105

I bet Rain could switch auras every 1/100th of a second if he forced his system clock/Skill tooltips to show seconds up the the thousandths place. It would be a nice experiment in increasing your power by increasing System synchronization, since it would probably cause some serious Focus soul strain the first few time until he got the proper System/Soul connections in place. Val could use the same method too. Casting his Light Bolt 100 times per second would make it into a laser. If fact, if Val was to target the Dissolver's weak points with his laser like the archer guy did to immediately deplete their remaining HP, he would probably become the most effective person in the village at killing them.

Starless

I think the next step is slowly unpacking the “pain” he’s walled off.

SunderGoldmane

I think so too and I think SSoul hinted at it with the theory of trying to communicate to dozer. I imagine everyone else went comatose because of this communication dilation and not having enough clarity to buffer it.

SunderGoldmane

I personnaly prefer the way he did it though. Making a cliffhanger on him touching the obelisk only to reveal next chapter that it did nothing would have left a feeling of being cheated by he author (like one of those cliffhangers that make you think a character dies... and then "nope, jk lol") On the other hand, leaving on the obelisk doing nothing was very unexpected (at least for me). It's very mysterious and makes you exited for the next chapter to figure out what is happening.

Seems like a very real possibility that Clarity doesnt necessarily cause a loss of focus.. Might simply be due to his "fast(??)" consciousness/mind. That way any time a conversation lulls for even a second or two, it would feel, subconsciously to rain, that tens of seconds would have passed and wouldnt feel weird at all to "move" on with the conversation.

Required

I wonder if people would complain so much about chapters like this if the story was released as a finished book instead of a weekly serial.

Patrick camp

Here's the issues that I see with that. 1) The story's not told in a first-person perspective so that lack of focus is something the narrator/author is choosing to spend time on. 2) Even if it was told that way and the narrator wanted us to see that character quirk, you don't have spend multiple chapters doing that. Hell there are multiple times in the story where that exact thing does happen. When it does other characters and even Rain himself stops him 2 or 3 sentences in. The story establishes that he is focusing about the wrong things and is literally wasting time/effort/brain-power and stops him. Because of that when he isn't stopped it comes of as wasted lines. Even if he were to keep doing it as long as someone cuts him off before it goes on too long is fine. What's not fine is 3/4th's of a chapter focusing on this unnecessary details with no one in sight to stop him, and worse with previous chapters setting precedent it's not unwarranted for some people to fear this soul-space or whatever arc to last multiple chapters before plot starts to happen again. And again precedent says that over half of the chapter would he soul-searching, number-crunching gobbledygook and the rest just starting to explore the other plot points.

@Ulysses I think what you're mentioning is very much intentional. The story is from Rain's perspective, and all monolithic builds have negative 'quirks'. In Clarity's case it makes him, pun not intended, have focus issues. He can't help himself but be distracted. At least... that's my interpretation of it. I really enjoy the execution personally, but even if I didn't, artistically I still appreciate it.

This is my general opinion of this chapter, and even of SS's writing. They often focus on seemingly unnecessary details over actual plot happening. And by plot I don't even mean leveling up/"becoming OP" because as a reader the levels are meaningless to me. I mean plot. Characters interacting with each other and themselves to grow and change from their initial introduction or even not to grow but our understanding of them does. To see more of the world and how it is reacting to those changes, and I don't necessarily mean lore. For example, what's happening with Lavarro and Ameliah? The supposed trap was 3-4 chapters ago and a couple in-universe days ago? Did she see through it how did Ameliah and Tallheart react? Or the soldiers who now has to fight with one Silver out of commission? What about Halgrave? The conference was before Rain got out of the cave so what has he been doing since? Is he just stuck in that city hoping things would go alright? He knows the Empire is at the city's doorstep and he wants his daughter out at least, does he have a plan to do so? Speaking of his daughter, when is SS gonna do something with her? We know more about new guards, civilians, merchants, and slimes than we do about a girl who's been in a dungeon with Rain and who's wellbeing has been a important plot point multiple times in the story. I'm not clamoring for a harem or whatever but give us more than breadcrumbs. Instead we get entire paragraphs talking about recharging the armor when it should take 2 sentences max or about potential skilltrees when he takes none because now isn't the right time to get, train, and understand new abilities. Chapters fiddling with the ring and and number crunching only for Tallheart and Ameliah, whenever they reconnect, to tell him to stop because the abilities don't work like that and he could die if he keeps screwing around with stuff he doesn't understand fully, like his soul. I really enjoy this novel when plot happens but SS really likes hem-hawing big choices on the pages for some reason in a weekly format. And I wouldn't fault anybody for being frustrated.

