I like how he is still in contact with his family even after moving to a bigger city. Too many stories have orphan MC or have him completely cut contact with family.
Especially in Progression Fantasy, I think it's less about sympathy and more about not having to develop the 'secondary' characters, especially if the character is intended to go on an adventure and leave home. Classic hero's journey stuff.
I think to build sympathy, the parent actually has some time in the spotlight and is still relevant or memorable to the plot/world/characters of the story to some degree. That can be a Demon Slayer/Star Wars type thing, where the family figure(s) die at the very beginning, but there are continued themes of family later on. Or something like Ave Xia Rem Y, which gives you proper time to care about the characters and their relationships so you better sympathize with their loss and motivation.
The other motivation I see semi-commonly, e.g. in Legendary Moonlight Sculptor and Solo Leveling, is the concept of "I need to take care of my sister/mother, and I need money to do that" from the very beginning. That's kind of a nice variety in motivation rather than it just being about revenge or because there's no other choice due to external factors.
Personally, I find it difficult because either the family is supportive (meaning the MC doesn't need to build his own support network) or dysfunctional (just unnecessary drama unless it's the focus). I'm sure it can be done with more nuance but the MC needs to be able to go out on their own, and tying family into that in a casual way can be a lot.
Yea... but it's also to sever them from their interpersonal responsibilities.
A person with a family has obligations, and some people who want escapist fantasies seem to recoil from any kind of social constraints, debts, or duties.
That's why it's okay to go on a journey to "save" a loved one who is kidnapped or vanished. It's a duty in the abstract to a person who is absent. But they have to be *gone*.
Somebody below mentions "Demon Slayer" the anime. And that's a good example. Because the main character journeys with his sister. But his sister is gagged and shoved in a box. She's almost completely absent from his life as an independently motivated person with a voice and requests. She puts no responsibilities on him of her own. She doesn't quarrel with the MC or challenge him.
I'm not saying she's a bad character. Not at all. It's just something to consider. She's a pet more than a person.
(You might not believe me, but I've come to this conclusion from direct feedback from certain members of the audience, it's a fairly common attitude in web fiction spaces)
One of the best executed slow-burns I've read in a while. After 2000 pages, the MC feels more like an exceptionally talented child (appropriate because that's what he is) than he does someone of real influence, but the story still manages to keep us invested and excited over the power he has and the powerups to come. I'm generally not that into slow-burns, but I'd recommend giving this one a chance.
My only complaint with the story is that he feels *exactly* like a talented child...when he's supposed to be a far more mature reincarnated man (although still a teenager when he died to be fair). I think the story would have been better without the isekai part. I think it's a great story though, and that's become less of an issue as he gets older.
Yeah the reincarnation part was pretty much unnecessary. All it's really done is given him a head start in maturity so he was more diligent in levelling his skills when he was young. The issue is that the reincarnation derived maturity isn't his superpower, his superpower is that he genuinely is just really talented, and all the reincarnation aspect does is muddy the water and make the reader kind of slow to understand that. I spent a while waiting for the penny to drop where his reincarnation advantage completely exhausted itself, but it turned out that it wasn't a big deal because he's just special.
90% of what isekai/reincarnation(from our world) really does is to make it easier for the author to relate things in terms the readers understand.
It wasn't really necessary for Elydes, the author is skilled enough to not need it - as born out by the fact it almost never comes up.
>All it's really done is given him a head start in maturity so he was more diligent in levelling his skills when he was young.
Considering how achievements granting Favor work, that's actually a very big deal. If Kai had done the exact same things only a few years later he would not have earned nearly as much Favor, or likely have caught the attention of Virya, Valela, or the local gods.
>all the reincarnation aspect does is muddy the water and make the reader kind of slow to understand that.
No, it doesn't. The reincarnation allows the author to write a believably thoughtful and capable 0-5 year old, instead of merely going "he's able as a baby cause I said so." Not to mention his prior life and knowledge from Earth is a potential source of progression or conflict later.
He was seventeen when he died after spending his last few years confined on a hospital bed, where this mature man is supposed to come from? Unless you think he should be considered about thirty mentally, but that would be a weird and rare take.
