Chapter 349 - After the Hunt

MorningDawn

Reading up to this fight and then having to wait is what made me subscribe to the patreon - So I think you did it great :)

Josh Turple

I love the fight scenes I read this because you are a great story teller and Jake is the best well should be I really don't like that he lost that shouldn't have happened and makes no sense to me but I am not the one writing so keep up the good work.

Warren Mack

My issue wasn’t the duration. It was the fact that the sword saint is somehow, unbelievably, completely ignoring poisons that demolish everything else with no thought given to a healing skill or cure poison or anything of the sort. I love the fight scenes though, you do an excellent job.

Zir

i really loved these last 10 chapters

BHunter

I just re-joined Patreon and absolutely loved those extended fights, though I can definitely see how reading that over the course of weeks would ruin it. Epic fight scenes don’t work in installments spread over weeks. I drop in and out of Patreon for that reason (I can’t handle the temptation of having it there and not reading, so if I want to let it build up a bit I have to alternate months). I enjoy the story far less when I don’t do that. Maybe vary your releases to drop the epic scenes at once; let the story guide the schedule.

The fights were very well written and it's one of the charms of the novel! Thankyou for the chapter

lionheart

First of all don't listen to all those people whining about long fights!!! You give these important fight scenes depth by making them longer, which I think is necessary especially since you don't drag them out unnecessary but instead fill them with important details !!! Second ...the title doesn't make sense in my opinion..."premier" implies that he was the most successful treasure hunter but the noboru patriarch got the only divine item of the hunt ( and the story I think?) since he still had it in his hunter insignia right ? Since rarity affects value exponentially the divine legacy alone should (could?) be almost as valuable as everything Jake has put together...

Blake Richardson

thanks for the chapter

Danielle Warvel

I didn’t really see a problem with? I’m used to serials and understand and accept it’s pros and cons by now.

Enjoy how someone with a lifetime of training and willpower could win against the "chosen one" MC so didn't feel like too much of an asspull, though all the new techniques on both sides did to an extent. The numerical length of the fight is fine in comparison to many novels but the problem really was the Dragonball Z style pacing around "dramatic" powerups and lack of variety to the fight (as opposed to the Monarch fight where powerups were spaced a bit better and the stakes/tactics changed depending on who was in the fight at the time) It's fair to defend the work as a serialised webfiction but the author kind of needs to realise that everyone here loves his work and not to dismiss feedback/ignore it completely. Also, might just be me but the lighthearted internal monologue feels fine in the dungeons but feels a bit much in a climatic fight. Breaks the tone a bit...

chump1999

I enjoy your writing and didn't find the fights ridiculously long. My main problem was the Deus ex machina of transcendence bridging a gap much too far. I was then annoyed at Jake getting his own overly abundant power jumps to match up to the transcendence. It all felt very much out of left field and akin to someone saying, 'We need MOAR power.' It was more than cool enough on its own. I would have loved more build-up with the SS. All of that said, nothing is perfect and you are still in my top two serial authors (Beware of Chicken being the other). We only provide advice because we're so protective of a story that we love. p.s. If you are worried about the serial length of a fight scene disrupting the flow, perhaps use a number system to let the reader know not only where they are but how much farther they can expect things to go on. 1, 2... 5 of 5. That foreknowledge would help temper the readers' expectations.

comcom-

Exactly same experience 👍

Enko

Love the story

Enko

I really really really enjoyed that duel. Dang u got my adrenaline way up

Edy

I read it in bulk and I like it, but I can understand the others point of view, it did drag for a long time. However, that not a reason for you to change the way you write because of some negative feedbacks in the short run. Be more confident. I was one of the people that didn't like some part of the toturial, but after you continued your story I understood why it was written that way. And in general people are normally more loud if they didn't like something, than if they liked it.

Or does the penalty have something to do with how weak and tired he felt? Like if he has to get back his levels while pretty much being poisoned I can see why it would be a harsh penalty

Am I the only one confused because I took a break for a while? how is him losing 20 some levels a big deal at all? We’ve seen levels aren’t the biggest thing when it comes to combat strength. When it says he can’t progress does that mean in just levels or can he grind his skills for a while? I just think the penalty would be severe for anyone other than this old monster who seems like he can make up the levels pretty easily.

