The swords

Looks like certain someone found some rather interesting toys~ Stefen sure has a good nose for magical artifacts, see those yellow eyes getting all shiny? Let’s hope they won’t need to fight over those blades!

How was your week? I know I’m less chatty lately, sorry about that… I am really trying hard to stay afloat here, managing two jobs, master thesis and comics haha, January became a very busy month. I still read all your comments though, some new faces made an appearance last week as well~ It makes me really happy to see new people joining in. I’m really glad you guys enjoy this story, if you weren’t here I’d probably just go on hiatus and pray for better days, but when I think about everyone waiting for the next page I want to try harder, do more, keep going.

Page per week is bad enough, right? We don’t want any hiatuses. Thanks for keeping me motivated ♡

Makes me kind of sad that it’s so hard to gather an audience on Twitter though! I really thought it would be easier. Not sure what the problem is, maybe I am just not cut out for it, hm… Is there anything specific you guys would like to see/read? What I had for breakfast? What’s my cat up to? How is the next page going? Or maybe I just shouldn’t bother and simply give it more time…

Well, let me know your thoughts about this week’s page! Will he take the swords? Or let them be?  ๏◡๏

68 comments on “The swords”

  1. Artredies Reply

    Curiosity ki- …….did something…to the…cat? e- e well, it doesnt look like determination hes being filled with; Lets hope his mind can handle it, ja?

    • xthorgoldx Reply

      Curiosity lifted the veil of reality from before the cat’s eyes, showing him the entirety of nothingness and teaching to him things man was not meant to know.

      And gave him a really annoying rash.

      • Crystalclaw Reply

        Well, you know how the saying goes: Curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction brought it back.

    • NotImportant Reply

      I actually meant for Stefen (and Robert, btw) to have wolf, not cat features.
      And I like the rash idea..!

      • Dæmon Reply

        A silver wolf. It’s a symbol from Nordic, and possibly anglo-saxon myth and folklore. I’d guess that it is used other places, as I have HEARD of fox and wolf demons in Japan, but have yet to hear about an actual wolf version of a Kitsune, or other similar demon. However, I do know that in Rick Riordan’s book The Sword of Summer, which deals with Nordic mythos (he has made three series so far all confirmed to exist on the same planet in the present day, since the religions of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Time have all met one another, shown by dialouge from Gods and Mortals alike) and it mentions the wolf as being both in good and evil lights. Giving Stefan wolf features could show his ferocity, that he is a lone wolf (no pun intended), or any other attribute commonly associated with the wolf. Of course, there are many animals considered evil, the Serpent being a snake that tricked Eve into eating from the tree (this is second hand info. I haven’t actually read the bible) and in another of the Riordan series’ books, Apophis (I may have misspelled it) is a serpent demon from Ancient Egyptian myths that will swallow the Sun God Ra and end the world. Rick Riordan does take some liberties with the myths he uses, so just be aware of that when reading his books, but nonetheless, it does mostly match with my elementary school education for the most part. Of course, with demons that breathe fire (and the picture with the demons seemed too small somehow, like the majority of the page was the picture, and it was covered up panels and text. Tell me, was the picture with the photos supposed to be that small? It looked much taller in the comic page), flying demons, etc., it really wouldn’t surprise me if there were indeed snake and wolf demons, let alone something akin to a Kitsune. This will likely spark a discussion, so I might as well say it now: my guess is that there were demons in history and possibly existed up until the world ended, where the demon population exploded. Granted, this could explain certain occurrences, sightings, disappearances, and other mysteries to the public. The problem with that is how the military and government hid this and why they did nothing to prepare people in case of something like this. Then again, the governments of the world aren’t known for being supportive of the public opinion and helping the general public. There are numerous stories of this throughout time, with Peter Piper being famous among them. Going back to demons, if Japanese demons could possibly exist in Japan, and if this were Europe, then could vampires, werewolves, or other demons, undead, etc. Exist in Europe? Also, what kind of demons could exist in places like the Americas, Australia and so forth? Plus, are there demons on or near the polar caps? If you have any reasonable confirmations, NI, I’m sure it would help us try to make sense of the demon species and variations thereof. And as a last thought, what would have to happen to turn the world to sand?

