Chapter 510: Put the Mask Back On
Added 2021-08-06 23:01:01 +0000 UTCThe collared cultists were effectively non-threats without powers, but Jason wasn’t taking chances. Holding a hand out to the side, blood spilled out to take the form of Colin in his blood clone form.
“Watch the packaged meat,” Jason instructed. “If it starts going bad, eat it fast.”
The cultist still free didn’t try to look out for his fellows. He did just the opposite moving out of the way as the familiar approached them with slow, methodical steps. The cultist never took his eyes from Jason as he sidestepped out of the apocalypse beast’s path, remaining alert to attack.
The collared cultists tried to run, only for blood-soaked leather straps to shoot out from Colin. They grabbed the disempowered cultists and dragged them back to the familiar’s feet. Jason felt the surge of power from the star seeds within them as they tried to self-detonate and locked them down with his aura.
This was a trick Jason had instinctively picked up after ejecting the star seed placed in his own body. He hadn’t understood how the ability truly worked when he first used it back in Greenstone, but he had changed a lot since then. Jason was no longer a dual entity of body and soul, the way most physical beings were. For him, body and soul was the same thing.
This was extremely unusual, even on a cosmic scale. While the specific components of different physical beings varied, the underlying pattern that made them up was the same. Be it a normal person or an essence user, monster or familiar, physical beings were comprised of a physical component that served as a vessel for a spiritual component. Exceptions to this, where the body and spirit did not exist in a state of duality but in a unified, physical and spiritual gestalt were extremely rare. This was what made entities like the messengers and the vorger so extraordinary.
Jason’s adoption of that state had given him significant insights into the way the connection between body and spirit functioned. It helped him understand the underlying mechanisms of things he’d been doing by instinct, like using his aura to prevent star seed detonation.
The soul of any being was inviolable unless it opened itself to penetration. If a being like the Builder, with practically infinite power, could not overcome this limitation, then Jason certainly couldn't. This made a star seed inside someone's soul untouchable, however strong his ability to influence the Builder's artefacts. Not all of a star seed was held within the soul, however.
While each great astral being used its own kind of star seed, they were all, by necessity, a reflection of the basic patterns of physical beings. They were made up of both physical and spiritual components, which lodged themselves in the physical and spiritual aspects of living beings. For this reason, messengers and similar beings, which now included Jason, were immune to star seed implantation.
Jason was unable to do a lot with the physical aspect of a star seed, as the protected spiritual component was the part that controlled it. The most he could do was lock down the physical component and prevent it from enacting commands sent from within the soul.
Jason's understanding of the dual nature of most physical beings wasn't generally useful. The two aspects were like perfect halves of a sphere, seamlessly sealed together, with nowhere to take purchase. When Jason used his ability to attack a soul, all he was doing was scratching at the exterior or squeezing it like a ball. There was nothing to grab hold of and really go to work, but a star seed changed that considerably.
Jason locked down the physical aspects of the cultist's star seeds, so as to stop their self-detonation. It was something he hadn't done in years, during which time he had gone through considerable changes. This led to a revelation as he grabbed at the star seeds: the physical aspect of a star seed was like a handle sticking out a cultist’s soul. A handle that he could grab.
Looking at the uncollared cultist through a new lens, Jason didn’t see a man. He saw a sphere with a great big handle poking out the side. Half of that sphere was untouchable, but what if he grabbed that handle and used it to wrench off that half that wasn’t? He couldn’t rip the man’s soul out of his body, but maybe he could tear the body off the soul.
The cultist and Jason were still in a standoff, staring one another down. Neither had moved since Colin tied up the other cultists, who were now bound up in wet red leather straps like insects in a web. From the cultist’s perspective that was fine, buying time for reinforcements to arrive. For Jason, it allowed him to concentrate on forging a new weapon in his soul arsenal.
Jason projected his aura in twin talons that dug through the cultist’s aura. One gripped the man’s soul while the other gripped the physical element of the star seed. Then, Jason started to twist. The man froze, eyes wide as he felt something try to wrench apart the very foundation of his being. For Jason, it also felt like a physical struggle, as if he were trying to yank the man’s soul from his body with brute strength. The difference in soul strength between the two silver-rankers was like a bodybuilder fighting a child.
