May 12, 2020
To:Deleted User
First things first. Thank you so much for taking this day to catch up! Kudos bro! I often need to take some breaks after reading a considerable amount.
Volume 2's first story arc centers on Davis and Viola for a few reasons. First off, I wanted to make it up to them since they had very little screentime in Volume 1 so what better way than to put the spotlight on them without any interference from the main characters? That being said, although Lucas makes no appearance and Rio is limited only to a cameo, the former is referenced several times as what's being built up in this chapter is indirectly involving him.
The past actions of Rio in Volume 1 are the catalysts for Davis going to San Desquiciado and Logen wanting Lucas brought to him. And just so you know, these events are happening immediately after Volume 1 ended, so Lucas is still fast asleep in bed as of now and he's unaware that he's going to be dragged into something big once he wakes up! 😆
I hope I've made it clear that Davis and Viola have different chemistry as a pair when compared to Lucas and Rio. While the latter is like a pseudo-master-slave relationship, the former is like that of partners who have each other's backs. 🙏
Regarding the blond man's identity, I wanted to play around with the fact that there's always something interrupting him whenever he tries to say his name. Based on the ending of chapter 6, Davis and Viola did learn it offscreen. The whole thing about the blond man's name has something to do with who he is as a character and is not just some shtick.
I hope Lord Xavion and Mary Glow will interest you more once I upload the next chapter! It'll be all about them and they'll be occupying the spotlight for the entire chapter, one more than the other though. 😅
Fenris' name may have only been mentioned in a couple of chapters, but reading between the lines in other chapters shows that he's just around the corner somewhere! Have you found him?
When it came to San Desquiciado, I felt like Lucas would have to go through the scariest place close to home before he could start experiencing the culture shock I have planned for the other nations. I visited my local red-light district a lot in preparation for writing San Desquiciado and making the place a lawless district came from my observation that shady things tend to happen in red-light districts even if the police were allowed to enter. I know Black Lagoon by its name and a few clips, but Roanapur is something new, so I'll look it up!
Now regarding your feedback for this chapter...
Viola wouldn't disown Davis for defending her like how he had to. She knows he was trying to protect her and all, but there's another aspect of her personality that keeps her from breaking her friendship with him. When it comes to how my characters make decisions, I'll make them weight all sorts of things based on their personality and the situation. I don't want their trains of thought to be on a very linear level.
Viola's techniques are not powers as she had stated before when she first talked to Davis about them. They are skills that anyone can learn through training, conditioning, and commitment. She did admit that there are some techniques that can be mistaken for superpowers but even they had to be earned, not given.
I only did the recap on this chapter because I was worried that my readers might have forgotten what happened since I posted the last chapter 4 months ago. I also tried to write it in such a way that you can easily skip it if you don't want to read it. Still, there will most likely be no recap in the next chapter since I'm uploading it very soon.
Thanks again for investing a good amount of time to catch up man! Hope you'll swing on by again when I upload the next chapter in a few more days! 😉