        • NotImportant Reply

          Not going to tell you anything about the sand because that’s one of the major events so… obviously I don’t want to spoil it~
          And I was supposed to show you guys how demons appeared much later, but decided against it and we’ll see a flashback from the first 5 minutes of our little apocalypse in this very chapter.
          And putting meaningless animal features aside, Replay’s world is very much like ours, at least then it comes to lore, history, geography and everything else. Before all hell broke lose people didn’t really care about magic and it didn’t really work (as in Ada’s flashback). Military didn’t have a reason to assume they’ll need to fight something like this. Whole world knows what ‘demon’ is but we don’t believe in them. They didn’t either.

          • Dæmon

            I see… So, then the government, or any government, for that matter, couldn’t have hid anything, because they didn’t believe in the demons. Well, if the magic could have existed a thousand years prior, then how did it disappear? If demons also existed then, then who tempted Faust into making a Demonic Contract (the capitals just felt appropriate), and why would they do it? It is obvious that these demons are not intellegent thus far, and if any of them have enough control over themselves to be considered of an intellect equal to or greater than a human’s, who is to say that they won’t turn on Faust or trick him I to giving up power? Also, what demon would destroy a world if he wanted to rule it? Could that have been on purpose, or an accident? These probably won’t be answered yet, but I think that clues may be dropped if they haven’t already already.

            Also, we assume the demons want to rule, and not destroy, then what effect does a ruined planet have if they kill all of the life they use for entertainment, and possibly energy sources (even if the don’t eat them, they still may harvest energy upon killing a human or other animal)? If they DO kill of all life, what if they made some immortal and used them for target practice repeatedly? Would the humans be a large enough group to revolt, or would they die as soon as they kill their owner/master? It’s all up for grabs right now but I think I’ll reread for now in order to find any possible clues. This may take a few days, possibly until the next comic or two. I’m not sure how much time I can spare, but I’ll try.

          • NotImportant

            Hyhy, good luck! I it strue that I drop clues along the way and ‘why the hell would you destroy everything’ was one of the questions Ada and Robert asked Faust in the very first scene. Most of the things you asked will be answered later, hints given along the way as well. Most or everything, if I live that long ಠ_ಠ It’s a long story after all…

        • Refugnic Reply

          I wish to throw in, that what you said about Apophis actually does remind me of Norse lore remotely, more precisely the children of Loki.

          As I’m sure you are aware he has three children, all of which have been imprisoned due to the danger they pose.
          Hel got banished to Niflheim (the underworld, where those not dying a warrior’s death, comparable to Hades), which she governs. It’s a crappy job, but someone’s got to do it.
          Fenrir (one of the three grand wolves in Norse mythology, the other two being Hatti and Skoll (offspring of Fenrir)) is chained in the mountains by chains made of impossible things like the sound of cat’s footsteps. Upon Ragnarok he is to break free and devour the moon, bringing darkness over the world.
          Jormungand, the snake. It was banished to the depths of the sea, where its sleeping movements cause tremors. They banished it, because with it would suffocate the world inbetween its coils. I believe upon Ragnarok Jormungand wakes. I’ve also believe to remember, that Thor and Jormungand eventually kill each other.

          When looking at it, both Jormungand and Fenrir can be compared to the ‘Titans’ from Greek mythology who laid waste to the world when it still was young, until the Gods showed up and put a stop to the death and destruction.

          So yes, despite the distance and apparent diversity of the different mythologies, there are some interesting similarities between the different tribes.
          But then again, that’s not so surprising, seeing how we all are members of the same species and originate from the same ancestors.

          The most important similarity, which leads to these matches however isn’t our common heritage, but much rather a common desire.

          The desire to explain the things we cannot comprehend.

          Today we have science telling us how lightning gets formed, or why tremors happen.

          But back in the day, it was the works of Gods and Demons.

