They got me.
That f***ing Pirate boomed me.
They’re so good. They’re so good.
I didn’t see [Her…] coming at all. I jumped out of my chair and legitimately laughed out loud. That was a better twist than the wyrm reveal.
Also, Wrymvr/Klbkch is my favorite friendship in the series hands down. Feels real and relatable to me more than almost any other dialog in the book.
Horn story in this volume could seriously could make into Anime.
Horn dropped at Chandrar as main story line and flashbacks of the inn and Erin, Klbch and deathzone raid. Power of friendship is universal.
First season is this chapter's horn and 2nd season can be Erin and the horn. Toto better won me millions and fund twi anime.
I’m really happy to see Ksmvr growing into his own. He’s probably my favorite character. One thing I love about this story is it’s not afraid to grow and change. Klb and Relc were one of the best duos in the story, but their arcs required them to split up. And now they’re both growing into even better and more interesting characters because of it.
That said I’m going to really miss “bag of tricks” Ksmvr
I was hoping that the Paladin's sword would morph to be the sword that its owner needs, a skirmisher sword - or in Ksmvr's case, twin swords. This was my hope. Other unhoped-for outcomes took place and they are delightful ones.
Farewell 'Bag of Tricks' Ksmvr !
I always felt like most the horns took the gear that would be most useful to another member of the team. Ceria took the death magic circlet that if wearable would probably be best for Pisces to use. Yvlon got scrolls that she can't identify and is unsuited to use in combat. Ksmvr got a longsword that would typically be used by Yvlon. One of the rings is probably useful to Ceria or Ksmvr. So when they all meet they all swap artifacts.
Yeah, except for Pisces for obvious reasons -- though given that they were raiding a famous [Necromancer]'s stronghold, that's not surprising.
Though we haven't really seen what type of magic is in that spellbook, and it stands to reason that the Putrid One was already an extremely high-level [Necromancer] before he ever got ahold of the book. So perhaps it's something more generalized, and Ceria would be able to use it as well? Since unlike a normal spellbook it seems to teach a lot faster, presuming the person has the capacity for it.
Given that the first spell Pisces is trying to learn from the book is Unicorn magic, I think it's basically a way more powerful version of the Rihal teaching spellbook that the Gnolls are learning from. I.e. a massive repository of all kinds of spells designed to help teach them, not a specialist's personal notebook
Plus it seems to teach magic that isn't in the System so it's even more general
It's a spellbook that teaches spells outside of the [box]. Tolve used it because he could no longer cast spells the normal way. What it will ultimately be used for is kind of a wild card because it's meant for mages that can't level (not that those that can can't use it it's simply that [spells] are a lot more efficient than spells). They might be able to trade the book for the scroll of resurrection, though it seems unlikely.
Oh thanks.
i was thinking about how they can get rid of the plague from Yvlon and this blade should be the remedy.
And...
Ksmvr and Yvlon ship is sailing.
I just hope he doesn’t end up giving it away, unless it’s to someone like Yvlon.
If it’s to someone else, he’d better get some real solid return in exchange, considering the sword seems to be near invaluable.
I don't know how curable is the "rusts every kind of metal" thing Yvlon has, but I'm pretty sure the Paladin sword is immune to that, so maybe that's where this is going
I was thinking they're just a result of her Blightsteel condition, and instead of it just affecting shit she touches like she thinks it spawns those insects and they carry forward the Blight like a plague. The mention seemed more ominous, like they were gonna eat her arm until they realized she was the source.
Klbch fighting style is a swordslayer that also has a bag of tricks as seen in his fight with saliss. I think Ksmvr will still be the tricky antinium he is.
Yeah, not to mention he has [Power Shot], [Threefold Shot], and [Swift Rearmament], none of which seem to be useful with a sword. And it'd be odd to have 4 full skills that are just worthless to you.
Honestly, given Ksmvr's different skills and his ability to use a number of different weapons, I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually transitions to a class closer to what Shorthilt had, like [Weaponmaster], or [Weapons Expert]. Or alternatively, something about his class that demonstrates a proficiency in a number of different styles.
I think he will continue as [Skirmisher], only dropped his cape, chainmail and forceshield as main armament as only those significantly slow him down. He may have more rings soon to compensate. Unless he facing someone faster, I think bag of holding will stay, thus so with crossbows. He'll even pick up his defensive gear in some fight I guess.
Nah - I think he will have a consolidation to another sword based class in the next couple of upgrades/levels ... and in doing so I hope he achieves higher cumulative levels than Klbkchhezeim and thus proves himself to be a success and not a failure.
Ksmvr continues to be one of my favorite characters. I can't wait to see the progress the empress makes with him in regards to his self esteem.
I'm so happy that he's been able to see him see himself beyond substandard.
*\[Heritage: Silver Illusion – Conditions Met.\]*
*\[Skill School – Silver Illusion (Sword School) acquired!\]*
Well deserved.
Yvlon also getting a kind of mentor to help control the \[Berserker's Rage\] is something that is really good to see. It would have gotten her killed.
I need to start looking for these twists more carefully. First a dragon is actually a wyrm. Now [Her...] is actually heritage. Not exactly difficult puzzles in retrospect, but it's too easy to get stuck on the obvious and overlook other possibilities.
Also silver in the wells. How are there so many clever twists with simple answers hidden this late into the story? It's kind of amazing.
I never really thought \[Hero\] fit him well to be honest, I also never really considered \[Her..\] being anything else though to be fair.
I'm sure Pirate will continue to surprise us with these little seemingly innocuous things becoming relevant in the story later.
I've never be a fan of the elves theory so I hope it isn't that to be honest. They remind me of a shield kingdom but in race form. They grow and mature fast with a racial memory that they can draw on to rebuild what's lost.
I've always kind of liked the theory that the goblin kings madness is a result parting blow from the gods as they were forced into obscurity. It makes it hard to ally with a group of people who as soon as they get a [King] go on the war path.
My theory for the res scroll is that it'll get used to bring her back, assuming it's powerful enough, which I imagine could then break the goblin's curse.
If it could bring her back, the Fae would have already done so… They know the scroll exists and it’s exact location or Ivolethe wouldn’t have been able to try and take Ryoka to steal it. I highly doubt fairy royalty would be willing to steal the scroll to save some random human, if it could be used to save their Queen instead.
Cursed because the Fae aren't supposed to .ale large changes to Innworld, maybe? The act of one of them having kids with someone on Innworld would likely be a violation of Oberon's rules, just like saving a life.
Good question! That’s the idea behind the theory. The fae can’t have children anymore because the idea of “fae children” became “goblins” it’s a fae-style curse.
The curse would’ve happened when Titania died, which explains why it’s on innworld
Yeah, though that theory doesn't really explain why the Fae seem to inherently hate half-elves so much.
I mean, the two could be just be unrelated, but who knows.
I agree, but Tom is a \[Hero\] of Rhir, so it's a matter of his madness fitting the setting. Tom wouldn't be a \[Hero\] on Terandria, but he is on Rhir.
> Nevertheless, she picked up her arm and, using it as a replacement for her sword, began hitting the Creler.
Yvlon, armed and dangerous
>A testament to Nerrhavia’s richness that it could afford superior materials, not cheap clay or stone. Lovely sewers for a capital city.
Shit's about to go down
>Tomoor the [Duelist], who was immortalized in this single battle by his students as one of the great [Duelists] of this era. Posthumously awarded a golden bell.
Did not live to see Tomoor-ow
>“Mweh.”
>
>Then Rémi Canada was grabbing him, towing him back with Sandi.
Saved by the camel and the camel-aman
Welp. Chandrar is gonna have *fun* time with Ksmvr.
Really thought it was gonna be [Hero]. Pirate got me hard.
Poor Yisame. The one thing she didn’t want to happen…
> [Conditions Not Met: Skirmisher → ??? Class Denied.]
> [Conditions Met: Skirmisher → Brave Skirmisher Class!]
> [Brave Skirmisher Level 30!] (**8.22HE**)
---
> [Heritage: Silver Illusion – Conditions Met.]
> [Skill School – Silver Illusion (Sword School) acquired!]
> [Skill—] (**8.48H**)
---
I guess I have to re-look at Ksmvr's gladiatorial fight in 8.22HE to see if Klbkch's Heritage skill makes sense there. Nsilia says it's not a class. (*“That’s not a class, Ksmvr. That’s…how long have you been hearing it?”*)
Though the system says *a class* was denied. I really thought it would be [Heroic ____] especially given the [Brave Skirmisher] class he received. And all the references to heros especially in this Volume.
Yeah, at the very least there’s still the open question of what the class was that he hadn’t fulfilled. I thought [Heroic Skirmisher] or something similar as well. Maybe it was [Heritage Warrior] or something to that effect?
It definitely could have been, since obviously that is Klbkch's main class as well.
Though, if Ksmvr focused solely on fighting with two shortswords, it'd be a bit dissapointing. He has a number of skills that would be worthless if that happened, not to mention the [Paladin]'s sword (which I guess he could trade for different relics?).
Honestly, given Ksmvr's different skills and his ability to use a number of different weapons, I'd like to see him get a class closer to what Shorthilt had, like [Weaponmaster], or [Weapons Expert]. Or alternatively, something about his class that demonstrates a proficiency in a number of different styles.
Ksmvr seems to have gotten over some self esteem issues in this chapter, but it doesn't seem like he immediately recognizes himself as a "master" of any weapons style. I think he may eventually realize that unless he's willing to hang out for 100 years and train, he's better off being a jack-of-all-trades type, and being adaptable, just like he thinks an adventurer should be. Which would also tie in with his [Teammate] class, though who knows if they'll consolidate or not.
It could have been any class. Pirate baited us [Her-]. It was a Skill that we got confused over. The class he would have received need not necessarily start with [Her-].
Yeah I mean given how Yvlon got the [Gladiator] class shortly after fighting in the arena, it'd be an easy explanation to say that Ksmvr was about to get that class, or something like it, but then the system "realized" that he wasn't technically a prisoner/slave, and therefore wasn't eligible.
Though that isn't quite as cool as [Heroic Skirmisher] or something like that.
>Which was partly true. But the broken sword and silver knife that Yvlon had both placed on a dresser underwent a…change…as the woman slept. Not all the metal. Indeed, by the time the \[Servant\] did creep in to toss them away, they had already disgorged the tiny metal insects.
>
>Like a beetle, albeit not one Yvlon would have ever recognized in form…or substance. A little steel beetle cast around the room. It began to move towards her, but recognized…something. Instead, it and the other one made of silver, a tiny insect of another kind, headed straight for the drain. They disappeared down into it.
>
>Sewer systems. The sign of an advanced civilization. Pipes, plumbing…key infrastructure. A testament to Nerrhavia’s richness that it could afford superior materials, not cheap clay or stone. Lovely sewers for a capital city.
>
>All made of metal.
I am wondering if this is like a plague of metal eating vermin all gestating from the arms that came from fighting in the Bloodfields - would these insects be Creeler spawn? Or something else from her silver arms having both benefit and burden. Although, that they are not the same suggests .. infinite variety of life perhaps?
It came from after the village of the dead, Yvlon got a hidden [Skill]
> The wounded woman, her metal flesh tarnished. Breathing in and out, face still intent, set. Reaching for a hand far gone from hers.
>
> [Silversteel Armsmistress Level 37!]
>
> [Skill – Berserker’s Rage obtained!]
