WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.139 Welcome to the debate. Usually, when we measure 00:00:04.139 --> 00:00:06.620 danger on a battlefield, we look for things we 00:00:06.620 --> 00:00:10.320 can actually quantify, right? Right. You know, 00:00:10.339 --> 00:00:13.140 we look for craters. We look for plasma fires. 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:17.359 Exactly. We measure the blast radius of a concussive 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:20.559 explosive, and we just point at the destruction 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:23.100 and say, well, there it is. That is the threat. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:28.539 Yeah. It's tangible. It is. But today, we're 00:00:28.539 --> 00:00:30.600 looking at a weapon that doesn't break bones. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:34.700 It breaks causality itself. But before we get 00:00:34.700 --> 00:00:36.659 into that, let's do a quick recap of our previous 00:00:36.659 --> 00:00:38.899 discussion. We definitely should, because it 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:41.140 perfectly sets the stage for how we evaluate 00:00:41.140 --> 00:00:44.520 power in Neogentric's universe. It really does. 00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:47.920 So, last time... We spent our entire session 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:50.240 dissecting the Fuse Master's dynamite staff during 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:52.479 that massive sequence in the Shaolin Timber Forest. 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:55.020 Right. And we went back and forth on whether 00:00:55.020 --> 00:00:59.500 that gunpowder coated staff was like a brilliant 00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:02.479 paradigm shifting tactical design. Or just a 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:04.280 fragile gimmick, right? Like something that could 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:06.420 be completely neutralized by a simple pouch of 00:01:06.420 --> 00:01:09.560 water. Exactly. And where we ultimately landed 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:12.019 was looking past the immediate explosions to 00:01:12.019 --> 00:01:14.859 the overarching logistical impact. Because the 00:01:14.859 --> 00:01:17.280 actual physical death of the Fuse Master quietly 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:19.519 but permanently cut off Crater Steve's supply 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.079 line for his heavy kinetic weaponry. Right. Without 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:24.340 even realizing the geopolitical magnitude of 00:01:24.340 --> 00:01:26.260 what he had done, the protagonist essentially 00:01:26.260 --> 00:01:28.760 severed the enemy's entire research and development 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:31.260 arm. It was just a massive structural blow to 00:01:31.260 --> 00:01:34.180 Eon Pax's terrestrial forces. Crater Steve was 00:01:34.180 --> 00:01:35.780 suddenly fighting a war of attrition without 00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:38.180 his primary manufacturer. It really highlighted 00:01:38.180 --> 00:01:41.420 how a single localized victory can just unravel 00:01:41.420 --> 00:01:44.579 an entire continent supply chain. Which is actually 00:01:44.579 --> 00:01:48.060 the perfect lens for our discussion today. We 00:01:48.060 --> 00:01:50.799 spent all that time last session evaluating the 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:54.120 physical output and logistical consequences of 00:01:54.120 --> 00:01:57.459 a strictly kinetic weapon. Right. But what happens 00:01:57.459 --> 00:01:59.879 when the battlefield manipulation isn't kinetic 00:01:59.879 --> 00:02:02.879 at all? Today, we're asking a central question 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:05.640 about a very different kind of elemental art. 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:09.419 Is Zai, Rill, the single most dangerous power 00:02:09.419 --> 00:02:12.340 in the book? And we are definitely split on this 00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:15.319 one. Oh, absolutely. Because I have to argue 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:17.979 that Zyryl possesses what is essentially the 00:02:17.979 --> 00:02:20.699 weakest power on the page, since it has zero 00:02:20.699 --> 00:02:23.759 combat viability and it nearly destroys the user. 00:02:23.900 --> 00:02:27.520 And I will argue that Zyryl's ability is unequivocally 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.240 the most dangerous, because it is the sole catalyst 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:33.120 for every major tragedy in the narrative, doing 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:36.099 catastrophic damage without ever throwing a punch. 