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A Soldier's Life - 267 - Investment Opportunities
🕑 Added 2024-09-22 01:21:17 +0000 UTCChapter 267: Investment Opportunities
Benito, not waiting for the stunned Castile to move, stepped past her, gently pushing her aside, and entered the common room for the suite. “Nice place! I don’t see any food. Can you order some from the tavern below? The stew smelled good on the way through.” Benito dropped his pack and sat heavily on the sofa. His pungent scent from being on the road for so long filling the room.
Castile finally regained herself and asked, “How are you here? How are you even alive? Cornelius told Konstantin you were dead.” She said the last with a finality.
“It’s Eryk, and he is like crotch crickets. Always surprising you when you least expect it,” Lirkin said from behind Castile as he squeezed past her, too. His leg was bandaged, and he walked gingerly.
“Drink this, and don’t complain about the taste,” I said, handing him an orc healing potion as he was passing me.
Realizing what it was, he patted me on the back affectionately before making to sit down with a groan and sigh. His pack, along with his sword belt, joined Benito’s on the floor. “Castile, if you are not going to enter, may I?” Mateo asked politely, unlike Benito and Lirkin. Castile numbly moved aside again, still processing my appearance. Maveith was greeting the men and pouring them cups of water.
“There is a bath,” I announced to those in the room. “You could all use it,” I hinted as they smelled of the road and horses. Blaze was the last one behind Castile, but he waited patiently, using the wall for support, his knee in a brace.
Castile finally stepped forward and into the suite. Blaze entered behind her, and we briefly clapped backs in a brief hug as I handed him a Pathfinder potion as well. Lirkin warned him, “Ugh, Blaze, you might want just to keep your limp or risk losing your ability to taste.” Lirkin was trying to clean his tongue on his shirt and spitting into it. “What foulness are you poisoning us with?”
“Pathfinder potions. I killed a few dozen orcs for them. I will remember you are not interested in consuming them in the future,” I said with a roguish grin.
Lirkin immediately reconsidered and said, “I am sure they just take getting used to. Either that or eventually, I won’t be able to taste anything anyway and it won’t matter.”
Castile, looking over the men lounging with a beaming Maveith serving them, turned to me, “Can we talk?”
“Let me feed the rabble first,” I said, smiling. I walked to the low table in the seating area and produced my last twelve burritos, along with two canteens filled with Elven ambrosia.
Benito was already biting into the first one. His mouth full, “This makes the walk here worth it.” Blaze reached for the canteen to wash the taste of the Pathfinder potion from his mouth. A loud conversation erupted as they ate and drank, and I moved away to talk with Castile in one of the rooms.
Castile immediately sat on the bed as I closed the door. Her feet and body were weary. “How did you get here?” I asked her quietly.
She exhaled in a long breath. Her tone was heavy. “Me first, then you. Zyna enacted the attack on the Emperor. He should have been spent but had a reserve of aether. It didn’t go well, and many were lost. The Empire was crippled with the number of mages killed in the rebellion.” I handed her some cold blood orange juice. Her eyes widened as she sipped it and licked her lips of the sweet, acidic drink.
“We slinked away after the battle and made our way east. There were fewer of us than planned, but it made it easier to move in stealth. We only traveled at night but were found by a mounted patrol. I overextended in the fight to make sure none of them escaped, and we took their horses.” She winced, and I assumed that was where she had burnt her aether channels. “That night, Wylie rode off back to the Empire. Probably to report to Firth.”
“The horses were a blessing, and we rode them hard during the night for a week before they failed us, and we abandoned them. A few days later, we abandoned everything that marked us as Legion and served as merchant guards for a small, fast-moving caravan for a week. After that, we made our way to Gramney on foot. We arrived three days ago, weary, poor, but whole.” Castile finished with a very brief summary. She hadn’t even mentioned how a gnoll had wounded Lirkin.
It was my turn, so I began at the beginning. “After Hound training, I got a lookout position in Kraken Bay. Other than the loneliness, it was serene and peaceful. The Caliphate fleet sailed down the bay, and I was ordered to shadow them.” I eliminated most of my adventures and skipped over capturing the First Citizen Mage.