Wow, this was awesome! Probably my favorite chapter yet. It's very satisfying when details like this are slowly revealed to resolve mysteries, and it's even better when the mystery is deeply connected to the world.

ParadoxFox

While a lot of things happened in this chapter, the way it was written make it look like not a lot happened. The reason for this is that most of the important parts are written as flashbacks or summed up in retrospect. Their process of actually uncovering the artifact, the actual experimentation and enlightment on the nature of soul/mind compared to body, what synchronisation mean, and so on. Those are the exciting developments in this chapter. What ends up taking up all the narrative space is random ramblings, stress/pain descriptions and other filler content, which together with an anticlimactic ending easily can lead a reader to feel that nothing happened in that chapter. I find this sad, and a bit of a wasted oppotunity. If someone was sufficiently salty, they would then generalised this problem into how the author generally prioritises in the story (random filler content based on following a characters experiance) through sacrificing plot development and so on. Personally I do not think that is the case, or at least I hope it is not, but maybe I am just being naive.

Ninetails

So yes, I am frustrated at the pace in real life, but that's because I am greedy. In terms of this being a "nothing" chapter, I couldn't disagree more. I actually loved his discoveries in this notsoulspace and in terms of his growth, I feel like it was just as important as any random levels. Discovering the mechanics beneath the system is more a path to power than anything else ever possible could be, so long as you live long enough to put that knowledge to work, anyway.

Parts of this felt a little rushed, but these developments are exciting! enjoyed

Eliot Blane

The more I read complaints the more I think folk want this to be just another bs generic fantasy litrpg.

Sean Coker

That and the most perfect scenario for Rain figuring out the system has just stumbled onto his lap. He is trapped with only figuring out system mumbo jumbo as a way out, has plenty of time to spare, and there are no 'distractions' cropping up like what has happened in the past.

Atlas Dwarf

Everyones saying nothing happened and that may be so but the chapter went exactly how it would if you were Rain. You just went through some serious pain and entered some soulspace. The first thing anyone is doing is figuring out where they are and not yh lets go touch the thing that is making me have a mental break down because of the memory i have of touching it. Everything that happens seems realistic and still was an enjoyable read. It showes how Rain himself figures things out sowly like hes actually living in that word rather than a paragraph explaining everything. I understand people want progress but this story has been slow and methodical since the very begining and if chapters like this bother you then its probably not for you because chapters like this is what sets the story apart from others in my opnion. Ss keep doing what you do.

Guys....guys....this chapter...this chapter right here. I had to read it three times just to be sure, but this chapter explains, quite literally, everything about what's going on with Rain right now. This chapter is called connection, think for a second guys, why is the chapter that finally focuses on the deeper meaning behind everything called connection? It's because the three aspects of existence, Mind, Body, AND 'Soul' need to work together. They need to be connected. They need to be synchronized. So far, Rain understands how the synchronization between mind and body works. Stats affect the body, which in turn allows the body to function properly. HOWEVER the key piece missing here is the synchronization between Soul and Mind is equally important. That is what's causing Rain's issue right now. That's the missing link; Rain's mind is not at all synchronized with his 'Soul'. How can it be? When he first awakened, he didn't have the preexisting notions of a 'Soul' that natives would have. So, when the System was first 'installed' on Rain the 'synchronization' it made with his soul was one similar to a computer system. That's why the damage to Rain's 'Soul' appears to him as "glitching". That's why when Rain awoke in soul form, he naturally defaulted to understanding it as "rebooting". When Rain meditates, he needs to view fixing himself as repairing corrupted data in his 'Source Code', because that is what makes computers glitch. He also needs to brute force out a new stat in his training window called 'Soul synchronization' to monitor his Soul/Mind progress, just like he has for Mind/Body synchronization. I would also theorize that there is a fourth synchronization, one between the System and the Soul, and that is what makes monsters so powerful since they would naturally start at 100%. But that's a discussion for another day.