          But of course you knew all that, right? 🙂

  2. Sarnak Reply

    Hay, most of the top quality comics still being updated are published one page a week! As for Twitter… that’s a mess of knowing how to tag your stuff and getting people to follow you who also know how to play it to their will.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Maybe I’ll learn one day… Or maybe I’ll stop caring about Twitters, Facebooks and others. Probably the later.

      • Refugnic Reply

        Social networks aren’t necessary for your success, albeit they may be useful.

        What is necessary is a constant stream of quality.
        You’ve got the quality down and, so far, the constant as well.

        So you’re well set.

        Now, to improve your ‘knowledge’ rating…don’t ask people to visit your Facebook/Twitter, ask them to tell their friends. Ask them to post about it on their pages. That’s the only way you’ll ever manage to reach all those who don’t know about you.

        Sure, those ‘Likes’ and ‘Retweets’ are nice, but they mostly appear on some oddball account whom nobody really pays much attention to, because they ‘Like’ or ‘Retweet’ about everything in a desperate effort to direct attention to themselves.

        What you need, in my opinion at least, is some good old word of mouth propaganda.

        Sadly enough, unlike Retweets and Likes, you cannot enforce these (with money or something), but as long as you keep doing what you are doing, I’m sure that your fame will rise gradually.

        Besides, you never expected to be world famous over night, did you? 😉

        • NotImportant Reply

          Haha no, I’m not that naive~ I’m more curious what will happen than anything else, I already have a bunch of supportive readers to draw for, so whatever happens it’s still fine. And damn, since I am not posting anything about Replay on my personal Facebook I would never ask other people to do it xD
          We’ll see what will happen. I asked in case I was doing something wrong with that Twitter but it seems it’s just how it works and I need to be patient ¯\_(シ)_/¯

  3. Micah Reply

    Is he seeing things or hearing things? It’s hard to tell which. Also, does the same happen to everyone who touches it, or just the ones with a certain magic talent or something along those lines?

    Also, that alt text cracked me up.

    • NotImportant Reply

      He’s more “having this weird feeling” than hearing or seeing anything, but it’s kind of hard to show that haha, so I went with a weird background~ And it didn’t happen for anyone till now (at least it wasn’t shown) so Stefen is the only one magical-sword-detector so far.
      I always struggle with those alt texts lol

  4. Melandus Reply

    He looks like he finally found something more unusual than himself!
    I think Stefen is my favorite character now. He’s got such a childlike curiosity, and the way he’s always laid back is so goofy. ^_^

    • NotImportant Reply

      Stefen wasn’t part of the original story, I’ve added him when I decided to make a comic. No regrets! I like him a lot as well (which means he will die in an extra cool way) ๏◡๏

      • Zenanii Reply

        …
        The entire cast is going to die, isn’t it? :<
        (Dammit, I swore I wouldn't get addicted to another story that hated its own cast after reading Game of Thrones!)

        • NotImportant Reply

          Haha it’s okay, won’t happen anytime soon. Plenty of time to get more emotionally attached… ๏◡๏
          Or I can be I’m just joking around, right?

  5. Refugnic Reply

    Hmm…that’s interesting to say the least.

    I don’t think Ada and Robert experience this kinda thing, otherwise they would have thought twice about even just keeping the blades.

    I believe, though this is just plain guesswork, that what he is experiencing is an anti-theft enchantment.
    I remember a story about an artifact, which must not be stolen or else great misfortune befalls the owner.
    If may however be found (after being without owner for 20+ years), given as a gift or sold.

    I believe this to be somewhat similar. The blades realize that Stefen is not ‘the current owner’, which is why they are giving him a ‘warning’.
    But then again, he did ask Robert for permission to touch them, so I guess that’s not it. 😛

    Of course he may well also be trying to use his magic to analyze the blades and is amazed by what he found.
    Curious to see what’s going to happen next. 🙂

    On a side note, life is busy for all of us. If I adhered to every schedule the world tries to force on me, I’d be having zero time for writing anything.
    It’s all a matter of ‘What’s most important to you’. One never has time, unless they take it.