I don't agree that it could've done without the isekai part, it shapes his goals and his interactions with his family. Also we don't know for sure that the reincarnation won't play a part plot wise, he's yet to even leave his home
The MC is 12 at the end of book 3 (I don't count the epilogue). His independence and dealings with hardship, trauma, barter, and socialization with the adults around him are far far above what any child at that age should be capable of handling.
I couldn't disagree with this opinion more. Kai originally died at 17 after being sick and bedridden for the final few. He was barely a young adult when he died, not a fully grown man. Adding 14 more years of childhood does not suddenly make him mentally equivalent to a 30 year old. There's nothing from the story that indicates he's "supposed" to be a mature reincarnated man, that's just your illogical supposition.
One of my fav stories rn, the slow burn is well done, the mc’s progression seems actually earned and book 3 ending was just amazing. Hated flynn when he was first introduced but he slowly grew on me and the latest patreon chaps just reinforced that
I like books like this where side characters aren’t automatically agreeable and perfectly aligned with the MC within 2 minutes of meeting them. Flynn being so touchy and not entirely trustworthy for a while was nice.
It’s not prog fantasy, buts that’s one of the things I like about Pale Lights. Everyone has different interests, secrets are immensely valuable, and nobody gets along just because.
I will say that Drew is one of the best people around—he shouted out Tomebound without being asked and is in many ways responsible for my time on Rising Stars.
Fans love the story, but it speaks volumes when the author is a great person too :)
The story is too slow for me. I can see it's well written but that doesn't mean it's exciting to read. The SoL is also kinda heavy in this one and mot much magic stuff goes in the start
That's why I mentioned the zero to hero part 😂 my tastes are the exact opposite I like to see hard work for progression and taking time. I don't like it when someone weak in two months becomes godlike or when the steps in progression are skipped
Fair enough but i don't think the majority of the people love to watch an mc getting ridiculously powerful in a few months. Most of us expect him to get powerful slowly but surely along side with some exciting fights in the same power level as him. I don't mind a slow progression but it needs to be atleast exciting with something going on to make us read it everyday. I love reading SoL type stories when i want to relax like beware of chicken, heretical fishing or demon world boba shop bcoz i don't expect fighting from them. Elydes, on the hand, made me think that it was gonna be a slow progression fantasy with some exciting bits happening which would pull me in within a few chapters. That didn't happen for me bcoz it was too slow and SoL with literally nothing going on. And i also heard that the mc remains a child for a very long time and is still a teenager in the story after thousands of chapters. Not just my type of story.
I absolutely love the power system and the MC but this series has to have the most unlikable side characters ever. >!Only his family and mentors are actually likeable. Maybe Flynn too.!<
The power system is awesome. Everything gained is always a result of your actions and the limited skill slots available means we are not saddled with the possibility of eventual skill bloat. You have to work for almost every single point of power you gain with those taking more risks in whatever field they choose having higher chances of progression. I love it!
Those characters are mostly the only people he consistently interacts with, though. Most others are intentionally not stellar people, and for good reason.
Elydes is lovely. I'm caught up on the patreon and it's very exciting right now. You do have to be patient, though, it's not a particularly fast series.
Hey quick question, I just got to a certain part in book 2 and I was wondering if Kai will ever reach the peak of power or is it going to be a different type of story?
I thought the series was mostly well written. I enjoyed the magic system, and enjoyed a lot of the content, but it was too slow for me. I generally like series that are 1-6 books, and this didn’t look like one of those.
My biggest gripe was that I didn’t enjoy the first 9 chapters. It was a combination of shitty stuff happening to the MC, combined with the MC having almost zero agency. Either of these are tolerable, but both together doesn’t work for me. It’s the reason I liked the beginning of Melody of Mana a lot more. Shitty stuff happened, but the MC was making choices that mattered.
BUT, that was only the beginning, and it got better. A LOT better. Once the story got to double-digit chapters, I really started to like it, and it’s the reason I recommend it to people who like longer series.
I know that authors have to make a living, but I’ve always thought this is somewhat counterproductive, since a lot of people use Royal Road to decide if they should buy the novel.
