Time to move on

Robert had enough drama. It’s high time to think about getting something tastier than canned beans! It’s a little preview of what’s going to happen in the next chapter but, as I said on Patreon earlier, Replay is not going to become a comic about farming, you don’t have to worry~

Next page: https://www.patreon.com/posts/page-ii-99-hd-29617594
Next next page: https://www.patreon.com/posts/29804529

I was sick for the whole week and simply just tried to survive the workdays. I’m sad that I didn’t draw much in the end but I was just too tired… Maybe next weekend, although friends from Poland might pay us a visit so it might be a bit hectic. We’ll see, we’ll see…

The discussion last week was so lively! I’ve just read through it (didn’t really have the strength when I was sick) and it was nice to see you guys posting so many questions haha. I’m surprised nobody tried to figure out what kind of magic Julia is using (and how it fits in), even though she said so much! Well, maybe after we actually see her work some. Well, gotta run to sleep. Also, if you haven’t heard, Tokyo will be hit by a typhoon in a couple of hours, might be a fun night.

20 comments on “Time to move on”

  1. Refugnic Reply

    ‘We’ll make more weapons’, huh?
    Now, that does sound like a plan worth looking into.

    We already know, that it’s impossible to enchant swords with magic that makes them capable of killing…but then again, a blade to the heart would kill just about anyone, so just how much does the magic actually do…and how much is just plain out physical trauma?

    Maybe the magic on the blades subdues the regeneration of the demons, which would otherwise let them survive even fatal injuries (like, oh I don’t know, a missing head or something)…though on second thought, it would be a more interesting approach to think, that they cut the demons off from their power source…both figuratively as well as physically.

    And without said connection, they simply drop dead.

    However, to get back to the question at hand…what kind of weapon can they make, now that they have the spellbook?
    More blades? Or can they possibly infuse modern weaponry with the same kind of magic?

    Though I would imagine it to be one heck of a pain to scratch the incantation into every single bullet you need to fire…unless there’s some sort of incantation on the weapon itself that imbues the ammo with the ‘pierce life source’ ability.

    But all things considered, Rob is completely right.
    They’ll need regenerating resources soon, namely food and water.

    Once the villages are cleared out…has anyone ever established, just how big such a protective circle can be?
    It seems to be big enough to protect the entire camp now, but fields tend to be quite spacious…and it can’t be easy to find more ‘magic users’, if ‘chastity’ is indeed an important prerequisite for using it.

    As for ‘what kind of magic Julia’s using’…thus far, we’ve only seen her try for pentagram magic, which would be the same kind Ada is using.

    I…don’t see her being the ‘virgin’ type of girl though.
    Which means that she either must have been purifying herself…or she’s using magic, that doesn’t have a ‘religious background’.
    I mean, if there’s ‘religious magic’, there must be ‘heathen magic’ too, where ‘having sex’ is an accepted part of life.

    So many questions…

    • EnterTheNameHere Camp dweller Reply

      I bet it’s having sex… Right the opposite to the pure. In mythology the “esence” of mating has sometimes been used by “the other side” with connection to demons, which would kinda be… on point.

      Do we know physiology of demons? Someone should post a job ad for mortician or taxidermist. They might not even use heart. Also making swords is a skill learned – if you don’t have a swordmaster, you are fu…lly in need of one…

  2. Alex Reply

    Julia can do magic? I just looked at the cast page and realized that I did not see her drawing a ritual circle back then.
    I did not expect her to be a virgin. I just thought that she hadn’t realized that prerequisite until it was too late.

    So, if sexual purity is required for magic, does that mean you’ll have to address the topic of rape at some point? Or can we just assume that anyone siding with the demons (or the demons themselves) would find it easier to just kill the magic user?

    • NotImportant Reply

      Hmmm I don’t think the problem of rage will be addressed directly… Although I can say that a lot more will be explained about magic in general.

      • Alex Reply

        Interesting. I’ll assume that that was an auto-correct or else Ada might be in trouble after all. 🙂

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        Good to know. I was kind of expecting that Julia would be able to explain further after she told us about her cult background. Regardless of whether they used magic a lot or not, she sems to know a good deal about it and might be able to explain a few things, for instance how Robert was able to slice those demons.

        Also looking forward to see how Filip will be doing, since he seemed so eager about it.

    • Refugnic Reply

      Well, she had drawn a protection circle around the hut and she had a knife and a piece of chalk in hand, when Robert and Ada barged in.

      Furthermore, I don’t think she ‘didn’t know about it, until it was too late’.
      If you recall her retelling of the events, the ‘real power of her organization was not the Arcana, but much rather money’.

      They were dabbling in these things, investigating them etc., but until Adam figured out how to open the gates of hell, ‘magic’ didn’t work all that well.