    Regarding Twitter: Don’t you worry about that. There’s like a billion nonsensical tweets every second and about maybe thousands which actually hold some importance. Finding the ones that don’t spout nonsense is like finding a specific grain of sand on a beach.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Anti-theft enchantment? That’s an interesting idea, although for an old Japanese sword Robert seems to be a disappointing owner haha and yes, Stefen asked nicely for the permission. The question is – will he ask as well if he decides to take those swords for himself ๏◡๏

      And I am very bad at sacrificing some things for other things because there is always like 10 different activities or projects I want to be doing. Living with my ambitions is sometimes very hard haha~ And very true, about taking time.

      • Refugnic Reply

        That’s pretty much exactly why I stated the rules of the Enchantment.

        There’s two type of ‘picky artifacts’ in this regard, the first (and more famous one) being the ‘Excalibur’-type, who chooses their owner and gives a good kick to anyone else who tries to take them away.

        Though quite honestly, Robert (or Ada) aren’t quite ‘the material of legends’…but then again, nobody is born a hero, am I right? 😉
        The second one is the one I described, where the item is attuned to its owner (much like a small animal being attuned to their parents/owners) and make a giant fuss when anyone else tries to approach them.

        Now, you already said that you’ll make him ‘die in an extra-cool way’…whether I’ll believe that or not I will decide at a later point in time, however if he decides to just take the swords (My preciousss!), I could imagine the swords enchantment getting triggered and off him.

        Number of options regarding that (my mind going places again)
        Nr. 1: Energy buildup, shiny explosion and all that remains of him is his shadow burned into the ground (compare to the N-Bomb shadows)
        Nr. 2: He tries to work some magic on it, it backfires, transforming him into some sort of monstrosity (which subsequently gets put down)
        Nr. 3: The sword comes to life, wrestles itself from his grip and assumes an attack stance. (And just before the cold steel penetrates his heart, he sees a whisper of a samurai standing in front of him, holding the blade and telling him: ‘You…are unworthy.’

        There’s a few more, but I think that’s enough food for thought right now. 😛

        • JW Reply

          Though quite honestly, Robert (or Ada) aren’t quite ‘the material of legends’…

          What? Seriously? Ada’s cuteness alone is legendary! 😛
          Plus, she had a depressing youth, has magic and visions, and the apocalypse just happened. Any of those things make someone a candidate as legend material.

          • Refugnic

            A depressing youth makes you a candidate for being Emo, not ‘a legend’.

            Now ‘tragic loss’ while young, that’s a good recipe for legends (looking at the ‘-man’s right there. Batman lost his parents, Superman lost his planet (and his parents while he was at it), I’m sure others have suffered in similar ways).

            The funny thing is: They battle what caused their agony.
            Batman fights crime because it took away his parents.
            Superman tries to save the world, because his own world got destroyed.
            Spiderman fights crime, because a criminal (whom he let go), took his uncle from him (if memory serves).

            Now, if we apply this to Ada…that would put her in a prime position to run amok in a school instead of being a hero.
            I guess she should be grateful that the demons beat her to the punch. 😛

            Regarding the other things:
            Stefen has magic, Filip has magic, probably a number of other people have magic too.
            Regarding the visions…just because we know that these two have them, doesn’t mean that the other people don’t.

            And the apocalypse happened to everyone who survived, not just those two.

            So, if we go by that filter, then everyone is ‘legend material’ in this story.

            But then again, that’s the point of ‘legendary’, isn’t it? To be there when destiny calls and not run away.

            Someone once said, that a hero is not any more brave than a regular person…he’s just brave for about 5 minutes longer than the regular person.
            As such, heroism and foolishness can often not be discerned from each other.
            It depends on whether they manage to live whether they’ll be remembered as ‘heroes’ or ‘fools’.

            They lived, so they’re heroes.
            But does that make them ‘special’?
            Personally, I think not.

            At least not any more special than a policeman stopping a heist by shooting the tires of the getaway car.

