Elydes

Here it is, my first AMA. Thank you for all the questions.

I put all the general, random and funny questions at the beginning and the ‘spoilery’ ones in the second part. I ordered them so the further you read, the more spoilery the question. It’s mostly details about general world-building that have not been revealed yet and little about the plot. But if you prefer to read the story completely blind, be warned.

PART 1 - The Random and The Funny

• Do you have a dog? Pics or it didn't happen.

Unfortunately, I have no furry friends in my life right now. But I have a rabbit living in the garden of my condo XD.

• What were the circumstances under which you were last picked up? (like your buddy picking up up to prove he can).

It’s been a while. You are welcome to try if you can find me :p. I’m 62 kg (137 pounds for my American friends) so it's pretty easy.

• Loving the story! Instead of a story question, mine is this. How has writing the story affected your daily life? Also hope you're doing well!

Thanks for the question! Let’s just say publishing Elydes has been a bit of a trial by fire. I didn’t really know what I was doing and had to learn a lot of things on the go. Most of all how to deal with trolls online. But I’m getting better at it.

Creating interesting worlds and stories has always been one of my passions. The part where I have to put what’s in my head on the page not so much, but I enjoy working to improve my writing (most of the time).

• What are the chances of getting 1 chapter per day?

Well… the short answer is no. But let’s give a little background. I think some people might already know, but English is not my first language. It takes me quite a while to write and do 2-3 edits, by the end my mind is completely fried. (If you notice strange expressions and a mix of UK and US spelling that is the reason XD).

Following RR, Patreon, Discord and dealing with the publishers also more hours each day. I’ve been nearing burnout a few times. I’d love to put out more chapters, but I don’t think that’s a promise I would be able to keep.

With that said, Elydes is my first novel. I’m slowly improving and building a better routine, losing less time obsessing after the numbers. As some of you must have noticed between the Yellow and Blue Patreon tiers, Green is missing. It is going to take a while, but I plan to add a Green tier with more advanced chapters. After that, I’ll continue to increase the number of chapters in both Yellow and Green.

This is going to take a while. So you’ll need to be patient.

• Do you have a plan for the entirety of Elydes?
• How long do you think this series is going to be?

I have plans for the next 3~ books and a few key plot points after that, characters I want to introduce and scenes I want to write. The series will be around 10 books long, but that’s just an estimate, it could be more or it could be less.

• (1) Will you ever take suggestions or run a poll to allow readers to pick skill names? (2) Will we be able to read some sort of short chapters with other points of view like how his sisters are doing, his sister's reaction to the death of that guy, and what his mother does on a day-to-day basis?

1. I think that’s a great idea! If anyone wants to suggest skill names and descriptions in the comments I’ll make sure to take them into serious consideration. I can also add a discord channel dedicated to that if you want.
2. If there’s an interest, I’ll be happy to write side POVs when I get the time. Just let me know which character you’d like to know more about.

PART 2 - SPOILERS

• This is very important to me, what is the main staple food on the island, and in what flavors is it usually prepared?

In general, I’d say seafood and fish are the main staples of the Baquire Archipelago, plus tropical fruits like mangos, papayas and coconuts. Seafood is preferred fresh, while fish is often roasted or salted to keep it good longer. It changes a lot depending on which island and town you’re on. For example, Greenside and Sylspring’s inhabitants get meat from the Veeryd jungle, other places don’t have access to that.

After the Merian Republic took over, many more dishes and spices are currently being introduced. So the cuisine of the archipelago is evolving, especially in Yanlun and Higharbor.

• Are you using the standard roygbiv color spectrum for tiers? What would subred and ultraviolet be?

Yes. Red-Orange-Yellow-Green-Blue-Indigo-Violet - ROYGBIV. Never thought about sub-red and ultra-violet. Those would belong more to a scientific world and the color system was created by humans on Elydes, who generally are not that well versed in the light frequencies they can’t perceive.

• Do Kai’s relatives from the mainland not care about his family, do they know about Kai and his family?

Kai’s paternal grandparents cut ties after their son chose to marry a local and stay on the archipelago instead of pursuing his career. It’s possible Kai’ll meet this side of the family when he goes to the Republic.

• Do people have the same race and profession grade? Like will Kai automatically get a profession matching his race grade at 14 or will he have to build it up?

He will have to build it up from Red. Naturally, if he has a higher race, it will be easier to improve till it catches up.

• How many skill slots does each race level have?

At the same grade, each race has the same number of skill slots. However, some races are only born at higher grades, so they have immediate access to more skill slots. The true difference between races is their average stats and talents, here not all races are equal.

• Do you plan on introducing a romance subplot once Kai gets into adulthood?

Probably. Kai is a person. I didn’t think it made sense for him to feel attraction for other people before going through puberty. When he becomes a teenager things might change. But I don’t think Kai wants to die a virgin a second time.