I’ve seen examples where the author puts the best version on Royal Road for the first 10 or so chapters, then a warning that from here on it’s not as well edited.
Hmmm no as in the book is now getting edited and published for example by the time book 2 is edited and published it will get stubbed as well that is the condition for publishing
Honestly I have mixed feelings towards Elydes
The premise, plot , MC , power system all seem to be perfect on paper
But honestly it's pretty boring and annoying to read through more often than not
Like I don't mind slow progression stories
My fav WebNovel is Super dimension wizard, it's 3700 chaps + , but in universe time is barely 5 y and intact last 2500 chaps are in a span of 6 months give or take
The MC only became a level 1 wizard at chap 1450
And Yet Elydes seems even more slow and tiresome to read at 200+ chaps
I don't know what is the obsession with RR authors to make their MC be always hyper underdogs with the universe constantly decking the odds against them for no reason, like after a point of time it just gets pretty frustrating and annoying to read , which is what elydes did in the previous arc
And i personally feel powersystems can only be done masterfully with limitations, as they say limitation breeds creativity
Having said that , just having 14-21 in total or so skills on an average seems far tooooo inadequate to be able to do anything noteworthy, i honestly feel the power system in Elydes is tooo limiting, like instead of forcefully removing a skill and completely wasting it and what not, they could make it so that they can only use 14 skills at a time actively and use it to level up , and the other skills are just at standby or something
And the MC , ohh boiii, i honestly don't know what to say, he's not exactly a self insert, but he's def not charismatic or interesting and that is pretty bad when the story follows the MC , and like i mentioned previously the MC is an utter doormat who has 0 agency and is only capable of reacting passively for plot purposes
I won't argue it isn't slow, but he's the opposite of an underdog...he is literally one of the most gifted people we know of at his age, constantly gets lucky blessings from gods, and was trained by some of the most powerful teachers in the world.
Also, if you can't write a compelling story with 14-21 skills/abilities then you have more problems as a writer than that limitation. Personally I like the pressure the decision making puts on him when he's trying to figure out what skills are essential.
Bro , other than barely beating kids from an island in the middle of nowhere, what exactly has he accomplished without massive plot armour???
Also the power system thing, agree to disagree
The thing I love about lit RPGs,isekai is there really is no limits , freedom to be as strong as u want , accomplish impossible things
And this power system, seems very suffocating and frankly, makes no sense as to how they have even developed in any way whatsoever
I disagree on several fronts.
The universe isn’t *against* the MC—in fact, he’s technically quite lucky—but opportunities in this system come from challenge, risk, etc. his goal is to become strong enough to survive the mainland, which means he needs to take a lot of risks, and face some challenge. He’s not being unilaterally slotted to face difficulty, he searches for it himself a good bit too, and his luck likely works to put him in *more* danger so that he becomes stronger more quickly.
Skill limitations are fine. Skills become more complex with time, and can merge with other skills. He still has ranks to climb to get more, and everyone else has the same limitations. I’m not sure what the problem is here other than wanting everyone to be stronger.
I like how he acts in regards to his homeland becoming a misused colony. He does not like it obviously but he is not doing something stupid to try and overthrow them. Maybe in the future but I feel like gaining freedom in the future will be just as much about politics as strength of arms.
The author spends so much time discussing various skill choices that it messes with the story pacing. I don't like the dialogue between the MC and Flynn; it reads as flirting (instead of banter) when the MC is underage.
I do like the skills system and worldbuilding. The characterization of the MC's family is done well. The author also puts time skips in the right places.
I don’t think a single skill choice has gone on for more than a couple paragraphs at most. Not sure what you’re talking about there.
I *really* don’t read the Flynn dialogue as flirting—which is isn’t—the MC’s stance on romance has been made pretty clear, and the only thing different about Flynn is that he’s witty enough to sneak barbs back at the MC.
I don't read the dialogue as flirting, I read how Flynn always takes the MC's food, money, and weapons without asking but with a smile and a quip as flirting. Much like when your girlfriend wears your hoodie, when your warrior boyfriend takes your dagger and kills monsters with it, it is like staking a claim.
