, etc. The B-rank rabbit ends up making the Elites program look like chumps
Well this certainly isn't going to help with Alden's anxiety about being summoned against his will
He volunteered. Why would this aggravate that anxiety?
Imagining... a flight of fancy for a moment: After the run, a group photo is taken with Alden at the center. Four days from now, the After Action Review of the best-performing/most-surprising squad speaks to Tilliver. "Alden Tnorn is the BEST Avowed!" Sreeeak sends Rabbit ambassadors to Rapport-III, and the und'hs are thoroughly embarrassed by their praise of his Zeridee rescue.
Wonder if we’re going to see a mild repeat of his heroics on Thegund. I’d be surprised if the chaos here is anywhere near as bad as what he ran through there.
There is literally no chaos here. It’s a training ground, all the danger is simulated.
I actually think that this is an excellent opportunity for Emban and Alden to develop their relationship. Almost all of their problems stem from Emban knowing nothing or even wrong things about Alden - e.g. Lab Rabbit and all that that entails. Given that she seems to have affixed just a bit before Alden appeared at the sibling hold, I don't think anyone should blame her for not caring to much about some random Avowed with a class that's typically "cute helper" rather than "demon murder machine". I think Emban (secretly?) supports Knight Stu - like the whole "keep him away from the 'bad' school by constantly calling him" thing. With her preconceptions she's bound to worry about/ dislike Alden's influence on Stu - and might very quickly warm up to him once she realizes how Alden actually is.
I really hope Emban rises to the opportunity you’ve described. It’s not cool what Emban’s done/said with the current squad but the picture of her future/squad she thought she had appears to be crumbling. That’s hard for anyone, but doesn’t grant her the right to be shitty to other people. I’m hoping that’s the lesson she’ll learn out of this. Her going in the opposite direction is what we seem to be seeing, though. Rooting for her!
Esh-erdi “I wonder what Alden has gotten into now?” Later to Lind-otta “we missed all the fun again!” Mother “That’s My Alden”
I hope Esh and Lind get to watch
If Alden introduced himself as "The Taker of Luggage" in English (because they wouldn't know he knows the Artonan translation of his skill) would the system translate to "Bearer of All Burdens"?
If he had Quiet Rabbit persona showing, I wouldn't think so.
Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
“Leave your messages on during class,” said Alden, giving him an existential fist bump. “I’ll send you pictures with no explanations." Stu is going to explode.
He just needs to "accidentally" send Stu a message meant for the squad or the battlegroup.
Beautiful. As I was reading the chapter, I was hoping for exactly that outcome. Teenage superhero drama!
Alright! I got what I wanted. Alden is helping the Knights take the hill!
More evidence Emban and Ryada should switch talents. Emban likes to Drain the life out of social situations.
List of canonical Saturday morning viewing activities in Soupverse: - Colibri: Novice avowed duels - Elias: MBF’s interesting person montage - Senior knights: Novice knight quests
I can not for the life of me tell if Tilliver was being genuine in his words that he could summon Alden and then wisely backing off, or if he was floating it out to the squad as a way of being funny-mean or mean-mean to their currently difficult squad mate Emban. For Alden’s sake I hope it’s the former. Seth’s change of heart from Emban’s dig makes me think it’s the latter. Emban’s ignoring of Alden until Seth pointed it out and subsequent disbelief at his “summons” definitely means anti-bygones, the gones are not by lol Emban’s recent Skill power up is very cool as it seems very supportive - giving out tools to squad mates that are magically enhanced to increase their effectiveness is incredibly cool. It’d be nice to see Alden and her work together in that way, similar to him and Ignacio, but Emban may have too many hang ups for that to work. I wonder what the reason is for there being so many Avowed summons available for the training exercise. Knightlings wanting to prove themselves? A prejudice against Avowed? Fear of being showed up by an Avowed? A mixture of reasons is probably the case Us not getting too many hints about Tilliver’s Skill seems foreboding, looking forward to finding out what it is! Divin is giving Storm vibes. Trying to break down Artonan social dynamics is fascinating. Thank you for the chapter!!
