Chapter 865: Suspicions
Added 2024-02-07 22:00:06 +0000 UTC“Formation interactivity is a fascinating magical specialty,” the projection of Clive said. “I very nearly pursued it myself, but there was very little material on the field where I was trained, and a surprising plethora on astral magic. Which may not be as much of a coincidence as I thought, I realised after talking to Boris. You may have met Boris by now, in which case you should try and get him to reveal some of his knowledge because—”
“Clive…” Farrah’s voice came from out of shot.
“Sorry,” Clive said. “Where were we? Right, formation interactivity. If you’re looking to specialise in it, which I highly recommend, there are a variety of essence combinations that are appropriate, depending on what else you’ll be getting up to. If you want to mix in some adventuring, you’ll want something with some combat options, while—”
Emi shut off the projection as there was a knock on the door. She got up from her bedroom floor, picked up the projector and set it on her desk. When she opened the door, her father was outside.
“Rufus will be here in about half an hour,” he said. “Make sure you’re ready to go.”
“I was ready an hour ago, Dad.”
“Okay, Emi. What are you watching in there?”
“The magic instruction recordings Farrah sent me.”
“Not the recording your uncle sent you?”
“No, Dad,” she said with a scowl. “Now that I’ve finally picked my essences, I have so much to learn.”
“You’ve made the final decision on your essences?”
“Yes.”
“Again?”
“Shut up Dad!”
He laughed, the grin slowly morphing to a look of concern.
“Your mother made me ask about the recording,” he said. “But she’s not wrong, Sweetie. Watching it over and over won’t make him come home any faster.”
“I said I wasn’t watching it!”
“Okay, okay,” he said, holding up his hand in surrender. “Taika is taking you for training today. I’ll call you down when he gets here.”
Emi went back into her room, grabbed the projector and plonked onto the floor, setting the device in front of her. She reached to resume the playback but her hand stopped halfway. After hesitating a moment, she took out the recording crystal and returned it to the carousel of them on her desk. She then took out the very first crystal, slotted it into the projector and tapped it to start. Jason's haggard face shimmered into being, with a forest panorama behind him.
“Hey, Moppet,” he said wearily. “I’m sorry I’m not there to give you this in person, but the Grim Reaper has recruited me to fight a giant space bird. Like the spaceship in Battle of the Planets, kind of, but I’m going to turn it into a person. It’s going to get real cranky when it figures out why.”
The projection of Jason let out an evil chuckle that turned into a tired wheeze.
“I know I’m not looking my best right now, but I promise you I’m fine. It’s just been a rough few months and this body is…”
Jason shook his head.
"All you need to know is that I'm becoming immortal. Proper immortal, so literally nothing can take me out. The bad news is that this means I won't be coming back to see you as soon as I'd like. The good news is that I'm definitely coming back. No power in the universe can stop me, and I've basically checked at this point. Before that, though, I have to go through a whole transformation sequence. Not a magical girl one, although I can't rule out inappropriate nudity. I'm going to be kind of a god for that angel-type folk you've probably seen by now."
He groaned and rubbed his temples.
"I don't have a lot of time right now. But since we won't be seeing each other for a while, I’d like to spend some of it telling you all the crazy stuff that’s happened since I last saw you. So, settle in and let me tell you what I did on my holidays.”
***
As he rode in the zeppelin over the city, Rufus watched a handful of messengers flying about in the distance. It was night and their wings seemed especially good at catching the moonlight. Not good for stealth, he mused, but certainly pretty.
Almost all of the young messengers from the transformation zone had chosen to stay in Asano Clan territory. They had been living with Jason's aura infusing the very land around them for most of their lives, and his spirit domains gave them a sense of continuity when faced with extreme change.
The locals had also taken some time to adapt. They had been through some profound changes in recent years, from monster surges to astral spaces to their home being surrounded by hostile vampires. Even so, having hundreds of angels as new neighbours was one of the more surprising quirks of Asano Clan living.
Rufus moved to run his hands over his head; an old habit that was no longer possible. His once bald scalp now sported a neatly trimmed afro and he ran his hands along the side of it instead. It was nothing like the ridiculous hair his brother had been sporting the last time they met. That mess looked like a topiary jester’s cap.
His mind dwelled on an upcoming meeting with Velius. Rufus hadn’t spoken to the man in most of a year, since he informed Rufus of Gary's death. He had quietly investigated the man, though. In his identity as a fertility doctor, Velius was one of a slew of experts recruited by the clan to help the transformation zone refugees.
The experts were mostly experts in medicine and, as much as was possible on Earth, magic. Jason's spirit domain had filtered out those with ulterior motives, no few groups having attempted to slip in spies. Rufus’ concerns about Velius were not that, the Reaper’s servant far above such petty concerns. His fear was that Velius had an agenda beyond what he claimed.
