Early Access: STORMWEAVER 3 - CHAPTER 1v2 [ROUGH]

I love that we get to see the tangible representation of Shido’s links and this combined with the skybreaker preview gives some great insight into where this is headed. Where the chapter feels a bit off for me is that it’s not obvious at all why Rei and especially Aria immediately somehow think they know that something terrible happened. Big things happen to Shido with regularity for Rei. I would think their initial reaction would have been much more raw excitement. This is the event that proved Rei and Arias theory. I still see Rei rushing to get Aria and then find Viv, but driven by that excitement. They could still run into capt dent in the same way (or even on the way to find Viv) for the same end effect.

Bob Wilkinson

Damn book 3 is off to a heck of a start!

Jeffrey V.

I took as as Rei's current mental state as of that moment. LOTS of shit got dumped onto him within that month alone, and I assume this is more of moving before thinking clearly kind of situation.

Sugoi

Maybe I'm missing some context from earlier comments of yours, but how does Rei immediately assuming something big happening with a simultaneous upgrade from both Shido and Viv is breaking of the 4th wall? Wouldn't it be a major flaw to Rei's character to just simply take Viv's current random HUGE jump, well past curfew as nothing more than an average combat practice CAD jump? Especially considering everything on his mind right before the notification. Everything that occurred at Sectionals, his and Aria's meeting with Papa Laurent, the deal he struck with Jasper not even an hour ago in-verse. Rei if out of anyone should be one of the first to assume anything bad could have happened, especially now that Central has high expectations for not just him now, but all of Firesong. The thought of Central being a cause of her sudden jump could cross his mind, as could many others. We've read chapters of Rei coming to an understanding or realization before any other that maybe present. For example, Kamiya's reason to sponsor him and Papa Laurent's intentions during their meeting. So him assuming something bad could be happening would be a 4th wall break imo. If you're still strong about your opinion, I wouldn't mind discussing further.

Sugoi

No idea but im living for it

momonga

Not sure My patience can withstand this. Im torn between supporting and just biting the bullit and waiting for the final release of the book. I must have checke the app 30 times this weekend.

Daniel Moth

Hoping it’s released tomorrow. Stuck doing 4-7 hours of driving to see in-laws that will spend the whole time complaining we don’t drive to see them enough. They don’t even read Bryce’s books… shame

gratch42

Seriously this stuffs super addictive, I think I check my email 30 times a day when waiting for a chapter, I think I need to go to a addiction group or something.

Jacob Clemens

Any word on chapter 2?

Jacob Clemens

Breaking the fourth wall is any act or action acknowledging an audience including but not limited to utilizing information only an audience would have to reach a conclusion. The most blatant form is directly addressing an audience but it is not the most common method of breaking the fourth wall.

J Andrade

Isn't breaking the fourth wall when a character acknowledges the audience or that they are in a story? In no way did Rei acknowledge us the readers, so how did he break the fourth wall?

Samantha Sandlin

It’s the middle of the night, as far as he knows no one is allowed to train past curfew so something bad happened. I agree that he should try to contact Viv though

Also - why didn't he just try to contact her? That would be the natural thing to do first, and after several tries with no response I could see him starting to get worried...

Neriel

I thought it was great, but it seemed odd to me how Rei thought that something was really bad when he got the alert. He is usually so logical that I was expecting him to work through what could have happened and be concerned, but not panicked like that. Maybe Viv was training with Grant and got an evolution... or maybe she was training alone and got it, but why would he immediately jump to the conclusion that something bad happened to her?

Neriel

So much better! Not that the other wasn't great, but this is greaterer!

Freedcats

I like the second version better. Seems like a tighter narrative style. Although a couple of things puzzle me. Aria’s reaction to Shido’s link - I would have thought it would be much more positive given that it vindicates the theory of Shido affecting the group. The fact that neither Rei nor Aria asked Catcher or Chancery to find Logan who is afterall Viv;s significant other. Dent’s fear but I guess at this stage we are still waiting to see how badly Viv is effected.

