Update – 23 May 2022 – Important Information!

Hello! I have a lot to talk about, so let's just jump right in!

(I apologize, but this was kinda written in a hurry... Sorry for any errors and mistakes...)

Okay, as I said before, Book 4 was primarily designed to offer Servi, Momo, and Itarr a chance to relax and refresh after the horrid events of Book 3. And I like to think I accomplished my objective. I still wanted a little bit of 'darkness' and such, so I came up with Fisher's little interludes. Speaking of that, it was awfully depressing, wasn't it?

If you think about it, everything pretty much originated from when Fisher destroyed Sakdu's village and killed his family. Sure, that happened like 10+ years in the past, but the Mafia arose from their deaths and turned into a multinational criminal syndicate that birthed the dreaded Monotonia. Fisher really struggled with it, didn't he? He's not the same revenge-obsessed man as he was in his youth, yet just because he has a family he cares about does not exonerates him from his crimes. Actions speak louder than words. I still fully expect people to dislike Fisher, though he is trying his best. Just think about Myil, the Koena that Fisher saved. He brought him to Melk, a Kobold that Fisher befriended, in order for him to get help, a place to stay, and a job. Oh, and Melk is also a priest. For most of the story, the church was presented as something awful and negative, yet there are people out there-- bishops, priests, and maybe even cardinals that are good people.

But yes, having the Bishop's final Urge force Fisher to violently describe his bloody past to his children was a dastardly move. Hearing such awful things coming from their 'perfect' father pretty much executed their ideal version of him to the point where they actually believe he's dead. The Fisher that they see is something akin to a monster, so yeah...

His children are basically his entire world, and they hate him. His presence causes so much harm to them that he has no choice but to move, but that causes heartache to his wife, who loves him.

Oh, and Fisher is super injured. He lost so much blood by this point, and it's no wonder that he's even moving, especially considering that he had the willpower to refuse healing from the governor's sister.

(NOTE! If it isn't obvious, I had originally intended on Fisher dying from his wounds before the twins discovered him in the bishop's church. I didn't go that route because I didn't want it to be 'too' dark. Though maybe it would be better if he did bite the dust? It would probably be a fitting conclusion.)

But regardless, he has to have no contact with his wife because Fisher doesn't want her to resent their children.

And now for Servi, Momo, and Itarr.

Yay! Servi and Momo are a couple! It's been a super long time coming, but after them sleeping together enough times, dancing, cuddling, and Momo feeding Servi, they finally had that kiss and shared their first times with each other!

I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.

How did you all like Servi and Momo going around to help the bar and clothing store that Servi robbed in Book One? The former owners aren't in the picture, but people related to them are. The owner of that clothing store probably has an inkling that Servi was somewhat responsible, but he doesn't have much proof. And the new owner of the Rude Crystal? It's almost of the same thing. I had planned on having the Rude Crystal show up in the chapter where Servi, Momo, Itarr, Srassa, and Feral are walking around the festival, but I decided against it. Don't know why, honestly. Instead of the bank scene being as long as it was, I could have done something with the Rude Crystal.

But ignoring that, I really liked how Momo's relationship with Claire, Dinera, and Srassa evolved. The dinner scenes at Clare's went really nicely, in my opinion. We got to see Momo deny her feelings, then immediately speak the truth because pretending they didn't exist just hurt her heart so much, and Claire... She's a super friendly Elf who cares about her close friends. Unlike a lot of people, Claire's backstory isn't really that sad. She has a friendship with her cousin, her grandma, and her family, and for most of her life, she was just going from town to town trying to find her purpose in life. And now she has it working as a receptionist for Warden.

A trip to her family's village is in the near future, so we get to see some elven culture, which is kinda awesome!

Oh, and let's talk about Dineria. Like Claire, Dineria's past isn't exactly 'dark' or horrid, I'd say. She was never beaten and tortured, she was just really good at her job, which just so happened to be killing. And it's not like she was slaughtering innocents. She just wanted to get promoted through Warden as fast as possible and took on the more dangerous quests, which happened to be bounty related. Doing nothing but killing after killing after killing is a fast way to destroy a person, and she was treading dangerously close to an uncrossable line before she returned to her home and spent time with her family.

