205

Maybe not solo, but I think between Rain, Ameliah and Tallheart they could have put Barstone in the ground. People keep ignoring the fact that all three of them are in the kind of gear many goldplates would envy. Ameliah has been silver for quite a while and she wasn't rocking +300 attribute rings and full stacks of accolades. We've seen nothing to suggest anyone except Halgrave has anything better than what Tallheart made. Like, what do you suppose would happen if Rain just cranked out -9999mp per second with discombobulate? Barstone isn't a mage, he's probably got literally nothing invested in anything to give extra mana except maybe accolades or gear. If the armour gets saturated or just overwhelmed (most armour doesn't have 99.8% mitigation like Rain's, AND he's got ethereal aura finally) he's boned.

Stormlock

Its truly criminal that these chapters are weekly and not more frequent. I really love the world and the characters thus far, sometimes it can be a little too much math though.

to say that she did not help last fight when whatever people they tried to send there barrier was killed by Velika meaning that the only persons that they could send outside the barrier was forgot the name. Think people have a tendency to just ignore downplay the work/contribution some people do simply because they do not like them.

Ole Halvorsen

Vatreece did not start anything, the Watch and the adventure guild was once the same thing, after the fall of the Majiistraal they split into too different organisations.

Ole Halvorsen

Is it just me or do these chapters get shorter and shorter? Not that I’m ungrateful, it’s just that those 18 pages felt like 2 pages lol

NethanielShade

With the damage limit of an unranked (less than rank 10 is 9,999 damage) zone, Rain and Ameliah can put up a fight against a low gold at least. As for actually beating them, that would take luck, compatibility (like Rock Paper Scissors on their favor), some carelessness on their part and how strong their class and skills are (whether the gold has a rare, or legendary class should matter). A more likely scenario is Ascension showing enough power to give the gold plate enough pause to recalculate a cost benefit analysis depending on what they may have to lose (resources, equipment, Human Resources, etc and that goes for Ascension too as most members are unawakened or bronze). Best to just not attract the attention of a gold plate enough for them to bother acting as winning can be considered a miracle. It would be a different story however when you start approaching the limit of silver (level 49 range like Lavarro claimed to be able to beat Halgrave, who should be around the 50s, and showed beating Westbridge) where they would have more tier 4s and have more stats and experience to be a greater threat. But when in your 30s, giving a gold rank pause is already a complement: more likely from threatening lower level subordinates or place they are protecting. which Ascension isn’t so ruthless to take non-combatant hostages and Citizen Barstone obviously wouldn’t care as their mentality is “Barstone city is important is important because it is mine” not for any moral reason but protecting property. Also Velika has implied that the damage limit (Lavarro point of view memory with Warden Vatreece interrogating described it as a conflict between two forces/objects that results in a paradox until one breaks) can be surpassed even by a low gold like her (Velika’s old cap was silver but it was increased to gold before she arrived in Fel Sadanis and Rain has concluded she has had more than enough time to officially reach gold by now) if you are willing to sacrifice a good weapon (her weapon was destroyed when slicing through Empire ship in a lose/lose scenario). The way I see it, there are two types of damage limits or perhaps they are the same at different severities. The first kind is when an object has a damage threshold over the damage limit (like Westbridge city walls needed over 9,999 damage for it to count but the damage limit normally made that impossible) and the other side meets similar conditions and brings them into direct conflict until one breaks (Lavarro vs wall equals Lavarro win; Velika’s sword vs Empire ship equals both destroyed). The other is brute forcing a humongous amount of damage per second like Lightbreaker (himself should be around 70) did for Citizen Bluecrest who used an item that gave 10,000 light resistance thus normally being invincible to light until it runs out. Lightbreaker didn’t just bring their contradicting forces to make a paradox, he completely steamrolled through. Perhaps both are similar but the first is easier to accomplish as you only need +1 while the other needs you to exceed the limit several times over (millions of damage or more and there could be a distinction between a single burst attack like Ameliah’s arrow and an attack that keeps the pressure on like Lightbreaker’s laser?). Vatreece just did the first one on Citizen Barstone as the cracks in reality disappeared as soon as the attack was done (thus the damage to reality only lasted for the duration of the conflict). The result of the second are the cracks of Fel Sadanis and the cracks that were caused by the clash of Vatreece and Fecht years ago. So looking over what I wrote, it seems to be the difference between barely breaking the limit and completely shattering the limit.

Conor McGroarty

I was sort of looking forward to Rain laughing at the Citizen as his force ward made physical attacks a joke (for a while at least). But given the Warden's appearance, I doubt the fight with the Citizen will happen. Perhaps we'll see him duel the guild branch leader though.

