Afterword - Book 2 - Chapter 19 (Patreon)

Chapter 19: Crushing Arrogance

(Original Chapter Title: Arrogance)

In which Ranthia shows off. A little.

I was actually really worried about having to cut this scene, since I wrote it well before I had the actual formulas (ah my halcyon days of using my own flawed attempt to recreate Selkie's character sheet based on what I pulled from the BtDEM prose). Especially since Ranthia's strength is a lot lower now thanks to my mistake I made on her current third class's stat total. But, I got lucky! The math just barely worked out.

Pretty much everything in this chapter was in the OG draft, just a bit expanded on and/or clarified. Even Ranthia's ruminations about chaos being harder to inflict from a place of power and authority was already there.

What is new? Mage-rock. Well, sort of. Ranthia mentioned being amused at putting a rock on the tile, but I expanded the section considerably. Because Ranthia is highly amused by mage-rock.

In a lot of ways the original chapter title suited this chapter better, but I really wanted to save 'Arrogance' for the future. Here, I'm letting Ranthia define the narrative: the chapter is about her crushing arrogance. The fact that she does so arrogantly is beside the point. Still, Ranthia was overdue to display some major competency in a fun setting, without psychological damage stemming from it.

I love a good show of competency—and proof of advancement—in media. They're important to show growth and, arguably more importantly, they're just satisfying to read/watch! Ranthia has come so far in since her own time in the Ranger Academy's hell months, and now she's here to bring a little hell to the arrogant.

But mostly: all glory to mage-rock!