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Next 4 Chapters of Book 5

Hey Everyone,

Here's the next batch of chapters. The chair was a success, and I was able to get into the zone for these ones. I really hope you enjoy them.

Massive thank you to everyone with the continued support here with comments and over on the Discord. The release of Quest Academy: Saviours on Audiobook went really well, and it peaked at like 194 in the entire Audible store.

I'll be going to a firing range tomorrow to test out the Magnum 357. Thought it would be good to actually use the gun I described in Scavengers. I'll be flying back on the 9th of February after a few connecting flights.

I may end up missing the 10th of February deadline if I'm catching up on sleep. The weekend before, I'll be heading to MegaCon in Orlando for a few days, so it might impact chapters by a few days.

Hope you all have a great week! Let me know what you think of the chapters. :)

Brian

Comments

Pickled Rick

Chapters before bed your the best Brian 👍🏻

nin10do

Thanks for the chapters.

Volarus

Have fun at the shooting range! Awesome chapters :D

Cedric 'Driky' Chatelain

Those chapters arrived at the perfect time! Careful spoiler ahead Note on chapter 16: from my point of view it feels like upgrade expect her students to be morons. When she explains the whole “less energy for one ability could potentially increase another ability thing” she acts/thinks like she expects that concept to be hard to understand. That felt weird. This is a simple concept of resources attribution, I would expect young adult to not have a difficult time understanding that.

Glen Adams

Careful with your wrist those can kick like a mule. Gunpowder packs a little more punch than essence.

BrianJNordon

It's Foundation rather than beginner. It's about getting everyone to the same starting line and taking nothing for granted. I'd actually attribute it to being a good teacher.

Kiwi

Thank you for the chapters, I’m so have finally found what Anthony will thrive at, the dream team levels up again 😃.

Kiwi

Are the two blank pages on 17 for a reason like an analysis to be added or just how it uploaded onto Patreon?

Natox Biohazard

Thanks for the chapters I wish I could read farther I just finished rereading the first 3 books

Chris Bagby

So stoked to read them!

Manpolar

Interesting development with the coffee machine. I wanna see how that turns ou

Kiwi

Safe travels for your journey home 🙂

Pickled Rick

Makes me wonder if there are skills for Essence programming and Runes. In Book 1 Sal explicitly states that his Mytthcrafter ability still has more space to add more weaves and we know gear above Myth grade exist. If he weaves in those skills into Mythcrafter then the Divine tiers seem more achievable.

Pickled Rick

With all the people struggling still even with the first 60 gates my guess is triple figure gates will become the norm very soon once Sal makes Perfect Elixers.

nin10do

What a cliffhanger of an end to the chapters was it on purpose lol you started getting to the point where he's gonna get the hang of it and then end off chapter.

Kiwi

I love these class scenes, just wish Sal corrected/educated Lombardi with the new information on skill weaves that has been learnt (in private of course) Also I feel Jacks the only one in Nemesis’ master class lol 😂 How come some students didn’t have 60 gates? I thought they had to get to 60 to pass 1st semester ? Or was it first year? I’m also wondering if Anthony is like Erika, two abilities. One being the overcharge on and a second one that he can’t use safely, I’m only guessing by the way he dodged sals question.

William Howe

Chapter 16: Upgrade shows a slide with ‘5 lines’, then talks about how the paths are each worth 25%. It’s obvious she is talking about the spaces *between* the lines…after reading it and thinking about it. Maybe consider how to better describe the slide and her interaction with it to provide greater clarity in the scene.

John Duncan

Great chapters ,but washoping for a du geon.

Meghan B

Thank you for the chapters! I loved the coffee machine scene and seeing Upgrade just as into crafting as Sal. I mean yes she's always in the workshops but its rarely said that she's working on a project. MY POINT IS that it was cool to see her in her crafting happy place. I feel the same way about Anthony in programming and Jack. It's really rewarding to see everyone going strong.