Jac Onue

I doubt she's going to give Barstone the Lavaro treatment. The whole point of mindjacking Lavaro was that she's a powerful, unaffiliated criminal - giving the Warden the justification she needs (for her own self imposed rules) to mindjack her, then use her to attack Empire and do other questionable things. Basically, Lavaro is like the Suicide Squad from DC comics, or some off the books CIA agent doing questionable things with no ties to the government. On the other hand, Barstone is a Citizen. Mindjacking him permanently wouldn't give the Warden any benefits as far as using him for covert operation goes. She could, theoretically, get some use out of his Mantle (I think it was mentioned she wanted to get her hands on this tech) or to mindjack all the other citizens. But I don't think she wants to take over DKE, even if it's done in secret. Also, it's unclear why Barstone was speaking with hte same accent as her (where as Lavaro spoke without an accent), whether it points to an incomplete take over or the Warden just being lazy is unclear. There is also a pretty good chance she's going to wipe everyone's memory after her chat with Rain (possibly including Rain's, though perhaps not his).

Jac Onue

He won't. Not for at least a hundred more chapters. They have the best accolades, best equipment and they're a team. They're a far cry from incarns that 1. Rain didn't fight alone 2. are weak to soul damages 3. are just enhanced bronzes 4. were limited by the damage limit. Rain stomping on silvers doesn't mean he can kick a Citizen's ass. Unarmored Velika would stomp his ass in a split second and she's barely Gold. He can pull some weight in a ranked area but he's not that overpowered yet.

Alan Ben Sen Clem

To add to what's already been mentioned, there's a distinct possibility that the mind-link the DKE Citizens have could allow her to directly hijack their brains like a mindcaster. If that can happen, I think she's gearing up to just take over the DKE and make it her own faction to battle the Empire.

JC Silver

I really, really, really hope we get to see Rain kick a gold citizen's ass.

Logrus

Given the mind reading, it could be v's pov but still tell us everyone elses thoughts. I call it first person omniscient pov.

RedPine

With her goldplate class and accolades it probably doesn't matter how high her natural vigor is. All she needs is one or two +1000 vigor accolades and it would have the same effect. Even Ameliah with her current stats could stay awake for weeks, but would suffer from the mental effects of sleep deprivation. And she has perfectly equal stats. I think that meditation could at least somewhat compensate, but the idiot probably never learned how to do it. It'd be hilarious if Vatreece took one look at her and then sent her to bed lol.

Cirvante

Yeah im too for it with some POV of her, but it need a insane amount of work and good thinking and writting to pull it off (it can be amazing if its done but pfiouu i dont want to be the at the author place for this part)

Zarik0

True, but after Fel Sadanis she pretty much took the Citizen in Vigilance hostage and used his Mantle to attack the one in Xiugaaraa. She clearly has no issues with putting arrogant Citizens in their place. What I'm curious about is whether she just temporarily took over Barstone to keep him from causing trouble or whether he gets the Lavarro treatment in her campaign against Fecht. She mentioned in her earlier chapter that if Fecht gets Ekrustia, the measures she'd have to take to stop him would extreme collateral damage. Now that he has escalated the conflict by destroying the watch citadel in Fel Sadanis, it is likely that she's going to retaliate in her own way. Lavarro is already harrassing the Empire's supply lines. Hijacking a Citizen and using him as a mind slave, while simultaneously getting access to all DKE communications, sounds like it could be a part of her 'extreme measures' against Fecht. I always assumed she'd create an army of powerful puppets to perform coordinated strikes, while using her watch keepers as an army and slowly but surely taking over key people in the Empire.

Cirvante

I mean. She's platinum. Wtf are they gonna do about it? Vatreece and the only two other platinums generally do whatever the hell they want. They're lucky that Vatreece has such strict ethics and doesn't just enslave everyone's minds to do her bidding.

Ziggy

Hm. You know I didn't even consider a Vatreece POV. I feel like that could be fun, but there are so many ways to do it that it would depend. You could switch the POV more than once so we get both of them during appropriately entertaining moments, or the "sandwich" where you do Rain then Vatreece and back again, or so on and so forth. Plus where you flip the POV plays a big role, too. I'm glad I don't have to write it, but looking forward to reading it lol.

Ziggy

So, how does Valtreece get away with puppeting a Citizen? because if she expected consequences, she'd probably bait him into attacking her instead. Its actually easy, assuming she is a signatory: according to Barstone's interpretation of the treaty, people one rank down have no standing. Therefore if she believes he violated the treaty (e.g., by interfering in Watch operations), he has no say it in, being mere gold to her platinum. So DKE cannot complain while agreeing with that interpretation, and that interpretation becomes very bad for them in that context. So DKE better hold that Barstone was breaking the agreement, and forfeit.

Daniel Vainsencher

Vatreece and Xavier are still two different characters in two different settings, so even if they have the exact same personality, a little variation is expected.