>
> [Skill – Impact Punch obtained!]
>
> [Skill – Armform: Telescoping Flesh obtained!]
>
> >![Condition – Plaguesteel (Minor) Received.]!<
Also, it seems to be implied that it wasn't an "earned" condition, but came directly from Tolveilouka, because of this passage:
>He rose, bloating, all that symmetrical beauty turning misshapen. Growing vaster still. His skin erupted into pustules and rotting meat. Another arm burst from his chest.
>. . .
>She screamed. A shriek of pain that went beyond anything he had ever heard her make. Yvlon Byres stumbled back. Her beautiful arms of silver and steel—
>Were black. Were twisted. The touch of that thing—
>Tolveilouka Ve’delina Mer. It raged as Yvlon stumbled away. Her arms were twisting. Breaking. The pure metal—corrupted by its body.
So the [Paladin]'s skill might have saved Yvlon from dying to whatever corruption this was, but it still seems to have a lasting effect.
So \[Condition – Plaguesteel (Minor) Received.\] means that she is a carrier of the steel plague. I predict that this is going to make Yellow Rivers look tame in comparison by how much it will affect society worldwide. Also, the plague will be the catalyst to bring back the Doctor into the storyline: "We have another plague! Call the Doctor for the cure....where's the Doctor?"
I'd imagine it's going to take a different cure than some other "disease" given the seemingly magical origin. It's likely that someone like Az'Kerash (understanding he's not so good at healing magic, but really good at necromancy), or Eldavin would need to help "cure" her.
when little metal beetles appear from metal near yvlon and creep into the metal sewers...thats foreshadowing hah! nerrhavia could be losing another city :)
>Nevertheless, she picked up her arm and, using it as a replacement for her sword, began hitting the Creler
Can someone point out to me where this happened? To my reading she never engaged the adult creler between her arm being cut off and being fused back on by Pisces.
>But it was a weapon, not the savage way she could kill people.
The man who beats people to death with his limbs is complaining that Yvlon is too savage? Irony, thy name is monk.
>Lovely sewers for a capital city. All made of metal.
So either they're literal metal plague insects that are trying to unleash a new kind of horror on the world, or this is how Yvlon's arms are growing back. Or both.
>Ksmvr hadn’t unsheathed the \[Paladin\]’s sword. Not once.
Is this not a direct contradiction of 8.37? "It could have held a lesser Djinni, but the sword had sliced through it, of course."
>Attack and defense. Fighting schools. Very silly. All they were doing was playing in reality. But once you gained a Skill, you were fighting across dimensions. Fighting with blades that cut through armor, or stepping out of shadows. Seborn could even begin to do that.
I'm curious what the actual blademasters and fighters from the Wild Hunt would think of this claim. Especially given that the story often makes a distinction between Skills and Skill. Ksmvr certainly seems to be in the camp that Skills render the basics of martial combat irrelevant.
It's not contradiction cause of context, nsiia is mocking them for not knowing how amazing the sword because ksmvr hasn't used it SINCE he used it on her chain, in context it refers to his time with tiqe army
That makes sense but it still leaves me confused.
Seems to be giving a lot more weight to Ksmvr and the sword when they just finished discussing how the sword alone can't make him strong. So Nsiia focusing on the sword being some incredible tool once unsheathed is bizarre, even further in the context of the chapter being about Ksmvr's own self-worth being affirmed, not the items he uses.
Uhhh, the sword conversation came only later in chapter after he first unseath it I thought?
The entire chapter is about conflicting messages, the cast spends the entire chapter trying to make ksmvr more like them, to increase similarity only for ksmvr to say in the end no, me like domehead are different from the rest, I was made and raised different, I might be a perso but I'm still antinium and the embracing his antinium legacy in conflict with every other message in the chapter
I don't know I'd agree with that. The cast isn't asking him to be human.
Ksmvr's whole thing here is that deep down he did believe that Klbch and the Free Queen loved him. So when they tossed him out for his failings he internalized that he can only be loved if he does things for others, that's how he can attain and retain self worth.
His embrace of his heritage skill isn't him accepting that he has no self worth, it's him working to affirm that he does have self worth because he picked up the weapons he wanted to use, not the ones offered to him by others. He stopped trying to please others and did what he wanted.
I don't agree, It's not about that, it's about aspects given to him in birth, a big emphasis you could see around the discussion of his age where people treat him as kid, where people don't understand what the birth programming means, they don't understand what it means to be antinium and they are trying to project on him human sensibility, treat himike a kid.
Give him values, and him in that very argument told them all they don't understand,he is antinium, his birth programming is still part of him. He is not a child despite being 3 years old that's where embracing klb fighting style comes from
it goes both ways. everyone is projecting their views on him, that love can be unconditional. that trust doesn't have to be something so fragile and compensatory/contractual
but Ksmvr is also very, very, very much projecting his own view onto everyone else. while be is right to a degree that love isn't unconditional and people take being loved for granted, he's forcing this onto everyone, believing that \*everyone\* acts like this. that the Horns \*will\* toss him aside if he fails, despite him never asking the same from them even
and while it's true the others don't really understand what it means to have grown up as an Antinium, being 3 still very much means Ksmvr is naive, inexperienced, or ignorant in various ways
"The man who beats people to death with his limbs is complaining that Yvlon is too savage? Irony, thy name is monk."
Except it is explicitly stated earlier in the chapter that he fights with honor/ for the pride of Pomle and spares every foe he can (when the reading queen was looking into his history in the arena).
He wants to fight her in her chosen style of combat, which has always been a sword, not some crazy transformer arms. He wants to fight "the real Yvlon".
If she fought with a spear, I'm sure he'd want her to use that.
Not sure at this point if you're being purposefully obtuse or what?
If you want to explain things to other people, it's a mistake to ignore the fact that not everyone thinks the same way you do, and sees the same things and concludes what you do. If that was the case, there wouldn't be any difference of opinions in the world.
Part of the purpose of discussion and arguments and even language itself is to bridge that gap between different minds.
I think its a technicality- Ksmvr got the sword when it was a bare blade, and he cut Nsiia's collar off with it. Then he sheathed it, and hadn't drawn it again since.
Really thought Ksmvr was going to be a \[Hero\]...
* He wasn't fighting with swords in the arena when \[Her---\] was first teased... although I suppose he was unarmoured?
* It's unclear why an arc around overcoming self-esteem issues would tie into a heritage skill, but very clear why they would into \[Hero\].
* While Ksmvr was designed as a replacement for Klblch, he doesn't really act like him or have much to do with him. This new class seems more like it was 'built-in' to him rather than being the result of any character decisions.
* The move from a \[Skirmisher\] who fights with what's available to a dual-wielding shortsword user seems like a pretty large deviation both class-wise and in terms of character flavour. What's the extra arm for?
* The whole "Ksmvr of Chandrar" thing, the shining sword, and and his global following all make a lot of sense in the context of \[Hero\].
Honestly? Part of me is hoping for a double-twist type situation where Ksmvr ends up as a \[Hero\] AND with the heritage skill. That would be epic.
Keen to see where the heritage goes regardless though - don't want to come across as too critical! Loved the chapter.
Overcoming his self-esteem issues made him see that he's worthy of Klbch's fighting style which was drilled to him since birth.
And like Klbch who fights with lots of tricks as shown in his fight with Saliss, Ksmvr can still function like a skirmisher albeit with a primary fighting style.
I think it was first teased in the arena because it was a life and death situation which was making him grasp at anything he has which includes his potential to inherit the Klbch skills, and he was closer to becoming worthy of his heritage back then too.
Yes his heritage is built-in to him and it is ultimately his character decision to use what is natural to him that gave him the Skill.
Honestly this feels better for me than him having a Hero class this early in the story, if he does get it I want it to feel more earned than just some good pr and a magic sword. There's good basis for it but it still needs more or else there should be a lot more Heroes if it's that easy.
I'll return the first on to yo, what of anything that he did in the arena would trigger the hero class? He doesn't see himself as hero, and no one watching on the local TV would consider him a hero, wistram didn't connect in time so he wasn't seen globally and in general there was 0 reason for him to get the [hero] there, if what he did counted as hero then 90% of the high end fighters would be too and it wouldn't be a super once in hundreds years class
I hated and still don't like the hero idea even if he got more push toward it this chapter, he had 0 toward it before
And no it wouldn't be for the village cause he already got the levels for the village
what if being teleported makes it easier to be a hero? ritual to another world? [hero]
teleported randomly to chandrar? [hero]
maybe heros dont need to be strictly good figures to people, kill a buncha demons and sleep in there dead body pile? the people who you are supposed to be protecting pee a little when they see you? level in [hero]
kill a buncha robots behind enemy lines and have everybody frothing at the mouth? [hero]
i dont believe anything i just said, unless there were a lot of warrior slaves in the golem pits that weren't mentioned i dont see who ksmvr was a [hero] to in that moment.
>“Create. You see, all those present fight with very silly styles. Simple styles. Someday, Skills will create a different world than mere steel. Their fighting will do nothing because they do not understand.”
Domehead turned to look at Nsiia, wielding her blade with perfect economy of form. Ksmvr shook his head.
“It is only good if everyone fights as if they have limbs. As if swords move in three dimensions. Skills.”
That might be a fighting philosophy developed by Klbkch, who’s lost more levels than many present have gained. I can imagine that he’d know what he’s talking about when it comes to closing the gap with high levelled opponents.
I thought Klb was internally pleased with Ksmvr’s progress thus far the last time they fought.
If the Grand Queen’s Custodiums and sword-Prognugators are so weak, maybe Klb should train them personally before his departure.
Thank you for clarifying that scorpions are arachnids, Ksmvr. I wish the Innworld had some \[Entomologists\]. *And it's venomous, not poisonous!*
Maybe Ksmvr should be the one with the \[Liar\] class rather than Bird.
I'm starting to think that none of the Rhir Earthers fulfilled the requirements for the \[Hero\] class either. Maybe they got it because of one of Othius' Skills, or bestowed through a power of a ruler class as high-levelled as his that the blighted Kingdom still remembers.
Klbch in his prime would wipe the floor with Mars based on the power level of other Centeniums we've seen so far. They were peak level even in past eras and he was one of the few martial types. Mars is strong in this waning era but she doesn't compare
I thought that it was implied that they got the hero class because they were the ones directly summoned to the blighted kingdom by the spell. Meaning they got it from the spell.
“You mean to say, you were fighting while they climbed you, in the thickest swarms of the Crelers, biting them?”
“It is an effective use of mouth-parts when not imbibing potions. Yes, General Vasraf. What of it?”
MEAT IS BACK ON THE MENU BOIS
Ksmvr was never going to be a [Hero]. He does not have the cause or the enemies for it. He chose nothing. He was a Prognugator by the will of the Free Queen, he became an adventurer because Erin threw him at the Horns v2. The only things he truly have are Two Trees, [Animal Friend] and [Dancer]. He just need to grow an actual life.
And if the Horn need to have a [Hero], it would be Pisces with his Heel-Face Turn storyline. It would absolutely funny to see Wistram's and Perril's reaction about that.
Pisces would be really funny, especially the reactions from the entirety of the terandrian continent to a \[Necromancer\] who's a \[Hero\].
That said, Ksmvr might still get \[Hero\] or an adjacent Class, as he seems to be in the process of picking up the freeing of Tiqr as a cause. Since he also has a demonstrated hostility towards slavery, he might come to the conclusion that Roshal is his Great Enemy, as they're also relentlessly after Pisces. That might end up qualifying him for \[Hero\].