Gwydion

You know, that's not a bad theory. She is so far the only one assigned a user unique. That may/probably does have something to do with it.

dark phoenix99

Love the new structure. And the reveal!! OMG...the reveal. The link between cads.....woot!!!

Obi-Wan-Sage

I guess this is how I see it… I’m not the story teller I’m here to enjoy the process. And Bryce, you have been giving hot and spicy all around. The first version was cool but this even without the skybreaker snippet is a gem. When I end up asking more questions about what? Who? How? And end with OMG… it’s a win. I love the break from Shido’s normal notifications… shit’s going down in book 3 from jump… be true to you Bryce… the rest will come or they won’t MEH

Xien

Let me rephrase my comment about why I feel it breaks the 4th wall - since people replying seem to just assume I'm an idiot who hasn't read or understood the first 2 books..... Everyone except Rei's jumps were after normal matches or normal training. Viv was tired, he thought Viv was feeling left out - Shido's update would naturally lead him to the conclusion that Viv was pulling extra hours so 1. consternation at her keeping it secret makes sense 2. relief that she obviously got an upgrade and will probably get over her issue makes sense 3. Excitement about her upgrade and ability would make sense 4. Worry about proving Shido is influencing other CADs and how Central may react would make sense 5. Understanding that she got permission to stay iut way after curfew to train makes sense ... if it were Rei training EVERYONE would be justified in assuming he got hurt but immediately assuming Viv got injured before Dent shows up and he sees her face - THE Vivian Arada, who beat up people stronger than her since Gancrest and who has been Rei's rock to lean on for years ... That is what feels like it breaks the 4th wall.

J Andrade

Exactly. Everyone ELSE'S jumps were after normal matches or normal training. Viv was tired, he thought Viv was feeling left out - Shido's update would naturally lead him to the conclusion that Viv was pulling extra hours so 1. consternation at her keeping it secret makes sense 2. relief that she obviously got an upgrade and will probably get over her issue makes sense 3. Excitement about her upgrade and ability would make sense 4. Worry about proving Shido is influencing other CADs and how Central may react would make sense ... if it were Rei training EVERYONE would be justified in assuming he got hurt but immediately assuming Viv got injured before Dent shows up and he sees her face - THE Vivian Arada, who beats up people stronger than her since Gancrest and who has been Rei's rock to lean on for years ... That is what feels like it breaks the 4th wall

J Andrade

But you just pointed out those were HIS big jumps. REI gets injured. Everyone ELSE'S jumps were after normal matches or normal training. Viv was tired, he thought Viv was feeling left out - Shido'supdate would naturally lead him to the conclusion that Viv was pulling extra hours so 1. consternation at her keeping it secret makes sense 2. relief that she obviously got an upgrade and will probably get over her issue makes sense 3. Excitement about her upgrade and ability would make sense 4. Worry about proving Shido is influencing other CADs and how Central may react would make sense ... if it were Rei training EVERYONE would be justified in assuming he got hurt but immediately assuming Viv got injured before Dent shows up and he sees her face - Vivian Arada, who beats up people stronger than her and who has been Rei's rock to lean on for years ... That is what feels like it breaks the 4th wall

J Andrade

Skybreaker excerpt a few posts down from this one

Cassie

Wait what? What's the reference here?

Aubrey Listi

In reddit, we’re wondering if Vivs ability is so overTheTop it needed her CAD at a higher level before she could get it so Shido waited… and then linking with Viv/Gamela first - his longest term sparing partner makes total sense.

gratch42

If every other character seemed to have more dramatic evolutions before a link, how did Viv link first, but see no changes until endwalker? I am deeply eager for explanation :)

dark phoenix99

Run this à la carte like a boss Bryce!!! If there’s a further revision it’ll be just as delectable… ❤️💓💗

Xien

Exactly what I wanted with the rewrite! Even more heart racing than the original

Mistfate

Tbf the the future prompts before the chapters kinda spelled this out. Especially the one at the end of book 2.