As this is a training exercise for Knights, it would make sense that they have a budget for summoning Avowed. They can be judged on effectiveness by the senior Knights after the exercise ends, and receive feedback.
Poor Alden left for his holiday and missed sage wisdom and warning by not reading this gem from Casualfarmer’s latest chapter: “The reward for good work is always more work, Lord Protector.” Let’s see what happens next.
There's all kinds of versions of that saying. One I like is "The reward for a difficult job well done is another, more difficult job."
Emban's just miffed that Alden dances to his own undefinable groove.
So, I expect that with Tilliver, Alden finally gets a good entruster - invested, thoughtful and powerful. I'm curious how this will help him understand and develop BOAB.
Yes! I was also thinking how Tilliver has a good attitude for the Bearer to shine.
Emban is so passive aggressive. I’m surprised she’s not using air quotes all the time. Oh look, another “visitor”. How lovely. 😐
Given the way her squadmates reacted, it's likely that Emban *was* using Artonan air quotes.
Imagine how surprised Esh is going to be when he wonders over to observe the training.
He will no doubt do a bit of wondering after he wanders over! 😋
Honestly, I was pumped to see Ryada again, but I'm down with this too! Looks like it's gonna be awesome. And hopefully we'll see Ryada again anyway... She really is uniquely charming, even though I don't have any authority sense.
It would be funny if Emban runs to Ryada after and Ryada can't stop talking about Alden's performance.
Oh man, this is gonna be epic. *Thor meme* Another!
I look forward to Stu's reaction to being sent pictures of all of this without any explanation
Declared Stu'arth: going on a party Rabbit Alden: chaos mock battle "I can't believe you went there, while I had to endure this!" It sounds a bit like a stand-up comedy, with the punchline being the identity of the speaker. ^^
Honestly the coolest thing I can think of is Alden taking this experience and presenting it to the teachers. Like, large, inter-dependant cooperative exercises over a few days/a week would be AMAZING for Avowed and a far more healthy environment than the cutthroat competitiveness and human-to-human fighting that's the usual staple of gym. Or alden keeps it in mind if he goes down the path of teaching
Agreed. I would love to see that. Humanity is blind to super hero groups working together for a larger end goal. Until the Wave Arc crisis, they would never think of a scenario that would require multiple hero groups working together to complete a complex goal. Just superhero vs Supervillian. Which is a low cry of what the Avowed could accomplish if they had the drive or the vision.
I love the idea that Artonans can shade their tone of voice so subtly that other species can’t pick up on it. Also, love the ambiguity of how knights view Avowed. I forget that the word “Avowed” is a pretty serious word until I see how seriously some Knights seem to take it. Also, yay! Ryada’s nearby! Her scene with Alden at the end of the Here to There and her scene with Stu at the pool were really good.
Any in-group can shade their tones or twist their words so subtly an outsider doesn’t know what’s really being said. I think the concealment here is social in mechanism, not vocal.
I am fucking *here* for this, and omfg I am so nervous for Alden and hoping he does well. Sleyca, I hope you know you are writing something amazing, because I would not be feeling this way about a few casual lines meant to *somewhat* spite a grumpy teammate if this was not an amazing story. I want Alden to carve himself a space in the Rapport and drag Stuart in with him, I so so so badly hope he is successful in helping here. And yet I have completely confidence that even if it's a spectacular failure whatever comes out of it will be just as amazing. But, oh, goddamnit that cliff!
What a great narrative choice to show how much Alden will need to learn in order to have any chance of being treated like a peer by other knights in the future. This info could have been communicated to him through conversation with Stu or another person, describing how teams work. Instead he’s thrown in the deep end and really experiencing the speed and methods teams are accustomed to when working. And what he experiences is fascinating — the barriers won’t just be terminology but not being able to split his attention. His biology automatically puts him at a disadvantage that could cause future teams to see him as a burden they have to carry. And this scene isn’t just useful to Alden - it gives us readers such a compelling experience. A huge cultural info dump that doesn’t feel like one at all.
