@dragon3010 Didn't Berwick tell them that he's got more mana than all of them combined? That would be a one-sided fight with numerous fatalities. The second best solution, since they rejected letting Alpha take the lead would be to let Jean make contact with him. With anyone else, it's going to be fatal.

It appears to me that it's the nation of the number 2 magicmaster that is in league with Kurima, knowingly or not. Alus will know who their ringer is and that will become a fight to the death on sight. Not that turning him into ash will provide any evidence to clear him. Still, if he can get him to show that he's a shapeshifter, that will sway some people's opinions.

It's too bad that Leonard died, he was a nice character. I like Victor too and I hope he'll become a recurring one. Keith and Karen might also make for a nice couple later. The subplot about the princess is the part I like the least of the series, though.
I wonder if once reforged Leonard's karana will end up in his friend's hands as a form ot atonement.

So that's how Maria will get a boyfriend.

@ravenchilde Ok I quit drinking nearly 27 years ago but reading this last section reminded me of being blackout drunk some parts made sense and well other parts of it were like the last gasps of dyeing brain cells as the early stage alcohol poisoning snuffed them out.

@karasutengu really? I feel like I still understood nothing, and ofc the saint succeeded because the bad guys can't ever face a setback at all in this series Jesus christ.

Off week?

Oh, she absorbed his attack and turned it back on him.

I squinted, trying to see what had fallen from the sky.
I was a huge dragon, its' body tinged red...

alt text

Damn, I really thought we were going to get a "if you can't believe in yourself, believe in the me that believes in you" out of Dana for a moment there 😂

@TheGrimLich said in Lacey Longs for Freedom Vol. 4 Discussion!:

@Darkchaser I hope she does. Getting to see Wayne flustered like "OK I was not prepared for her to say that to me now and here" would be wonderful.

That WOULD be pretty funny

@strangeattractor Well we know he does buy info from her every once in a while, it's just he keeps dropping things so what he buys ends up being less than the amount owed.

The Kamil POV did a good job for me of giving the character more depth, and showed he really does like Dier as a person.

I'm only 25% of the way through this part, but did Orea actually create the villain of the book with her magic? She made it so that Lorelar had dreams of Aides loving her all to control her actions. Meaning she fuled her delusion and made it more likely that she would do something stupid... That's just entrapment. Yes, Lorelar still has to carry some of the blame for her actions, but this really makes it seem like she was guided (read: coerced) towards commiting the crimes she did by the "good guys" using brainwashing magic.

@LightningLeaf It sounds like it doesn' it.

Nvm. I thought I was commenting in the Arc 2 section. Weird that pressing the forum link from Arc 2 part 4 lead me here.

I'm a little late to the party and I have mixed feelings.

Very mixed feelings.

Sleeping with a nonverbal severely ptsd vulnerable nonfunctional person under your care isn't helping them. Did she consent at the time? Like, fully 'please do the dirty with me I'm horny' consent? She was nonverbal but could she have communicated in any other way? Or did she feel she had to go along with it because she's in his care and Lydia's mythril buddies said this will help? BECAUSE THAT'S RAPE. The idea that raping someone will help fantasy ptsd (not cause it as is the case in reality) is just so unbelievably fucked up. Yes you can write it off as boinking helps chase away that evil god, but the line between 'events caused by gods' and 'natural events/conditions attributed to gods' isn't clear enough to get away with that imo.

And when she turns out to want to be intimate after all, he breaks up with her. Because the sleeping with her was just 'therapy.'

I really like the mythology and setting. I'm okay with the adventurer's guild acting like a pseudo-mafia when someone tries to fuck with it. I like how dark this series is. And it's the first one I've read that describes how a shield-user fights instead of having them in the background shield bashing (Bofuri doesn't count).

Dubious on the (misuse) of alcohol as a coping mechanism too.

Teetering on the should I drop list but uuuuurgh.

Feeling very lukewarm towards this series in general, but the latest part was very boring. US School culture completely lacking the 'seven mysteries' meme doesn't help (meme in this case being an idea/behavior that spreads through imitation through a culture).

It was a great volume. We saw Sharanla dead (well, at least for a while) and got a great amount of romance development.

What a little jerk this kid is. This being the final volume seems about right for the pacing.

@Kurzaa said in Pens Down, Swords Up Vol. 7 Discussion:

@Leon_97 being "reincarnated", doesn't he also prefer older women and might just be ignoring the teenage girls as either innocent crushes or stupid antics of youth?

He still wants the "heart pounding teen romance" that he missed in his past life because he was studying nonstop, even if he doesn't really want a serious long-term relationship yet.

Fey and Jewel are nobles, and he doesn't want to be tied down by marrying into a noble house, and least not yet.