That was amazing

Devin Jaros

Lol.. we all have opinions. It’s a great rewrite. It seems to lead into the chapter to be finished in 2025. Both are great.. pick which one you belief stays true to the story.

Heather Herren

I liked the first version, but prefer this one.

L Ko

Not gonna lie, after sitting on it I prefer the first version where it came as a first chapter surprise that something had happened to Viv. It hit much harder and felt more in line with the spirit of the story and what was going on at the time as well as the characters involved. I think a good combo would have Shido sounding off right after the end of v1 when Dent came to get him. As if it blocked his vision and confirmed what she said. Close the chapter with it and let THAT be the cliffhanger

Chioke Nelson

Endwalker was a user-unique right? As crazy as it would be, I don't see Shido "limiting" Rei and itself to normal CAD abilities no matter how rare they are normally. Once another Firesong member gains a user-unique and Shido's link capacity grows higher. That's when I can see Shido adding them to Rei's arsenal. Especially since rei has 2 user-uniques (technically 3) before gaining something simple, like breakstep or overclock.

Sugoi

Had to come back to this to think of future ability combos. Overclock+Ruinous+Endwalker+Temporal Step is super op.

Charlie Staner

This is better

Much better revision! Excited to learn more about shards. Definitely puts you in the action right away and doesn't bypass the elephant in the room.

Jak Grueneberg

I really love this version so much now want next chapter to see what happened

Tiffany Miller

I agree—this is a much stronger start. A literal punch to the gut. Nice!!!

Lyn Shirley

I thought “smart” Rei’s deduction of: Viv tired all week + upgrade notice produced by Viv/Gemala fully informed Rei what was happening. The upgrade wouldn’t go off on its own so Viv must be training. Though maybe his heavy worry about it is something communicated by the shard connection. More new system scifi than 4th wall for me.

gratch42

The other devices could all be over 70 or 80% towards a full link, but still only using 62% of Shido's max link capacity.

Or it has a certain amount of bandwidth available. A full link takes X amount, which Gemela just reached. Lower than X numbers provide the growth benefits, but not a full link. The other devices are slowly working up to X, and the total they are all using is 62% of Shido's current capacity.

Doesn’t train with Sense. I’d think Lennon maybe, Bretz maybe but definitely not Sense Dent or Dice.

DeathAndTaxes

If shards are CADs and not abilities manifested externally as part of Shido, then how do you justify the idea of Shard 1 being Gemela but Shard 27 taking the form described in the excerpt?

James Faulkner

I can easily see it your way, or Gamela being the only one with a proper link and Shido needs to upgrade some more to add more full links.

Iron Akela

While I agree 100% with you, it could be explained in universe why Rei reacted like this by his melding with Shido and getting a ‘feeling’, which is in reality data coming from Gamela to Shido to Rei

Iron Akela

Yea but remember any of his BIG jumps have been horrendous training or near life threatening situations just for him. Then to get something pertaining to Vic who has been with him and shido the longest all of a sudden out of the blue and Vic’s attitude about her being left behind. Something big happened, like a gut feeling with all of his own experiences and how intelligent he is he can subconsciously and consciously deduce something major happened especially if it’s 0100 when she is supposed to be asleep. Devices don’t level on their own without outside stimuli.

chad

I would think each is a device yeah. And Firesong’s devices are the first ones I’d think of since they show up as blue on Rei’s display from minute 1! Hopefully it doesn’t always take near death to trigger the links in the future. But I can see several people being close enough to Rei trigger. Firesong obviously. Sense almost certainly. Dent, Lennon, Bretz, Myers maybe. And perhaps big sis too

Iron Akela

That makes sense if the overall is an average of link level. I wonder if 100% is reached by the creation of a user unique ability as the final goal given the timing?