00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:38.580 Okay, well, let's actually look at the metrics 00:02:38.580 --> 00:02:41.419 of power across the continent of Pekadesh, right? 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:44.800 Power in this universe is strictly defined by 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:47.639 physical output and the capacity to survive a 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:50.240 conflict. Okay, but... Hang on. Just think about 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:53.159 it. We see Iolite wielding his corrupted red 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:56.780 wind, leveling entire landscapes. We see the 00:02:56.780 --> 00:02:58.840 concussive force of the Fuse Master's staff. 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:01.919 Sure, those are highly visible. They are credible, 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:05.819 lethal threats. By contrast, Zarrel's ability 00:03:05.819 --> 00:03:08.479 to warp spacetime using the Void is fascinating 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:11.080 from a theoretical physics standpoint, but it 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:13.180 is objectively the weakest power shown in the 00:03:13.180 --> 00:03:15.520 text. I just, I can't agree with that framing. 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:17.900 It cannot inflict physical harm on an opponent, 00:03:18.060 --> 00:03:20.500 though. If you put Zarrel in a direct fight, 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:22.620 he has absolutely no offensive capabilities. 00:03:23.139 --> 00:03:25.659 Furthermore, the physical toll of utilizing this 00:03:25.659 --> 00:03:28.039 spatial anomaly taxes his biology to the absolute 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:30.939 breaking point. Well, it is an extreme burden, 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:34.629 yes. It's an act of sheer desperation that he 00:03:34.629 --> 00:03:38.050 can only perform once. So when you compare it 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:40.669 to the devastating practical applications of 00:03:40.669 --> 00:03:44.090 the other elemental arts, Zyrel is a liability 00:03:44.090 --> 00:03:46.370 on the battlefield. He isn't a credible threat. 00:03:46.729 --> 00:03:49.750 Look, I hear your emphasis on physical output, 00:03:50.050 --> 00:03:53.129 but the definition of dangerous simply does not 00:03:53.129 --> 00:03:56.250 require immediate lethality. How so? You are 00:03:56.250 --> 00:03:58.830 measuring danger by looking for a smoking crater. 00:03:59.389 --> 00:04:01.490 I am measuring danger by looking at the timeline 00:04:01.490 --> 00:04:05.129 of suffering for the protagonist's family. Zeril's 00:04:05.129 --> 00:04:08.509 spatial manipulation is the single undeniable 00:04:08.509 --> 00:04:11.409 cause of every major catastrophic event in the 00:04:11.409 --> 00:04:13.550 story. I mean, I guess you could trace it back, 00:04:13.650 --> 00:04:16.370 but... Think about what actually happens. It 00:04:16.370 --> 00:04:19.810 is the only reason Zeonisk was able to meet his 00:04:19.810 --> 00:04:22.350 grandfather, Zeon Clerics, during the Congo War. 00:04:22.569 --> 00:04:25.589 And because of that impossible meeting, It is 00:04:25.589 --> 00:04:29.110 the exact reason Iolite ever noticed the novice 00:04:29.110 --> 00:04:31.410 bloodline existed in the first place. But is 00:04:31.410 --> 00:04:33.610 that the power being dangerous or just the circumstance? 00:04:34.209 --> 00:04:37.050 When you look at the ripple effects of that single 00:04:37.050 --> 00:04:40.730 action, nothing else in the book has caused this 00:04:40.730 --> 00:04:43.470 level of generational devastation. That is what 00:04:43.470 --> 00:04:45.850 makes it dangerous. I see why you think that, 00:04:45.910 --> 00:04:47.329 but let me give you a different perspective on 00:04:47.329 --> 00:04:49.990 how we evaluate cause and effect here. We really 00:04:49.990 --> 00:04:51.610 need to dig into the mechanics of how the void 00:04:51.610 --> 00:04:54.050 actually works. Okay, let's get into the mechanics. 00:04:54.939 --> 00:04:56.899 You are arguing that simply triggering an event 00:04:56.899 --> 00:04:58.959 makes the power itself inherently dangerous. 