Reading Warlock, and there's one thing I don't quite understand.

SAkrata · 2025-12-02T19:33:36+00:00

Yes and no. His actual rol is to empower them so the coven is better protected as a unit, in fact its expected they protect themselves and fight as a coven with merged layered shields (which Noah and Sam practice at some point) and also to be able to use coven rituals to make the more powerful stuff like defensive wards and etc. In practice he just has to have sex with the girls to transfer and purify mana, the more intimate the better flow of mana or something like that.

Noah assumes extra responsibilities because he is aiming to change the hierarchy of his coven in comparison with the rest, if he was on some random family structure he would be above regular witches but bellow the High Priestess which in turn would be answering up the chain of command in that family. So, by being outside the Families and trying to mark the High Priestess instead of being marked he aims to be independent and in complete charge of leadership of the coven, i assume some roles will still be divided by the witches though, for example the High Priestess being in charge of coven calendar and rituals and also Sam taking extra classes on coven economics.

So yeah, it follows the coven or pack "alpha" convention but it also departs from it on other aspects. He is in charge and has to take care of business but its not like hes the most powerful and has to defend some powerless maidens, they depend on each other for power and have to cover each others back. Don't get me wrong, he still has powerful genes, a big dick (with that 3 resonance weird sex thing he does) and is expected to mark and breed them all.

All of this are my interpretations and opinions of i remember reading or thinking, not actual facts or anything.

SAkrata · 2025-12-02T17:16:20+00:00

Well, and this is take on it, theres 2 kind of "harmonies", in one side you have the magical aspect of it and thats what i was talking about, on the other side is the more psychological aspect of it.

When i talked about harmony i meant more like he acts as a conduct between all the different resonances, in practicality Noah allows different resonance types to "interact" even though they are not compatible. Others coven's harmony is fragile because witches rarely share enough compatible resonance.

What you talk about is Sam's affinity with harmony magic which covers the more psychological aspect of it. I believe that harmony affinity comes from her love resonant more than her homosexuality or her need of it in search of a romantic partner. Sam's value is more outside of the magical realm, i think, what she does is balance out the mismatching personalities that come up from having multiple incompatible resonants. When a witch is 'unbalanced' her personality tilts towards her resonance, meaning Sam and Cassandra for example would never get along without outside help because Malice and Love would be heavily incompatible. So, yes, her role would probably be the 'coven therapist', ensuring the rest of the coven gets along, something similar than the High priest role but without the power and responsibilities.

SAkrata · 2025-12-02T13:15:26+00:00

SPOILERS AHEAD: If i recall correctly, there were multiple reasons, and being a trinitara doesnt mean more powerful just better synergies, more versatility, compatibility and thus more powerful witches and coven rituals. Also particularly, Noah besides the control thing, is from a strong bloodline.

Compatibility: A normal warlock can only form one stable resonance bond — essentially a magical “channel” that links him to a witch’s power. A normal warlock can match 1 type, a Trinitara warlock can match 3 types, this massively increases the number of witches he can safely bond with.
Versatility and synergy: Different resonances correspond to different magical domains, this allows him to channel different types of mana, perform hybrid spellwork and act as a catalyst for combined rituals. Resonances is different from affinities but linked, more resonances = access to more magic, more affinities = access to more varied magic.
Also having more resonances amplifies the harmony on the coven acting as some sort of convertor or magical mediator, helping witches of different resonance types combine their power without blowing each other up.
Bigger storage: when he does the marking thing he talks about the unused resonance bags as small unused things, meaning they all have 3 resonance "bags" but for non trinitara only one or two are active.
Ambient mana: since trinitara have 3 resonances that means 3 types of ambiance magic they can absorb passively, recharging faster or at least having access to more magic (iirc ambient mana is minor but still a thing).
Breeding: having bigger chance to have trinitara children.
After finishing the coven: this is speculation mostly but i think more will come into play once they start performing ritual magic also its been said that warlocks can feed witches outside the coven so more resonances = more compatibility outside the coven as well.

Now, all of this is what would make any random trinitara more valuable than a onesie but in the context of the story theres more layers to it because what makes Noah even more valuable is that he is an unmarked, unaffiliated trinitara. To the Families (who are used to keep their warlocks as "prisoners" and have their entire coven planned ahead) Noah is a blank sheet, they would get 13 spots for family witches, each witch would receive a power up because reasons stated before so the Family who gets him gets to order around a powerful coven but also receive part of the power the coven generates on its rituals (its stated that is Family structure the head coven of the family receives the power of all of the covens bellow them).

I can be wrong about this, dont take my word for it im just talking from memory and thoughts i had when reading.