Jason was certain that unless the Builder stepped in and turned the cultist into a vessel, he could not be stopped. Since doing so would go far beyond simply using some vessels to talk, Jason didn’t think that he would. The two men struggled while standing dead still, staring at one another. The other cultists lay where they were tied up, watching in fear and confusion. Despite having their aura senses being sealed, the collared cultists were able to sense the powerful aura reactions coming from within the cultist Jason was spiritually attacking. Even people without magic and the aura senses that come with it would have felt it. It was not enough that they were clear as to what was befalling their companion, but they could tell that it was happening on a level that no wound should be able to reach.
“Mr Asano, I recommend against this course of action.”
Jason ignored Shade, his face warped with hate as he felt the strain he was placing on the bond between the cultist’s body and soul. The man wasn't even resisting anymore, swaying and starting to twitch. Shade rose up from Jason’s shadow.
“Mr Asano, I strongly recommend against this course of action.”
Jason continued to twist and wrench, feeling the cultist’s spiritual foundation beginning to tear.
“JASON, STOP IT!”
Shade never yelled. Shade never told when he could suggest and Shade never used Jason’s first name. Doing all three at once had finally broken through. The cultist dropped to the ground, frothing at the mouth as Jason released him and turned to his shadowy familiar.
“Mr Asano,” Shade said, his composure restored. “If I ask you to do something, will you do it?”
“Anything.”
“Then I will ask you not to do what you were about to do. Ever. Because–”
“Why doesn’t matter,” Jason cut in, his voice soft. “If you want it, that’s all the why I need.”
Jason’s shoulder’s slumped. Shade had shaken the twisted rage from his expression he suddenly looked exhausted. Something festering inside him had finally rotted through and collapsed. He looked over at the cultists. The free one was having a seizure, the foam in his mouth tainted red. The others showed an expression Jason wasn’t familiar with on the face of a Builder cultist. He’d seen arrogance and disdain. He’d seen fury, madness and the slack-jawed blankness of a puppet. Fear was new. Even collared, they felt what Jason had been doing to their companion and it chilled them to a depth only the star seeds within them had ever reached before.
“I almost crossed a line there, didn’t I?” Jason asked.
“Yes, Mr Asano.”
“Or maybe I already did. If you hadn’t stopped me, I’d have torn that man’s soul out.”
“But you didn’t. There is still a path home for you.”
“And where’s that? I don’t think I know anymore.”
“It’s the same place it’s always been, Mr Asano. The place where people are waiting for you.”
***
The exterior of the aperture changed, the rainbow portal stopped flickering as the seal on the other side was broken. Figures started emerging from it; first the collared cultists, then Jason, who immediately locked down their star seeds again. He wasn’t able to maintain the suppression while passing through the portal. Following them was Colin, who looked like a blood-red copy of Jason and had the last cultist slung over his shoulder, still unconscious. Colin’s bloody straps shot out to wrap around the cultists again and he walked them behind Jason like dogs on a leash.
As he arrived from the astral space, Jason immediately sensed the presence of the expedition. They were arrayed in front of the Builder's vessels, who had broken down considerably in the short time he’d been gone. Jason arrived as the vessels were using their cold, mechanical harmony to address the wary expedition members.
“…have a proposal for you.”
“Not interested,” the expedition leader, Jeni Kavaloa, told the vessels.
“If Jason Asano dies,” the Builder continued, “my forces shall abandon the Storm Kingdom, never to return. The underwater city will depart. Everyone and everything that serves me will either leave or destroy itself outright. All it will cost you is one silver-rank head. It must be the silver-rankers amongst you who take it, however. The gold-ranker cannot intervene herself.”
The words arrested Jason’s attention and he stopped inside the mouth of the cave. How many times had he been thrown under the bus by someone in power that was ostensibly an ally? Lucian Lamprey of the Magic Society. Elspeth Arella of the Adventure Society. The Network more than anyone. They had turned on him over and over, with the gall to ask for things in between, passing the blame onto rogue elements and hostile factions. Jason didn’t think he could be surprised anymore, only to be proven immediately wrong.