“The Caliphate put ashore a group of Pathfinders, and I noticed goliaths were moving the cargo. I wasn’t going to intervene, but was spotted. I was forced to eliminate the Pathfinders and free the goliaths.” Castile arched her eyebrow at how casually I talked about eliminating a Pathfinder squad. “One of the goliaths had news of Maveith’s sister. The news was ten years old but gave me hope she was alive. I followed the largest part of the fleet until they spotted me again. I fled and managed to locate the Archives.”
Castile got excited, but it quickly faded, “You found the Archives? I suppose it is too late to return and destroy the samples.”
I produced Castile's jar in my hand and handed it to her like a prize. “I destroyed the Archives—everything in it. I only took this to find you and the company.”
Castile reached for the inscribed jar and pulled her hand back before reaching for it again. She turned over the jar, the square pieces of bloody fabric within. She was mesmerized by the tumbling fabric for a time before asking, “The Archives at the Palace?”
“I don’t know. There was a fire at the palace when I left. Ignis supplied Imperial Legionnaire armor for men to infiltrate them. Maybe she knows more,” I said uncertainly.
She looked me in the eyes, “How did you get here?” She stressed the question.
“After the Archives, I found Maveith in Sobral, and we went to the capital from there. We took an Adventurer’s Guild ship to Esenhem and teleported here from the Elven kingdom. We have been here about two weeks,” I said, skipping the details. She didn’t need to know about the gnoll migration, First Citizen Boris, or the sahuagin swarm.
“Two weeks!” She said in disbelief. She almost dropped the jar. She laughed a little hysterically, like I had told a bad joke. “We spent nearly a month getting here, every day was perilous and could have ended our flight.” She shook her head in disbelief, thinking I had taken a boat ride and got here relatively unscathed.
After she calmed down, I asked, “Benito said you were burnt? How bad is it?”
A pained look on her face made me want to comfort her, knowing how debilitating it was. “Twice I burned my channels. Once for the Bartiradian mounted patrol and once to hide us from a cyclops venturing out from a cave from the Endless Dark. I won’t know how bad until I can access a tablet reader, though.”
“Oh, you need a tablet reader? I have an Elven one, but it is so old that it is configured for humans. It was one of the first built by elves, from my understanding. Do you wish to use it?” She cocked her head at my statement, and I knew I was showing off a little since I didn’t need to hold my secrets as tight any longer. She slowly nodded, and I produced the table in the room, barely making a sound as it settled on the floor.
Castile stood immediately, marveling at it in amazement. She looked at me and then back at the table in disbelief. Yes, Castile, I really am that big, I said in my head. Castile couldn’t read Elvish, but all the attributes and affinities were in the same order. She traced her hands along it, hesitant to activate it. “Did you get this from Caelora?” She finally asked.
There was no reason to deny it. “Yes. Are you going to use it?”
Castile took a deep breath, not wanting to know the bad news, but she activated it anyway. My eyes immediately traveled to her affinities to satisfy my curiosity.
Elemental Magics (Common)
Fire0
Air26
Water 0
Earth0
Lightning (Energy)49
Spirit (Healing)0
Nature (Plant)0
Unaffiliated Magics (Uncommon)
Charm (Mind)5
Illusion62
Clairvoyance46
Protection (Guardian)0
Necromancy19
Celestial0
Abyssal28
Rare Magics
Space0
Time0
Displacement0
Materialism0
Worlds0
Void0
Convergence0
I was underwhelmed with her affinity strength. But she was one of the most effective mages in Empire because she was adept in using what she had. Still, Renna was much more powerful when it came to affinities. Castile interrupted me, “Can you read me my magic attributes? I don’t know Elvish.” My eyes moved across the table, and I read them to her.
Magical
Aether Pool 58/60
Channeling 44/50
Aether Shaping 64/68
Aether Tolerance 35/37
Aether Resistance 27/30
Prime Aether AffinityIllusion
Minor Aether AffinityEnergy
When I read channeling, she nearly collapsed. I stopped reading, “How bad is it?” I asked, concerned.