It also shows how lost Stu would be in the same situation. Them teaming up closely however will be amazing!
Thank you for the chapter! I hope Alden texts Stu
What a development! The past few chapters have been amazing with Stu and Boe, and now this. Thanks for all the treats, can't wait for the next one.
Emban should get a hold of herself. She's not only offending Earthling Avowed anymore. These people will be her teammates in future battles
One hopes she will soon realize that she's dug herself a hole, and needs to stop digging. And that her mates will have the grace to help her out when she's willing to leave it.
wow Alden the tactician. If this were the wandering inn, he'd definitely get a level in scouting or information-gathering. Also, its exciting to see Artonan tactics! Military organization/strategy is a subtly great way to inform us of the kind of culture a society holds. Also, will we get an Alden aurafarm in the next few chapters? I'm looking forward to it
I distinctly remember him saying hes not worried about being summoned because he is on sick leave.
He's already there and volunteered, so they don't have to use an official summons, even if it counts as one in the war game.
I hope Ryada will be ok. I feel like she is making all the right decisions and choices to accept her affixation. She had a deep understanding of Aldens message and is insightful. She is at the games and observing. I wish she was participating and using her skill but maybe there is a reason for that. I dont want to see her end her life.
I wish Alden was observing, since it would be an opportunity for a long conversation with Ryada while they watch young knights doing young knight things. Participating is great, but has soooo many ways it could go wrong.
Drama on Planet HissHiss.
Oh Alden. This isn't quiet rabbit behavior. I can't help but wonder if this isn't the final steps towards the end of his time as a soon-sworn knight. All it would take is one small slip, perhaps sensing something with his authority, or instinctively doing something with his free authority, that an Avowed shouldn't be able to do. Maybe someone like Ryada-bess, who already knows-without-knowing that Alden was speaking of his own binding, begins to assemble the pieces laid before them. Or Lind-otta who has already glimpsed Alden's charming self, will recognize the questing friend on the field and have significant suspicions. Add on something else telling, like the non-negotiable downtime after Alden's looming non-negotiable affixation, and anyone looking for it will be able to spin a thread that can't be woven into any other cloth but the truth. Either way, Stuart is going to set new record for turning the purplest when he sees the group squad photo Alden sends. I'm so excited!
oh dear. I hope we get to learn the nuances of why Emban's words pissed everyone off.
I think it's already supposed to be clear? It's a dig at Divin (who she wrongly perceives as being some sort of replacement for Ryada). Basically by referring to Alden as "another visitor" it's directly "othering" Divin and treating her like an outsider.
Will Stu be there as Votary to Emban?
Not unless she apologizes to Alden. Stu is on strike.
Wait, is Emban being set up to be a (minor) villain of this phase? Like a less annoying Winston? I am having many conflicting feelings! to be clear- villain isn't the word, antagonist sounds worse but its actually better cause that is what I feel like her role in the story is right at this second- she has come across to me as hurt, jealous of Alden's closeness with her hoped for partner, and I can see that feeling exploding based on how *her* squad turned on her to include Alden in their plans. Talk about walking on landmines! If Alden is the reason they fail again, Emban may really never forgive him!
Emban's acting like a jerk. Instead of being happy or relieved that Alden helped her dear one, who's life is literally in danger, she's angry and jealous? And today she stormed off in a huff and abandoned her team in the middle of a training exercise. I really don't think she's a good match for Ryada. Or anyone, unless she grows up.
Well finally he has to act again instead over overthinking, over-analysing and generally fretting way too much. I do enioy his character development and the deep looks we are getting, but just like in real life nothing gets done if you iterate 1000 times on paper but never build the damn thing. Looking forward to the chaos caused by Alden and Stuart to combat Chaos! Tftc!
To be fair to Alden, he spent months on a death moon with an alien child entirely dependent on him worried any decision he made carelessly could kill them. If I lived through that, and survived to guard such a potent basket of potentially explosive secrets, I would be even more prone to overthinking and overanalyzing than I already am. Bless Healer Yenu for helping Alden speedrun years of therapy in mere weeks. Our desire to plunge Alden into further danger and root for him to succeed instead of sink is absolutely enabled by Yenu's care and skill.
