THREE HUNDRED FOURTEEN: What Grows Unseen IV
Next Post: 17 September (approximate)
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The night was aging, but Azeeda-und’h was still awake, hunting a trespasser through her own house and out onto the grounds.
The trespasser was only a child who’d sneaked into rooms where the young children weren’t allowed to go, leaving drawers and cabinets out of order while he searched for something. And Azeeda’s skill, Allhunter, had allowed her to figure out which of the children it was quickly. But by sinking deeper into Allhunter, she could discern truths about her prey’s actions and nature.
It was nostalgic to follow the trail her little brother had made over the past day. Azeeda had almost forgotten about that cubbyhole in the nursery where precious objects could be tucked away. And that there was a narrow gap between the bushes and one side of the house that made a good hiding place if a person was small.
She was curious about why her brother had been so busy at his task. This was more like tracking an animal preparing for bad weather than like tracking a child at play. If she hadn’t already checked on Zakithee, she’d have been concerned. But he was in his bed, sleeping easily.
Since nothing was really amiss, Azeeda could enjoy the hunt. Zakithee was a determined little boy. He’d be a good knight one day.
She made a luck wish with one hand, palm facing in the direction of Wathe’s Ribbon. She wasn’t superstitious, except about jinxing her family.
She’d had it easy with Allhunter. Not all had it easy with their skills.
At this very moment, Kessril was talking to a girl who didn’t.
Azeeda had been asked to go to Goldbush only two days ago. Kessril had decided he would go with her. He’d already looked into the work that needed to be done there, and he’d taken an interest in being responsible for the girl, though she didn’t know it yet.
Ryada-bess.
Kessril said that he would keep up with Azeeda by becoming an overnight teacher of newlings with her.
She hadn’t thought of what she’d be doing that way before he said it. She was going to Goldbush to find answers about what had become of the two who’d gone missing there. It was right for her to communicate with the families of those who had been lost. It was also right to let the grieving sister help if she could. Involving her in the hunt might even be a necessity, instead of a courtesy, if the mission didn’t go as quickly as Azeeda hoped it would.
And she’s so inexperienced I’ll naturally be doing some teaching along the way. Kessril is right.
This would be a new kind of responsibility for her. She was grateful Kessril would be around to support her through anything unexpected. As she would him.
I am surely among the most fortunate in this universe.
She couldn’t say she’d had it easy with the search for inesvul. But in Kessril, she’d found the most likely prospect of her life. They were still deepening well together. They both hoped.
Tonight, he was observing the training fields in addition to learning about Ryada-bess. He’d been sending Azeeda more information about the happenings there than she felt she needed. She’d responded by sending him more information about what she was doing than he needed.
[Zakithee hid the manyadeeth he took under a bush, then he dug it back up again,] she told him as she traced her brother’s short steps. [He was feeling overworked and unappreciated the whole time.]
[You have to ask him what he needs manyadeeth for.]
[I’m going to figure it out myself first.]
[Your skill isn’t powerful enough for such a mystery. You’ll wake up tomorrow to find he’s used the manyadeeth to dye Undhome pink.]
She smiled. She wanted to send an authority greeting to him all the way up at the observation station.
[By the way, that human made it back to the squad he’s with all on his own,] Kessril sent a short while later. [I know you probably haven’t been watching since he wasn’t doing much with the kelsithe. I wasn’t watching either, but my new student has surprisingly strong feelings about him. I assume they know each other through the art’h family.]
Azeeda was circling around a decorative saltwater pond, as Zakithee had done. She could feel the way he’d considered it. He’d been thinking of hiding his manyadeeth underwater.
[He’s done much with the kelsithe now,] Kessril added. [It’s worth requesting the record.]
[I might later.]
[It’s really worth it.]
Azeeda continued slowly trailing her brother.
There were almost always some Avowed on the fields. Kessril wouldn’t usually have called her attention to one. Earlier, he’d done it because of the kelsithe. Neither of them had watched anyone use one in battle before.
The human had used it to control his landing after the fall from their flyer, and then he’d made a shield of it. That wasn’t battle, but Azeeda felt she’d seen enough.
It’s said Alis-art’h became very upset about finding that human. Wouldn’t it be best for him to be living out of sight and in peace somewhere?
One of her spouses could be responsible for ensuring that the human had a good life from now on. That would allow Alis-art’h to remove any worry involving him from her thoughts.
The Quaternary carried too many heavy matters for the weight of such a small one not to be taken by others.
The art’hs are different than us. I still wouldn’t have guessed they’d want that human training with one of their young ones, though. He’s a Ryeh-b’t. Are they planning to use him for something in the near future?
No. They can’t take a young human Ryeh-b’t the Quaternary worries over anywhere dangerous, so why is he practicing as if he might go through something dangerous?
Azeeda hoped it was some kind of therapy to help the human. A bit improper of them to use this training exercise for it, but not as improper as the art’h girl on that squad inviting the Avowed along thoughtlessly. Or recklessly.
Goodchild Zakithee, she thought, following her brother’s path back toward the house. Dying the water wouldn’t have been a nice thing to do to the animals that live in it.
The saltwater pond had been created to cheer up their aunt who’d loved tidal pools. She’d died when Azeeda was a child. Zakithee probably didn’t know to connect the pond in their yard to her.
[Is Ryada-bess close to the art’h on her former squad?] she asked.
If Azeeda and Kessril were to be teachers of younger knights, they’d better learn what they could about each other’s students.
[She’s close to all of them. Rel-art’h says he thinks they rolled on well for longer than they should have because she was their hub.]
Too many of us hide our true selves beneath a facade of strength, thought Azeeda. Is it a failing more common in Rapport folk?
She knew almost no one who lived another kind of life, so she couldn’t say.
Kessril would know.
His student has strong feelings about the human. Azeeda stopped inside the back door of the house. A lamp had come to hover at her knees. If the student has strong feelings, then a good instructor would seek to understand them.
And if my hoped-for one gives his attention to something, then I at least…
[What kind of strong feelings does Ryada-bess have about the human?] she asked.
[Positive ones. Have you watched? I’ve seen all sorts of skills and more than a few rescues, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a knight carried around that way before.]
[I’m watching now.]
She soon saw that the positive feelings were understandable. She also saw cause for concern.
[My uncle’s home,] she sent to Kessril. [He’ll be watching this when he has time. He’s going to give them such a harsh evaluation whether they ask for his opinion or not.]
[Why? They’re doing well. From how they began I was afraid they’d fall completely apart, but they’ve come together as a team now. Even if they are a bit ragged. I think it’s a good thing for them, and it’s good for their former member to see them this way.]
Azeeda read the message again. The issue was simple enough that she would have thought he’d notice it himself. The Avowed had disobeyed the order he’d been given to find safety and wait, and none of the knights on that squad had asked him why or commented on it at all.
Kessril isn’t wrong, though. That a struggling squad has come together is important.
The problem was that the uncle she was worried about would latch onto that one particular oversight, grow excessively angry about matters scarcely related to this one Avowed and these newlings, and then nitpick their entire performance until they forgot anything good had happened at all.
I’ll take care of it so they don’t have to go through that, she decided.
She started checking the Rapport III tellingbush to find out which art’hs were around.
******
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Stu’s final lesson that day ended when it was expected to, so his feelings that the instructor was belaboring every detail probably didn’t reflect reality. He gave thanks on his way out the door and took care not to rush through groups of students who wished to be overheard having erudite debates in the atrium.
He had been practicing not rushing rudely away from LeafSong all afternoon.
Since he was allowed to access scenes from the Rapport III fields, he had done it at every opportunity between classes. Having frequent proof that Alden was well should have made waiting easier.
It had.
But today, only a teleport away from where Stu endeavored to be a proper student, his friend had unexpectedly taken steps onto a training battlefield like a proper newling knight.
This is wonderful.
When Alden had sent that message about joining Emban’s squad for their quest, the number of questions and the amount of nerves it had generated within Stu was a phenomenon worthy of a Master’s study.
But he had felt a cautious optimism, too. And that optimism had been rewarded again and again each time he checked on Alden’s progress.
What had started as a hope that this was Emban’s way of apologizing to Alden and showing him respect had grown into delight as Stu watched Alden succeed.
He had a kelsithe with him! How had he known to get one of those? And his control of it seemed to be excellent!
Stu had held his breath while Alden stayed levelheaded during a flyer accident that he couldn’t have had any sort of practice for.
He’d noticed evidence of the wordchains Alden knew in the way he ran.
He’d wanted to skip one of his classes entirely to pay closer attention to how he was using his movement trait. They hadn’t talked about that aspect of his binding much.
Not very long ago at all, Stu had been showing his friend how to apply break plates and explaining how hazard mimics worked, and now Alden was wearing a full set of plates and fighting hazard mimics with no help at all.
Stu had seen how Alden performed in the many videos he’d shared of his training at Celena North, so he could see the effort that was happening now. He could see Alden’s focus on rejoining his entruster. Could feel a thrill of recognition during the moment when Alden met the charge of a hazard mimic and then ended it.
That had happened when Stu was in a lecture.
He wished he’d been standing right there on the field instead, sensing the working of Alden’s magic.
He must be so excited! He’s probably annoyed he can’t pull out his auriad and try something. I hope this is helping him gain insight into The Bearer of All Burdens that he hasn’t found yet at his school.
Extraordinary power and effort could be found in abundance in the Rapports. And by the reckoning of many people, Stu had witnessed greater magic in the classes he’d knelt through today.
But Alden was as close to his best now as Stu had ever seen him.
He didn’t have to be there today, but he’s there for them. He helped Emban and the others when they most needed him.
He used wegyta rings.
He’s run for ages. I knew he could run that far, but to see it!
The way he took Bithe up that hill…
Stu felt that he had caught a new glimpse of the person his aunt had commended. And a glimpse even better than the vision in the coat had been of who Alden wanted to become.
He’s tired.
He had every right to be. And he’d given Emban and her friends all of his snacks without taking anything but a sip of wevvi for himself.
Stu had made that wevvi.
Why am I in this school instead of there with them?
He picked up his pace as he left the building, trying to intercept his cart to the summonarium as soon as possible. His thoughts were almost fully on what was happening in Rapport III as he hopped into it and took his seat, so it was a shock when someone boarded immediately behind him and sprawled in the seat across from him.
