Reading Turning: Ch 1336-1340
Wrapping up the Fay/Elpkins/Gloe arc, what a good arc!!
As usual this post again is going to have a summary of each chapter and then my thoughts/opinions/fav lines!! DO NOT CLICK IF UR AVOIDING SPOILERS
Ch 1336
Fay experiences ULTIMATE EMBARRASSMENT as he remembers calling everyone angels, especially asking priest Lusan "If this is heaven, when will I see my mother"
Gloe/Elpkins tries to comfort him by saying at least he didn't say anything to Yuder and recognized Kishiar
Fay continues not to reply in mortification so Gloe says she and Elpkins will forget everything. But Elpkins doesn't agree and says it was the first time someone called him an angel so he was a little happy (will include more quotes below)
Gloe also says it's the first time she's been called an angel which baffles Gloe/Fay because she is so nice with a normal appearance (to Elpkins), but Gloe says that she was considered a bad omen with her black hair, gloomy atmosphere, and fortune-telling - especially after she pushed a clown in her troupe who tried to hit her and caused the clown to fall backwards and die with a cracked skull. Rumors spread that anyone who approached her would be cursed and that she was a monster who would kill everyone she had a grudge against, so that was why she ran away and applied for the Arcane Legion
Gloe ends by telling Elpkins if he is a monster, then so is she. And then Fay finally intervenes saying neither are monsters, they are true angels to him...to which Gloe/Elpkins smile and say that if he truly thinks so then they'll just remember the angel comments after all hehe (it was a trap to help put Fay at ease by sharing their own Tragic Backstories)
The two then ask Fay about his own Tragic Backstory so Fay confesses he is actually from a village of refugees from the South hundreds of years ago. Fay's father was from the Empire so he had even less Southern blood than everyone in the village and that made other kids his age really hate/discriminate him. Fay had no close childhood friends and stuck to his mother, but his mother was frail passed away before Fay grew up.
In despair, Fay remembered an old legend passed down in the village that the pit of dirt next to the village was actually formerly a healing spring where fairies resided and if you made a sacrifice to the clear mirror-like surface of the spring water, it could heal the sick and bring the dead back to life. Fay wandered there at night several times, but never saw spring water. But one day a scale appeared before him and remembering the legend, he took out his mother's hair he kept preserved in a jar and put it on the scale, resulting in summoning a clone of his deceased mother for a brief moment
"Huh? Do you really have to go that far? It was actually the first time I'd heard someone call me an angel, so I felt a little happy..." "You've never heard anyone call you that even though you have such huge wings? Really?" "That's because you see me as an ordinary person... Usually, people call me a monster." Elpkins answered nonchalantly.
Again Elpkins talking so casually about his own past trauma, not being ashamed of it but using it to extoll how good the Arcane Legion is...he's such a precious good boy it's so touching to see how different his life was in 1TL and 2TL. In 1TL he was known to be violent and not get along with anyone and now here he is regularly having study-nap-piles with his friends and being extremely emotionally intelligent?? Kuyu you need to stop giving me favorite characters my hands cannot hold them all
I love the entire trio but Elpkins > Gloe >> Fay (he still has a bit of redemption-ing to go lol)
Ch 1337
The clone of Fay's mother came out of a mirror but was cold to the touch, which brought Fey back to reality and then the clone vanished, as did the hair Fey had "sacrificed"
Fay wanted to see his mother again but was scared of his power, and this was when he met the merchants who were nice to Fey unlike the rest of Fey's peers and told him about the outside world.
Fay began to dream of summoning his mother again and living with her outside the village where no one knew she was dead, so he raided his mother's coffin, cut off more of her hair, and went to the pit to summon the scales again. He placed the hair on the scales and his mother appeared in the mirror, but then Matten and the merchants caught Fay in the act
Fay was really ashamed because it felt like he was treating the dead like puppets, but the merchants comforted him and told him about the Arcane Legion/encouraged him to apply
Fay had already heard positive rumors about the Duke of Peletta and the Knights of Peletta who kept many territories safe in the north and gave opportunities to commoners, so he gobbled up the new stories about the Arcane Legion + Yuder (...who was praised for his exceptional abilities and BEAUTY and capturing the heart of Duke Peletta lmao propaganda delivered straight from Kishiar I see)
Fay recalls applying and feeling nervous during the test because he hadn't created a clone of anyone other than his mother, but he successfully made one during the test for a brief moment and passed. He never met anyone with similar powers though and even Yuder had a strange expression upon hearing Fay's abilities so he grew anxious that his abilities were useless and disgusting.
