Afterword - Book 1 - Chapter 38 (Patreon)

Chapter 38: Academy V

(Original Chapter Title: Academy IV)

Overall another chapter with fairly minimal changes, just expanded a few little character moments and a heap of polish.

Rigira was a fun mentor. Her focus overlapped a lot with Huntings' (which makes sense, he hired her to replace him), but she had a playful vicious streak in her. Yet for all her spirit and vitality, she was still a homeless outsider—Nolgrod's gone. Rigira used to have a solid bit of wanderlust in her, so she wasn't there for the fall of her homeland, but she's seen the devastation left where it once stood. It makes it harder for her to accept, until she finds herself facing the facts.

The siege game was fun. I wanted to do something with a little Ranger base (yes, THAT base—did you think the IRON badges were a coincidence) since it hadn't yet been transferred to Ariminum's guards. Naturally, I managed to craft something that Ranthia's kit was almost completely opposed to (I don't remember how I set her on defense, but for some reason I want to say it was a cointoss?). Ranthia got to try out leadership and got to do something reckless, so all-in-all it was a solid scene. It was also fun to try to figure out the logistics of various things. Ranthia was always going to be on the losing side though, the deck really was stacked against the defenders.

At least she wasn't blindfolded? Also, presumably Ranthia hasn't studied the Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries (Schlock Mercenary easter egg! Highly recommend the webcomic, it's free and it's complete!), but convergent evolution seems to have resulted one of her personal rules being a near twin for Maxim 43.

Rigira's grand test of [Combat Awareness] followed, of course. Rigira's viciousness was on full display there. But the Skill passed, much to Rigira's annoyance. The Skill is legitimately good—though it can and does get overwhelmed (I refuse to count that as a spoiler).

The final exams were actually kind of hard to figure out. I figured the Academy didn't lean into them like the School of Spellcraft and Sorcery would have, but I wanted to do something with a BIT of splash to end the Academy with. Fortunately, Rigira was there to make a throwaway joke turn real. Poor, poor bruised Ranran.

Ranthia's levels didn't skyrocket in the Academy. She was too high of level to get a tremendous amount out of it. Still, she made some gains and she's got a solid foundation.

Now she needs to learn what comes next. It's a bit amorphous to me whether this chapter or the next is the end of this arc (I can see arguments either way), but we're on the cusp of the next!