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:01.620 But let's look at the strict canon of what Zeril 00:05:01.620 --> 00:05:04.500 is doing. He is not some omnipotent deity warping 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:07.339 reality on a whim. Right. No, the elemental arts 00:05:07.339 --> 00:05:10.300 don't work like that. Exactly. What he actually 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:13.279 does is utilize his specific affinity to create 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:16.819 a localized vacuum in the void. Right. A vacuum 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:19.740 that connects two distant points in time. Yes. 00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:22.600 But we have to explain how unstable that actually 00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:26.000 is. In Neogentric's world, the universe isn't 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.300 just a passive backdrop where things happen. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.000 It is a living ecosystem with strict natural 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:33.740 laws, and time travel is absolutely forbidden 00:05:33.740 --> 00:05:37.000 by those laws. It really is. The universe pushes 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:40.860 back. Violently. It isn't just risky. The universe 00:05:40.860 --> 00:05:43.699 actively rejects the paradox like an immune system 00:05:43.699 --> 00:05:46.579 attacking a virus. The atmospheric pressure of 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:49.399 normal space -time violently rushes in to crush 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:52.259 that vacuum. Which is why Zeryl struggles so 00:05:52.259 --> 00:05:55.779 much to hold it open. Exactly. Zeryl is essentially 00:05:55.779 --> 00:05:58.639 acting as a biological tent pole, trying to hold 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:01.579 up a collapsing tent of space -time. Which is 00:06:01.579 --> 00:06:03.980 why it nearly kills him. This is exactly why 00:06:03.980 --> 00:06:07.040 Zeryl explicitly warns Zeonix right before the 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.629 jump. He says, If you're seen or you change anything, 00:06:10.870 --> 00:06:13.610 we're in serious trouble. Right. So think about 00:06:13.610 --> 00:06:16.569 a broken lock on a heavy iron door. Zeryl is 00:06:16.569 --> 00:06:19.490 just the broken lock. He provided a temporary 00:06:19.490 --> 00:06:22.769 opening. But a broken lock is not dangerous in 00:06:22.769 --> 00:06:25.129 and of itself. I see where you're going with 00:06:25.129 --> 00:06:27.269 this. It's the monster that walks through that 00:06:27.269 --> 00:06:30.269 door that poses the actual threat. You're blaming 00:06:30.269 --> 00:06:33.170 the door for what the monster did. See, I come 00:06:33.170 --> 00:06:35.490 at it from a different way. It's less like a 00:06:35.490 --> 00:06:39.120 broken lock. and more like introducing a microfracture 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:42.500 to a massive hydroelectric dam. Okay. A dam. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:46.959 Yeah. Zerol didn't cause the flood himself, but 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:49.860 he fundamentally compromised the structural integrity 00:06:49.860 --> 00:06:52.939 of the timeline to let the water through. And 00:06:52.939 --> 00:06:55.920 that microfracture is precisely what makes his 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.720 ability a weapon of mass disruption. But he doesn't 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.910 use it as a weapon. Because, as you just perfectly 00:07:01.910 --> 00:07:04.310 articulated, time travel is forbidden by the 00:07:04.310 --> 00:07:06.850 natural laws of the universe. When you break 00:07:06.850 --> 00:07:08.850 those fundamental laws, you don't just quietly 00:07:08.850 --> 00:07:12.129 slip through a door. You create massive, violent 00:07:12.129 --> 00:07:14.589 shockwaves. But let's be very clear about the 00:07:14.589 --> 00:07:16.970 text here. Zerol didn't even travel through the 00:07:16.970 --> 00:07:19.730 rift. Only Zeonix travels through time in this 00:07:19.730 --> 00:07:24.490 universe. Nobody else. Ever. Exactly! Zerol just 00:07:24.490 --> 00:07:26.629 stayed behind and held the fracture open. He 00:07:26.629 --> 00:07:28.649 stayed behind because the physical toll was so 00:07:28.649 --> 00:07:30.829 immense he couldn't survive the journey. But 00:07:30.829 --> 00:07:33.209 even though only zionics physically travel through 00:07:33.209 --> 00:07:36.050 time, the sheer atmospheric pressure of that 00:07:36.050 --> 00:07:39.250 paradox collapsing is what allowed the timeline's 00:07:39.250 --> 00:07:42.370 greatest tragedy to take root. Think about that 00:07:42.370 --> 00:07:45.110 moment on the battlefield of the Congo War. Why 00:07:45.110 --> 00:07:47.980 did Iolite look over? Because the atmospheric 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:50.379 pressure of the universe trying to crush that 00:07:50.379 --> 00:07:53.459 localized vacuum created an undeniable spectacle. 