ItWasIDIO!!

Really appreciate this loss cause ya twas needed if still no real stakes

Issue with a novel read one chapter at a time and a novel read in full or large bulks. The pacing was normal for a normal novel. It was good, if you read it from start to finish you would have up and down and up. It was exciting. If you read it one chapter a day, yeah of course it changes perspectives.

Rue

As someone who just jumped teirs with the new month, I found the pacing pretty good. Having two big fights back to back is tough on readers but I cannot picture the duel being anywhere near as interesting if it hadn't happened in a collapsing world where there was no concern for collateral. Jake was at a disadvantage for being confined to close quarters. Puting an ovetpowered main character in a situatuon where they might lose is hard and I think it was done very well.

Stefan Mensink

When I see a boss fight coming, I usually just wait until it's finished and then read it all at once, as I have with this one. Decent boss fights have a right to take a bit longer, especially those with lots of people. I at least liked it.

TheCommensuratePup

I personally loved the way these fights worked in tandem, but I will admit that I really don't like how he just lost. It makes sense that he can't win every fight but I love him being so op that he wrecks house every time.

Gardor

Shouldn't the droplet of divine blood be way more valuable than whatever nonsense Jake has? It's the legacy of a Vampire God

RedFaux

I loved it all. Very well done

Edward

Hey Zo, please dont feel too discouraged by the comments. We're all just giving our honest opinion and in the long run that is what is going to benefit you and your writings and the book the most, right? We all love the story or we wouldn't be here reading it every day, especially on a 'premium' site where everybody is paying to be here and access it. That should really be all the confidence you need, look how many people show up daily for your work! I agree with you the formating could be contributing a LOT to the pacing, and if published as a whole book, many of the issues people have with this arc may no longer be an issue. Just wanted to say don't be too hard on yourself and take that negative feedback on the chin, turn it into a challenge or something beneficial. I am loving the story and have no plans to abandon it, keep up the good work! =)

Silfay

My opinion regarding the previous arc: Pros: - pacing has improved (in general) from previous arcs - the author is clearly developing his own narrative voice and it gives the story its own unique feel - more character interaction = more character conflict = better story Cons - the latter part of the sword saint fight (not the earlier part, that was good) Let me elaborate: Long fight scenes need lots of paragraph to paragraph conflicts to remain interesting and relevant to the narrative and plot. E.g. the Monarch fight: oh, Casper took damage, is he gonna be out of commission? Is Caleb gonna get hurt or die since the boss is focusing him and wants to kill him? Is Carmen gonna hold on until reinforcements arrive? And they also need to have some narrative significance, like the first part of the Sword Saint fight (not gonna go on a tangent about the lack of foreshadowing regarding transcendents etc.) But if the only point of character conflict is "who is gonna win" then I'd rather have my answer in a few paragraphs than few chapters.

Lictor Magnus

I enjoyed both fights, but I agree it’s the format that hurt the prefixed pacing. It’s like watching an epic seven minute fight scene in a movie one minute at a time for a week.

I think it only dragged on because of the serial release. As someone who read both in one go, it didn't seem too long. The Monarch fight was one of the most epic battles and one of the very few multi-chapter fights I enjoyed. I felt the ending fizzled a little but that's probably because the next fight was even more epic. Having them back to back was probably a poor choice but I don't see a way around it with the structure of the Hunt.

Seth Cox

I think you’ve balanced longer fight scenes with the rest of your content really well

Nicolas Maganto

Imo the only negative thing I would say is that I'm frustrated that there was no clear victor xD otherwise it was all pretty good ! Go on author-san you're doing great !

Jean Lussier

My honest opinion and I hope you'll read it :) Every morning I wake up and I am excited to read your story Zogarth, I am genuinely happy every time. Some chapters are awesome, some are good, some not to my liking but I enjoy them a lot. In the end I want to read your story, not their story. If you want to make a long fight, do it. if you want to make a plot twist, do it. For each "review" you get, there is a lot of people who enjoy your story in silence. thanks for the chapter!

