Afterword - Book 5 - Chapter 14 (Patreon)

Chapter 14: A Wild Anniversary I

I'll open this one by admitting that I was surprised just how many readers got angry about Ranthia ditching Avyna's immortal memory Skill. Seriously, did I do an insufficient job showing that it just wasn't working?

Having it not work wasn't the original plan, mind you. But around the time she got it, I knew Clover was around the corner and a Skill slot needed to be free. The lurid Skills, of course, were supposed to go (I honestly don't remember the original plan from the OG draft, but I was expecting to drop both and have Ranthia pick something else up at the same time as Clover). Except when I thought things through more and started writing the prose for how the memory Skill worked...

I realized that Avyna's way of thinking just didn't mesh with Ranthia. And I began to understand that Avyna was being a bit... presumptive by assuming her memory Skill would be universally applicable.

So Ranthia ended up dropping it, whatever in the spork the other Skill I'd once planned for her to take got stricken, and we got to where we are now. Namely, the moment Ranthia couldn't remember a name and got called out for it.

The barkeep seems confident that she can teach Ranthia a better memory Skill, but can she?

Of course, that's a small part to the chapter. But Sunny's antics speak for themselves, and I don't have any deep behind the scenes lore for that.

That last bit? Don't worry about it. I'm sure it'll be like all too many webserials where a dramatic cliffhanger is remedied with no downsides or problems whatsoever in the opening paragraphs of the next update.