From everything Rufus could find, Velius was earnest and diligent in his work. He was in a role normally carried out by the Church of Fertility and he seemed to know all of their magic that didn’t require divine influence. Rufus had been surprised that the prime vessel of a great astral being could spend so much time on Earth, the main source of his concerns about some greater motive. His worries had been allayed by, of all people, Jason’s precocious niece.
***
Emi knew more about Jason's activities on Earth than anyone bar Jason himself. While Jason had omitted the more gruesome details, she had eagerly devoured knowledge about his adventures and especially the magic involved. This extended to Farrah and, while she was with them, Dawn.
The result of this was that Emi’s overeager and meticulous interrogations had given her a better understanding of avatars than most. She knew telltale physiological differences between an avatar, an essence user and a normal person. Anything from how often they blinked to how their skin reacted to sudden temperature changes could be an indicator.
Her assessments had the precision of a polygraph machine, meaning none whatsoever and any accuracy was basically luck. Nonetheless, as the princess of the Asano Clan, she found herself ignored off to the side in rooms with many of the clan’s most important people. When she found someone who kind of creeped her out and she couldn’t pinpoint why, she knew what to look for.
At first, she quietly freaked out. She was fifteen years old, knew magic was real but not what the limits were, and had a list of people she suspected were secretly puppet people for some unknown force. In the absence of her uncle or Farrah, she was uncertain of who to take her suspicions to. At that stage she had been uncertain about Rufus, yet to build the connection she had with Farrah.
As for her family, she wasn’t sure they would believe her. In the last few years, magic had turned out to be real, there had been a monster apocalypse and now they were living in a city made of clouds in France. Despite all that, her family were all too often stuck in what she thought of as ‘Earth sensibilities.’
Earth sensibilities were what she considered thinking predicated on a pre-magical world. Things were changed now, forever, and old people were utterly failing to realise that. It’s like they hit thirty and were incapable of accepting new ideas. Emi was aware that every teenager ever had considered their parents wildly wrong and out of touch, but she was the one that was right. If only they could just see it.
In the end, she had gone to Taika. He, in turn, immediately dragged her to the modest cottage Rufus had chosen for himself. When she started talking, Rufus didn’t dismiss her as a teenager. He didn’t talk over the nervous and rambling explanation that didn’t sound convincing to even her own ears as it tumbled out of her mouth. He sat and listened, his unnervingly direct gaze never flinching from her face. She wanted to look away but couldn’t turn from his dark, compelling eyes.
When she was done, she felt like a defendant awaiting the judgement of a court. Rufus sat without response, finally breaking eye contact as he considered her words in silence. Taika, a comforting presence beside her, gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. Finally, Rufus spoke.
“That makes a lot of sense,” he said.
“It does?” Emi had asked, as if she hadn’t been the one to bring the whole thing up. Rufus laughed, his eyes seeming to see right through her.
“Yes,” he said.
Rufus then explained about great astral beings, in a way the was less colourful but made more sense than anything her uncle had told her. His explanations were easy and clear, like a good teacher. He told her about their relationship with Jason and the linked worlds, all knowledge she had touched on but never really known. Then he told her about what the great astral beings were doing with the clan, helping the transformed people.
“It makes sense that they are using avatars,” he said. “I had been worried about such important people spending so long here on Earth, doing this.”
“Because it would suggest they’re here for more than what that doctor said to you?” Emi asked.
“Exactly,” Rufus said. “But if these are just avatars doing a side job while their real selves are out doing whatever it is they do, it means this isn’t some Jason-style cosmic nonsense about to start up.”
He let out a long breath and gave her a warm smile. Suddenly, he wasn’t so intimidating.
“I haven’t told anyone this,” he told her. “Taika knew some of it, but your family isn’t ready to deal with things on this level. They don’t understand what level it’s on, and I fear they would try to do something about it. Which they cannot. So, I’ve been keeping the activities of these avatars quiet. If they’re benevolent, it’s all for the good. If they’re not, only Jason could do anything about it, and he’s busy.”
“I understand,” Emi said solemnly. “Earth sensibilities.”
“Earth sensibilities?” Taika asked.
Rufus laughed again.
“She’s right. The people here are still too caught up in how they’re world used to work. The problem with having older people in charge is that they are slow to adapt.”
“Exactly,” Emi said.
“And the reason they’re in charge anyway,” Rufus said pointedly, “is that young people lack the wisdom that comes with experience.”
“And part of that wisdom is knowing when to keep a secret,” Taika told her. “What we’re talking about here is proper adventurer stuff. Hidden knowledge of the universe. Rufus is trusting you with this, and that’s trust your uncle earned for you. Now, you have to prove you deserve it all on your own.”
Emi couldn’t stop grinning as she walked away from Rufus’ cottage.
“You seem happy,” Taika said.
“He didn’t treat me like a kid. No one but Farrah and Uncle Jason do that.”
“What about me?”
“Yeah, people treat you like a kid too.”
“Hey!” Taika exclaimed in fake outrage as Emi laughed maniacally. She stopped when they reached his car.
“Can’t we fly?” she wheedled.