“Stick it up your ass,” the guild team leader, Korinne, yelled. “Asano might be an asshole that takes himself way too seriously, but he's our asshole, and we don't turn on our own assholes."
Even with the Builder's vessels arrayed right in front of them, the expedition members all turned to look at her.
“Shut up,” she barked defensively. “I’m not good at speeches, alright?”
The Builder ignored her.
“What say you, gold-ranker?” the vessels asked. “You are the foremost representative of the Adventure Society here and command these silver-rankers. You do not even need to spill the blood on your own hands. How many lives can be spared in return for one silver-rank head? Are you willing to pay the blood price of war when I offer you peace?"
“We’re not handing anyone over to you,” Jeni said.
“And what of you, Princesses? The monster surge will be long and when it is gone, and I with it, a new storm will come. Will your kingdom be rested and ready to weather it or battered and tired when the time comes to face it?”
Vesper stepped forward, panning her gaze across the row of crumbling vessels.
“If having Asano dead is worth more to you than our entire kingdom,” she declared, “then the most important thing our kingdom can do is make sure he stays alive.”
“That may be harder than you think,” the vessels announced. “You may know that Asano has come back from the dead more than once. What he has hidden is that he cannot do it anymore. Until he reaches gold-rank, no power in the cosmos can revive him again.”
Taking the last word, the vessels died as the power inside them vanished and they collapsed to the ground. Jason left the cave with an unfamiliar sense of gratitude to the members of the expedition. He walked through the still-fighting constructs and abominations, those he controlled pushing those he didn't out of his path to open the way.
***
The expedition watched Jason and his entourage of bound cultists pass through the still-fighting Builder minions. Jason looked at the dead vessels as he walked past them. Because they hadn’t been properly prepared as vessels, they had collapsed entirely into piles of dry dirt. At least it meant they were too broken to revive as magic-sucking ghouls, the way vessels had in the past.
Jeni looked at Asano, whose aura was now a closed book to her. She hoped that it was because he had gotten a handle of the madness that had been bubbling out of him and not just that he’d gotten better at hiding it. Whatever he had been up to, the look of restrained anger on his face since she had met him had been replaced with a sunken weariness.
“Mr Asano, you and I need to have a discussion.”
Jason nodded.
“I don’t make a very good subordinate,” he acknowledged. “It’s not a new failing.”
“When you chose to join this expedition, there was an expectation that you would follow directions.”
Jason looked from Jeni to Vesper and then back to Jeni.
“I apologise for that. In my defence, I was following directions.”
Jeni took her turn looking to Vesper, then back to Jason.
“Politics,” she said, making a dirty word of it.
“Tell me about it,” Jason sympathised. “Silent and brooding was what you said, wasn’t it, Vesper? Oh, and Zara, if you’re still looking to get married, we’ll have to talk about that later. I shut down the sealing ritual on the other side of the aperture but there’s still plenty of bad guys in there and we should get going before they close it off again.”
Jason turned and wandered back in the direction of the cave.
“Okay,” Korinne said. “Who was that guy and what happened to the other guy?”
“Same guy,” Vesper said happily as she set off after Jason. “He just put the mask back on.”
Comments
My first reaction was "What was Vesper so pleased about? Jason's inconsistency demonstrated that one or both attitudes are put-on. That's not how you sell a story." But the comments helped sell it for me. Once the Builder stepped in, the act wasn't important anymore. Jason is now a VIP and everyone will know it.
mistermerf
2021-08-29 01:57:19 +0000 UTCPossibly because in so doing he could damage/destroy the soul, which I'm sure the reaper wouldn't be please with.
James Cecil
2021-08-28 01:40:55 +0000 UTCThat last line was excellent!
James Cecil
2021-08-28 01:36:18 +0000 UTCNot sure I see why yanking the soul out of a persons body using aura is worse than forcing the soul out by killing the body. Or would, by practice, it become too easy to anyone, even people much higher ranked? And thus draw in more higher powers nervous of such a new weapon?
