Afterword - Book 1 - Chapter 35 (Patreon)

Chapter 35: Blindfolds & Bloodsports

(Original Chapter Title: Of Gods and Monsters)

And now we get to the other half, after a break that felt weirdly long.

Ranthia HATES bloodsports, but she hadn't known at the time that the Rangers (and Sentinels) indulge in them to feed the population. And, at last, she finds herself there. It's enough to distract her from her love-stricken thoughts, even!

Ranthia—and my beta readers—kind of judged the other trainees hard for freaking out so much. Which... well, valid. Honestly, Ranger Academy seldom-if-ever dipped into "probably fatal" for a risk level. Still, it's one thing to say that as an outsider and a very different one to be locked into an arena with a monster that outlevels everyone EXCEPT the one that's wearing a blindfold.

Ranthia gets her first taste of blind fighting, touches on something important... then fucks up immediately. I've said this before in various places, but I think Ranthia's mistakes are important. Even if you know better, it's hard to avoid making mistakes. I, personally, get bored reading tales of paragons of perfection that never screw up. Ranthia's human. She makes mistakes, she falls short, she has regrettable impulses and thoughts, and she doesn't always succeed at what she tries to do. I hope this is as important to those that read as it is to me, Ranthia's imperfections make her successes shine all the brighter.

And we finally get a glimpse of Statia's abilities. I don't have much to say about that at this point, but it is kind of funny how quickly Statia developed after I spawned her just as an interesting restriction oath idea.

Another trainee drops out, for relatable reasons. I mean, it's one thing to choose to risk yourself, but choosing to risk a bonded companion to be a Ranger is a high ask. It's hard to assume risk on behalf of another, at least for most people. It's not like most companions get a ton of input into what their person does.

Ranthia's original knives' end was strange to write (and edit). They were just mundane good steel, so it wasn't like they were going to last forever. But those knives had carried Ranthia so far, only for her new Skill to consume them like fodder. It feels anti-climatic, in a way. The knives weren't lost in some grand battle, sacrificed to accomplish some great feat. It was just a training match, one like any other. But I suppose that's life. Sometimes loss visits us without warning when we least expect it. Or something.

A recent thought I've had is how each of Ranthia's mentors throughout her journey focused on something different. Tatius focused on her wellbeing and happiness and focused on teaching her how to survive her chosen path. Pupius focused on making her a proper Adventurer. Here, Hunting's focused on making her more independent and strove to try to help her break free of some of her weaknesses. There'll be a few more to discuss in coming chapters (if I don't forget), but it's an interesting thing I didn't appreciate when I wrote the first draft.