“Why would I fly you home when I then have to come back and drive my car back?”
“Aren’t you strong enough to carry the car? I’ll get in and you fly back holding it.”
Taika tried saying no in the face of innocent puppy eyes he knew hid the face of an evil genius. Instead, he let out a defeated groan.
“Your mum is going to poison my food for this.”
Comments
Thx for the chapter
Kconraw
2024-02-29 15:17:12 +0000 UTCNo, like 11, or 12.
KaguxTsuchi
2024-02-09 23:35:04 +0000 UTCYeah you’re right it’s Umber, not sure where umbra came from
2024-02-09 05:43:29 +0000 UTCUmber is another shadow of the Reaper, like Shade. That would make him a brother. The confusion likely comes from something Velius said about Shade's former summoner, but Shade cut him off. The relationship between Shade, Umber and Shade's former summoner has never been elucidated.
Shirtaloon
2024-02-09 05:35:59 +0000 UTCImma just wait for the epilogues to be done then jigsaw them as necessary.
David Yow
2024-02-09 02:25:44 +0000 UTCI would love for Emi to have one or more familiars, but Jason needs Shade. Shade has been the only thing standing between him and several really terrible decisions already and I don’t expect or want that to change
Joanna
2024-02-09 02:05:42 +0000 UTCYeah, where it says she’s 15 in this chapter is the flashback to not long after Rufus arrived, so like less than a year and a half since Jason left? Somewhere around there. The first part of the chapter is more than a year after that, if I’m reading it right
Joanna
2024-02-09 02:02:09 +0000 UTCNah, Umber’s the brother
Joanna
2024-02-09 01:58:17 +0000 UTCIt’s only a little sliver of each gab that’s actually involved in the training montage, most of each one is still dealing with the rest of the cosmos, I’m sure
Joanna
2024-02-09 01:57:13 +0000 UTCYep. The confusing part is this chapter bounces around in time. I *think* the first two sections are continuous with each other, but then the third is flashing back to much closer to when Rufus arrived on Earth, showing a very early moment in the development of Emi’s relationship with him
Joanna
2024-02-09 01:55:26 +0000 UTCUmber was Shades former summoner, not shades brother.
Alex Schellenberg
2024-02-09 01:07:49 +0000 UTCIt is fast but Shirtaloon talked about how the silvers were seeing significant advancement in the their levels during the transformation zone.
Mike Zebill
2024-02-08 22:58:22 +0000 UTCThat would be possible since he never became a voice of Jason like Collin and Gordon.
Mike Zebill
2024-02-08 21:24:35 +0000 UTCTrying to keep the timeline straight in my head. This is set roughly two years after Jason left to do his cosmic nonsense, correct? Rufus leaving was a couple months after, Gary passing was about a year and this is roughly another year, "His mind dwelled on an upcoming meeting with Velius. Rufus hadn’t spoken to the man in most of a year, since he informed Rufus of Gary's death."
Will
2024-02-08 19:00:01 +0000 UTCEmi is awesome cause she’s snarky like Jason but actually smart and right vs… sometimes right
Pierce
2024-02-08 18:26:38 +0000 UTCAnd autocorrect is still working on it
Joanna
2024-02-08 16:19:40 +0000 UTCSean, that was uncalled for. We all understood what he meant. Unkindness by you is no way to teach. Believe me, I had an abundance of unkind teachers. I’ve witnessed the effect of unkind teachers on my own children. I have always sought to learn and have tried to instill that in my own children. Calling someone a fool because of a spelling error just reveals your own nature. Be kind, and people will be kind to you. I’m speaking as a former arsehole. Trust me, it’s a miserable way to live.
N8rtotPlayz
2024-02-08 14:42:30 +0000 UTCThe point I was making relates to the tree his soul forge that is a person. Jason is going to turn the Cosmic Throne into a person. The GAB do not want Jason sitting on throne at all even when he comes into power. He is going to make the Chair into a sentient being capable of enforcing the rules on the GAB. The chapter with Jamie and the other messengers suggest that the Astral Kings look down on the GAB and can go toe to toe with most of them. They talked about making the Builder and the World Phoenix enimies like it was Tuesday.
Jarrett Mahon
2024-02-08 13:28:01 +0000 UTCI wonder if the gabs can communicate with their primes while in Jason's fight.
Kevin Anderson
2024-02-08 13:16:11 +0000 UTCThat's an interesting point jono.... I was wondering about the "she's gonna be pissed when she finds out why" is it what we already know in that they have human emotions etc, or is it something more after that. I think something more, but not sure what. I imagine it's somehow tied to the past issues we've seen with them possessing prime avatars
Kevin Anderson
2024-02-08 13:14:00 +0000 UTCNope, it's going to be a bilby
Kevin Anderson
2024-02-08 13:01:42 +0000 UTCcant wait to see what powers emi gets im really pulling for her to get a time confluence essence so she can make doctor who jokes
Lincoln Toms
2024-02-08 09:11:37 +0000 UTCStill vote for Emi to somehow get Shade’s brother Umbra as a familiar.
