Shirtaloon
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Chapter 935: Reason Eighty-Seven
🕑 Added 2024-08-16 23:00:08 +0000 UTCDuke Percival Headingway was the patriarch of House Headingway, holder of the family’s highest title. While the same title was claimed by rural aristocrats in their remote city states, his title came from Cyrion, the heart of civilisation. He might serve under the throne, unlike the city-state rulers, but his power dwarfed even the most prestigious of theirs.
It was galling, then, that one man had been leading his prestigious house around by the nose. Once the problems had escalated to his personal attention, he had not liked what he found. If the issue was external aggression, that would be one thing. He could mobilise the power and influence of the house without impacting its reputation. Instead, some of the family’s lesser lights had aggravated a man who didn’t blink when gods became his enemies.
As with any noble family, the true power of House Headingway came from their adventurers. Politics were unquestionably important, but lesser affairs could be left to lesser family members. In this case, however, those lesser members had shoved the family’s arm shoulder deep into a snake hole.
It could have been worse, Percival reflected. Asano was serving up humiliation in forcing the families to rescue their errant members, in very public fashion. But while they had been roughed up, he made sure the Dominion church kept them from any genuine danger.
From what Percival had seen of young Garret, the experience may have even knocked some sense into the boy. When Percival was young, adventurer training had been mandatory in the family. Only those with talent and inclination followed through, but it helped them understand the foundations of what made the houses strong. It might be time to bring the practice back.
The loss of reputation from these events was unpleasant, but far from unendurable. Enough of the major families had shared the same fate that the tide was lowered for everyone. The smart move was to move on, which was exactly what Ben, the family’s top gold ranker had said.
“We started something with someone we shouldn’t and took our lumps. Take the lesson and move on.”
That was exactly what Percival intended, but a faction within the family were advocating retribution. These were the pure politicians, the kind who hated the influence of the adventurers. They weren’t complete fools, now believing they knew who they were dealing with in Asano. They wanted the response to be proportional and political; not making a true enemy but making it clear that House Headingway was not to be trifled with.
Percival knew full well that they were wrong. Asano was an adventurer and he thought like one. Political games only worked so long as the opponent was unwilling to flip the board, and Asano was demonstrably willing to do that. Even if the family could hurt Asano, they would only end up dragging each other down.
He was drafting an announcement on the issue for a family meeting when his office was intruded upon. Mariska Headingway managed the family’s business affairs and, in most instances, was the epitome of formality, politeness and respect. She burst through his office door like a siege engine.
“Percy, are you out of your gods-damned mind? You were the one who pushed for the expansion of our trade operations using the sky link system.”
“Yes, Mary, I am. Hello, by the way, and do feel free to come in. Maybe treat yourself to some context.”
“Do you know who invented the sky link system? And who operates it?”
“I don’t recall who invented it. It’s managed by the Magic Research Association, is it not?”
“Yes,” Mariska said pointedly. “It is.”
Her sharp gaze bored into him as she waiting for him to connect the dots.
“Oh,” he said. “The Magic Research Association was founded and is now led by a member of Team Biscuit.”
“Oh, it doesn’t stop there,” Mariska said, growing increasingly manic. “Did you know that one of the developers of the sky link system is right here in Cyrion? She’s travelling with her very close friend, Jason Asano.”
“Ah.”
“And here’s the topper, Percy. The other founder, Travis Noble, lives in Rimaros, but is not from there originally. Do you want to guess where he’s from?”
“Just spit it out, Mary.”
“He’s not from Pallimustus at all. He’s an outworlder. From the group who arrived here fifteen years ago. The group our illustrious family decided would be good leverage to extort a man WHO BLOWS UP CITIES! Not a metaphor, Percy! He literally blew up a city last month. Not the first, by the way. And he did it by accident. Someone assassinated him and his power went out of control and wiped out a city. Then he came back to life, turned into a bird and killed an entire army of messengers! I’d say that’s the most insane thing I’ve ever heard of, but I’ve been reading about the rest of the things he's done! And we thought what? Let’s really make him angry in return for some very minor gains?”
“Mary, I—”
“Do you know what it takes to have Undeath see you as a personal antagonist?”
