Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world),
Hi! I'm here to leave a quick review!!
First Impression: Okayy...so a lot more development that I thought we'd get on the little relationship blossoming between Veris and Gael. That has gone further and being more successful than I imagined it would be and now its been some time since we last saw Haka as well....so some interesting developments in that side of things, while we know also get some more intriguing bits coming through with these conversations with Serra that are now much more frequent now that Gael knows the full truth and I've been loving those little conversations so far.
Anyway let's get right to it,
Throughout the week, Gael studied day and night for the Test. The prizes for it was an artifact, after all, so he really needed to get his hand on it. Even Serra agreed, despite despising the fact that it was Gods’ Brotherhood who would hold it along with the academy. He couldn’t pass the chance to amplify his mastery in blood magic.
When he wasn’t studying, he sneaked with Veris to isolated areas to spend time with each other. Initially, Gael wasn’t comfortable showing physical affection to him – isolated as the places where, there was a possibility someone could pass by and catch them – but Veris assured him it was okay. Occasionally, Serra complained about them, and at one point noted their actions were arousing. They didn’t do anything more than kissing. Gael thought that was enough for now; Veris was an excellent kisser.
Well that went from studying hard for a test to something else rather fast and Serra's point there is both funny and also a little disturbing at the same time to imagine that a goddess has to subject herself to that every time thoughts thoughts are going to flow...well it looks like at any rate, if Veris is a trip, its being laid very well here.
Despite the kissing they’d done, the gesture felt intimate to Gael, his face felt warm. He wasn’t well-versed in romance, so he didn’t know what to expect from this. He did know he liked what had been happening between them so far.
‘More how?’
Veris didn’t hesitate. ‘You want emotional pleasure. Showing your affection towards each other is great and stuff, but it’s more meaningful when you actually care about the other, and want to spend time with him to know more about him. At least, that’s how you seem to me. I know for certain I want to know about you. Your hobby, your favourite colour, your family – everything that makes you the way you are.’
Well, that's definitely going well. I can't really trust anyone in this school at this point besides the ones we can see the thoughts of, but it does look like Veris is doing all of this genuiely, at any rate things are very much genuine on Gael's side from what we've been able to see.
‘I do want to know more about you,’ Gael said. ‘I’ve been wondering – why did you become a Fighter student, when it was clear you were better suited being a Scholar?’
Veris took his time to think about it, before sighing. ‘It was my father. He thought serving the military was the most you could do to contribute to your country, so he made me take classes for a Fighter student. Even when it was clear I preferred to read stories about war instead of actually joining in one, he thought he knew what was best for me more than I myself.’ He smiled weakly. ‘I didn’t have the courage to object, so I just followed what he said.’
‘That’s – that’s unbelievable!’ In actuality, Gael had heard about the kind of parents that Veris just described. But he had a hard time finding a legitimate reason for that. His parents never forced him do anything; they would rather like suggesting things for him and letting him make the final decision.
Well, there are definitely a few types of parents and not all of those types are like what Gael describes. It does add nicely to the details of this world to see how Veris ended up where he did and how someone like Gael ended up where he did. Its good to see us exploring a little more into the history of Veris.
At the last day before the Test, a thought came up in his mind. His knowledge of the church was sufficient – although he didn’t subscribe to it; as a Serra-blessed, naturally he followed the teaching of Divine Lake – but he wondered what Serra thought about the beliefs of Gods’ Brotherhood.
Fanatics, believing in something that Xesar doesn’t, she said as if he knew what was in his mind. Well, she literally did. He just wished he could have the same access to hers. We were perfectly content when Estagrians built up churches for us, each worshiping one Natural, until Lio turned against us. That was when Gods’ Brotherhood – which was initially named Will of Earth – was founded.
Okayy....so we're now moving away from that wonderfully blossoming romance to what appears to be a bit of a different vein here as these two discuss perhaps what might go down on that test day, although I guess they don't really know what exactly will happen there with the plan by Ilami, Felaris and the others....certainly bringing up some interesting points here. Also...I am now standing what might have become of Haka...shouldn't he have appeared at this point if the test is so close and if I remember correctly, he was one of the four chosen?
Her tone was like spring lake, calm on the surface, but hot to the touch. I distrust it since then. I couldn’t do anything, however, since I had to recover after the fight with Lio.
Do you think he has something to do with the church?
Oh, definitely, she said. Its followers, Lio-blessed people are the majority in this country. Why do you think that is so?
Gael had guesses, but optimistic as he was, he couldn’t come up with one that wasn’t terrifying. Do you think -
He wiped a huge portion of Wermin-blessed and enough of Xesar-blessed and my-blessed. Imagine them surrendering to an eternal sleep all of a sudden. I do not know through what mean did he do it, but I suspect it has nothing to do with our magic or the Twins’. I suspect it is the same as the one he used against us.
And unknowable magic… Gael thought, pondering on the possibility of it. Perhaps it’s something from the other countries – like Edrin or Lin-Zhe?
Hmm, well this has turned into a very interesting almost impromptu history lesson, one that is being provided to us by the goddess of wisdom herself. There is certainly a lot to learn in what Serra has to say here and the more we learn about these things, the more we can sort of sense the kind of plans that are going on in the background in this world.
She went silent for a few moments before sighing. I do. I think it comes from the Hollows, the creatures living in Arxios. The Naturals’ traditional enemy, the one who destroys our country. I am not sure, because the variant he used wasn’t pure Hollow.
Gael blinked in surprise. A deity using his enemy’s tool? Didn’t sound right to him – but then again, the Naturals did oppose his method of being the Hollows. Was he too enraged to the other Naturals to the point where any mean was necessary? How much hatred did he harbor to them? He couldn’t imagine being that angry. He never felt that angry to someone. Too much sadness must’ve led Lio to be consumed by it.
Okayyy....well these little conversations are certainly revealing some interesting details. This book just sometimes seems to have time for some of the simplest of problems but you're never too far from a lurking superpower of sorts with these little things that get mentioned here and there through Serra's thoughts.
Then, both of them continued what they were doing, which wasn’t rare. It was peaceful to both of them, preferred to help them focus on their study. Secca wasn’t the talkative type, and Gael respected that. The silence they were both comfortable with was the reason why he could converse with Serra without arousing his roommate’s suspicion. Until the time came, she stayed as a secret. When she let others knew about her presence, he would regain his blessing back.
Okayyy...well..this ends on a peaceful note for this particular chapter, although well, this chapter is certainly far from being done so there is just no telling how much chaos could be unleashed towards its end.
Aaaaand that's it for this one.
Overall: Overall, I think this is a pretty good start here to this particular chapter. We've moved some time forward as well towards this test and I'm sure that there are some interesting things in store for this here. Also multiple scenes are certainly fine and actually sometimes necessary depending on how you like to move a story forward. The only way multiple scenes end up messing with the pacing is if the transitions get a bit rocky and so far these are pretty good.
As always remember to take what you think was helpful and forget the rest.
Stay Safe
Harry
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