Soundlesssteps

Shit just got real. Mind-controlling a goldplate in full armor without leaving scars in reality is one hell of a flex, though perhaps not on the level of what Fecht did to Fel Sadanis. It's fitting though, as a mentalist is all about subtlety. I really enjoyed this chapter and I loved how Halfstone was annoying Barstone with her rule-lawyering and extensive knowledge of the treaty. She sounds like one of the more decent Citizens. Vatreece showing up both dissolved the confrontation and upped the stakes considerably. I'm not too worried about her mind-raping Rain. As Ziggy pointed out earlier, she follows a strict code of conduct and doesn't use invasive mentalism on members of the Watch, which Rain technically is. She's still going to want answers, so I expect her to bring out the carrot. Or her Reading ability is so advanced that she can simply ask him questions and infer the answers from his soul. After the shit Velika pulled during the confrontation I really want to see Vatreece put her in her place. Not necessarily give her the Lavarro treatment, as her character isn't completely irredeemable, but simply treat her like the misbehaving child that she is. For Velika to have meaningful character development and to stop throwing tantrums she pretty much needs a platinum to put her in her place. She's unlikely to change her ways without outside pressure. I really hope that next chapter will include Vatreece's POV. There's just something about seeing Rain's logic-defying shenanigans from an outsider's perspective. We've been teased by the Guild mage freaking out over looking at Rain with Mana Sight and Sana's image of his soul. Vatreece looking at his macros and going "How the fuck is he doing that?" and looking at his fixed soul, with his 'precocious soul formations' that allow him to mimic goldplate stuff, would be fun. She would understand that classing up with a ruptured paling should have killed him, so a bronzeplate fixing his soul without outside help would be extremely impressive. Not showing her point of view would be such a waste, honestly.

Cirvante

I'd argue that she's a bit more ruthless than Xavier, but the Clinton comparison was uncalled for.

Cirvante

I'm also still sticking with my theory where she's a high vigor build. Now that she's goldplate, she has so much overstamina she's not getting any sleep to let her mind rest. Which she's probably been fine with because of aforementioned DKE troubles and needing to stay awake. Bitch just needs a nap.

Ziggy

While true, you have to consider Velika's perspective too. After leaving Fel Sadanis, she was probably hunted down by the Citizens (since they could track her Mantle). It's possible she tried attacking a few as well. Unable to fight off the Citizens, get rid of her Mantle, not exactly having good relations with the Watch, she tried to get off the continent, only for the Empire to show up at 3 Cliffs and destroy the ships. She's been living on the edge for months, haven't slept for a day or two, and is now in a life or death situation -- if Rain told Barstone they had Velika, she could at best flee, assuming she's faster than Barstone and could get away before other Citizens could teleport over and hunt her down. Don't get me wrong, she's acting irrationally and is over all annoying, but it sort of makes sense, story wise and given her personality we saw from before she became a Citizen.

Jac Onue

Velika being a useless bitch again. She barely helped in the last fight and seems to spend most of the time hiding. I was hoping she would properly join and lens some of her strength but really she needs to just leave.

Louis Nel

Let's not forget that one of the books he memorized to learn the language was a dusty old tome on Osaran tax law... I wouldn't be at all surprised if he picked up on an obscure loophole or advantageous bit of phrasing as a result.

loimprevisto

Everyone's talking about Valtreece when I'm over here imagining Rain becoming the ultimate contract law expert lol. Great chapter as always!

JC Silver

There's one comment comparing Vatreece to Hillary Clinton, but I think it's much more accurate to compare her to Professor Xavier, and not just because they're powerful elderly psychics. Vatreece started and runs an organization with the purpose of maintaining healthy relationships between dulls and awakened, and especially keeps awakened from lording their power over normal people.

Soundlesssteps

Really good chapter Well i really want that it serves as a lesson for Rain, really what did he expect? did he not already know and learned this lesson already and what the reality is? Priority and focus of him need to be his Ascension and HIS people and after they are more or less safe what he can do with them for others Guess he will not really learn a lesson here and how he had "fucked up" so hard and taken so many risks with his multiple "tantrum" and "whining" delusion because tada plot armor its gonna end well more or less and the disaster get dodged (and not by something he controlled at all, so just "luck" between death or alive) So many things in this chapter and some hint and implied thing here and her, good writing i love it, can't wait for the next now :)

Zarik0

Equivalent status will probably be the full DKE senate in this case, the "leaders" of DKE. But the Warden can easily just claim that they're also fighting the Empire, and as such they're also owed the ship. The interesting part is really, what relationship does the Warden want with Ascension going forward? She can take everything, even including Earth tech. But that would also mean confirming to everyone that Custodian means disposable puppet, and that no one has any benefit of working with the Watch. On the other hand I think she will want something for her help so she won't just send them on their way without getting something.

Chymor

At this point the treaty doesn't matter- the Warden can interpret it however she wants, and only someone of 'equivalent status' has the right to any sort of argument over it. I don't think the DKE even has a platinum plate, so that seems like a major oversight in the treaty... Rain's new biggest concerns should be: what does Vatreece know about his ship/organization via brainjacking the citizen or any other criminal that might have info, and does she know/care if Velika is there (I'm guessing yes and yes, but is willing to use her as a bargaining chip to make Rain do her a more useful favour than turning in a pretty useless gold plate.)

Stormlock