Rande Knight
2021-08-23 12:29:32 +0000 UTCWeekend withdraw is hard, but it makes the next fix all the better for it!
Zerfdin
2021-08-08 16:41:19 +0000 UTCDoes anyone else get upset when the weekend rolls around because they don't get their chapters?
Mark
2021-08-08 05:42:49 +0000 UTCLoved this chapter
Evan Derdowski
2021-08-08 04:54:25 +0000 UTCI didn’t think about that, but you’re right her smile was probably due to the Builder essentially handing her a golden ticket and fixing her whole PR problem lol
James Faulkner
2021-08-07 23:16:16 +0000 UTCAs to Vesper, I think the Builder handled one of her bigger problems for her. Is Jason “big deal” enough for Zara to be credibly interested? I’d say witnessing the Builder personally threatening to kill him could be considered a panty dropping moment. No wonder she was “happily following” him.
Robert Nugent
2021-08-07 13:23:45 +0000 UTCAm I the only one expecting a COVID 19 reference?
Robert Nugent
2021-08-07 13:16:23 +0000 UTCWow, that can't be healthy, wearing a mask like that can be dangerous. I really hope Jason just had some catharsis there. Sounds like he needs another bar-b
Vindico
2021-08-07 11:07:49 +0000 UTCAnd the apocalypse sword! Really interested in where that plot thread will go!
Obsessivehobbyist
2021-08-07 09:44:38 +0000 UTCBut what about vampire Thadwick, we all just forgot about the poor guy?
InkyBusiness
2021-08-07 06:02:29 +0000 UTCWhile your comments are justified, internet comments, and fan comments in general all follow that pattern. None will agree wholly with each other, and all are prone to excessive criticism. If the author/creator makes anything of consequence, which Shirtaloon most certainly has, then the people following that creation tend to fall into rather loud and obnoxious categories. We collectively resemble a character from a favourite story of mine. Vom the Hungering. Vom is a pretty nice sort, all in all, but he will eat you, he's a ravenous monster with a touch of sense and an unceasing hunger. That's us, all chomping at the bit, ravenously screaming away MORE. The comments as such, are our slight sense vicariously living out that primal desire. All fluff and bluster. It's the story that really matters, not the inane babble of the audience, and Shirt has that covered in spades.
Fervent Fiend
2021-08-07 05:44:58 +0000 UTCThis comment section is FULL of really bad kneejerk takes man.. so many people cannot see past their own friggen nose here. "wasn't dark enough" "jason just rolling over" ect. how shortsited can you get. Are these the same people claiming jason can't keep saying he wants to grow, and then make the 'exact same' mistake? Jason walked up to the very edge, to something where he could have commited something that might be true sin in the eyes of the great astral beings, and burned all his support away. He walked right up to that edge and he was pulled back by a member of his found family in shade. Then after regaining a piece of his sanity and composure he puts on his 'mask' so he can cope with the situation he finds himself in. all this extra bullshit you might put on this scene, like him rolling over is nonsense. We have not seen that yet. We see something that could turn into that, maybe, but even then it is like you don't trust shirt with a damn to tell a story. In my eyes, shirt has proven time and time again the level of their ability. I trust that the next part of this story will continue to be faithful to the characters involved. If you think that isn't going to happen, why do you support at silver rank?
Adam Miller
2021-08-07 05:14:56 +0000 UTCSimilar to Jason’s earlier metaphor about golden stilts holding up the house, the builder’s plunder of astral spaces could cause the foundations to crumble. Unlike Earth pallimustus’ astral membrane is made of sterner stuff, so we could just be looking at mass destruction and the general collapse of civilization after major worldwide natural disasters obliterate established infrastructure. The power vacuum in such a situation would be worse than Earth since the number of diamonds and golds are much greater. The catastrophic damage followed by years of petty kings and supernatural warlords, all of which during the upheaval of adventures no longer slaying monsters since there’s no money if there’s no adventure society
Fervent Fiend
2021-08-07 04:15:31 +0000 UTC“And what of you, Princesses? The monster surge will be long and when it is gone, and I with it, a new storm will come. Will your kingdom be rested and ready to weather it or battered and tired when the time comes to face it?” So, more cryptic hints about something coming after the Builder. Dawn references it earlier and talks about sacrifices Jason will make in the future. Now this? Any ideas?