Voror

I think the Shards are CADs, not Abilities

Adam

I think Shido's link with Gemela is at 100%, and the others are at some other percentage, which is how the 62% gets calculated

Adam

Absolutely stonking! What a chapter! Moves nicely from 2, gives us the link, tattletales on Rei and Aria, and Dent is the same as v1. Great opener for book 3!

Iron Akela

Imagine if the shards can make normal humans temporary CAD users, automatically giving them access to whatever ability is associated with the shard?

James Faulkner

Giveeee meeeee moreeeee! Lol thanks for the chapter.

Ryan Berends

im wondering what is meant by "Combat Assistance Device ’Shido’ max link capacity has reached 62%." im guessing its how many users shido will be able to connect too, im also wondering if shido has connected to more users then firesong, id guess shido will have connected to the other brawlers in his group given how often they train together in class. Who knows to the degree rai needs to train with people before shido starts infecting other cads.

saynt

The logic chain goes something like this: 1) he gets a notification of some major sort of "upgrade" directly involving Gemela 2) it is some ungodly hour in the morning 3) most upgrades come from some sort of combat / extreme stress situation for him. -> Why is Viv in combat or experiencing extreme stress at this time of the night? -> Something is very very wrong

Craig Bentsen

That’s fair. How would he know there’s a problem with viv getting hurt and not anything else. He could make an assumption that she got hurt because of the jump, but he seems so certain. Same with aria

Cam

That’s awesome! I saw on Reddit you said you didn’t have much knowledge and that might be holding you back. If you need any help I’ve made plenty of servers and would be happy to put time into helping out on this endeavor

Gama

Not exactly what I was expecting but it is good very good in fact. There can no longer be any doubt that shido is helping and keeps rei and aria from getting side swiped by dent untill Benaly snitches lol

Ira White

It's in process!

Wraithmarked Creative

Oh I can only imagine them letting slip she was in his room with Guest present and then realizing they screwed up.

Voror

There's not enough chatter about this for me .. Hello, can we talk about Shard 1, what does this mean? Does each device link gets it own Shard? We know Shard 27 is a sword of some kind.

Cassie

That's even if Shard 27 is the last one in his arsenal 😭😭😭

Cassie

It wasn't 67 then 100, it says 'Initial Link' has reached 100%, total link capacity has reached 67%. Say it can fully link 5 CADs, 20% of the 67% would be Viv, the rest the rest of the team between them. But maybe they're all near 100% anyway and he can fully link to more than 7.

Daniel Hogan

Hey!! The little hearts change from black to grey when you show approval for a comment! Neat!

Deamon Ohfivefour

F’ing gold Bryce. Much better opening action scene for chapter 1. New shard details >> recap. Did Rei even look into Viv’s room to check - though I guess she told him she’d be with Grant. Or maybe shard awareness lets him know she had to advance on her side to trigger the notification - so she had to be training… which he deduces. No blushes from Aria 😅. Though those will probably come later. Right now she’s tired and in squad leader mode.

gratch42

Dude 27 unique abilities taken from other devices or developed in tandem with them is absolutely insane. I know Rei will eventually be a God, but this is crazy

James Faulkner

wonder how long it will be before rei finds out he can used his team mates abilities

saynt

Along with that it feels like Reddit have a conversational cap so to speak where it just ends. I love the discussions discord is able to provide and enhance

Gama

i agree, i have quite a few questions but im not on reddit so im stuck at keeping them all in

saynt

i think you have to open the post for the pdf to show up, it doesnt show on the wraithmarked home page for me

saynt

Match Commentator: "Aaaaand Bryce opens the match with an immediate Break Step! The action is starting out with a bang this matchup...."