Starless

I don't normally complain about things unless I'm actually going to take action on my side. But this chapter is very lacking especially when I consider you post once a week. If the cost was more than 2.50 or if the chapter length flagged downwards I would be dropping in a heartbeat.

ikorack

Its not that i dont like the exploration of skills and stuff like the next guy. Is more on the line of "a weeks worth of writing" amounts to nothing in the stories progress. Nothing happened, realy. He touched the artefact, found his soulspace, did some self reflection. The end.

D

I liked this chapter. Answered a few questions about how magic works and raised a few more about souls!

Qybalt

I don't understand why everyone is so upset. Since when does exploration of deep mechanics of magic not count as progress? I enjoyed the chapter plenty.

Pyrefiend

Fixed, thanks.

SenescentSoul

Thank you for the chapter!

Zauber

SS: This chapter would be a lot more satisfying, and you'd get rid of all the complaints, if you simply move the last few paragraphs into the next chapter. End it on my"He squeezed his eyes shut as his fingertips came in contact with the stone" and you have an exciting cliffhanger instead of an aggravating anticlimax. Then next chapter can start with his confusion about why nothing is happening and his response to that confusion.

David K. Storrs

Thanks for the chapter ! I wonder what the next step his after that, but he got a much better awarness of his soul because of it at least.

CentaureHeart

Typo: Rain took a deep breath and let it out slowly, [heedless] of the lack of air. No progress? What about Rain getting closer to understanding his soul is no progress? I think you did a good job conveying how Rain felt, his reactions and apprehensions. Thank you for the chapter :)

Newguy Roy

lots of stuff to think about this chapter

I, for one, love these kinds of chapters. The thing that sets this novel apart from others is the depth of the magic? systems involved and I could read thousands of pages about rain exploring them.

Nicolas Gustafsson

Pretty sure the “pain” he walled off was actually the obelisk trying to communicate with him and he was just “muting” it.

Orion Dye

Well to be fair the deadlines typical authors give themselves are for completed works. Usually completed works accomplish “something”. When everything is transitioning to subscription based payment, now authors don’t need a completed story to be successful. They just need to be good at cliffhangers. You can interpret this chapter either as being highly productive or not, but the truth is this would not have been in a typical book. It would have been cut as unnecessary to building the plot, except some key points such as the connections rain analyzed at the end.

MitchyGoodness

Thanks for the chapter, i liked the world building and exploration but hope somthing happens to progress faster in the next chapter.

Franco Evett - Pig Lord

Horrible...20 pages of mind fuck...and no progress?

Dal Frakked

Good god it tickles me to no end reading comments complaining about “there’s nothing in this chapter”. Keep up your wonderful story SSoul!

SunderGoldmane

That’s exactly how Rain felt.

SunderGoldmane

If he could figure out how to enter this time dilation soulspace with maxed out clarity or probably better a mix of focus and clarity, I could see him start decrypting spells and casting spells like a “true mage”. Personal theory: I think the encryption is based on collective perception of phenomena. Decoding May be akin to understanding the reason masses of people think a certain way. Which is gonna be difficult unless you introduce institutional education and standardize people’s understanding.

SunderGoldmane

Loved the time taken to setup the soul shenanigans, but as someone addicted to the story, I’m just sad that I can’t binge read more of this great stuff

Gabriel

If he brings it down on accident before luvarro gets pinned then things are gonna go south in a bad way.