“I lost three potential points,” she said numbly. “I will never recover.” She realized she was going to be in pain for the rest of her life every time she used her magic. I wished I could console her, but it would likely take a dozen or more apex channeling essences to restore her channels. They were just too rare. I sat beside her on the bed while she stared blankly ahead.
I waved at the table, “Your magic attributes put mine to shame, Castile. I will try to provide whatever you need to live a comfortable life here before I leave with Maveith.” She nodded but numbly, and a knock came at the door.
Mateo had slurred speech as he spoke, “Castile, we decided you should use the tub first. If you don’t want to then we are going to draw straws.”
Castile hesitated before she stood, “I am going.”
After she left, I looked at the tablet reader. I could give it to her. It would be a very profitable venture for her. I was charged gold the first time in a Telhian city before I discovered the one in the Adventurer’s Guild. I cleared Castile’s reading, squeezed the table, and sent a pulse of aether to activate it.
Elemental Magics (Common)
Fire0
Air0
Water4
Earth42
Lightning (Energy)8
Spirit (Healing)23
Nature (Plant)0
Unaffiliated Magics (Uncommon)
Charm (Mind)5
Illusion13
Clairvoyance0
Protection (Guardian)30
Necromancy0
Celestial (buff)0
Abyssal (debuff)0
Rare Magics
Space101
Time90
Displacement80
Materialism9
Worlds88
Void22
Convergence74
Relief flooded me as I had been worried the damage to my aether core might have affected my affinities. Would Castile be envious of my scores? There were some secrets that I was not willing to share. My eyes drifted to my displacement affinity. Worlds and displacement were the only two affinities I could inscribe a spell form for. Maybe it was time to start focusing on a displacement spell form, even though I lacked the aether to use it effectively.
I looked over at my attributes.
Physical
Strength (+5/+2) 67/84
Power (+5/+1) 62/88
Quickness (+1/+0) 54/62
Dexterity (+1/+0) 64/75
Endurance (+3/+0) 79/98
Constitution (+2/+1) 61/73
Coordination (+2/+1) 57/69
Mental
Intellect (+3/+2) 38/58
Reasoning (+2/+1) 53/62
Perception (+1/+2) 57/64
Insight (+0/+0) 37/52
Resilience (+2/+0) 56/71
Empathy (+3/+2) 22/26
Fortitude (+3/+0) 63/90
Magical
Aether Pool (+0/+0)24/26
Channeling (+3/+0)39/61
Aether Shaping (+1/+1)9/9
Aether Tolerance (+0/+0)50/56
Aether Resistance (+1/+0)16/19
Prime Aether AffinitySpace
Minor Aether AffinityTime
My potentials had not changed significantly due to my limited access to essences. My physical attributes had only seen modest improvement in the past few months. I was fortunate that the essence prevented me from losing points during periods of laziness or illness, such as when I needed to heal naturally for two weeks. I reset the reader and returned it to my dimensional space.
I walked back into the common room to a quartet of drunk legionnaires. No, they were no longer legionnaires, even if they still wore pieces of armor stained black. “Do you have any more of this?” Lirkin asked, waving the empty canteen in front of himself.
I produced the black jade chalice from the dungeon, and they were familiar with it from the dungeon. I transmuted a quart of water into Elven whiskey—called ambrosia. Benito snagged the canteen after I filled it from the chalice.
Mateo looked me in the eyes, “Maveith told us about his sister. If you can wait, once we get Castile settled, we will go with you.”
Blaze added, “I always wondered what it would be like to be an adventurer. Killing monsters, rescuing citizens, always on the road to the next fight.” He was grinning madly at the thought that he would be doing the same thing as when he was a member of the legion.
Benito finished his pull on the canteen and handed it to Lirkin, “But we get paid more, right? Adventurers are rich?”
The door opened, and Ignis walked in, causing the group to go silent. “So, you found them. The mage didn’t make it?” I pointed at the bathroom, and she nodded. Ignis looked at me, “I sold one of the weapons and found a forge on the outskirts of the trade district. The smith is moving to be with his aging parents in the village where he was raised.”
“How much?” I asked, getting to the point.
“Eight hundred gold, but I will talk him down to seven hundred tomorrow and explore getting a loan.” Ignis said as she moved to sit with the stunned men.