And before someone asks: no harem.

• Will there be dungeons or portals in the story?

If you paid attention, Dora has already revealed something about that. I don’t want to give too many details away :p

• How would current Kai measure up to a privileged child born in the mainland at Orange? Would they also be close to hitting Orange 2 at close to 8 years? Maybe even Orange 3?

I think Kai would measure about average, which it’s a huge achievement, considering his start.

• (1) How many tiers are there total? (2) Do the number of skill slots increase by seven each tier or double? (3) Are there any ways other than increasing tiers to increase the number of skill slots someone has, like a particularly powerful blessing?

• Seven tiers and then we’ll see. I can say I don’t plan to introduce another slew of ‘godly’ tiers and start again in a ‘higher realm’. Violet is still far. I prefer to expand horizontally and give more depth to the magic system already there.
• Each grade offers the same amount of extra skill slots, but some of them might also offer other boons on the side.
• I prefer to keep this answer to myself :p

• What does the powerscale look like? I mean, is a peak-grade human on the "Freza destroying planets" level or more of a superman type power level?

It would depend on what they specialize in. Are they a warrior, a mage or a legendary farmer? An offensive peak-power with large-scale abilities can’t destroy Elydes, but can significantly affect the planet if no one stops them.

• Is Virya's race grade actually green or blue/higher? Is it even possible for humans to achieve the highest race grade with their limited timespans?

With the help of the Guide it’s theoretically possible to reach the peak. As for the obstacles in the way and if humans can actually achieve it in practice, that’s another story.

P.S. I asked Virya her grade, she didn’t want to share.

• What is a typical lifespan of a human at the different race grades, and how much further can they be pushed?

The main factor that determines lifespans is the race grade, even if some professions and higher Constitution also influence it in minor part. At Red grade it is not much different from ours, at Orange it is around 150 years, if they are in good health. Keep in mind, your average human commoner enjoys far fewer comforts than people on Earth, so they often die sooner.

As for the higher grades, it’s complicated. Advancing to the next color increases your lifespan based on your physical age. If someone at death’s door manages to advance to the next grade (and somehow survives the process) they’ll at most gain a few months. The younger you are the more you gain. Human children grow at about the same rate regardless of their grade, as they get closer to maturity that slowly changes. At around 20 years old it’s when the differences in the aging speed become obvious.

• I know Kai is interested in traveling the world. However, I also know that Kai has the motivation to help his uncle and his blood family and thus in larger detail Greenside. Will Kai start figuring out how much he needs to help his family before he starts his travels? I'm sure colonialism will feature heavily for a bit.

The main pillar of the story has always been Kai’s life. How someone from Earth would fare, adapt, grow and change. Getting stronger is a necessity to fully travel the world and explore all the possibilities, but it’s not the end goal. His relationship with his family and other people (old and new characters) will feature more heavily after the training arc.

• Is reincarnation a common, or heard about before thing? (Dora brought it up earlier when thinking about Kai).

It’s rare, but Kai’s case is not unique. However, reincarnators don’t usually maintain their full memories and 99% of them were already from Elydes.

• How strong is magic at each grade? I know Kai has some control of water, but to use water as an attack I imagine he must shoot it at high pressure or speeds, is that something Kai will be able to do with an orange grade skill? How about nature, how strong would a vine wrapping around someone be?

The power of Kai’s magic is influenced by: training, affinity, skill level and stats. It will undergo a drastic increase in power after he gets his profession (depending on what he choses). There are so many factors to consider that it’s hard to answer.

• When are we through the training arc?
• How much longer will the training/archipelago arc be and what are your plans for the next arc?

The training arc (as in Kai time at the estate) is almost over. There will be at most a couple lesson chapters. It was always in my plans to do a longer time-skip now that all the pieces are in place. I’ll show Kai’s progress through his actions. He’ll spend more time around other people in towns. Check latest chapters at NoveI(F)ire.net

I think the problem was that Kai was too isolated at the estate. It would have been better, if he trained around more people and with other things happening on the side. It’s something I'll certainly keep in mind for the future.

Overall, the training arc could have certainly been improved, but I’m not displeased with how it turned out. It was important to set the basis for Kai’s future development and to show him grow in confidence and turn him into a more active character. He still has work to do, but he’s not the same insecure kid who first came to the estate. He might complain and swear after Elijah, but he never considers giving up or that he can’t do it.

The only things I would change (bar completely rewriting the whole story) would be cutting a chapter and putting a different POV in the middle. I might combine chapters 68 and 69 when I do the final edit.

As for the archipelago arc more in general, I don’t want to spoil it. I can tell you that Kai will take a more active role. He’ll get involved in the event of the archipelago and interact with old and new characters.

END OF SPOILERS

Yep, it took much longer than I thought, but it was worth it.

Now, I have a question for you: did you enjoy the AMA? Do you want me to turn it in a recurring thing?