Uncle Snoo

Anyone else feel Sal coming off a bit too dumb in this batch of chapters?

Benjamin Hartmann

Very neat chapters 👌. On first glance I thought there isn’t happening much…buut well it seems a bit like a race for what will Sal break next. The Essence gathering with a weave like perfect or skill programming. One thing I don’t understand is the elixir machine. Wouldn’t it render Alex jobless? And after he overdosed Sal with “grand design” I could understand some revenge. Or is it an approach to get him join the guild and “gift” Alex the machine?

Kiwi

Yeah I’m confused about the machine too, I thought it was to help Alex not make him redundant. Or will he have personal access to the ingredients too?

Patrick McCoy

Love the chapters just not the ending of them it feels like some of the sentences are unfinished they just don’t end right like “Sal continued to breath” I just feels dull when it could be have just a more interesting sentence. Rather catchy or to pull it into the next one and that not the only one like that it just was the last one I read. Other than that I need more!! lol

Dawn Zeleznik

I liked these chapters a lot. It’s great to have Jack and Anthony again. I like them coming into their own areas of interest. I listened to the audio for book 3 and am currently reading book four again. 😃

BrianJNordon

It likely feels that way because other people are talking and he's mostly listening. He's trying to learn programming, and that's not a simple task for him. It was an opportunity to explore the strengths of his friends.

Kiwi

It highlights Anthony is going to be a programming rockstar. And jack’s determined to be a rune master 😁

Kiwi

Makes me feel Divinity manipulated the team for the inter cohort because together Sal is a good leader, Barry clever strategist, Blathnaid gifted crafter, Jack Rune master, and Anthony essence programming genius. The perfect team to save the world by making a weapon to destroy demons without casualties.

Naotsugu97

TFTC! Use a two handed grip until you get used to the magnum. They recoil pretty good.

TheWorldbearer

So good! New to the patreon format so waiting for the new chapters is painful. I like that he is catching up with some of the OG's though and Interested to see where the ability crafting and the elixr machine goes. Showing Upgrade and Fabi the drone can not come soon enough, the dungeon is gonna be great.

Kiwi

I get Lombardi can sense Sal has more essence gate, but could he also tell Sal moved his essence gates around his body? Is that why he’s looking at Sal oddly?

C

Good Chapters! Looking forward to see upgrades mythic and seeing some more projects in action! And now My definitive top 10 best characters list. 1. Sal 2. UPGRADE! 3. Blathnaid 4. Fabi 5. Sal's Mom 6. Sal's Dad 7. Vanessa 8. Healer girl (interchangeable with #6) 9. Destiny (the name stays for the trope) 10. Barry If you disagree, I apologize, but this list is definitive. You must be wrong.

LadyLark

I hope we can get a conversation between Lombardi and Sal at the end of the class. The weave stuff is enjoyable to read.

Pickled Rick

I feel like that is more Sal than Divinity. Sal has an insatiable desire to be the best at everything. Sal naturally brings out the best in people as a result and with how competitive the school is people(especially supports) cling to him like a life raft. Them having their own niche and drive is what gets Sal's attention long term. It also reads better than having a pointless leach character.

Benjamin Hartmann

Well Sal does not know any recipes… and I don’t know how alchemice works, so maybe he is after the recipes for future machines…

JJB4345_80_815

60 gates was for getting a perfect score in the previous semester's class. I don't remember what the number of gates were necessary for a passing grade (30? 40?).

R. Maxwell Steele

Am I the only one who gets bogged down with all the talk about what they are going to eventually do? They plan so much and act so little. Then even when he finally does make something, it doesn't seem to go anywhere except to making more plans.

R. Maxwell Steele

He definitely seemed dumb the his friend was like... people would pay you to get help with their abilities, lots of people are afraid of their waves/abilities, and he's like who? And the friend changes the subject. Pretty sad for him to miss such an obvious que. Bad friend sal. And then he's like plus you can build devices to help people with their abilities... Come on! sal, that's a cry for help.