Robert Nugent
2021-08-07 03:37:10 +0000 UTCNo, this was more, it was more than not being thrown away, they got offered a very tempting deal that would potentially save them and their loved ones, but instead of taking the easy way and killing Jason, they stood behind him and disregarded the offer
Leander
2021-08-07 03:32:06 +0000 UTCThat is a lovely metaphor. Though, I would point out that he was wearing that mask long before he ever came to Pallimustus. He was known for that bravado and swagger throughout high school. If it’s a mask, it’s the leftover shell of the person he used to be. I’m not entirely convinced it is, though.
wherebear
2021-08-07 03:27:23 +0000 UTCSeems to me that the Reaper is bound to honor his word to the same degree Bob has honored his.
Robert Nugent
2021-08-07 03:18:56 +0000 UTCThat mask has barbs on the inside that take a little more from Jason every time need to use it.
Romen Martin
2021-08-07 02:57:16 +0000 UTCAnd yet Neil is such a discount Jason when we do get support character chapters. Truly a case of the whole being better then the sum of its parts.
wanderer117
2021-08-07 02:44:37 +0000 UTCEh I’m not sure that’s as valuable as you might think. However, seeing the lengths to which the builder wants Jason dead (in my opinion) is much more valuable information because it shows that Jason scares the builder. He showed up in the flesh, so to speak, and tries to bribe people of authority to kill Jason in exchange for discontinuing his operations in a small slice of the world. That screams to me that the builder knows Jason can fuck up his whole invasion of the world and not just one small section. That and the builder just confirmed the restrictions he’s under that Jason told them about. If I were vesper I’d be ginning ear to ear as well after getting that kind of information on a great astral being.
William
2021-08-07 02:44:03 +0000 UTCPlease tell me we are close to done with this keeping Jason away from his team as a plot point. I get why this arc had to be done and it has so far been well written but I’m not sure how much more of this I can stomach. The best parts of this story are the supporting characters. Jason alone is just depressing.
mockery jones
2021-08-07 02:19:20 +0000 UTCAlso I suspect that tearing out the soul isn’t forbidden in itself, but is rather bad for Jason’s mental state. Additionally, there might be backlash from the connection. It could be like a strained bungee cord, ready to snap at anyone who cuts it the wrong way.
Luke Scheffe
2021-08-07 01:37:57 +0000 UTCThanks for the chapter :)
Alsia
2021-08-07 01:36:45 +0000 UTCI think Soramir’s idea is to marry him into royalty.
Hayden Leech
2021-08-07 01:33:26 +0000 UTCAre people not reading the chapter? Jason was not attempting to tear the soul apart, he was trying to tear it out of the guys body. He was attacking the connection between the soul and the body, not the soul itself.
Luke Scheffe
2021-08-07 01:29:50 +0000 UTCAgreed.
James Faulkner
2021-08-07 01:26:54 +0000 UTCI'm guessing something will happen to the soul, that's why shade stopped him. Maybe it will be destroyed or will be shredded. If he just killed them, Then the souls will pass on, If he yanked it out, then no passing on like what happened to the vorger victim.
2021-08-07 01:15:14 +0000 UTCWas a little nervous reading the chapter today based on discord but glad I did. No massive cliffhangers!!!! Also pretty sure that their is one power in the universe that can bring him back and that's the reaper. And based on the notes from the goddess of death on his undeath certificate.... Someone's coming back from the dead again
Jon
2021-08-07 01:07:31 +0000 UTCI think that I hate this chapter? I don't really like to use the word hate, I think it's overused and far too strong a reaction. Similar to the word amazing. Why was ripping a soul out crossing a line? He was going to kill him, how is that worse? I Strongly suggest explaining that a bit. From my perspective it seems a lot like he was about to add a potentially extremely powerful weapon to his arsenal then plot made him stop.