2024-02-08 08:57:30 +0000 UTCI’ve always thought it would be hilarious is she gets Shade’s “rival” Umber as a familiar.
2024-02-08 08:56:40 +0000 UTCThis chapter felt like a fresh breath of air
2024-02-08 08:19:36 +0000 UTCYes, and you can see a long discussion, including Shirt's response, as replies to my post a couple hours ago. (Also, whee! I got a Shirt response!)
Laura H
2024-02-08 07:00:03 +0000 UTCI suspect Taika is exactly where Shade was during his time on Earth with Jason. I loved Shade's talking recently about being talked into doing some rash things by Emi when his bodies were widely separated. Like the powered scooter. I still laugh just thinking about that! And speaking of Emi and familiars, I wonder if Jason will ask Shade to become Emi's familiar instead of his, since I suspect she'll end up roaming the universe with Uncle Jason shortly so they both can benefit from his wisdom and friendship?
Laura H
2024-02-08 06:55:26 +0000 UTC10 years for gold when they are silver for less then 2 is really fast.. specially when they have some other stuff to do in the meantime
Idan tal
2024-02-08 06:31:48 +0000 UTCPuppy eyes can totally hide a face if you're entranced
JonO
2024-02-08 05:57:03 +0000 UTCI always love the prologue chapters.
Justin Wilson
2024-02-08 05:50:56 +0000 UTCI don't disagree with the 10 years because that's roughly the norm.... but biscuits aren't normal. They'll move quick. I think most of not all of them will reach gold or very close to it by the time Jason returns. So far one year has passed (based on Gary chapters) and i think emi is 14 or 15 now which is older than she should be if we met her directly after the main story (not the epilogs) so at least a full year has passed by now.... maybe 2 at most. I think the time skip will be at minimum 4 years, 6 max. 10 if that's what's necessary, but I'm going for significantly less.
JonO
2024-02-08 05:49:47 +0000 UTCHonestly i wouldn't doubt her getting all legendary essences just so she can be extra special as clan asanos princess lol Seriously though, she definitely should have a dimensional essence. That sounds perfect for me. She'll definitely get at minimum one familiar and i love the idea of umber picking on shade lol
JonO
2024-02-08 05:43:38 +0000 UTCI’m assuming the only way for him to win the throne is by reaching gold (as all the rest are limited to silver). And him coming back as gold while the rest of the biscuits are still silver will be weird, and they need around 10 years for that (was mentioned several times) so 10 years 😅.
Idan tal
2024-02-08 05:24:11 +0000 UTCUmber!
Terry Bell
2024-02-08 05:22:55 +0000 UTCI'm hoping for a Snootier older brother of Shade from the Reaper, almost certainly some version of Apocalypse beast too ^ ^
Iain Grubb
2024-02-08 04:32:10 +0000 UTCShe's already down for summoning familiars because the pre req was the ability to use ritual magic before slotting an essence which she has been doing for years.
Iain Grubb
2024-02-08 04:29:36 +0000 UTCThats true, i am glad the clan kept those things away even after all this time. Its really awesome to see how the family and outsiders have turned into a full blown clan! Talk about having a village to raise a kid.
Ken Sevier
2024-02-08 04:16:47 +0000 UTCYeah I saw his reply a bit ago. I still can't see how she's still 15 going on 16. But what eva, just a story. I'm sure shirt wants more time before she gets her essences and thats completely cool.
Kevin Anderson
2024-02-08 04:14:02 +0000 UTCDude no one said Jason would be gone that long. The original estimate for his Astral king transformation was 2~4 years and they said fighting the Phoenix would make it take a little longer, so we're did you get 10 from?
Sean C Jackson
2024-02-08 04:01:16 +0000 UTCYou must have seen it after Shirt fixed it! Congrats
Joanna
2024-02-08 03:58:35 +0000 UTCAh yes, one of the greatest hurdles in the English language, there, their, and they're. It took me quite a long time to learn the difference well enough to know when to use which.
Sean C Jackson
2024-02-08 03:57:47 +0000 UTCI think it would be hilarious if she got a familiar ability and Umber shows up so he can pester Shade when Jason comes back
Magus Iferluc
2024-02-08 03:41:07 +0000 UTCIt definitely said she is 15, and to me at least implied she would be 16 soon. P.S. I just saw that Shirt already edited the chapter so...
Sean C Jackson
2024-02-08 03:40:33 +0000 UTCYour correct about the bio stasis from Jason's soil realm, which if irc would put her just under 14 biologically when Jason left Earth. So thank you, I knew there was a reason I thought she was still 13 when he left. And I feel like she might use her biological age because that's the one most relevant to when she can get essences.
