Aaand with this, Book 2 comes to a close. I’m gonna be honest with y’all, finishing two whole books and already being on a third is a pretty big deal for me.
A couple of years ago, I took a single writing class as an extracurricular. Then enjoyed it so much I took another. Then a third. Never imagined it would lead me here. I like where I’ve ended up.
That being said, daily or almost daily webserials are usually a work in progress most of the time, and there are parts I wish I had done better and others that probably should not have been there at all.
This is probably why I'm constantly editing. Every time I learn something new about pacing or character development or basic human dialogue or plot issues, I want to go back and fix everything. It's a problem. My editor/brother has threatened to hide my keyboard. He can't do that though. I'm the big brother. I'll tell mom.
I keep telling myself I'd have written this story to completion with or without readers, that it's purely for the love of storytelling, but... that's just not true. Having people actually take time out of their busy lives to read my writing is incredibly gratifying.
It's also a massive ego boost that I may have become slightly addicted to.
Okay, more than slightly. I sometimes refresh my stats page like it's going to magically multiply my readers. I screenshot nice comments and read them and giggle when I'm having a bad writing day. It's your fault, really, you've turned me into a dopamine addict.
So now you can't stop reading. Those are the rules. I don't make them.
But seriously, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! To everyone who's stuck with this story, left comments, feedback, critiques, shared it with friends, or just quietly read along while I figured out how to not write terrible dialogue. You've made this journey infinitely better and educational.
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As for the plot, I honestly feel like I’ve said everything I wanted to say with Adom as a student in the academy in the span of two books. There will still absolutely be academy stuff going on, as it is still important, but not with Adom as a student.
Dragging it out into the third book would just be me beating a very dead horse, and frankly, there is too much else in this world to explore. The place is so big I sometimes get lost in it myself, lol. So, as I mentioned way back in a chapter (the chosen ones who read the author notes already know… and no, this is totally not me side-eyeing the rest of you, non-author notes readers. Or is it?), there will be a time skip. Expect more adventures outside of Arkhos, and a much more active Adom who is now old enough to get into even more trouble.
Oh, and speaking of dopamine addiction... I have released a new story. Teehee
Originally, I was going to put it on an alt account because, you know, if it flopped, it wouldn't stain the reputation I've somehow managed to build here. But then I remembered I'd already been posting it on Patreon for months because I was too excited not to show it off. Again, dopamine problem. Huge issue.
Since the cat's out of the bag anyway, it's here now! It's a time-loop isekai story that started as a palate cleanser to prevent burnout from Re:birth, and then slowly took on a life of its own. That's a figure of speech by the way, it didn't literally take form. That would be terrifying. It's just a story. Stories don't do that.
They can hook you, though. And I really hope this one will hook you too.
It's called The Gamble King, came out last week, and already has over 60k words out. The MC there is a mage as well, and an archer. There's a cool companion at around chapter 12, aaaaand I'll stop blabbering now. Probably wuld be best if you had an idea about it yourself, so link's in the post, for anyone interested!
As always, I am open to suggestions. Thank you for continuing to read. I am always grateful for that and I really, really hope you enjoy what is coming next :)