Patrick McCoy

No it just how you can be really good with one thing so you focus on it but something that is similar can still be hard to understand. Kinda how you can be good at science but bad at math that is a component of science but maybe you focus on a section of it that doesn’t pertain to math.

jganderson77

Brian, I just learned about your patreon page after scouring the internet for any updates on book 4 release dates. I’ve binged what you have available (seriously, I couldn’t put it down) and have caught up with all of these incredible supporters that continue to provide great feedback. If you’re amenable, I’d be happy to share my two cents on what I’ve read that I hope might help you refine some of the minor nuances to the story. Oh, and thank you by the way. I have truly enjoyed all of your books. You have a real gift for writing. If ever you have one of those super hero or super villain slots open up again on patreon I’d leap at the chance. Here are some of my rambling thoughts on a random Tuesday morning for you. Chapter 15: - Truly enjoyed that you brought Anthony and Jack back into the picture. - I found it strange that neither Sal nor Blathnaid asked or commented on what Anthony’s blueprint actually was. They only validate that it is a good design. Is this meant as a foreshadowing moment? If not, I think Sal would have complimented Anthony on the actual design by pointing out its purpose. - Jack’s invitation to a masterclass actually made me wonder if Sal has actually signed up for any of his offered masterclasses. There has been no mention so far that I can remember. - Page 2, 3rd paragraph, 1st sentence. It feels like there is a conflicting intent on what you’re trying to convey. That ‘but’ after the second comma has put my feeble brain into an error loop. Is Sal dismissing the rapier because it’s a rare grade or is he explaining the specs of the sword to remind the readers of what he made back in book 1? I may need to take the EssPro class as my programming is glitching. Thanks for listening to my ramblings and thanks for writing an incredible story!

Kiwi

I agree with the blueprint lol I want to know what it was too.

Kiwi

Oh I thought 60 was the passing grade, makes sense to get Roche through.

Kiwi

I love the weave/skill master interactions.

Kiwi

I don’t think it’s a desire to be the best, I think Sals more desired to helping others and keeping them safe.He doesn’t care about ranks or anything like that. All his greatest achievements have been by accident, (except blight Jakle). It’s Divinity secrecy that makes me suspicious she has a grand plan.(for good or for bad I dunno)

Kiwi

You’d hope that if it was a cry for help from Anthony Divinity would have steered Sal more towards it. I don’t fully trust divinity but I’d say she would not leave Anthony struggling. I’d say Anthony was talking about a member of his family or something.

Tanstaafl

Great start fo book 5. I am confused on one issue. I book 4 Prestige quadruples {x4} Sal's 60 gates. Later you note that Sal has 180/240 gates. In book 5 Sal now has 180 gates

Kenneth Darlin

And Sal officially becomes a cultivator!!!

Kurby

Working my way through the audiobook now and the story feels so different with context book 4 provides. Stuff like; 1) Gallant not receiving a ticket to the gala wasn't a punishment at all. And that brings me great joy. If Brophy went to the Gallant he would just be watching a highlight reel of people weaker than him as a kid be praised while he's surrounded by other heroes who know his true strength and are just looking at him with pity in their eyes. The ticket would have been a real punishment. 2) I was 100% justified calling Sal a coward. 3) The therapist asked what a first year was doing in a dungeon and that Chetfield was going hard on Sal. BULLSHIT! CHATFIELD'S GONE SOFT! I would've given the students monthly quotas for dungeon runs. Supports need to do a minimum of 2 a month. Repeats are allowed. I'll even rent out silver tipped spears for them to use. All the other classes have a 3 dungeon minimum. Offence types have a 5 dungeon minimum and can only do the same dungeon twice a month. And this is just the first years. I expect the second and third years to be clearing towers and portals. Quest let these kids become too soft! This is a war and I intend to win! 4) Blathnaid stop comparing yourself to Sal. You're doing great with what ya got. 5) Divinity, stop spoiling shit. 6) Alex is going to get throughly screwed over in this deal and I am 100% ok with that. 7) I forgot that Rochelle actually lied about what happened after the Tower trial. When Prestige tries to apologize for Gallant she doesn't accept it. That's fine. But she says Gallant threatened to bring down the building because he disagreed with Erika. That's objectively a lie. Erika threatened to rip off her necklace and takeover Gallant's body and in response to that. Gallant threatened to rip off his own and take the building down around him. His threat was because Erika was gonna mind fuck him, not because he disagreed with her plan to hunker down. Sal does the same thing when tells Barry about Gallant's threat during chapter 92.