Sean C Jackson
2024-02-08 03:38:04 +0000 UTCShirtaloon (Travis Deverell) I got this wrong while doing massive revisions of an already finished chapter hours before it went live. One chapter becoming three levels of revision. That was a mistake that got through because it didn't go through the usual thorough process because most of my beta readers were asleep. I've adjusted Emi's age to 15, and she is close to 16
Magus Iferluc
2024-02-08 03:36:37 +0000 UTCMaybe he was referring to the goetic demon.
chris
2024-02-08 03:32:54 +0000 UTCYou can also swap the pandering essence with any of those and still get the CM confluence but the essence abilities don't make any sense
2024-02-08 03:32:29 +0000 UTCYeah I agree, and kinda had to change it in my head.
Sean C Jackson
2024-02-08 03:23:31 +0000 UTCWell Jason and her parents shielded her from some of the worst things that he did that the rest of the family even knows about.
Sean C Jackson
2024-02-08 03:22:45 +0000 UTCAny time you need a quick punctuation and spelling review, Shirt, give me a yell! I won't Americanize any spellings, either, promise. I'm on the other side of the world from you, so early a.m. in Australia is midafternoon for me. And thanks for the quick revision to Emi's age. If you never noticed before, you have many very, very obsessed and obsessive readers. 😅
Laura H
2024-02-08 03:14:57 +0000 UTCEh, I think the most he would do is not give it up just to make sure they can't break it again.
Sean C Jackson
2024-02-08 03:14:26 +0000 UTCI suspect shirt, will surprise us no matter what. But I’ll be most surprised if what ever is chosen isn’t either very intellectual geared towards complex ritual magic, or outright supremely OP magic like dimension + myriad + sin with confluence cataclysm, or dimension+ void+ vast/ confluence time
Jordan Rogers
2024-02-08 03:14:12 +0000 UTCI'm pretty sure she was still 13 when Jason left.
Sean C Jackson
2024-02-08 03:12:40 +0000 UTCYou have to remember that emi spent a lot of that time in Jason's soul space and no one aged while in that space. So in terms of her mental age, she is about 16, but physically, she 14 because of the weird kind of stasis they were all in.
Jacob Kraus
2024-02-08 02:53:46 +0000 UTCHere is the thing I have imagined what essences Emi might choose for herself. So I know someone is going to be bothered by it but. Fire plus water plus earth with the cloud confluence. She could literally be the avatar depending on what abilities she picks up she could literally do anything with that power set. Think about it.
Zachary Ross
2024-02-08 02:00:39 +0000 UTCI got this wrong while doing massive revisions of an already finished chapter hours before it went live. One chapter becoming three levels of revision. That was a mistake that got through because it didn't go through the usual thorough process because most of my beta readers were asleep. I've adjusted Emi's age to 15, and she is close to 16.
Shirtaloon
2024-02-08 01:59:24 +0000 UTCMe too.
Zachary Ross
2024-02-08 01:53:41 +0000 UTCEmi would be an adopted member of the extended Geller clan in seconds. Danielle wishes her family were capable of thinking like Emi. A part of me expects that one of Humphrey's younger cousins might manage a social connection.
Zachary Ross
2024-02-08 01:52:50 +0000 UTCWhat if she becomes a familiar specialist like Humphrey's sister. With super familiars like a shadow of the reaper and say a star Phenix, maybe she will luck into a apocalypse beast of her own. maybe she could get a space dragon. That could be awesome.
Zachary Ross
2024-02-08 01:46:14 +0000 UTCI would not be surprised if some super rare awakening stones pop up like the ones found during the contest. Velius walking into the ceremony with a pocket full.... I also bet Jason left a lot of great ones and the loot to trade for whatever she needs.
Kevin Anderson
2024-02-08 01:40:40 +0000 UTCI don't see Emi going magic society unless she starts chatting up celestial book's agent on earth who hasn't been identified in the story so far. I'm not saying it won't happen because I totally see her getting books token. I expect her to pick up tokens from multiple great astral beings. Imagine her gift transfigurations. Book gave Clive the gift change from the human special attack affinity to magic affinity. Throw in a possible shadow of the reaper gift, not Jason's but something similar Shade has stated that he has many siblings beyond umber. ( One of shades siblings has got to not be a doushe) plus I imagine she will have picked up the attention of some of the more interesting great astral beings. Like legion or all seeing eye, or sand, or song, or some other super universe god being. Emi is the first princess of the whole world and she has gotten to hang out with the avatars of the agents of these super beings. On Clive's world the magic society is a trap, to identify use and possibly assassinate individuals who learn too much about the secret sauce behind magic. Lastly I think the influence of Rufus and Tika will definitely see Emi as an adventurer. She may found the adventure society and magic society for earth. But the magic society is a trap. It won't be a magic society, more like a magic research think tank with lots of funding, peer review,and all sorts of other good stuff.
Zachary Ross
2024-02-08 01:36:10 +0000 UTCWe don't know how long it took Rufus and team to travel to earth though...
Kevin Anderson
2024-02-08 01:28:00 +0000 UTC9 ?