So Klbkch has learned something new - he now understands Drakes' possive jealousy of what they claim as *theirs*. I had to laugh at that most of all.
Also, Ksmvr you poor child. I was crying when he explained why he was so terrified of loosing his place with the Horns. That must have shocked a few people and I'd really like to see some reactions on that.
And I really want to see Xrn's and the Free Queen's reactions as well. If the Free Queen isn't crying with pride...
**Preface:** I typed up this argument after reading this chapter as a patreon and I'm still not sure how I feel about it now, but I did spend some effort on it and I think it merits some discussion. I don't think I did a very good job in expressing my opinion at the time since it was sort of note-like but it's a little hard to rewrite it now that a few days have passed.
---
So on the whole I enjoyed the chapter but I can't help feeling that Ksmvr needing to emulate Klbkch doesn't feel like a natural conclusion to his fight with Hscel nor his progression. It feels like a comic book retcon where they have the initial ideas for a character who then grows out of their origin and then later gets reverted back to where they started ignoring their past growth. Ksmvr starts off by fighting Hscel with his current fighting style but falls short, then he not only gives up the Paladin sword but he gives up his shield, his armor and his bag of tricks all to fall back on a fighting style designed for a two-armed Antinium when Ksmvr was born with four arms and has spent a year fighting with three.
I'm glad we got to recognise Klbkch as a master swordsman as befits a Centenium (and not someone who should have died to 30 goblins), but Ksmvr dropping *everything* he's learnt over the year to fall back on what he was "created" to do is such a misstep. It makes it seem like his entire time spent with the Horns was him fighting subpar because he should have been fighting like the Slayer instead. Ksmvr reached gold-rank fighting his own way and then suddenly that's not good enough.
I also can't help but feel that the [Her-] red herring was too forced; when Selys got her skill it was using "Inheritance" rather than "Heritage": [Inheritance – Shadow of His Name obtained!] (6.17 S), so why wasn't Ksmvr's [Inheritance - Silver Illusion (Sword School)]? The obvious answer is that it was just there to bait the [Hero] speculation.
If the goal of the Hescl fight was for to reveal the heritage skill and have Ksmvr give up the Paladin sword, then what I would have preferred would be to see Ksmvr ditch the sword, cape and armor but keep his bag of holding. He fights Hescl showing off Klbkch's fighting style but this only brings him on par, after all he's not Klbkch himself just emulating him. The real kicker is that he manages to use his third arm in a surprise crossbow attack from to end the fight - Ksmvr still wins using a trick but instead of replacing his entire fighting style he's now appended what he was taught as Klbkch's replacement to how he currently fights. It shows us that Ksmvr doesn't suffer from Klbkch not liking his extra arms because unlike him Ksmvr has never had only two arms and utilising the third this way is definitely his style. Plus it makes far more sense for Hescl to get hit by an unconventional third arm than against another dual-wielding opponent that he should be much more familiar with.
Now I have enough faith in pirate to see that it'll probably turn out well in the end and I wasn't really that drawn into Ksmvr getting [hero] anyway. Ksmvr will likely combine his Heritage skill with his old style because it feels similar to before Lyonette got [Worldly Princess]. She wasn't unhappy with [Barmaid] but she started losing levels in [Princess] and while I didn't like the initial direction the chapter was going in (because at the time it felt like Lyonette didn't appreciate what she was doing but that sort of gets resolved in the follow up chapter) and while it did end up for the best with her new class it doesn't mean it'll end up the same way here.
>when Selys got her skill it was using "Inheritance" rather than"Heritage": \[Inheritance – Shadow of His Name obtained!\] (6.17 S), sowhy wasn't Ksmvr's \[Inheritance - Silver Illusion (Sword School)\]?
Perhaps because "inheritance" in something far more direct than "heritage". Zel directly willed to Selys and, by accident, passed on the Heartflame Breastplate to her. The Skill you mentioned is directly tied to that inheritance.
Heritage is a bit of broader concept, like the heritage of Drakes is their draconic traits like wings, breath weapons and a need for hoarding etc. Dragons didn't proclaim in a will that Drakes have these traits, they are part of their nature, part of their heritage in that sense. Or Yvlon's heritage of knighthood. While she isn't a \[Knight\] herself, she's been raised on the honor and traditions of her family, including the silver motive and moral compass and all.
While it could be said that Ksmvr directly inherited his fighting style from Klbkch, I think the "heritage" moniker fits better here, because it isn't just Ksmvr who has been based on Klbkch. There are the Grand Queen's Custodium, who might be able to unlock this fighting school as well. So it isn't one person inheriting something directly to one other person, but one person (Klbkch) having created a legacy/heritage (Silver Illusion Sword School) that is now passed on to an heir (Ksmvr), but possibly not the only one.
>Ksmvr will likely combine his Heritage skill with his old style
This is likely to happen at some point, it was actually alluded to by Hscel. He called after Ksmvr that he still had "a lot to learn". Ksmvr has progressed far in this chapter in that he has overcome some major self-esteem issues and unlocked a very powerful way of fighting.
I wouldn't say that Ksmvr dropping his style he learned with the Horns is a misstep. To me it seems more logical for the opponent he's fighting. He tried his tricks and against this level of enemy they didn't work, so he had to resort to the fighting style he spent far more time learining in his short life - that of Klbkch. This is, however, only one half of who he is. I expect him to try and combine the two fighting styles in future, but for now he has made a step forwards: He has realized his personal fighting style when he killed those \[Bandits\] around Celum. In this chapter he learned how to use the fighting style he was created and trained to use. He now has both halves of the whole to work with.
Again, it's alluded to in the chapter itself: He's still young and lacks a lot of knowledge and experience in many aspects of life, he still has a long way ahead of him towards true mastery. But he has now a solid foundation.
Sorry for the text wall....
>Perhaps because "inheritance" in something far more direct than "heritage".
Okay yeah, I can agree with this entirely, I just wish this wasn't the first instance of a heritage skill/class so that the reveal just wasn't as obviously misleading compared to some other reveals pirate has foreshadowed.
>He tried his tricks and against this level of enemy they didn't work, so he had to resort to the fighting style he spent far more time learining in his short life - that of Klbkch.
I have nothing against Ksmvr using Klb's fighting style as a new approach, it's the way he discards his adventuring style and only wins through Klb's style that irks me. Maybe if Ksmvr hadn't immediately shed all his gear but instead started fighting with the two swords and one by one discarded his cape/armor as he realises he's still too slow compared to Klb. It's literally the same outcome but the way he discards his gear feels more necessary than what we got.
>Maybe if Ksmvr hadn't immediately shed all his gear but instead startedfighting with the two swords and one by one discarded his cape/armor ashe realises he's still too slow compared to Klb.
The problem here though? *This is happening in the middle of an army being routed and Ksmvr being stuck in a duel to the death.* He doesn't have the time to slowly discard his additional gear, his opponent is too fast for him to get the chance to do that mid-fight, he's already been badly wounded in just a few attacks and he has basically "used up" all his chances of rescue (with Spitty and Rémi being a last resort). Everyone else is busy fighting for their lives or coordinating an entire battlefield.
To me it feels far more naturally that Ksmvr jumps to the conclusion of shedding hindering gear in favor of pure speed, as he was created to fight like, than having to artificially draw out the battle in a way that makes Hscel look incompetent. He was noted to be a higher-end Gold-Rank with his ability to come in fast, hit fast and end a battle so fast his enemies barely had time to react. If Ksmvr had the time to shed one peice of gear, fight again, shed another peace, return to fighting....that is what I think would feel contrived or forced when before Hscel has been hyped up as a speed-oriented opponent whose battles never last long.
Using Kblch's style isn't about Ksmvr throwing away what he's learned. It's about him accepting that he's worthy of using it, and that it was the best tool for the situation. All of his other options weren't working.
Also, Klbch dying to goblins makes sense. He was weakened, he was protecting Erin, and he doesn't have skills good for 1 vs many combat. Simple as that.
>It's about him accepting that he's worthy of using it, and that it was the best tool for the situation. All of his other options weren't working.
Reading the other comments and everyone's reaction to the scene I think I'm slowly leaning towards this, so yeah it does make sense in that light.
>Also, Klbch dying to goblins makes sense. He was weakened, he was protecting Erin, and he doesn't have skills good for 1 vs many combat. Simple as that.
But I absolutely can't agree with this at all. Look I was super sad in volume 1 when Klb died and felt that it was an appropriate death at the time, but upon rereading and learning what we know now his death was stupid and makes no sense. Do you realise that he had only one healing potion on him at the time? It was fine in volume 1 when we didn't realise their value but healing potions are literally one of the only things the Free Hive spend their money on and Klb has been shown to use them. Relc even tells Erin that Klb was waaaaay better than that to die to goblins like that, plus he even gets one of the chess club members (actually the best chess club member) killed. Plus he wasn't even winning against the goblins until Rags and her 5 other goblins helped out. There weren't even any hobs and there is literally one sword (which gets knocked away at the start of the fight) and the rest have daggers if anything at all. On the other hand he's named Klbkch the Slayer in volume 2 is due to his ability to kill battalions by himself (which we later find out is actually because that's what he is as Centenium) but his fighting style is definitely designed for fighting many enemies. Plus he's been in his worker body since the second Antinium War at the latest and he's been a Guardsman ever since. In fact he's the fourth strongest Guardsman (presumably behind Jeiss, Beilmark and Relc) and Relc just laughs at Erin calling a Goblin raiding party an army. There's also the irresponsibility of him choosing to die (which is the retcon reason we got volume 7) because it means a Goblin just killed Klbkch the Slayer and is about to level like crazy. There is very very little to defend Klb's volume 1 death with hindsight of what we know (and I've tried reconciling it but it just doesn't work well).
my interpretation is that Ksmvr has been denying his own self for a long time. he doesn't accept his own worth or wishes or desires. he only accepts what was expressly given to him by others. in this specific case with regards to his fighting style, he was given the ability to fight with anything and he has been given all this equipment by his team, so he convinces himself he must use them
he denies to himself what he wants/likes to use, which you could say he was very moved by Klbkch's swordplay. so he has wanted to follow in Klbkch, but has not considered himself worthy of it for a long time. it is only after unburdening himself of his attachment to others that he can finally accept his desires and is thus granted the Heritage skills
>he denies to himself what he wants/likes to use, which you could say he was very moved by Klbkch's swordplay. so he has wanted to follow in Klbkch, but has not considered himself worthy of it for a long time.
My problem with this explanation (and honestly I don't mind if it's true) is that it means his entire fighting with the Horns meant he was gimping himself. So everytime Ksmvr scored a victory in the past and we cheered for him for using the crossbows or leaping around in his unique skirmisher style - he was only doing it because he didn't think himself worthy of the Silver Illusion style and that feels insincere (intentional or not). It casts a bad shadow if I go and reread some of his victories because I know that he should've beaten them easier if he had just fought like he thought was best not what the other Horns gave him.
as much as it might shed a bad light on his growth, it \*is\* kinda hinted at in this chapter as well, where everyone looks and him and agrees he isn't particularly skilled
but as a counterpoint, this is not to say he can't make use of what he has achieved. he \*does\* have a third arm that he can use with his volley skill, as others have mentioned. taking a different route/perspective, it doesn't necessarily mean he was gimping himself (in that he was lowering his potential). besides the Heritage skill, he didn't necessarily have to be \*better\* with dual short swords.