I guess you could say a good point of Book 4 is the importance of family. Both in Claire's father's case (he was a ranger, and he had to kill to protect what he cares about.) And as I just spoke about Dineria, she had her family to help her. In Servi's case? She has no family (That she is aware of) but Srassa, Dineria, Claire, Feral, Fisher, and Itarr were there for her.

And as Servi says near the end of Book 4,  she partly wonders if recovering her memories is worth it because she doesn't know what or who made her into the Mad Dog. Honestly, she makes a good point. No matter what her previous memories had, what she has now has to be better.

For Momo, she sure took an active role after Book 3. From some earlier comments, it seems that people don't exactly like Momo, but I hope her actions have won some people over. True to her word, she protected and guarded Servi during her healing, remaining with her every step of the way, even sleeping with her, at a point, and even bathing while being in the same room. She really wanted to kiss Servi before she came back, but Momo remained strong because she wanted the moment to be absolutely perfect, and I think it was.

Momo's probably the character that has the most development throughout the entire story. From a scaredy Singi that's so fearful to someone that's only second to Servi in terms of power and strength, there is still a ton of development left for her. For both her and Srassa. And that brings us to this noble girl who was pretty much kinda betrayed(?) by Silverado and Desperado.

I bet you didn't expect that, did you? Silver and Despi seemed to be so friendly, but that was not the case. Poor Srassa sure had it hard. She might be a rich noble with enough money to have her every whim satisfied, but that isn't what she wants. Srassa wants to be strong and independent, and it isn't hard to see that she respects Servi and Momo. She looks up to them. She even has a crush on them. That was why, I think, the scene at the last dinner at Claire's house was so powerful because it was Srassa venting her feelings and speaking about how awfully Silverado and Desperado treated her. Momo inviting her to join her party and travel and adventurer with Servi and Momo surely touched her heart. Judging from the ending, Srassa is about to find out about Itarr, so her world is going to twirl upside down when she realizes that an actual Goddess cares about her.

And that brings us to Itarr. How did you all feel about her? For most of Book 4, she was completely quiet. Maybe just a sparse amount of dialogue, if any, until after Servi comes back. Did you all find her development suitable? She had a ton of time to think about things and realizes that wanting to be deduced to just a weapon would only made it hurt even worse. She wants nothing more than to be useful and helpful and a friend to Servi. And at the end of Book 4, their relationship is stronger than ever.

(And for those wondering, the sins of Arcton and the Mafia are not long gone. What happened at Arcton will haunt Servi. Remember, she's the reason it's ruined. A ton of people died because of Servi, so don't think I'm just waving it all away. It's going to come back.)

Umm.... I suppose we can talk about some side characters? Like the mother and two daughters from Book 3? Remember when Servi and Old Man went to that store to get money from that man? And he was telling the truth that he didn't have it, but then Servi used her power to make small box and fill it with money? Yeah, they only showed up for a little bit, but the mother still doesn't know what to think about Servi. And Servi's feeling guilty. The only thing she can do is just make sure that the mother and her two daughters are monetarily taken care of. That just resulted in Servi getting smacked by her, so Servi can't really win.

And that's fine. Servi isn't going to be liked by everyone. And she isn't going to be hated by everyone. Remember, only Itarr, Momo, and Fisher know the truth behind Arcton and that giant crater. How will Claire respond? Dineria? Srassa? Feral? Servi's powers are literally limitless. The more she kills, the more powerful she grows. In essence, she's a soul-devouring monster that cannot die

Literally. Nothing can kill Servi. And that's not a spoiler because that's literally a core part of her power.

So don't expect everyone to react favorably when they find out that she killed thousands of people, quite a few innocent, all in the name of rage. Yes, Momo was kidnapped, but remember that in her rage, Servi chose to destroy and attack the city rather than rush over to Momo.