          • JW

            A depressing youth makes you a candidate for being Emo, not ‘a legend’.

            Depends on whether you’re in real life or a story.
            (And in real life there are very few things that make you a legend.)

            The funny thing is: They battle what caused their agony.
            [..]
            Now, if we apply this to Ada…that would put her in a prime position to run amok in a school instead of being a hero.

            I got the impression she mostly caused her own agony.
            I’m still holding my options open on whether Ada might not accidentally be the cause, or contributor, of the whole apocalypse thing. Hey, maybe these are her inner demons made flesh 😉

            Stefen has magic, Filip has magic, probably a number of other people have magic too.

            Yeah, and Stefen’s already a legend.

            So, if we go by that filter, then everyone is ‘legend material’ in this story.

            Everyone except Nina 😉
            Some people tick multiple boxes, and are therefore better candidates than others.

            But then again, that’s the point of ‘legendary’, isn’t it? To be there when destiny calls and not run away.

            And live long enough to do something legendary, like killing a horde of demons attacking your camp and making all the toy soldiers swoon.

            It depends on whether they manage to live whether they’ll be remembered as ‘heroes’ or ‘fools’.

            There’s plenty of legendary fools, so on that account it doesn’t even matter much.

  6. Kazzeon Reply

    I just finished reading the archive, I found this comic on TopWebComics.. 😀
    One thing that surprised me is that with only 77 pages you managed to get 10k votes.. :0
    Really like the characters and hope to see how the story unfolds from now on.. 🙂

    • NotImportant Reply

      Believe me, I am amazed as well! Replay has very supportive fans! Some people vote every day, some even from multiple devices haha. Glad you like the story and thanks for reading!
      Btw, I see your avatar and I approve, good anime, great manga, fabulous opening song (°◡°♡)

          • JW

            Huh. Odd that I don’t recognize it; I’ve always considered that one of the best anime I’ve ever seen (even thought the sub I watched had horrible font for the subtitles).
            It’s not often you see a little girl massacre all her classmates and think, yeah those little bastards deserved that, and you just want to hug the poor girl and tell her everything will be ok.

          • NotImportant

            They killed the puppy. Little shits.
            Did you read the manga? Anime stops in a weird moment, from what I remember, story is not finished.

          • JW

            No, I’ve never read the manga.
            I don’t actually read a lot of manga (aside from webcomics). Which is weird because I do like them. It’s just that after a while I stop finding/taking the time to read them.
            Maybe it’d help if I had some sort of schedule, like periodically updating webcomics or weekly episodes of anime.

          • NotImportant

            I read a lot, mostly while eating meals. And there are times when manga is just too good and I end up reading till there is nothing left. Which is very irresponsible…. ‎(ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻
            Anyway, Elfen Lied is worth reading just to find out how it all ends (because it has an end).

          • Kazzeon

            Isn’t that the only way of reading manga? 😛
            That ending though, never fails to make me emotional..

          • Kazzeon

            I know! :c
            The anime ending was also very sad but in a more straight forward way..
            Damn ninjas cutting onions.. T_T

      • Kazzeon Reply

        Thanks for making it! 😀
        Yeah! Elfen Lied is one of my favorites, that song.. <3
        Glad to see that great series are recognized.. :')

  7. masterofkittens Reply

    I’m going to go ahead and assume that the fact Robert gives Stefen the go ahead means that he gonna be fine. Maybe he just doesn’t think anything will happen though.

    • NotImportant Reply

      It’s not like he can say no to the military when they give him clothes, food, shelter and ‘protection’.

      • masterofkittens Reply

        I meant that Stefen was gonna be fine. I don’t think Robert would give him the go-ahead if it would kill him. I like the comic by the way. It’s on my monday list now.

        • NotImportant Reply

          Glad you like it and thanks for reading! And yeah, Robert wouldn’t be able to harm anyone with a straight face like that~

  9. TheMasterOG Reply

    Dude this comic is great! So high quality and quite interesting. I can’t wait to see where it goes!