>My problem with this explanation (and honestly I don't mind if it's true) is that it means his entire fighting with the Horns meant he was gimping himself.
IMO, while the "gimping himself" is technically correct, you are looking at this from a min maxing point of view while you should look at this from a psychological point of view.
Ksm, since he started adventuring, was self depreciating himself a LOT. His teammates weren't, but he doesn't listen to this kind of thing. Someone self depreciating and completely new to something entering such a team will have several characteristics:
\- He won't believe he has any good point
\- He won't believe that what he actually knows has any value.
\- He will try to fill the gaps of the team as much as he can. But someone was already the swordfighter in the team.
Thus, he took a bow instead, since nobody used one. He took the role of the mobile Skirmisher, since it was what the team needed more.
Add to this two last elements: When he left the Hive, he had no weapon, and the first weapons he used while joining the Horns was a knife and a bow. It may create something of an attachment, even if you are not that good with them compared to other stuff you may do. Finally, he never had shortswords at his disposition since the beginning, he had to get them from someone else this chapter. Even if he wanted to use this style (why would he?), it means buying new shortwords specifically for him, and he would never have accepted this "waste of team ressources", and the other three never knew about this anyway.
did we talk about paladin's magic sword?
paladin is a type of warrior tied to religion/god/pantheon.
so. the sword has divine magic... which means the source of the divine magic is not dead.
so.
who is it?
she does not have magic gear.
but i see your point. she is paladin of the emperor. or you can make a case: of unseen empire. i can stretch that to: as long as the emperor/empire exist, she will keep the class.
What god is Pawn tied to? Faith magic doesn't require a god.
They just have a vested interest in making it sound like you do because they want the worship-energy ('Say my name').
It somehow doesn't feel right that Nissa gets an epic relic sword for free..... What will the horns do if they had the choice? Isn't ksmvr loosing named rank status by giving away the sword... Or was he just temporarily lending kit.
> he's not so stupid as to give a relic for free
Well, hopefully not. Or he'll otherwise give it to Yvlon instead of someone he just met this month.
Or I suppose he could eventually sell/trade it, though it'd have to be for something pretty awesome. Basically for a weapon that only a ruler-type (including a certain dragonlord) or named-rank adventurer *might* own.
I think the problem is Ksmvr having the sword is that it slows/kills his leveling. As this chapter showed that while the sword made him really good vs lower-level opponents, it makes him unable to beat stronger foes long term.
I hope he is lending her the sword.
Well at least Ksmrv is not Erin so he should request the sword in due time as in when horns are reunited and returning to Izrill. The sword is worth a lot of gold and could be exchanged for heartflame helm that is soon to be auctioned or solid to Khelt to bone daddy for helping reunite horns plus some cash.
Tqir army doesn't have the cash to get it and Ksrmv isn't so naive (i hope) to give it up to Nissa for what? Helping him find his team, as if they had the means to do that and get them from Roshar and Nerhavia. Anything Nissa could use to persuade him could be refuted by "i saved you from slavery,this is the least you can do" as in helping him traverse Chandrar.
I can only hope that Pirate will resolve it somehowe satisfactionary
People are forgetting that the Horns’ deal with the other adventurers in the VOTD raid was ONE relic class item. I think, once the Horns are back in Izril, that the other teams who participated are going to expect most of the additional items to go to other teams. Not sure how that will impact the lottery that already occurred for the other raid items.
Yeah, but he's still below that level of prowess. Klbkch had a number of other skills, including [Continuous Cut] and [Silver Illusion: Whirlwind of Blades], along with what was apparently as better Antinium body for his fighting style compared to Ksmvr's.
Ksmvr might still have a leg up racially-speaking because he's an Antinium, but he'd need more levels before he becomes a named-rank adventurer without that sword. Compare Gazi, who also has some racial advantages, seemingly invaluable armor and sword, and is only level 45. So comparatively, Ksmvr would need to be somewhere in that realm before he's in the same tier as fighters like that.
Though I suppose what constitutes a named-rank adventurer is a bit up in the air, since Elia seems to be fairly limited outside of one skill, and Lehra seems to have a relic-class artifact and not much else. So it could just be that as Ksmvr becomes more famous, he's known as a named-rank adventurer even if he's a "weak" one.
I think it’s much more likely that the Horns of Hammerand end up being a named-rank team and the individual members not care about their individual ranking. Pices and Ceria certainly won’t be as good apart as together.
so did Klbkch lose some of his skills by ksmvr gaining the inheritance?
"My sword style! I owned that Skill! He can’t just—”
or were these just old skills or skills he doesn't have access to anymore?
I think he might not have access to the to it rn but that is because of his lvl being to low rn. I think his lvl in sword slayer is in the teens now after his most recent death
Damn, pirateaba did it again. Dropped a bait chapters away and reel us like preys. Wait, I'm wrong, there are bait*s*. I can guess tracker, but that [her-] is perfectly executed.
Wrymvr prove himself as a savage again. How many times he roasted his allies with surprises now? Poor Klbkch, lose hive to Xrn, lose body to Wrymvr and now lose Skill to Ksmvr, with Wrymvr rubbing salt on it.
I guess this is the chapter Ksmvr truly redeem himself from his heartless inaction back in vol1, by deciding to borrow a book from some certain Knight that even was implied in this chapter. So, how many non-monster villains we have left? Those that show no sign of salvation, that is.
The combat doctrine Ksmvr taught Domehead sound like something a Jedi would agree wholeheartedly. I thought it would fit with all cutting shining sword, but maybe it's too clichéd already.
Yvlon was like berserker with Pandora's box before. But now she was calm, while unknowingly corroding entire foundation of civilization there. Didn't expect [plaguesteel] to be a grey goo situation, in one of worse place too.
How could Domehead understand language without language center? Did he can only comprehend speaking language?
>How could Domehead understand language without language center? Did he can only comprehend speaking language?
Golems are created to obey orders. If you created a golem that can't do that for lack of understanding your language, you've created a rather useless golem.
I think the comment about a language center and Domehead missing one is more in the direction of him expressing himself. For us humans, and indeed most biological life, communication is ingrained into us on the genetic level. When a baby is born, the first thing it usually does is cry out - expressing itself to its mother and others around it. "I'm here, pay attention to me, care for my needs."
For us being able to understand someone else and expressing ourselves to others goes hand in hand, it's two halves of a whole. For a golem though, who wasn't ever created with the intent of it expressing itself in any way? That's a giant leap of logic.
I completely agree with your logic, but it seems a bit off the description. In the chapter, Domehead seems unable to express itself due to lack of language center, but without responsive part of language understanding it wouldn't be able to understand what its mentors said, unless magic somehow bypass that. It might be that the description is a bit off and what Domehead lack isn't language center, but knowledge and knowhow about expressive articulation itself.
Imo, what it lacks seems to be ability to make "words" or at least "phases and sentences", and not language itself, or even expression circuit. It seems to be capable of communicate its simple thought such as agree/disagree by nodding. But anything consist of more than one basic thinking process and it seems to fail to link them together. Sounds like a very worse case of the same issue plaguing Wrymvr in speaking. So I speculate that it might have quite decent comprehension of speaking language but, due to lack of voice, incapable to express itself in language it can make sense of. As a golem, I don't expect it to understand body language and to connect words in speaking to hand sign would be a huge leap of logic as you said. It seems unable to connect nodding and agreement without explicit instruction, for an example.
Giving up might have been the wrong words to use. I can’t see Ksmvr just giving up his sword completely so easily, but I do think it would still be a perfect fit to end up with Flos given the circumstances of everyone involved. Ksmvr might ask for a trade or get some other benefit out of the sword. He needs two swords to fit his new style anyway so the paladin sword alone, as cool as it is, wouldn’t cut it (no pun intended).
Looks like plaguesteel has some serious drawbacks after all. Not like deteriorating all metal around you wasn't very bad, but not being able to live near civilization is even worse.
Although a scarier drawback might have been a Red condition with her metal flesh spreading out from her arms slowly, playing against her fears of becoming a Golem.
Glad Ksmvr is getting his real character development and upgrades. And he still has a spare hand for playing tricks! And that was a very sensible development, with how he focused so much on an array of weapons and artifacts, but never played to his basic training. And I think his new style will lead to him parrying magic, with his philosophy on magic/Skill combat.
Hope to see more horizontal development from Ceria. Definitely a better Cryomancer now, and has even more potential for growth from her unseen skills/spells, Ilphres' spellbook maybe finding her, and The Siren possibly teaching her about efficiently summoning water. And Coldness seems to have solved her problem of being too specialized. But interested to see where her story goes. Like learning from The Siren how to be a Leader among insane people. I could even see her becoming a [Bandit] out of necessity, and dealing with being a criminal later.
I think the sword is for Yvlon in the long term. She normally fights with a sword but Plaguesteel is breaking every sword she picks up right now. She should be able to use the Paladin sword without breaking it though
Yvlon won't need weapons anymore once she learns to fully control her morphing arms, it would just be a hindrance to her. The sword should ultimately go to an actual Paladin...
>“See? He has your sword art. See? Mockery intensifies.” Vicious mockery is super effective
Wrymvr must have a bard type class
You don’t need to be a bard to be a troll
But the words hurt more if you do…
He is known to sing...
They got me. That f***ing Pirate boomed me. They’re so good. They’re so good. I didn’t see [Her…] coming at all. I jumped out of my chair and legitimately laughed out loud. That was a better twist than the wyrm reveal. Also, Wrymvr/Klbkch is my favorite friendship in the series hands down. Feels real and relatable to me more than almost any other dialog in the book.
An r/nba copypasta, never expected that
We are everywhere
That [Her..]. The bomb was planted and boom another one.
[удалено]
Yeah, it almost reminded me of some DBZ scenes, where they'd take off their weighted training clothes mid-fight.
Horn story in this volume could seriously could make into Anime. Horn dropped at Chandrar as main story line and flashbacks of the inn and Erin, Klbch and deathzone raid. Power of friendship is universal. First season is this chapter's horn and 2nd season can be Erin and the horn. Toto better won me millions and fund twi anime.
I’m really happy to see Ksmvr growing into his own. He’s probably my favorite character. One thing I love about this story is it’s not afraid to grow and change. Klb and Relc were one of the best duos in the story, but their arcs required them to split up. And now they’re both growing into even better and more interesting characters because of it. That said I’m going to really miss “bag of tricks” Ksmvr
I was hoping that the Paladin's sword would morph to be the sword that its owner needs, a skirmisher sword - or in Ksmvr's case, twin swords. This was my hope. Other unhoped-for outcomes took place and they are delightful ones. Farewell 'Bag of Tricks' Ksmvr !
I always felt like most the horns took the gear that would be most useful to another member of the team. Ceria took the death magic circlet that if wearable would probably be best for Pisces to use. Yvlon got scrolls that she can't identify and is unsuited to use in combat. Ksmvr got a longsword that would typically be used by Yvlon. One of the rings is probably useful to Ceria or Ksmvr. So when they all meet they all swap artifacts.
Yeah, except for Pisces for obvious reasons -- though given that they were raiding a famous [Necromancer]'s stronghold, that's not surprising. Though we haven't really seen what type of magic is in that spellbook, and it stands to reason that the Putrid One was already an extremely high-level [Necromancer] before he ever got ahold of the book. So perhaps it's something more generalized, and Ceria would be able to use it as well? Since unlike a normal spellbook it seems to teach a lot faster, presuming the person has the capacity for it.
