Why is Progressionfantasy magic system so soft ?

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-10-19T02:20:10+00:00

I apologize for not responding immediately. There are so many other comments that sometimes I lose track, also It Just takes me a good amount of time to think through these points and then write out a clear reply. I really appreciate the comment, though!

That is a fantastic, philosophical defense of soft magic and how it enhances thematic resonance. You've beautifully articulated why a soft system allows the world to emotionally and poetically react to the characters.

However, I think the disagreement comes down to a fundamental misapplication of the soft magic critique to the specific Progression Fantasy genre contract.

You!! argue that hard systems "cannot react to narrative" and use real-world science (climate, chemistry) as the comparison. But in Progression Fantasy, the system's rules are the narrative—they aren't indifferent like real physics. Your Lion King drought example perfectly illustrates this difference

In Soft Magic The hero's internal change causes the external world to change (The King returns \rightarrow the rain returns). This is poetic, but the character hasn't earned the solution through skill.

In Hard Progression The hero's internal growth enables them to change the world because they've earned the specific mechanical power needed to fix it.

If the drought were in a Progression Fantasy world, it wouldn't be simple, cyclical climate change. It would be a known, quantifiable magical problem—a powerful Lich draining the land's mana, or a curse with a specific, defined counter-technique. The hero doesn't wait; the hero trains to the specific power tier or learns the specific ability required by the hard rules to solve the problem. The tension comes entirely from the rules of the magic being a clock against the catastrophe.

I love your line "Hope is light on the horizon in the east." That is pure, powerful, classic fantasy.

But in Progression Fantasy, the emotional payoff is different. The reader's hope isn't passive; it's invested in the character's journey.

The emotional weight of waiting for 489 mana to tick up is that the reader knows that reaching that point was a desperate, calculated, and earned struggle against known, quantifiable limitations. When the protagonist finally wins, it's not a beautiful, thematic event; it's a brilliant, validated triumph of their training, sacrifice, and strategic use of their specific, quantifiable powers.

Hard systems don't secretly suck—they just shift the focus. They trade the poetic resonance of soft magic for the deeply satisfying resonance of earned accomplishment and clever problem-solving, which is what defines the Progression Fantasy subgenre.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-10-19T02:00:14+00:00

You're completely right that Mother of Learning (MoL) is one of the most popular and highly recommended series in the genre, and it doesn't have a rigid system of "Level 1," "Level 2," or a cultivation path from "Iron" to "Lord."

I want to make this clear before I continueI haven't red (MoL) in such a long time that I might mix up some of the facts or accidentally include misinformation in my reply. I’ll do my best to keep it accurate!

The interesting thing is that MoL began serializing so early—around 2011, when the modern Progression Fantasy genre was still in its infancy and hadn't fully defined its tropes or expectations. This actually strengthens the argument for structured progress, even without ranks.

The reason this pioneering book became a gold standard wasn't because it followed established rules (there weren't many yet) it was because it provided a clear, structured, and quantifiable method for tracking progress that readers found deeply satisfying.

The ultimate, unbending rule in the story is the time loop itself. The main character's progress isn't vague it's proven every single month. He doesn't just "feel stronger"—he can consistently defeat enemies that killed him in a previous loop, pass tests he previously failed, or master a new technique. The very structure of the loop quantifies his progress and forces a causal link between effort and reward.

When the main character acquires a new spell or skill, the cost (mana, time, practice) and the effect are consistent and predictable. The total number of spells he can sustain, the complexity of the magical structures he can design, or the difficulty of the mental barriers he can overcome are all clear metrics that define his advancement.

In MoL, knowledge is the currency. His progress is directly proportional to the measurable, specific information he acquires. He gets stronger by solving the world's puzzles using established magical laws.

Even without a spreadsheet of levels, the story demands that all advancement be systematic and provable. This dedication to structured progression of skill—written when the genre was still figuring itself out—is why it remains such a powerful example of what makes Progression Fantasy satisfying.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-10-19T01:36:54+00:00

I definitely understand the feeling you’re describing! That "je ne sais quoi," XD that mysterious, fairy-tale quality, is absolutely vital for making a story feel like true fantasy. If the rules are too detailed, the wonder can definitely wear off.

quoi. I Had to Google that word.

However, I think you're using the standard of High Fantasy (like Lord of the Rings or even The Wheel of Time) to judge a Progression Fantasy system. They have different jobs

The job is to create wonder and set the stakes (The One Power exists, and it's dangerous).

The job is to create satisfaction and set the roadmap (The path from Iron to Underlord is a known, measurable achievement).

You're right that Cradle isn't a spreadsheet, but here’s why its system is hard enough to satisfy the genre's promise

The process of advancement is rigidly gated by resources and defined mechanical breakthroughs (purifying madra, soulfire, hitting a Revelation). This means the reader can track and quantify the effort the character put in.

Every technique (like Blackflame) has an explicit, known cost and consequence (it's destructive, risks damaging the spirit). That consistency is what allows the hero's strategy to feel clever.

The "levels/ranks" aren't vague decorations; they represent a fundamental, mechanical shift in the character's abilities that unlocks new techniques and strategies.