Kevin Anderson
2024-02-08 01:19:15 +0000 UTCHopefully the various avatars have not overheard emi playing Jason's recording. It's not clear if it might even piss off the gabs on Jason's side? And I agree with the others there's no way she is still 14. Even if it took a year to tell Rufus, there's no way shes 15.... I'd think 17ish?
Kevin Anderson
2024-02-08 01:14:06 +0000 UTCDefinitely. You think she's going to settle for mediocre when her fave Uncle is calling himself a God entity lol.
Kalanaere
2024-02-08 00:52:02 +0000 UTCShe hasn't met Clive officially. She's watched recordings
Kalanaere
2024-02-08 00:49:02 +0000 UTCDanielle would sooo steal her away.
Kalanaere
2024-02-08 00:47:47 +0000 UTCNo she's totally going to be Magic Society. Thst will annoy Clive lol. She won't be anywhere near adventuring if her parents have any say. I'm very curious f her outlook has changed at all after getting to talk to Rufus over a year
Kalanaere
2024-02-08 00:47:00 +0000 UTCAkari and Shiro ( her father)
Kalanaere
2024-02-08 00:45:09 +0000 UTCShe's an evil Genius and Jason is her Uncle. You tell her she can't be younger if she so desires lol
Kalanaere
2024-02-08 00:44:23 +0000 UTCWhat’s the universes’ reaction, If Jason goes full astral king plus gains the sundered throne, and keeps all the other GABs as nerfed silver rankers stuck in a body?
Jordan Rogers
2024-02-08 00:41:37 +0000 UTCOmg EMI has Taika wrapped around her fingers. Rufus is obviously a great teacher and he knows how to guide EMI. Now the rest of them need to wake up and understand the world has changed
Kalanaere
2024-02-08 00:39:56 +0000 UTCOhh random thought. What if Emi's essences and awakening stones end up being influenced by the gabs and their minions in asano land. So they all turn out top tier and super rare or unique in how they manifest. Familiars being an obvious example.
Nergie
2024-02-08 00:27:09 +0000 UTC"And from that Rufus goes to earth and has been there for about a year now (Jason 30). " I think it's much more than 1yr since Jason started fighting the GABs... we learn here that it's ?over a year since Gary died, but Gary hung on for many months (viz last chapter) more than expected, so I'm thinking it's more like 2yrs rather than 1.
Ruth Ivimey-Cook
2024-02-08 00:10:18 +0000 UTCThat was a wonderful change in cadence.
Allen Wilding
2024-02-08 00:08:26 +0000 UTCEmi is going to get the Vast, Myriad, and Dimension essences, which combine to form the Cinematic Multiverse confluence.
Liesmith
2024-02-08 00:06:43 +0000 UTCLove this snapshot.
2024-02-08 00:06:32 +0000 UTCTrue, I'm also betting with her increasing sense of who is and is not an avatar that she'll pick up something is wrong when next Jason shows up in his prime avatar bodysuit even if she put her finger on it.
Allformsoflight
2024-02-07 23:56:25 +0000 UTCThey are in 🇫🇷...
Scott McCarthy
2024-02-07 23:51:13 +0000 UTCI kind of hope she gets Rune and Dimension into something else. Rune feels right forever to me, especially with her ritual experience, and Dimension since princess needs a expensive essence, and Erica would likely not complain about her getting teleport out of danger powers.
Scott McCarthy
2024-02-07 23:47:54 +0000 UTCI have been waiting for what feel like years for a proper Emi chapter and I want more. Even my daughter's who only listen occasionally love Emi
Crystal Donak
2024-02-07 23:40:33 +0000 UTCI’m not sure the lack of physical proximity would be enough to escape their grasp, to be honest.
Jordan Jones
2024-02-07 23:40:05 +0000 UTCYeah you’re Right cause when Jason got to Pallimustus he was 23 and he spend about 1 yr 6 months there before returning to earth at about 25 yrs old. When he returned Emi is 12 yrs old and the grid when down on her 13th birthday and around the time Broken hill happened Dawn mentions that Jason didn’t celebrate his 26th birthday on April 1st (April fools day). From there reading the books you can say about a Year and a half as gone by between him becoming silver after Makassar and finishing the link and traveling back to Pallimustus. (I’m currently re-reading book 7 at the moment) and it mentions that Jason and Farrah were on earth for about 2 and 1/2 years when he was being interrogated when first coming to Rimaros (Chapter 10 @ the 10:24min mark) Lol. So the timelines line up here. By now he should be about 28 ish years old. We can assume that the builder invasion arc is a few months at least because it lasts about as long as Monster Surge. Then the Purity Church arc is probably another 2 months and Jason over taxes his soul and is bedridden for about 3 months so let’s say all of that is about 6 months which I think is being generous it’s probably longer. Then they leave Rimaros and travel south for about a months and maybe another month or two In Yaresh before going underground. So about 9 months then the Transformation Zone is said to have been months where everyone is dreaming to see real sky so let’s say about 3 months so all together a Year so Jason should be about 29 years old here. And from that Rufus goes to earth and has been there for about a year now (Jason 30). Soo Jason return to earth at 25 yrs old (Emi 12 yrs old) By Now Jason should be 30 yrs old meaning Emi should be at least 17 yrs old!!! Not 14. Shirt you have some explaining to do Lmfao 🤣. And I also need to go touch some grass Lol 😂
Jean L. Philippe Jr.
