Spoiler Latest Chapter Discussion Thread for Death Mage Raws

It's not like Lambda vampires aren't unique, because they are. While they differ somewhat from common modern depictions of vampires, they are still recognizably vampires. Racial traits:

• Immortality. Basically, immunity from aging. Related to the life attribute. The majin are the only other race known to share this trait.
• The ability to consume and safely digest blood, and grow stronger by doing so. Related to the life attribute.
• High regeneration capabilities. Related to the life attribute. Can be nullified by manipulating the light and light attributes, as demonstrated by Nemesis Bell.
• A debilitating weakness to sunlight. The absence of this trait in the Abyss variant is related to the death attribute.
• Defined as both person and monster, a trait shared by many of Vida's races. This allows use of the job and rank systems.
• Not undead, but somewhat resemble undead, due to relation to undead Zackart. Consequently, vampires are inherently vulnerable to Death Attribute Charm. This trait is shared by ghouls.

I do hope that's unique enough. They are based on the modern concept of vampires, so this is about as unique as they can get without changing the fundamental nature of vampires in this setting.

The ghouls are not more important, but they were far easier to meet and befriend. At that point in the story, most vampires on the continent were worshipping a sadistic and controlling evil god who wanted Van dead. Van was lucky to meet two vampires willing to befriend him with little persuasion.

Well, the ability to suck blood is improved by sucking blood. Also, it seems that certain qualities of consumed blood can enhance the drinker, as demonstrated when Van got Augmented Vitality by sucking Darcia's blood.

I'm not saying that vampires can get jobs based on mythological figures from Earth and Origin. I'm saying that of all normal Lambda jobs specific to vampires and vampirism, most are probably taken by vampires, which prevents Van from taking those jobs. Vampire jobs granted by the dark gods of Earth and Origin are unavailable for a completely different reason, though I have no way of knowing exactly what that reason is. It might be because mythical jobs tend to require historical feats, as when Van ate Phitun or was worshipped so much a statue was built in his honor. I don't really see Van doing something truly amazing using vampire powers alone.

I suspect that males can't be converted to ghouls because the conversion isn't perfect enough to drastically change arm length or head shape. After all, the ritual is just putting the target in a hole with ghoul poison, then burying her and letting her... rot(?)... into a ghoul. Really simple for a race conversion ritual, and probably not enough to change a person's shape very much.

As I mentioned above, most vampires on the continent are basically part of an amoral crime organization, while ghouls, like most of Vida's races, have been independent long enough to develop their own culture. As for powers, it seems that vampires mainly rely on self-enhancement and eternal life. Vampires got their powers from Zackart (undead) and Vida. They are not hybrids created with the help of evil gods, so of course they look plain compared to the majin, scylla, and other races.

They are growing, though Van isn't prioritizing those skills over other important ones.

Sylphid is now part of Dark King Magic, so it's just a matter of figuring out how to use it. A predator's ability to just vanish seems to be Sylphid's horror aspect, and vampires are also used in horror movies.

 

I presume you're referring to this:
https://lightnovelbastion.com/release.php?p=770

I dunno if the author will ever explain in detail why certain characters got certain racial titles etc. We do get a lot of detail (too much, if anything) but some things are better left unspecified. But well, we can speculate and sometimes the author does drop hints well in advance. When I was trying to find the reference above I went through a bunch of older chapters and saw this:
https://www.lightnovelbastion.com/release.php?p=492

That's foreshadowing Van's spirit magic usage way in advance - the above quote is from chapter 15.

Going back to why Zadiris got "princess" in her racial title, one thing that had occurred to me is that it could be related to Van becoming the emperor. Another possibility is that Zadiris had recently come into contact with the ghouls in the southern part of the continent and is generally acknowledged as the leader of the ghoul women. Anyway, I came across this quote from chapter 102:
https://www.lightnovelbastion.com/release.php?p=1066

This might be meaningless but it's possibly a hint that having a close connection to royalty might be enough. Probably providing that there's nothing else that is stronger (eg being a butler or hunter or whatever). So perhaps Zadiris being close to Van combined with not having a clear alternative role allowed her to earn enough status proficiency to be considered royalty and then based on her "image" (Van's guess) she got "princess".

