Hello, kentusrpg is here. Volume 6, a rather ominous volume. I needed to rewrite the climax entirely and I still feel like I wanted to do more, but on the other hand, it's too early for the things in my mind!
This time we explored more of Muaotef's camp. He's a popular villain and he has some long-term plans against Feuerberg which is already at war with the demons. A real opportunist, who looks for the tablet. It's something important, so important that even Rine doesn't know. Or maybe she just forgot?
Rine is a good keyword here, she is growing up! She has taken the first step away from a self-centered worldview. Don't worry, she is kindhearted and thinks a lot of others, but she was like a child up to now, believing that everything revolves around herself. Even the kindest children are selfish, it's necessary for their development. Kenta is the first one who actually criticizes her this way, the first one who treats her like an adult in a way. Will she still love him after all of that?
Speaking of love, Kyou has learned that she is also mentally affected by the curse. She also has her first on-text period. Researching periods was a bit... well, it was hard to ask all the women about their periods as a man, same goes for wet dreams, but I had some really helpful people around me, who understood why I'm doing it. I hope I was able to capture it well enough.
Next, we have Ara'ainn. While she is taking a prominent part here as well, it's hard to make a whole volume around her, given her personality. She likes to see where things are going and going with the flow, that's why she isn't as active as I originally wanted her to be in this volume, though I made sure that she had her moments here and is playing an essential part. Much better than having her showing up at the end at the battle and made Lvo'tjos return by all the embarrassment. Still, many important steps are done to kick off her arc... at least one of them.
Lvo'tjos, the alfr hero. I already planned him way before this volume. Like all alfar, he's mentally forever a teenager, so he's cocky, thinks himself of being in the right all the time, and has problems to admit when he's wrong or when he did something bad. He sees himself a bit of a victim, but he's like a teenager after all. He also is really strong, though his goals made it impossible to kill any of the MCs, and he lacks the cruelty to just chop off their limbs or something like that. He also doesn't want to harm Ara'ainn, who he fears a bit.
HOW TO SUPPORT THE STORY
If you like to support the story, there are several ways.
The easy ones (no to little effort put into it and you remain anonymous):
1.) Vote on TWF. It's easy, just a few clicks, no account needed, and you've got a vote, which will last one week. The higher the story is on the list, the more likely it is that more people will take a look.
2.) Become a Follower/Favorite. If you aren’t following the story via the Follower-option, consider doing so. Just go to the fiction page and choose “Add to your Bookshelf” on the right side. This not only boosts my confidence, but the number of Followers and Favorites is also visible for everyone on RRL.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
3.) Rate this story. If you have a RRL-Account, you can rate this story on the fiction page. The higher the rating is, the higher it is ranked, therefore making it easier for the search function to be found. There is also WLN, where you can rate this story, even without an account.
4.) Upvote and downvote reviews. You can do that on the fiction page as well, and yes, you need an RRL account. The more a review is upvoted, the higher it is on the list. The more it's downvoted, the lower it is placed. So if you like to help, upvote the positive reviews, downvote the bad ones, and give visitors to the fiction page a more positive outlook to the story.
With the new version of RRL, up-/downvoting became a bit of a hassle (because the page reloads every time), but I'd appreciate it if you do it nonetheless.
Some effort involved (and you'll lose your anonymity):
1.) Write a comment. I really like to read your comments, I'm easily pleased by praise, I'll think about actual critique which is usable, and I like to converse with my readers in general. Even if you spot a typo, everything is fine. As long as you don't write stuff like "I hate your guts," "your story is full of shit," and "I don't like your MC," this is not really helpful. I can deal with critique, but I need reasons, I need personal outlooks, I need examples why something feels wrong.
2.) Write a review. Another way to increase the rank are reviews, also made on the fiction page. They have more "weight" when determining the rank of the story. Of course, advanced reviews have more weight. To put it into perspective a half star rating without review made me fall 10 ranks, a 2-star advanced review made me once fall about 80 ranks. So there is a lot of control here, how this story does on RRL.
3.) I also use Social Media... sometimes. Here is my FB-page, here is my Twitter. You can like the former and follow me on the latter. You can also ask questions, make comments, all the nice stuff.
Go the extra-mile
1.) Advertise the story. Be it on social media (there are also share-buttons at the end of each chapter), on other forums or fiction pages, blogs or by talking to friends, there are several ways to make this story known.
2.) Leave a review on WFG. If you have an account there, you can also make a review there. Of course, a positive one would help there.
5.) Donate on PayPal and/or Patreon. I'm still trying to figure out a satisfying resolution for my Patreon, but for mere $2 it's currently possible to read the next chapter before everyone else, though it still need PR. For $5 you'll be able to read even more ahead.
Another way than to hit the PayPal-button for a direct donation is my kofi-page, just hit the button below. It's a bit nicer there and you can leave a message as well.
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com [https://az743702.vo.msecnd.net/cdn/kofi2.png?v=0]
The donations will only be used for the improvement of the story.
5.) Make fanart. I'm always more than happy to receive anything art-related, be it pictures, be it shorts, no matter. I'll make sure to post them on my blog as well while giving you all the credit. It's just pleasing to see how people care about my story and go that far to appreciate it.
I hope you liked this volume. When I finished it, it all felt so lurk-warm, but with time, I was able to really grow fond of it.
Nonetheless, next comes the usual break and then we’ll see each other again in volume 7! Correo will bring new forces and there will be a lot of heroes fighting each other!