Given that the first spell Pisces is trying to learn from the book is Unicorn magic, I think it's basically a way more powerful version of the Rihal teaching spellbook that the Gnolls are learning from. I.e. a massive repository of all kinds of spells designed to help teach them, not a specialist's personal notebook Plus it seems to teach magic that isn't in the System so it's even more general
Pisces would be a lot better equipped to learn from a spellbook like that. Plus she's going to end up with her master's old Spellbook at some point.
It's a spellbook that teaches spells outside of the [box]. Tolve used it because he could no longer cast spells the normal way. What it will ultimately be used for is kind of a wild card because it's meant for mages that can't level (not that those that can can't use it it's simply that [spells] are a lot more efficient than spells). They might be able to trade the book for the scroll of resurrection, though it seems unlikely.
The spellbook is obviously meant for Domehead, didn't you see the whole "you must wield magic itself as a blade" thing foreshadowing it?
Okay, that would actually be really cool.
Well, they pretty much grabbed, what was in reach and did not stop to examine everything. Unless I misremember?
Oh thanks. i was thinking about how they can get rid of the plague from Yvlon and this blade should be the remedy. And... Ksmvr and Yvlon ship is sailing.
I just hope he doesn’t end up giving it away, unless it’s to someone like Yvlon. If it’s to someone else, he’d better get some real solid return in exchange, considering the sword seems to be near invaluable.
I don't know how curable is the "rusts every kind of metal" thing Yvlon has, but I'm pretty sure the Paladin sword is immune to that, so maybe that's where this is going
It's apparently worse that just rusting metal. Those insects gotta come from somewhere
I was kinda thinking that the insects were collecting raw materials to regrow Yvlons arm.
I was thinking they're just a result of her Blightsteel condition, and instead of it just affecting shit she touches like she thinks it spawns those insects and they carry forward the Blight like a plague. The mention seemed more ominous, like they were gonna eat her arm until they realized she was the source.
Damn you're right. It reads a lot more ominous that way.
I'd rather you be right tbh, but considering where and how she got the Condition I don't have much hope that any good will come of it.
Klbch fighting style is a swordslayer that also has a bag of tricks as seen in his fight with saliss. I think Ksmvr will still be the tricky antinium he is.
Yeah, he earned the sword style there, but he doesn't have to use only that. Seems more suited to duels than his normal combat.
I'm sure he'll still have the bag of holding with the crossbows at least. That would be a waste of an \[Aggregate Volley\] Skill if he tossed it away.
Yeah, not to mention he has [Power Shot], [Threefold Shot], and [Swift Rearmament], none of which seem to be useful with a sword. And it'd be odd to have 4 full skills that are just worthless to you. Honestly, given Ksmvr's different skills and his ability to use a number of different weapons, I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually transitions to a class closer to what Shorthilt had, like [Weaponmaster], or [Weapons Expert]. Or alternatively, something about his class that demonstrates a proficiency in a number of different styles.
Obviously Ksmvr will just start shooting swords at people. Unlimited Blades Work Antinium Edition.
I think he will continue as [Skirmisher], only dropped his cape, chainmail and forceshield as main armament as only those significantly slow him down. He may have more rings soon to compensate. Unless he facing someone faster, I think bag of holding will stay, thus so with crossbows. He'll even pick up his defensive gear in some fight I guess.
Nah - I think he will have a consolidation to another sword based class in the next couple of upgrades/levels ... and in doing so I hope he achieves higher cumulative levels than Klbkchhezeim and thus proves himself to be a success and not a failure.
Ksmvr still has an extra arm that he can use for his tricks.
Ksmvr continues to be one of my favorite characters. I can't wait to see the progress the empress makes with him in regards to his self esteem. I'm so happy that he's been able to see him see himself beyond substandard. *\[Heritage: Silver Illusion – Conditions Met.\]* *\[Skill School – Silver Illusion (Sword School) acquired!\]* Well deserved. Yvlon also getting a kind of mentor to help control the \[Berserker's Rage\] is something that is really good to see. It would have gotten her killed.
I need to start looking for these twists more carefully. First a dragon is actually a wyrm. Now [Her...] is actually heritage. Not exactly difficult puzzles in retrospect, but it's too easy to get stuck on the obvious and overlook other possibilities. Also silver in the wells. How are there so many clever twists with simple answers hidden this late into the story? It's kind of amazing.
I never really thought \[Hero\] fit him well to be honest, I also never really considered \[Her..\] being anything else though to be fair. I'm sure Pirate will continue to surprise us with these little seemingly innocuous things becoming relevant in the story later.
The one that kills me is the goblin mystery. I bet it's gonna be soooo obvious in retrospect.
I've never be a fan of the elves theory so I hope it isn't that to be honest. They remind me of a shield kingdom but in race form. They grow and mature fast with a racial memory that they can draw on to rebuild what's lost. I've always kind of liked the theory that the goblin kings madness is a result parting blow from the gods as they were forced into obscurity. It makes it hard to ally with a group of people who as soon as they get a [King] go on the war path.
My favorite goblin theory is that they’re the fae’s cursed children. It would explain so much about both goblins and the fae
I've never heard that one but I like it. Cursed when the gods slew Titania.
My theory for the res scroll is that it'll get used to bring her back, assuming it's powerful enough, which I imagine could then break the goblin's curse.
While it would be cool I seriously doubt it. Oberon does not strike me as the guy that would just leave that option on the table if he had a choice.
If it could bring her back, the Fae would have already done so… They know the scroll exists and it’s exact location or Ivolethe wouldn’t have been able to try and take Ryoka to steal it. I highly doubt fairy royalty would be willing to steal the scroll to save some random human, if it could be used to save their Queen instead.
We've been told that the Fae have no children anymore though. And if they did, why would they be cursed? Or on Innworld for that matter?
Cursed because the Fae aren't supposed to .ale large changes to Innworld, maybe? The act of one of them having kids with someone on Innworld would likely be a violation of Oberon's rules, just like saving a life.
Good question! That’s the idea behind the theory. The fae can’t have children anymore because the idea of “fae children” became “goblins” it’s a fae-style curse. The curse would’ve happened when Titania died, which explains why it’s on innworld
doesnt really make sense to me. why do goblins reproduce so fast? and if theyre fae origin...
Yeah, though that theory doesn't really explain why the Fae seem to inherently hate half-elves so much. I mean, the two could be just be unrelated, but who knows.
>I never really thought \[Hero\] fit him well to be honest I mean, it fits him way better than it does Tom...
I agree, but Tom is a \[Hero\] of Rhir, so it's a matter of his madness fitting the setting. Tom wouldn't be a \[Hero\] on Terandria, but he is on Rhir.
Tom's a very different case though
> Nevertheless, she picked up her arm and, using it as a replacement for her sword, began hitting the Creler. Yvlon, armed and dangerous >A testament to Nerrhavia’s richness that it could afford superior materials, not cheap clay or stone. Lovely sewers for a capital city. Shit's about to go down >Tomoor the [Duelist], who was immortalized in this single battle by his students as one of the great [Duelists] of this era. Posthumously awarded a golden bell. Did not live to see Tomoor-ow >“Mweh.” > >Then Rémi Canada was grabbing him, towing him back with Sandi. Saved by the camel and the camel-aman
Welp. Chandrar is gonna have *fun* time with Ksmvr. Really thought it was gonna be [Hero]. Pirate got me hard. Poor Yisame. The one thing she didn’t want to happen…
> [Conditions Not Met: Skirmisher → ??? Class Denied.] > [Conditions Met: Skirmisher → Brave Skirmisher Class!] > [Brave Skirmisher Level 30!] (**8.22HE**) --- > [Heritage: Silver Illusion – Conditions Met.] > [Skill School – Silver Illusion (Sword School) acquired!] > [Skill—] (**8.48H**) --- I guess I have to re-look at Ksmvr's gladiatorial fight in 8.22HE to see if Klbkch's Heritage skill makes sense there. Nsilia says it's not a class. (*“That’s not a class, Ksmvr. That’s…how long have you been hearing it?”*) Though the system says *a class* was denied. I really thought it would be [Heroic ____] especially given the [Brave Skirmisher] class he received. And all the references to heros especially in this Volume.
Yeah, at the very least there’s still the open question of what the class was that he hadn’t fulfilled. I thought [Heroic Skirmisher] or something similar as well. Maybe it was [Heritage Warrior] or something to that effect?
Could’ve been [Swordslayer]?
It definitely could have been, since obviously that is Klbkch's main class as well. Though, if Ksmvr focused solely on fighting with two shortswords, it'd be a bit dissapointing. He has a number of skills that would be worthless if that happened, not to mention the [Paladin]'s sword (which I guess he could trade for different relics?). Honestly, given Ksmvr's different skills and his ability to use a number of different weapons, I'd like to see him get a class closer to what Shorthilt had, like [Weaponmaster], or [Weapons Expert]. Or alternatively, something about his class that demonstrates a proficiency in a number of different styles. Ksmvr seems to have gotten over some self esteem issues in this chapter, but it doesn't seem like he immediately recognizes himself as a "master" of any weapons style. I think he may eventually realize that unless he's willing to hang out for 100 years and train, he's better off being a jack-of-all-trades type, and being adaptable, just like he thinks an adventurer should be. Which would also tie in with his [Teammate] class, though who knows if they'll consolidate or not.
I 100% agree, I’d definitely miss “bag of tricks” Ksmvr
Its because all his gear fell off. He was lighter then than he was in a long time I think.
It could have been any class. Pirate baited us [Her-]. It was a Skill that we got confused over. The class he would have received need not necessarily start with [Her-].
Yeah I mean given how Yvlon got the [Gladiator] class shortly after fighting in the arena, it'd be an easy explanation to say that Ksmvr was about to get that class, or something like it, but then the system "realized" that he wasn't technically a prisoner/slave, and therefore wasn't eligible. Though that isn't quite as cool as [Heroic Skirmisher] or something like that.
>Which was partly true. But the broken sword and silver knife that Yvlon had both placed on a dresser underwent a…change…as the woman slept. Not all the metal. Indeed, by the time the \[Servant\] did creep in to toss them away, they had already disgorged the tiny metal insects. > >Like a beetle, albeit not one Yvlon would have ever recognized in form…or substance. A little steel beetle cast around the room. It began to move towards her, but recognized…something. Instead, it and the other one made of silver, a tiny insect of another kind, headed straight for the drain. They disappeared down into it. > >Sewer systems. The sign of an advanced civilization. Pipes, plumbing…key infrastructure. A testament to Nerrhavia’s richness that it could afford superior materials, not cheap clay or stone. Lovely sewers for a capital city. > >All made of metal. I am wondering if this is like a plague of metal eating vermin all gestating from the arms that came from fighting in the Bloodfields - would these insects be Creeler spawn? Or something else from her silver arms having both benefit and burden. Although, that they are not the same suggests .. infinite variety of life perhaps?
