Please don't be dead, I even lurked on spacebattles and there's been no activity to the point of thread-necromancy.
Great story, Jason is an excellent main character, believable, capable of learning, willing to improve and change himself, etc etc. Personally I am amused by the peeks into his thoughts about attraction, but I can also see how some might confuse them with him being a horndog.
Why biting though? Surely the whip would also have served to focus Jason's attention.
Love how you've cultivated the magic system. Not being able to comprehend the technical details of it without the multifaceted consciousness of a mage neatly permits one to snip the vast majority of the development potential from non-magical sources, all the while maintaining commoner-held mystique towards magic, despite living alongside it for generations.

You know, if orc-hunting days were timeskip material in canon, you could give us the broad strokes and key scenes of it to skip ahead to more engaging sections of the story. Doing flashback chapters later, when inspiration strikes is okay too.

This is a great story. ZnT has been on my to-watch list for a while but I haven't gotten round to it yet, probably because I'm a bit soured on bog-standard isekais and I'm not sure if ZnT is one or not. I like the explanations you've given for the changes you've made from canon, esp. when it comes to things like clothing and culture. I also rather like the way you write and your word-choice, as I am somewhat partial to Anglish.

One thing I have to ask, however, is how much of the lore that you've provided regarding the "Easterlings", particularly the Aryas is canon. As a Hindu myself, a lot of what I read in the chapter detailing Kirche's dissertation on her mother's people's lore was pretty much in line with what I believe, but as I have not seen the show or read the manga, I don't actually know how big Germania is and if it stretches into that world's equivalent of India. In any case, I'm fairly literally-minded, particularly when it comes to our histories (Itithāsas) and the timescales therein, which *do* go back hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years. So the portrayal of the Aryas in this fic has been one of some consternation for me, though it makes logical sense when considering the perspective of medieval western Europeans. If you don't mind, could you tell me how much of what you've written about them is from canon and how much is your own invention.

Very little "pure knowledge" is known about the Void in terms of Canon, but we have many "tainted" accounts, and information from various sources. (Flere: For example, the reader gets told accounts by Vittorio, but we don't know if he's really telling the truth)

It is really hard to talk about What it Truly is for this reason, as Yamaguchi purposefully made it unclear to be resolved in the final books which he died before completing. (He does this very well by making every account of the Void and its Powers very unreliable due to the 6000 year timespan, and keeping all factions and their beliefs in character and in line in accordance to that timegap)

Anyway, from the purely mechanical side of things, it seems that "Void" is based off of Quantum Mechanics/Sub-atomic particles and manipuation. While normal human magic forces their "Logic" upon the world working on "Grains" of substances (shown to be the molecular/atomic level by Earth Magic descriptions), Void takes this further and manipulates "Grains within Grains". From what we see, and what is implied, much like how we have subatomic particles that govern mass, magnetism, and charge, there seems to also be something there that deals with Magic too in the ZnT universe.

We know this because Void seems to "Cancel", or "Void" the other magics it comes across, yet it still maintains its own magics.

Some things to note about Void Magic:

Brimir "Split" the void, which means that the void currently being used in ZnT is different from the one he was using, and much limited and "nerfd" so.

After the Void was "split", Void Mages basically get an "understanding" of a spell put into their heads every time they "unlock" a spell. Void magic spells are extremely complex, so they can only use the "intuition" they have and do not seem to be able to "engineer" void spells purposefully at all.

The power of a Void Magic spell is tied to how the incantation - Void magic incantations are extremely long and complex, and change depending on the situation.

When we talk of "Void" as a Taint, it seems that Void twists the minds of its users, and has other effects on the world that could not be considered beneficial. The Elves (as knights of Nature) see the effects as a taint/blight upon the world, and there is quite a few exemplars that show that the Void is not as benevolent as it is portrayed by the Romalian Church.