I introduced her as she wasn’t making an effort to do so. “Everyone, this is Ignis, Master Imperial Blacksmith.”
“Master Armorsmith,” Ignis returned coolly. As they introduced themselves, I added six loaves of the delectable Elven bread to the table. The hungry piranhas made short work of it.
I got into a conversation with Ignis. She had gotten 97 gold for the sword, and it was the best of the three. The non-artifact armor would only fetch 15 gold, in her estimation to a collector. Since she was going to be about five hundred gold short, I handed her the silver earrings shaped like leaves from the Shimmering Labyrinth. Maybe they had some artistic value.
“Are these valuable?” I said placing them in her free hand, the other occupied with a loaf of the desert bread.
Ignis took the earrings and tossed them lightly in her hand. She studied them closely, then looked at me. “You are full of surprises. Where did you get platinum earrings?”
“Caelora,” I responded, not mentioning that I thought they were silver. I should have realized it by their weight.
Ignis seemed to consider the two swords and the earrings, nodding to herself. “About five hundred gold. I can make it work.”
“You said you needed seven?” Twenty large gold coins appeared on the table as I placed my hand on it. All eyes looked at the stack and then me.
Mateo's eyes widened at the stack of gold, “Oh, mighty djinn! I wish for one thousand gold coins!” He bowed to me and nearly stumbled to the floor, the ambrosia was a powerful drink.
Benito chirped in, “You still owe me seven silver!”
I was trying to gradually introduce them to my dimensional space. I waved my hands again, and they followed them intently, but all that appeared was a bright red apple that I bit into casually. Castile remained in the bathroom while we celebrated, and we only checked on her once. She exited shortly after and went into one of the rooms I indicated instead of joining us.
As everyone moved to find sleeping accommodations, Lirkin came to talk with me. “Someone should stay with Castile. It feels like we are abandoning her here. If it’s okay with you and Maveith, I will stay with her. I can find work at an eatery in the city and watch over her. I heard many mages have trouble dealing with the burn.”
I patted Lirkin on the back. “We don’t mind at all. Have you ever thought about running your own tavern?”
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Comments
jordicl
He did say in an earlier chapter that he had always been a rather selfish guy, and that he was worried consuming that empathy essence would change him for worse (make him completely unable to stomach morally questionable duties).
HappyNoms
I realize Eryk is more than a little thick, but leaving Castile in the bathroom for an extended period of time when her closest friends have died and she has just realized she will be in pain the rest of her life and might be committing suicide is extra oblivious and self-centered, even for Eryk. He is going to live for 500+ years, with double digits gains in every attribute in just a year, and he can't spare so much as a single essence for her, or manage a word of comfort. A little disappointed in him as a person - he is improving his stats far more than the content of his character. Maveith needs his help too desperately to call him out on any of it, but he deserves to be roasted extra crispy for being a poor friend to Castile here. He is in pretty desperate need of a male role model, and to unlock a hidden stat for emotional awareness. Also, lol, it's a good story when readers get rabble-roused by the characters and comment a paragraph or two about what fictional people should be up to. TFTC. (Edit: Read a few more ahead. He does redeem himself somewhat in the next few chapters.)
Trevayne
Thanks for the chapter.
GucciG
I would love to see Eryk lead his own guild/ crew.
Erick Thiemke
yes, correcting that in the master now. might miss that in the edit
Jordan A
““Oh, you need a tablet reader? I have an Elven one, but it is so old that it is configured for humans. It was one of the first built for elves, from my understanding.” Do you mean to say the reader was built ‘by’ the elves and not ‘for’ the elves since it is configured for humans?
Karnnie
Love the chapter! Eryk is starting to loosen the reigns on all of his secrets and take charge and responsibility of the people around him. I do however, hope that they convince Castille to travel with them and that she is able to get her channels fixed. Perhaps he can come up with a plan to get her convergence affinity opened.
Erick Thiemke
thanks for checking, I will edit chapter 206 to reflect it takes 10 to 30 to restore one point. I think when I wrote it, I thought half a point had been lost, but it was never determined. Also there are grades of apex essences (more pure) ones than others. only apex essences can increase potential (not true but minor and major essences have such a small effect it is not noticeable unless you have the MCs spell form).