“Eeaner…this cart is going to the summonarium.”
“It can pause at our student house on the way,” Eeaner said. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“To Artona I,” said Stu.
“That narrows the answer down to a whole planet. You’ve been behaving unlike yourself all day.”
“I haven’t.”
“You’ve been smiling to yourself and sneaking off into corners to stare at something every chance you found. You didn’t even wait around to tell Bayab he should feel shame for what he said in front of our last instructor.”
“What did he say?”
“You make my point for me. What are you going to do on our Mother Planet? Maybe I want to go with you and discover what enlivens and distracts Sina Stu-art’h. If it’s a person or an activity, I should include it at our party. There’s still time.”
“I’m going to Rapport III to observe someone who’s training himself to protect reality from chaos’s encroachment. He’s been fighting battles there all day. I hope to congratulate him and others as they return from their quest.”
Eeaner huffed. “When you say things like that, why does it always sound like you’re adding, ‘Unlike you, Shameful Eeaner-ket,’ in your mind?”
Stu really didn’t want to talk to his housemate right now. He’d been eager to spend the cart ride reviewing everything Alden and Emban’s squad had done while he was in class. “It’s up to you to feel shame or not.”
“Not, then.”
Eeaner said it so carelessly.
Stu directed the cart to stop. “You may have this cart. I’ll request another one.”
Eeaner bolted onto his feet and held an arm out to stop Stu from exiting. “You prickly person! I’m trying to be warm to you when you seemed to be in a good mood! What am I supposed to be ashamed of this time?”
Stu looked at the arm. “Nevermind, Eeaner. I’m just busy with much that doesn’t truly interest you.”
“You know you take offense at the least offensive things, don’t you?”
“When we became housemates, you said to me that you could picture yourself one day choosing to enter Rapport service.”
Stu found both of Eeaner’s eyes. He was wearing his solar gem necklace. Light from it shone against his chin. He hadn’t had it earlier. He must have been carrying it in a pocket, waiting for the moment when their final class ended.
“I know now that you were speaking idly,” said Stu, “but at the time it wasn’t obvious. You even talked at length about how the Rapports could benefit from less insularity and more wizards tying us to institutions other than DawnStep. Your intelligence hid your lack of sincerity. I didn’t agree with everything you said, but I looked forward to hearing more of your ideas. I thought we could discuss futures that had something significant in common. As time passed, I wondered why I couldn’t persuade you to talk the same way anymore. Eventually, I realized it was probably because you’d realized I took you too seriously that first time.”
“Why didn’t you just go to DawnStep if you wanted to be around people like that?” The words snapped out of Eeaner-ket. Not at all carefree.
I think I’ve made him angry.
Eeaner hardly ever seemed truly angry.
This was something I had decided not to bring up with him for a reason, Stu thought. I want to get along with my housemates.
“I was in a hurry,” Stu said, trying to apologize with his tone. “To get to the summonarium.”
“Get there then.” Eeaner dropped his arm and stepped off the cart. “Without me.”
Stu searched for another apology that he could give honestly. “I’m sorry I’m prickly toward you when you’re trying to be warm to me. I appreciate that you were making an effort, so I shouldn’t have been. If it was Bayab-oth, or others, I wouldn’t still be holding onto something they said so long ago…so it’s not fair that I am with you.”
It really wasn’t fair to him, was it?
“I’ll stop doing that,” Stu said firmly. “I hope that will make me more pleasant for you to have light conversations with.”
Eeaner’s face puckered.
“Have a good evening,” said Stu, watching the expression to see if his next words would fix it. “I’ll put my best effort into being fun at your party.”
The face didn’t change.
He’ll have to fix himself then.
What if more of the winged demons have gone after the squad? What can Alden do with Bithe now that they’re together?
“Bye,” Stu said.
His cart started to roll. His housemate hissed and jumped at it wildly. He’d have fallen under it if Stu hadn’t reflexively grabbed for him and hauled him aboard.
“Eeaner! Be careful!”
Eeaner was sitting on the cart floor. It had jerked to a halt again.
“Are you all right?” Stu asked.
“Here,” Eeaner said, slapping a small box onto the seat beside Stu. “I collected these for you. Do whatever it is you do with them. Don’t start treating me lightly. I won’t tolerate you for a moment longer if you do.”
Stu opened the lid, then shut it immediately as the racket coming from the box announced what it was that Eeaner had collected.
Klerms.
“Thank you,” said Stu.
Eeaner was crawling backward to get out of the cart.
“Oh, go away and stare at whatever mighty, shameproof knight you’ve been staring at all day. Do they have the same skill you plan to choose or something? I don’t care. Just go. I hope your klerms escape and infest a Rapport. You’d better have fun with everyone else this weekend.”
Stu wanted to focus on the wonderful things happening in Rapport III. As the cart started again, he found himself turning around to watch Eeaner-ket instead.
He was standing on the edge of the path, staring down at a carnivorous plant. People and carts were passing him.
What is that look?
Eeaner usually seems to fit right in wherever he is. But now he doesn’t at all.
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“Remember, that water is acid,” Alden whispered to his squad of followers as they half bounced, half drifted down the hill behind him, lightened by Seth’s skill and tethered to each other and him by his new rope. “Or it’s full of demon pee. Or chaos bacteria. We don’t touch it.”
“You know because you touched it,” said Emban.
She sounded disappointed in him. But in the cramped confines of the bird foot, she’d thanked him for helping Bithe. She’d said she was glad he came.
Alden thought they were getting along with each other again. It was a good feeling.
“I didn’t touch it. I got splashed with it.”
“There’s something in there that splashes people?” asked Tilliver.
His sculpture had held through the storm, and the long break had helped everyone but Divin recover somewhat. Alden had used his entire inhaler during the wait, but his muscles were feeling much more leaden than they had at the beginning of this.
“Let’s just be careful,” he said. “And watch for that big one I told you about. Or others like it. It blended in until it woke up and started moving.”
They were all on lookout duty. Alden was trying to make sure he retraced his own steps as closely as he could. The way he’d traveled to reach them was the safest way they knew of.
He wore his kelsithe and carried the backpack on that arm, all of it preserved as a stack because they were hoping to balance easy access with protecting what they could from being damaged by the corrupted environment.
Their goal was simply to get back to a zone that was less red. Just the other side of Demon Goat Valley. From there, they would try to call for an extraction.
The Artonans were all placing bets on what the actual animal was that Alden had decided to call a goat. He was having a hard time getting any of them to take an interest in the special mouse he’d seen because he didn’t know how to convey that it was special mouse without saying he could tell it was made by magic.
“I can’t believe you ate without me,” Divin grumbled.
“I’m sorry,” said Alden. “I tried to set something aside, but then it was gone. Next time I’ll make sure I’ve got enough for everyone.”
“Next time?”
Alden leaped the stream. “Sure. If there’s ever a next time.”
In the privacy of his thoughts, he promised himself there would be.
Comments (278)
imagine their faces in the future if he were to whip out Natalie-made snacks. :)
'The trespasser was only a child who’d sneaked into rooms where the young children weren’t allowed to go, leaving drawers and cabinets out of order while he searched for something.' Oh? 'At this very moment, Kessril was talking to a girl who didn’t. Azeeda had been asked to go to Goldbush only two days ago. Kessril had decided he would go with her. He’d already looked into the work that needed to be done there, and he’d taken an interest in being responsible for the girl, though she didn’t know it yet. Ryada-bess.' :D 'I am surely among the most fortunate in this universe.' :) 'He’d been sending Azeeda more information about the happenings there than she felt she needed. She’d responded by sending him more information about what she was doing than he needed.' :D '[You have to ask him what he needs manyadeeth for.]' Yooooo 'I wasn’t watching either, but my new student has surprisingly strong feelings about him. I assume they know each other through the art’h family.]' :) '[He’s done much with the kelsithe now,] Kessril added. [It’s worth requesting the record.] [I might later.] [It’s really worth it.]' :D 'One of her spouses could be responsible for ensuring that the human had a good life from now on. That would allow Alis-art’h to remove any worry involving him from her thoughts' Heh 'Goodchild Zakithee, she thought, following her brother’s path back toward the house. Dying the water wouldn’t have been a nice thing to do to the animals that live in it.' HAHA -His student has strong feelings about the human. Azeeda stopped inside the back door of the house. A lamp had come to hover at her knees. If the student has strong feelings, then a good instructor would seek to understand them. And if my hoped-for one gives his attention to something, then I at least…' :D '[What kind of strong feelings does Ryada-bess have about the human?] she asked. [Positive ones. Have you watched? I’ve seen all sorts of skills and more than a few rescues, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a knight carried around that way before.] [I’m watching now.]' >:) 'Azeeda read the message again. The issue was simple enough that she would have thought he’d notice it himself. The Avowed had disobeyed the order he’d been given to find safety and wait, and none of the knights on that squad had asked him why or commented on it at all.' Hmmm 'The problem was that the uncle she was worried about would latch onto that one particular oversight, grow excessively angry about matters scarcely related to this one Avowed and these newlings, and then nitpick their entire performance until they forgot anything good had happened at all. I’ll take care of it so they don’t have to go through that, she decided.' RABBIT. 'He had been practicing not rushing rudely away from LeafSong all afternoon.' >:) -What had started as a hope that this was Emban’s way of apologizing to Alden and showing him respect had grown into delight as Stu watched Alden succeed.' :D 'Not very long ago at all, Stu had been showing his friend how to apply break plates and explaining how hazard mimics worked, and now Alden was wearing a full set of plates and fighting hazard mimics with no help at all.' :) 'But Alden was as close to his best now as Stu had ever seen him.' :) 'Stu felt that he had caught a new glimpse of the person his aunt had commended. And a glimpse even better than the vision in the coat had been of who Alden wanted to become. He’s tired.' :) 'You didn’t even wait around to tell Bayab he should feel shame for what he said in front of our last instructor.” “What did he say?” “You make my point for me.' heh 'If it was Bayab-oth, or others, I wouldn’t still be holding onto something they said so long ago…so it’s not fair that I am with you.” It really wasn’t fair to him, was it? “I’ll stop doing that,” Stu said firmly. “I hope that will make me more pleasant for you to have light conversations with.”' :) 'What is that look? Eeaner usually seems to fit right in wherever he is. But now he doesn’t at all.' Hmmmmmmmm. contract? -She sounded disappointed in him. But in the cramped confines of the bird foot, she’d thanked him for helping Bithe. She’d said she was glad he came. Alden thought they were getting along with each other again. It was a good feeling.' :) 'The Artonans were all placing bets on what the actual animal was that Alden had decided to call a goat.' Heh 'Alden leaped the stream. “Sure. If there’s ever a next time.” In the privacy of his thoughts, he promised himself there would be.' :D Thank you for the chapter :D
That uncle sounds he'll be trouble for Alden to talk to. I can't wait.
