On the old forum we had a thread where we predicted what would happen in book 8. Like how many levels would Richter gain, what level would the dungeon hit, would the bugbear attack happen. I just thought it would be fun to see how right/wrong her were. I know pretty much for sure none of us saw the whole tier 2 ascension thing coming.
Oh that tier 2 thing came out of no where, but it does explain randy being so old and still in the 40s
That's more likely due to his Undine Blood. But it does most likely explain Hisako's Youthful looks and age, and probably her height as well.
Lots of people are really old and still lowlevel. Richter is so highlevel because Alma can steal exp. Others do not have that option and so must rely on risking their lives or grind skills forever to level or they can choose to live their lives peacefully within one of the factions. Randy also had to help run a country with millions of citizens, he was in a key role, even after said country started to decline. He couldn't just head off to the dungeon whenever he wanted to, such an action could throw the country into a political crisis. It takes very little to do so. Instead of taking off, it seems to me he spent a ton of spare time training while keeping himself accessible. We can guess he has trained a lot from his many masteries, he is definitely the strongest in the village by a very, very wide margin despite Richter being at the same level. He has unlockeed the hidden rank bonuses for multiple skill, all the way up to master. He probably has Master level expertise to go with his master level skill in daggers. Randy has also acquired a massive amount of lore, knowledge, and languages (basically what Richter was handed, randolphus earned the hard way. Except he can probably also talk certain higher languages). Meanwhile Richter has yet to reach journeyman in a single combat or magicrelated skill, let alone the expertise to use them. He seems almost proud that he hasn't managed to learn lore 1 after 6 months, despite being handed a book he simply has to read. He has acquired essentially no knowledge of the surrounding lands, bar what others have forced down his throat. Richter should be kissing Randy's boot, begging for his service, instead of taking him for granted.
Wonder if Richter will be able to share exp from Alma through the companion bonds if there's an increase in the bond power like mentioned in the first book. Spoiler: Book 1 {}
Spoiler: Book 8 It would be the only way they could keep up. But, they might fall behind and become less of a focus as he picks up a crack team of chaos seed vassals to go adventuring with.
I could see Richter having a few chaos seeds with him on future adventures. I don't see why chaos seeds would be any better positioned to power level than natives that actually know their homeland and speak the language. Few were given Richter's gifts and fewer still would have ways to steal exp. Heman gave us a good idea about their average powerlevel I think, below level 10 and with no skills to speak off. They do have the sea of chaos and a small bonus to statgain per level, but the companions share Richter's quest exp. They are also well positioned to become powerful political figures more than individual powerhouses, so thats where i'd want the chaos seeds to specialize, dumb brute force. The chaos seeds could be used to buff up Richter's personal warparty for adventuring. A mixed team of natives and chaos seeds should work pretty well. As for the companions keeping up. 1) Randy is far more powerful than Richter, due to his multiple masteries. He is the defacto prime minister of Richter's realm though, so I don't see him leaving on many expeditions. 2) Sion is the leader of the entire meidon sprite race, the ruler in name of the entire sprite race. He is also set to acquire some kind of archer profession. Of the companions, he is the one I think is most likely to join Richter on adventures. He has an interest in seeking out new sprite settlements after all, and his people are currently mist villagers. 3) The pixie queen isn't a fighter, she is a herbalist. I do think she will be important once they get to the woodlands on the other side of yves, seems the forest there is heavily corrupted. I do not see her join Richter for much fighting though, she is simply too important combined with being fragile. She does have access to four elemental magics at affinity 100%, which probably places her way above the average chaos seed in terms of innate potential. Should she reach her full potential as a mage, she could be become the strongest companion. 4) Terrod is Richter's general. By the nature of his position he is even less able than Randy to take off on adventures. Off the four it seems to me has both the least potential for growth and the lowest power. Should he master the art of war though, he'd be well positioned to lead Richter's forces chaos seed and native alike. With the added benefit that unlike the chaos seed he is unquestionably loyal to Richter. That's worth more than personal power in a general.