Incidentally, she was a ghoul elder mage before then.


PS On a somewhat related note, there has been various speculation about Zadiris and Van, some of which I encouraged. It's probably worth remembering that some people thought they were already "doing it" back at the start of the ghoul arc when Van was applying Youth Transformation - will the joke become reality? After the treatment was over, Zadiris said this (in chapter 14):

Zadiris doesn't refer to this again but this could be foreshadowing. It's probably worth bearing in mind that at the time ghouls didn't really have a concept of marriage or even romance.

 

In other words, the god managing the rank system almost ships Van and Zadiris. Almost.

 

... Suddenly I can see Status God making Vadiris fanart.

If you want to go even deeper when it comes to lore, the reason they are weak to sunlight is because it count as light attribute in Lambda, and the reason they (and all undead) are weak against it is because of Alda. Also it should be noted that no Vampire was immediatelly charmed by Van, using Eleonora as an example, it took a while for his charm to stick with her still showing signs of wanting to kill him before she was completely charmed, and powerful individuals like the useless vamp trio were not affected at all (though it could be because of their divine blessing). Another thing to point out is the difference in the transformation ritual between Vampires and Ghouls, with Vampire granting life via giving their blood and Ghouls more or less letting the target die in their poison to rise again as a Ghouls, again showing from which parent they inherited more traits from.

 

Death Attribute Charm has limits and can be resisted, but it has an effect on ghouls and vampires. And cemetery bees, somehow. However, it works best on the dead, who find Van extremely charismatic and likable. On vampires, the effect is easily twisted, such as when Bellmond just sort of gave up fighting to embrace death, which Van didn't really intend to happen. The divine protection of a control freak would definitely protect against charm skills, so the vamp trio were never affected until they died.

It's probably not a literal death, but a symbolic one. Symbolism works for magic rituals, and they can't properly become ghouls if they die midway. I think the ground acts as a sort of cocoon to preserve the body while it changes.

 

That's what I was trying to say, but I also meant to say that Ghouls seems to be less 'resistant' to its effect. While re-reading Vol 2 the whole Cemetery Bee thing was passed of as it being because they are closely related to the subject of death.

Again, explained better than I did. For that matter, of the transformation rituals we know they seem to hold a certain symbolism corresponding to the different races (trasformation via snu-snu with Succubi or being put in a coccon made of web for Arachnes).

 

Death charm also works on those who want death as well if I remember correctly, as was the case when he found all the women after he killed the noble orc at the beginning of the novel (don't remember his name).

 

Can someone explain what has happened in the latest raw chapters?

 

From which part? Last volume or current one?

 

From both please......

 

This. This I agree with completely. Actually, though please don't nail me down on it since it's been a while, I'm pretty sure that vampires in this story do in fact have ALL the abilities commonly ascribed to vampires, it's just that not every vampire has all of them. There is a baseline shared by all vampires, and as they grow stronger they have the chance to develop more powers, or some, like Eleonora, receive such unique powers when they're transformed. Her Charming Eyes are exactly the type of mesmerism typically associated with vampires, and I'm pretty certain I remember it mentioned that some vampires also had unique skills such as turning to mist, changing their shapes, or controlling animals.

Also, and this I do remember, vampires in Lambda also have all the weaknesses associated with Vampires, it's just again that they don't all have all of them. Weakness to the sun, to anti-vampire light magic, and to silver are universal. Then it was stated that vampires that serve Evil Gods may have additional weaknesses depending on their patrons, such as an inability to cross flowing water by themselves, an irresistable need to count small objects like beads or grains of rice if they encounter them/someone throws them at their feet, or the inability to enter a residence without invitation.

In summary, vampires in this story do have all the strengths and weaknesses associated with vampires, only most of them aren't universally shared but instead divided amongst the population.


Also, on a completely unrelated note, why is it that in the 12th Volume Stats the Job "Enchanter" is counted both in the Jobs Van has already taken, right between Spirit Warrior and Dream Guider, and in the list of available jobs, between Insect Nin and Dungeon Master?