      So, let me ask you, why would Julia ‘keep herself pristine’, if she never considered becoming a honest to goodness magic user?
      She could have purified herself in the meantime though, which would make her ‘eligible’ for using religious magic again.

      Rape might well be an issue, though I doubt anyone would employ that tactic ‘just’ to take the magic away.
      Either they would outright kill them…or they do it, because they want to make their victim suffer.
      I don’t know which is worse though.

      • Alex Reply

        Oh, right, the circle around the hut. I hadn’t seen the chalk back then, though.
        But good point regarding the dabbling. So I guess it’s not strictly about the virgin thing. Maybe it’s more related to emotions. Maybe Rob and Ada’s drama unlocked some powers in Rob, so that he was able to slay those demons while driving his GTA motorcycle. I can’t imagine him being a virgin either.

        As for which one is worse:
        Well, for the reader, seeing rape is worse than seeing murder (because America’s influcence on media is bigger than Japan’s 😉 ), and since they’re fictional characters that’s the only thing that counts. 😉
        In case of real people I don’t know the answer either.

        • EnterTheNameHere Camp dweller Reply

          Oh yeah, that totally undermines the sex theory – Rob did somehow killed demons while they were escaping on the motorcicle and I doubt he had any lately… I guess he might not be an Ultimate Survivor with the Will to Survive ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo66cJT6hWw ) but that rage seems to be the right way.

          Unfortunately, in a catastrophic war-like settings the humanity will descent to the lawless, animalistic, savage behavior. So rape would be common, virgins would be a prize and the only question if they would keep them alive is how much food is available. So back to slavery. I don’t think a common enemy would change anything, sadly. So I guess killing would be “the kinder” option.

  3. A. Nevada Reply

    My advice: keep it simple. Don’t make weapons that require overly complex crafting processes. Keep it simple, swords, shields, spears and axes.

    • Refugnic Reply

      While I agree with the ‘KISS’ idiom (Keep It Simple Stupid), one still has to be trained in the use of these weapons.

      I don’t know how many soldiers are still left in that camp after the last attack (I can’t imagine it to be all that many), but they are most likely trained in the use of guns, explosives and probably also knifes and hand-to-hand combat.

      Wielding large weapons like swords, spear or axe takes an entirely different kind of body control and combat training.
      And unless they just happen to have a number of kendo experts in their ranks…well, I guess those soldiers better get used to calling Ada and Robert ‘Sensei’. 😀

      If you don’t know how to handle a sword, chances are that you’ll end up cutting something you most definitely did not want to cut.
      Especially if you get the idea of showing off.

      Heh…talking about explosives, I couldn’t help but remember the holy hand grenade. (From both Worms as well as the infamous Monty Python movie).
      The soldiers would know how to handle them, they have splash damage (against grouped enemies) etc.

      But…where to put the speakers for the mandatory ‘Halleluja’ sound effect shortly before detonation? 😛

      • Alex Reply

        How about sword-chucks? They combine the advantages of swords and nun-chucks. You just tie two swords together at their hilts via a length on chain and voila. 😀
        Yes, I am currently rereading 8 Bit Theater. XD Most of the time it’s more silly than actually funny, but Fighter is comedy gold.
        Apropos: The soldiers should become Rangers, because they can dual-wield weapons, so they can wield two assault rifles at once. And then they should cross-class to Ranger/Ranger so that they can dual-wield their dual-wield and use 4 assault rifles.

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        I wonder if it would actually suffice to engrave the correct sigils on the guns or whether it needs to be the actual object that hits the demon, i. e. the bullet, which would be a ludicrous amount of work.

        However, I don’t think the (melee) weapon itself needs to be of a particularly high quality. My guess is that the sigils are what is actually doing the job.

        As tobtge holy hand grenade speakers, how about the grenade sending a Bluetooth signal and soldiers each wearing BT speakers? This is a modern age comic after all.

        • JW Reply

          Maybe it’s sufficient if you put the sigil on the mold for the bullet, then you can cast as many bullets as you want without having to redo the work.

  5. KTrimbach Reply

    There is something messed up on the voting on your site. Every time I switch between wi-fi and cell phone I get a “Already voted from this IP address” notice. This doesn’t happen on any other comic. Yours also opens up a new page when I click to vote which no other comic does – I don’t know if that is related.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Hm, intersting… Sadly, I have no power over this at all. Maybe you’re logged in or something? And thanks for the votes!!!

  6. Klorix Camp dweller Reply

    Hm, seems like I will need to read last week’s discussions and read about our real Earth magic systems. There need to be some where virginity and the likes are not a requirement for purity. Maybe some nature based belief? Sex and reproduction are part of the natural cycle and hence not impure. On the other hand, the spirits of Nature might not mind the demons, since they don’t seem to be destroying anything natural.

  7. Speedy Reply

    “… since the very morning” sounds funny. Maybe, “since the early morning” or “since dawn”?

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