Even though Gloe helped him socialize, he felt alienated in terms of bloodlines, abilities, and a general future compared to his peers which is why he contacted Matten for comfort and affirmation as he had received before...
Gloe and Elpkins interrupt and ask about his powers. That it may not just be summoning clones and he's hardly explored it.
Someone drops in on their conversation saying they agree with Gloe/Elpkin's assessment
Matten told Fay: "Now that you're an Awakened, you might be able to become like Yuder Ail."
Damn this is prob why Fay studied Yuder so hard in 1TL, even if 1TL Yuder didn't have as many famous exploits as in 2TL. I mean also I guess Yuder has one of the strongest awakener abilities ever so if you're going to copy anyone you should copy the strongest.
All throughout this chapter I've been squinting at Fay's abilities and it seems to me that what happens is there's a scale he can only see, with a mirror dividing the two ends of the scale. He puts a sacrifice on one end and then will see the clone appear inside the mirror on the other end of the scale...and then the clone comes outside the mirror? I was wondering why all the mirrors were involved but these chapters explain that it's probably because the origin of his powers was his belief in the mirror-spring legend. I want a visual but that's like 10 years away with the current pace of the manhwa lol
Ch 1338
The voice is from Kishiar and they are all surprised/wondering how long he's been there
Gloe/Elpkins worry that Kishiar may kick Fay out after the story but Kishiar assures them he was just here to check on Fay
Kishiar tells Fay that during his exam, Fay was able to create a clone of an awakener (Isias) and use Isias's powers, and that's obviously useful. So why did Fay think his own powers are useless?
Fay admits Matten gave him a pill-medicine to relax and calm his mind for the exam and that was what helped him make the clone. And during the exam, another examiner who was mad at failing threw a stone at the Isias-clone. The clone used Isias's power (danger detection) to pre-emptively swat away the rock before disappearing and Fay didn't quite understand what had happened since he didn't learn of Isias's power until after he passed.
Fay later tried to use his powers with his own hair, but it didn't work and he wondered if the pill the merchants gave was what made the difference. He tried to find similar anxiety medicines but none of them worked so he thinks the pill may have had some secret ingredient and he may have cheated and never told Kishiar this because he was afraid
Kishiar notes Fay has no confidence in his own abilities and those who are reluctant and fearful of their powers will have a hard time using them. Luckily Fay is going to get ✨personalized training ✨ from Yuder to help with this
Kishiar also says he is going to offer advice because he feels he understands Fay better now and is a little sorry. Everyone is confused why Kishiar is sorry
Kishiar admits he could have saved Fay earlier that day but didn't
This chapter made me remember Isias...they were listed as one of the original members of the red stone retrieval mission in the 1TL but I don't think we ever heard of the ability until now? It's so interesting to me that their ability is danger detection but it didn't detect the danger of the stone from injuring Kishiar nor the danger of the assassins following Kishiar that forced him to use the Divine Sword. Or maybe Isias did detect the danger but just couldn't do anything about it and lived in regret. Well, Kishiar probably never let them know how much the red stone injury truly affected him so maybe not that much regret.
Ch 1339
Fay asked if Kishiar was watching him because he might have been cooperating with Matten.
Kishiar admits Fay's guess is right and says he's been monitoring Fay for a while now. He then also tells them a bit about the merchant's plot to sell ordinary goods with monster blood to cause a disaster similar to the one in the south
Kishiar asks Fay if he knew about this and Fay says he didn't and Kishiar says he believes in Fay due to his actions fighting Matten showed sincerity and determination to protect the Arcane Legion, "So you have always been, and will always be, a member of the Arcane Legion"
Fay cries because he feels acknowledged by Kishiar who had apparently watched his entire struggle and instead of ridiculing it, showed understanding and forgiveness. Fay thanks Kishiar for watching over him and believing in him
Kishiar says it's unexpected and thought Fay may have wanted to curse him for being ruthless...but Fay disagrees and says the commander could have left a shameful subordinate like himself die, but he didn't. He feels truly accepted now
Kishiar cryptically says that Fay has a wide range of possibilities and now has a second chance, and Fay doesn't quite understand but agrees because he likes the idea of a second chance.
