... And that is the end of [Worm] Mage. Thank you all for reading this story. Even if it was rough around the edges at certain points, the Worm Mages' philosophy of living 'in-between' is something I had a lot of joy writing, and I sincerely hope this story touched you in some way—if you felt even a little bit wistful or hopeful at the ending, I'd count that as a win in my books.

While it may have been relatively short, Enki's story as the Worm Mage doesn't end here, and it won't end here. This story and its characters are part of a bigger world that will continue on in The Unmaker, which is the main story set forty years after the events of this story. However, Enki will physically return as a main character in volume two of The Conductor of the Long March, set three years after the events of this story. You'll get to see him again from the new protagonist's POV, and personally, I think it's quite an interesting dichotomy to have the new protagonist doing normal stuff in the foreground while Enki is doom-slaying everything in the background. The Conductor of the Long March will launch late October/early November, so stay tuned if you want to see Enki again.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Onto more immediate news: I have launched a third story titled Storm Strider, which is set thirty-four years after the events of this story, and will run for at least two volumes, maybe three. It follows a young girl who gets caught up by leviathans on her way to a water city, and has to choose an insect class in order to survive the terrifying bug-infested seas. The main character is... well, she's a speed demon, and her insect class is quite interesting if I do say so myself. If The Unmaker is the main story that focuses on general insects and [Worm] Mage is the spinoff that focuses on worms, Storm Strider is the spinoff that focuses on all types of water insects and crustaceans. If you'd like to learn more about all things related to water bugs, do consider giving that story a try—I promise it won't disappoint. The link to the story will be below.

Now, with all that said... thank you all once again for reading this story. Hopefully I'll see some of you on Storm Strider, and maybe even on The Conductor of the Long March when that launches~