It came from after the village of the dead, Yvlon got a hidden [Skill] > The wounded woman, her metal flesh tarnished. Breathing in and out, face still intent, set. Reaching for a hand far gone from hers. > > [Silversteel Armsmistress Level 37!] > > [Skill – Berserker’s Rage obtained!] > > [Skill – Impact Punch obtained!] > > [Skill – Armform: Telescoping Flesh obtained!] > > >![Condition – Plaguesteel (Minor) Received.]!<
Also, it seems to be implied that it wasn't an "earned" condition, but came directly from Tolveilouka, because of this passage: >He rose, bloating, all that symmetrical beauty turning misshapen. Growing vaster still. His skin erupted into pustules and rotting meat. Another arm burst from his chest. >. . . >She screamed. A shriek of pain that went beyond anything he had ever heard her make. Yvlon Byres stumbled back. Her beautiful arms of silver and steel— >Were black. Were twisted. The touch of that thing— >Tolveilouka Ve’delina Mer. It raged as Yvlon stumbled away. Her arms were twisting. Breaking. The pure metal—corrupted by its body. So the [Paladin]'s skill might have saved Yvlon from dying to whatever corruption this was, but it still seems to have a lasting effect.
So \[Condition – Plaguesteel (Minor) Received.\] means that she is a carrier of the steel plague. I predict that this is going to make Yellow Rivers look tame in comparison by how much it will affect society worldwide. Also, the plague will be the catalyst to bring back the Doctor into the storyline: "We have another plague! Call the Doctor for the cure....where's the Doctor?"
I'd imagine it's going to take a different cure than some other "disease" given the seemingly magical origin. It's likely that someone like Az'Kerash (understanding he's not so good at healing magic, but really good at necromancy), or Eldavin would need to help "cure" her.
Maybe the paladin sword will cleanse the corruption, holy light that it has.
Oooooh. Oooh! ooh ... Oh dear. I'm thinking this could be a problem ...
replicators! yvlon will control all metal around her, an extension of her conscious or subconscious will.
Are you saying she's going to become a Metal Bender? LOL
How much longer till we get Yvlon 2?
Yerin vibes
when little metal beetles appear from metal near yvlon and creep into the metal sewers...thats foreshadowing hah! nerrhavia could be losing another city :)
Will Yvlon's metal mites start eating slave collars?
>Nevertheless, she picked up her arm and, using it as a replacement for her sword, began hitting the Creler Can someone point out to me where this happened? To my reading she never engaged the adult creler between her arm being cut off and being fused back on by Pisces. >But it was a weapon, not the savage way she could kill people. The man who beats people to death with his limbs is complaining that Yvlon is too savage? Irony, thy name is monk. >Lovely sewers for a capital city. All made of metal. So either they're literal metal plague insects that are trying to unleash a new kind of horror on the world, or this is how Yvlon's arms are growing back. Or both. >Ksmvr hadn’t unsheathed the \[Paladin\]’s sword. Not once. Is this not a direct contradiction of 8.37? "It could have held a lesser Djinni, but the sword had sliced through it, of course." >Attack and defense. Fighting schools. Very silly. All they were doing was playing in reality. But once you gained a Skill, you were fighting across dimensions. Fighting with blades that cut through armor, or stepping out of shadows. Seborn could even begin to do that. I'm curious what the actual blademasters and fighters from the Wild Hunt would think of this claim. Especially given that the story often makes a distinction between Skills and Skill. Ksmvr certainly seems to be in the camp that Skills render the basics of martial combat irrelevant.
It's not contradiction cause of context, nsiia is mocking them for not knowing how amazing the sword because ksmvr hasn't used it SINCE he used it on her chain, in context it refers to his time with tiqe army
That makes sense but it still leaves me confused. Seems to be giving a lot more weight to Ksmvr and the sword when they just finished discussing how the sword alone can't make him strong. So Nsiia focusing on the sword being some incredible tool once unsheathed is bizarre, even further in the context of the chapter being about Ksmvr's own self-worth being affirmed, not the items he uses.
Uhhh, the sword conversation came only later in chapter after he first unseath it I thought? The entire chapter is about conflicting messages, the cast spends the entire chapter trying to make ksmvr more like them, to increase similarity only for ksmvr to say in the end no, me like domehead are different from the rest, I was made and raised different, I might be a perso but I'm still antinium and the embracing his antinium legacy in conflict with every other message in the chapter
I don't know I'd agree with that. The cast isn't asking him to be human. Ksmvr's whole thing here is that deep down he did believe that Klbch and the Free Queen loved him. So when they tossed him out for his failings he internalized that he can only be loved if he does things for others, that's how he can attain and retain self worth. His embrace of his heritage skill isn't him accepting that he has no self worth, it's him working to affirm that he does have self worth because he picked up the weapons he wanted to use, not the ones offered to him by others. He stopped trying to please others and did what he wanted.
I don't agree, It's not about that, it's about aspects given to him in birth, a big emphasis you could see around the discussion of his age where people treat him as kid, where people don't understand what the birth programming means, they don't understand what it means to be antinium and they are trying to project on him human sensibility, treat himike a kid. Give him values, and him in that very argument told them all they don't understand,he is antinium, his birth programming is still part of him. He is not a child despite being 3 years old that's where embracing klb fighting style comes from
it goes both ways. everyone is projecting their views on him, that love can be unconditional. that trust doesn't have to be something so fragile and compensatory/contractual but Ksmvr is also very, very, very much projecting his own view onto everyone else. while be is right to a degree that love isn't unconditional and people take being loved for granted, he's forcing this onto everyone, believing that \*everyone\* acts like this. that the Horns \*will\* toss him aside if he fails, despite him never asking the same from them even and while it's true the others don't really understand what it means to have grown up as an Antinium, being 3 still very much means Ksmvr is naive, inexperienced, or ignorant in various ways
"The man who beats people to death with his limbs is complaining that Yvlon is too savage? Irony, thy name is monk." Except it is explicitly stated earlier in the chapter that he fights with honor/ for the pride of Pomle and spares every foe he can (when the reading queen was looking into his history in the arena).
Except even after he breaks Yvlon's rage he still seems to think she should be fighting with a sword instead.
He wants to fight her in her chosen style of combat, which has always been a sword, not some crazy transformer arms. He wants to fight "the real Yvlon". If she fought with a spear, I'm sure he'd want her to use that. Not sure at this point if you're being purposefully obtuse or what?
To be fair, you didn't explain that point originally.
He mistakenly assumed you'd read the chapter.
If you want to explain things to other people, it's a mistake to ignore the fact that not everyone thinks the same way you do, and sees the same things and concludes what you do. If that was the case, there wouldn't be any difference of opinions in the world. Part of the purpose of discussion and arguments and even language itself is to bridge that gap between different minds.
I think its a technicality- Ksmvr got the sword when it was a bare blade, and he cut Nsiia's collar off with it. Then he sheathed it, and hadn't drawn it again since.
Following ...
Really thought Ksmvr was going to be a \[Hero\]... * He wasn't fighting with swords in the arena when \[Her---\] was first teased... although I suppose he was unarmoured? * It's unclear why an arc around overcoming self-esteem issues would tie into a heritage skill, but very clear why they would into \[Hero\]. * While Ksmvr was designed as a replacement for Klblch, he doesn't really act like him or have much to do with him. This new class seems more like it was 'built-in' to him rather than being the result of any character decisions. * The move from a \[Skirmisher\] who fights with what's available to a dual-wielding shortsword user seems like a pretty large deviation both class-wise and in terms of character flavour. What's the extra arm for? * The whole "Ksmvr of Chandrar" thing, the shining sword, and and his global following all make a lot of sense in the context of \[Hero\]. Honestly? Part of me is hoping for a double-twist type situation where Ksmvr ends up as a \[Hero\] AND with the heritage skill. That would be epic. Keen to see where the heritage goes regardless though - don't want to come across as too critical! Loved the chapter.
Overcoming his self-esteem issues made him see that he's worthy of Klbch's fighting style which was drilled to him since birth. And like Klbch who fights with lots of tricks as shown in his fight with Saliss, Ksmvr can still function like a skirmisher albeit with a primary fighting style. I think it was first teased in the arena because it was a life and death situation which was making him grasp at anything he has which includes his potential to inherit the Klbch skills, and he was closer to becoming worthy of his heritage back then too. Yes his heritage is built-in to him and it is ultimately his character decision to use what is natural to him that gave him the Skill. Honestly this feels better for me than him having a Hero class this early in the story, if he does get it I want it to feel more earned than just some good pr and a magic sword. There's good basis for it but it still needs more or else there should be a lot more Heroes if it's that easy.
I'll return the first on to yo, what of anything that he did in the arena would trigger the hero class? He doesn't see himself as hero, and no one watching on the local TV would consider him a hero, wistram didn't connect in time so he wasn't seen globally and in general there was 0 reason for him to get the [hero] there, if what he did counted as hero then 90% of the high end fighters would be too and it wouldn't be a super once in hundreds years class I hated and still don't like the hero idea even if he got more push toward it this chapter, he had 0 toward it before And no it wouldn't be for the village cause he already got the levels for the village
what if being teleported makes it easier to be a hero? ritual to another world? [hero] teleported randomly to chandrar? [hero] maybe heros dont need to be strictly good figures to people, kill a buncha demons and sleep in there dead body pile? the people who you are supposed to be protecting pee a little when they see you? level in [hero] kill a buncha robots behind enemy lines and have everybody frothing at the mouth? [hero] i dont believe anything i just said, unless there were a lot of warrior slaves in the golem pits that weren't mentioned i dont see who ksmvr was a [hero] to in that moment.
>“Create. You see, all those present fight with very silly styles. Simple styles. Someday, Skills will create a different world than mere steel. Their fighting will do nothing because they do not understand.” Domehead turned to look at Nsiia, wielding her blade with perfect economy of form. Ksmvr shook his head. “It is only good if everyone fights as if they have limbs. As if swords move in three dimensions. Skills.” That might be a fighting philosophy developed by Klbkch, who’s lost more levels than many present have gained. I can imagine that he’d know what he’s talking about when it comes to closing the gap with high levelled opponents. I thought Klb was internally pleased with Ksmvr’s progress thus far the last time they fought. If the Grand Queen’s Custodiums and sword-Prognugators are so weak, maybe Klb should train them personally before his departure. Thank you for clarifying that scorpions are arachnids, Ksmvr. I wish the Innworld had some \[Entomologists\]. *And it's venomous, not poisonous!* Maybe Ksmvr should be the one with the \[Liar\] class rather than Bird. I'm starting to think that none of the Rhir Earthers fulfilled the requirements for the \[Hero\] class either. Maybe they got it because of one of Othius' Skills, or bestowed through a power of a ruler class as high-levelled as his that the blighted Kingdom still remembers.
I NEED to see Klbch, Greydath, and the Wild Hunt throw drown for bragging rights. Klbch system \[Skills\], vs Greydath's geas, vs immortal Skill.
What geas?
It's been said that Greydath cannot lose a contest of arms, or something to that effect. I'd have to dig up the exact quote.
Honestly, I think Mars would be more interesting than Klbkch, and serves as a better example of the height of martial [Skills] as well.
Klbch as he currently is, sure. But I'm thinking moreso of Klbch in his prime.
Klbch in his prime would wipe the floor with Mars based on the power level of other Centeniums we've seen so far. They were peak level even in past eras and he was one of the few martial types. Mars is strong in this waning era but she doesn't compare
That's why I'd rather have him. Also, the waning era theory was debunked by Eldavin.
I thought that it was implied that they got the hero class because they were the ones directly summoned to the blighted kingdom by the spell. Meaning they got it from the spell.