 

After saving the trade city, Van (or more specifically Darcia) is called to the capital of the duchy to met the duke and being given a reward. along the way he tame two horses and made them bcome monster (just like Fang the dog) and start a new food stand, gets into a Shokugeki with the locals while being spied by on of the duke 5 Knights, who have a downgraded version of the Magic Eyes of Appraisal, that let him/her to know which skills the target is currently using, including stats and level. After learning that Darcia was 'created' by Van and being Abyssed by him, he/she escaped and stop speaking to anyone apart from telling the duke that he should not antagonise them. While on the city Van introduce other Vida's races to accostume the people to them. Braga start acting as the ' Face Peeling Demon', face peeling the criminals in the city, then someone else start immitating him, using holy water because Spiritualists. Then after the first metting with the duke, thy get invited to a private tea party away from the city (mostly so Van and pals don't destroy the city in case things go down) and the copycat is revealed to be one of the 5 Knights that was actually a mimic monster born from the evil god of cannibalism sealed away under a mountain together with the evil god of thievery (which he ate and assimilated) and the giant of mountains (who is currently neutral). Van gets his DA magic and Demon King skills stolen by the god but it only made it harder for him to control DA magic and the DK fragments. He kills the God from the inside side he eat a part of Van's souls and rescue the Giant, and obtain skills that increase stats and heals him if he eat part of himself. After discussing with the duke, they decide to stage a cinematic fight between fake 5 Kinghts, the Giant and Darcia as a cover up, telling the public that mimic knight and his whole family (who were also mimics) did during the fight so they don't enter in panic from the possibility or more mimic people. the volumes end with Van making a projection of the fight for Pauvina in the duke residence (with the remaining knights giving fired up commentaries) and the duke thinking about how Van is using the DK fragments for such a mundane (if costly without them) thing and how he may be a benevolent DK.

As for omakes, Heinz decide to talk it out with Van before coming with a desicion on wether or not fight him, knowing that he may be killed in the process, and soul half eaten guy getting flashbacks from the DK soul powder with which Roddy healed him. In Roddy's DK's soul's seal, the Dk is shown very much concient and waiting for the seal to weaken until he notice that someone is stealing his body, swearing to kill them. And finally, Sauron and Hartner, after they learn about what happened in the other duchy and about Darcia and Van, start to decide what to do in case they encounter each other, Sauron guessing that Darcia must have something to do with the zombies in the scylla territory (thinking it was she who put them there instead of Van) and Hartner correctly guessing that Van was the one who obliterated the slave mine, took the villagers and probably created the dungeon, And we get the reveal that Hartner's daughter is one of the reincarnators (Urs), who can see into what what hapened in the past of a designated area, that just started to remember her past life after she became a 5 years old, wondering what she could do to to make peace with Van so that he does not kill her and her family, cursing the fact that she is still a 5 years old child and wondering if his father is going to marry her away with him.

 

Did not he take it to make better Prothesis and Magical Girl Gears?

 

The vampires most faithfully serving the Evil God of Joyful Life lose access to the job system, so they can only use the rank system. Not only is it a demerit, but it means the god of the job system basically forsakes them for their heinous life choices.

 

Continuing to the current volume.

Darcia get ennobled (1 generation only) as a saint of vida and hero of the city for fighting against the evil god, being given the surname Zakkart ( since only Van had it before), finally making Van of being a noble (as long as Darcia lives) true.

During the celebration Van is notified that Quattro arrived to the Demon King Continent, pulling his consiouness from the DK clone in the duchy to his main body on Quattro, they beat a flying kraken and encounter a dragon god and a giant of Alda's side, they beat them but even more gods appear in mabushe, thinking that Van was there to eat Botin's soul. Van beam them and escape underwater into a poisonous sea were they encounter with a mermaid holding onto the DK mucus. Aftersome talk, the mermaid take to a hidden city, which welcome them since they received a divine message by the local gods. The cty is inhabitated by yetis (frost titans), homunculus (human, elf and dwarf type), mermaids, goat type centaurs and scorpion versio arachnes, all who changed/were created by the local gods. Van mets with said gods and learn that they were gods who were not able to join Vida because the DK thightened security after Merrebeveil joined Vida. the first 4 gods took some Vida's races to the DK continent for security, joined later by a giant who defected to the DK out of fear that want to ask forgiveness from Vida and finally a 'Shroom God (aka best god) who joined them around the time Zakkart's trials were made. Van decide to help them join Vida after the current problem is solved. Aftr some disccusion about what will they do now that they are more or less trapped there, they decide to probe wether or not there is a Space element god with Alda's group, they damage the god while doing the probing and Van let a DK insect follow them to their base which is presumably the place where Botin's seal is.