00:07:53.819 --> 00:07:56.019 The visual disturbance, yeah. Right. That localized 00:07:56.019 --> 00:07:58.480 vacuum breaking the rules of nature is what drew 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:01.660 everyone's attention. If Zyro never bends the 00:08:01.660 --> 00:08:04.420 void, that paradox never happens. The universe 00:08:04.420 --> 00:08:07.620 remains intact. The danger isn't in a blast radius. 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:10.379 It's in the structural compromise of reality 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:13.259 itself. That's an interesting point, though. 00:08:13.300 --> 00:08:15.980 I would frame it differently. Okay. You are placing 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:18.000 the blame for the resulting tragedy entirely 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.620 on the shockwave of Zyrel's spatial anomaly. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:23.120 But that completely strips away the terrifying 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:26.120 human agency of the actual villains. I'm not 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:28.860 stripping away their agency. Let's look at exactly 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:31.360 what happened after that shockwave on the battlefield. 00:08:31.980 --> 00:08:34.440 Zeonix drops into the past. He fights alongside 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:37.820 his grandfather, Zeon Clerics. Iolite sees them 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:40.080 fighting across the smoke. Right. Now we must 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.419 be absolutely clear on the canon facts here, 00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:44.639 because this is where a lot of readers get confused. 00:08:44.980 --> 00:08:47.759 Iolite never learned the future. He did not witness 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:50.279 some magical prophecy of his own defeat. No, 00:08:50.379 --> 00:08:53.919 he deduced it. Precisely. Iolite deduced the 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:56.419 survival of the bloodline purely from observing 00:08:56.419 --> 00:08:59.340 Zeonix's face and recognizing the highly specific 00:08:59.340 --> 00:09:02.080 green wind fighting style being used on the battlefield. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:31.269 He's incredibly observant. As Kenshin. I argue 00:09:31.269 --> 00:09:35.049 that the true danger in this story lies in Iolite's 00:09:35.049 --> 00:09:39.370 chillingly patient paranoia and Malamar's methodical, 00:09:39.429 --> 00:09:42.570 decades -long grooming process. It is horrific, 00:09:42.789 --> 00:09:46.529 I agree. Malamar spent 20 years assuming the 00:09:46.529 --> 00:09:49.850 identity of Kenshin, lying to a child every single 00:09:49.850 --> 00:09:53.090 day. Blaming Zeryl's one -time spatial anomaly 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:56.370 gives Iolite a pass for orchestrating one of 00:09:56.370 --> 00:09:59.029 the most insidious psychological tortures in 00:09:59.029 --> 00:10:01.649 the narrative. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy 00:10:01.649 --> 00:10:04.409 that. Let me tell you why. I am not giving Iolite 00:10:04.409 --> 00:10:06.830 a pass for his cruelty. It kind of sounds like 00:10:06.830 --> 00:10:09.529 it, though. No, the psychological torture that 00:10:09.529 --> 00:10:12.850 Malamar inflicts as Kenshin is horrific. But 00:10:12.850 --> 00:10:15.570 human agency in Neogentric's universe is almost 00:10:15.570 --> 00:10:19.509 always reacting to elemental catalysts. Reacting, 00:10:19.509 --> 00:10:23.090 sure, but the choice is theirs. You say Iolite's 00:10:23.090 --> 00:10:26.009 paranoia is the true danger, but what triggered 00:10:26.009 --> 00:10:28.750 the paranoia? Without Zeryl bending the void 00:10:28.750 --> 00:10:30.909 to force that impossible battlefield meeting, 00:10:31.190 --> 00:10:33.590 Iolite never looks across the smoke and makes 00:10:33.590 --> 00:10:36.350 that deduction. Okay, yes, the initial spark. 00:10:36.690 --> 00:10:39.850 He never sees the green wind style being wielded 00:10:39.850 --> 00:10:42.049 by a boy who looks exactly like his brother, 00:10:42.169 --> 00:10:45.149 which means Malamar is never assigned to infiltrate 00:10:45.149 --> 00:10:48.110 Zeonix's life in Sukar in the first place. But 00:10:48.110 --> 00:10:50.529 the execution of that infiltration was entirely 00:10:50.529 --> 00:10:54.350 human malice. Zeryl didn't force Malamar to manipulate 00:10:54.350 --> 00:10:57.649 a child for 20 years. The Void didn't dictate 00:10:57.649 --> 00:11:01.169 Kenshin's betrayals. No, but... That was a choice 00:11:01.169 --> 00:11:04.309 made by a highly intelligent, deeply compromised 00:11:04.309 --> 00:11:07.429 individual operating on orders from an even more 00:11:07.429 --> 00:11:11.110 paranoid commander. Zeryl's power was just the 00:11:11.110 --> 00:11:14.230 flash in the pan. The 20 -year burn was all human. 