So this seems to be a good point to discuss something that has been coming up in the comments. How the story's narrative works, particularly in the early chapters.

One of the main criticisms that I've seen so far is the lack of a clear narrative in the early chapters. I've always known that how this story was written would be a contentious point, but did not expect it to trigger this level of response, so I would like to address it right now.

Eater has generally been presented in a way where the narrative is not front and center, but buried beneath the character interactions and world building. If any readers are familiar with Cultist Simulator, or Fallen London, which has the same author, I have tried to replicate that style, where the reader is dropped into an established world without explanation and basically expected to make sense of it on their own. I understand that it can be rather bewildering not to have your hand held during the early stages of the novel, but it is my personal opinion that the reward for the readers once the pieces click in their minds is far greater thanks to the experience of fully immersing themselves in the world.

Stolen novel; please report.

So that's that. A big departure from other web novels, but like Relevance, Eater is being written for the sake of being something unique, rather than derivative. For anyone who felt the story was not for them, I thank you for at least giving it a chance.

And for those of you who have stuck around this long, I thank you for putting up with this story. It is not always an easy story to follow, or to even swallow, given its themes and characters, but you have persevered nevertheless. Again, I realize that something this odd would never be easily accepted and have been pleasantly surprised by the unexpectedly positive response it has garnered. It is also an author's greatest hope to elicit a reaction from his audience and the responses, particularly to Jas, have been very satisfying to me.

WIth all that said, I hope to be seeing you in the next chapter.

The Author