In multiple chapters, people mention that Alis must want Alden to be safe. That the arth's must be finding a way to keep him safe so she doesnt worry BUT we havent seen any evidence of that. None of her spouses have approached him. He has only been offered a tutor? (If I remember correctly and that was by Stu's mom). His safety on earth was neglected and he almost died. I still havent seen that rectified (wasnt he suppose to get a safety kit?). How is it that everyone's idea of Alis-arth's family obligations to keep Alden safe so different than reality? Is it because he is human? Is it because he is Stu's acquaintance (I use that word instead of friend because that's probably how they call him)?
IMO His safety on earth was assumed good enough. Anesidora has been safe for decades, he was supposed to have an escape flier and all of that ready for him in an emergency. It was both unlucky and aldens own fault his safety was compromised. This latest adventure is also aldens fault. What would you prefer they have done for Alden so far? Wrap his world in bubble wrap and give him a perfect ideal world with no chance of suffering? Stu's mum took that idea to its extreme and hes been dealing with the consequences all his life.
I really want to see Natalie's reaction to Alden's eating habits when she's not around. She could just walk in someday and stare in horror.
It appears that some people are only able to see the first ten replies to Sleyca’s comment. So maybe the comment should be edited instead of replied to?
Both website and app are the same
Why do I keep checking for a message that will say the chapter won't be until tomorrow? It's become a thing to check for disappointment.
Sleyca posted an update. It should be soon! Sort the comments by "top" instead of "newest" to see the thread she started to reserve space.
"I heard you've been trying to shield some foolish newlings from my righteous fury, Azeeda. That wasn't very cash money of you." he said, pulling out a 《potion designed to protect the throat during prolonged bouts of screaming and shouting》 inhaler. He activated it, taking a deep breath. "It was also... futile."
Was just rereading waves iii and had a thought. Is there a fight or flight wordchain, one which gives strength at the expense of speed and the opposite which gives speed at the expense of strength? Or are they confined to the fight chain which gives strength to be paid back later with weakness (and similar speed and slow) Wordchains seem very sacrifice oriented, but on the otherhand alden has already identified multiple instances where both sides have an advantage.
while it could exist, why would you cast a chain to be stuck fighting or flighting, when there is chains for both halves individually with no downsides in the moment. Also recall that Emilija had "Force of the traveler's body" given to her (multiple times?), which gives “strength for your travels” which was just plain old strength as far as Lute was concerned, but when she moved, she had super speed. So strength and speed are linked in the practical sense.
I feel like this training quest arc is making such a strong pitch for value added by Stu and Alden dedicating themselves to being the TriPlanet's best emergency medical service, with Stu making narrow ways for transportation (no dimension boundary a barrier!) and "Pause Button" Bearer Alden providing emergency first aid and absolute stabilization for delivering people back to safety and further treatment.
Failures of communication, loss of critical supplies, transportation breakdowns, squads getting separated, hungry bellies, parched throats, incomplete surveys, friendly 'fire' from rerouted hazard mimic herding - so many of Stu's assumptions about which risks to prepare for feel like they're getting directly rebutted.
Going to bed now. I'm hoping that by the time I get up, 315 will be up.
Reminder of what Joe said: || Joe nodded. “I thought you’d say that. You should be fine for now. Most people won’t have the foggiest idea what the skill is, and they won’t care as long as you don’t do something insane with it. The ones who do know will almost all think it’s happenstance that you ran across it, and they’ll assume there’s no reason to worry. It’s not like it’s illegal to have the skill. We’re the ones who keep putting it in the pot with everything else after all. It’s just a small percentage who will know and dislike it enough to make your life difficult. It will be fine.”||
It's occurred to me that 'being summoned into a conveniently-timed bullet' is not going to really be a thing any more. Mother wouldn't let him be summoned by someone whose sole goal was harm.
Re-read thought, "Jump Aboard": --- "Why don't you have video on?" The pause was long. Alden started to wonder if he really was being chased. -snip- Boe was somewhere flat and seemingly rural. He spun to give Alden a view of the area around him. A couple of inches of snow covered the ground. Boe's footprints seemed to have come from a distant tree line. --- Boe says he "came out here for a run," but is that really all he's doing? I saw no reason to question it at the time, but why the suspiciously long pause? What is behind that tree line in the middle of nowhere, Illinois, that he didn't want Alden to see? To be fair, he was already breathing hard when the call started. Maybe he was doing some other form of exercise? Probably not punching trees.
I thought that since Boe was never into exercise, he might have felt he got 'caught' by Alden while going out to exercise in his brand new gear. I'm sure he is looking athletic! Stepping so far out of his comfort zone, beginning to change your life, maybe not being entirely ready to share the change even with your best friend... A hesitation to answer seemed pretty understandable to me
Re-read thought, Pitcherhouse: Alden could cheat at Three-Fingered Thief by having someone entrust all of the coins to him. Esh was somehow cheating at not getting drunk, so cheating was on my brain. "I have enhanced hands," he says, and they make him do fairly well. Thirteen was ambitious, but he had at least a chance at it. "Alden, take sixteen red this time." Sir, yes, sir!
Finally Joe’s - er, Alden’s - ring has its place to shine!
Next chapter predictions in haiku, or otherwise? griveck hunts ewtwees Alden hunts his special mouse Vatha Squad hunts puns
Vatha squad hunts baths?
So how many are we going to see surprised at the attention others are paying to Alden? Ryada may be pleased, Sausage Knight and the AllHunter curious and defending the squad from an angry Undh, the angry Undh surprised about Zeridee, Stu, Veln, Esh and Lind, do we bother counting Jozz?
Jozz might finally see what Stu sees in Alden !
“”Alden grunted. “Is he like an Artonan super soldier or something? He said he was going to be a knight.” “Something like that,” Joe said vaguely. “Push yourself but not to the point of exhaustion. It will take us a short while to prepare the appendage.” “” ch 35 Was Joe here hinting at the skill being better expressed when Alden suffers ?
That seems incredibly unlikely to me. Joe didn’t know *that* much about the skill. And he doesn’t give high value info away out of simple generosity often. And he wouldn’t benefit from Alden thinking him generous if he gave a very vague hint not even labeled as a hint, and then Alden figured something out on his own. I don’t see how Joe would benefit at all.
"It was also right to let the grieving sister help if she could. Involving her in the hunt might even be a necessity, instead of a courtesy, if the mission didn’t go as quickly as Azeeda hoped it would." The use of the word "grieving" (instead of worried), and the usage of the word "hunt" (instead of rescue/search) sort of implies a concern about needing to hunt down someone who has turned into a demon, as opposed to something more hopeful. It might just be the skill bleeding into Azeeda's mannerisms, of course, but it's certainly an ominous choice of words.
I wouldn't put too much stock into Azeeda's thoughts. My read is that she's someone who overestimates her intuition and jumps to conclusions. We see it here as she writes Alden off after seeing him use the Kelsithe once, she assumes the quaternary would be upset to see Alden again, she assumes Zakithee is playing a prank, etc. She's gains a little insight into a person or situation, then infers all sorts of conclusions. She's wrong about pretty much everything here
Happy Approximate Day everyone!
My subscription ends today 😭 I’ll start a gofundme
Eaner has a tattoo with Roden. Maybe he still owed Roden a favor. What are the chances Roden called in his favor to have Eaner befriend and investigate Stu and his seemingly strange relationship with a human rabbit?
nah, I fully believe in my boy Eeaner! He will become bffs with Stu out of true emotions!
It’s been a while since I’ve reread a chapter so many times. This one just feels so cozy I want to curl up with it.
Same! I feel like Stu wanting to contemplate every word. Excited for next chapter but this one was so satisfying I don't feel like I'm in any particular rush to move on yet.
“Providing shelter and food doesn’t necessarily mean building houses and farming. First schools often teach a blend of foraging and agricultural spells. But Eeaner-ket—one of my housemates at LeafSong—attended a school dedicated to preserving the wizarding knowledge of the tribes of Ket. They meet some of the standard educational expectations in uncommon ways. He learned their traditional small-prey hunting.” -The klerms never stood a chance!
Some of us in the discord are side-eyeing all the mentions of Goldbush. What are the chances Alden goes there quite soon? Some top theories that have been floated on how that could come to be: 1) Alden is asked to go there because BoaB is useful for finding the missing newlings. Maybe with the location feature of the skill Alden tried out with the cold minestrone? 2) Alden is asked to go to Goldbush to keep Ryada company. She is clearly struggling, and spending time with Alden seems to cheer her up. 3) Alden is asked to go to Goldbush because he can stabilise teleports. We know this is a rare skill feature, and maybe they need this to evac wounded newlings or something.
Barely Supported Theory: There’s some physical component, perhaps DNA or scent related, that fuels or improves Azeeda’s Allhunter skill. It’s easy to track Li’l Mr Manyadeeth as Azeeda’s brother/in his house. It’s why Yaril, despite being untrained/soon after first binding, is a “necessity” to go to Goldbush if the hunt takes longer than Azeeda hopes - whatever it is degrades over time (or under chaos, or both). Enter our Pause Button/Pickle Rabbit…
Midway to next chapter's promise, and my brain is still fixed on Soup, just ranging through implications. Will Jeneth ever try for inesvul again, after being tragically forced to mercy-kill Iella-inwer to save their innocent child? His authority is so very vast, and almost every other knight would have such an uphill climb to reach equal strength with him, it would make Esh's climb to Lind seem like a warmup act.
I actually wonder if *Esh and Lind* might make a go of it together and pull Jeneth into inesvul with both of them. Jeneth has already established himself as someone who prefers to acquire spouses in pairs, ideally after working together on the battlefield first. Esh and Lind already being in inesvul with each other means they have that extraordinary positive effect of shared affixation to stabilize and offset the suffering that would be involved in catching up to Jeneth. Esh seems drawn to Jeneth, and sensitive to his hopes and fears. He's certainly making an effort to look out for Stu and Stu's friend Alden while Jeneth is away. It feels like there's potential there.