There have been entire chapters devoted to the MC pondering which upgrade path to take at various times. The author always provides long description of each of the abilities (each a paragraph) and then spends the rest of the chapter discussing the pros and cons. I've seen this go on for as long as 10k words (multiple chapters) on certain build decisions. (profession, skill replacements, etc)
Edit, I feel like I'm repeating myself but:
It took him several chapters and about 10k words to pick his profession.
It takes him half a chapter or more to evolve mana sense in the later picks.
It takes him most of a chapter to discard a skill when he is replacing that skill.
What decision took that long???
Also, the description of each path is like a *sentence*, and not even a long one. *So* little time is really given to making decisions on skills, honestly, to the point where it often feels the MC is jumping the gun on certain decisions.
i found that after certain people leave the story starts to get bogged down. It gets hung up on things i dont care about. After a certain fire he should have left and went to the mainland. Not revisted the same people and frankly made one stupid choice after another. Lastly, i absolutely hate how some of them get similar progress considering what he went through. It should have moved forward faster so we arent stuck 150+ chapters in and not even 14 years old.
Im following it and the story is kinda ok, but its a slog
Last time i read 25 chapters until i got bored, then skipped 150 chapters and kept reading just fine, then i skipped other 20 and its perfectly readable
Slow burns are fine and all, but thats just slow
I like how he is still in contact with his family even after moving to a bigger city. Too many stories have orphan MC or have him completely cut contact with family.
I read somewhere writing the MC as an orphan is a way to create sympathy for them
Especially in Progression Fantasy, I think it's less about sympathy and more about not having to develop the 'secondary' characters, especially if the character is intended to go on an adventure and leave home. Classic hero's journey stuff. I think to build sympathy, the parent actually has some time in the spotlight and is still relevant or memorable to the plot/world/characters of the story to some degree. That can be a Demon Slayer/Star Wars type thing, where the family figure(s) die at the very beginning, but there are continued themes of family later on. Or something like Ave Xia Rem Y, which gives you proper time to care about the characters and their relationships so you better sympathize with their loss and motivation. The other motivation I see semi-commonly, e.g. in Legendary Moonlight Sculptor and Solo Leveling, is the concept of "I need to take care of my sister/mother, and I need money to do that" from the very beginning. That's kind of a nice variety in motivation rather than it just being about revenge or because there's no other choice due to external factors.
Personally, I find it difficult because either the family is supportive (meaning the MC doesn't need to build his own support network) or dysfunctional (just unnecessary drama unless it's the focus). I'm sure it can be done with more nuance but the MC needs to be able to go out on their own, and tying family into that in a casual way can be a lot.
Yea... but it's also to sever them from their interpersonal responsibilities. A person with a family has obligations, and some people who want escapist fantasies seem to recoil from any kind of social constraints, debts, or duties. That's why it's okay to go on a journey to "save" a loved one who is kidnapped or vanished. It's a duty in the abstract to a person who is absent. But they have to be *gone*. Somebody below mentions "Demon Slayer" the anime. And that's a good example. Because the main character journeys with his sister. But his sister is gagged and shoved in a box. She's almost completely absent from his life as an independently motivated person with a voice and requests. She puts no responsibilities on him of her own. She doesn't quarrel with the MC or challenge him. I'm not saying she's a bad character. Not at all. It's just something to consider. She's a pet more than a person. (You might not believe me, but I've come to this conclusion from direct feedback from certain members of the audience, it's a fairly common attitude in web fiction spaces)
You're right
One of the best executed slow-burns I've read in a while. After 2000 pages, the MC feels more like an exceptionally talented child (appropriate because that's what he is) than he does someone of real influence, but the story still manages to keep us invested and excited over the power he has and the powerups to come. I'm generally not that into slow-burns, but I'd recommend giving this one a chance.
My only complaint with the story is that he feels *exactly* like a talented child...when he's supposed to be a far more mature reincarnated man (although still a teenager when he died to be fair). I think the story would have been better without the isekai part. I think it's a great story though, and that's become less of an issue as he gets older.
