Q/A (Patreon)

"With 140+ chapters already written will the rate of released chapters be increased, released in a massive batch release, or held in reserve as a personal backlog?"

For now, I’m sticking with five chapters a week, plus the occasional bonus chapter when time allows.

I’d like to eventually move to seven chapters a week, but I want to see where Patreon goes from here and whether I’ll be able to cut back on some of my work responsibilities and spend more time writing.

"What would it take to get more releases?"

Pretty much the same as above. If Patreon keeps growing and I can reduce some of my workload outside writing, I’d like to increase the release rate.

"Is there going to be a more advanced tier with 30 chapters ahead of RR perhaps?"

Possibly. First, though, I want to see how many chapters I’m realistically able to write each week once the dust settles after the launch.

“Why are you keeping such a large backlog instead of releasing it faster?”

Because I don’t want to write new chapters under constant pressure and, more importantly, I really don’t want to leave you with a HIATUS because I suddenly run out of chapters.

"How long do you expect the story to be? Are we talking 5 books? 10 books? Do you expect to be writing and releasing for the next decade?"

Right now, I’d guess around seven books.

But as I mentioned in Where EoN Is Going, sometimes I’m not entirely sure where the journey will take me, so I wouldn’t treat that number as set in stone.

“How far ahead is the story actually planned? Do you already know how EoN ends?”

Yes. I know how the main storyline ends. As for now I am writing Arc 4, and have plan for 5,6,7 and 8.

“How long does it usually take you to write a chapter?”

Usually about a day. Sometimes I can even write two chapters in one day.

The bigger time sink comes afterward. English isn’t my first language, so I write the first draft in my native language, then translate it into English and go through another editing pass with feedback from a native speaker.

"Will the MC ever return to earth? Or in general will things turn multi-world level?"

Without spoilers, all I can really say is that I’m not planning to build a stack of increasingly higher worlds where, after a thousand pages, you suddenly find out that the world you’ve been following was basically just the tutorial zone.

“Will the story always remain this slow-burn, or will the pace increase as Arien gets older and the scale of the story grows?”

The pace will gradually increase with each arc. There will still be lighter and quieter moments, but the stakes will keep getting higher.

“Will there continue to be quieter / slice-of-life periods between the darker arcs?”

Yes. I enjoy writing them, and they give both Arien and the readers a little room to breathe between.

"How long is the academy Arc? I see that there's 7 years until graduation. Are we going to watch all 7 years or there's going to be these time skips?"

The Academy itself lasts ten years. In the eighth year, the students leave for a year-long expedition, then return for another two years.

That said, we definitely won’t be following every single year in detail. There will be another major time skip fairly soon, followed by an arc with a much stronger focus on progression.

And after that… you’ll see. :)

“What is the average power level in the capital? We got some answers from adventurers about army levels, but how does it look in the capital?”

For ordinary people who aren’t connected to any major faction, the average isn’t that different from elsewhere.

For people backed by powerful factions or other major forces, you’ll commonly see levels anywhere from around 30 to 80.

The real power figures are a different story entirely. Some of them are level 100+.

“Will there be more extended stories focused on other characters, like Orian’s story, or will most of the story remain tightly centered on Arien?”

There will occasionally be other POVs, but Arien will remain firmly at the center of the story.

As for longer side stories like Orian’s, I’m not currently planning another one anytime soon. Arien will finally be capable enough to go on adventures of his own.

" I didn't get his choice of assigning Fire Aspect as a skill when he already had Lightning. When he already was cautious about assigning skills and it wasn't a life or death situation. It doesn't make sense to me."

I think that, at that point, both Danger Sense and Unshakable Mind would have been extremely difficult for him to train consistently and gain experience with.

There’s also one important thing to keep in mind: Arien can make mistakes. He can make choices that aren’t perfectly logical or optimal, and sometimes we have to cut him a little slack for that.

"Can you merge skills? Is it completely impossible or needs extraordinary circumstances?"

Good question. Different skills can be used together and combined in how they function.

The first really good example of that should appear in one of the upcoming fights.

“Could something like a broader ‘Elemental Skill’ exist instead of having every Aspect occupy its own skill slot?”

Yes, something like that is possible.

Of course, it would be weaker and less efficient than a skill focused on a single element, but it could still be very useful because of the flexibility it offers.

“Are skill slots truly permanent, or are there mechanics Arien simply doesn’t understand yet?”

For now, it’s probably safer to assume they’re permanent.

“How much of the System is already planned? Do you have firm rules for skills, professions, traits, rarity, etc., or do you develop some of it as the story progresses?”

The System has established rules behind it.

A lot of it was designed specifically to prevent characters from becoming too overpowered too easily, so there are limits and trade-offs built into how skills, professions, traits, and progression work.

“Can you tell us more about Arien’s first life? How old was he when he died, what did he do for work, and what did he study?”

He was 25 when he died. He had a pretty boring job in banking. Nothing particularly heroic or useful for surviving in another world. :)

“How much will Arien actually be able to use knowledge from Earth, especially science, when experimenting with magic and Aspects?”

Not that much.

His knowledge from Earth will occasionally help him understand something or approach a problem differently, but it won’t give him some huge advantage over everyone else.

“How important is the Academy arc? Is it mostly a stage of the story, or one of the major arcs of EoN?”

Very important.

And not only because of Arien’s progression. The Academy arc does a lot of work in expanding the world and introducing characters who will remain important much later in the story.

“The big city has showers, but what about toilets? I get that few authors want to describe what happens to human waste. Also, does this setting have glasses?”

Probably my favourite question. :)

I’m going to have to work toilets into a chapter somehow now.

Yes, they exist. Erador has both engineering and magic to help deal with things like sanitation and waste.

Glasses also exist, although they aren’t particularly common because they’re expensive. And there’s a bit of an interesting problem there: if someone is wealthy enough to afford good glasses, they’re often also wealthy enough to afford a good Healer.

“How much do reader comments and feedback actually influence the story?”

Mostly when it comes to pacing.

During beta reading before publication, several people pointed out places where descriptions or certain sections dragged on too long. In quite a few cases, I agreed and shortened them.

As for the chapters I’m writing now, consciously? Probably not that much. I still have the story I want to tell and the major events are already planned.

Subconsciously, though? Maybe. I wouldn’t be surprised if seeing what people react to makes me put a little more emphasis on certain things without even realizing it.

“Do you eventually plan to release EoN as ebooks/audiobooks, and if that happens, what would it mean for the Royal Road and Patreon versions?”

A few fairly large publishers have already reached out to me with offers, so we’ll see where that goes.

I’d definitely like EoN to eventually go through a proper professional edit, and I’d love for people to be able to listen to it as well.

But just like with the story itself, I’m in no rush. :)