“Mary—”
“I do. Now. You blow up a city full of his people, Percy. Priests, an undead army, even his damn avatar. You wipe it out of reality and build a new city out of clouds, because at that point, why not? On the way to your office, I heard people talking about getting this guy back. Get him back? What we need to get him is a gift basket and the ten best doxies in Cyrion! Do you know if he likes men or women?”
“We’re not hiring prostitutes, Mary.”
She gave him a flat look.
“Not for this,” he amended.
“Percy, you don’t know this, it being a day-to-day operations matter, but I’ve been trying to get a personal sky link call with Travis Noble for several months. To discuss a special rate on sky link services, given how large and early a customer we’ve been. And, of course, due to the prestige of associating our name with the service. Funnily enough, Percival, I finally got that call. And he had some very specific ideas about a special rate for our family. Should, and I quote, ‘the Sky Link company decides that continuing a relationship with House Headingway is appropriate going forward.’ You know what that means, Percy?”
“That they’re threatening to cut us off.”
“No, Percy, they’re giving us reason eighty-seven why you don’t fuck with Jason Asano. Losing the System was already an issue, but we aren’t the Adventure Society; we can live without it. If we lose the sky link, though, we’ll have to downsize our business infrastructure.”
“There’s still the water link system.”
“Percy, we beat out the competition by jumping on the potential of the sky link while everyone else was afraid to take the risk, sticking with the water link. That’s how we surged ahead over the last decade.”
“How badly will it hurt us? Are we overexposed on this?”
“It won’t be a collapse. We’ve been aggressive with our expansion, but I’ve always made allowances for an eventuality like this. What it will mean is winding down a lot of operation. Basically, we’ll be winding back the clock to where we were ten years ago.”
“Which we do not want.”
“No, Percy, we do not. You need to shut down this continued antagonism of Asano and the outworlders.”
Percival pushed the sheet of paper on the desk in front of him forward for Mariska to see. She span it around and started reading.
“What is this?” she asked.
“The draft of my announcement to the family that we will be explicitly avoiding any continued antagonism towards Jason Asano.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this when I came in? You could have saved me from yelling about prostitutes.”
“Well, if you don’t like the family announcement approach, Mary, we could try your gift basket and prostitute idea.”
“I was kidding about the doxies, Percy.”
***
Jason watched the man guiding Shade as he piloted the cloud ship out of Cyrion.
“You seem nervous,” Jason told him. “Are you up to something?”
He turned pale.
“No, sir. My supervisor was very explicit about getting this right.”
“Well, calm down, bloke. You want some fruit? Someone gave me a fruit basket and I haven’t seen most of the stuff in it before. There’s this thing called a prappas, you ever see one of those?”
“Uh, yes, sir. They grow them to the east of here.”
“Do you like them?”
“I find the texture rather odd.”
“I know, right? It’s kind of halfway between a pear and a pineapple. I’m not sure if I love it or hate it yet, but I’m definitely not ambivalent about it.”
***
Jason’s cloud ship had a larger passenger manifest than previous trips, due to the people from Earth. As the vessel was the size of a cruise ship, it wasn’t hard to accommodate them. Fifty-three people had signed up for the return to Earth in Cyrion. After that, the crowds surrounding the cloud palace became more trouble than they were worth, harassing anyone who came by. A new rendezvous was set up in another city, small and quiet, in the mountains to the north.
This would be one of a series of stops to pick up earthlings. Li Mei had done a good job of tracking and reaching out to those who, like herself, had long ago left Cyrion. With the aid of Farrah and the sky link system, she had arranged several centralised pickup points. The total returning to Earth, assuming everyone turned up, would be seventy four. That left around thirty who had no interest in returning, couldn’t be found, or were dead.
***
Darryl was an anomaly amongst the outworlders who had been pulled to Pallimustus from Earth. He was, to his knowledge, the only one who wasn’t an essence user. A troll were-crocodile from the rainforests of Far North Queensland, he was a member of the Cabal. His trollish fae blood let him shapeshift into a form that could pass for human, especially in rural pubs. Disguise was less of a requirement on Pallimustus, one of the reasons he liked it. He’d been uncertain about a potential return to Earth, not sure if he could fit in any longer.
It was a talk with Jason Asano himself that had turned him around. Speaking over the sky link network, Asano told him about magic on Earth being much more open than after the reveal. The Cabal held sway in large parts of the world, with its members able to operate out in the open. Darryl was quite happy with this, and Asano even apologised on finding out his living-under-a-bridge joke was racist.