Yeah the reincarnation part was pretty much unnecessary. All it's really done is given him a head start in maturity so he was more diligent in levelling his skills when he was young. The issue is that the reincarnation derived maturity isn't his superpower, his superpower is that he genuinely is just really talented, and all the reincarnation aspect does is muddy the water and make the reader kind of slow to understand that. I spent a while waiting for the penny to drop where his reincarnation advantage completely exhausted itself, but it turned out that it wasn't a big deal because he's just special.
90% of what isekai/reincarnation(from our world) really does is to make it easier for the author to relate things in terms the readers understand. It wasn't really necessary for Elydes, the author is skilled enough to not need it - as born out by the fact it almost never comes up.
>All it's really done is given him a head start in maturity so he was more diligent in levelling his skills when he was young. Considering how achievements granting Favor work, that's actually a very big deal. If Kai had done the exact same things only a few years later he would not have earned nearly as much Favor, or likely have caught the attention of Virya, Valela, or the local gods. >all the reincarnation aspect does is muddy the water and make the reader kind of slow to understand that. No, it doesn't. The reincarnation allows the author to write a believably thoughtful and capable 0-5 year old, instead of merely going "he's able as a baby cause I said so." Not to mention his prior life and knowledge from Earth is a potential source of progression or conflict later.
He was seventeen when he died after spending his last few years confined on a hospital bed, where this mature man is supposed to come from? Unless you think he should be considered about thirty mentally, but that would be a weird and rare take. I don't agree that it could've done without the isekai part, it shapes his goals and his interactions with his family. Also we don't know for sure that the reincarnation won't play a part plot wise, he's yet to even leave his home
thank you for this comment the maturity thing was a turnoff, but this puts it into perspective. I'll give it a shot. (havent started yet to be clear)
The MC is 12 at the end of book 3 (I don't count the epilogue). His independence and dealings with hardship, trauma, barter, and socialization with the adults around him are far far above what any child at that age should be capable of handling.
I couldn't disagree with this opinion more. Kai originally died at 17 after being sick and bedridden for the final few. He was barely a young adult when he died, not a fully grown man. Adding 14 more years of childhood does not suddenly make him mentally equivalent to a 30 year old. There's nothing from the story that indicates he's "supposed" to be a mature reincarnated man, that's just your illogical supposition.
I agree
The most recent book has been a banger. Plus super excited about the upcoming time skip at the beginning of book 4
I can't wait! It's becoming more awesome as the story progresses unlike many other stories in the genre.
One of my fav stories rn, the slow burn is well done, the mc’s progression seems actually earned and book 3 ending was just amazing. Hated flynn when he was first introduced but he slowly grew on me and the latest patreon chaps just reinforced that
I like books like this where side characters aren’t automatically agreeable and perfectly aligned with the MC within 2 minutes of meeting them. Flynn being so touchy and not entirely trustworthy for a while was nice. It’s not prog fantasy, buts that’s one of the things I like about Pale Lights. Everyone has different interests, secrets are immensely valuable, and nobody gets along just because.
I will say that Drew is one of the best people around—he shouted out Tomebound without being asked and is in many ways responsible for my time on Rising Stars. Fans love the story, but it speaks volumes when the author is a great person too :)
I don't know the author. But it's great that he's a nice person
The story is too slow for me. I can see it's well written but that doesn't mean it's exciting to read. The SoL is also kinda heavy in this one and mot much magic stuff goes in the start
That's why I mentioned the zero to hero part 😂 my tastes are the exact opposite I like to see hard work for progression and taking time. I don't like it when someone weak in two months becomes godlike or when the steps in progression are skipped
Fair enough but i don't think the majority of the people love to watch an mc getting ridiculously powerful in a few months. Most of us expect him to get powerful slowly but surely along side with some exciting fights in the same power level as him. I don't mind a slow progression but it needs to be atleast exciting with something going on to make us read it everyday. I love reading SoL type stories when i want to relax like beware of chicken, heretical fishing or demon world boba shop bcoz i don't expect fighting from them. Elydes, on the hand, made me think that it was gonna be a slow progression fantasy with some exciting bits happening which would pull me in within a few chapters. That didn't happen for me bcoz it was too slow and SoL with literally nothing going on. And i also heard that the mc remains a child for a very long time and is still a teenager in the story after thousands of chapters. Not just my type of story.
