Mark of the Fool 3: A Progression Fantasy Epic

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I mean just that. Listen, what we’re about to do? What we’ve already done?” He gestured around the armoury. “No one’s ever done in the entire history of Thameland. We’re cleaning out Uldar’s armoury and we’ll be leaving people behind to dig through the rest of the sanctum. Every nook and cranny. Then there’s the Ravener: there’s a chance that destroying it for all time means going against Uldar’s wishes.” There’s one small problem: The Mark tries to ruin magic while enhancing skills outside of divinity, combat and spellcraft.… One of the things I liked the most was that this wasn't a solo adventure where the MC embarks on a journey, goes to magic school and make friends. No he already had friends, he's taking his 10 year old little sister along, his best friend (which he has romantic feelings for) and her three-headed dog that doesn't like him. The feelings are hinted at, and isn't a very big part of the first book but might be in the future. It's also hinted at that it's reciprocated, but the MC has just turned 18 and they grew up together. It's a very classical tale of "young love being too embarrassed to say anything that'd change the status quo". Is…this…right?” Claygon asked, his lower arms gently wrapping around Alex, hugging the young wizard. His grip was powerful, and for a—brief, claustrophobic moment—a little stab of fear went through Alex; Claygon’ arms felt like the earth rising up to consume him.

The worst attempt I’ve ever seen,” Paul groaned as he lifted himself from the fountain. “But, if he’s willing to try something that stupid, then maybe we should take a look. Last thing we need is for some bigwig to turn all green in the face and keel over. Come on, Peter.” The team went forward, heading for the armoury as Isolde moved closer to Alex. “I remembered that you said the Traveller’s device could be used for translation,” she whispered. “Could it not translate Uldar’s notes?” When I picture how Theresa would have spent one year in Generasi, I imagine she would have had more progress in her dream (of travelling around the world) than the narrative hints to. This could be because the narrative follows the perspective of the MC, and Theresa may have had more progress on that, but the MC is unware. Yet, I still think that the real reason is because the author didn't give this too much thought. And this makes me fear that Theresa may become just another face around the MC, as unfortunately happens in other stories. I loved the take of refusing a call from your god to one of the chosen ones. I also loved the fact that it's crystal clear the author is currently doing some kind of high learning degree and he is focusing on random aspects like lab safety and professor politics.I don’t think the merchants or nobles that shop there would see it that way, and I don’t have time to run to the guild before he cleans up the evidence.”

Big Bad: The Ravener, buried deep beneath the earth, attempts to kill everything in Thameland every century.

Age

The baker made a choking noise before stomping across the disaster zone, jabbing his key into his strong box, ripping it open and whipping two dull coins into Alex’s chest. Father?” Claygon’s voice asked in his mind. It was deep, like the rumbling of the earth, but childlike in a way: uncertain, yearning, loving and unknowing. He even thought of Brutus—brought home from the woods by Theresa as a pup—with his six eyes shining bright with curiosity. On his 18th birthday, he is Marked by prophecy as one of his kingdom’s five Heroes, chosen to fight the Ravener, his land’s great enemy. But his brand is "The Fool". Worst of the marks. There’s a lot of words for feelings,” he said. “I’m sure this is all…a lot for you, so I won’t start teaching you them now. You’d like to learn about that kinda stuff, wouldn’t you?”

I'm also impressed with the world building, and how that's conveyed naturally in passing and not through exposition or cumbersome info dumps.

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And if they could decode the formulae Uldar had left behind, it would give them the most important answer of all. The Town of Alric was shrugging off sleep when Alex emerged from the bakery for the last time. The sunlight filtered through a haze of clouds and townsfolk trudged past the square’s fountain with their days’ tools and lunches in hand. A carriage—pulled by a set of proud horses—approached from down the road, their hooves clattering on the cobblestone. On the side of the carriage door was emblazoned the symbol of a lantern: the Sigil of the Traveller, the town’s patron saint. Alex had seen enough of McHarris’ rages to know that he meant it. The young man tore off his apron and scrambled to grab his pay. He sniffed the air near the eggs as he bent: a nasty stench confirmed his suspicions from early this morning. Keeping his face neutral, he jumped up and scuttled for the exit to the front room of the shop. Alright everybody welcome to a new book! You know, I know other authors kinda take breaks between books—even just a few days—but I kinda wanna see how long I can go without breaking my update streak. He watched Hart lifting an immense sword—one even larger than his own blade which was crafted from a Hive queen’s claw—down off the wall. Khalik was testing a short-sword, swinging it through the air, while Isolde examined a wooden staff.

MC felt like a side character in the team that distracts the target till the main character comes swooping down to save him. Some of my favourite authors—R.A. Salvatore and William King—use snippets of journal entries written by one of the characters to serve as bridges and sum up the journey so far. It's a technique I used in another series of mine, which I'm working on the second book for and which will eventually be published as well. Therefore, it wouldn’t be at all surprising for there to be at least one small someone in his life someday to call him ‘father.’Life normally quieted pretty early in Alric with the arrival of sunset: after darkness fell, burning wood and candles for light was too expensive, so it was avoided. So, the evenings were gloomy around town. But, it seemed that things were even quieter in town than they had been when he was in the graveyard. The Fool—according to all Alex’s teachers—had nothing to offer anyone, save for a nominal but necessary service to the Heroes. Uldar’s Prophecies called those that bore the mantle necessary, but history had suggested otherwise. Big thanks to all my readers—I appreciate each and every one of you—and a very special thanks to my patrons on my Patreon . There's up to 20 advanced chapters ahead on patreon as thanks for support! Slowly, the trepidation began to vanish, pushed aside by that growing hope and a child-like, simple feeling of pure joy.