The mountain city he was in had a large sky port, relative to its size. Specialty airships that could only run in high-magic zones were a signature of Estercost, and approaching the city by land was difficult. That hadn’t stopped Darryl, his physique more powerful than most essence users of his rank.
Unlike most of the Earth refugees, Darryl hadn’t been hindered by ranking up with monster cores. He naturally grew more powerful, only the weak ambient magic of Earth having held him back. He had gone from barely silver rank fifteen years ago to pushing against the gates of gold. Unfortunately, his progress had slowed and he wasn’t sure why.
The bottleneck in his growth was what had ultimately turned Darryl around about joining those returning to Earth. The magic there was reportedly higher now, but it was the proximity to Asano and his team that Darryl wanted. He’d never built up the connections in Pallimustus that would get him access to magical knowledge, while Asano’s friends were famous. He hoped that they would be able to help his breakthrough to gold.
There was a group of people from Earth gathered at a tavern near the sky port. Darryl had spoken with them briefly, before sitting alone. Aside from not being an essence user, they had only known the Cabal as a sinister and mysterious group. At the time they had all been pulled to Earth, the vampire lords were only beginning to schism from the Cabal.
They all moved together, however, when a commotion started outside. It sounded like the sort of panic that arose from a monster attack. The earthlings, along with various others in the bar, moved outside to look. It didn’t take long to see that the attack was coming from above. A group of the city’s adventurers had intercepted some flying monsters before they could attack the sky port. They now clashed in the air over the side of the mountain, a vast drop below them.
The monsters had the shape of dragons, each around the size of a school bus. Rather than living things, however, their bodies were chucks of rock, tethered together by arcs of electricity. They almost looked like fossil displays in a museum. Some of the people from the bar took to the skies, either on devices or through their own power. Some were escaping the fight while others were rushing to help. The people from Earth remained grounded, observing as they stood outside the tavern.
“Storm drakes,” Darryl said. “We should help.”
“Bugger that,” one of the essence users said, his accent marking his as a fellow Australian.
“Yeah, screw that,” another said. “I can sense at least one gold rank ranker amongst those things.”
“But most are silver,” Darryl argued. “And there are a lot of them. The adventurers might not have the numbers.”
“Others are going to help,” the Australian said. “I’m not getting myself killed right before I finally escape this heretical planet and its false gods.”
“False gods?” Someone asked in a New Zealand accent. “I’ve seen lots of gods. There’s a really good bar and grill near the divine square in the town where I’ve been living. I’ve seen so many gods there that I’m surprised a god of sausages didn’t show up.”
The others turned to the newcomer, who hadn’t been with them in the tavern. He was a Māori, but much leaner than the famous Taika Williams.
“You’re not a core user,” the Australian said.
“Nah, mate. I was visiting my mum at the portal site when I got sucked in with everyone else. I trained up here, so no cores.”
He looked over at Darryl.
“What’s your deal, mate?”
“Troll were-crocodile.”
“No bull? That sounds pretty sweet. Want to go fight some weird rock lightning dragons?”
“Hell yes. The name’s Darryl.”
They shook hands.
“I’m Koa. Can you fly, or will you need a piggyback or something?”
“Oh, I’ll manage.”
***
Jason and Humphrey moved onto the bridge of the cloud ship, looking out at the mountain in the distance.
“The sky port should have sent someone by now,” Humphrey said.
“Maybe they don’t do that here, being a smaller city,” Jason suggested.
“The sky port there is still big. Will your aura senses reach from here?”
“Probably,” Jason said, then closed his eyes and concentrated. A moment later, they snapped open.
“Monster attack,” he said. “One gold and a lot of silvers. Looks like adventurers are fighting them off, but I’m guessing they’d appreciate a few more, given the numbers. If that’s alright with you, team leader?”
“Let’s go.”
***
The cloud vessel approached the rear of the battle at speed. Along with adventurers flying around, several airships were employing their weapons, and the sky port itself had fixed defences. Jason and his companions were arrayed on top of the cloud vessel, those who couldn’t fly inside Onslow’s expanded shell. Nik was included, as most of the foes were silver rank.
“This looks like a mess,” Humphrey said, surveying the chaotic battle. “Port defences, civilians helping, multiple adventuring teams. A small horde of gold-rankers diving in might do more harm than good, especially if we start using the ship weapons. Nik, your specialty is group organisation, right?”