That's kinda like the worst place to be a quiet rabbit, isn't? All those spectators ... someone will do the math on his skill and compare it to his profile. It's also not a good place to hide what he could do, since the feelings of knights are involved. RIP bunny. 🍿
True, but even as strong as Alden is, hes still a B, a strong B considering his age, but thats just the selection timing being weird and giving him a low rank. Earth contract is young and doesn't know how to assign its labels properly yet. Its mostly meaningless that hes leveled as much as he has compared to who hes with as they are all likely at least S. Edit: to clarify because i didnt originally, these are just hypothetical excuses for Artonans viewing his strength as abnormal, because in the grand scheme of things, he is still very weak, and still B-class even by proper Earth standards. The reason they might blame Earth contract is because it is young, as stated by various people intending to study it for why it made the decisions it did during the submerger incident. He has the potential for strength to rival the primary eventually, but that is not now. his skill has the potential to be strong in the moment when its used right (see the Klien Pause), which is notable, but not world shattering until his skill is known.
[after the mission ends successfully] ALDEN (thinks): I'm glad I helped everybody without my secrets getting out. BITHE: Alden. Your skill really reminds me of one called The Bearer of All Burdens. ALDEN (sweats)
My money would be on Joss recognizing Bearer over Bithe tbh.
I like the title. ‘Observe’ how quickly Alden’s role changes from ‘Observer’ to ‘Participant’
Along with the double meaning of "Jump Aboard" for last chapter.
And then in the middle of the excersise he sends Stu a misleading picture.
Group picture! "On my way to fight chaos"
lmao teenage superhero politics. Poor Alden
Alden has been avoiding the Earth internet fans so diligently, and now he's plunged headfirst into alien superteen drama anyway.
Anyone else picturing Stu's face as Alden explains how he got himself into this scenario?😂❤️
or his face when he get the photos without any comment
All those S ranks are going to be jelly when the video of Alden training with knights gets around. Also, I think this is now the 4th gym class he's a part of.
I dont think they will. They have such Earth level prospectives. For them training with an experienced S rank human is HUGE. This is unimaginable. And most I think have little idea about what is done to fight chaos and who fights it. Even most of the instructors wouldn't get how crazy this is. It is a singularity.
Alden was so insightful in this chapter. I'd be impressed and have great respect for any person to make the connections he did, during the last part, even if it took people hours, instead of in real-time. His last thought was particularly on point.
As it was foretold: the gym chapter and the Artonan chapter have become one and the same. I think it's great. Stuart will be outraged he missed this and delighted Alden got to experience knight training. I expect the baby knights will bw surprised by Alden's skill and tactical acumen. This is what gym class has been preparing him for - reacting to FUBARs, handling team conflicts and inspiring people to be better and act better. As a cherry on top, I hope Emban and Alden will reconcile and that Emban grows as a person.
Or she gets even more bitter the better Alden does...
Damn these plot lines and points come in suddenly, but still perfectly.
Honestly, as much as they're knights in their second year soon... just the way they just decided on a whim to use a random visitor against a squadmate to, I suppose, teach her some lesson for dipping out rudely earlier, and putting their whole exercise potentially at risk with any cascading unforeseen consequences this may have... It all just showcases how young they all are that they let a petty disagreement derail their plans entirely 😅 They're all acting very childish and not taking the exercise seriously at all, Emban included. Stu would be appalled over them not treating a learning opportunity with the respect it deserves. That said... I'm worried for Alden being used as a stick in their in-squad drama ending up with him looking bad in front of the rest of the knights 🫣
They're like the equivalent of 20 year olds, I think. They're just baby! It's funny how much older Alden feels compared to them, but it speaks more of him having to grow up so much faster than he should have had to.
The pressure to perform is even higher now.
Tilliver “I like to give people instructions. People who listen, that is.” has an interesting personality. I wonder if they’re more bossy like Reinhardt or more like Lexi and just not adept at expressing themselves politely.