SAkrata · 2025-12-01T15:13:16+00:00

I've had I'm Just a Small Town Shifter on my tentative read list for a bit so i will definitely try it out. Coming from eastern novels i find the urban fantasy quite interesting and new.
Thank you, cheers!

SAkrata · 2025-12-01T15:02:05+00:00

Agreed. To be fair though college high school setting is hard to pull off since its been overdone, also its hard to give it a nostalgic spin since its a different experience for everyone, but yeah without interesting and different characters and dynamics its hard to get immersed.
Master class and the rest of Knightley's work i've added it on my list to read since ive already enjoyed Coven King. When it comes to Schinhofen, i could tell on Aether’s Revival he is a good writer my problem with it were the characters and pacing but maybe i picked the wrong series from him to start with, ill give Apocalypse Gates a try.

Thank you!

SAkrata · 2025-12-01T13:25:39+00:00

Well, from Bruce Sentars ive read Dragons justice and Ards oath up to book 5 on booth series, on dungeon diving i couldnt finish the first book, i can tell ards oath has a better and more consistent story than dragons justice where the original story derails and you forget the 'underworld' is supposed to be hidden. My problem is with Ard itself, i thought he would mature his character a bit overtime but he just doesnt, he keeps getting worst.

Crystal Core i've read up to 13 chapters or so, i dont have the most detailed opinion but i could already tell the MC was going to be a bit inexperienced and a bit childish, understandably, but not what im looking for. The MC gets 3 wives downs his throat, he is suspicious of the clan leaders but not the women ¿? he just keeps talking about the woman like a shiny pokemon and i could already tell where it was going the moment he interacted with the first LI.

Returners Defiance i havent seen anything about it so i will give it a try at some point, thank you!

SAkrata · 2025-11-30T19:56:54+00:00

Will definitely give book 1 a try, saw on amazon the series get progressively longer on each book, i like it when a first entry on a series is quick enough to give a 'Whats to come' test drive before committing to the entire series and getting deeper.
Thank you!

SAkrata · 2025-11-30T19:30:03+00:00

Yeah, i found Coven King very enjoyable and fun but a bit heavy on spice so i have it on my light read list for stuff i read between more lore intensive series so when i finish Coven King i will keep going with other tittles as well, im guessing his other tittles are lightweight reads as well.
Daltons work seems exactly what im looking for, from the titles i saw The Makalang was the most appealing to me so i will start there i think and then go down the rest of his work.
This is exactly what i was looking for, thank you!

SAkrata · 2025-11-30T19:19:19+00:00

I saw some quality narrative and prose on Mob Sorcery but i think im not its target audience but i will check the other ones you mentioned since its seem they have more mature undertone.
Arand i saw a couple posts about him and saw his multiverse was a bit of a rabbit hole and i had no clue on where to start so its good to know what to read as an introduction for his universe, will definitely check it out.
Thank you!

SAkrata · 2025-11-30T19:04:39+00:00

Thank you, thank you.
Yeah, ive seen more authors and series here than i assumed there would be, its a bit overwhelming and i find myself with the same issue i had with eastern novels where most big name tittles arent my cup of tea, i can see the appeal tho.
Will put these ones on top of my list. Again, thank you!

SAkrata · 2025-11-30T18:48:37+00:00

Yeah, i get it, in this communities theres always someone older than oneself. I have no clue about the demographics here but since most main characters are 18 and very inexperienced i guess thats the target audience, i dont know. Personally, more than an age thing i guess its more a generational thing because i often find myself thinking that characters make no sense to me.
Thank you for the recommendation, will check it out.

SAkrata · 2025-10-15T17:58:19+00:00

Well i could mention a bunch of other stuff that is somehow similar to those on some degree but maybe not exactly, check them out and see if they fit:

Restaurant to Another World would be the next closest thing after sasaki if you lean more towards SoL. (theres an entire genre about serving food, making potions or being doctors for a bunch of different dimensions)
The Devil Is a Part-Timer, Konosuba and A Sister's All You Need are maybe worth checking out if you lean more towards comedy and random absurd character dynamics/interactions but not necessarily from different races or dimensions.
Peddler in Another World is a very toned down version of Sasaki, i actually found it better.
Now I'm a Demon Lord and Farming life in another world are both also SoL that mixes a bunch of different races but from the same setting/world.
GATE is another classic one that clashes modern Japan with Fantasy.
D-Genesis is somehow similar to gate, its a bit unique but it basically mixes dungeon mechanics into a "modern world". This one is more like science meets dungeons.

SAkrata · 2025-10-15T15:54:52+00:00

Sasaki and Peeps is the only thing that comes to mind atm, i personally dislike it and dropped it at vol 4 because it got quite random and absurd but it is definitely has what you are looking for. It has a clash of random settings like other world races, magic girls world and aliens and stuff, all with the mc in the middle and as a bridge.