Jeffrey Worrall
There is some inconsistency in regards to how many Apex channeling essences needed to fix a burnt mage. For Eryk it was stated by Zyna that he would need 10-12 Apex channeling essences (chapter 206) to get back 1 lost point(took a lot less because of his spell form) but it somehow is triple for Castile, 3 points requires 100..
Juan Magallon
“New beginnings” for title?
Juan Magallon
“Reunion” for a title? Nothing else is really popping out to me
Silver Beard
LMAO... I know how discord works- perhaps you should investigate it yourself... then you won't be limited by the 'crowd'. Cheers
Jordan
@Silver - You have a lot of assumptions and speculations in your very long winded post. We’ll have to see where the author wants to go with things. Regarding manticore farming comments made in a previous chapter. That clearly isn’t a reasonable option anymore after the additional information (losing 3 levels of potential) provided in this chapter. Why are you bringing up old comments when they’re not being mentioned here? New information changes what could or could not be reasonable.
Jordan
Read the other comments already made for this chapter. Your sarcastic question has already been addressed. Do your research (helpful advice from someone with ‘insider’ knowledge on research). The dumping point made is from a LT perspective.
Silver Beard
Eryk is not dumping Castille- I haven't read anything to suggest that. However she won't be an asset on Mavieth's sister retrieval prospect. It has not yet been established that Mavieth's sister is still alive. A mage that can't use her gifts freely is a handicap. Surly all the die hard that love Castille realize she would be dangerous liability going into Orc lands???
Silver Beard
He's still an offworlder- just because the Empire kills those it finds doesn't mean other nations don't contain their own share of 'refugees'. Still important to keep is circle of trust close. Even Mavieth doesn't know his true numbers. If Eryk won't tell him...
Silver Beard
It's been one rush job to the next of late; even this delay was marred with recovery. Simply hasn't had a chance to absorb the lessons the locals take for granted.
Silver Beard
@Jordan- Who said Eryk could retrieve the Sister? Might well be impossible or she's already dead. Talking about a 10 year old rumor. I never said he couldn't solve it only that he shouldn't be expected too. Have to get proof she's alive first. Castille has to want to live without her magic; and the time it will require is likely more than Castille has left to live. Visting Orc lands fulfills Eryk's own desire to broaden his horizons and well as visiting Stone Island; but to set up a permanent base there so he can farm Manticores hoping for enough essence to heal Castille is worse than the Legion Contract imho. Tend to agree with the others- Eryk (and the readers) know so little about what the world might have to offer. Explore, adventure, learn and perhaps a solution will present itself. In the meantime that 1500 yo herb in his space should be enough to tempt a local Master Alchemist to doing something for pain management of Castille's Symptoms.
Sparrow
Burnt only means she feels pain when using spells.. true, there is no reason for her to spy, but she did it multiple times before even when there was no need to spy ... But anyways I just thought MC doesn't have to hide anymore, the only danger he has was because of the emperor who's dead right now.
Liam Andrews
I wonder how proficient she is without using magic, do mage captains have any useful martial training? Seems unlikely based on his experience with Renna and her friends but Castillo is no slouch
Jordan
I waved at the table, “Your magic attributes put mine to shame, Castile. I will try to provide whatever you need to live a comfortable life here before I leave with Maveith.” She nodded but numbly, and a knock came at the door. The above paragraph needs to be rewritten if there is any chance Castile will be able to do magic in the future. Otherwise it feels like Eryk will give her money, maybe a place to stay and a money generating artifact or two, and then dump her. Doesn’t make sense based on their relationship to date especially when compared to all he’s doing for Maveith.
Jordan
Maybe. It depends on how much of the training/teaching would involve “showing” compared to “telling” as one is extremely painful when the other is not. For sure she’d be helpful to some degree.
momo2009
At least write about how Eryk would try to help her. That why people like the Mc because he tried to do the best thing possible. Not used and forget.
momo2009
No respect for zyna or castile. Drop
Mark Corwin
That Elvin magical healer is gonna come I'm handy... I hope. Tftc
glare31337
I hope there is still a way for Castille to recover. I agree with other commenters that it would be a waste of a good character for her to permanently retire from adventuring. I think Eryk going on a quest to find a cure for her could be an interesting plotline too, so the mention of Elaro in this chapter is promising on that front.