“And people…people who are scared of losing you…they can’t always hear you well. That’s a kind of loneliness too.” What Ryada said to stu makes more sense now
Alden took a deep breath. “Right. Merry Christmas. These are the best grapes I could find. The huge green ones taste like candy. And the bag has a traditional holiday sweet in it. A gingerbread cookie. I asked them to make it klerm shaped.” Stuart picked up the bag and peered at the cookie. “How swiftly I have I become associated with these animals.”
Ryada is getting her very own Esh-Lind. The meet and greet is going to be so amusing.
I know this is super slow, but “They can’t take a young human Ryeh-b’t the Quaternary worries over anywhere dangerous, so why is he practicing as if he might go through something dangerous?” - If Alden’s school knew, that would suggest that Alden *should not* be in their hero school. They misunderstood dramatically what the typical Artonians actually think about Alden’s commendation. He’s not an asset, he’s a potential liability. I sense this isn’t the Quaternary’s actual view, but it’s an interesting tension to see.
I think it’s more of an Undh family point of view
Re-reading the series and ch 83's flashback has convinced me that Boe became a Unique not long before he and Alden met. Not sure why I didn't pick that up before.
Boe and Alden met at the start of Grade 6, when they would have been 11-12 years old. Which would make Boe two years younger than the next youngest known Avowed. The null hypothesis: Boe was just an insightful, empathic kid when he and Alden met. This requires no special explanations beyond "Alden didn't notice when Boe became Avowed, and Boe didn't tell Alden when it happened." The Alternate hypothesis is that Boe became Avowed at an unusually young age. Why might this be? 1. It's not actually unusual. There have been many Avowed selected that early. However, the System told all early U-type Avowed "If you want help from me, /keep quiet about your super-early selection/," and everybody kept quiet. The problem with this: Is it realistic that /none/ of these hypothetical young Avowed talked, in the nearly 80 years that Avowed have been a thing? Did none of them use their powers, and thus get outed as Avowed? 2. On the other hand, we could suppose that Boe really is the youngest ever Avowed. Somebody has to be the youngest, just as somebody (Alden) gets to be the first human Wizard. I'm leaning in the direction of "Despite it being otherwise unheard of, Boe was an Avowed when he and Alden met." This means there's more to be learned (by us) about edge cases in the process of becoming Avowed. I'm not 100% convinced. Maybe 65%.
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curious about Eaner-keth. I recall he has a remnant of the tattoo with Ro-den, I’m pretty sure it’s no longer active bc Stu’arth should be able to sense it if it was. But his hate for Ro-den and suprising depth would make sense if there was a tattoo preventing him from taking a path or divulging a secret. He reminds me of Kon for some reason, maybe his path and Kon’s will be similar. I’m curious to see him more, I’m hopeful for his development
I'm pretty sure Eeaner's parents have removed any and all contracts Joe might have placed on him. Even on the Artonas, wealth gets you privilege. 'Everyone else’s parents had allowed them to remove theirs after the contracts with Ro-den were ended, but Eeaner’s mother thought keeping visible evidence of the bad decisions they’d made that day was a lesson for him.' --Ch. 271
Two boys in exciting outfits sitting on edges swinging their feet, two very different responses from Stu. "'You are wasting our youth, Stu-art’h. And I say to you that you should feel shame for that…and make it up to us by being excited with us and by us for a while.' "The speaker’s bare feet were swinging over the edge of a balcony that wrapped around one of the canopy houses overlooking the LeafSong campus. His hair, tucked into a cap that was tinting it, would shift colors throughout the night. "Most of his school uniform lay in a heap on the red wood of the balcony floor. Another boy, still in uniform, knelt on a cushion behind him, painting silver edges on the blue stripes that marked the dark skin of his back." (271, Snow XIII)
"'I don’t really mean that,' said Alden before he realized Stuart was looking past him. He followed the direction of the gaze. The Alden in the knight coat was sitting on the edge of the triangle platform, swinging his feet and smiling up at the stars." (303, An Art)
I’m always so excited for soup day.
Another chapter, 3k to 5k words, takes about 10 minutes max to read. Story moves forward about 20 minutes, author makes 25k in commission.
Your math is wrong (it's not paid per chapter), but hell yeah get that well-earned bag Sleyca! I hope even if this moment of popularity wears off, or if the fast pace of writing has to slow down to be sustainable long-term, the story can fund itself to continue for many years.
I think part of “what grows unseen” here is Sleyca’s world. She gave us snippets in this arc of how many subplots and stories there are that they themselves can have their own arcs: Ryada’s struggle, Eaner’s viewpoint, Azeeda and her partner deepening, Zajithee collecting the manyadeeth (I wouldn’t mind having a chapter of just his journey, also imagine Kibby hearing about what he said to Alden !!!!). It just shows how much work Sleyca put into this story. Love it
I would love a Kibby meets Zakithee subplot where she returns from the outer reaches of the galaxy to face tattoo with Alden at Esh's place, only to have Zakithee bust in with a Zeridee's worth of manyadeeth ultimately forcing Alden's future tribal face dragon to be the brightest pink. This is clearly where the plot is heading.
"Jozz shook his head. “You’re avoiding your actual peers, or being avoided by them, because they can’t agree with you. And you’re avoiding friendship with the people you’ve met at LeafSong because you can’t agree with them. I know it must be hard, Stu, but it will pass." (247, 'A Pounce') Stu was so immediately mad at Jozz for what Jozz said about his budding friendship with Alden that he didn't hear what Jozz was trying to say about not giving his Leafsong peers a proper chance for friendship.
Interesting to have this aspect of that conversation coming up as relevant again just as Jozz is getting an abrupt recalibration of his incorrect assumptions about Alden - maybe Stu and Jozz can be a little easier with each other's authorities the next time they embrace that way.
Poor Stu, he doesn't understand Eaner because he doesn't understand that not everyone 100% pursues their dreams and ambitions all-in like he and Alden does. For Eeaner, he seems like he does want to help those on the highest onus, but not to the same degree, the same as others also having varying degrees of intensity towards the goals. Eeaner has people, desires, and connections pulling him in multiple directions.
Your comment bring me back to the second call between Stu and Alden. C71 : [[...]“I wish you were my classmate at LeafSong.” “I think that one would be too much of a challenge for me.” “I still wish it,” said Stuart, staring up into the branches. “You never say anything that makes me hate you.”]
I love everyone else just assuming the Emban was the one to invite Alden, when in fact he was actually invited to spite her. AllHunter is an amazing skill, I wonder how popular it is for Grivecks? I can't say I know enough about them to say whether it's what every non-Ryeh-b’t would want to take, or if it would be seen as a crutch replacing their natural senses for magic. I am a little surprised someone like Adeeza hadn't been called to join the search for the missing Knights before now, it's been about 2 weeks since they disappeared right?
The grivek natural prey sense seems to be mostly the same as Allhunter, maybe it would remove the fun of hunting prey if they can just see it so clearly. (edit: maybe Allhunter was designed after meeting griveks? its been 1000+ years) Goldbush missing knights was just over 3 weeks ago. i agree its odd they haven't sent the dedicated tracker, but the art'hs were assisting with a lot of magical searching right away. My assumption is that travel to goldbush is not as simple as a summonarium teleportaion because of all the chaos, and instead theres scheduled transits with votaries stabilising the environment thats not done daily. Same kind of idea why the Primaries magic phone call was planned so far in advance.
I do think this chapter pushed our boy Stu much closer to deciding to affix. "Why am I in this school instead of there with them?" Alden's decision to tell Stu his secret felt similar: a final realization that what he had isn't what he actually wanted. I think high chances of Stu affixing before, during, or around the party. Seeing Alden take steps towards the knight world is only going to make Stu start to feel left behind. Unless he has serious reservations about his choice, and we haven't seen any rear their heads so far, Stu has been waiting for "the right moment". His friend completing an excellent training quest and his housemate gifting him with klerms feels significant. Narratively, it would also be a hilarious way to shut Esh, Und'hcle, Azeeda, Stu's parents, and the rest up. They won't have time to get riled up about Alden joining a newling squad exercise if Stu disappears and returns with a skill a day later.
I'd say that before and during the party seem a bit too improper for Stu - he'll want some proper level of preparedness and ceremony when he does it, and he won't risk being in a terrible mood for the party, which would be against the spirit of his promise in the same way as bringing Emban. After, though? His list of preparations is growing shorter, as is his list of reasons to put up with the manipulative delay.
“This is wonderful.” After much speculation about how Stu would react to Aden on the training field, I love that this is Sleyca’s answer: joy for his friend. (Even though it was, unsurprisingly, a process getting there: “When Alden had sent that message about joining Emban’s squad for their quest, the number of questions and the amount of nerves it had generated within Stu was a phenomenon worthy of a Master’s study.”)
It feels like a mirror of Alden's joy that Boe is off training in the woods and working on figuring himself out.
I do find it amusing that everyone is worried about Alden and Stu, not because being a knight is dangerous, but because they dont wanna worry 2 really powerful people on the planet
What are the odds we aren't about to witness a shitstorm of epic proportions? Consider the absurd quantity of characters getting piled into the same room at the same time (Esh, Lind, Stu, Alden, Emban+Vathasqad, Jozz, Veln) and MORE, all with Alden on their minds. The fact that uncle Conf-Und'h (Formally Conf-lic't. He married in.) is a real person who is currently sprinting toward the observation platform with the specific goal of screaming at vathasquad about things mostly unrelated to them... And that Alden is at the centre of all of it.
Azeeda is taking steps to head off Und'hcle, but there's still plenty of room for shouting. I'm sure there will be strenuous disagreements about what went wrong and why.
Why do I love Eeaner now, I felt nothing before. Sleyca you master of writing, I'm so excited for the party now.
Eeaner abruptly wormed his way into my affections the chapter where he was being super dramatic about Worli Ro-den's return and launched himself across the floor to latch onto Stu's leg. I went from assuming he was privileged with few redeeming quantities to going 'oh, he's a *kid*, and he's theatrical and funny like Kon is theatrical and funny to deflect away from revealing the depths of his real feelings, no wonder Stu is terrible at reading him.'
