And Mondays are Mondays. If they appear insurmountable right now, perhaps a respite is in order? Rather than pushing yourself and granting an entry to intrusive thoughts most malicious and pernicious, those awful times when you berate yourself for each perceived failure to maintain a schedule(obviously I don't know you personally, but I'm given to understand most of you fleshlings occasionally get tripped up by self recrimination, so I think the odds of me being correct regarding a matter of human nature are favorable), just remember these meager, possibly cringingly cliche words: writing's, like, hard, y'know? that you've, like, written and, y'know, *posted* so many chapters that, like, you're way ahead of most people in life's whole "Self" "Worth"(gotta really pronounce those quotation marks, y'know? like ya gotta do it hard enough your finger joints snap and pop unhealthily) thing. in other words, we're demonstrably capable of waiting while you take care of (and hopefully improve) your wellbeing, be it mental, physical, or se-NOPE! Not going there cause humies are prudies and that'd be a weird-out thing. (you could have skipped all the above nonsense to just read this summary, too, lol: take care of yourself. take a break when you even merely suspect the stress is ramping up to toxic levels, because we can wait. we can wait because it's a phenomenal story and it's worth the wait. and since you wrote it, that's a major accomplishment few can speak of: writing a phenomenal story so good people across the world read it and can keep anticipating even through unexpected delays. So rest and recover so you can write! For the love of Loki, get better soon, and feel better sooner! *collapses in a faceplant, human behavioral emulation module burnt out.*

I like the back and forth here. as...cathartic/sympathetic/enraging-er, "emotionally stimulating" as Rhishi's standard interactions with people go, it's nice to see something more akin to a cooking student/master conversation going on. largely because it's so unusual, lol. also good to see that despite being a frankensteinian hodgepodge of Demigod, Titan, Axe Hero, and Spear Hero systems(hope I got those right) Rhishi's system seems to be none the worse for it...but maybe we'll find out otherwise in the next chapter! Duhn-duhn-DUN!!!

man, I can't wait until Rhishi turns into a godeater or something and renders Sobek...moot, for constantly putting him into these sorts of situation.

also, I was trying to Liamize "mechanics". reading about your setting, piecing together odds and ends and off-handed remarks to develop a portrait of Achea(and Beyond!) and the myriad peoples you've developed is...mmm...like a savory stew, delicious on its own(despite still not knowing what goblin cold cooking entails, lol) but the mechanics that underly it, the suggestion that everyone's System is different, that they can be considered like operating systems for a computer, the fact that people don't naturally replenish Mana, that mages have to tap it from other sources, the fact that there seems to be two paths to improving your physical stats and that one can "sell" back traits...or maybe that's just a Rhishi thing, and if so then even that fact is fascinating. And to continue my food metaphor, if the setting is a savory stew(probably chicken) then the mechanics and numbers underlying the world are both the garlic butter mozarella(with just a tiny bit of bread) and the Lindt regular chocolate balls with creamy filling(or those Pizza Pizza white chocolate "truffles" with strawberry filling). And I need to stop making food metaphors because I always make myself hungry...

what is this "morality" of which you speak? I'm too busy clubbing baby seals and spreading the word of God Almighty to those poor, sinful heretics to Google it. 🤪

no!! we...hack, cough...fine. *I* loves the mechanichinations and whatnot behind the world being woven here!

I see their atmospheric humidity level is at molasses. it's the only reason I can think of for why everyone is always acting SLOWLY, lol. never hesitantly, haltingly, ponderously, shyly, glacially, or in similar form to "like a snail/slug/turtle/tortoise/sloth/glacier/Rohan M. Vider with the third book of his Dragon Mage series/molasses in January..." That's my one complaint: the word "slowly" - and variations thereof - is overused. otherwise, I have been consistently impressed.

uh..."besdies"?

I get it, Scribe. the worst part is he actually said that his is like a simple soul, meaning it's somehow true, lol.

LOL! I figured it might be something like that when the kaleidoscope was mentioned. Now he just needs to find a Lite Brite and Etch-a-Sketch for the quartet of fundamental 80s curios.

Dialogue is the skin, draped over the meat of action which is itself supported by the skeleton of plot. ...I could really go for a humburger right about now... ...I means what I types. Hamburger has beef and bug, humburger has Pete and Phil. ^_^

HA! I know, right? Internal plumbing and counterweights have nothing on exterior plumbing, lol.

Doom is coming, I know it! Rishi is DOOMED(autocorrect would have him Duned 🙄) for there is no other way for balance to exist even as a concept whe people are this un-mean to him!

🧐🤨😐😑😶😮😯😲😀😃😄😁

Ha! ^_^

😂🤣😆 two in a row!

...yet. *Dun-dun-DUN!!!*

LOL!! This one(technically two, but whatever) line just turned a miserable night right around, thank you, :)

Meesa tinkin' you made da city guard almost alarmingly kind, generous, compassionate and all around nice. Comparatively speaking, of course, lol. After all: Rishi took no damage during the encounter, nor did he end up a slave or skinned alive or castrated or even defenestrated.

You're currently meeting the needs of one decidedly non-average reader, if that helps, :)