Ben

I agree with this to some extent, I think it would have been good to get a bit more foreshadowing on beings been capable of performing this transcendence from Villy and him explaining just how dangerous this transformation can be (as to say the least it was ridiculously op). I can totally see someone like the sword saint pulling this transformation though as it did match his character from what we've seen, but a little bit more foreshadowing or at least Jake having awareness of this would have helped a lot in this regard. I also think this would have helped build a lot more suspense as we would have been aware of just how dangerous the situation had become instead of just wondering what the hell is happening?! I also found it a bit weird that Caleb was aware of this, as once more it makes it feel like it's something that should probably be noted, so the point that Villy at some point should have introduced us to this transformation is pretty valid in my opinion. The only reason I can think that Villy didn't bring it up is that transcendence is definitely not something you ever see in someone at D-grade so maybe this will help ease this point a bit.

ParoxysmDK

So I'd like to first say that i enjoy your writing, and i can definitely see an improvement compared to the early chapters, and while i agree with many that the last two fights dragged on, i believe that they were very well written, and had that whole action-y feel that a good fight needs. I also mentioned to someone else in one of the other chapters, that something like this was needed, because Jake has been shown as too strong for his own good, and he needs to be met with true adversity ( like the King of the Forest) or the story will risk feeling like a generic power fantasy. Also i binged most of the fight chapters in a row, so for me it wasn't about having to wait for follow-up chapters. With that out of the way i believe I'd like to explain why i disliked the Jake vs Swordsaint fight, even when it was well written: I share a lot of the same reasoning's/opinions as Hollowlce explained in his comment on this chapter. But one of the reasons -i think- for a lot of the negative feedback or 'backlash' isn't so much because of the length of the fights, but because of the deus ex machina involved. Personally i liked the blood monarch fight, because it was supposed to be the final boss fight of the entire event. So having the monarch get power-ups, in what is frankly different 'phases' felt par for the course. That's just how boss fights are. But when that "final boss" is defeated, it doesn't really work well, when there's ANOTHER even TOUGHER, final boss right after. It just nullifies the impact of the preceding boss fight, and makes it feel like a waste of time, and a waste of narrative investment. Now, with that explained i can finally get properly into where i believe a lot of the negative feedback comes from: Personally i felt this entire 'transcendent' stuff was a complete ass-pull, there has been NO alluding to anything like it existing even remotely, Villy hasn't mentioned it to Jake, nor has anyone else even heard of it. So when the saint just suddenly goes: BANKAI!! Into Super Saiyan mode, into "Ha ha ha, this isn't even my final form", while on top of that inventing multiple new moves on the spot as needed. It just completely (sorry for my french) shits on the readers suspension of disbelief. There should be no logical way for the saint to get this kind of multi-layered power-up from one moment to the next, especially not going from "basically defeated" into bs mode. Even despite the after effect weakness we just read about in this chapter, it still doesn't matter; and to me this entire 'weakness' backlash just reads like it's something that has been added in response to the negative feedback (it most likely isn't, but that's how it feels/looks like). Like someone mentioned in one of the preceding chapter's comments; it makes Jake look like an asbolute chumps despite of his struggles, multiple titles, boons, god given powers, his bloodline etc. Especially considering we know NOTHING about the sword saint, all of these move-sets, seem like they're evoked from thin air willy-nilly. And him suddenly being able to ignore what we KNOW are powerful titles, ridiculously rare abilities (an entire set of legendary skills invented by a literal primordial god, just as an example.), the most powerful bloodline that defies the knowledge of everyone -that we know of- in the multiverse (Villy had never even HEARD of a bloodline as powerful as Jakes, and forbid him from mentioning it to ANYONE, even going so far himself; as to not mention it to any of his most devout followers like the lagoon sisters, or leafy-boi), the status of Jake being -again- the only heretic-chosen in the multiverse -that we know of, or have heard of-, Jake having invented his own arcane mana type -again something we know is incredibly rare and shouldn't be normal at his current tier-, and his immense talent with mana control. ->Just because The Saint can use a single ability/skill/dao/whatever it is; called Transcendence; is just completely ridiculous. It doesn't matter how much of a drawback it has. He could've died from it's usage, and it would still feel like a narrative slap in the face. It just completely nullifies all our knowledge of the above mentioned stuff. Not to mention it also makes Villy look like a complete idiot if he failed to mention something so vital for Jake's survival. Something so dangerous and powerful makes no sense to NOT have been mentioned when he was busy explaining multiple important things about the multiverse and life under the system to Jake. What if it had been a monster with the ability to transcend, and it uses it in what would've been a fight to the death -without the safety net of being inside an event that instantly heals all ail upon leaving it- ? It would and SHOULD result in Jake's immediate loss or death, and would force Jake to pull a deus ex of his own, or having a drastic application of plot armor. You can even use the monkey prima as an example here. What 'if' it had this ability/trump card to pull on Jake? it would've resulted in his death, because that fight was already a tough one for Jake to handle. This wasn't, until it was. ------------------------------------------------------------- What especially disappoints me about all of this, is what i mentioned before; ALL of what Jake has done was seen as almost impossible, his entire being is a powerhouse for his level/tier, on a multiversal scale, he has so many "worlds first" titles, boons, legendary skills/abilities, and is regarded as an absolute monster or genius by LITERAL gods. For some -sorry this is gonna sound harsh- random old man, to just nullify all our accumulated knowledge and our literary/plot-based observations. Just by adding the word "Transendence" in front; that's honestly on the verge of being insulting to our intelligence. Had it been an equally multiverse defying character, that we've followed (to a lesser extend) like we have Jake. Then it would feel 'earned' and it wouldn't result in such a drastic negative backlash/feedback as this has. ----------------------------------------------- I know this comes out as looking very harsh, and it is to some extend, but i wouldn't bother writing such a large comment if i weren't invested and enjoying the story. Please regard what i've written as feedback to take into consideration.