To me, he comes across like the team strategist who just decided to use another, underutilised, resource.
Poor Emban. She keeps getting cast as an antagonist. I wonder if she’s going to get the Joe treatment and as we learn more about her and the context of her actions she just seems worse and worse? For her sake, I hope she manages to pull out of her downward trajectory and treat Alden as more nearly equal.
I expect Emban will grow and change over the course of the story, and the more secure she gets in her deepening with Ryada, the greater bandwidth she'll have for grace with others again. She's very much embodying why senior knights ask people to have lots of patience with volatile junior knights right now. Ultimately, though, she's signed up for a life of agony and hardship to fight chaos and protect life, and that's a pretty extraordinary choice to make and keep on making. That earns a lot of grace and patience with her having big feelings she's not managing as well as she could in my book.
I wonder if Bithe messaged the squad members while they were talking and told them what happened with Ryada, Alden and Emban. If this is the case, It would make even more sense that Tilliver would want to use Alden of all people against Emban
What will Alden wear to this exercise?
So excited for this mock battle. This story really has a way of jumping the most unexpected plot developments on you..
This plot line is so briliantly executed. I am amazed by Sleyca's creativity. None of the typical unrealistic plot devices where the protagonist gets offered a role amongst much stronger individuals just because they are favoured or have connections. Nope. Alden gets to be part of the action because of a reason that really has nothing to do with him. And even better, these events could actually be traced all the way back to what happened with Ryada (Emban probably doesn't want new squad members because of Ryada). And that happened so many chapters ago. So amazing how naturally this story develops and flows
Emban was irritated that Alden could cause such family disturbance while not seeming to be worth it. Then he really made a connection showing her he really *got* her motivation and reinforced it when she was down after affixing for her second time. Then he schooled her on 'you're alien/no, I'm actually not'. And then the Here-to-There, and how he really connected with Ryada-bess, and now poor Emban is stuck, and the only way out is through.
I love the knights getting to know Alden, and I’m so excited he’s actually going to take part in their exercise! Even if it was instigated by more interpersonal politics than he would have preferred. I can’t tell if Stu is going to be jealous or worried for Alden. Probably worried, and hopefully happy for him.
I feel like Seth’s comment joking about Alden’s involvement didn’t roll over well because it was supposed to be a jab at the usefulness of Avowed in general. …Until she realized she was talking to an Avowed who received a commendation from one of the best knights in the universe specifically for his help in a chaos zone.
I assume it was a jest at the fact that Avowed are side characters in their world view. They blip in and blip out on summons, while knights are the ones consistently carrying the responsibility and the main burden of the mission. Besides, when you summon a random Avowed, you can't fully trust them to be reliable and vice versa. It's probably different when a knight has a team of Avowed he works with, and they have a longstanding relationship based on trust. But baby knights do not expect to have that any time soon.
Something I wondered , does the setting distinguish between real matter and conjured matter ?( As In something just made with magic having some traits like being easy to dispel or other stuff [this of course doesn't mean that a wizard wouldn't be able to summon real matter but tht it would be something that requires a lot more skill and more powah{basically asking if a charcater can just summon a mini ocean and disappear it or can they summon magical stuff based on real stuff so they can have magically powerful dirt to attack with or variations}])
Off the top of my head I dont recall any generative magic being used, eveything tends to telling reality to behave a certain way and it obeying. Authority is the magic by the using the definition of the word. A sky shaper has Authority to move air, alden has the authority to preserve things. Spells with effects like ice creation like everly has uses ingredients to enable the effect. Thats not to say that matter/energy conversion can't happen at the highest levels, Stu described it as dominion over everything (ill have to go find the full quote though)
Alden here to save the day!
Enban will be even more annoyed at him now 😬
Oh this is such delicious setup.😂 Thanks for the chapter.
TFTC!
