The Magician's Burden

Really very vague I like it lol.:joy:

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I don’t know if this thought has crossed anyone else’s mind…but if we all operate on the assumption that Killian is just universally despised by everyone in Onion Village (and we don’t get a curveball reveal of ‘hey, there is actually someone who likes Killian besides his former boy band members’), the only person left that Killian has some form of connection with (as messed up as that connection is)…is the Mage MC. I wonder if Killian will have some form of reaction to that revelation if this ends up being the case and the thought ends up crossing his mind.

@Samuel_H_Young

I don’t know if something like this will end up happening in the Second Book. But if Killian ends up being a bit ganged up on by a good number of townspeople taking advantage of the fact he’s no longer got his lackey and if the MC chooses to defend him from them…would it be possible to have a option to use the art of shame against those people? Like the MC being like ‘all right here’s a deal: I’ll let the people who helped me back when he was bullying me land the first hit on him :grinning:. Huh. No one’s stepping forward :grin:? Of right, now I remember why…because NONE of you even attempted to help me when he tormented me for 10 years. And now you’re choosing to fight him since he’s got no one to defend him anymore? I’m beginning to wonder which one you guys are the most PATHETIC. :angry:’.

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Yeah, Petre, Verim, and the MC are pretty much the only ones he had any type of association with, and everyone else pretty much either feared or resented him.

That’s a good idea! I could definitely put something like that in TME.

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Why didn’t Mabelin do something before? She seemed to know about him and she could have easily beaten him in a fight

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You’re right that she did know and could have beat him easily. I’m at work atm but later, I’ll post the dialogue between her and the MC where she explains her (flawed) reasoning.

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Simple answer: she hit her head after reading too many self help books. She believes that it’s the MC’s job to protect themselves from bullies.

Simpler answer : she’s an idiot.

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The real question is why did the MC put up with it?

Destruction mages can grow claws and dismember their bullies.

Stealth mages can turn invisible and sucker punch their bullies.

Light mages can make people unwilling to fight.

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The MC was like really weak at that point. You probably had either weak magic or not much control over it at all, and had something like 1 mana per day… You could use a spell to try beating him, but even if you manage to hit you’d run out of mana and he could beat you as much as he wants afterwards, not to mention even if you attack him he still has his cronies. I mean in the fight you had later on in the story you were a lot stronger and he was without his cronies and you still barely managed to win.

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From Chapter 1:


With a sigh, you slump back and manage to say, “Ugh, you’re worse than Killian.”

She chuckles but says, “Yeah, right. Actually, if you keep coming here, maybe you’ll be able to kick his stupid ass one day.”

Annoyed, you say cynically, “Why don’t you just kick his stupid ass?”

The vice-captain arches an eyebrow and replies, “Oh, I have, multiple times before. It took his tiny brain a while to figure out that I could clobber him any time I wanted and I wouldn’t take any of his shit, but he eventually learned his lesson.”

She shrugs and says, “As for everyone else, I figure they should learn to stick up for themselves and have the satisfaction of overcoming that idiot on their own.” She points a finger at you and adds, “You included, big kid.”


From Chapter 3:


You swallow hard and stare at the ground, saying, “I just can’t believe you let this go on so long. As the vice-captain of the guard, you’re supposed to protect people. Why didn’t you stop him before?”

Mabelin simply nods and looks at the ground for a moment, before saying, “I’m sorry, ${name}. I thought it would help you overcome him yourself. I thought it would make you stronger, but I see now that I shouldn’t have put my own personal feelings in the way of the law. If I could go back and change that, I would.”

She moves a bit closer and puts a hand on your shoulder but you step away, feeling a lump build in your throat. You reply, “None of that matters now,” and walk away before she can say another word.


@stsword
You’re right, of course, but it’s also not so simple. I think Frogs put it nicely. Although theoretically a mage should be more powerful than a regular person, this isn’t necessarily the case here. Killian is twice the MC’s size and (for most MCs) much more vicious.

He also always had Petre and Verim backing him up, so there was quite a lot at risk. You could take a hit and live to see another day, or you could blast him with your magic. This could potentially defeat him, but it might also just make him even more angry, albeit injured. You also have his cronies to deal with, and three on one is too much to ask for one person, even a magician. And you saw how apathetic the other villagers were, so it’s unlikely anyone would step in to do much, or anything.

You saw in Chapter 3 how, even after using destruction magic to cave in the ground beneath Killian’s feat or using stealth magic to turn invisible and wail on him, you still ended up getting just as injured as he got simply because of his sheer size and strength.

You also have to consider the psychological side to things: let’s say the MC was facing Killian alone. Even then, the fact that you were bullied viciously by him for several years before makes Killian terrifying, and mentally, it’s hard to overcome something like that, even if you might technically have more power at your disposal.

