- #1
Excellent story, honestly one of my favorites. I've seen it being compared to LotM, but honestly I prefer this.My favorite part of the story, surprisingly enough, is the romance. Every character has unique and interesting reasons to fall in love with the MC. The characters are written so that I look forward to their next appearance, and I can't wait to find out how the characters evolve in their relationships with each other, and I can't wait to find out how it'll all come together. Honestly great stuff.My second favorite part is the characters themselves. Oh, the author is so good at writing characters. They have so much respect for every one of their characters, they are just the right amount of selfish, so that they distinguish themselves, without it being overly obnoxious, they have their own goals and ambitions, while also sharing them with the other characters, and in that sharing they also develop and grow. Watching these characters do their thing is honestly such a delight, and I'm always happy to have new characters introduced because I know the author will do it right.The stories are always character first, the conclusions always impact the characters in some lasting way, and everything is put together so well that you are always satisfied at the end of an arc.My only complaints are two-fold. First, the beginning of the story is kinda rough, with all the characters being at the start of their character development, they are all somewhat cynical, and there isn't really a character that you can feel good rooting for, also there is a bit of nonsense that just doesn't make sense, don't worry, it does get better. Second, the logic of the story can get convoluted, and understanding it a bit unintuitive. If you want to understand the plot, you're forced to stop reading sometimes and really think to put together what's actually being said.Now to counteract some of the slander. I've heard some smack being talked about it's power system, but that's just nonsense. It's true that the power system isn't focused on self development, but rather collecting spirits which is less personal, but this is so the increase in the power of our protagonists is based on exploring and adventure, as opposed to sitting in a cave to meditate for a century, or training. It's intentially more dynamic to fit the pacing of the story, so stop complaining. Once you actually get into reading it, you'll hardly notice the difference anyways.For me it's a masterpiece, but if you don't particularly care for character focused narrative (because baby, that's most of it), or you refuse to use your brain while reading, I suppose this isn't for you.