Emban seems like the type of person who you don't want to make an enemy of. With her being the definer of grooves, the personality effect on her would likely mean that long held opinions get reinforced by her skill. So if she decides to hate someone and doesn't change course on that opinion quickly, she could find herself making someone her mortal enemy over what amounts to spilt milk.
Do you suppose she may have second thoughts about his ability/worthiness to cause family dissent by now?
You know, I bet Ignacio would *love* to join Alden in volunteering for a training mission like this - and his skill would be fantastic for defensive crowd control against a swarm. Good thing Alden's been training to deal with demonized swarms in his Thegund rerun therapy dreams...
Unfortunately, it may be a bit late in this exercise to get any new avowed who weren't already penciled in barring special circumstances like Alden's. Because outside of emergency summons and the ryehbt class, most avowed get a fairly significant grace period before their assignment begins.
OH NO, that last bit... this isn't how Alden wanted to be included in a squad!
Alden is being used to wrangle Emban's mood. Interesting choice. :)
Alden is totally having a newbie gamer moment, needing to learn the meta and the lingo, AND casually just pressed ’join lobby’ lmao
The perfect analogy doesn't exi-
A truly lovely chapter like always:)
Gym class gets the stylish jumpsuits to protect from injury... is Alden going to get to wear his dark green knights uniform for protection? Stu is not going to be able to focus on school with all of these unexplained photos hes about to receive.
I hope he sends so many photos. Group selfies, battlefield panoramics, preserving the treat, etc.
Ruh roh, you're in the thick of it now Alden. Not the simulated chaos battle, our boy will do fine there, but the terror of a domestic dispute inside this childish knight-squad-in-training
I’m hoping Alden does indeed run into Ryada here, I’d love to see her talk to him about the letter he sent
I don’t remember when it happened, but Ryada and Alden have already met and talked since the letter. It was a while back.
Oh Emban, what did you do this time?
I'm just as stunned as Alden. Not because he gets to Course With Knights on a Big Stage, but because he'd never have intended to be a tool by which Emban was schooled by her squad. Coming out of this, I really hope he's cemented a friendlier relationship with the whole squad, Emban included.
Either Emban is going to do a 180 and apologize to Alden one day, or she is really going to hate him
Oh my! Out of the frying pan into the fire! This is going to be so interesting! Volunteering while still unsummonable. Alden's looking at another growth spurt here.
Mwa-ha-ha!!!
Aidan finally gonna show everybody what’s what
Bruh lmao
Intensity level rises!
I love Tilliver so much now. Petty assholes are so delightful when not antagonizing people I like lmao
I like Emban but damn she hasn't covered herself in glory lately, has she? Only sackfruit.
This is so funny. "I offered to let you guys use me against chaos, not each other." Too late, man. Not only will you get to know Anesidora social dynamics, but now you get the hardcore experience of inter-fighting of a group of baby knights and YOU WILL LIKE IT (and probably save everyone from killing each other, while providing expert tactical advice).
Haha, well said! Except, in this instance, I believe the correct phrase is Artonan social dynamics
"I offered to let you guys use me against chaos, not each other." Oh noooooooooooooo. I'm sure Alden will be great, but also: oh noooooooooooo. Emban was making an effort on a hard day! Alden was encouraged by her efforts! and now he's getting dumped in the deep end and there's going to be SO MUCH PRESSURe. And Ryada will be watching and be worried for them all!
Side note: it is incredibly cute that Emban apparently went to visit Ryada and is now bearing back all of Ryada's tips and suggestions for each member of the squad. I love the two of them so much and I really hope they work out long -term.
Lmao Alden once again being "summoned" into a situation with novice summoners who don't know how to use his power
Truly, inexperience is the greatest Burden of them all.
YAY!
I just woke up, and here the chapter is!
Woot woot! Ooh, boy! I did not see Alden being used as a weapon in an intra squad squabble. This is going to be so awkward...
I was beginning to think you'd conked out and were drooling on your keyboard right now lol
Yeah, Soup incoming 👍
Woohoo
Soup!!! Thanks 😁
HOW AM I NOT FIRST?
I will observe the chapter, thank you
*wriggles in full-body anticipation*