Apologies if someone in the first 400 comments mentioned this, but note that Zakithee is working on accumulating one Zeridee of manyadeeth to settle the debt with the Avowed. What a responsible kid.
It was, but waaay down so it doesn't merit an apology. And yeah, he wasn't ever going to intentionally die the pond pink, as interesting as that image is.
"that the human had a good life from now on". Like an injured work horse being put out to pasture.
He'll be sent to a farm in the country, I guess.
All-hunter seems like it could be a decent Avowed Skill. Combine it with a Sniffer Brute and you have someone that you really don't want on your trail... I assumed the two lost people were going to be a mystery Alden and Stu got to solve, some kidnapper demon, but with Azeeda investigating, it feels like it'll be relevant in other ways.
We’ve probably seen more varied “find/locate” skills/spells than most things - Neha’s “Locate Resources”, Jeffy’s “Find Named Object” spell impression, Dave Banyu’s farseeing “look over a cityscape and find trouble” skill combo, Roman Velra’s skill (which I think is different than Neha’s) - etc. Theoretically one of the rabbit skills in particular could be an old/deep Avowed skill, but I suspect not - I think it’s just damn handy to find stuff. I’m a bit surprised though we haven’t seen more chaos-resistant communication skills/spells, we’ve seen the necessity a lot this arc and Sway relays are the only thing we’ve really seen on-camera.
Another thing that grows unseen here is the army of klerms. Alden had a paper one, now a box of living klerms is forthcoming. This only means one thing: Alden is about to tell the sequel of The Klerm Prince soon. The only open question is when: during this stay at Rapport III, or later at Eaner's LeafSong party, amid the cries of even more klerms.
I wonder if this time the frog will find a wonderfully supportive friend in Princess Stuella...
What does it mean for eaner-kit to box the klerms?
He’s probably been paying attention to Stu, seeing him saving the Klerms, and wanting to do something nice. Unlike our initial assumption that he’s shallow.
"...the uncle she was worried about would latch onto that one particular oversight, grow excessively angry about matters scarcely related to this one Avowed and these newlings..." I wonder what incident led to the uncle's behaviour? Did an Avowed fail to follow orders and die or cause someone else to die?
Well, an aunt of hers died recently, yes?
I'm half hoping that Uncle und'h is Yookee-und’h, aged up and made even less pleasant. (Chances of this actually being so: 0.01%, in my estimation.)
I would love that! I really wasn't into him as a character/plotline, honestly. Making him a big villain instead of a minor annoyance would be nice.
I cannot wait for Eeaner-ket to next get a glimpse of Alden, spot his own former ten-ring set adorning the base of Alden's fingers, and do an absolutely magnificent speedrun to 'I've Connected The Dots!!!!' for half the wrong reasons.
I do think Eeaner is strongly drawn to Stu for reasons that are at least half romantic on his side: he's been a little too persistently pushy about wheedling Stu about joining him at various campus orgy parties not to be hoping to see Stu's face actually relaxed and alive with joy whilst mellow. Eeaner probably assumes (rightly) that due to the mishnen incident, Sina Stu-art'h does not trust *any* of his Leafsong classmates, especially not his fellow participants in the mishnen incident folly, with his honor or his pleasure when he is unguarded and rendered pleasingly pliable, amiable, and desirous of amorous connections by his sexual biology. This is exactly the kind of denial that draws people who like to crack a hard nut, metaphorically speaking, to daydream about what they're missing out on. Eeaner can seemingly have *almost* anything he wants, but he can't get rid of Worli Ro-den's tattoo without losing his allowance for non-essentials, he can't get invites as a freshman to special Insight Chamber events, and he can't seem to get his deeply reserved, standoffish, stiff board of an art'h housemate to warm up to him and become receptive to his advances.
So, is Azeeda going to call up Jozz-art'h, since he's the closest art'h, and ask *him* to fix the Alden-related problem? =)
Don't forget that Veln-art'h is there as well :D Also an interesting choice of fixer.
With a lot of people dissecting Eaner, I really want to see him interact with Alden. I was kind of hoping he would go to the observation deck to act as a foil for over serious people.
Now my second hand wish is that Stu unleashes the Klerm box on the uhnd uncle.
I have been rereading and contemplating too much. I am now seeing parallels between Ryada and Eeaner. Are both hiding their real self behind bright and happy exteriors while their inner self cries? With Eeaner, I haven’t seen enough to say, but the theme of these chapters, unseen, indicate there might be something. Or Eeaner might simply be a spoiled rich kid trying to befriend an art’h.
you contemplated too close to the sun
A long way back, some of Alden's thoughts were focused on being the best housemate when he moved in with Lexi, Lute and Hayou. It was, and is, an ongoing theme. I don't think Stu had the same. And now he's ruining his relationship with the friendly housemate Eeaner. In fact from Eeaner's outburst ‘Unlike you, Shameful Eeaner-ket', it feels like this has been degenerating for quite a time.
I don't think anyone takes Stu too seriously. Eeaner even joked about the shame. They are probably aware that their behavior is not perfect compared to the highest moral standards, but since nearly noone's is, they seem to just more or less ignore it. Maybe comparable to a student in high-school constantly exclaiming about some DIN norms being ignored or how a plant hasn't been properly watered or that the paint on a fence needs to be replied. (for everyone to hear) More of a "it's that one student again" instead of actually listening to him. Even Ro-den - a teacher - was joking about it. The degenerating part seems at first glance because this time, he pointed out something seemingly important to that person being broken. This in turn felt like Stu was the one to break it, instead of just being the messenger. I think Eeaner is trying not to shoot the messenger, so to speak, which speaks highly of him.
Everyone seems convinced Eaner is really a serious person underneath and maybe that makes a more satisfying story. To me, he looks like a smart but spoiled brat who bragged to his parents about being friends with the primary's son and now sees that connection slipping away.
That's possible, but... From a Doylist perspective, the chapter title is "What Grows Unseen". It's about events, and people, turning out different from what was expected of them. Eeaner has, up until this chapter, played the role of the talented but spoilt young master quite well, as seen through Stu's eyes (I think Stu has interpreted his actions rather ungenerously, though not without reason). Here, we should be seeing some new side of him. And from a Watsonian perspective, Eeaner seems to be putting a lot of attention towards Stu. He's noticing what Stu does with snippets of free time between classes. He went and rescued a bunch of nuisance pests because he saw that it mattered to Stu, even if he couldn't understand why. He was last seen staring at a pitcher plant, probably thinking about rescued klerms and why a person would care about their fate. And his final demand wasn't that Stu *like* him, but that Stu take him *seriously*. I personally don't think he's a really serious person underneath so much as a person who has very successfully navigated the environment he grew up in. He's a promising little proto-politician. But I do think he's standing on a cusp where his life trajectory could change, if the right things happen or the right words are said, because for the first time he has found something he wants that his old habits can't get him.
“The trespasser was only a child who’d sneaked into rooms where the young children weren’t allowed to go” i really thought the trespasser here was Esh at first 😭
>>> “You prickly person! I’m trying to be warm to you when you seemed to be in a good mood! What am I supposed to be ashamed of this time?” You know, Eeaner is very passive aggressive about how he tries to be 'warm' to Stu. I'm not sure he has a leg to stand on here.
Stu certainly hasn't been attempting to fit in since the mishnen incident, but it doesn't seem like Eeaner has been doing anything other than needling and sulking at Stu in this encounter either. Certainly not trying to understand him or meet him in the middle. Stu is a very literal person. Eeaner strikes me as someone who is always going verbal circles around his point (or at his worst, a scatterplot of vectors hinting at what he actually means). Also I think he's maybe been raised in a social circle where being earnest gets you mocked or laughed at, so he speaks about things lighter the more he cares about them? Like he is preemptively protecting himself by self mocking, maybe. Which Stu straightforwardly interprets as him not caring. His natural way of communicating isn't even in the same planet as Stu's.
I am curious about Eaner-ket’s necklace. It has been mentioned a few times and Sleyca does not leave breadcrumbs needlessly. It may be, as someone suggested, to make him more appealing, but if it was any other story, I would be very suspicious of it. Just pondering.
It is interesting. Stu said “he always looked like he fit in.” Maybe the necklace is similar to the masks Alden tried with lute? And he removed it after Stu left. Maybe there’s a deeper reason why eaner didn’t want to become a knight but he still regrets it and doesn’t feel like he belongs in leafsong…
You know, I bet a full suite of Earth food would liven up one of Eaner-Ket's parties.
Speaking of SHAME! and the judgy judgement Stu manages to exude merely by being present: When do you think Stu will finally feel ready to retire his unforgivingly stark hairdo of shame?
Alden has become Stu's best friend, and Stu personally ensured Alden was freed of his by-then-unwanted contract of secrecy with Worli Ro-den. We have yet to hear of Stu making any personal amends to the endangered mishnen population, but he has been rescuing klerms by the boxful for weeks now. Stu has spent months contemplating his errors and refining his judgement on what wizards owe Avowed and where Avowed are vulnerable to wizards' abuses. He has already worked with Alden to bring a particularly unscrupulous wizard to account for his grab-greedy grasping at the service of ordinary Artonans leaving his family's service to specifically avoid working for him. What else is Stu waiting for? Is his continued daily presentation of himself as a person deeply ashamed and repenting still serving him and those he harmed with his past errors, or is it starting to act like an anchor weight resisting his efforts to move forward and increase the scope of his service to the TriPlanets?
The 'avowed are beast of burden' camp will have a field day watching Alden basically being a magical horse carriage.
Could you explain what you mean by this? Not the different camps, but how this camp is going to have a field day?
I like the Allhunter! -JJ Hunter
Sorry, you can't hunt JJs anymore. The Allhunter already got them all.
Stu should stop and invite Eeaner-ket along. It might be dangerous in that Eeaner seems like he's primed to be jealous of Alden. But it would be worth trying to save that relationship.
Not everyone can teleport into a rapport I think. Alden is there because he’s esh s guest. Anyone else is either a knight or votary or lives there I think
Poor Zakithee, working himself to the bone to gather the pink dye to pay Alden back for saving Zeridee on behalf of the family. So unappreciated.
He's so responsible!