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Did the others like Keano and Violet know about him? I’m not sure how strong is Keano (he seems pretty strong physically) but Violet could have beaten him quite easily

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She probably didn’t notice enough to care.

And a guy like that will be in each of the books even after the Magician’s Burden.

Huh.

It’s actually kind of hard to imagine what kind of role Killian can possibly be playing in the next book in particular. He’s got no real connection with anyone besides Mage MC, who understandably could very likely not want anything more to do with him. I don’t think it was mentioned that Mister Eccentric will be training him like the others, so I’m not sure he’d have any good reasons for being around Mage MC or the others (and even if he was able to get integrated in the group, I doubt that any of the people that Mage MC can potentially meet would be able to tolerate his presence for too long, maybe even less so for a few of them if they have a bond with Mage MC). Maybe he could end up making some kind of deal with a high rank demon due to developing a obsessive need for power, but I can’t really see Killian wanting anything to do with demon after his first hand encounter with one (and if he felt some kind of attachment to his former friends, I feel like he’d be even less inclined to seek out a demon for power unless something even more extreme happens).

Is it too spoilery to ask if there’s some importance to Killian being in each of the books? Is it for growth or opposition? Or maybe both, depending on the MC’s choices?

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Violet could destroy him with a blink of an eye for sure, haha. Keano, though strong and fast, wouldn’t be much of a match for him unless he was at a distance and armed with his bow and arrows.

Here’s a spot in Chapter 2 where Violet wrecked on the bullies:


He shoves you back, hard, and raises his massive fist, getting ready to punch you. His cronies eye you excitedly and close in around you as well.

*page_break

Suddenly, Violet lashes out and kicks Petre right in the groin. The blonde haired crony gives out a high pitched squeal and collapses to the dirt, groaning in pain. Verim curses and moves towards her, but she chops him in the throat with the side of her hand, a fire burning in her dark eyes.

The redhead makes a loud choking noise and stumbles to his knees, gagging as he tries to rake in a breath of air. Killian glares at her and roars, “You bitch, you’re going to pay for that!”

He advances on her, raising his fist, but the demon huntress sneers and promptly whips out a wand from her robe, sticking it up to his neck as it glows a menacing purple. The wand itself is smooth and pure white, and it looks like it was carved from an animal bone, with a rounded handle on the bottom leading up to a pointed tip.

Killian freezes completely, his eyes wide in terror as he trembles. “You’re a witch!” he spits, swallowing loudly as the wand presses harder into his pudgy neck.

*page_break

She gives him a savage grin and chuckles mirthlessly. “No, you stupid fool, not a witch. But if you show your face around me again, I won’t hesitate to chop off your fingers and use them as a necklace.” Killian blanches and dashes off, Petre and Verim running after him as fast as they can. Violet laughs and says, “The most brazen are usually the most cowardly.”

@Okami-Nora
I already laid out the bare plots for Enigma and Enemy, so I don’t mind talking about Killian’s future in the series.

ENIGMA:
Right now, I simply have a small scene planned where you see him in an alleyway, crying and pounding his fists into the brick wall. You have an option for how to respond to him. (Kick him while he’s down/ignore him/comfort him/etc)

He might be in there a bit more, but that’s all I have planned for now.

ENEMY:
He is recruited into the village “army”. Late in the story, he will arrive at Githrad with the other Orilon soldiers to help fight against the demon army.

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This Enigma scene seems really familiar to the scene in The Witcher 3 where if you chose to spare Junior he ended up homeless with nothing and not even the strength to stand, and even little kids threw rocks at him and humiliated him. Will your relationship with Killian right now have any effect later on though? Also will you be able to get a new pet cat and maybe name it after Mowbow

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It’s funny, Trial of the Demon Hunter and TMB have been compared to The Witcher, but I’ve never read the books or played the video games. I guess great minds think alike. ;p

Yes, your relationship with him will have effect throughout the series.

In Enigma, you’ll meet a boxer dog named Blossom on the road to Githrad.

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I’m mostly looking forward to meeting the werewolf! Is it going to be a classic only change in the full moon or a half-man half-wolf all the time?

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He’ll be a permanent half-man half-wolf. Jonaug will be introduced about 75% of the way through Enigma.

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I guess I need to replay Witcher 3 because I do not remember this… of course I beat the game a month after it came out…

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FML, I just realized I included Jude, Izzy, Kidas, and Alice in the non-RO poll on accident. I hate that these things aren’t editable.

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Did you use Zaleth’s powers when facing Kihbok, either to run away with super speed, or to fight her with demonic abilities? (I’m making both “Yes” and “No” select-able for players who may have used them on one playthrough and not used them on another.)

  • Yes, I used Zaleth’s powers against Kihbok
  • No, I didn’t use the demon’s magic against Kihbok

0 voters

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