Yes, before Book '5' (more on that later) The Chimeric Ascension of Lyudmila Springfield will come out. I don't have a date for it since I'm going through the latest draft and making some pretty substantial changes (changes for the better, mind you, now that I have a beta reader to give me their thoughts on what worked and what didn't from the previous drafts) but I expect it to come out at the end of June. There will be 2 arcs (total of about 140k words) to come out. (Yes, I'm going by Arc and not book since the first arc is probably less than 45 - 50k words.

As for what it is about? Well, it is an isekai focused on revenge. You see, Shuuta Fenton was on a plane to Greece with Class 2-F of Mekka Academy when they were summoned by Meruria,  Holy Lord that rules of the country of Cridia. In this world, Holy and Dark Lords have the power to summon Divine Warriors from different realities, and they are naturally powerful. But they aren't meant for war. They're meant to act like nuclear deterrents, so every country summons at the same time.

Divine Warriors' souls are measured from 1-Star to 5-Star, and two people summoned have a 6-Star soul.

Shuuta, however, has a 0-Star soul, meaning that he will never grow an ounce stronger.

In most isekais where the MC is forced to leave their party or are sacrificed for being 'weak' it turns out that they're the reason the party is successful / their 'weak' ability is super strong. Yeah, that does not happen here. Shuuta is legitimately weak. So Meruria claims that if she sacrifices Meruria, she can get an extra chance at summoning another Divine Warrior, one that is assured to be infinitely stronger than Shuuta.  And well? Some of the class argues for it because they come from a world that revolves around meritocracy. They absolutely cannot stand anyone weak and useless.

So Shuuta is sacrificed while he is swearing he won't die until he has his revenge.

From here, and it's not a spoiler since it's literally in the title, Shuuta is transformed into a Chimera and takes the Lyudmila Springfield.

In terms of content: It's obviously going to be dark. It's a revenge manga, after all. But don't expect needless slaughter akin to Book 3 when Servi goes full Murder Psycho Bitch Mode.  Even if Mila (what Lyudmila goes by) wants to do that, she's weak. Like super weak. So weak that even a level 1 boar is strong enough to nearly kill her, and a group of like 15 level 2-4 monsters is enough to put her on death's door where she has to take substantial risks just to stay alive.)

Since she cannot acquire stats of SP from leveling up, she has no choice but to assimilate people to acquire SP and assimilate monsters to acquire their monster skills on top of keeping her chimerism a secret because Chimera are hunted to the death. But she does not stay weak. She and her allies grow in strength and power, from whether that's making new gear and equipment like armor and guns to bounty hunting and eating criminals to acquire their SP, Mila will slowly rise to the top and obtain her revenge.

In terms of R-18 scenes? There will be a lot. Since Mila is a Chimera, we're going to get weird with the sex scenes once she assimilates a slime. And for those futanari lovers out there, Mila is one from the beginning, and she uses it. It sounds kinda weird, but sex will be a major theme of this story because of Mila's past. She learns that sex can be a wonderful thing, and it isn't something to be afraid of.

When I do finally start uploading it, I really hope you all will come to check it out. It's going to be written in first person from Mila's perspective while dipping into first person PoVs from some other major characters. During certain times, a third person PoV will be required, but I do not use those that often. Rather, I don't have plans to use it that much.

You know, it's kinda funny how many rewrites Chimeric Ascension has gone through before even being published. The other story I have posted on here is like a super major rough draft, where only a few names remain the same. And then at one point, I was at like 90k words, and Mila hasn't even assimilated a single thing. But now I've got it down to where I'm happy with the pacing.

Just like with Interconnected, I've spent a ton of time getting everything just right. Actually, all of my free time is spent thinking about my two stories. I'm like obsessed with them.

And now I get to some bad news.

First, and please don't click away, Interconnected: Spliced Souls (new name) will continue on! I swear that only death will prevent me from ever finishing both of my books. (Well, three of them, the third is just a memory in my mind. It doesn't even have a name, but let's ignore that for right now since it doesn't matter.)

I'm over a 1,000,000 words deep, and I'm not the same writer as I was when I first penned the beginning paragraph of Prologue One.

