Monday Update: Plato Bestiary, Vainqueur Preview, etc...

Hi guys, 

Quite a lot of things happened lately, so rather than drown you in posts, I've thought it easier to simply gather everything in a general update. Overall, you'll find Plato's Bestiary entry, the next Vainqueur preview, and new information on Kindle/future events. 

- Kindle-related news: Underland II and Apocalypse Tamer

First of all, much like the first volume before it, Underland's second half is will make its way to KU on December 6 and is available for pre-orders. As such, the chapters and free ebook will be removed at the end of October. If you're a Dracolich patron, you can still download the free manuscript until that date by clicking on this link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/dracolich-free-48625485. 

It was my hope that Underland would find more success on Kindle than Patreon/RR, but well... it hasn't. As such, while I will complete the Lord Bethor side-story, it's almost certain I won't return to that universe anytime soon. 

Second, Apocalypse Tamer's first volume will also makes its way to KU in partnership with Aethon by November 29. I'm waiting for a final version of the edited/proofread manuscript before allowing you to download it here on Patreon for free before I have to take down the early chapters. 

I know some of you may be viscerally opposed to KU and it's perfectly understandable... but with the Patreon still struggling even after Apocalypse Tamer went online (it's still less than half of what it was with the Perfect Run) Kindle and Audible are becoming my main source of income by far and I'll probably mostly pivot in that direction. It is simply extremely difficult to create a large patreon without either continuing a popular story for years or publishing a lot of updates in a short time, which I both struggle with. 

I remain dedicated to post-by-post publishing, but it's likely almost all of my new works will find their way to KU in the future. 

-  Apocalypse Tamer Plato Bestiary Entry

As promised, here's Plato's Rakshasa Kitten bestiary entry, as per your poll choice earlier in September. Art by Dinovoila. 

Look at him with his tiny sword and sky-high stats!

Personal Perks:

• Sharp Claws: Plato’s claws inflict SKI-based damage. He gains advanced proficiency with unarmed attacks, fangs, and claws (x2 damage, +10 Crit).
• Somnonapper: while under a [Sleep] effect, Plato recovers HP as if he benefited from the [Regen] positive ailment. Additionally, his body will act on its own to dodge attacks and retaliate.
• Birdbane: Plato’s attacks with natural weapons inflict [Birdslayer] damage (x3 damage against [Avian] Types).
• Nine Lives: When Plato would die, he instead benefits from an [Auto-Revive] effect bringing him back to life at critical health; this also purges Plato of ailments. Plato can be revived eight times before the Perk becomes inactive. 6/9
• Swordsmanship I: Medium proficiency with swords (x1,5 damage).
• Pawerful Dao: Plato can run on vertical structures, and even ceilings so long as he remains in motion. Additionally, the length of his jumps is doubled.
• Manbane: Plato’s attacks with natural weapons inflict [Manslayer] damage (x3 damage against [Humanoid] Types).
• Illusionist IV: The Rakshasa’s mastery of illusions transcends schools of magic. Plato can learn and cast spells up to Tier IV from any school of magic, but only illusion-related spells.

Active Perks:

• Focus Up: 30 SP, [Support]. Buffs Luck, Skill, and Crits chances for five minutes.
• Windfang: 60 SP, [Wind], Technique. Plato can unleash a sharp blade of wind with any bladed weapon, claws and fangs included; proficiency bonuses apply depending on the weapon used (base [Wind] damage 100, +30% crit).
• Catnapping: 50 SP, [Support]. Plato can designate a foe within his line of sight. On a successful luck check, all the enemy’s buffs are transferred to Plato as if they had been cast on him in the first place.

- Vainqueur 43 Preview and other info

I have a few more news on the Vainqueur front besides the next episode's preview. 

It's been many months since the webtoon adaptation started publication, and I have been extremely thankful for the support many of you have shown to it. I can't put into words how great it was to watch my own characters adapted into a visual format. I wish it for all creators.  

However, the Vainqueur webtoon will likely not receive a second season.

It's not that it's not making money; the Webtoon broke even in the first two months and bring in a good amount of revenues (enough that I'm currently looking into funding/creating new webtoons with other partners). But the webtoon is a middling success: it has a reliable fanbase, but it's not mega-popular either. I suppose it's a mix of the fact the novel fanbase has moved on to other works (history has taught me that since I finish webnovels, it's always a struggle to reestablish an active fanbase after completion) and that the larger webtoon community is more interested in romance and urban fantasy rather than humorous dragon satires.  

And thing is, the webtoon was developed in partnership with Tapas, who produced the art and co-own the webtoon's IP. Tapas is currently undergoing a merger and they'll likely focus on either more popular series or translating webtoons coming from Korea rather than develop indie works like Vainqueur. It's thus almost certain Vainqueur will stop at one season, though there's always a chance Tapas changes its mind in the future. 

That's the tragedy: Vainqueur is profitable, but not profitable enough.  

I'm not bitter. I very much enjoyed working on the webtoon and I'm thankful to Tapas for the tremendous chance they offered me. I can count on a hand the number of English webnovels that received a webtoon adaptation. 

I'm not sad that it ends; I'm glad that it happened at all. 

As some of you guessed with the last general patreon update, a Vainqueur game was in early development before the news, including a functional demo. However, the non-renewal of the webtoon puts its future in jeopardy. I might have the possibility of going forward with the game even without the webtoon, but it's just as likely that the dev will focus on other projects. We'll see. 

So... all I can say is thank you. Thanks for supporting this webtoon while it lasted. 

Next, as promised, here is next week's Vainqueur Webtoon episode 43, exclusively on Tapas: We Are the Hoard.

Vainqueur duels Brandon Maure’s sky fortress while Victor rallies the minions.