LilyOnlyJam

Thank you for the chapter. I really enjoy your worldbuilding<3

Jon Lomax

thanks for the chapter, nice way to end the arch. looking forward to soon crafting..

While I'm inclined to agree it dragged on a bit, and one of the worst things I know is when a novel drags on for far longer than it has to. Not because I mind reading novels which drag on but because they often end up never actually getting to the end, I don't want to see him spend the next 200 chapters on D tier only to spend nearly none on C, which would be typical. That said I don't know how many chapters you're actually aiming for, but I hope it's a number where you will be able to finish the novel. But as far as the concept of Transcendence goes, well, we know nothing about it but my personal assumption was that it is something Jake is likely to encounter more of later on, perhaps when he enters C, or B tier. It could also be something truly special, I don't know, but I don't mind it. It's very refreshing that other individuals are competitive with him. There should be other earthlings who are on a competitive level.

Adevna

Sadly, being a writer means having incredibly thick skin. I enjoyed the arc. Thanks for the work!

I don't think it dragged at all, and the fight between Jake and SS was amazing.

Hoopsterben

Loved the last couple chapters. Keep up the good writing :)

Storyhunter

If you need to edit in for anything here. Put in they were both looking for a clash and finding a completely neutral ground would be difficult on planet earth. So it makes sense to do this in the treasure hunt.

Storyhunter

Don't typically comment. The fight with the monarch did drag. But the build up for a clash between the two Titans on earth had been teased for quite awhile. The loot simply set up a convenient reason for the duel. + They were on neutral ground.

Adurna

I guess Jake i still in the process of "git gud" Less jokingly though, that is fairly general I believe and would require him to work on more than blades I suspect. Like base proficiency with clubs and such.

Rick White

I loved the fight. It was beautiful.

Azulmar

How has basic one handed weapons (inferior) not upgraded ?

thomas johnson

Just more world building but the sheer breath of what you produce and the insight you have given I am sure all I have to be is patient, very difficult. First time patron to a story just so I can read ahead. Loving the story, don't let the negative outweigh the positive. Huge fan been promoting the story to other librarians at work lol.

thomas johnson

I enjoyed the boss fights. My only qualm is I wish I had more insight into the skills of others, learning about how Eron heals, Carmen and Caleb's skills so that when she shows up and gives them advice about infusing stamina it does not become the main plot point of there fight without proper foundation.