You see, at the time, I was obsessed with gritty darkness and edginess that I pretty much had no limits when it comes to violence. That's why Prologue One is so dark and detailed with a ton of body gore and rape.

That's why that slave dies right in front of Servi and Momo after they come out of the sewers.

That's why, when Fisher and Arnold are tormenting those Singi siblings in the beginning when Servi uses that opportunity to steal food, all of the people around go and cheer them on. Then when Servi loses her hand, they just start laughing at her.

That's why, near the end of Book 1, when we're reading from the twins' PoV, their father, the emperor, is raping the commander of his special forces.

And yes, that's why Book 3 is so gory and dark when it comes to Servi's murder mode and how she finds it gleeful to slaughter thousands.

At the same time, I was obsessed with super long chapters and gore and violence, so that's why many of my chapters are often over 20-30k words and come in multiple parts. One of which is a whopping 45k (when it was originally like 60k before I chopped it down.) BEcause of that, the pacing was often slower than even a glacier. I spent far too long on just increasing the word count that I really could have accomplished the 'plot' of Books 1-4 in like 500k words at max.

And that brings me to this...

Yes, there is a rewrite of Interconnected: Spliced Souls in progress. (PoV will be First person Servi / Momo / Itarr / Fisher / Third Person whenever else)

Now, before you click off, please note that the overall general 'tone' of the story will not change at all. At its heart, this story is dark and depressing with glimpses of light and cheerfulness, and that will not change. The Overall Story Will Not Change!!!!

Prologue 1 and Prologue 2? They will be altered. I still think that having Prologue 1 was a mistake, so while it will make an appearance, it will do so later on. (The information is Prologue 1 is super important to the mystery of the story. I cannot stress how important it is, but it was a problem having it so early since it will not be relevant for millions and millions of words.)

Prologue 2 can come into play as an intermission. Maybe a small chapter from Claus and Qina as they're riding to Canary to deliver that letter to Parrel, which is when they realize there has been an attack on the city.

But like I said, I will keep the general tone.

For example, Servi still dies in order to meet Itarr, but it happens differently. She stumbles onto a shed after hearing children cry, and these children turn out to be the Singi siblings from Book 1 Chapter 1. Arnold is the one that kills Servi because he's mad at her for help the kids escape.

You see, this adds that personal factor, especially because Fisher was there. He runs in right as Arnold's sword leaves Servi's gut, and he doesn't do anything to save Servi because at this point, Fisher doesn't have enough courage to face Arnold. And so, Servi has a right reason to be pissed at Fisher because he could have saved her, yet he didn't.

In turn, Book 2 is much more personal. (Book Two is also when the Mad Hound will start appearing in Servi's dream, so that can start a little earlier. And yes, this is handled with much more care. I spent so many nights just thinking about nothing but how I could improve Interconnected: Spliced Souls.)

(And yes, the bullshit tournament is gone. The tutoring aspect is still there, but it is two tutors teaming up. So Dineria and Fisher are chosen to train Servi, Momo, Srassa, Silverado, Desperado, Feral, Rakkire, and Riki.  And the big event his time is a trek to Waveret, a place mentioned but not yet seen. (Waveret is a harbor city, which means it's near the ocean, which means a beach and sand. Even though sand is coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere, it's time for a 'fun in the sun' scene. AKA: Swimsuits and bikinis and having fun!)

And this gives me a chance to introduce Monotonia and Mafia in earlier, which is another reason why I want to do a rewrite. All of these ideas that were seemingly last minute can be connected together, and the world feels more alive at this point.)

And here's the biggest reason of all... (kinda)

Futanari.

Like, I wanted Servi to take that skill so she grows a penis from early on, but I was afraid of being labeled a pervert or degenerate (I know. I know) but that fear isn't with me now. I don't know if you remember this character, but in Book 1 and Book 3, Servi meets an elven prostitute. In book 1, Servi asked her for directions to an armor shop, and in book 3, Servi ends up licking her chest while waiting for her target to leave the brothel so she can kill him.