ReadingObsessed
2021-08-07 01:03:56 +0000 UTCAnd then to top it off; the Builder gives away one of Jason's biggest secrets. I mean, a respawning adventurer with powers of inevitable death, should make ANY potential political enemies, crap themselves. Now Vesper the Viper (is my new moniker for her) has this VALUABLE information!!!!???
Asurathe13th
2021-08-07 00:46:54 +0000 UTCJust imagine how much more of a tool Jason could be if he was born to royalty.
Chopper
2021-08-07 00:45:00 +0000 UTCCan you put the quote that makes you think she is interested in Jason that way? I think you’re seeing something that’s not there... or something you want to be there. Which is weird.
Hayden Leech
2021-08-07 00:38:06 +0000 UTCI don’t really see this as a “faith restored” moment, more a “hooray for the bare minimum” moment.
James Faulkner
2021-08-07 00:35:14 +0000 UTCI'm sorry, but I didn't like this chapter. I was hoping for more dark shit, and for Vesper to be put in her place. But Jason just, in my opinion, gave up his struggle. And now he's just going to "Fall in line"? Really?! Come on Shirt!
Asurathe13th
2021-08-07 00:35:11 +0000 UTCWe have absolutely zero evidence that Zara is a particularly good person, and not much that she is a particularly bad person, but quite a bit that she is a pretty typically self-absorbed rich and powerful person.
Marc Whipple
2021-08-07 00:25:06 +0000 UTCYou know, I think I like the Rimaros people. Soramir is heavy handed but he is also a centuries old diamond ranker so what do you expect. He could have just demanded obedience on pain of death but he didn’t. He admitted his family was in the wrong and offered compensation for Jason’s help. Vesper is certainly a prickly personality but she is also a person doing a tough job and of course she puts her nation first. I even think she started to warm up to Jason/stopped thinking of him as a problem after he passed her test. Liara is pretty righteous and seems hung up on her status as a princess but she wants to be a good person and does good when she can afford to. We saw that when she gave Farrah a valuable time slot with the water speaking chamber when she didn’t have to do anything. Zara didn’t do what she did out of malice or an attempt to hurt Jason, in fact quite the opposite. She chose Jason because he was dead and the her plan wouldn’t hurt anyone. She’s a good person and went with the solution she thought would have the least harm and though it didn’t work out very well her intentions were solid. All that combined with the awesome setting of a nation of tropical flying islands? I think Shirt hit it out of the park with the characters in this part of the story.
Hayden Leech
2021-08-07 00:17:21 +0000 UTCIt’s all relative.
Hayden Leech
2021-08-06 23:50:10 +0000 UTCWell the mask is a kind of coping mechanism, the fact that he is using it again means he is not so far gone that he can’t come back.
Hayden Leech
2021-08-06 23:48:39 +0000 UTCInteresting. She thinks the decent, reasonable guy is the mask.
Konstantin Parkhomenko
2021-08-06 23:47:49 +0000 UTCThis is the straw that broke the camels back. His family didn't want to go with him. Countless deaths because of selfishness and withholding power back on earth,and people constantly wanting to use him for their benefit and now this? He doesnt want to be the bad guy, and torture people or kill people but he is forced to again and again. He literally just wants to fight monsters and use crystal wash.
Jaydan Man
2021-08-06 23:47:22 +0000 UTCMan this week’s chapters were one heck of a ride. Felt like a tiny story arc. It began with him being put down by a gold ranker and then ended with a little faith being restored by a different gold-ranker. Kind of poetic.
wherebear
2021-08-06 23:39:39 +0000 UTCblegh 🤮
Adam Miller
2021-08-06 23:36:44 +0000 UTCIt's a little game, where I read the title before I start reading the chapter, think to myself "that doesn't make much sense" and promptly forget about the title. When it comes up I'm like "oh yeaaaah, so that's what it was".