IJustWannaRead

It has a large backlash of -25? Levels, and I’m sure that that grows with time as -25 levels is nothing for say level 500-600. It’s a massively overpowered boost at a pretty harsh cost. The sword staying is drastically weakened and can’t even progress until he regains his levels. On the other hand, jake walked out perfectly fine aside from the broken bow. So, if both would have died, as jake said, but one walked out perfectly healthy and motivated while the other walked out 20 percent weaker and has to struggle to bed, idk but I think jake had the edge in the end, even if he would have died with the sword saint.

tyler

I agree that one of the main problems with the long fights is that the chapters come out one at a time. I decided to take a break from the story after the monarch fight so I didn't have to read the dual one chapter at a time. I had no problem with how long it was super enjoyable. Thanks for the awesome story, keep it up

Otter Pops

I don't mind the long fight. I just mind that Jake lost to a transcendent. I still don't know what one is. I wouldn't mind if he lost to someone that had the stats and qualifications to beat him. So Jake's strength, toughness, perception, intelligence, wisdom, skills, and bloodline mean nothing because he ran into a transcendent. Are there more of them out there. Can a lvl 1 Super Saiyan Transcendent beat him? What if one has a bloodline and is a transcendent? Can the skip grades completely? Are there gods that are transcendent that dominate the pantheons? See where I'm going with this?

Azel Robles

Also thank you for constantly putting out amazing work

Azel Robles

Alright I have to say, I'm sorry for my last comment, i didn't handle the frustration well and it was childish, i still think the way the sword saint was empowered was weird (ressources wise, getting to tank so much etc) and a little too strong but these chapters were still very enjoyable, the format absolutely doesn't help, but I also get why this kind of fight and "outcome" is necessary for motivating/humbling our mc, all in all, I'm sorry that I participated in making you feel like your work wasn't appreciated, thank you for the extra chapter, hope you have a wonderful time

Gavriel

Specifics of his new legendary skill? The fate of the vampire necklace?

Ethan

Meh, I love reading the progression. Format does suck for bigger things, but it is what it is and I know what I signed up for haha. Don’t take it too harshly, people will complain about anything and everything. You’re doing amazing work here and I hope to be a Patreon for many chapters to come.

IJustWannaRead

It does have to do with the format. It’s frustrating for literally almost nothing to happen in a chapter and have to wait till the next day or next week to finish it. For example, last chapter spanned a grand total of 5 minutes of them hitting each other…that’s it. That’s fine if you can skim it/skip it if you get bored and more chapters are ahead, but feels terrible when there isn’t more chapters. Also, I really don’t think jake lost…the sword saint is crippled physically and in power for quite some time after the fight….jake walked out full power. He may have considered it a lose due to his pride…:but it really wasn’t imo.

Onoronodonovon

I usually don't comment cause I have nothing much to say but imo this entire fight from start to finish was amazing and I loved it. I'd best describe it as a Naruto inspired DBZ fight where they had to keep digging deep and going even further beyond and the ways they did that were so good. I don't get why people were negative enough that it warranted comment. I don't really feel like anything that happened in this fight wasn't something shown to be possible beforehand multiple times. I'm just confused it's genuinely good.

As you're pointing out, the main issue with the perceived length of the fight lie with the format imo, it's not that rare for important fights to span several chapters in book format, and it wouldn't feel so stretched if it was all read in one go. Anyway, great arc overall and looking forward to the auction! tftc

Dont_like_to_Talk

Thanks for the chapter

Alex Galaitsis

I’ve been enjoying it very much. You can’t ever please everyone, though.

Lazy Lemon

I just wanted to say that I really really enjoyed the whole arc of the treasure hunt. Thanks boss

Ryudachi

I didn't really liked the Monarch fight (and 90 percent of the Treasure Hunt), but all this was okay, because i loved the fight Jake vs. Sword Saint. Especially phase 2 (with the backstory) was awesome!