SunderGoldmane

I’ve thought about this a little and I think the ending was brilliant. I was left feeling what I imagine Rain was feeling. I looked around to see if there were anymore pages, he looked around to see if there was any more surprises. Then we both just acknowledged that “that’s it and it kinda sucks” the end.

SunderGoldmane

There is time dilation shenanigans happening, maybe it actually on take 2 but feels like 20 XD.

SunderGoldmane

I whole heartedly agree but damn I feel teased.

SunderGoldmane

I actually liked the chapter. Sure, there's no action, but we get a bunch of tidbits of how things work, and this is what I like about this story : the exploration of the system's working and the experimenting, even when it's just Rain's thoughts.

Daoist

This and the next chapter should be consolidated into one.

Lightwavers

I ranted on last chapter but this one was really really good. We are building onto something finally. Keep it up! :)

Tomislav Fistrić

I liked it until there were 3 pages of filler in between him detecting the black obelisk in the soulspace and finally fucking interacting with it, just not have anything happen. I don't mind the last part at all but, 3 pages of rambling just to illustrate his indecision? really? Correction: it's not 3 pages, it's 15!!! Pages. I don't mind exploring a bit but that's at the very least 3x as much as it needs to be.

Deinos

n o

GrayReader

Man, I really hope the author doesn't take 20 chapters for Rain to figure out how to use the obelisk.

yeeteris dedmeem

The main thing is the single chapter a week. So little is happening in the story and it takes so long for another chapter that it just feels worse and worse. I get he probably has real life things that slow him down so he can't dedicate all his time to this. The thing is though what progress has really been made in the story? How long since his last level? How long since he couldn't leave the city and didn't know what was going on? How long before we figure out anything that is going on with his soul? It takes MONTHS in real time for any progress to be made for it to just end up as more questions with no actually substantial answers. We need to be given something of substance eventually.

Regnal

Yes it would be awful if we got something different than the generic Litrpg. I mean I can understand the frustration for people who are just here for the leveling experiance, but I don't understand why people always feel the need to tell the author how you can and can not do litrpg. For me personally I really enjoy this story, yes the litrpg element is a big draw, but also how the rules governing the world has real implications for the story. the interaction between the characters, the different characters, they are really well done and adds a lot to the story. Now pleas let the author wright the story he wants to instead of you and everyone else telling him what he cant and should do.

Ole Halvorsen

That wasn't 6 chapters long?

Joshua Little

That was a waste of time, mine and Rains. I can't believe after all that nothing happened. This needs to be cut down to like a page or paragraph and then something actually happens. Thanks for the chapter.

Joshua Little

Why are people so down on this chapter? It's really good! It's practically all direct exploration of deep mechanics and subtle world building. We're touching on deep mysteries about the setting here. I can understand wanting more but this is a web serial, which as far as I'm concerned is synonymous with "cliff hanger". With the wordcount per week we're getting you can have to pick either quality writing or plot devolpment. We can't expect everyone to be a wildbow or a pirateaba and churn out 50k+ words a week.

Sean Coker

Damnit. This was not at all satisfying. I enjoyed the chapter itself a lot, but then it just stopped. Not a cliffhanger, where it ends on some exciting moment, just a random spot. It feels like the author just got tired and decided to take a nap at the end of the current sentence, then forgot to keep writing afterwards. Which is all the more frustrating because, like I said, I enjoyed the chapter itself a lot. This is not enough to make me stop being a patron, but it is enough to make me think about it. Please end the next chapter on a proper story beat, whether it's a resolution or a cliffhanger.

David K. Storrs

I wouldn't call this a cliffhanger. We basically know what happens next and I am kind of dreading it. Would have been totally different if it ended with him gaining access. We know he will... eventually. The question is how many more paragraphs of him counting backwards or whatever else it may be until he gets a screen. This chapter was already over padded with mundane musings to have got him there.

Chris

Sure... Cliffhangers are know to make people want more... But it's not a positive situation. People want more because

Miritar

Cool as fuck.