Reno
2021-08-06 23:31:07 +0000 UTCIf it keeps happening I will probably lose interest tbh
Leonard Marchant
2021-08-06 23:30:19 +0000 UTCJason’s ‘poor me bit’ has been concerningly long winded this week.. Jason’s person/monster body count is in the 4 digits and has the metal fortitude to handle torturing the stooges of his enemies, but can’t handle the one month of people being in his business? At some point the pity party must end..
2021-08-06 23:28:59 +0000 UTC‘Same guy, he just put the mask back on’. Vesper says this happily. Quite a bit to pick through there - quite damning of Jason on Vespers part.
Literally Goose
2021-08-06 23:25:10 +0000 UTCI feel rather elated and disappointed at the same time, Vesper is giving massive Tsundere vibes, maybe even Yandere too. Like I said before Vesper is at some point going to try to fuck the ~~~~~no no kidnap and rape the shit out of Jason. She gives me the creeps. I am so glad that Jason only had his nosetip cross that line...anymore and it would not be logical for him to be a "good" guy. Now that Jason has made it all the way to the bottom of the shithole the only way is now up. Yippee for Jason... NOW FOR SOME TERRAN NEWS!!! PWEASEEEEEE
TerrestrialOverlord
2021-08-06 23:25:05 +0000 UTCI think it’s because she knows he won’t come back if she kills him before gold rank. It could be how effective Jason clearly is against the builder but I doubt it.
David Fletcher
2021-08-06 23:23:34 +0000 UTCYeah... I don't see why she would be happy. This expedition sounds like it would put her on thin ice with the Adventure Society.
Amelgar
2021-08-06 23:16:56 +0000 UTCWhy us Vesper happy? That worries me.
White Neko Knight
2021-08-06 23:16:28 +0000 UTCNo, this had the important part of reminding Jason that he is not alone, while making things dark enough that he really questions himself while still leaving him a path back.
Leander
2021-08-06 23:14:13 +0000 UTCWeak. Feels like Jason went right back to playing ball with Vesper despite the fact that she’s done nothing to deserve that. This leaves a seriously bad taste in my mouth. Even Jason’s rage and darker turn feels empty because it was so temporary, whereas if he’d torn that guys soul from his body it would highlight just how bad things are and lay the groundwork for a personal development arc that actually has him address his demons. This was the worst of both worlds.
James Faulkner
2021-08-06 23:11:11 +0000 UTCDang Jason going hard there. The builder is tossing out bombs with that info about his death count.
Alexander Dupree
2021-08-06 23:11:00 +0000 UTCIt’s not something even great astrals can or will do, so I imagine it is a massive taboo. Like all bets are off and he would probably lose all powerful backers, like the world Phoenix. Or more likely the reaper would just straight up kill him right there. If I remember right he is the one with authority over souls, so Shade would know.
Tyler smalley
2021-08-06 23:10:46 +0000 UTCThat's the sad part of it... he needs to get back with people he feels comfortable enough with to take the mask off. And self-righteous egotists with more power than empathy are not on the menu. Excellent chapter, and nice way to amp up the threat with the 'open bounty' the Builder just mic dropped on the team.
Mr Fuzzknuckle
2021-08-06 23:10:43 +0000 UTCVesper is starting to worry me, lol
Mark Thorne
2021-08-06 23:10:37 +0000 UTCFeeling gratitude for not being thrown away like garbage is pretty sad. That is literally beaten-wife mentality. Poor bastard.
buca117
2021-08-06 23:10:17 +0000 UTCI love when the chapter title is the last words. It means a lot more.
rizen
2021-08-06 23:09:06 +0000 UTCMan I wonder what would have happened if he broke that guys soul.
Hayden Leech
2021-08-06 23:08:54 +0000 UTCSquee!
Hayden Leech
2021-08-06 23:08:35 +0000 UTCThanks!
2021-08-06 23:07:53 +0000 UTCThanks for the chapter
Alexander Dupree
2021-08-06 23:01:41 +0000 UTC2😑
My name is Klondike
2021-08-06 23:01:33 +0000 UTC1 😜
Crysus
2021-08-06 23:01:15 +0000 UTC