“Yep,” Nik confirmed. “I’m used to jumping in with groups who don’t know me. Want me to start getting this lot in line?”
“Connect me in when you link communication to everyone,” Miguel Ladiv said. “I’ll identify myself as an Adventure Society official and give you organisational authority. It should save time.”
“That’ll definitely help,” Nik said.
“Thank you, Miguel,” Humphrey said.
“I’ll, uh, go back inside and make snacks for when everyone is done,” Jamar said.
“And drinks,” Neil called after him as he left. “I want to see multiple jugs of that fruit punch when we’re done.”
“Hey, look at that,” Jason said. “Is that a giant crocodile man swinging like Tarzan on a rope made of blood, hanging from a lightning dragon in flight?”
“I don’t know,” Danielle said. “Who’s Tarzan?”
A huge grin split Jason’s face.
“I have to say it: I love being an adventurer.”
Comments
Chiqui Joy
“Hello, by the way, and do feel free to come in. Maybe treat yourself to some context.” LOL
Readeon (Patreon Reading Extension)
Same!!!
D.J. Carlson
Or pulled to -> pulled from
Frank Morgana
Can't wait to hear Koa on audio talk about sausage god hahaha
Sage Hallward
pulled to Earth —> Pallimustus
JennP
"You seem nervous. Are you up to something?" He's sure as hell nervous now. Ha!
AfroMocha
If this gets made into some other media I really hope it's animated. I feel live action with Hollywood so meh they would ruin it. It can really stretch the humour and and effects being animated over live action but that's my opinion.
JL McDonald
Great chapter.
Shirtaloon
I'm aware of it, but I've never watched it.
Joanna
Great chapter! The names of these two Headingways make me wonder if somebody has been watching Critical Role in their downtime. 😁
3rdImpact
Ty for the chapter!
John Durrett
Sorry what is that?
beltedncollard
*in Jason’s soul realm* round four fight *People in his soul realm* WTF
Stanley Pauza
Does that mean they also sent the doxies? Lol.
N8rtotPlayz
Good catch. I’ve learned to ignore most minor slip-ups. Like in book four when Jason is showing his uncle and Taika the portal, it says “Jason waved his wand over the ground ….” It should have been his hand since he can’t use wands. I could go on at length. It is for this same reason I don’t own highlighters. Every book I have picked up up in the last ten years has a multitude errors. I don’t want to dwell on those when I’m enjoying a re-read of a story. I guess reading something you’ve written, out loud, is too time consuming. It helps establish the natural flow of writing and audibly clues you into any mistakes. Yes, I’m fully aware of my own failings and misspelled comments. Hence the reason I try to ignore others’ minor slip-ups, as I am prone to them myself.
Chris Pollan
I am so excited to hear Heath Miller voice this chapter...
joshde_
they gave him a fruit basket lol
Kconraw
Thx for the chapter
Vincent Ciavone
I forgot to talk about how Jason was so hurt he had no understanding of time at the time, only the fact the seed fed on the low density mana and would run out after who knew how many waves, and the severe damage that caused to Jason’s mental health, the only reason that Jason didn’t turn into a true Edgelord and split a builders cultist body from his soul later on is because he was use to putting on different faces for people because of life on earth, there is no fucking reason Jason should be mentally okay at this point, but he’s overcome all that and is as strong as his is now, and I’m all here for it
Vincent Ciavone
I love how after 935 chapters of which I’d say a lot of the past 100 chapters were glazing Jason, we all eat it up, AND I DAMN WELL WILL DEFEND IT, after this whole story so far jason deserves what he’s earned, not only was his original life on earth quite upsetting when it comes to normal life, he then had it taken, transported to Pallimustus which he was so very lucky to meet Farrah, Gary, and Rufus. Everything really changed when the builder had him captured and implanted. I don’t think enough people imagine it; What’s the worse pain you’ve felt?being beat? Being sore all over and sick? Being beaten? Organ failure? Giving birth? Maybe it’s a different pain, a panic attack? Feeling the world is against you? Being against the world which wants you dead? What possibly could it feel like to have our soul, our being squashed by some other being? I can only imagine it’s the most depressing feeling, the most extreme pain in every nerve of your body, so painful it’s more then physical, your mind is shrouded and tired, and you add the layer of what pain to the soul is? We’ll never understand, but Jason held up against that torture, against a being that literally created universes.JASON IS THE GOAT, THE MAN WHO WILL MAKE GODS AND GREAT ASTRAL BEINGS HIS ENEMY WITHOUT EVER QUESTIONING IF IT WAS THE RIGHT DECISION
Vincent Ciavone
Agreed, and with such a situation in a lightnovel, and powerfantasy-esk story, I’d like to also make sure we fully appreciate shirtaloon for taking the time to do this even tho a lot of people would see these scenes as filler if they read chapters by release
Chris Furry
No, ambivalence is having mixed feelings or contradictory thoughts on something. He said he either loves it or hates it but he’s not ambivalent about it. That means he knows it one or the other, he just hasn’t decided which. But it’s definitely one or the other.