  10. Toast Reply

    I’m new to all this….i need to pick my first words carefully……Hello everyone, th- PUCKLE FART!

    Damn. Every time too. Hope you all are having a good day! Also, kickass comic man. Keep it up!

    • NotImportant Reply

      Welcome aboard! Thanks for reading and may today be merciful to you as well! ʕノ•ᴥ•ʔノ

  11. wwlaos Reply

    I love the wordless interaction between Stefen and Robert on this page. So well done!

  13. jwsiw Reply

    Twitter is hard because you can’t start an account and get followers unless you’re already well known or planning on interacting with well-know people. Otherwise, you’ll be just shouting into the void.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Yeah I kind of feel like that right now haha… I am not having much success with Facebook either. My true feelings for social media must be showing through – never liked those too much and now they just refuse to help me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      • JW Reply

        I doubt you have time, but otherwise you could make fan-art for some other artists that are well-known on twitter and tweet it to them, then if they retweet it some of their followers are bound to check you out and maybe follow you.

        • NotImportant Reply

          It’s a good idea and I really wanted to do it but my friend told me it would be too obvious and I shouldn’t suck up to the big ones 😀 Maybe he’s right… But I still really really really want to draw Leona from Prague Race sighhh…

          • Refugnic

            If you want to do a fanart, you should do a fanart, as simple as that.

            If, for whatever reason, the original artist catches wind of what you did (and it’s only right and good to let them know that their work has inspired you to make something), a few things may happen.

            1. That artist will take notice of your existence.
            2. If the artwork is good (which I know you are more than just ‘capable’ of), they will thank you and show it off to others. After all, their work prompted you to create a piece of art.
            3. People who see the fanart and like it, may become curious in what else you’ve got (after all you’ve created that, meaning that you’ve got some skills) and check out where the fanart came from.

            So swallow your doubts and/or hubris and get yourself out there.
            Because you and Replay deserve every single reader you can possibly get.

            However, and this is important to note, all of this only applies to you wanting to do a fanart. Because then the results are beneficial side effects of a gift given.
            If you have to force yourself to draw something for the sake of gaining watchers, you’re just prostrating yourself.

          • JW

            You don’t necessarily have to direct your tweet at someone. If you do fanart of Leone just tweet with hashtags #leona #praguerace; that’s just correct labeling not sucking up.

            And if you really want to do fanart, I certainly wouldn’t let a little thing like how others might interpret that worry you.

          • NotImportant

            You guys are right… I’ll probably do a fanart month or something and will draw 4-5 characters from other comics I like, just to show you what I read and release that urge to draw other people’s characters haha. I just need some time to spare~ Hopefully soon.
            Thanks for advice and encouragement ♥ I tend to think too much, uh. Should have just drew that fanart.

  14. Werdna Reply

    Hello! I have just started reading this comic literally today, and I have loved it thus far. All that you have done with the action and expressions has been really great. The background information like vision frequency and the few spells seen so far has been really cool and interesting. I can not wait to keep reading, and am looking forward to next Monday.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Hey, thanks for reading and glad you like it! I really hope I’ll be able to keep you excited!

  15. Dataprowler Reply

    You just showed a scientist, someone ENAMORED BY THE UNEXPLAINED, a MYSTERIOUS THING!!! He’s not going to be weirded out, he’s going to want to run tests!

  17. Weeaboo Reply

    Weee-ll I don’t really use twitter. Or any form of social media, so I can’t really talk. But I’d like seeing character concept designs:D

    • NotImportant Reply

      Oh damn those are so messy and ugly I wouldn’t show those to anyone D:
      I did post color sketches on Twitter and Facebook and if you are not on your phone you should see a small Twitter box on the right side of the note under the comic page. So if you visited every other day you’ve probably seen the drawings. If not… well you can still go to that Twitter and look through the gallery I suppose. I didn’t want to throw all those practice sketches to the gallery.

  18. SotiCoto Reply

    Okay… enough horsing about in this tent with these less-interesting people… Go back to glasses lady now yes?

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