That is where the story currently is.

 

Thanks dude. This help me very much to understand whats going on

 

A slight correction, but Van got Status Resistance skill from his dark elf side, not vampire side.

I would view Van's death attribute charm skill as something that initially had the ability to only charm undead, people close to death or wish for death, and spirits of the dead. Then over time Van's charm skill grew to encompass insects and then plants. Actions such as charming the Cemetery Bees, then later experimenting with fermentation and plant growth using death attribute magic.

Of course, the nature of Van's original charm could have changed to fit the nature of the new world in Lambda with a more liberal or broad definition considering the game-like system. A number of skills and titles also grant subtle effects unseen in an individuals status.

 

BZZZZT! It is Magic Resistence what he got from Darcia, it is indeed his vampre side from which he got Status Resistance.

Now that you mention that, I always forget that his abilities strenghtened in a way in Lambda. If I remember right, it was around Kanata's arc that it is mentioned that his abilities were already stronger than in Origin.

 

His death attribute charm had a weakened effect on Ghouls and Vampires, the half-undead descendents of Vida and the resurrected Zaccart, due to their lineage. This was something he could do from the beginning, and an omission (the author telling the audience directly despite not a single in-universe character knowing this information) was made in regards to this when Van first met the Ghouls.

It later expanding into plants and insects was a result of his insect binding and plant binding jobs. Each of these respective jobs come with the abilities "insect charm" and "plant charm." These abilities fused in with his death attribute charm, and I believe at the time since it was before he became a guider that his charm ability was starting to look like his guider abilities look now, it became something like "Insect, plant, death-attribute charm." (Although I could be mistaken on that one.) Later, when he recieved his guider job, that got cleaned up and all of his charm attributes were taken under the name "Demon Path Enticement." (And then, of course, now it's getting messy once again now that he is getting more guider jobs.

Of course, at the same time he got his guider job, his Demon Path Enticement was not only able to entice the things he had the charm effects for before he got it, but it then also expanded to include anything sentient and sympathetic to his ideas.

He was around 1/1000 his current power back then, and even so back in Origin he was already so insanely powerful that, according to Oracle, he would have caused massive damage to the 20 bravers who came to take him down if they had not followed his instructions and done nothing until he lowered his guard. The Oracle he asked for was how to defeat the undead with no casualties to their own side, which implies on the converse that he would have been able to have outright killed at least one if not more of them if they had presented themselves as threats from the beginning.

Kanata's freak-out over discovering that he was the one Rodcorte wanted him to kill also reinforces this line of thought. He was quite concerned over the fact that "The Undead" had the ability to block all physical and magical damage via his barriers and also had an absurd level of magic ability on top of that. That could also have to do with the fact that he was 1 on 1 with him this time, but it still goes to show that "D-01" was absurdly powerful, so the fact that Van managed to catch up with and exceed his past life's strength and has since gone 1000 times more over that limit says the Bravers are more than screwed if they really go up against him.

All of this also lends credence to Bander's claims that nothing in Origin can even damage him. His mana is only equal to newborn Van at FREAKING 100,000,000!!!!, but all his other attributes as well as his abilities are about even to the original he's copied from and are also kept up to date on top of that. Really, about the only disadvantage he has from being short of mana compared to the original is that he can't go repeat firing the imaginary cannon, a move that could quite likely wipe out the population of an entire city if he fires it as a wide-area blast. He could likely still fire it once though, and I don't think he will need a second firing of it. Unlike Van, Bander is not fighting gods.

 

Banda, the world stongest nanny! Another disadvantage he have is that he can't go to far away from Mei. Also he does not fight while Mei is looking, it would be deprimental for her mental growth after all.

... Am I the only one who want for Mei to met everyone in Lambda somehow? Or to get a time skip so she does something else aside from beign cute?