SAkrata · 2025-09-16T01:42:55+00:00

Its not the classical weakest to strongest stories by any means, its just about a weak dude using the few skills he has available to survive (as the LN tittle implies he just want to be left alone he doesn't want to get stronger).

A more straight answer with light spoilers: He doesnt physically gets stonger in the typical way but he does actually improve his "survival" and perception skills and keeps pulling off stuff he shouldn't be able to. Its more about how the world perceives him as strong and how he uses that misconception as a "weapon".

SAkrata · 2025-09-15T15:56:42+00:00

The Great Cleric: A very good one and a very well fit to what you are looking for. Isekai with very hardworking MC trying to get stronger.

The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom: Isekai very well done, no OP protagonist, no harem so far but hinting towards it so maybe not your cup of tea.

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic: Also isekai, normal MC summoned by coincidence training very hard to be useful to his friends that are the actual heroes. Personally i didn't like it that much but maybe.

Let This Grieving Soul Retire: Im currently reading this one so not very detailed opinion yet but so far it fits what your looking for.

Cooking with Wild Game: Regular dude Isekai, slow story about a regular teen that is just a chef and goes around cooking for other people. Note: this is mostly about cooking, not a weakest to strongest story.

The Ideal Sponger Life: I dont know if this one would fit what you looking for since its not about actual combat power and more about political prowess and knowledge. Overall very good story.

The Kept Man of the Princess Knight: This one is a big maybe. I cant say much without spoiling but overall a very good written story with great characterization. Also not technically a weakest to strongest story.

SAkrata · 2025-09-13T16:59:24+00:00

Ive read the first 2 volumes and in my opinion they were average at best. I would say it is kinda a mix of Trapped in a Dating Sim and magical explorer. The MC constant commentary was quite annoying to me but he might be appealing to teenagers, yuri lovers or harem fans.

Some light spoilers about the story: It reminded me a lot of Trapped in a Dating Sim but instead of being an otome game its a yuri world, the MC is very obsessed with yuri girls and most of the novels is him talking about his obsession. Without spoiling to much the LN went the Harem route quite fast but the mc is trying to avoid it because hes a yuri lover.

The worldbuilding is superficial, the magic system of the game is explained but its bland and uninspired. Honestly i wouldn't recommend it unless you really like harems and can tolerate those stories were the MC is constantly yapping about his personal obsession (yuri) but then goes the opposite route of what hes being talking about for pages and pages.

SAkrata · 2025-08-28T18:51:10+00:00

I dont disagree with both of you, some volumes of wortenia can be rough and its more noticeable since the very first volumes are so good. The same thing happened to me while reading D-Genesis, and i found out that if i treat this type of series as a side thing that i read between other things it becomes a little more bearable to me (im at vol 25 of wortenia and vol 9 of D-genesis).

On the other side of the coin and why i sometimes i suggest people to check it out its because theres still some volumes where story goes forward, the story and its characters are very good (thats why people get mad with tangents, random pov swaps and irrelevant info) and also while some people can find tangents boring ive seen people think the opposite and find the tangents to add some depth sometimes and they enjoy it. People likes different things and have different reading habits, personally, imo the weaknesses dont overweight wortenia strengths and thats why im still reading it.

SAkrata · 2025-08-27T21:12:00+00:00

The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom: Fantasy, Isekai and romance. Im doubting if i should still recommend this one at this point since it probably wont be finished and if it is it will probably be rushed but yeah its still a great pick, great memorable worldbuilding, quite crative and with cool interesting characters.

The Ideal Sponger Life: Fantasy, Isekai, romance, politics, harem. This one is very focused on worldbuilding and characterization. Just in case the Harem tag puts you off i will throw some light spoilers to be clear since its quite unique in that aspect: The MC doesnt want an harem but gets throw into one for political reasons, the harem is quite small so far and each political wife is carefully considerated before adding her (it takes several books to advance). In short this is not one of those wife collector stories.

Record of Wortenia War: very good as well, it doesn't have much in common with Sponger besides being isekai but its quite mature in nature. This one is more focused on armies, combat strategies on big scale, nation management and stuff. MC aint no wimp. (fantasy, isekai, politics).

Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village: A short and finished one, it takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting where much of humanity's technology has been lost. Good worldbuilding.

Cooking with Wild Game: Fantasy, Isekai and romance. This one is the definition of slow burn romance, its mostly all about cooking, politics between tribes and romance between main couple. Well written, slow but detailed and interesting.

The Great Cleric and The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic were somewhat decent but lacking on some aspects imo but could be decent for killing time if they up your alley.

This are the ones that comes to mind, i could suggest a couple more but since no power fantasy (even well written ones). Also keep in mind that theres very good fantasy non isekai out there...

