Hello readers,

With a decent volume of content up for your enjoyment, I wanted to get your take on the progress and planning for the future. And to say thank you for joining me on this journey. I can honestly say that I have found a passion in this project that I did not expect.

Presently we are about 75% through the current “apprenticeship” arc, after which you’ll get the event everyone’s waiting for (and that’s basically said outright by the title and synopsis) and we’ll move into the second arc, (also alluded to in the synopsis).

That said, there is a segment (7-10 chapters, representing a fourth apprenticeship) that I have chosen to remove from the first arc, partly because I’ve turned the estimated 30 chapter first arc into closer to 35 even without it, and partly to reach the class unveiling that you’re all anticipating before the story hits 100,000 words.

The second arc will come with a bit of a tonal shift, adding in some external conflict, exploration, and action (which you’ve gotten next to none of aside from a bit of sparring).

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My questions for all of you are:

Would you rather I present the story as originally intended with the cut segment intact or get on with the show and reach the big event?

Volume length for publication, right now vol 1 is planned to be Prologue, Apprenticeship arc, class unveiling, second arc, maybe an epilogue chapter. At current pacing this may be as long as 180,000 to 200,000 words. Would you rather see vol 1 as prologue, apprenticeship (with 4th segment), class unveiling as the climax, epilogue, probably running around 90k to 105k words instead, even if it means there is a change in tone between the first and second volume?

My fear in splitting them is that new readers will find the change in tone from very slice of life heavy, internal conflict motivated story of the first, to a slightly more balanced tone that adds external conflict and adventure (but will still have the parts you guys are loving so far), to feel like I’ve done a bait and switch or something. If I go this route then I’ll likely extend the segment between arcs to be a more gradual shift to avoid a sudden change, which will also delay getting to some alchemical warfare.

Please vote below and let me know what feels like the best approach to you, I’m looking forward to hearing from you and to bringing you all these wonderful story arcs and many more to come.