Mike
love this chappy!
ByLAWphoto
Im just so impressed with Jason's response! Time was, he'd have felt the monsters and just left to fight them. He would Jason everything up and then have a Jasony response to the other adventures for jumping in with no notice. Now, he's like, "hey--you're in charge. We're a team. Let's do this together. " ❤
Thomas Todd
Jason is actually ambivalent about the fruit, ambivalence is when you have two opposing views on something. He's not apathetic about it
osullytony
You forgot the 930-935 file.
StarkRG
It'll be short though, barely a hiatus, almost more of a mid-atus.
StarkRG
As far as I'm aware, the only person in the narrative that's related to Koa is Koa's mum, and we haven't met her, she's only been mentioned once about ten sentences before we learn Koa's name. 😉
mainiak
Can he?! But more importantly, can he put mustache on each individual leech in swarm mode?? ... And yell biscuits as one-swarm-choir???
SnufflenoseSmooshwhiskers
I like the idea of Daryl and Nik teaming up. It gives me a frog & scorpion fable vibe.
Andromeda Adams
I was laughing so hard this chapter. Also loved how it bounced around a little. The new characters at the end! Also who is Koa related to? Tyftc!
Adrian Cheung
Lots of good bits in this chapter, which worries me because there's going to be a hiatus soon 😔
Maria Klein
That first part literally had me in tears with laughter!! Great chapter!
Maria Klein
I loved her!!
Maria Klein
Same!
Kalanaere
That's a woman that's determined not to be the sacrifice nor let all her hard work be sacrificed because the idiot lesser men of the city want to have a measuring contest with a man that blows up cities and turns into.a giant angel eating bird lol
gray matter
I really want a Storm Kingdoms response chapter.
Kalanaere
Forget the Were-Croc and the Dragons. Mariska hands down wins. The way she just went off ranting and raving without allowing The Duke to speak was great. Top that off with the fact that her idea of an apology / greeting to Jason is fruit baskets and prostitutes AND that look she gave the Duke which we all know silently stated. 'Don't you dare lie to me / I dare you to lie' Gold medal to her
DreadHawk666 Aron
I don’t have much to add to the conversation but Thanks for the chapter 😁!
Heather White
Darryl wants “proximity to Asano and his team”? I vote he joins up. Team Biscuit needs a troll were-crocodile who can swing like Tarzan on a rope made of blood, hanging from a lightning dragon in flight. Worth doing a little team recalibration.
Joanna
IKR?
Razeel Nightfall
Wow this is the first cliff swing I have ever come across.
Harbby
I think I remember it being mentioned he disappeared to presumably train
Preston Stokes
Jason 3. Pallimastus 0
Kevari
#37: Coming back from the dead is kind of--nvm, he's immortal now
batchickcr8zy
Do we know what happened to Amos? Last I remember, he was feeling guilty about nearly all of his nephew’s team dying. Did he disappear? Did he go out and try to rank up to diamond? I think it’d be nice for him to meet back up with Jason and entourage to head to earth.
Will Mill
Has anyone written out the list of eighty- reasons not to fuck with Jason yet?
jacob butler
I like the fact we find out that Jason did not go overboard on the slavery by working with Dominion.
BloodStorm
I’m going to be waiting to drop that line on someone 😂
deadly chibi
It just hit me that stash can transform into a silver rank version of Colin......
Scott McCarthy
A Diamond rank Builder city at that...
Ligeia
Oh you poor optimist, I fear you may be in for a very, very rude surprise...