Nomad

Nice choice in guns for the range. Though you may want to bring 38 special rounds to fire in addition to 357. Will be much easier on you and likely more enjoyable.

Dawn Zeleznik

I presumed some sort of weapon as Anthony want to give Sal back the rapier.

Dawn Zeleznik

I like Fabi but the way she is always touching Sal at the Gala reminds me of one of those girls whose desperate for a guy’s attention.

Charles Gillentine

Chatfield was a complete moron the way he did Sals run. No training, untested equipment, not even allowing a team to go with. Was a pointless experience that only traumatized him. Chatfield is like a lot of garbage leadership I have seen in the army, they refuse to change just because they had to do it that way, and it's easier for them to regurgitate the same junk instead of improve.

Charles Gillentine

Yeah, I have had the feeling she has been pulling strings from the get go. She is good with martial arts, but without Sal, none of them would have been saviors and she made sure she was along for the ride. Sal would have been perfectly happy making crazy equipment and projects for the academy. Lets be honest, what would rank matter to someone that is changing the way they fight on a fundamental level? That's my paranoia talking at least.

Charles Gillentine

Sal doesn't know programming, he is an intuitive creator and not a methodical one. Literally everyone has been on his case since day one to plan things out and blueprint them.

Charles Gillentine

I really dig the idea of braiding the weaves, it's like unknotting the wes just so he could start turning it into something more. Makes me think that they know almost nothing at all about abilities, and Sal is starting to realize how far they have to go

Adurna

Good batch! Enjoyed the elegant ending of keeping breathing in the last. :)

Kurby

1) That was the test for the equipment. It was a safe environment away from civilians that could have been put in harms way. 2) It was a fucking Leecher dungeon! They are slowly crawling cabbages with teeth! If Sal got injured than he would have deserved it! His uniform alone was so strong he could have punched all of the demons to death! HE WAS IN NO DANGER! And if anything unexpected happened there were two heros there to help him. One of which has had a 0 casualty rate for all of his missions. 3) The thing you, characters in the story and most of the people in the comments seem to forget is... THIS WASN'T CHATFIELDS IDEA! Chatfield keeps getting blamed for this fucking mission. This was Upgrade's idea and Chatfield tagged along at the last minute specifically to see Sal's progress and make sure he was safe! If you wanna blame anyone for poor leadership or poor planning than blame Upgrade. I still wouldn't because the idea is sound and now Sal is going on Ravager runs, clearing dungeons by kicking Prowlers and has a highlight reel of him soloing a Hulker. Sounds to me like Upgrade and Chatfield did nothing wrong. Best way to teach a kid to swim is to throw them in the pool. This was just them throwing Sal in a pool while he was wearing a life jacket to show his fear was unfounded. Now he's fucking Michael Phelps!

Pickled Rick

Is 480 the highest at moment for gates because I thought I remembered Prestige or someone at the gala having like 400 gates or something. If 240 gates split into 4 then 400 seems like a low max number.

Zeletavska

Reread that conversation between Erika, Sal, and Brophy in the excursion. It is absolutely implied that a single floating plant monster is a dangerous threat worth taking seriously. The difference between a traumatic experience and a resilience exercise is whether or not the person comes equipped to handle the situation. Sal was not martially trained, nor held a gun in his life. It only worked out for narrative purposes. Heavy agree on not blaming Chatfield for it though, as it's something that other students do all the time. From his perspective the 1st place winner of the cohort tournament surely has had training before right.