Well. He saved klerms. Now he’s going on the Klerm Squad. Eeaner-ket, future votary for the Klerm Squad
I do wonder if maybe those things Eeaner said to Stu when they first met weren't all hallow. Maybe he did mean them but is scared of the reality of it. That isn't to say that he doesn't want to throw parties and have fun, but there's appears to be some level of depth and complexity here. The solar gem necklace also stands out for me in this chapter. Stu contemplates how Eeaner wasn't wearing it earlier but he appears to put it on before interacting with Stu and given the description that "light from it shone against [Eeaner's] chin" stands out as it being a tool to make ones self more visually appealing as if he hopes that it will make his interaction with Stu more pleasant and deepen their bond.
I find the mentality of the und uncle scolding them until they forget anything good happened at all pretty contradictory with the way they try to protect knights feelings as they’re on the path of highest onus. Like yeah correct their mistakes but doesn't the uncle also want them to be emotionally strong enough to continue bindings?
You have to not just do the right thing, but do the right thing the right way. If you aren't keeping your Avowed in line where they should be, your standards have slipped far below where they should be.
Und's family are getting more connected to Alden. I wonder if it'll be a lasting positive connection or not with the child hidding the pink dye to give Alden for saving his "aunt?" And azeeda through kessrill and then her uncle because he can't stand an avowed not listening....
Might have lost someone, because an avowed disobeyed orders.
One thing I haven't noticed anybody mention: the members of Team Vatha scarfed all of the food and didn't leave any for Divin. One of the feathery aliens would say something like: 'In Icorlax culture, this is considered a dick move.' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWY47bW8K3s
Alden was even trying to put some aside for her, and someone ate that too!
I have no idea as to how the social aspect of Avowed - Knight relationships in the field works, but an unfriendly observer might note that this human Avowed seems to act as if he is the equal of the knights whose squad he joined. How much trouble could Alden get into for disobeying the order to stay put and be collected by the knights? His defense could be 1. I proceeded to a safe location as ordered 2. I repeatedly tried to reestablish contact, but could not 3. I received intel from a fellow Avowed that the team was in a difficult area 4. I could perceive that my entruster was not moving, which was a further indication that things had gone wrong for them 5. Finally, success excuses many faults: I did it, and by doing it I helped retrieve the situation Would this be enough for a martinet for whom obedience to orders is essential? I'm glad that Alden will have Esh as his advocate, if such an advocate is needed.
I get the sense that it's the vantha squad that would be in trouble not Alden cuz they see Alden as a child in need of guidance. Not as an equal to the wizards and knights to be more responsible. That makes it kinda worse
"Next time?" Honestly in this context that is a very Doctor who line for me. Twice upon a time did the gag so well. The doctor just casually says going by the uniform this is world war one yeah. The soldier replies, what do you mean "one"?!?!?
You could go with another proposed name: The Second Thirty Years War.
>"You didn’t even wait around to tell Bayab he should feel shame for what he said in front of our last instructor." Stu really is distracted.
Lol!
(hands Divin a cuppa and a muffin) Yeah.....don't worry about it. Next training session there is going to be an Arth too..
But sadly no Artoo 😜
TFTC!
It's nice that Alden has completely forgotten his Sympathy for Magic trait, but it would be a convenient way to explain how he knew without revealing any secrets.
Worst case: wizards believe him and encourage more avowed to take it. :/
Thanka for the chapter!
I feel so seen by the fact that Azeeda doesn't watch Kessril's videos 😂
This whole arc is giving me such a wonderful vision of Alden's future dream squad possibilities: he and Stu could be such a good duo for first responder / rescue / resupply -type squads. - Stu could provide transportation and portal-based sniping / artillery. - Alden could provide first aid, snacks, protection, and flexible solutions for a wide-range of utility problems. - Natalie and Emilija (and Hadiza?) could help prepare snackboxes and source supplies. I could see Stu and Alden being assigned to struggling squads needing an extra something to help them all pull together and start trusting each other (and themselves) more.
I'd prefer them to have a larger permanent squad with possibly Ryada, Yaril, and couple of others. Does anyone else seem like a possible candidate? I mean after this chapter Eeaner is kinda obvious. But he hasn't even declared, so he should be a bit late. Maybe, some und'hs?
Boo I don’t want to see some old Artonan scold them for not yelling at an avowed who “dared to disobey orders” 😒
Would he even have to, after all he volunteered, cannot be summoned and won’t get paid.
"That thing burns." "You know because you touched it." "I didn't touch it, it touched me." Epic excuse, Alden.
oooh, so much attention on Alden and the rest of Vatha Squad
"They can’t take a young human Ryeh-b’t the Quaternary worries over anywhere dangerous, so why is he practicing as if he might go through something dangerous?" I'm getting a strong sense Azeeda knows absolutely nothing about what Alden went through the night of the Sinker-Sender. Does she even know Alden was the one who carried Zeridee-und'h to safety?
Agree, her little brother might be the one who tells her. Would be hilarious.
"Everything breaks down so suddenly,” said Noh-en, watching the news about the destroyed flyer scroll across the display in the staging area. And I’m sure that’s only a fraction of what’s going wrong for their squad. She wished she could be in two places at once. Up in the observation station, they’d know so much more than she did here. Stu: Why am I in this school instead of there with them?
Wanna bet that the special mouse is the thing they should retrieve.
I bet the special mouse is another treat that none of the other knights have even detected yet - an extra special treat, and maybe one at more risk than the other on the hilltop that they originally volunteered to go for.
I hope supervisor person isn’t mean-mean to Alden. Alden knew the order bad was because they didn’t know what sort of Avowed they’d brought along.
My secret hope for Eeaner-ket's party: Stu will take pity on his roommate and ask Alden to help ensure the party is actually a party he will enjoy attending. Alden will recommend hiring Natalie, Hadiza, and Emilija to help throw the party, since he's really enjoyed their parties. Maybe also hire Kon? Kon's parties have a mixed track record, but Kon himself is a great person to have at a party. Lexi ends up coming as Kon's bodyguard, For Reasons TM. Haoyu and Lute invite themselves along and start using their mission codenames again.
Eeaner and Kon recognize each other as fellow souls and decide to have a great one-night stand together, that may or may not lead to future inesvul. Lute provides face-painting services. Haoyu gets to try so much alien food and is a beacon of joy as a result. Half the wizards present fall in love with Natalie and/or Natalie's food and promise to recommend her to their parents. Half the wizards present fall in love with Emilija, who has come armed with SO MANY bad jokes about Alden's crimes against birds.
Wonderful chapter! A bit of a suggestion: This Rapport III trip is one of the largest influxes of new characters since 40 pineapples/first gym classes. Have you considered perhaps bringing back the character notes from that era?
I need that for Artonian names, they are confusing sometimes, that I need to search for them on the wiki if they are there.
I am not sure why people think Stu is gonna affix soon. Just because he thinks he is gonna do it, doesn't mean he will. Stu feels more like Eaner to me, though kinda half-way. Stu loves magic too much to affix and is too level headed to make snap decisions, so I feel it's still gonna take a while. He even learned to cast his future skill on his own, which feels like a disguised coping mechanism. To me it looks like the story is going towards Stu and Alden having near equal authority at some point. Stu has much more right now. So he'd need to wait, to guarantee it. If Alden goes to Goldbush, Stu will want to go with him. He can't do it if he affixes now, so he'll go as Emban's Votary. Which will lead to more opportunities for interesting storytelling and won't feel rushed. It's also more respectful to his family and his past plans to be a votary to Sina. Who's name he took as his own after her death. I feel like we really haven't explored his decisions to switch to Knighthood enough. If the reason for the switch is even something compatible with longterm knighthood. I think knighthood is basically: Suffering for the greater good and for others. We are only beginning to get into the greater good, by getting bits of chaos knowledge. And about the 'for others': We still have no idea what exactly the implications and severity of Alden's commendation is. Stu's family is mostly convinced Stu will die once affixed and to my knowledge we haven't even heard their explanation as to why. Not to mention the focus on keeping knights stable. What factors contribute to it and why. Their relation to affixation and peoples personality. By having Stu affix in the near future, it feels like the above topics would be disrespected and we as readers told to just blindly go for our desires, no matter what others think. That's not exactly what is happening, but then again, Stu can't seem to convince his family and it is him that gets angry and not them. To me, getting angry is the mark of those who do not understand something and not of those who do.
I disagree with the end here. Anger as an emotion is here to help us put limits. It's why it's so triggered by injustice : someone got past the point where you're not treated equally with others (as in you feel that way, it may not be the truth). Here, Stu is not treated equally by the rest of the family regarding the expectations of the rest of the family. Most arth are expected to become knights. It's unfair they don't give him the same trust and respect. Hence his anger I think. It doesn't feel like they question the choices of other siblings nearly as much. More injustice.
This chapter was such a shake-up of how I view Eeaner that I have been rereading the Eeaner bits in previous chapters and I came upon this: “If he never comes back, it’ll seem that he blames LeafSong for something,” Eeaner said, standing and stepping over to the table to check his necklace. “Do you think he might use a refusal? Why? I suppose they won’t risk that. Maybe they’ll just have him come for something fun. As a guest.” Surely, surely this leads into Alden being invited to the party!
Alden off in the Rapports III training fields: *feels a minor premonition of DOOM incoming*
I really do think that *special* mouse is the treat now, or a treat. Delighted to have Alden towing Vatha squad in his wake just as Stu is inadvertently luring Eeaner in and having real conversations with him again. What Stu and Alden have found with starting to deepen together has enliven and enriched them both, and that makes kindness and compassion to others struggling around them easier.
Azeeda-und’h and Kessril are already making good impressions! I'm glad Kessril is taking Ryada under his metaphorical wing; his lively appreciation of Alden rolling Bithe up like a fried meatpetal roll and using him like a shield while he bounds up the maintain of mudslide doom makes him feel more than a little Esh-like. Hope he also enjoys getting to see actual Esh and Lind show up to speak positively to Alden's efforts! Azeeda anticipating her uncle being crushingly harsh with Vatha Squad over treating Alden more like a peer than an Avowed they need to keep instructing and acting to ally with some art'h to ward that off also delights me. Will she reach out to Evul, perhaps? Rel? Someone more senior? Or try Jozz, who's already there and already recently prodded to keep a closer eye on Alden's success navigating challenges independently?
noooooo, the chapter is OVER and I dont have MORE TO READ yet! how ever am I supposed to survive the next MINUTES of my life?!