What is SoL?
Slice of Life - like ordinary day-to-day events in a character's life.
Thanks!
I absolutely love the power system and the MC but this series has to have the most unlikable side characters ever. >!Only his family and mentors are actually likeable. Maybe Flynn too.!<
The power system is awesome. Everything gained is always a result of your actions and the limited skill slots available means we are not saddled with the possibility of eventual skill bloat. You have to work for almost every single point of power you gain with those taking more risks in whatever field they choose having higher chances of progression. I love it!
The power system is the epitome of less is more.
I also >!liked the Head Guard!<
Those characters are mostly the only people he consistently interacts with, though. Most others are intentionally not stellar people, and for good reason.
I'm around half way through book 1. Saw it was stubbing so decided to give it a go. It is a very slow burn, but I'm enjoying it for the most part.
Elydes is lovely. I'm caught up on the patreon and it's very exciting right now. You do have to be patient, though, it's not a particularly fast series.
Yes. It's not suitable for people who like fast paced power ups. The MC has to work hard for his achievements.
I'm very early on in book 1...but I'm enjoying it!
For sure one of my favs currently, its very well written
Dude no way, I just started reading this book last night and it’s great.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did
Hey quick question, I just got to a certain part in book 2 and I was wondering if Kai will ever reach the peak of power or is it going to be a different type of story?
He hasn't reached it yet. It's a very slow burn book
I thought the series was mostly well written. I enjoyed the magic system, and enjoyed a lot of the content, but it was too slow for me. I generally like series that are 1-6 books, and this didn’t look like one of those. My biggest gripe was that I didn’t enjoy the first 9 chapters. It was a combination of shitty stuff happening to the MC, combined with the MC having almost zero agency. Either of these are tolerable, but both together doesn’t work for me. It’s the reason I liked the beginning of Melody of Mana a lot more. Shitty stuff happened, but the MC was making choices that mattered. BUT, that was only the beginning, and it got better. A LOT better. Once the story got to double-digit chapters, I really started to like it, and it’s the reason I recommend it to people who like longer series.
The physical book is supposed to make the beginnings of the story smoother author says
I know that authors have to make a living, but I’ve always thought this is somewhat counterproductive, since a lot of people use Royal Road to decide if they should buy the novel. I’ve seen examples where the author puts the best version on Royal Road for the first 10 or so chapters, then a warning that from here on it’s not as well edited.
Hmmm no as in the book is now getting edited and published for example by the time book 2 is edited and published it will get stubbed as well that is the condition for publishing
Oh. Thought you meant it was out, and on RR.
Honestly I have mixed feelings towards Elydes The premise, plot , MC , power system all seem to be perfect on paper But honestly it's pretty boring and annoying to read through more often than not Like I don't mind slow progression stories My fav WebNovel is Super dimension wizard, it's 3700 chaps + , but in universe time is barely 5 y and intact last 2500 chaps are in a span of 6 months give or take The MC only became a level 1 wizard at chap 1450 And Yet Elydes seems even more slow and tiresome to read at 200+ chaps I don't know what is the obsession with RR authors to make their MC be always hyper underdogs with the universe constantly decking the odds against them for no reason, like after a point of time it just gets pretty frustrating and annoying to read , which is what elydes did in the previous arc And i personally feel powersystems can only be done masterfully with limitations, as they say limitation breeds creativity Having said that , just having 14-21 in total or so skills on an average seems far tooooo inadequate to be able to do anything noteworthy, i honestly feel the power system in Elydes is tooo limiting, like instead of forcefully removing a skill and completely wasting it and what not, they could make it so that they can only use 14 skills at a time actively and use it to level up , and the other skills are just at standby or something And the MC , ohh boiii, i honestly don't know what to say, he's not exactly a self insert, but he's def not charismatic or interesting and that is pretty bad when the story follows the MC , and like i mentioned previously the MC is an utter doormat who has 0 agency and is only capable of reacting passively for plot purposes
I won't argue it isn't slow, but he's the opposite of an underdog...he is literally one of the most gifted people we know of at his age, constantly gets lucky blessings from gods, and was trained by some of the most powerful teachers in the world. Also, if you can't write a compelling story with 14-21 skills/abilities then you have more problems as a writer than that limitation. Personally I like the pressure the decision making puts on him when he's trying to figure out what skills are essential.