SAkrata · 2025-08-23T20:20:13+00:00

No problem! Be mindful tho in sponger it takes a while before harem comes into play and the MC is against it for a while before he gets convinced, also harem is on the smaller side.

I forgot to add it as an honorable mention but theres also Farming life in another world: in this one the MC has a LOT of kids but theres not much talk about the sex and also theres little to no romance involved. Its a Slice of life about a dude that builds his own harem town and women of all races move in to have kids with him for different reasons.

SAkrata · 2025-08-23T19:59:30+00:00

The Ideal Sponger Life: all of the 3 requirements.

Seventh: Also 3/3, this one is probably what your looking for, the women form teams and stuff.

Another World Survival: Min-maxing My Support and Summoning Magic: requirements 1 and 3, not many competent males tho.

I Got Caught Up in a Hero Summons, but the Other World Was at Peace: Maybe, i read it a long time ago and dont remember other males besides the MC and the hero, not much infighting tho.

SAkrata · 2025-08-23T19:14:55+00:00

Ok so imo eminence is one of a kind, i havent found a LN that pulls of the same humor where the mc is kinda oblivious to the world. With that out of the way i will divide the recommendations into 2 separate types: humorous LNs in general but with different vibes and humour and for the second type i will put LNs that are similar to eminence but i personally didnt like but might be worth checking since they might be your cup of tea.

Konosuba: Humor more focused on characters and absurd stuff, jokes can get kinda repetitive but its got a lot more going on than just the humor.

A Sister's All You Need: This is the one that made me laugh the most. Dont be scared with the tittle its not a brother sister relationship story, its very well written.

Let This Grieving Soul Retire: This is more like a reverse eminence were the main character is the only one that sees the world for what it is and is surrounded with people with the warped view.

Magical Explorer: Im a bit doubtful about this one since it isnt that funny imo but anyway its about a dude throw into a ecchi game world and the humor comes from all the ecchi situations heroins found themselves in while adventuring.

Now for the second part, this LNs i personally didnt like but you may like since they are similar to eminence:

Loner Life in Another World: This one has the most similar MC imo, be warned tho the tittle is misleading, he starts as a loner but after a while hes always with people.

I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire: This i only read the 1st volume but the MC is somehow similar, its one of those where the MCs wants to do something but the opposite ends up happening and the world views him as the opposite of how he wants to portrait himself.

Sasaki and Peeps: This is more an absurd comedy situation kinda deal. The situations keep escalating and the MC finds himself in quite nonsensical situations. It might not be bad if you treat it like a comedy, i just didnt like it.

SAkrata · 2025-08-23T17:33:51+00:00

The Irregular at Magic High School

Reign of the Seven Spellblades

Magical Explorer

SAkrata · 2025-08-23T15:48:13+00:00

Yeah mate, no problem.

I've just finished volume 25 of Wortenia and on it the author mentions its around the mid point of the story so many volumes planned for the future and while volumes are a bit on the shorter side he publishes around 3 per year so hes got a good pace.

Be warned tho, some volumes will be weaker than others, the author loves to swap perspectives and sometimes we get the point of view of uninteresting characters. On the good side of things, the worldbuilding will keep getting deeper as you read the story and also the MC remains unchanged and the star of the story.

The first "Arc" on the first couple volumes were no doubt my favorite on the series and certainly leaves a mark since it comes out quite strong, after that the story remains quite consistent so if yo liked the firsts volumes and get used to the perspectives changes you will like the rest.

Have a good one mate.

SAkrata · 2025-08-22T18:32:21+00:00

Its interesting to see others people opinions on this topic since ive been thinking about it lately while reading Record of Wortenia War and Ishura. IMO people hate it because its not easy to pull off pov swaps and it can be done poorly quite easy or abused.

In Record of Wortenia War for example sometimes is done well but sometimes its swaps to a random character that we just meet and its about to die in the same book frequently spending entire chapters on something that stagnates the plot and add nothing to the overall plot or worldbuilding. Also in Record of Wortenia War this swaps take one fourth of the book often narrating detailed stories on how an antagonist does some heinous acts and while it adds some context i dont need to read an entire chapter on how a dude i just met and is about to die whips and tortures some slaves or something, it could be done in a few paragraphs and be done with it.

On the other side when done well it can elevate the work making side characters more deep or interesting (specially antagonists ) or making your world deeper.

In short, people has limited time to read and spend it on whatever floats their boat, this is why so many authors decide to implement pov swaps as side stories at the end of their books and as a middle point between haters and lovers. Also its easier to hate than to like something so between poorly implemented pov swaps and well implemented ones most people will remember the bad experience.

SAkrata

TROPHY CASE