JJ, I want to thank you for all the analysis you do in the comments. Your thoughts last chapter on Emban and Leafsong really deepened the section with Eaner this chapter for me in a delightful way.
Yay, I'm so glad to hear that!
More Eeaner! He's drawn to the one person on campus who's actually deeply serious and earnest and expects something real and grand and thrillingly scary of Eeaner - and now that person says he's going to *stop* and close the door Eeaner didn't realize was still being held open for him alone of everyone on campus?? No! Not right when he'd rediscovered how *alive* and compelling Stu looks when he truly genuinely smiles at someone. Look at *me* like that, Eeaner just barely manages to stop himself from saying. Look, I've collected klerms for you. Approve of me!
Eeaner is like a Kon who's just discovered his roommate could be his Lexi, but is actively deciding that it's unfair to hold deeper expectations and hopes for Eeaner any more, and is about to write Eeaner off entirely. Eeaner cannot bear to be dropped, and he's struggling with what it means to actually commit, and his compromise is to lunge at Stu's leaving cart to try to rejoin him on his path - and Stu reaches back.
Please may I have some more soup?
Get in line!
“Mighty shameproof knight” yup that’s our Alden
He really has nothing to be ashamed of
Eeaner is such a good house mate. He don't gotta understand what's up with the klerm thing to understand it's important to his house mate and try to help anyway. Sometimes caring is simpler than understanding. Why not do what you know matters to someone even if you don't get why it matters to them? I was expecting some sort of Stu party plot point in the coming chapters, but didn't expect this lovely nuanced interaction with Eeaner-ket. I was focused on what was growing unseen with Alden, so it feels satisfying and on-theme to have this stuff pop up "unexpectedly" from Stu's dorm mates.
Ah, but how can you be sure that you know what matters to them, if you don’t understand why it matters to them? To give an absurd example: If someone walks towards you, you might step to the side to let them through. Because you'd think walking that way matters to them. But in actuality, they feel angry and powerless and wanted to bump into you and start an argument to let off some steem. So you just did the opposite of helping them. Yes, the example is silly. I am sure one could come up with a more believable one. My point is, being sure that you know what matters to someone, without understanding why, is wishfull ignorance. Even if one is right in guessing *most* of the time and should still do so to save time. But being *sure* of it is not a good idea. You'd deliberately create a blind spot. Like saying suddenly instead of unexpectedly when a flyer goes down. Even worse, people might say one thing, but mean a different. Not even counting sarcasm. If someone tells you they'll go for a walk, they might actually wish for you to ask to go with them and enjoy your company. So (for example) gifting them a better pair of walking shoes and wishing them luck would actually hurt them. Since every single living being has their own form of comunication, you need to actually understand theirs to be sure that you're interpreting it correctly.
I wonder if Eeaner likes Stu as more than just a friend
Stu being devastatingly attractive when he actually smiles for real with his whole face seems very plausible. He's very Lexi-like in that way; I wonder what Lute's art might be inspired to with such a face for canvas.
I am a little disappointed that the team are going for extraction. I hope, when they work out what the mouse is that it incentivises the team to continue with the original task.
They are retracing Alden steps so they will pass by the mouse den
Do we think Zeridee’s father is the grouchy und’h uncle? If so, does he know that this is the human avowed that saved his daughter’s life? Zakithee has no hope of collecting enough manyadeeth to “keep” Alden away, even if he collects multiple times Zeridee’s weight. Poor kid, I hope he and Alden eventually become friends.
I am pretty sure that this is the case. And we are soon up to a funny dialogue with a conflicted und'h uncle.
Edit Suggestion: closer attention to how he was using his movement trait. ->closer attention to how he was using his movement trait. (double space)
grabbed for him and hauled him aboard. ->grabbed for him and hauled him aboard. (double space)
"matters scarcely related to this one Avowed and these newlings" sounds like the uncle is the one influencing zakithee against avowed, and favors stronger hierarchy and obedience? Could be an interesting foil and obstacle to team Alden. We may see Veln running interference. And poor Emban being blamed for inviting Alden!
Oh, is Zakithee that kid atorian Alden met who didn't like avowed?
I hope Stu brings Eaner along with him to watch the training. Eaner will recognise the rings, will meet Alden later and invite him to the party.
Eaner might also watch a highlights video, to see if he can spot who Stu watched, and THEN recognize the rings. Though it would be hard to invite Alden that way
"He was feeling overworked and unappreciated the whole time." Little Zakithee's attempt at being perfectly proper is perfectly precious instead. I thought he was hiding the orange or any other evidence of human things, but he was embarking on a self-given, solo mission to balance the ledger with the human. What an intrepid little dude.
I read the manyadeeth as “many a deeth”
... is there a different way to read it? I don't see any apostrophes
The mouse is the "treat"
I'm almost sure that the mouse isn't even on the hill that was their goal. It's something, but I do not believe at this moment that it's the original treat.
... Holy yikes. Has Eaner had a crush on Stu this whole time? I think Stu broke him when he admitted his coldness towards Eaner, unlike the others, was because he had higher expectations of Eaner compared to their other house mates. Eaner's whole world view just got rearranged.
...and that Eaner was no longer worthy of those expectations.
Does Eeaner like LIKE Stu?
Or does he LIKE-like him? < 3 < 3 < 3 For real, though, he clearly cares a lot about Stu's opinion of him.
“To Artona I” took me out !! Especially since last chapter someone mentioned how Alden answered some questions
So much beautiful stuff in this chapter! I also love seeing how these events are impacting folks in the wider world. And that someone is already trying to run interference against a bigot (for different reasons.) All that said, she's going to contact some Arths? This is going to spiral significantly further before Alden gets off the field.
I think Esh immediately knew the ripples this could cause, and that's why he went to the viewing area the moment he realised what Alden was doing. Still looking after Alden!
Thoughts on Eeaner-ket, since I had an impression the first time and it solidified on reread: He strikes me as someone self-conscious about his failing to be better, probably even someone who had dreams of higher onus that he gave up on. "When you say things like that, why does it always sound like you’re adding, ‘Unlike you, Shameful Eeaner-ket,’ in your mind?” is, to be fair, probably a reaction Stu has had to him--but it's also the sort of self-loathing thought someone might project onto others. He's someone who could talk convincingly of ideals of service with Stu, who got a full set of finger protection rings and hasn't used them (evidence he came to school intending to be a more serious wizard?), someone who parties but seems to have some disdain for "fellow" party person Bayab (is that why he's so upset at Stu offering to lower his expectations?), someone who is interested enough in Stu to notice him saving Klerms (and invested enough to help even before asking why), and his goodbye returns to the idea of shame with his talk of a mighty shamefree Knight (unlike Shameful Eeaner-ket). So if I'm right, I do hope that Stu revealing genuine disappointment at Eeaner not living up to his initial impression might help him push past whatever's blocking him. Stu helped Alden aspire to be his best--I'd like to see him do the same for others.
It read as projection to me as well.
I feel like “unseen” in these chapter titles is starting to be a misnomer.
It grew unseen, and now it is seen and grown, unexpectedly-not-suddenly
I am really curious where the understanding that Alis-art’h became very upset about finding "that human"(Alden) came from. Is it real or is it just an assumption that others made when they found out what kind of commendation Alden got was? Is it also common in Rapport III for those who are rescued assumed to be helpless or in need of worry but to make it easier for their knights for such people to also be hidden away because they somehow cause emotional distress over their past trauma? (EDIT: I answered my own question by looking at back chapters. Und'h's try to avoid summoning prejudices, and emotional turmoil, by avoiding relationships with other species. So yes, it appears their stance is Knight's lives are easier if the other species are just their for their jobs and then go away.) I want to assume that perhaps that view is reflective of this archs theme of something growing unseen as people are turning their eyes away from, or hiding, people they feel are traumatized away. Probably in a way that started as compassion for those people but is now becoming cracks in the social foundations. The social cracks may also be seen in the description of how the Uncle is expected to react to Vathra Squads decisions.
It is kind of funny that they assume she'll be upset when she shoved him into a teleporter with the full and reasonable expectation that he would explode. To be fair, there's a difference between "I thought this guy was gonna die and then he did" vs "I thought this guy was gonna die and then he lived and then some jackass got him killed".
It seems that Eaner and Stu have been both misreading each other. I think that Eaner might have hoped for to be a votary or something similar, and hoped to brighten Stuart's days. Stuart is already such a serious boy and he's probably walking around all grimfaced around Dawnstep, so Eaner probably thinks that Stuart needs relaxation and joy. But Eaner was pushing Stuart further away through his focus on lighthearted joys, making Stuart feel more alone. Note how attentive Eaner is - he even saved some klerms for Stuart, because he had seen his fixation on saving them. But Eaner is hiding himself and Stuart values earnestness, which Eaner only showed in the beginning. These chapters seem to be about hidden truths being unraveled (I know, a real shocker with a title like What Grows Unseen). We see the Zakithee's schemes growing in the shade, but a hunter is on his tail and about to connect the dye and the human Rabbit. Earnet, who has been ignored by Stuart but come to Stuart's note again. Alden, who has been dismissed by most knights and now has fascinated them. Even Ryada, who seems to be burning with new energy. Idk, I think it's neat.
As a bonus, Eaner sees someone easily make Stuart smile and spark his joy - and it's another knight, that shares his duty. Eaner has tried so hard to make Stuart smile and failed and now he knows exactly why. It must be an infuriating and bitter experience.
I'm now counting the days, for when Alden will tell this very powerfull und'h knight to feel shame for expecting him to follow orders that go aginst the nature of his skill and self! Stu, Esh and the klerms will be so proud! Everyone else is going to be stunned XD
Alden will not tell a senior knight to feel shame - but Esherdi will gladly join the evaluation and tell off a peer of equal standing.
I am SO excited to see what happens with Eeaner! One of my favorite parts so far actually.
Stu is totally affixing after this party. He's done waiting he's over it. He's going to send it once his last social obligation is done.
Frustration-affixation! He'll be so done with waiting for the right time he'll just want to get it over with
The Stu-Eeaner conversation was really good! I feel like I need to skim chapters so that I can find his past appearances and distinguish them, rather than letting them remain in their current state of "Stu roommate blob." If only RR had AO3's "show entire work" button.