Alexander Hallonblad

Thank you very much for the chapters! Hope this series gets as long as TWI!

Argetsword

I very thoroughly enjoyed the fights and the treasure hunt, I'm glad you slowed down and explored it fully as it's important to the characters and would be uncharacteristic for both of them to cut it short.

Elsie Nnaji

Please I love these chapters

Reis_

I always found the fight too long for my taste, but when I was catching up to the novel I just quickly skimmed through them when they got boring. However, I’m well aware of the limits of this medium, so when I criticize something doesn’t mean the novel it’s bad, just that it could be even better for me. But I’m well aware writing is not that easy

Simon

I love the boss fights. My personal favorite has got to still be the monkey prima fight, but this one had great character dev and i liked that too. My biggest gripe was that my night shift the last few days left me too tired to fully enjoy myself reading. I couldnt wait till after i had some sleep Lol thanks for killing that cliffhanger, def worth waiting an extra day before releases resume.

Kyle J Smith

I have loved the fight chapters. The Monarch was a long fight but it had so many interesting developments from the different characters that it made sense and I truly love this fight sequence between the Sword Saint and Jake. It’s totally brilliant and maybe I need to comment more to offset the negativity.

I admit the fight was long and I complained about it internally but thats because I was looking forward to the after fight. Just know that it wasn't too long and your writing is so consistant that even those complainers won't do anything but grumble.

kyle ryan

If people don't like to read fights a chapter at a time you could put 1/x 2/x 3/3 in the title to show a fight is over. The x being there not to ruin the tension of knowing it would be, over in a certain amount of chapters. Or if you wind up with back to back fights in the future you could have interlude chapters focusing on something else. Though as you said it is just a flaw of the format. Thank for the great story.

Collateral_ink

Zogarth, speaking as a reader, I appreciate the work you have clearly poured into this series and eagerly anticipate each and every chapter you publish for us. Speaking as a writer, I apologize if any comments may have come across as uncaring or punitive; that was not my intention. Both my undergraduate and master's degrees are in writing and I have spent a LOT of time critiquing other people's work. A side effect of that is that I can tend to focus too much on the "needs to be improved" areas and not enough time on the "this is awesome" areas. So when I say that the pacing is a little off in places, such as here where you have two extensive fight scenes back to back, please know I do not mean it as a rebuke or condemnation of your work. Quite the opposite. I read a lot of things that, good or bad, I don't really provide feedback on because frankly I don't see a lot of potential for growth in it. Your work has potential for growth; everyone reading it has no doubt seen the improvements you've made to your writing over the course of these 300+ chapters. Characterization, in particular, has made some immense strides forward since the start. The pacing here is just another area to work on moving forward.

Jeremy Patrick

Ive enjoyed all the fights so far. I do wish each fight came out all at once instead of having to wait day to day. Makes the scenes feel much longer. But I would rather the longer fights than shitty shorter fight scenes.

Robert Sutherland

Thanks for the chapter and a nicer place to leave on a Friday! The fight was long, but in a bulk read would have been fantastic, it's this format which makes it a little stilted because we're reading a third of it every morning. Great to get back to loot, thoughts on a new bow, dumping his leg out of inventory infront of someone to get his boot back etc... Also he would still have the Sword Saint's items in his inventory while the sword saint has the necklace, they will probably have to meet again, each thinking the other won to deal with the exchange.

Derun

A good way to wind things down. Thanks for the early chapter

James Squibb

Thanks for the chapter and all the hard work you do!

Matt

I'm sorry the negativity got to you. Advent of spring was really cool and I agree read in bulk the fights weren't too long. Keep up the good work!

Ben

I’m kind of glad Jake lost as he was getting a bit too arrogant for my liking, and getting grounded is good as it will probably push him even harder as he was skipping a lot of fundamental steps. He desperately needs to work on his sword skills which became apparent and even his archery skill is only rare rating. If you consider that the ss may have most of his skills pushing legendary, even with Jake’s boosts his main damage skills are really only around the epic rarity rank. So for me I feel this result makes sense and sets up a good growth period for Jake. Thanks for the chapter!