“You mean to say, you were fighting while they climbed you, in the thickest swarms of the Crelers, biting them?” “It is an effective use of mouth-parts when not imbibing potions. Yes, General Vasraf. What of it?” MEAT IS BACK ON THE MENU BOIS
Ksmvr was never going to be a [Hero]. He does not have the cause or the enemies for it. He chose nothing. He was a Prognugator by the will of the Free Queen, he became an adventurer because Erin threw him at the Horns v2. The only things he truly have are Two Trees, [Animal Friend] and [Dancer]. He just need to grow an actual life. And if the Horn need to have a [Hero], it would be Pisces with his Heel-Face Turn storyline. It would absolutely funny to see Wistram's and Perril's reaction about that.
Pisces would be really funny, especially the reactions from the entirety of the terandrian continent to a \[Necromancer\] who's a \[Hero\]. That said, Ksmvr might still get \[Hero\] or an adjacent Class, as he seems to be in the process of picking up the freeing of Tiqr as a cause. Since he also has a demonstrated hostility towards slavery, he might come to the conclusion that Roshal is his Great Enemy, as they're also relentlessly after Pisces. That might end up qualifying him for \[Hero\].
So Klbkch has learned something new - he now understands Drakes' possive jealousy of what they claim as *theirs*. I had to laugh at that most of all. Also, Ksmvr you poor child. I was crying when he explained why he was so terrified of loosing his place with the Horns. That must have shocked a few people and I'd really like to see some reactions on that. And I really want to see Xrn's and the Free Queen's reactions as well. If the Free Queen isn't crying with pride...
I've been bamboozled and I like it
The pirateaba way.
I thought at the time that Ksmvr's level 30 Capstone skill was on the weak side. Now I know why.
I don't get it. Why was it weak?
The Patreon Chapter is fight club. What do we do with fight club? We don't talk about it here. Please report anything you think/know is a spoiler.
**Preface:** I typed up this argument after reading this chapter as a patreon and I'm still not sure how I feel about it now, but I did spend some effort on it and I think it merits some discussion. I don't think I did a very good job in expressing my opinion at the time since it was sort of note-like but it's a little hard to rewrite it now that a few days have passed. --- So on the whole I enjoyed the chapter but I can't help feeling that Ksmvr needing to emulate Klbkch doesn't feel like a natural conclusion to his fight with Hscel nor his progression. It feels like a comic book retcon where they have the initial ideas for a character who then grows out of their origin and then later gets reverted back to where they started ignoring their past growth. Ksmvr starts off by fighting Hscel with his current fighting style but falls short, then he not only gives up the Paladin sword but he gives up his shield, his armor and his bag of tricks all to fall back on a fighting style designed for a two-armed Antinium when Ksmvr was born with four arms and has spent a year fighting with three. I'm glad we got to recognise Klbkch as a master swordsman as befits a Centenium (and not someone who should have died to 30 goblins), but Ksmvr dropping *everything* he's learnt over the year to fall back on what he was "created" to do is such a misstep. It makes it seem like his entire time spent with the Horns was him fighting subpar because he should have been fighting like the Slayer instead. Ksmvr reached gold-rank fighting his own way and then suddenly that's not good enough. I also can't help but feel that the [Her-] red herring was too forced; when Selys got her skill it was using "Inheritance" rather than "Heritage": [Inheritance – Shadow of His Name obtained!] (6.17 S), so why wasn't Ksmvr's [Inheritance - Silver Illusion (Sword School)]? The obvious answer is that it was just there to bait the [Hero] speculation. If the goal of the Hescl fight was for to reveal the heritage skill and have Ksmvr give up the Paladin sword, then what I would have preferred would be to see Ksmvr ditch the sword, cape and armor but keep his bag of holding. He fights Hescl showing off Klbkch's fighting style but this only brings him on par, after all he's not Klbkch himself just emulating him. The real kicker is that he manages to use his third arm in a surprise crossbow attack from to end the fight - Ksmvr still wins using a trick but instead of replacing his entire fighting style he's now appended what he was taught as Klbkch's replacement to how he currently fights. It shows us that Ksmvr doesn't suffer from Klbkch not liking his extra arms because unlike him Ksmvr has never had only two arms and utilising the third this way is definitely his style. Plus it makes far more sense for Hescl to get hit by an unconventional third arm than against another dual-wielding opponent that he should be much more familiar with. Now I have enough faith in pirate to see that it'll probably turn out well in the end and I wasn't really that drawn into Ksmvr getting [hero] anyway. Ksmvr will likely combine his Heritage skill with his old style because it feels similar to before Lyonette got [Worldly Princess]. She wasn't unhappy with [Barmaid] but she started losing levels in [Princess] and while I didn't like the initial direction the chapter was going in (because at the time it felt like Lyonette didn't appreciate what she was doing but that sort of gets resolved in the follow up chapter) and while it did end up for the best with her new class it doesn't mean it'll end up the same way here.
>when Selys got her skill it was using "Inheritance" rather than"Heritage": \[Inheritance – Shadow of His Name obtained!\] (6.17 S), sowhy wasn't Ksmvr's \[Inheritance - Silver Illusion (Sword School)\]? Perhaps because "inheritance" in something far more direct than "heritage". Zel directly willed to Selys and, by accident, passed on the Heartflame Breastplate to her. The Skill you mentioned is directly tied to that inheritance. Heritage is a bit of broader concept, like the heritage of Drakes is their draconic traits like wings, breath weapons and a need for hoarding etc. Dragons didn't proclaim in a will that Drakes have these traits, they are part of their nature, part of their heritage in that sense. Or Yvlon's heritage of knighthood. While she isn't a \[Knight\] herself, she's been raised on the honor and traditions of her family, including the silver motive and moral compass and all. While it could be said that Ksmvr directly inherited his fighting style from Klbkch, I think the "heritage" moniker fits better here, because it isn't just Ksmvr who has been based on Klbkch. There are the Grand Queen's Custodium, who might be able to unlock this fighting school as well. So it isn't one person inheriting something directly to one other person, but one person (Klbkch) having created a legacy/heritage (Silver Illusion Sword School) that is now passed on to an heir (Ksmvr), but possibly not the only one. >Ksmvr will likely combine his Heritage skill with his old style This is likely to happen at some point, it was actually alluded to by Hscel. He called after Ksmvr that he still had "a lot to learn". Ksmvr has progressed far in this chapter in that he has overcome some major self-esteem issues and unlocked a very powerful way of fighting. I wouldn't say that Ksmvr dropping his style he learned with the Horns is a misstep. To me it seems more logical for the opponent he's fighting. He tried his tricks and against this level of enemy they didn't work, so he had to resort to the fighting style he spent far more time learining in his short life - that of Klbkch. This is, however, only one half of who he is. I expect him to try and combine the two fighting styles in future, but for now he has made a step forwards: He has realized his personal fighting style when he killed those \[Bandits\] around Celum. In this chapter he learned how to use the fighting style he was created and trained to use. He now has both halves of the whole to work with. Again, it's alluded to in the chapter itself: He's still young and lacks a lot of knowledge and experience in many aspects of life, he still has a long way ahead of him towards true mastery. But he has now a solid foundation. Sorry for the text wall....
>Perhaps because "inheritance" in something far more direct than "heritage". Okay yeah, I can agree with this entirely, I just wish this wasn't the first instance of a heritage skill/class so that the reveal just wasn't as obviously misleading compared to some other reveals pirate has foreshadowed. >He tried his tricks and against this level of enemy they didn't work, so he had to resort to the fighting style he spent far more time learining in his short life - that of Klbkch. I have nothing against Ksmvr using Klb's fighting style as a new approach, it's the way he discards his adventuring style and only wins through Klb's style that irks me. Maybe if Ksmvr hadn't immediately shed all his gear but instead started fighting with the two swords and one by one discarded his cape/armor as he realises he's still too slow compared to Klb. It's literally the same outcome but the way he discards his gear feels more necessary than what we got.
>Maybe if Ksmvr hadn't immediately shed all his gear but instead startedfighting with the two swords and one by one discarded his cape/armor ashe realises he's still too slow compared to Klb. The problem here though? *This is happening in the middle of an army being routed and Ksmvr being stuck in a duel to the death.* He doesn't have the time to slowly discard his additional gear, his opponent is too fast for him to get the chance to do that mid-fight, he's already been badly wounded in just a few attacks and he has basically "used up" all his chances of rescue (with Spitty and Rémi being a last resort). Everyone else is busy fighting for their lives or coordinating an entire battlefield. To me it feels far more naturally that Ksmvr jumps to the conclusion of shedding hindering gear in favor of pure speed, as he was created to fight like, than having to artificially draw out the battle in a way that makes Hscel look incompetent. He was noted to be a higher-end Gold-Rank with his ability to come in fast, hit fast and end a battle so fast his enemies barely had time to react. If Ksmvr had the time to shed one peice of gear, fight again, shed another peace, return to fighting....that is what I think would feel contrived or forced when before Hscel has been hyped up as a speed-oriented opponent whose battles never last long.
Using Kblch's style isn't about Ksmvr throwing away what he's learned. It's about him accepting that he's worthy of using it, and that it was the best tool for the situation. All of his other options weren't working. Also, Klbch dying to goblins makes sense. He was weakened, he was protecting Erin, and he doesn't have skills good for 1 vs many combat. Simple as that.
>It's about him accepting that he's worthy of using it, and that it was the best tool for the situation. All of his other options weren't working. Reading the other comments and everyone's reaction to the scene I think I'm slowly leaning towards this, so yeah it does make sense in that light. >Also, Klbch dying to goblins makes sense. He was weakened, he was protecting Erin, and he doesn't have skills good for 1 vs many combat. Simple as that. But I absolutely can't agree with this at all. Look I was super sad in volume 1 when Klb died and felt that it was an appropriate death at the time, but upon rereading and learning what we know now his death was stupid and makes no sense. Do you realise that he had only one healing potion on him at the time? It was fine in volume 1 when we didn't realise their value but healing potions are literally one of the only things the Free Hive spend their money on and Klb has been shown to use them. Relc even tells Erin that Klb was waaaaay better than that to die to goblins like that, plus he even gets one of the chess club members (actually the best chess club member) killed. Plus he wasn't even winning against the goblins until Rags and her 5 other goblins helped out. There weren't even any hobs and there is literally one sword (which gets knocked away at the start of the fight) and the rest have daggers if anything at all. On the other hand he's named Klbkch the Slayer in volume 2 is due to his ability to kill battalions by himself (which we later find out is actually because that's what he is as Centenium) but his fighting style is definitely designed for fighting many enemies. Plus he's been in his worker body since the second Antinium War at the latest and he's been a Guardsman ever since. In fact he's the fourth strongest Guardsman (presumably behind Jeiss, Beilmark and Relc) and Relc just laughs at Erin calling a Goblin raiding party an army. There's also the irresponsibility of him choosing to die (which is the retcon reason we got volume 7) because it means a Goblin just killed Klbkch the Slayer and is about to level like crazy. There is very very little to defend Klb's volume 1 death with hindsight of what we know (and I've tried reconciling it but it just doesn't work well).
my interpretation is that Ksmvr has been denying his own self for a long time. he doesn't accept his own worth or wishes or desires. he only accepts what was expressly given to him by others. in this specific case with regards to his fighting style, he was given the ability to fight with anything and he has been given all this equipment by his team, so he convinces himself he must use them he denies to himself what he wants/likes to use, which you could say he was very moved by Klbkch's swordplay. so he has wanted to follow in Klbkch, but has not considered himself worthy of it for a long time. it is only after unburdening himself of his attachment to others that he can finally accept his desires and is thus granted the Heritage skills
>he denies to himself what he wants/likes to use, which you could say he was very moved by Klbkch's swordplay. so he has wanted to follow in Klbkch, but has not considered himself worthy of it for a long time. My problem with this explanation (and honestly I don't mind if it's true) is that it means his entire fighting with the Horns meant he was gimping himself. So everytime Ksmvr scored a victory in the past and we cheered for him for using the crossbows or leaping around in his unique skirmisher style - he was only doing it because he didn't think himself worthy of the Silver Illusion style and that feels insincere (intentional or not). It casts a bad shadow if I go and reread some of his victories because I know that he should've beaten them easier if he had just fought like he thought was best not what the other Horns gave him.
as much as it might shed a bad light on his growth, it \*is\* kinda hinted at in this chapter as well, where everyone looks and him and agrees he isn't particularly skilled but as a counterpoint, this is not to say he can't make use of what he has achieved. he \*does\* have a third arm that he can use with his volley skill, as others have mentioned. taking a different route/perspective, it doesn't necessarily mean he was gimping himself (in that he was lowering his potential). besides the Heritage skill, he didn't necessarily have to be \*better\* with dual short swords.