Jordan
The Orc tattoos comment is an interesting idea. Maybe make it really enefficient to balance it out a bit
Liam Andrews
I feel like Castille is still useful and could help train Eryk as they travel, use the amulet with him etc
Salvo
I think Castille being burnt is probably a good thing. First, it scales how much effort it cost to slow the emperor. Eryk burnt himself against the elf summoner, and she’s had it 3 times over. Second, her old life is destroyed. If she wasn’t burnt, she’d still see Eryk as her agent, which I don’t think Eryk wants. I think in canon, Eryk’s blood wasn’t originally in the archive, and he got fooled into joining the hounds/coup. She has little reason to rejoin the empire, as another tool. Her power wasn’t enough to stand on her own from the start. I think there will probably be a way to heal her burn, personally I’m hoping the Orc tattoos are spell forms imprinted by the designer, so affinity can be transferred. So Eryk can give his coalescence spellform to others. All hero journey stories have a mentor that dies or can no longer keep up with the hero.
Erick Thiemke
Will fix the aether shaping in the morning
Erick Thiemke
Dungeon runic swords are 1,000 gold. Forged artificed swords of lesser quality start around 100 gold
Samuel McCarren
This is Eryk's story though. I think Castillo will probably recover but not before the power dynamic of the group has shifted in Eryk's favour. Noone wants to read a story about a MC without agency.
Samuel McCarren
I'm sure there is other solutions. The empire was very controlling of knowledge and resources, but I expect the elves have methods.
Samuel McCarren
She's burnt, no reason to fake that over the last 6(?) weeks, plenty of reasons not too.
Lazarius
Thanks for the chapter ! “She had gotten 97 gold for the sword” (the legion sword I guess) that not a lot, a runic sword is worth hundreds of golds in the previous chapters, it was not a bad sword like the others 2. And Aether Shaping (+0/+0)9/9 it should be +1/+1
Sparrow
Did he just forget that she can "spy" on him with her spell? : / she did it like 100 times already.. either he is very trusting, or he is a very slow learner, I think it is the last one, since he thought he wants to keep some "secrets" from her...
Jordan
He’s solving Maveith’s problems. Why can’t he solve Castille’s 😉.
Psyren1596
Damn, Castille got f#cked in this chapter. Hope there’s a reasonable work around for her aether channels
Jordan
My comments about having a strong group/party are from a long term perspective. It makes sense that a recently burnt Castille can’t contribute to the caliphate ark of the story. No problem with that. It’s disappointing that she’s so burnt she’ll never be able to contribute as a mage going forward unless the author does a significant “reach” to cure her from being burnt.
Deliver roo
I agree that Castille is probably the only complex female caracter remaining and that interactions with her are much more meaningfull than the ones with characters like Raelia or Renna. But the adventure in orc land basically requires Eryk to leave behind those that cannot fight reliably. I do not like the choice either but it is a reasonable one.
Chachi
gem chapter thank you
Thresher
I imagine her spells are simply too good for there to be any risk for an Adventurer’s party. Her all seeing eye or whatever is already basically the best scouting ability, and she can nullify even the most powerful of spells. Not to mention she’s got strong combat magic too. She’s overpowered.
Enk
Hehehehe - Mateo is channelling looney tunes from across worlds! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu92wc7IQl0
Enk
i'm just hoping there's an elf around with high Convergence who can cast the spell 'maximise essence' - how hard can it be? :P Of course, they'd need a supply of those essences - Aether Channelling, right?
Enk
yeah i'm looking fwd to seeing just how much bigger the world is, and the creative solutions available. Has it been confirmed that aether resistance was 'trained' by Eryk's burn? I might be misremembering.
M van Dongen
Shame about dumping Castille like this.
