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Chapter 32: Hail to the Proven (Patreon)

Published:
2025-10-19 11:25:01
Edited:
2026-03-01 04:38:16
Imported:
2026-06

Content

[REDACTED -- Read on RoyalRoad for most recent version]

Author's Note:

I copy/pasted the below from RR, but wanted to share with you too. Hope you enjoyed the conclusion of the goblin arc! Thank you so much for your support!

***

Bonus chapter to celebrate Front Page Rising Stars placement! Ya'll rock! I'd love to show more love, but I'm running out of backlog much faster than I had planned at launch... need to buckle down and get back to writing forward. The feedback and revisions y'all are driving make the story much tighter, but I didn't realize how time-consuming it would be. So thank you! And sorry.

Speaking of revisions... voila!

Slight change in Chapter 18 (10/18/2025) to make the stakes of why Caleb is trying to fly under the radar in front of Captain Hatch more explicit. 

Added an "Oh Crumb" moment to Chapter 21 (10/18/2025) that shows Caleb at least acknowledging he dun goofed by flashing his skills.

Chapter 18 TLDR: The Mandate is a recruiting front where top talent gets an offer, and often times conscripted if they refuse.

Chapter 21 TLDR: Caleb has a moment of self-reflection that he shouldn't have overreacted to Branson and flashed his status screen to shut him up.

Chapter 18 revision, Cassia to Caleb:

"Obviously, you couldn't have mustered for training this morning because you just Awakened this afternoon. But be warned: it's not what they tell you it is," Cassia continued, her words coming faster now. "Forget all that nonsense about civic duty. It's just pretty words to hide the teeth. The Mandate is a recruitment program, and a cruel one. They're not looking for bodies, not at first. They're looking for talent. They push everyone to find the few who truly stand out, and then they make them an 'offer'." Her fingers tightened on his arm, her expression grim. "And that's the trap, Thal. The offers aren't optional. If you're deemed 'valuable' and refuse their placement, they conscript you anyway. A five-year term. It's their way of saying your talent belongs to the Empire, whether you agree or not."

Chapter 21 revision, Caleb after witnessing Branson punch table:

The frustration was so consuming that he almost missed it when the half-elf behind the counter finally broke the tense silence.

Felicity had been staring at Caleb for a long moment. Her words were a hushed murmur he wasn't meant to hear. "Is he some kind of genius?"

Her statement interrupted his analysis, yanking his attention back to the counter. The fascination with Branson's show of power evaporated, replaced by a sudden dread.

Genius? The word was a glaring spotlight that caught him in its beam. For weeks, his entire strategy had been to be invisible, the quiet, reliable boy in the kitchen. But Branson’s casual bigotry, the sneering use of “dull-ear,” had scraped something raw inside him. For a moment, the frustration had boiled over, and he’d just wanted to shut the man up in the most undeniable way possible.

And he had. By ignoring every one of Cassia's warnings about standing out. He'd just hung a huge sign above his head that could make its way back to Captain Hatch. Crumb. That was monumentally stupid. He had to regain control of the narrative, and fast. Downplay it. Make it simple talent, not a miracle.

"I just learn fast." Caleb quickly dismissed the status display. "So—about that sponsorship?"

Files

Comments

R. Maxwell Steele

So they don't really invest much into new adventurers. But then pretend to be a brotherhood when people randomly survive things that should have killed them? This chapter has a "and then everybody clapped" vibe to it that rubbed me wrong. Feels out of place. I actually love the book so far and obviously think it's worth paying to read so I don't want to sound like a hater. But curious if other readers agree or if I'm way off base.

Jon Stonekey

I'll be curious what other people think too. Might have to wait until it posts up on RoyalRoad. What I was going for is a bit of aura farming. Caleb left with a contract that those who overheard it scoffed at, thinking he'd die for scraps. He returned having triumphed over something he never should have been able to kill on his own--I tried to show this via the Hall's reaction, and his instant promotion. And then he wins them over with some solid social engineering, because he understands the need to network. It's a bit cliche, but so is a lot of the story. I love the classics.

Rune

I enjoyed the combat and especially the wrap up of the rewards. I think the reaction of the guild is fairly realistic. You had the one hater. No one ever going to please everyone. Then you had the overall crowd cheering. People like winners. If they had seen a lot of newbies fail/die then it seems pretty logical they would celebrate the one who came back victorious.

Jon Stonekey

Thanks Jason. You're picking up what I'm putting down.

Tadas

I don't know. His decision making clashes so much. Like he didn't pick obvious godlike powers when he could, because that would put a target on his back. He wants to get stronger so he has more autonomy over his life and being in army would directly take away from it, so he should pretend to be incompetent. His role as a forager was sold that no one would look at him and he could do in quietly. And now he is like "LOOOK AT MEEEE I AM SOOO COOL LOOOOK AT MEEE I KILLEED MATRIARCH AND HARVESTED HER AND NOW I AM SELLING THE GLAND TO SOMEONE ELSE!!!!" Like he is an addict for showing off and bragging. He knows it's bad for him, but can't stop himself. It's frustrating. I feel like the whole premise of mature MC and his powers promises competent decision making and this is not it.

Jon Stonekey

Thanks for your perspective Tadas. I think you make a good point. To me, the cat was already going to be a bit out of the bag when he turned in the loot. The implications were unavoidable. So he was hamming it up for social capital because he thinks he needs to be in good standing with the adventurer’s guild, because he wants to use them. Kind of like a corporate networking… you gotta schmooze. But I can do a better job of narrating that, and it’s probably worth an edit. The other aspect is that I know where it’s headed, and am moving it in that direction. Doesn’t mean I’m doing it well… but I’m trying. And lastly… wanted some aura farming period, lol

R. Maxwell Steele

It's not so much that I don't expect them to celebrate the winners. It's the fact that letting a bunch of kids die without putting in any effort to help them (with the one lady who did go out of her way making it pretty clear that it not a regular practice). So if it was a bunch of kids in my neighborhood going out killing themselves on monsters every year, id be helping them gear, training, going on the missions with them until trust them to handle themselves. No way I'd just watch kids walk into danger while being capable of helping and not help. So I think the thing that feels off is that these people celebrating have already convinced me they are pretty worthless and so their cheers ring hollow?

R. Maxwell Steele

Ultimately the story is great and I'm a sucker for picking up new skills all the time so I'm definitely not turned away. I love all his skills and they are just the right amount of difficulty to raise. I know the skill lists tend to get too long and later skills generally combined to include multiple aspects, but getting new skills for things just feels like Christmas even when it's for trivial things. So I hope he continues to pick up random skills throughout the series. I also love in the later chapters that he is training his close friends and his talents are turning into their benefit, for me that's the ultimate aura farming, seeing him uplift the people who I care more about.

Vas

Thanks for the chapter.