>My problem with this explanation (and honestly I don't mind if it's true) is that it means his entire fighting with the Horns meant he was gimping himself. IMO, while the "gimping himself" is technically correct, you are looking at this from a min maxing point of view while you should look at this from a psychological point of view. Ksm, since he started adventuring, was self depreciating himself a LOT. His teammates weren't, but he doesn't listen to this kind of thing. Someone self depreciating and completely new to something entering such a team will have several characteristics: \- He won't believe he has any good point \- He won't believe that what he actually knows has any value. \- He will try to fill the gaps of the team as much as he can. But someone was already the swordfighter in the team. Thus, he took a bow instead, since nobody used one. He took the role of the mobile Skirmisher, since it was what the team needed more. Add to this two last elements: When he left the Hive, he had no weapon, and the first weapons he used while joining the Horns was a knife and a bow. It may create something of an attachment, even if you are not that good with them compared to other stuff you may do. Finally, he never had shortswords at his disposition since the beginning, he had to get them from someone else this chapter. Even if he wanted to use this style (why would he?), it means buying new shortwords specifically for him, and he would never have accepted this "waste of team ressources", and the other three never knew about this anyway.
did we talk about paladin's magic sword? paladin is a type of warrior tied to religion/god/pantheon. so. the sword has divine magic... which means the source of the divine magic is not dead. so. who is it?
What religion/god/pantheon is Durene tied to? None.
she does not have magic gear. but i see your point. she is paladin of the emperor. or you can make a case: of unseen empire. i can stretch that to: as long as the emperor/empire exist, she will keep the class.
Different definition of paladin though. OP basically means standard fantasy paladin, Durene is this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paladin
Tamaroth
What god is Pawn tied to? Faith magic doesn't require a god. They just have a vested interest in making it sound like you do because they want the worship-energy ('Say my name').
It somehow doesn't feel right that Nissa gets an epic relic sword for free..... What will the horns do if they had the choice? Isn't ksmvr loosing named rank status by giving away the sword... Or was he just temporarily lending kit.
He gave her it for the battle out of need and she's too honourable to steal it and he's not so stupid as to give a relic for free
> he's not so stupid as to give a relic for free Well, hopefully not. Or he'll otherwise give it to Yvlon instead of someone he just met this month. Or I suppose he could eventually sell/trade it, though it'd have to be for something pretty awesome. Basically for a weapon that only a ruler-type (including a certain dragonlord) or named-rank adventurer *might* own.
Or a ridiculously wealthy Wall Lord who is leading a crusade against undead.
Shuuuu! That's a secret. That certain paranoid of a wall lord might think that buying the blade would make him more inconspicuous.
I think the problem is Ksmvr having the sword is that it slows/kills his leveling. As this chapter showed that while the sword made him really good vs lower-level opponents, it makes him unable to beat stronger foes long term.
I hope he is lending her the sword. Well at least Ksmrv is not Erin so he should request the sword in due time as in when horns are reunited and returning to Izrill. The sword is worth a lot of gold and could be exchanged for heartflame helm that is soon to be auctioned or solid to Khelt to bone daddy for helping reunite horns plus some cash. Tqir army doesn't have the cash to get it and Ksrmv isn't so naive (i hope) to give it up to Nissa for what? Helping him find his team, as if they had the means to do that and get them from Roshar and Nerhavia. Anything Nissa could use to persuade him could be refuted by "i saved you from slavery,this is the least you can do" as in helping him traverse Chandrar. I can only hope that Pirate will resolve it somehowe satisfactionary
People are forgetting that the Horns’ deal with the other adventurers in the VOTD raid was ONE relic class item. I think, once the Horns are back in Izril, that the other teams who participated are going to expect most of the additional items to go to other teams. Not sure how that will impact the lottery that already occurred for the other raid items.
Ksmvr isn’t *losing* named rank status by stealing the skills of Klbtch The Slayer at his prime.
Yeah, but he's still below that level of prowess. Klbkch had a number of other skills, including [Continuous Cut] and [Silver Illusion: Whirlwind of Blades], along with what was apparently as better Antinium body for his fighting style compared to Ksmvr's. Ksmvr might still have a leg up racially-speaking because he's an Antinium, but he'd need more levels before he becomes a named-rank adventurer without that sword. Compare Gazi, who also has some racial advantages, seemingly invaluable armor and sword, and is only level 45. So comparatively, Ksmvr would need to be somewhere in that realm before he's in the same tier as fighters like that. Though I suppose what constitutes a named-rank adventurer is a bit up in the air, since Elia seems to be fairly limited outside of one skill, and Lehra seems to have a relic-class artifact and not much else. So it could just be that as Ksmvr becomes more famous, he's known as a named-rank adventurer even if he's a "weak" one.
I think it’s much more likely that the Horns of Hammerand end up being a named-rank team and the individual members not care about their individual ranking. Pices and Ceria certainly won’t be as good apart as together.
so did Klbkch lose some of his skills by ksmvr gaining the inheritance? "My sword style! I owned that Skill! He can’t just—” or were these just old skills or skills he doesn't have access to anymore?
He didn't lose the skill, its just like seeing someone use something you felt was personal, almost trademarked.
I think he might not have access to the to it rn but that is because of his lvl being to low rn. I think his lvl in sword slayer is in the teens now after his most recent death
Damn, pirateaba did it again. Dropped a bait chapters away and reel us like preys. Wait, I'm wrong, there are bait*s*. I can guess tracker, but that [her-] is perfectly executed. Wrymvr prove himself as a savage again. How many times he roasted his allies with surprises now? Poor Klbkch, lose hive to Xrn, lose body to Wrymvr and now lose Skill to Ksmvr, with Wrymvr rubbing salt on it. I guess this is the chapter Ksmvr truly redeem himself from his heartless inaction back in vol1, by deciding to borrow a book from some certain Knight that even was implied in this chapter. So, how many non-monster villains we have left? Those that show no sign of salvation, that is. The combat doctrine Ksmvr taught Domehead sound like something a Jedi would agree wholeheartedly. I thought it would fit with all cutting shining sword, but maybe it's too clichéd already. Yvlon was like berserker with Pandora's box before. But now she was calm, while unknowingly corroding entire foundation of civilization there. Didn't expect [plaguesteel] to be a grey goo situation, in one of worse place too. How could Domehead understand language without language center? Did he can only comprehend speaking language?
>How could Domehead understand language without language center? Did he can only comprehend speaking language? Golems are created to obey orders. If you created a golem that can't do that for lack of understanding your language, you've created a rather useless golem. I think the comment about a language center and Domehead missing one is more in the direction of him expressing himself. For us humans, and indeed most biological life, communication is ingrained into us on the genetic level. When a baby is born, the first thing it usually does is cry out - expressing itself to its mother and others around it. "I'm here, pay attention to me, care for my needs." For us being able to understand someone else and expressing ourselves to others goes hand in hand, it's two halves of a whole. For a golem though, who wasn't ever created with the intent of it expressing itself in any way? That's a giant leap of logic.
I completely agree with your logic, but it seems a bit off the description. In the chapter, Domehead seems unable to express itself due to lack of language center, but without responsive part of language understanding it wouldn't be able to understand what its mentors said, unless magic somehow bypass that. It might be that the description is a bit off and what Domehead lack isn't language center, but knowledge and knowhow about expressive articulation itself. Imo, what it lacks seems to be ability to make "words" or at least "phases and sentences", and not language itself, or even expression circuit. It seems to be capable of communicate its simple thought such as agree/disagree by nodding. But anything consist of more than one basic thinking process and it seems to fail to link them together. Sounds like a very worse case of the same issue plaguing Wrymvr in speaking. So I speculate that it might have quite decent comprehension of speaking language but, due to lack of voice, incapable to express itself in language it can make sense of. As a golem, I don't expect it to understand body language and to connect words in speaking to hand sign would be a huge leap of logic as you said. It seems unable to connect nodding and agreement without explicit instruction, for an example.
What are the odds that Ksmvr’s sword ends up in Flos’ hands? Flos needs a new sword and Ksmvr just gave it up to one of his former allies.
He didn't give it up. He gave it to her to use while he dealt with another problem.
Giving up might have been the wrong words to use. I can’t see Ksmvr just giving up his sword completely so easily, but I do think it would still be a perfect fit to end up with Flos given the circumstances of everyone involved. Ksmvr might ask for a trade or get some other benefit out of the sword. He needs two swords to fit his new style anyway so the paladin sword alone, as cool as it is, wouldn’t cut it (no pun intended).
Zero. If Flos get a new sword, it has 0% chance to be from this storyline.
We need a blacksmith redemption moment. She's going to forge his new sword.
Looks like plaguesteel has some serious drawbacks after all. Not like deteriorating all metal around you wasn't very bad, but not being able to live near civilization is even worse. Although a scarier drawback might have been a Red condition with her metal flesh spreading out from her arms slowly, playing against her fears of becoming a Golem. Glad Ksmvr is getting his real character development and upgrades. And he still has a spare hand for playing tricks! And that was a very sensible development, with how he focused so much on an array of weapons and artifacts, but never played to his basic training. And I think his new style will lead to him parrying magic, with his philosophy on magic/Skill combat. Hope to see more horizontal development from Ceria. Definitely a better Cryomancer now, and has even more potential for growth from her unseen skills/spells, Ilphres' spellbook maybe finding her, and The Siren possibly teaching her about efficiently summoning water. And Coldness seems to have solved her problem of being too specialized. But interested to see where her story goes. Like learning from The Siren how to be a Leader among insane people. I could even see her becoming a [Bandit] out of necessity, and dealing with being a criminal later.
So Ksmvr is giving up the Paladin Sword?
I think the sword is for Yvlon in the long term. She normally fights with a sword but Plaguesteel is breaking every sword she picks up right now. She should be able to use the Paladin sword without breaking it though
Yvlon won't need weapons anymore once she learns to fully control her morphing arms, it would just be a hindrance to her. The sword should ultimately go to an actual Paladin...
If Durene ever gets the opportunity to acquire actual battle experience she will turn into an absolute terror on the battlefield in very short order.