Chapter 944: Afterword  

Hallo! It’s me, ya boy.

‘Way of the Knights’ is done and it feels surreal. It felt like I’ve been writing this forever but it also felt like it was just yesterday since I started it.

I’ve said this so many times before and I will say it again…

Thank you so much, for sparing some of your attention to my work. Honestly, I couldn’t have made it far without you.

‘Way of the Knights’ was just an idea that randomly popped into my head when I started reading novels before. I got struck by that ‘writing-fever’, you know what I’m talking about.

The thing where you have this idea that seems to viable and so beautiful, unique even, that you can’t stop thinking about almost to the point that it’s following you in your dreams? Yeah, that’s the ‘writing-fever’ I’m talking about.

I’m not a professional writer. In fact this is very first story that I ever published. I was interested in writing though and I truly want to get better at it, but I never really received professional guidance for it. Most of the things I know came from my observations from the works of other authors and the things I saw online.

It’s because of the impulsive tendencies that the ‘writing-fever’ caused, that I started writing this book.

I had no plans for this. I’ll admit that. I posted the first few chapters thinking that there’s no way this will get some attention but well…it did. I was pleasantly but also kind of having an existential crisis inside.

The idea that I have was world of Knights and Mages originally that has Eastern Fantasy elements to it. magic

Raven was supposed to be the idiot one. The one who punches first before asking questions later. The ‘Giga-Chad’ of the group, per se. He was supposed to be the ‘macho-man’ who disdains using weapons or techniques, the one that prefers using absolute strength to crush his opponents.

That’s why at beginning, he uses fists then later a hammer. But then again, the way I wrote his character was the mature one on the group as he experienced rebirth. He supposed to have been through a lot and it just doesn’t make sense for him to the reckless one so I give that role to Ellen. This is an example of how things just doesn’t go the way you planned it to. I really didn’t think this through from the very beginning and it completely affected the way how the story went. I apologize for that.

If there’s one thing that remain constant in this novel, it’d be the ‘monogamy’ tag(?)

I never intended my MC to have a Harem all due to the simple fact that I don’t particularly liked that ‘element’. Don’t get me wrong, I still read works that has a harem tag, I just didn’t want it on my own because I really don’t get how that works and I really don’t like it.

Another thing that remained constant is the fact that I wanted Raven to always be ‘Invincible’ one. This is why he rarely gets himself into a sticky position.

This kind of backfired actually…

Due to the fact he always wins anyways, it really takes away the thrill and the suspense from the novel, making it boring to read. This is why you will always see Raven making fun of his enemies and down right toying with them to make things a little for fun to read.

That only patches up the flaw I know, but it’s already too late to change that. I made Raven a bit too powerful and it went out of control. Another lesson that I learned from the job, I suppose.

The reason why I created Raven as the Invincible One or the Hero is because my own selfishness, I’ll admit that. He’s my ‘son’ kind of…and I’m just a doting dad. I wanted Raven to always be victorious so I made it that way. It’s that simple.

As for other inconsistencies well, Ellen was supposed to the ‘Karen’ or the ‘Tsundere’ of the group. But I cringe so hard whenever I try writing her that way so I just made her someone who was reckless and had a fiery temper. It’s cliche I know but at this point, everything is already cliche.

The big inconsistency that happened during me writing this novel was the way how Raven’s ‘Path’ changed.

I’m referring to his specialty with Runes and Seals.

Yeah, I’ll be frank…I didn’t expect things to go this way. But man, it totally fits the personality that I made for him that it just has to happen. Especially considering the ultimate goal I set for him? Oh that just made me go all out.

Plus, that’s the unique thing about my novel. Well…unique in a sense that it’s different from the more popular genres of today. Most of the MC’s uses sword, spears, hammers and etc. Some preferred magic, some has systems, yada, yada…but my MC can seal things and his runes could pretty much do anything so, hah!

Pfft, anyway…

I was so happy that some people liked my work to the point where they were asking for more, but that also filled me with dread because I’m so unprepared for it.

I know this isn’t something that you would like to hear but I want to be transparent to those who truly supported my work so far. I feel like I owe this to you.

To tell you the truth, I was actually planning on dropping this work because I was so clueless on how to move-on with the story. And before you ask, yes, I did try on making the plot as I wrote new chapters for the story but for some reason, I just can’t seem to follow the visions I had and kept on switching lanes on the fly which was horrible. The only reason why I continued was because I was pushed to the edge. Around the time I got an offer for the contract, COVID happened…

I kind of lost my original job at the worst time possible, my father’s work is also greatly affected by the pandemic so I gotta think of something. That’s when I decided to continue this story for better or for worse.

I thought the pandemic wouldn’t last long but it sure as hell did. Writing this story helped me stay afloat and I kind of fell in-love with the process.

That being said, I’ve been so irresponsible during the beginning of the story that it greatly affected the way on how I will continue it, add the fact that I am a complete beginner and it’s just a recipe for a total disaster.

It hasn’t been easy. There were many times that I’ve felt like I can’t go on. There were times where I just don’t know which way the story should develop. How do other authors even did it? Things just didn’t make sense.

Add the issues of my personal life into the mix and well…

Anyway, I know It sounds like I’m whining here. I’m sorry for that. I know that I should’ve done it better.

Still, I am glad that you guys were there for me. Your comments, reactions and your support taught me a lot of things that I planned on applying to my new work and the ones that will follow that as well.

Like I said, I already fell in-love with writing. I don’t think I’ll be able to stop anytime soon. Especially when my imagination keeps feeding me all sorts of images that I can use.

Even with a finished work under my belt, I still consider myself as a beginner to the world filled so many talented Authors. I am proud to say that I manage to finish this book in a pleasant way (in my opinion) despite the initial difficulties I encountered.

There’s still so much for me to learn and looking forward on how far I can go in this career. I’ll keep on challenging myself and keep improving so that I can give you guys more compelling stories that you can immersed into whenever you want to take a break from reality.

I’ve learned a lot while writing this story. And honestly, I prefer writing compared to my old job so there’s no way I’ll be willing to return to that when I have this.

Right now, I have a new on-going work, it’s called: “Idle Mage: Humanity’s Stronger Backer.”

Check out my profile and you should be able to see it. I also entered it to this year’s WSA but frankly, I don’t see it entering even the top 10 haha.

I just entered that competition for more exposure, that’s all.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll continue that book even if it doesn’t do well in the competition. I already had the plot set-up for that one and I’m already applying the things I learned so far.

I would really appreciate it if you can continue supporting me there.

Once again. Thank you so, so much for making it this far. Thank you for all the support and love you’ve shown this book so far. I promise that I’ll continue improving so that you can expect more from me.

It’s been a wild ride. Thank you for accompanying me.

– Hateful_Fellow, signing out.