Hello, hello!
This project is a deeper look into each chapter that I release, which is going to follow the releases of the chapters when they come out. I plan to continue releasing chapters in pairs (besides Interludes, Preludes, and Epilogues, when they happen), and these Deep Dives will cover both at once.
…By the way, sorry this came out so late. I was hoping to release this sooner, but life has been kicking my butt.
Since Royal Road will exclusively get one of my stories, I would like to post the Deep Dives for that here… though, I may skew dates for those releases – probably 10 to 15 days after the chapter comes out, I’ll post the Deep Dives. Don’t hold me to that.
Just like in the Update Diaries, I’ll just be going over events in the chapter, and trying to clarify some things that I may not have gotten to clear up in the Book.
For Unity’s Edge, I’ll try to do the Deep Dives a week or so after the release, covering things that don’t happen in the current Book.
For New World, since I’ll be posting the story simultaneously with RR, I’ll probably release it around the same timeframe (one week after). Since New World was meant to be a side project explaining a deeper thing anyway, I won’t spoil too much until it becomes relevant in Unity’s Edge releases.
As for the new story… that will be the one to get a longer grace period for the Deep Dive, but since this story is more aligned with the Unity’s Edge timeline, I won’t be talking about any direct relations with the other two unless they come up in one or both stories.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at Chapter 10!
So right off the bat, we’re coming out of Vincent realizing something isn’t adding up, and we jump into Simon’s head for the first time. I tried to make his thinking a little more analytical than Vincent’s head-voice, but I had to keep in mind that he was a lightweight AND drunk.
Simon isn’t one to confront someone about a slight normally, but when he’s got liquid courage running through his veins, he can be more stubborn than normal… kinda like his co-leader! Unfortunately, he’s also very mentally frail, even in this heightened state of courage. We see him go from calculating to bratty reluctance, then to a physical breakdown from the amount of stress he’s been dealing with.
We do get a good look at a Prime in this chapter (not something we’re used to seeing in this location), and abilities outside of the normal use of Essence (one of the two I have planned to introduce for this Book). Finally, at the end of the chapter, we’re re-introduced to Miel, who has made her first contact with the Crush Squad with… less-than-favorable results.
Two things I really wanted to touch on in this chapter are the dream sequence and uncommon use of Essence. Neither was touched on very heavily, but I don’t think I’ll get a better chance to explain than here and now.
First off, if it hasn’t come across properly, there was a distinction between Vincent’s sleeping state and Simon’s – that is, Vincent was viewing old memories, while Simon had a proper dream (though, “nightmare” might be more apt). Baael and Azrael, as well as adjacent creatures, lack the ability to dream. There are several creatures in this series that do not, but I wanted it to be clear that creatures in this setting like transmortals, supermortals, and god-beings cannot dream. It’s a small detail, and one that probably won’t come up for a while, if ever, but it’s one that I wanted to present in this world.
By the way, transmortals are defined as species that supercede our understanding of fear, life, and death, among other things – in this case, Baael and Azrael never really “die”, but get recycled into the universe. Supermortals then are defined as the beings as close to godhood as can be while retaining mortal traits – gods that can be harmed by natural means, such as time or specialized weapons.
The second thing was Simon’s Essence “nuke”, for lack of a better term. I did a horrible job of describing what it specifically means for a creature to be unable to use Essence “properly”, so here we go.
Most every creature in Kiria can use Essence to some degree, thanks to the multitude of gods that watched over Kiria in its youth. A creature unable to use Essence is rare, but it’s due to the infection from a God of a different realm. If I haven’t made it clear, Kiria is only one of several “worlds” in this setting. The term used in-universe is “realm”; Kiria is one realm, and the settings of New World and the other story are separate realms as well.
A recurring theme in the other two stories is a “mad God”, and it is infecting the other realms as it passes through them. Simon, unfortunately, was unlucky enough to be affected. When he tries to use Essence like anyone else, he struggles and feels pain along his nerves when the Essence finally activates… but no spell goes off.
He figured that if he couldn’t process magic like a normal person, he’d force it out… and it kind of worked. The result is basically an explosive force of Essence coming from his body, ripping through in small holes… so more like a billion Essence needles shooting out of him. As you could probably imagine, it is not a pleasant experience, which is why he only does it in extreme situations. Since he still has Essence, Regnah was able to work with him to design a gun with bullets that can use his Essence to move them through the air.
These are the two applications that Simon currently has for his Essence, but he is always studying for other ways to apply it.
…and it’s at this point that it took me two months longer than I intended for this to come out. Not to mention, I still have to release the next two chapters “before September”.
I think I mentioned that I’ll be making a “life update” post soon, but long story short, life’s getting difficult again. I intend to finish this Book, and to make sure I finish this one before the end of the year, I will not be writing on the other two stories until I’ve finished the next chapter, which I intend to be the end for Book One, or at least, a good stopping point.
I started the third story as a way to have a little more “adventure” between politics in my stories, but I ended up focusing hard on that story instead. I’ll still be working on my other projects on the blog – monthly Update Diaries, the Deep Dives, and obviously the dual-chapter posts – but I’ll try to keep my focus on story writing for Unity’s Edge, not the other stories.
In any case, please look forward to the next post (which will either be the next Update Diary or the next two chapters).
Love y’all!
-Marcosias