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:17.460 It is human malice ignited by a void mechanic, 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:21.139 though. You cannot separate the two. Look, if 00:11:21.139 --> 00:11:23.539 the elemental arts of Orion and P. Kodoish are 00:11:23.539 --> 00:11:26.700 a massive powder keg, Zyreel's space -time fold 00:11:26.700 --> 00:11:30.279 was the spark. But again, spark versus the explosion 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:33.539 itself. Zyreel's power is dangerous precisely 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:36.440 because it operates entirely outside the predictable 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:40.019 kinetic warfare of Eon Pax. It bypasses terrestrial 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:43.659 armies and strikes directly at causality. It's 00:11:43.659 --> 00:11:45.580 unconventional, I'll give you that. It doesn't 00:11:45.580 --> 00:11:47.820 matter that Zyrel couldn't throw a punch. He 00:11:47.820 --> 00:11:50.000 changed the board so radically that the enemy 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.460 had to resort to a 20 -year psychological operation 00:11:52.460 --> 00:11:55.419 just to counter his one move. I'm not totally 00:11:55.419 --> 00:11:57.820 convinced by that line of reasoning, because 00:11:57.820 --> 00:12:00.360 you're treating the catalyst as if it possesses 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:02.600 the intent of the resulting explosion. How so? 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.139 It's like blaming the person who discovered fire 00:12:05.139 --> 00:12:08.259 for every arsonist in history. Xeroa's intent 00:12:08.259 --> 00:12:11.200 was survival. It was a desperate gambit to save 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:13.759 Zeonix. He wasn't orchestrating a generational 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:17.360 war. But intent doesn't dictate danger, right? 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:19.940 A runaway train doesn't have malice, but it's 00:12:19.940 --> 00:12:22.840 still incredibly dangerous. That is true. Xeroa's 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:25.419 manipulation of the Void unleashed forces he 00:12:25.419 --> 00:12:27.980 couldn't control, and the fallout was catastrophic. 00:12:28.539 --> 00:12:30.360 Well, that's a fair distinction between intent 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:33.000 and outcome. And honestly, while I maintain that 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.279 Xeroa is mechanistically the weakest combatant 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:37.899 on the board... I have to concede a massive point 00:12:37.899 --> 00:12:40.059 to you regarding the structural impact of visibility. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:42.820 All right, I'm listening. From a purely narrative 00:12:42.820 --> 00:12:45.519 perspective, looking at the entire scope of the 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:48.259 book, I cannot deny that the trauma unleashed 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:50.820 because of that closed causal loop is infinitely 00:12:50.820 --> 00:12:53.799 worse than anything Eon Pax does with their terrestrial 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:57.460 armies. It really is. The systemic damage is 00:12:57.460 --> 00:13:00.460 staggering. It is. When we step back and look 00:13:00.460 --> 00:13:02.539 at the sheer scale of the suffering, the fact 00:13:02.539 --> 00:13:04.539 that Malamar raised Zeonix with the deliberate 00:13:04.539 --> 00:13:06.500 conscious intention of breaking his spirit from 00:13:06.500 --> 00:13:09.120 the inside out, that is profound. It far exceeds 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.360 the localized kinetic damage of a plasma fire. 00:13:11.580 --> 00:13:13.980 Absolutely. By creating that localized vacuum 00:13:13.980 --> 00:13:16.600 in the void, Zeril inadvertently facilitated 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:18.899 unparalleled psychological and systemic damage 00:13:18.899 --> 00:13:21.399 to the protagonist's lineage. So structurally 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:23.100 and narratively, the damage is unprecedented. 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:26.379 I will concede that. That is a deeply fair point, 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:29.559 and it really gets to the heart of how Neogentrix 00:13:29.559 --> 00:13:32.379 uses the elemental arts to explore psychological 00:13:32.379 --> 00:13:35.320 trauma. And look, to be equally fair to your 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:37.259 initial premise, I have to concede the strict 00:13:37.259 --> 00:13:39.379 physical parameters of Zyrela Lens' ability. 