2024-02-07 23:39:53 +0000 UTCEni! What essences is she getting?? Ohhh. She is so smart!!!
René Blaser
2024-02-07 23:24:49 +0000 UTCNo notification or interface until Jason gets back. Just her describing. Clive would be furious.
Seth J.B.
2024-02-07 23:24:20 +0000 UTCI know o keep saying it but I’m ready for an earth arc. This was one of the best chapters
BloodStorm
2024-02-07 23:18:07 +0000 UTCThese go way too fast. Im officially declaring that all chapters need to be AT LEAST 9K words. Fight me. ;-P
Tim
2024-02-07 23:16:02 +0000 UTCSuddenly remembering Harry Turtledove's "Case of the toxic spell dump", great fun story, and has a garuda bird scene very reminiscent of this.
Jason Hardman
2024-02-07 23:15:26 +0000 UTCTFTC!
Naotsugu97
2024-02-07 23:09:09 +0000 UTCI think Jason implied that she wasn't aging in his soul space during the first Earth arc when he was talking about why she didn't need to use the bathroom in there. I haven't come anywhere close to doing any of the math around that though.
Daniel
2024-02-07 23:08:54 +0000 UTCSo excited to see what Emi chooses. So happy to see she wants to see Jason.
Ken Sevier
2024-02-07 23:08:29 +0000 UTC"Taika tried saying no in the face of innocent puppy eyes he knew hid the face of an evil genius." I love the concept of this line, but eyes don't hide faces. Maybe "hid the mind of an evil genius"?
Joanna
2024-02-07 23:08:16 +0000 UTCI think it meant she was 14 when she first started noticing, not that she is currently 14
2024-02-07 23:02:10 +0000 UTC"Emi was aware that every teenager ever had considered their parents wildly wrong and out of touch, but she was the one that was right." I love this line so much!
Joanna
2024-02-07 22:56:19 +0000 UTCYeah, it's weird. Shirt says Jason was on Earth for 3.5 years in books 4-6, plus ~two since then means she should be chronologically 17. There were suggestions that the time she spent in Jason's soul space put her in a sort of biological stasis, but that wouldn't have been more than two, maybe 2.5 years of that time at the most. The grid went down on her 13th birthday, after all, and then there were several months of monster apocalypse before Jason tucked his family away, and some significant time after the 'incident' in Venezuela when they were in hiding but not staying in his soul space anymore. So she should still be physiologically 15 at the very least. And what teen, given this weird situation, is not going to insist on using the larger of the two numbers? That's the most unrealistic part!
Joanna
2024-02-07 22:54:13 +0000 UTCYeah, I googled that before I mentioned it a few minutes ago and it's wrong in any version of English,as far as Google knows. And these days Google knows *everything.*
Laura H
2024-02-07 22:42:59 +0000 UTCIs the chapter title an Australian spelling of that word? Because it looks misspelled even for Australian English.
Tanner Lovelace
2024-02-07 22:37:13 +0000 UTCHonestly I think that was one of the best chapters in the whole book! I hope we get to see a lot more of Emi, Taika and Rufus together. I’m also waiting to see what her ability set turns out to be. I’m guessing something like Clive but maybe a dimension essence thrown in? It’d be cool if Shirt let us do a vote on her fighting style or essence combo/ awakening stones
Aaron J
2024-02-07 22:35:05 +0000 UTCI've been trying to work out Emi's age, and it just doesn't add up. She was 12 when Jason first went back to Earth. He was there at least 2.5 years, and more than a year has passed since he returned to Pallimustus, even before he went into the Brightheart zone. Plus he's 30 now, I think he said. So that adds up to 3.5-4 years. And now Rufus has been on Earth a year, so make it 4.5-5 years. But Emi's only 14? What happened? Does time run differently on the two worlds now? It simply doesn't add up!! I'm willing to swallow a lot of disbelief. But if this jumped out at me after only reading this new chapter a single time, I think it's time for a bit of judicious editing, Shirt! Sorry to be the nitpicker ... I promise I don't do this very often!
Laura H
2024-02-07 22:34:57 +0000 UTCI know the next few chapters are already planned but I want to know what rufus thinks about the Japan Asano Clan? I forgot her name, akira or something, she and her grandfather were the the best sword wielders on earth, and I have to wonder what Rufus thinks of traditional sword fighting.
Le Frog
2024-02-07 22:32:34 +0000 UTCEmi is one of the best characters. I can literally see her being the founder of the adventure society earth division. I kinda see the adventure society going multi universal.
