Afterword - Book 2 - Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Chapter 1: A Nameless Base

(Original Chapter Title: Ranger III)

Book 2. A new document for tracking these chapter afterwords. By the gods, how am I already here?

There's a small amount of retreading of what Book 1, Chapter 59 covered—that's just how new books be, but it's a bit unfortunate in the webserial format.

Ranthia's out for blood against the shimagu, and it doesn't take long for her to get her first taste. A few readers might note some of what Ranthia understands about the shimagu to not entirely match what Elaine experienced, but... well, intelligence isn't always accurate and there'll be some surprises.

But did anyone notice Ranthia's math mistake? She was counting dinosaur hosts as sapient opponents and inflated her kill count a bit, when she was grousing about the lack of piles of new levels. Also, it was a brief engagement, and Ranthia had ample support from a Legion force; yet neither factor entered her calculus, she focused simply on her own prowess and the lack of prowess from her opponents. It was a genuine mistake on her part in the moment, but it served as another (sneaky) reminder that our narrator isn't entirely reliable.

It's actually kind of fun to come up with host/parasite class combinations. Sometimes the host and the parasite align, like the Creation-speaker that had a vain parasite picking a show-y host, but other times they have nothing in common. The parasite-host relationship isn't wholly homogenous. Some are in a special breed of hell, but others might have moments of enjoyment—just not enough to work with their parasite properly. Or, perhaps, some might be willing, but the parasite is too egotistical to let them. Each individual is different, and when you have forcedly paired individuals, there's a lot of room for interesting storytelling... even if I have to do it through kill notifications. (The urge for dozens of tiny interludes is strong, but I know how annoying that can get to read.)

Ranthia seems to have one (strange) logistical problem solved, but she's got others to figure out. But how will she adapt to war in the long run?

And yes, I'll have more to say about the (presumed) dwarf in a future afterword.