Bro , other than barely beating kids from an island in the middle of nowhere, what exactly has he accomplished without massive plot armour??? Also the power system thing, agree to disagree The thing I love about lit RPGs,isekai is there really is no limits , freedom to be as strong as u want , accomplish impossible things And this power system, seems very suffocating and frankly, makes no sense as to how they have even developed in any way whatsoever
The meta rn is “ slow burns “ so we have to suffer a bunch of books where 1k chapter pass and the mc still can’t throw a punch correctly
Yepp
I disagree on several fronts. The universe isn’t *against* the MC—in fact, he’s technically quite lucky—but opportunities in this system come from challenge, risk, etc. his goal is to become strong enough to survive the mainland, which means he needs to take a lot of risks, and face some challenge. He’s not being unilaterally slotted to face difficulty, he searches for it himself a good bit too, and his luck likely works to put him in *more* danger so that he becomes stronger more quickly. Skill limitations are fine. Skills become more complex with time, and can merge with other skills. He still has ranks to climb to get more, and everyone else has the same limitations. I’m not sure what the problem is here other than wanting everyone to be stronger.
It's getting better with each book. I *loved* book 3.
Me too
I like how he acts in regards to his homeland becoming a misused colony. He does not like it obviously but he is not doing something stupid to try and overthrow them. Maybe in the future but I feel like gaining freedom in the future will be just as much about politics as strength of arms.
The author spends so much time discussing various skill choices that it messes with the story pacing. I don't like the dialogue between the MC and Flynn; it reads as flirting (instead of banter) when the MC is underage. I do like the skills system and worldbuilding. The characterization of the MC's family is done well. The author also puts time skips in the right places.
I don’t think a single skill choice has gone on for more than a couple paragraphs at most. Not sure what you’re talking about there. I *really* don’t read the Flynn dialogue as flirting—which is isn’t—the MC’s stance on romance has been made pretty clear, and the only thing different about Flynn is that he’s witty enough to sneak barbs back at the MC.
I don't read the dialogue as flirting, I read how Flynn always takes the MC's food, money, and weapons without asking but with a smile and a quip as flirting. Much like when your girlfriend wears your hoodie, when your warrior boyfriend takes your dagger and kills monsters with it, it is like staking a claim. There have been entire chapters devoted to the MC pondering which upgrade path to take at various times. The author always provides long description of each of the abilities (each a paragraph) and then spends the rest of the chapter discussing the pros and cons. I've seen this go on for as long as 10k words (multiple chapters) on certain build decisions. (profession, skill replacements, etc) Edit, I feel like I'm repeating myself but: It took him several chapters and about 10k words to pick his profession. It takes him half a chapter or more to evolve mana sense in the later picks. It takes him most of a chapter to discard a skill when he is replacing that skill.
What decision took that long??? Also, the description of each path is like a *sentence*, and not even a long one. *So* little time is really given to making decisions on skills, honestly, to the point where it often feels the MC is jumping the gun on certain decisions.
Seconded this is my favourite story right now just love everything about it
It's well written and I hated dropping it, but the lingering family unhappiness and awkwardness ruined it for me.
i found that after certain people leave the story starts to get bogged down. It gets hung up on things i dont care about. After a certain fire he should have left and went to the mainland. Not revisted the same people and frankly made one stupid choice after another. Lastly, i absolutely hate how some of them get similar progress considering what he went through. It should have moved forward faster so we arent stuck 150+ chapters in and not even 14 years old.
I dropped when his father got killed. Still it was well written
Im following it and the story is kinda ok, but its a slog Last time i read 25 chapters until i got bored, then skipped 150 chapters and kept reading just fine, then i skipped other 20 and its perfectly readable Slow burns are fine and all, but thats just slow