Pickled Rick

These kind of stories do go on for a while so having 12 books and not being even halfway dome is normal. When you compare characters to their book 1 version most have come quite a long way especially Sal but automating crafting and alchemy is probably going to be the last advancements for a while. After that it would be unknotting or upgrading his friends skills and tackling dungeons just in time for Bastion to turn up and steal or copy Sal's tech to give them a level footing in a civil war for political control.

Kurby

Yes, it was a traumatic experience for Brophy because he was a child with likely little armor and forced to take on a demon on his own. Sal is an adult with martial training in hand to hand as well as weapons combat. He and Divinity were already training for the tournament and won it at this point. Sal also had Epic grade armor that would have allowed him to punch every leecher in that dungoen to death. Sure he had no training with the gun. But so long as he didn't shoot himself he was fine. No scratch that, his bullets couldn't pierce his armor. It might hurt but he'd still be fine. For any other support student I would agree that this was an unnecessary risk. But Sal head Epic armor that would have protected him from the leecher bites and the repel ability would have killed the leechers after they bit him. HE WAS IN NO DANGER! Plot had nothing to do with it. The only danger was Sal's own fear.

Zeletavska

I'm more interested in how Prestige went from 240 gates in book 2, to implying 320+ gates in book 4. Just bravado?

Zeletavska

Regarding the Masterclass thing, they're separate events/exercises. Despite what we saw of Alastair's class, they're not permanent long term classes. Maybe the ones that Sal was offered start later in the year. But yeah I do want some confirmation on his schedule. What other classes is he taking aside from the 2 we already knew he had to. Info from Brian in the discord.

Jerrell B Simmons

I'll be at Megacon Too!!! Live in the Otown

Kiwi

Thunder had 480 but he was showing off to Twilight cause he has a crush on her.

Lumpenhans

I have just finished listening to the audiobook. Very good voiceacting, the skevanger run was a bit slow when you listen to it for the “second time”. I couldn't say why though, but the tower and the weave part is still very exiting. About book 5 I liked the first chapters but couldn't really enjoy the next episodes it felt a bit choppy. But the last two batches really hit the spot, Iam so hooked again. Big fan off the Friends group and their interaction. Looking forward to the conversation with Lombardi. I think Sal's attempt with the coffee machine to push Alex out of the business and into the guild was also very successful, maybe he has what it takes to be a guild leader after all. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Kiwi

Sal isn't trying to push Alex out of business. He's helping Alex with gathering ingredients and finding a way to make a passive income.

Hayden

Imo divinity should be sharing MORE of the future. Imagine if Sal had access to some of his future revelations about skills and how they function. Finding out key knowledge that is important to a faster progression of understanding the fundamentals is so important. Matter of fact.. why doesn't Sal use her ability lore himself? It just makes no sense? It's frusturating.

Kurby

Because they have a tendency to be inaccurate due to a lack of context and if he uses them to gain knowledge to progress that can lead him to skip important details. She doesn't get all the details from the future people. Sal would have to explain everything he knows about skill weaves on a regular basis to Divinity in her visions and then Divinity would have to perfectly repeat all that info to past him.

C

Barry is growing on me, but I really did not like him at first. His sense of humor was always, "Hey, let's be a jerk to Sal. " It rubbed me the wrong way.

Itsigu

I have a problem, I keep checking back every ten minutes hoping for more chapters.

C

Same. I keep checking the calendar too just to make sure it actually is Monday.

Itsigu

He did say he might be a few days behind cause of all the traveling he's doing right now.

JJB4345_80_815

A few days? *Balling my eyes out* emoji An image of the Hindenburg burning up with the announcer crying: "Oh, the humanity!" Groundhog Day with Bill Murray trapped repeatedly living the same depressing day over and over and OVER again... Yeah, I'm not taking the news well... (Just kidding 🤣)