Ligeia
I just noticed something I think is backwards. When the Earthlings are sitting in the bar ignoring Jason, it says the vampire lords were just beginning to schism from the Cabal at the time they had all been pulled TO Earth. I think that should say at the time they were all pulled FROM Earth? Or am I misunderstanding something?
Scott McCarthy
Sue did her research, and did nit blindly discard things. They, once again, decided Jason is a nobody they can bully and extort. There are more then enough stories by now that extorting Jason should be known to be a bad thing. Also disappearing for a decade, and coming back Gold should be a "what was he doing" question, especially a walking disaster magnet like Jason. He can notngo 2 months without something notable happening around him, let alone a decade. Verify there are no stories first, and if there are any get the full details, just the notice the people of Boko got should have been a major "tred with extreme caution" red flag. The blowing up the city, eating a messenger army, and then have seconds delivered by an astral king....
Seaspike
Came down with a bad case of laughter tears at the end.
Consumer of litrpg
I feel like Mary has an incredibly accurate and reasonable take on the correct response to Jason Asano.
schidney vibe
No our last one will be on the 24th i believe
mhaj58
Fun chapter, for people to finally understand that Jason is far beyond them and face real consequences makes me hope that Earth will be better this time.
John Durrett
That’s first section. Nice to hear someone having the intelligence to know and understand the many reasons NOT to go after Jason and mess with him on purpose.
Doodlyboy15
What a fun one, thanks!
Rowdy Robby
Thanks Shirt. Can't wait for this fight. Darryl sounds like a great addition. A gold rank troll were-crocodile would fit right in.
Stuart T
Oh, you sweet summer child... It means whore
Joanna
I threw it in the "report errors" thread on Discord for ya. They don't usually check the comments here for typos
Sylphie
...............what's a doxie?
#savegarytheleonid
"Darryl was quite happy with this, and Asano even apologised on finding out his living-under-a-bridge joke was racist." Nice writing :)
Cryfdwr
“Oh, and btw, Percy. Travis Noble also created the technology that, you guessed it, BLEW UP A CITY!”
James Culbreath
This chapter is all over the place. I loved the head of the house hold. The rest felt rushed. Travis I am your most loyal fan. But this chapter needs some love.
Josh
I have a strange feeling the last chapter of this month before Shirt's break will be them leaving for earth. And then we have to wait.
Clarence Williamson
I have to agree with Jason, that has to be an awkward texture.
JonO
It speaks very broadly about earthlings denying what they can see when their main issue with gods in earth is they can't see them lol.
Kazuto Bakura
Some earthlings think the gods are false. I wonder how the gods feel about it.
Ruth Ivimey-Cook
Loved the chapter BTW... too short though, by several thousand words!! :-)
Ligeia
That's twice recently that we've had a no-cliff Friday! Of course, Shirt makes up for it on Monday and Wednesday ...
pyrite jester
Oooo I've missed that. My favorite part of reading this are people ranting about Jason. I haven't laughed that hard since the fortress town.
Ruth Ivimey-Cook
Typo: "they had all been pulled to Earth, the vampire lords" I guess it should be "pulled from Earth"
Gilligan_Ng
Man, I miss the template-stacking of 3.5 D&D. Troll Werecrocodile, genius.
Ligeia
Looks like they did send him the gift basket, though, just not delivered by a doxie! (Male or female?) 😅
Cyranosaurus
This was the best kind of ending….pulls you forward without a cliff. Really fun chapter!! Hurry Monday!!
Justin
“Aggravated a man who didn’t blink when gods became his enemies”. What an awesome line! TYFTC!!!
Chris Furry
"Maybe treat yourself to some context." That is the greatest line I've read in a long time. I almost spit water all over my computer.
Chris Pollan
Omg... the first part had me rolling on the floor laughing.... a fruit basket and prostitutes....
Cryfdwr
Yay, Nik!
The-DM-Dino
another amazing chapter by The GOAT
Ligeia
Excellent chapter! I like the head of House Headingway. Gotta get those political types some adventurer training so they can learn why adventurers don't find negotiation a useful tactic when dealing with monsters! And our troll were-crocodile is an outstanding addition to Jason's traveling band. I wonder what he thinks of Boris? 😅 This exchange was great: "We're not hiring prostitutes, Mary." She gave him a flat look. "Not for this," he amended. 😅😅😅
Tyler S.