Alexander Dupree

At some point I wish we could start getting answers to anything. Its just more questions and cliff hangers not progressing the story at all. Also its just been so painful to continue the story with Rain not getting any levels. I get in this world its suppose to be near impossible to level but that makes for a terrible reading experience in a litrpg. The whole point is to level while discovering more about the world. It isn't to stagnate completely and only ever get more questions with no answers. It's just been a disappointing lull in a story that progressed so fast in the beginning. Please move it along.

Regnal

FINALLY. Not a lot happened this chapter, but Rain interacting with the artifact has been a lloooonnnnggg time coming. Now we've just gotta see if he can actually bring down the barrier or if it was all a CRUEL PLOY.

Ziggy

I remember reading in some fanfic somewhere that the entire potter education system was put in place to force wizards to use props (wands, potions, chants, etc...) in their magic making because if they didn't then the people using "wild" magic we see at the beginning (potter subconsciously deleting the glass in the snake was one example) have a good chance of doing something horrific unintentionally. It went on to explain that the schools were enchanted to make any magic on their grounds impossible except by the wonky ways it was taught in class. Hence the ban on doing magic while away from the schools was to keep students from finding out they didn't actually need all of the bs they were taught. This was all done to train the students subconscious to not use magic except when they intended too.

Kapelteta

Seconded

Kapelteta

maybe he has no idea where to take the story so we get these empty chapters while he figures something out......i dont mind slow stories but i have seen glaciers move faster at this point.

dmadden

Yup, it's a nasty cliffhanger for sure. The content of the chapter is fantastic, and I totally envision Rain figuring a bunch of stuff out. But you are right- it feels cut-off and unfinished.

Randall Klatt

I fucking loved this chapter! I've been waiting for Rain to make some headway on regard to his soul, and this was a huge step in the right direction. I'm one of those types that both enjoys a good story as well as exploring how the story world actually works. For instance, the Harry Potter world is a bit frustrating, since pretty much no discussion is done as to "why" saying certain words and flicking a wand in a special way will cast a spell. Seriously? How is it that no one in that story world seems to care how that all works? I love this story because the MC is actually working to figure it out.

Randall Klatt

Interesting! I wonder if by strengthening his soul -- and his awareness of his soul -- he can speed up the rate of synchronization. And de-encrypting spells sounds like a pretty awesome pass-time.

Adrian Gorgey

The ending didn't have a payoff. Left me feeling unsatisfied. Otherwise, it was good.

Chris

So this is a good set up chapter but again with the cliffhanger. It seems like we have been going from one to the other with no resolution. Don't get me wrong I am very excited by the possibilities in this chapter. Rain could find links to the accolades and finally identify and integrate them. He could max out soul synergy with all of his stats. He could finish mana manipulation. Use mana manipulation to trace the patterns of the abilities and learn how to manipulate them directly. Find where abilities link to the soul and maybe learn how to swap them out like uncertain savior. Meditate and fix his soul damage. Learn greater soul perception abilities. Truly many exciting possibilities open up, and all under time compression too, but it feels like half a chapter.

Michael Hughes

> Dozer’s thoughts were half-speed on a good day, bless his heart. I nominate this for best sentence of the chapter.

loimprevisto

A part of me wonders how we all would have reacted if you cut the chapter at the end of page 3 (pdf).

Drumic

You made me wait 7 days for a giant nothing-burger

OrigamiKnife

Once Thought Projection kicks off, typing will become a lost art! Think the words and they appear! Coming soon in the 2090's!

Garrett

some interesting reveals about souls are in our future I suspect

Robert

so no more chapters will be brought by thumbs huh? -lol- i liked this chapter. The descriptions of whats happening and the soul realm in general is cool. Thanks

Grey Kylia

Dammit, he's back in the cave again! :P Hopefully he's not in there for another 6 chapters...

Empty Shelf

I once met a time traveler, they said that in the future touchscreen typing is only used as a form of torture.

Adam Roundfield

Thank you!

Gabriel

Thank you!

Andrew

The chapter is ok. Not great, but still ok.

Ezio Azrael

Fullsized keyboards are great lol

Alex Matheny

Thanks!

Ezio Azrael