Kishiar thinks deciding what to put on the scale and what he wants to appear in the mirror may help shape Fay's ability in the future. He asks Fay what Fay desperately wanted before his abilities awakened - is it still to see his mother again?
Fay thinks about it, recalling the first time he used his ability to summon his mother and says that his wish wasn't to see his mom but actually to see his mother free from pain since she had been sick for so long. He no longer wants to bring her back to life as a cold clone.
Kishiar saying this is Fay's second chance and Fay thinking it's about the Matten thing but Kishiar actually talking about 1TL :')
Yuder really holding no grudges but Kishiar holding all of Yuder's grudges for him viciously lol
Ch 1340
Kishiar approves of Fay's wish and tells Fay to make sure to tell Yuder about it when they do personal training
Fay tries to confirm if he's really receiving personal training and promises to do his best so Kishiar won't be disappointed, but Kishiar says Fay needs to work hard for Yuder not him because it was actually Yuder who granted Fay's second chance. Yuder was the one who mentioned Fay's potential after their first meeting
Fay is like omg i totally misunderstood Yuder's look during our first meeting... (it was a misunderstanding but in a diff way bc Yuder was obviously thinking of 1TL)
Kishiar then continues to praise Yuder and how Yuder was why he was on the scene that day and how great Yuder was to offer special training instead of feeling pity toward Fay
Everyone is kinda dazed by Kishiar's praise-bomb of Yuder and recalls the rumors of Yuder being Kishiar's lover including the times they danced together. Their seniors told them that the relationship was fake and part of a Master Plan to help acceptance of Awakeners but the way Kishiar smiles and talks about Yuder...could it simply be toward a cherished subordinate?
Kishiar concludes: Do It For Yuder
Elpkins cries because he is so moved by Kishiar's Yuder simping and Gloe gives him a hankerchief while explaining to Fay that Elpkins also was given a second chance thanks to Yuder and Kishiar
Fay shows understanding saying if heh recalls this day in the future he may cry even more than Elpkins and then starts to tear up a little too. Gloe gives him a handkerchief too and asks "Aren't you both crying too much" but Fay points out Gloe is also tearing up
Gloe just said she was relieved everything turned out well and inadvertently started wondering what would have happened if she hadn't met Yuder at her entrance exam...
Kishiar butts in saying all four of them have been given a second chance by Yuder. The three are confused because who's the fourth? But Kishiar says it's obviously himself because Yuder has saved him countless times and in fact he is the one who owes the most to Yuder
Kishiar then cites everyone else who is in the saved-by-Yuder fanclub and everyone is enjoying the stories until Enon interrupts about how they are being so loud he thought there was some kind of Yuder-Ail-bragging event going on
Kishiar is chased out by Enon who says he has been talking too long, but Kishiar tries to placate him by saying Enon should join them next time because Enon as his "hyung" (big brother) would know a lot of stories about Yuder that no one else knows
"The commander...truly values senior Yuder more than anyone else"
Oh you sweet innocent children you have only glimpsed the surface of a deep deep iceberg
Also lmaooo I didn't really think Kishiar would be petty about Enon getting more tea powder than him after his own special present BUT KISHIAR PROVES TO BE COMPLETELY PETTY ABOUT ALL THINGS YUDER and points out Enon got more tea powder than him when trying to placate Enon. Enon asks how he knew and Kishiar points out that Enon definitely displayed it prominently on the desk to make sure Kishiar saw. Two subtly petty kings going at it and i'm here dying of laughter This chapter was sooo funny. Kishiar really did just host an unofficial Yuder fanclub session huh. And asserted himself as The Most Saved by Yuder because he must be Number One in all things Yuder. So dramatic, never change Kishiar
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Next: [Ch 1341-1345]