Originally, before she fell in love with Momo, Book 1 Servi was going to visit the brothel fulfil her sexual needs when she grows a penis, and this elf was going to be her partner. She would grow to be a side character that had a pretty big role in Book 6.

(Servi still would have fallen in love with Momo, though. There would not have been any drama between the Elven prostitute and Servi. She's simply a woman of the night, and Servi and Momo would have remained good friends with her.)

The second biggest is obviously the word count. I have a new outline right now that combines Book 2 and Book 3 in a lower word count while getting the point across, even when accounting for the new trip to Waveret.

And speaking of OG Book 3, it has been severely shortened. I have listened to all of the criticism and comments, and I know not to do what I did before.  I've grown as a writer, and I want nothing more than to write stories I can be proud of.

(Actually, this new Book 3-that's-intertwined-with-Book-2 is so much better. It's super spoilery, but if I was a better writer when writing OG Book 3, this is what Servi would have done instead of what I wrote her to do.)

But you see, we have good news too.

Everything I need for the rewrite is already written. Mainly, Book 1-4 is already published. I already have the content written down, the characters made, the plot points hit, and the designs all figured out. It's mainly a point of polishing what I have until it turns from a coal block into a diamond. (Hopefully)

And for the new stuff I want to add that I don't already have written down? Well, I have already outlined all of it.

I hope this news isn't super disappointing. I'm sorry. I really am...

So, the current plan is: Alternate between Chimeric Ascension and Interconnected: Spliced Souls one after the other.

So once I start to upload Chimeric Ascension, I will work on Book 1 rewrite and upload it right when the last part of CHimeric Ascension is uploaded. Then I work on Arc 3 of CA, and upload that when Book 1 rewrite upload is finished.

(if I didn't do a rewrite, that was going to be the plan. Alternate between Books and Arcs for both series.)

Another option was to wait until after the full rewrite is done, so once I'm done with Book 3 (remember, Book 2 and 3 will be combined. Together, the total length will be shorter than OG Book 2 and 3 added together.)

In either case, uploads for Interconnected: Spliced Souls will be daily because that is the least I can do. I'm still taking breaks on the weekends, but I'll probably change that to make up for the rewrite.

Again, I'm super sorry. I want to present my best work for my readers, and that requires a rewrite of Book 1-4 in order for me to be happy with it.

I hope Chimeric Ascension fills in the gap / void, and I hope you all will check it out.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

Seriously, it's incredible how much support you've all given me. Even with a super rocky start, we've reached over 500k views!!!!! Like, that's incredible! I thought getting a hundred views was impossible, but we're at half-a-million!!!! I was actually super afraid to even upload even a single part, but I did, and here we are!

I did get a comment about if I had a discord, and I do not. I do not have much experience on that platform. I do want to make one, though, but it won't be now. I want to wait until I'm properly happy with both Interconnected: Spliced Souls and Chimeric Ascension. I want to be in a healthy state with both of them.

And in case someone is wondering about Patreon, I still have plans to do so, but not right yet. It would not sit right with me to make readers pay for early access to the rewrite because, to me, it would be betraying them because of my inexperience. Maybe I could do one for Chimeric Ascension, but if I cannot remain devoted to it because of rewriting Interconnected: Spliced Souls, and if there happens to be a delay of a few weeks, I'll feel bad about uploading late.

Again, when i'm at a point where I can safely start a discord for my series, I'll probably start a Patreon around the same time. My stories will always be available on Scribblehub, though. That I can assure you. Anything 'exclusive' would probably be non-canon R-18 stuff that Patreons can vote for. Maybe a character from Interconnected: Spliced Souls can have meet someone from Chimeric Ascension and have a good time? It might even be cross over short story, so maybe some the group from Interconnected: Spliced Souls can travel to the world of Danmachi and have fun in the dungeon? Maybe hang out with Bell, Hestia, and the others?

Things like that, I suppose, unless anyone else has any ideas.

Well, I think this update is getting kinda long, so I'll end it here.

I hope you all enjoyed Book 4 as much as I loved writing it! I will post updates on my profile, so if you're looking for any information on the current status of anything, please look there.

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