Zachary Ross
2024-02-07 22:30:05 +0000 UTCI'm just happy Emi is looking forward to seeing Uncle Jason again and isnt scared/skittish of him like towards the end of bk6
Nergie
2024-02-07 22:29:19 +0000 UTCEmi and Danielle Geller should never meet. I mean it would be super fun, just not for those close by when they get up to something.
Allformsoflight
2024-02-07 22:26:03 +0000 UTCMade me so happy!
Joanna
2024-02-07 22:25:37 +0000 UTCThat is even more awesome. Thank you for the additional flair. :)
Dlandis
2024-02-07 22:25:34 +0000 UTCBut what Essences did she choose!!!
Bampark
2024-02-07 22:25:11 +0000 UTCI was imagining him as a giant bird with the car in his claws
Joanna
2024-02-07 22:23:41 +0000 UTCin a way the was less colourful but Guessing 'the' should be 'that' ----- too caught up in how they’re world used to work. 'they're' should be 'their'
Aaron
2024-02-07 22:23:35 +0000 UTCEmi most definitely has that 'spark' of potential, no doubt about it
Blayne Allsen
2024-02-07 22:23:34 +0000 UTCTftc. I love the Emi training ark.
Harbby
2024-02-07 22:21:43 +0000 UTCSo.. about a year and a half gone by. 9+- to go. If all of them are written like this it’s a brilliant time skip
Idan tal
2024-02-07 22:20:46 +0000 UTCLove it. It's good to see that Emi has met Clive and I cannot wait for the rest of the team to meet the rest of Jason's family
Alex Salamanca
2024-02-07 22:19:54 +0000 UTCGod that was a good chapter
Brandon Walker
2024-02-07 22:17:21 +0000 UTCLove the chapter though I think the editor program changed they're and their in the instance of they're world. Still laughing as a picture Taika carrying a car superman style with Emi inside flots through my imagination.
Dlandis
2024-02-07 22:16:53 +0000 UTCI think it might be in purpose to permanently force vessels and cause the gab to think for themselves. At least the ones present in his rumble
JonO
2024-02-07 22:16:25 +0000 UTCOmg terrific following the heartbreak of the last chapter.
Andrew Woodard
2024-02-07 22:15:22 +0000 UTCGreat chappie!
Cryfdwr
2024-02-07 22:14:48 +0000 UTCA really good chapter! Emi is growing up so wonderfully, and is probably even more brilliant than I already thought she was. But I have to mention you spelled the title wrong ... It's suspicions with a C!
Laura H
2024-02-07 22:14:42 +0000 UTC“She’s right. The people here are still too caught up in how **they’re** world used to work. The problem with having older people in charge is that they are slow to adapt.” caught a typo, thanks for the chapter
2024-02-07 22:14:17 +0000 UTCYay proper emi time! She's going to rock the world as she comes to on her path. Also shirt.... please please please let us know her essence and confluence combo. I know you've been laying off the notifications lately which i approve of lol but she definitely deserves long winded descriptors at some point.
JonO
2024-02-07 22:14:07 +0000 UTCI think this honestly confirms that Emi also has that 'spark' that people who have the potential to make it to diamond (and beyond) have.
Connor
2024-02-07 22:12:39 +0000 UTC“Hey, Moppet,” he said wearily. “I’m sorry I’m not there to give you this in person, but the Grim Reaper has recruited me to fight a giant space bird. Like the spaceship in Battle of the Planets, kind of, but I’m going to turn it into a person. It’s going to get real cranky when it figures out why.” - this had me grinning. Omg the GAB are gonna be sooooooooooooo pissed. I think the avatars are there so late nod to Jason when he takes the throne they're going to be like get off the throne or we're going to destroy your world
Jarrett Mahon
2024-02-07 22:12:29 +0000 UTCTFTC!!!
Branden Rudolph
2024-02-07 22:11:39 +0000 UTCI love emi she's such a well written young character I can't wait to see how she grows
Valhazstromoz
2024-02-07 22:11:09 +0000 UTCLove seeing Emi's perspective on things. Also nice first interaction between Emi and Rufus.
Connor
2024-02-07 22:10:52 +0000 UTCI am in love with these chapters!
Jonathan Crandall
2024-02-07 22:08:55 +0000 UTC"Her assessments had the precision of a polygraph machine, meaning none whatsoever and any accuracy was basically luck." - my favourite line I've read this year. That's FANTASTIC
lockx
2024-02-07 22:07:45 +0000 UTCThis Emi chapter was amazing. Watching her grow up and come into herself has been genuinely heartwarming in contrast to most of Earth’s stories. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her in the next books
mhaj58
2024-02-07 22:06:17 +0000 UTCFirst!! Tftc
Jarrett Mahon
2024-02-07 22:03:57 +0000 UTCWoot! Glad to get more earth catch up and Emi is a great character, glad she's getting on with Rufus and still buds with Taika(of course).
JaykeTheGeek
2024-02-07 22:02:30 +0000 UTC