Bead
Great chapter! I love how Eryk is trying to make sure everyone is okay. And to folks worried about Castillo leaving the story, i wouldn’t count her out yet. I was hoping him expanding his aether pool by adding the water essence facet would translate into a point or two of extra size on the tablet 👀
TheAlreds90
That's also assuming apex essence are truly the only solution. I feel like we don't know enough about alchemy in the world to know if a solution my be possible on that end. Perhaps there's a solution he could make that temporarily removes the burn? Or perhaps dungeon artifacts exist to stop the burn while worn? If I was him I'd start asking around the adventurer guild if an artifact exists for it
NightRider
Eryk should be easily able to set up a small upmarket tavern business with Castile to run it. With the tablet reader, the red elvish wines from Caelora , the Black Jade Chalice producing Elven whiskey, coupled with Larkin’s cooking, it would have some excellent draw cards. Eryk should also be able to use some of the gold he has as a deposit and hold a majority stake in the inn.
Jordan
If Catille’s burn is removed in the future please don’t do it in a way that is too outlandish or unheard of based on what’s known through this point. Those kinds of leaps are the type of thing that ruins a story. Obviously, we’ve only seen what’s known in the empire on the subject, but over 4 books in it would be a leap when it’s been mentioned so many times that only channeling essences “cure” being burnt. If the emperor couldn’t find a “cure” through anything other than channeling essence with all his information gathering resources than no other character should be able to either.
Jordan
If Eryk will be in positions where he has to survive conflicts with high powered organizations/governments (empire/hounds, the caliphate since he’s going to pick a fight there shortly to benefit a friend, etc.) then he’ll need a very strong team no matter how strong he becomes. Why dismiss such a well rounded character as Castille? It’s ok though….Eryk might show some pity for her and leave her his assessment table (which is just dumb for so many reasons as it is such a good asset). Who know’s, Castille could be the best of the best tavern manager as well 👎.
Kbzzy
Other than blaze for his archery, mateo and Benito are just fodder at this point. They’re not special and eryk can handle most things by himself with Maveith as a bodyguard. Castile could remain a magic tutor on the road? Idk. Just feels like the most fleshed out character and relationship is being forced out. Even her mercenaries seem to not give a shit about her leaving her other than lirkin when they’ve been fiercely loyal to her for years
Jordan
Everything other than Castille’s situation was well written and fun. It was a bit odd that everyone other than Lirkin was having a party and kind of ignoring Castille when she was so down in the dumps. That’s kind of in line with Mateo and Benito’s characters though.
Sloth
Author might have plans to raise stakes since Eryk is getting more powerful. Might be harder to do with Castile around
Kbzzy
Literally have been confiding in each other and planning to desert together since the beginning of the novel but I guess if reinstating her as a mage is an inconvenience she’s getting tossed 🤷🏼♂️
Andrew
Thank you!
hrs
"pathfinder potions. I killed a few dozen orcs for them." swap the "pathfinder" and "orc". sounds more natural to increase the specificity of the description as it goes on.
Jordan
Agreed. With this large of a setback it feels like the author is discarding Castille as at best she’ll be a friend/councilor and at worst a liability if empire agents come sniffing around. A shame that such a good character is getting dismissed. Only way she can play a role as a mage going forward is if the author introduces something new that can alleviate the burn, but this far into the series it would feel contrived solely to bring her back. If this is the direction the story is going then it is what it is, but this feels like a veteran coming back from war who’s missing limbs and being discarded by his government after the fact. Very disappointing. My 2 cents
Silver Beard
Three points! Said it last chapter that pain management is still on the table. Little to no magic perhaps; but better for the interim. It's unrealistic to expect Eryk to solve everyone's problems. Help, certainly, but 100 apex essences is expecting too much.
Kbzzy
Genuinely bummed out at Castille getting dumped like this. She feels like the character with the most depth and deepest connection to eryk in terms of meaningful character interactions and how long he’s known her.
PatronTurtle
Honestly, if Eryk had produced a thousand gold after that line, they might actually start believing he's a Djinn and possibly replaced the person they knew. Would've been pretty funny
Kimberlee
So happy to see the Gang together again! (mostly)
Eriach
Your doing a great job great orator!
Erick Thiemke
2nd of 4 for the cycle. Note: there were edits to chapters 264 and 265. Probably two more chapters in Gramney and then the group will head out