Loyal Patreon follower

honestly i enjoyed the fight, but i usually dont like long fights because they are always ... awkward.

Liked the fight with Sword Saint! Liked this chapter!

Malcolm wade

Maybe the pacing more than the actual content as I enjoyed the fight more then some of the hunt

Luciaron

Thanks for the chapters! It's definitely a common problem with the format and those same complaints won't come up when people binge. Even if people complain in the comments it's not like they drop reading. You're one of the most consistent and high output authors.

Ikawaii

Jake vs sword saint was great imo, second favourite fight in the story.

Šarūnas

Indeed.

Critical Hit

I thought this last arc was pretty awesome.

Šarūnas

Long fights are okay... if they're spaced out. I enjoyed previous fights, I enjoyed fight against Monarch, but fight against Sword Saint? Not really. There were moments that I really liked, but combined with Monarch fight, it was just too long and in last chapter I started skipping parts... I think it's better to avoid consecutive long fights, because second will not be appreciated properly.

V

the fights are good

Hollowlce

It's seems like your wanting a perspective on it so I'll share mine. I'm sorry if I got the wrong impression though. The quality of the fights are really good so you should be proud of that. In my experience of reading a lot of novels with fairly drawn out fights though the best way I've found engaging as a reader is fragmented flashbacks while the fight happens. Shows their motivations and reasons for fighting but also that their coming to a realisation because of the intensity. Whilst not fully able to focus on a full blown flashback. Rather than showing the flashback out of the fight. But also displaying individual moves of important characters through other moments throughout the story. Less dialogue descriptions from the characters about their moves and more showing. If we as readers can't draw the parallels then that's on us not you. Descriptions of one new surprise move is fine if you don't have lots of different techniques being described beforehand. So you do not have to describe every new technique introduced as they've all been introduced in previous fights. I think in terms of the count of blood and the sword Saint it's more of an issue of attachment. I can only speak for myself but I couldn't connect with the count as a character and just saw him as an obstacle stopping the story from progressing. The sword Saint was similar but their wasn't enough time invested to care about him or his fight other than him losing. As so far all I know of him is he is an old guy who loves to fight burdened by his responsibility of his clan. I don't know any of his habits or quirks of behaviour or anything in particular that endears me towards him. Don't get me wrong I want to he invested in him but with all the characters being all over the world and not in the same city or two city's it's hard to show a more detailed perspective of their lives/personality's. That's my perspective but I will say I enjoy reading what you what write and I don't care if you change anything as I have faith in you as a writer. If you want to write more drawn out fights then do it. I love what you write and look forward to reading more. Sorry that that was long winded.

adam1

The system wiped it when it pulled them out. Healed both of them basically.

Alex C

Happy people don't comment. They just read and enjoy

Rhaid

I enjoyed the fights, but ended up doing a lot of skimming for the last few chapters because it felt like everything was the same. Doing big fights back to back makes everything feel very samey. Also, what happened to the poison that should've been in the Sword Saint? He got hit with multiple arrows.

CosmicInsomniac

I actually quite liked the fight. A lot of times, I'll kind of just start skimming through fight scenes, since I have aphantasia, which means I cant visualize anything, so that makes it harder for me to enjoy a good fight scene, but I honestly thoroughly enjoyed the entirety of the fight.

deus vult

nah. it was well done. I think. people will find any reason to complain. they want more chapters? they'll have to wait.

first time commenting for me.. after seeing all the negativity thought I’d but my thanks out there. Especially for the extra Chapter! It has been painful waiting solely because of how much I’m enjoying the story. Keep up the good work! And keep in mind.. no one would complain about waiting for the next chapter if they weren't invested in your creation. We all know the platform.. and for better or worse, we are still here and eagerly awaiting what comes next!!

Engebu

As someone who just caught up from chapter 290 all of the chapters since then have been amazing. This is one of the best i have ever read. Love your story!

Corwin Amber

Thank you for writing such a wonderful story. Some of the boss type fights might be long, but it has to be remembered that it is a single MC fighting, so they are bound to be a little long. The only way you get shorter/faster is if the MC is much too op or a group, neither of which is the case here.