Someone showed in a recent chapter comment how to use Google to search for key words. Link to supsup at royal road and then keyword. Haven't tried it yet
The soup thickens. We got layered und’h drama, leaf song drama, smattering of Art’h drama. Ryada-Bess new knight teachers, hints of Yaril, the search on Goldbush, Alden getting ingrained with knight training. The WORKS. Delicious
the soup is already a solid brick.
Man I really dont know what to make of Stu's relationship with eeaner keet. It feels like Eeaner is the kind of person to be carefree and to really take anything seriously, but is (at the very least trying) to take is friendship with stu seriously. It kinda feels like he has realized stu is on a different path than him and is mourning a friendship that never really blossomed. I imagine this wouldn't be getting so much space in the chapter if it wasn't important, maybe Eeaner gets "shamed" into being Stus votuary in the future. He seems like an alright dude. Feels like I'm missing or not getting something though.
I feel like this was important setup for Eeaner suddenly showing a completely different side. I bet Alden winds up at that party, and Eeaner is *fascinated*. I wouldn't be shocked if this turned into Eeaner becoming Stu's votary. I mean, look at it from this angle: Eeaner is a legitimate high achiever, but his family are ruling-class and expect him to follow in that tradition. Become a lawyer, son, or a business mogul, or a technocrat; anything less is wasting your potential. And everyone he knows tells him the same message, by word or by deed: Seek power. Seek wealth. It's what people like us do. It's what everyone would do, if they could. As a child, their ambitious son read stories of heroes. Knights. Votaries. People who went out and fought back the darkness, putting their lives on the line. It spoke to a part of him that wasn't satisfied with his parents' ideals. But those stories were far away. He never met anyone like that. He was becoming convinced that people like that weren't real. Until he met Stu. Now he's coping with the fact that "everyone would do this, if they could" is in fact a lie. To follow a path of higher onus would be a silent indictment of all his family and friends. They would not happily accept it. They'd judge *him*, calling him foolish and mad and naive. He's caught in the middle. And it has begun to hurt. He'll have to change, one way or another, soon.
Yes- will he make a choice to turn away from his birth parents' path of power and privilege and unfettered ease, like Emban did? Like Bithe, Esh, and so many others born outside the Rapports who heeded the call of doing something more?
Heh, the und’h concern that Alden will affect the mood of Important Art’hs runs throughout Zeridee’s relations. Will his relationship with Stu be as shocking to the uncle as it was to Zeridee? Is Ryada really going back to Goldbush so soon? I got the idea she was on break, but it seems Sausage Knight wanted to look out for her there? Given how concerning it is about random-Avowed Alden’s danger-seeking affecting the Quaternary, how much more concerning will Stu’s resoluteness in entering Knighthood itself be as impacting the Primary? It seems likely we are heading to a larger public disagreement on Stu’s path with Esh, Lind, mystery uncle, and Stu himself all heading to a crossroads, started by an argument on Alden’s comportment. Oh, and Alden, remember you can blame knowing the mouse is magical on your regrettably highest stat of Sympathy For Magic
Sympathy for magic 🤣 that will never not be funny
I wonder if Eeaner realises how much danger he is in of becoming a knight? His efforts in trying to get Stu to lighten up and party like a proper Artonan college kid could be seen as a desperate attempt to reduce Stu's influence. And now, when he's offered a get-out-of-jail-free card - he immediately rejects it. "Don’t start treating me lightly. I won’t tolerate you for a moment longer if you do.”
Eaner's part made the chapter for me. His growing up from the shinies and playing hunter to a real, warm, non-rapport friend to Stu is going to be so interesting to read about.
I'm guessing that Eeaner was actually sincere about the knight goal and that there's more complication to it than Stu knows. Hence the desire not to be put in the same category as Bayab. It's pretty clear that there's a good ol' boys club going on with the knighthood, and while we have seem a few non-Rapport knights we don't know that much about them because our only POV on them has been Stu.
Yeah, such a disconnect to what they let people know about the Rapports or fighting chaos... it was hinted back in Ro-den's POV and is now more obvious. Small wonder that people like Servin-ith don't understand the urgency. Good for Eaner to try and understand. I like him more with each chapter we see him in. Looking forward to the party, especially if he invites Alden there.
Sir, a second chapter has hit my brain
To the person who said “please leave some for Divin” last chapter, super unfortunately correct foreshadowing. Poor Divin got left out of snack time
And got Alden to confirm that he's going to be in charge of snacks going forward!
Alright, I'm going to bed. Thank you to those who pick the chapter apart and post your analyses for me to read in the morning. That's my dessert after soup dinner
I usually read chapters as a waking up in the morning present to myself. Then I read the analysis to figure out what I was too bonknoggined to notice. Reading the chapters before bed would keep me up for hours!
Can Alden show the pictures of the mouse to them? Didn’t he take a picture or was I mistaken?
He took a picture of the spot, but he didn't get a real look at the mouse itself.
If grouchy Uncle Undh is gonna say that Alden should have obeyed orders- then Bithe would have died.
Remember the alleged 4 Artonan camps on avowed - if this guy is in "threat to the universe" or "beast of burden" camp then maybe he sees that as a good trade.
I haven't Jonesed so hard for my fix in quite a while. Edit: ohhh, and my late-expressed hopes are dashed! Poor Divin!
Even if it is biased, I like that the squad will catch heat for their mistakes.
They deserve to catch heat. Regardless of how good it is for the story, deciding to bring in a semi-random baby avowed at the last minute was a bad decision. They literally did it because they were annoyed with eachother. He's not properly trained on the equipment and they're not properly aware of his abilities. The end result is probably going to be very positive but it doesn't deserve to be. They also gave a bad order.
Happy pi chapter day!
Looking forward to Chapter 3141 for the next iteration of π.
Thank you Sleyca!
Haha knight kite confirmed!
Alden’s gonna be pissed when he finds out some knights will want to keep him off the front lines because they don’t want Alis worried.
It’s like Stu not being allowed to choose knighthood because it’ll break his families’ heart all over again.
So sausage knight did know who Ryada was. And he has a name! I will not be using it. Sorry, sausage knight. I think Alden drastically underestimated how much attention he would get from this. The guy who tries to avoid going viral on trime is now the star of the Rapport III tellingbush. I love Eeaner. I want more Eeaner.
I'm not sure Kessril knew who Ryada was in advance? He may have met her and thought "Oh look, an opportunity to be a mentor, cool."
Oh, so tantalizing. A pair of new mentor-figures with mildly alarming connections. Signs that Eeaner-ket isn't quite as shallow as he pretends to be. Hints that Alden might get invited to the stripes-out party. Maybe we'll get to find out more about the mouse? Tasty tasty soup.
The mouse is definitely like... the goal.
>Why am I in this school instead of there with them? I'm getting flashbacks to the dissociation Alden felt after getting selected and realizing that an Avowed doesn't need to worry about a bio test anymore.
I got flashbacks to Alden watching people "die" in the snow. A turning point. Like Stu is no longer waiting and has realized where he wants/needs to be. I feel like that small sentence was him moving forward towards affixation.
What a wonderful way to start the day
Stu had a friend he didn’t know about!
I'm glad Stu was able to check in on Alden throughout the day and not drive himself crazy with worry
Which did not work. Stu drove himself crazy with different worries.
I guess we all have a terrible uncle, damn
Yeah, he sounds super unc (My kid would wince in visible shame if he saw this comment)
A lot of this chapter was setting seeds. The two knights who will be conducting the search for the missing knights on goldbush with Ryada and that sister Stu met. The Uncle Undh with strong opinions about avowed that will surely be an issue when he finds out Alden saved Zeridee. And Eaner-Kit seems like they are going to have a suprising amount of depth instead of just being a party boy. Curious to see where these plotlines will go and which ones Alden gets tangled up in (spoilers: all of them lmao)
I’ve been getting this idea that Alden is going to ‘somehow’ be on that spaceship with Esh, Lind and Kon, but maybe he’ll end up with Ryada’s new group instead? The problem is that neither of these scenarios can include Stu, since he has yet to go to his binding, let alone recover from it… I am thoroughly enjoying the unpredictable future of this story! - just wish the updates were always on the promised date🥲
Thank you for the soup!
Alden is shepherding the newling knights like a proper elementary school teacher.
Boe was right. Alden would have been an amazing elementary teacher. Meeting people where they are. Not dismissing them when they can't convey the feelings they are having clearly. (Jeffy is very lucky Alden was there for him.)
Stu is very close to throwing himself into his first binding.
There will be plenty to distract him if he does it now
When did we last hear about Kivb-ee? It feels like it’s been a bit. (Answered) Has there been an update with Hannah? If not why hasn’t Alden asked mother yet? (Answered) Has Alden thought about excuses for not using his skill post affixation at school?
I was thinking the other day, if knights can suddenly disappear in goldbush, maybe it’s not that surprising avowed can disappear with no further info? Are the two connected? Maybe I’m stretching it a bit too far. And I think beings higher on the ladder probably already did ask the contacts? Or maybe Alden assumed.
Space Held for Future Schedule Updates: (to make it easier for people to locate notices hopefully)
Smert
Thanks, great timing
Thank you thank you thank you thank you
Yeeeees
Just gotta say, I'm in the middle of a full reread, and there are SO many little things I missed. You're even better than I thought, Sleyca! Anyway, on to reading!
Same!
SOUP!!!
Okay, I’ve decided it was not enough soup. I want more of what Alden is up to! I want the reviews from the training platform as Esh and Lind arrive And now I want to know more about Eeaner and his motivations for collecting the klerms. It was such a delicate gut punch for Stu — going to see Alden and so focused that he pricked someone who did him such a gentle kindness
Yayyyy
Wwiioooop
Soup!
Thanks for the Soup!!!
Hell yeah, always an instant click notification
Ty
Early soup! Thank you
Yessssss
Manyadeeth! Zakithee Und'h is a delight. Klerms! Stuart's roommate is more cool than I thought he was. Demon goats! I don't think we'll get to them next chapter, something tells me we're gonna see a big chaos spreading demon instead. Maybe the squad takes it down and that is their big accomplishment for the trip to the training fields? Will Alden get paid Zeridee's weight in Manyadeeth? Will Stu actually enjoy a party? Will the squad manage to help stop the spread of (mock) Chaos? Find out next time on Super Supportive!
Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu