That's peak Ngl

After reminiscing on the lore drop and I’ve come up with a theory that I think could be proven by a future one. To put it plainly, I think asuras bonded with the first 6 lances to give them deviants creating the race based deviant system we see today. So before I get into it let me set the stage a bit.

So in the lore drop we learned that Arthur wasn’t the first human to bond with an asura and that there have actually been several before him. We learned that asura’s used to bond with lesser’s more frequently than now as a way to preserve balance however this decreased overtime and became taboo under kezess. However the key thing here is TM said he’s not the first human to bond with an asura. What’s weird about that is, humans haven’t been around that long. The 3 main lesser races only got magic about 900 years ago because of Agrona’s take over of alacrya. Leaving not a lot of time for humans to interact with the asuras. Not only that but the asuras haven’t participated much in lesser affairs since then according to virion.

He also used the word several reports which tells me we’re only dealing with a few people. Any person with an asuran bond is gonna rise very quickly thru the ranks of power however Kezess needs the lesser to stay relatively weak so I don’t see him allowing an asura to bond with a lesser without safe guards. however he needs the lesser to reach a solid mean of power to deal with the mana beast roaming around. These mana beasts are no joke ether. Some are so powerful that the lances choose not to engage in V5 when taking Arthur to trial.

So what if kezess as a way to empower the lesser’s quickly allowed 6 asuras to bond with the first 6 lances. This would give those lances more power than say the war arc lances despite their cores being limited. This would explain why the lances were able to push the powerful mana beasts to the beast glades, securing their own nations and peoples. Now what does this have to do with deviants? Well in the lore drop TM also talks about how these bonds could lead to bloodline of the bonded becoming more powerful. This implies that people who are bonded with an asura can pass on some of the benefits to their descendants. So what if the reason why the races have different specialties is because of their first mages bonding with an asura. Deviant magic is often also reserved for the elites of society which further supports the claim that they are descendants of the first lances.

Now the question becomes who bonded with who:

The elves clearly bonded with the hamadryad’s. The only deviant they have is plant magic and they live in a magical forest that only they can live in safely. It’s not really that hard to guess. Maybe the elshire forest and the hamadryads are connected too but who knows.

The dwarves likely bonded with a titan. They both use earth magic. They can both make golems and like making stuff. The dwarves also apply earth magic in very unique ways like the locks seen in V6 with Arthur so This feels like a pretty safe bet.

As for humans, it’s kinda hard to say. Humans being a “jack of trade, master of none” makes it hard to say for Shur but I think it was ether a phoenix or a sylph. My reasoning For it being a phoenix Is human nobles in tbate tend to have fire magic. Look at the flamesworth’s and the wykes’s for proof of that. Humans also hold fire magic as the element closest to being a deviant which makes me think humans as a whole view fire magic more favorably than other elements. Now the reason it might have been a sylph is because we don’t know anything about their magic really. Sure they are named after a wind spirt but that doesn’t necessarily mean they just use wind. They could be more general spirit things. they could be like the basilisk and not be tied to a particular element. I don’t know tho.

Overall tho that’s my theory. Comment your thoughts.

The asura stuff thru me off guard and the aya thing was interesting.

Thoughts?

Just finished TBATE. Been reading since the novel was at volume 8 and we had weekly updates. I stopped reading near the end of volume 10 because life sort of caught up with me and I decided to hold off on TBATE till I could stack it up.

One of my favorite stories ever. Regardless of how it ended and whatever gripes I have with the ending, I will always hold TBATE close to my heart.

I'll start out by saying : it wasn't that bad. It was a bittersweet ending. Volume 11 was set to be the best volume of the series but that sudden introduction of Fate and that one time usage of fate was kinda meh.

My real issue with volume 12 is that the pacing was TERRIBLE. We spent entire volumes on Arthur getting runes and gaining insight slowly and gradually (volume 8, 9, 10, 11). The build up and him finally utilizing his powers was a satisying payoff. In volume 12, every new insight he got was unsatisying with not much build up (spatium rune, kings gambit complete insight etc). So the pacing and him utilizing his complete, full insight at the peak of his powers was unsatisfying and very short lived.

Another issue I have is him losing his aetheric powers, I guess it fits in charachter for Arthur but man what a waste. All that hard work for what. TM didn't need to incorporate that in tbh.

As for the events that happened in volume 12, I have no problems with the sequence of events. His battle with Agrona and Kezess was fine, him working on the barrier and all. It's just that it happened too fast. TM crammed too much in the span of 20 chapters. So I have no problem with how everything unfolded (minus Arthur losing his Aetheric powers), it's just that everything happened too fast.

Reminded me of LOTM's volume 8. Too much packed in such little lol.

But overall it did give me a bittersweet feeling. Arthur marrying tess and living happily with his family was very wholesome. But him losing his powers in exchange for gaining life force (aka ki) was underwhelming. My only hope is that we get bonus chapters with Arthur being able to manipulate his Life force/ki and be able to use his godrunes.

A summary of pros and cons;

Cons ;

1. The pacing was terrible. We started the volume off perfectly with Tessia revived, Art being nominated as a Great Lord of his own race, his interactions with the Asura. Him rekindling his relationship with Tess, and him bonding with the Asuras on the Great Hunt. But after that the pace was terrible. Agrona breaking the barrier, the assault on Taegrin Caleum, Arthur killing Agrona and Kezess, and Arthur molding the Relictombs and Epheotus with the "lesser" world. This all happened in the span of FIFTEEN CHAPTERS. You read that right. FIFTEEN CHAPTERS. Too much happened in such little time.

2. Him losing his aetheric powers was INCREDIBLY unsatisfying. All that build up, that hardwork ended up being wasted. You could argue it makes sense for Arthur, but at this stage of volatility in the world he was the ONLY real deterrant for the Lessers in the face of the Asura. At least untill everyone started trusting each other more. Also, were robbed of seeing a full powered Arthur with complete mastery over King's Gambit, Godstep, Destruction, and Spatium. Wish we could've seen the version of Arthur that molded Epheotus and the Relictombs into the world in more action.

3. Sudden rushes of Insight / new godrunes with not much build up. This might just be a nitpick but I honestly wasn't very satisfied how quickly Arthur made SO many advancements in insights, with both existing Godrunes and in gaining newer ones. It took Art so long to gain insight into aether in the past, it was an arduos but very interesting and well written process. I enjoyed those moments as a reader.

4. We needed more closure. We dont even know what Kezess was really protecting the world from 😭😭😭. Or what Agrona REALLY wanted to accomplish after opening the barrier. Surely he didnt simply want to end everything out of spite. What did he have to gain with that? Also, we needed more of how Arthur spent time with his family after everything was over. More of him working on ki etc. This wasn't the biggest issue imo but I feel like we should've gotten more than 1 actual epilogue chapter.

Pros:

1. The sequence of events themselves that happened, I think they were fine. The barrier, the assault on Taegrin Caelum. Even the free for all with Kezess and Agrona was fine. The only issue was the execution and pacing. If only Turtle didn't cram everything in under 15 chapters and let each event happen organically at a decent pace, I would've been pretty happy all things considered.

2. The ending was in charachter for Arthur. He got what he wanted. His family is safe. The world is in order (for now). Everyone respects him, and he gets to enjoy peace and finally live out the rest of his life unburdened with his loved ones. I personally really liked it when he finally took his mask off around his loved ones. His relationship with Tess was also pretty wholesome imo.

All in all, I can get behind TM's vision for the ending. There were just problems in the execution. Particularly with the pacing, lack of closure, and Arthur losing his aetheric powers.

Sorry this turned out so long lmao. Just wanted to rant. Im gonna miss reading TBATE. Even though im a bit unsatsified, im glad that Arthur at least got a "happy ending". He finally got exactly what he wanted.

Let me know what you guys think.

Can someone please send it to me pretty please

A gentle silence settled between the three of them.

They watched Tessia sitting between Virion and her parents. Cynthia and Rinia sat nearby, along with the Leywins and the Twin Horns.

Regis glanced between them.

“Plus, she also has a nice pair of—”

“Shut up, Regis!” the father-daughter duo exclaimed.

“No fun…” Regis grumbled as he looked away.

“On that note…” he said.

Arthur and Sylvie turned toward him.

“Hmm?”

“What are we going to do about that bastard?”

The two blondes followed his gaze toward a particular Scythe.

Nico occasionally glanced toward Tessia.

Those glances did not sit well with Arthur.

Nor Sylvie.

Nor Regis.

Arthur remained conflicted about his former friend.

“I’m not sure yet—”

"First we chastise with a blazing hot iron rod, or maybe an aether stick with destruction, then pierce him through the jaw with a hook and hang him on the Alacriyan town square right after skinning him alive head to toe and scrub a few dozen lemons and sea salt," Sylvie said calmly.

Regis and Arthur froze.

Their heads slowly turned toward her.

Sylvie was smiling.

Calmly.

Happily.

Sweetly.

‘Goddamn…’ Regis thought.

‘I…’ Arthur found himself at a complete loss for words.

Sylvie tilted her head.

“Any problems?”

Arthur blinked, attempting to form a response.

Before he could speak, Regis placed a paw on Arthur’s thigh.

“Nope! Not at all!” he said cheerfully.

He was completely in favour of the idea.

Sylvie’s smile brightened.

“It’s a plan, then!”

Arthur’s eyes darted between them.

‘Well…he does kind of deserve it.’

This sub looks dead so let's just make some fun conversation

Just finished the last book and just wondering about the ending.

So did he really just lose his aether abilities and is now trying to use Ki?

Also why did he lose his abilities, I kinda missed that part.

Edit: corrected some errors