It is a good long break of adventure and political infighting on Palli before returning to what many would claim is the weakest point so far among the series. Granted this time is set to be vastly different in terms of power, the Earth culture is going to be much the same as viewed from Anna. I think in the long run some will see this as the best part before a return to mired feelings
Joanna
Is that theMāori name of New Zealand?
Amanda Begly
Because why not?
LolGamez
Glad the weird ass deontologist from last chapter doesn't have any ground to stand on anymore lmao
Bingus McCready
TFTC!!! I know some folks are eager to get back to earth/the next major plot moment, and in fairness, so am I, but man am I loving the classic adventuring goodness we’re getting right now. When you think about it, we haven’t actually gotten that much time with the whole team together and just doing their thing, in the grand scheme of the series. They weren’t really fully put together and in action until book 3, then 4 up through the first part of 7 the team was separated. That’s 5 and a half ish books where the team wasn’t even together, plus the stretch in book 11. Then add onto that all the time where they were dealing with what we’ll call “Jason Stuff” which is another huge chunk of what’s left. I loved every second of it, but still, it’s been really fun to have the team just…traveling around and doing their job. Hanging out and talking shit. Sure, Jason’s still Jason, this bit with the system and banning slavery and all sidetracked them a bit, but they’re doing a lot more “normal” adventurer stuff lately.
JonO
I'm thinking lightning dragon is Koa who I'm still pulling to be taikas brother bro
Tyler S.
Biscuits
AfroMocha
Thanks for the chapter shirt!
Joe Ellis
I can’t wait to listen to the first half of this chapter.
JonO
I don't think pizza is a thing there.... but im sure they'll start wars over it
NopiSoul
Fantastic chapter. Laughed so hard.
Mark Morrison
“Is that a giant crocodile man swinging like Tarzan on a rope made of blood, hanging from a lightning dragon in flight?” God, this series has so many cool lines.
Joanna
Ah, that’s no challenge
WindGunner
I came to Pallimustus and all I got was a fruit basket
Joanna
We get to see Nik in action!?! YEEESSSS!!!! Let’s goooo
Jackjargon
Loved those very good chapter! So excited to see more of the earth group!
ReadingObsessed
Why isn't anyone asking the hard questions? Does prappas belong on pizza? 🍕
Stuart T
I caught you a typo 'their bodies were chucks of rock' chunks
j
Dude...this entire chapter was money!! The exchange between the Headingways was hilarious!
Aaron edison
why didn't Jason just hire doxies when he was practicing sex magic?
Timothy
"Asano was an adventurer and he thought like one. Political games only worked so long as the opponent was unwilling to flip the board, and Asano was demonstrably willing to do that." Best description of Jason until asking Danielle for help.
David Odle
I don’t recall hearing about him before now, nor do I recall Taika having a brother. Feels like Taiki would’ve known he was here and wouldn’t have left him behind.
Aaron edison
Fucking love jamar
PapaJohn
“Who’s Tarzan?” She fell for it XD
Samuel Strode
“I know, right? It’s kind of halfway between a pear and a pineapple. I’m not sure if I love it or hate it yet, but I’m definitely not ambivalent about it.” - Jason your politician is showing
Tashreeq Peck
I am not sure we will reach earth before the end of this book… we are probably halfway through and there hasn’t been any buildup to a major or central conflict. At this point this book will probably have to finish with them just arriving on Earth. This book is starting to feel like a teaser to the next one (not that I have a problem with that. It just isn’t something you would usually expect from a book series)
Nathan Roberson
Biscuits?
Unwillingmainer
You it's bad when the high and mighty noble families break out the fruit baskets and ho and cold running whores. I do believe he is starting to get his message across. Don't fuck with Jason Asano. Maybe it will even stick this time? So, loving Darryl so far. Sounds like a good dude. With awesome powers.
JonO
Is Koa related to taika....I think he had a brother. I need to look. If not no biggie, but that would be wonderful
NicStalingrad
Thanks for a fantastic chapter !
Daylan Ethridge
T-Shirt Idea, "Got got 87 Reasons and a Bitch ain't one."
Cyrus McEnnis
Aotearoa represent!
Connor
tftc
Brad Gammey
Buckle up!
Justin
Let’s go
Frederick
Hi
Dylan Pearce
Let's goo
Agent P.
Nice. Finally the extinct were-crocodiles!
Nick Remis
First
Christian Chavez
Thanks