Derze

gotta say I'm not against the fights. My own perception of them was that they were enjoyable. A bit dragged out an extra chapter or two but it didn't negatively impact my experience. Looking forward to what is coming next, whenever you decide to release it.

BrokenMortal

Please don't misunderstand my previous comment. I quite enjoyed the fight, but was surprised exactly how far the two were taking it. It just seemed like the two of them were trying to kill each other, not competing to see who is stronger.

Ben Waschuk

When fights are long like this, I tend to save up chapters for a week then binge read it all at once the next week :). Right for the completed book. Dont worry about every day to day post being a stand alone thing.

Amaryllis

Absolutely love your story dude, don't listen to the naysayers this has been some of the coolest fight scenes I've ever read!

Neil

Thanks for the bonus chapter! I do have to a agree that the format makes these feel a little dragged out, especially in this case where we are waiting for the payoff from the first fight still, but I don't really mind. It's easy to get impatient for the payoff, for the start of something new, but if you only have that without the meat of the story it feels empty.

Kris Boxall

Don’t be disheartened! We all appreciate the work you do for the story and as someone who enjoys nearly every chapter I will try to send across more positive comments too!

Alexikon

Don't take the comments seriously. I only commented that I hate it to wait between the chapters because your book is just that amazing.

Zogarth

The thing is, it would likely be the other way around. That there would be no chapters Mon, Tue, Wed and then 4 on Thursday as an example, but everytime I asked people about that, they just wanted one a day. I very rarely have entire fights ready to dump.

BlackRazaras

Thanks for the chapter

BookDragonling

I would put up a poll and see if people would rather have the whole fight released at once and then have a few days without chapters to make up for the mass release. Totally agree with the author. Nothing inherently wrong with the fight scenes but when they're published separately over time it tends to feel as if it's dragging on.

Nyye

I don't mind fight scenes, I'm just glad I wasn't left in the cliff to long.

Mimic

both fights were great

James McDaniel

Never commented before but both fights were amazing. I love the book you are writing so much

Seijax

Don't be discouraged by the complaints, the content was gold! I particularly loved how everyone got screen time! That said, i can't deny that i'd have liked it more if everyone got less impromptu-upgrades: a fight can only have so many phases before it becomes a chore to read through :(

Zogarth

Fixed.

Seiryus

Just want to say that I don't bother to comment (or patron) on stories that I don't like. Take what was said below as constructive criticism that you don't necessarily have to agree with. After all, nothing is perfect, including our perspective. ;)

Alex R

His [was body] fully -> His [body was] fully

Thanks for the advanced chapter. The last one was fun! I bet the reviews were less about the content and more about grumps being made to wait 3 days for their tasty fix.

Evan Zey

You do you. It's your book. I've been enjoying it...

Paul Reading

People are complaining? But I’m enjoying the fights a good deal huh people be weird

Tilen Praprotnik

Thanks

Sesharan

I’m sorry you got bad feedback on the fight! Personally I liked them just fine.

Steven Thompsen

Just like Tommy up above I do not comment a lot but I thought the fight scenes for the last two fights were very well done but I do agree with them being back to back it made it seem like it dragged on but there were still good chapters I maybe would have waited until they got back and had some downtime but the fact that everyone was watching Trump's that so once again I think you did a good job but I do see why there could have been some negative feedback and I apologize that there was especially considering how great of a job you do and how good of an author you are

Tommy Littlefield

I don’t comment a lot and hadn’t realized that was going on sorry to hear you got to deal with negativity but I still love the story you are writing and look forward to the chapter everyday there is nothing me it’s the best part of my morning

Tomer Yud

the negativity is present because we have to wait to read more. that shows people are enjoying the story. theres so much stuff you can compress into daily chapters. I personally prefer a story that reads better as a full story, rather than a speed run like other people suggest.

ElJako98

I think the fights are great. I didn't even know they got a negative reception. This one in particular I think is the best fight of the series so far.

Jon Lomax

just wanted to say, I love the story and your writing. one of the good ones. please write the story as you want ( but I will grumble now and again) like you say, it is the format....

Darune Albane

Both fights are great .. yes no downtime but good