Craig Bentsen

Very interesting additions here. I did think the way Dent came upon him while he was musing on things worked very well too, though the reaction of discovering a ability that links to Viv is quite exciting. Rei being able to work out that it could be something bad given how random it is to happen now makes sense for him I think. Now to see just how badly Viv is hurt I guess.

Voror

that was bloody good tbh

saynt

HOLD THE PHONE.... HOLD THE GAHHDAMN PHONE JUST A SEC... Skybreaker said Shard 27. This says Shard 1.. Bruuuuuuuuh. So hype, you can call me hypeman. Geesh

Cassie

Now that is much better I think, I much prefer the fast paced start to the book.

Dougie Mitchell

@gama I read it that the link to Gemela is at 100% and Shido's total capacity for links is at 62%, so basically Shido can't just link to every CAD it meets, it has a limit on how many connections it can make AND how "deep" those connections go

kirbydabear

This version starts the book at 350mph. Exquisite

Scott Hayward

I can see that! Like everyone else is partial, and Viv is fully connected!

Cam

I think this explains the sky breaker spoilers too

Darren Dyke

The way this read is that the Link Shido directly picking which one of them to update at that time. Like how it was at 67% and then when Viv got endwalker it went ot 100%. I would say that it will change which one it is linked to depending on who needs to be upgraded at that moment

Gama

Apparently the Patreon update did something weird with attachments. I know you can still access it somehow, but I'm not sure how given I'm on Chrome. Sorry!

Wraithmarked Creative

Bryce, we need a discord! We need a spot where we can constantly talk and theorize about these chapters! Please I beg of you!

Gama

Definitely better.

Bender

Such a good rework! When I saw you were doing a V2 I was hoping it would be more gripping than the V1 but man talk about knocking it out of the park!!

Executive313

Chills, this chapter has given me complete and utter chills. The shard link, seeing it open to Gemela. Holy shit I can't wait until chapter 2. Fantastic rework

Gama

Eyes to the sky. "Dear God, or Whoever/Whatever runs this shithole... Can You do me a solid, and skip Friday? Like go straight to Saturday? You can have... my truck. Cheers."

Deamon Ohfivefour

I think the previous version with Dent appearing and Rei not realizing why had more impact while this version feels like it only works because it's an "entertaining work of fiction" and both the info Rei receives & his reaction are very 4th wall

J Andrade

I’ve never made comments here before. I hope this isn’t considered feedback. Thanks for the chapter!

Cam

Ohh I like that! I’m curious why there’s a link only for Viv and not for the rest! I guess this new evolution is more huge than expected!

Cam

I enjoyed this opening better than the initial, much more fast paced. Loved it!

Jesse Osman

It’s basically whole new chapter! Nice work!

Aiden Reiff

Woah. That was a heck of an improvement and I liked the last version but this is just so much better.

Ymere

And patreon won't let me edit my comment above to add the "f".

Thomas Corbin

HOLY SHEEEEEEEEEEET. I love this version so much more. Man does it leave so much that can be said and done.

Tim Murray

For some reason, patreon in firefox isn't showing the pdf. I can see it on android.

Thomas Corbin

Nice lunch break treat thank you.

Christine Stewart

Ah yes i love this opener more🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

ABU-UBAYYAH SALLAU ABA-HURAYRATA

So good but cliff hanger! Need more haha

Absolutely smashed it, let’s be honest that’s like getting another whole chapter, fucking brilliant

FancyAd

Thank you Bryce. Just brightened my day!

Darren Dyke

OMFG!!! I CALLED it!!!! I SOOO CALLED it!!! MMBOhahahaha!! God I love these books!!!

Deamon Ohfivefour

Hell of update! So excited to see more

Ryan Beirne

This is a great change. I think it sets the tone a lot better.

Hunter

DIRECTLY INTO MY VEINS, BRYCE

kirbydabear

Oh I liked that version a lot more. Nice

Superior_Shaq

This is so sick, I can’t wait to see what it means and what’s going on with Viv!

Adept