ZnT magic is unlike many magical systems in fiction today. There really is no "Magic Attack" versus "Magic Resist" (It's more akin to a gunfight, where both sides know one clean hit kills them, so it's far more complex of a battle system), and unlike Harry Potter where spells are self-contained until they hit something or do something, most ZnT magic is focused on creating magical constructs and then sending them through the air or applying them to other things. ZnT magic on the surface looks like mana based ZnT magic on the surface looks like traditional "Functional Magic", however there are a few changes that often trip people up and make it seem like there are no rules..

First off, Markey magic (as this was first used by the Markey people in canon, see below) definitely follows the idea that "Magic A is Magic A", and comes from the school that Magic is "Applying one's own logic onto the world".

Secondly, even though we often say the word "Mana", Markey magic is not powered by Mana in the traditional sense. It is powered by "Willpower" which is a far more complex system that's also tied to emotion and the mage's ability itself.

Furthermore, in almost all cases, spells need incantations to work, and basically always need to work through a focus. To maintain/modify spells incantations must be constantly used/chanted. Because of this, you cannot cast two spells at the same time. Some spells have "lingering effects" to compensate, but then those effects cannot be changed/modified.

Also, a spell's power, and to an extent its effect(s), is based on the person casting it - that is to say it's affected by who's casting it in various ways.

The next thing to note is that the mage creates a magical construct, and this construct is the "logic" they are forcing upon the world. This results in the desired effect appearing. (Derflinger cuts through and "eats away" at this construct). However, the effects are still physical effects. They don't just go away because the spell fizzles. They are throwing balls of fire, spires of stone, shards of ice.

Lastly, an interesting thing to note is that while we don't know everything about this system, it seems that Yamaguchi did design something that is consistent, and we have definite evidence as these seemingly tangential threads are tied together in another tidbit he dropped: Magic is rooted in the Brain, especially the individual differences in people's brain structures and mental selves.

It occurred to me just how long this story is; and it is officially longer than all 3 of the LOTR books combined. Which I think is both admirable and incredible that you’ve kept people (myself included) so fascinated for so long. Keep it up sir!

I just read what's here thus far, and wow! I'm most impressed! Not only is the length of the story admirable, but it is well thought out and well written. You have kept me guessing at several turns (and considering how much I read, that's a feat) and have provided satisfactory explanations at every point. For those who are looking at reading this: 10/10 as of chapter 42. Great read.

love this book and its even better after being updated and expanded upon keep up the good work i hope to see another chapter in a month or two if possible

Technically, he isn't a heretic, but rather a heathen. Splitting hairs, I know, but the lack of definition is bothering me.

So I just spent like a week or 2 re reading this entire story I love it I've loved it since I discovered it which was many years ago I'm glad I've had the chance to follow this journey and that it will continue I thank you my friend for such an awesome stories and sorry for my horrible Grammer was never my strong suit but I hope you and a lot of my other favorite authors keep updating I've seen so many wanderful ideas and fanfictions over the years some where to fast it feels some felt to slow but they where all great I would honestly say this is up there with stories like storms overhead the heart of blaze familiar of zero saving grace and many many others that names excape me but I do plan on finding again and honestly I feel a bit biased now for naming those but I have to say only a few of the new stories have caught my attention but nothing so far like the ones I mentioned and this one which are so great and well I think that's enough rambling of a fan on my part I can't wait to see the next chapter and hope I don't make anybody mad with this but have a good day author

mess of a story

wow so he's got no balls because he wants to bang child pussy? He's all around worse then the worthless man he's replaces. at least that was a weak Asian boy who would never get laid unless he paid! You try and make him into a hunk but beyond pointless thoughts and the under current of just wanting sex no matter what it takes, its just sad.

I'm happy to see an update of this story, probably one of the best ones for this serie.

There's no reason not to exterminate any species that is genocidal toward you and can't be interbred with (i.e. assimilated).

Here's to eventually technologically uplifting things enough to exterminate all orcs.

I am in the middle of rereading this, but I cannot stop imagining Jason sitting down with the whole Valliere family and playing DnD; Cat and Louise in awe, Eleonore secretly enjoying something, and Karin lowkey being teased by her husband (Centurion?) at how DnD her early escapades actually were: hunting orcs, romancing two vampires who though she was Male, etc.

great chapter