00:13:39.700 --> 00:13:42.600 The complete lack of combat viability. Exactly. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:46.519 On a purely mechanical and physical level, Zyrela's 00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:49.460 power is useless in an actual skirmish. Right, 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:52.120 it's just not practical. The physical toll of 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:55.679 acting as that biological tentpole is so debilitating 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:58.879 that it renders him completely vulnerable. If 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:01.519 Zyreel were to step into an arena against Crater 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:04.039 Steve or any master of the whistling wind style, 00:14:04.220 --> 00:14:06.919 he is dead in three seconds. Instantly defeated. 00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:10.320 Right. It requires too much time, demands too 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:13.299 much concentration, and exacts way too heavy 00:14:13.299 --> 00:14:16.200 a biological price. So you are absolutely correct. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:20.110 It is not a combat viable art. It is a fascinating 00:14:20.110 --> 00:14:22.769 dichotomy, isn't it? And it really brings us 00:14:22.769 --> 00:14:24.570 to the core of what makes the elemental arts 00:14:24.570 --> 00:14:27.529 in this universe so compelling to analyze. It 00:14:27.529 --> 00:14:29.629 really does. We've spent this entire discussion 00:14:29.629 --> 00:14:32.970 circling how danger is actually measured. I have 00:14:32.970 --> 00:14:35.909 maintained that danger is best evaluated by immediate 00:14:35.909 --> 00:14:38.710 kinetic destruction. And under those metrics, 00:14:38.929 --> 00:14:41.570 creating a localized vacuum in the void is an 00:14:41.570 --> 00:14:44.350 extreme liability. Right. It breaks the user 00:14:44.350 --> 00:14:47.000 long before it breaks the enemy. And I have maintained 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:49.399 that true danger should be measured by the terrifying 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:52.059 ripple effects of defying the universe's natural 00:14:52.059 --> 00:14:55.019 laws. Which it certainly did. Right. I think 00:14:55.019 --> 00:14:57.080 what we can completely agree on is the underlying 00:14:57.080 --> 00:14:59.820 brilliance of how the void is written. By making 00:14:59.820 --> 00:15:02.480 the universe actively reject time travel, the 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:04.460 text prevents the void from becoming a cheap 00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:07.440 escape hatch. Absolutely. The intricate mechanics 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:10.299 of this universe leave plenty of room for our 00:15:10.299 --> 00:15:13.379 listeners to form their own interpretation of 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:15.820 what constitutes the greatest threat. Exactly. 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:19.019 Is it the corrupted red wind you can see burning 00:15:19.019 --> 00:15:21.779 towards you or the space -time anomaly you can't 00:15:21.779 --> 00:15:24.100 even touch? We will leave that for you to decide. 00:15:24.539 --> 00:15:26.419 But the fallout of that Congo War battlefield 00:15:26.419 --> 00:15:29.000 meeting leaves us with some incredibly heavy 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:32.320 character dynamics to unpack in our next session. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:36.059 Because the man Zeon went back to see is arguably 00:15:36.059 --> 00:15:39.480 the most complicated figure in the lore. He certainly 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:42.269 is. Join us for our next discussion, where we'll 00:15:42.269 --> 00:15:45.669 be asking the question, Zeon Cleric's Hero or 00:15:45.669 --> 00:15:48.070 Cautionary Tale? It's going to require us to 00:15:48.070 --> 00:15:51.350 question every piece of conventional wisdom we've 00:15:51.350 --> 00:15:54.149 gathered about the novice bloodline so far. Until 00:15:54.149 --> 00:15:57.870 then, think back to our earlier premise. When 00:15:57.870 --> 00:16:00.789 you are navigating the intricate, elemental world 00:16:00.789 --> 00:16:03.850 of Pigadesh, you have to remember that not every 00:16:03.850 --> 00:16:06.250 threat leaves a smoking crater in the ground. 00:16:06.899 --> 00:16:09.500 Sometimes, the most devastating weapon isn't 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:12.940 the one that breaks your bones. Exactly. It's 00:16:12.940 --> 00:16:15.639 the one that quietly breaks causality and lets 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:17.720 the monsters walk right through the front door.