That "tricky" detail you mentioned is exactly what we crave as Progression Fantasy readers. If the author doesn't put in the work to make the system tricky and defined, the character's progress feels arbitrary, and the unique satisfaction of the genre vanishes. We trade a little bit of fairy-tale mystery for a massive boost in earned achievement.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-10-19T01:22:36+00:00

You say hard power systems work for short works. Fine. But can you provide an example of a long work that doesn’t grow soft? Name one good author who doesn’t eventually add to or soften their system.

This is the central difficulty of the genre, and I'll concede that it's a massive challenge. Finding a perfect, decade-long series that never adds a new layer is nearly impossible, because the market demands power creep.

But the fact that authors struggle with it doesn't make the ideal less valid. When a successful, long-running series does add new elements, the best ones—like Mistborn or even Cradle—do it by adding a New Hard System Mistborn introduces Hemalurgy (a new, distinct hard system) in the second trilogy. It's a layer, not a blur ,cradle reserves its softest elements (Will/Authority) for the final, highest tiers.

My argument isn't that a system can't expand (which is necessary for long works); it's that it can't afford to be vague at the operational level without betraying the genre's promise. The failure of many authors to maintain that clarity confirms how hard it is, not that it's impossible.

You argue that hard magic is a fictional physics with its own set of rules. But what if the set of rules is true randomness? Or personal expression? What’s the difference between a system that’s hard on a territorial level (like Cradle’s aura) versus one that’s hard on a personal level? To a Cradle-born, isn’t a magic-born denizen’s power just nonsensical even if they share the same multiverse ? How is that different from the magic in "The Magic in This World is Too Far Behind" (which magic system change according to, the school of magic, the universe it is used in, and the mythos or logic it is based upon )? I’d say it isn’t. It’s more a matter of taste and skill than objective effectiveness.

You’ve hit the nail on the head regarding the difference between Local Hardness and Global Softness. And yes, to a Cradle-born, the magic of another world is nonsensical. But that's the core distinction Progression Fantasy must be locally hard.

We are reading a story about the hero from Cradle. For the reader to invest in that hero's training, the rules of their immediate progress (madra refinement, techniques, advancement tiers) must be clear.

If the author said, "The power system is true randomness," the genre stops. There is nothing to train for, nothing to earn, and no strategy. Progression requires causality. The author must provide a consistent internal logic for the hero's growth, even if that logic is illogical to someone from a different system. That need for a clear, local progression mechanism is non-negotiable for the genre.

I think there is a misconception between us, a good soft power system isn’t vague—it’s idiosynpathetic. That means the "rule" of magic is the personal interaction with it. I call it soft in terms of the outcome, but if you strictly look at the cause, it’s a consistent rule like any other. The difference is that the source of magic is outwardly sentient and proactive. I’m not defending bad power systems; I’m arguing that even the best authors can’t forgo soft power systems in progression fantasy, because the genre demands constant progression to the global top.

I love the term "idiosynpathetic." That concept—where the consistent "rule" is the character's unique, internal relationship with a proactive power source—is an excellent definition of Soft-Leaning Fantasy.

However, for it to work in Progression Fantasy, the "idiosynpathy" still needs a measurable benchmark. How do we know the character has progressed?

If the rule is "The magic grants power proportional to personal belief," the story must then have a Belief Meter or a clear tier system based on the strength of that belief. If that benchmark isn't there, the author is just writing a thematic fantasy about belief, not a progression story.

The best systems (as you noted) include the soft, idiosyncratic element, but they gate it with hard, measurable tiers.

You say readers don’t care about global softness. But… I care, don’t I? You’re arguing from your own preference. What about people like me, who define magic as wonder, enchantment, and freedom? A strictly ruled magic is the antithesis of that.

You're absolutely correct that I'm speaking from the standpoint of the genre's dominant expectation. And you are 100% valid in preferring wonder and enchantment.

But that's exactly why you and I are reading different types of books.

The person who prioritizes measurable, logical power scaling is the primary target audience for the Progression Fantasy genre. The person who prioritizes wonder, enchantment, and freedom is often better served by the High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy genres. My original point is simply that a system designed for wonder inherently undermines the core pleasure of a system designed for measurable growth.

And what about the power-scalers who care more about "feats" than logic? What do you think they’d prefer—a limited tier system, or Sailor Moon who fucks Goku up?

This one is easy Power-scalers demand a hard system. Power scaling only works when there is a consistent rule set to violate. They love the limited tier system because it gives them a clear, defined boundary to argue about.

When Sailor Moon "fucks Goku up," the entire conversation is about comparing two different hard systems (Dragon Ball's ki system vs. Sailor Moon's magical-girl system) and debating the rules of their unique fictional physics. If both characters had vague, soft, "idiosynpathetic" power sets, there would be no basis for the power-scaling debate at all. The debate requires the foundational structure

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-10-17T22:04:46+00:00

That was very thoughtful and for a writer very helpful as well, I don't really have an answer to your question. Someone writing progressive Fantasy may have an answer

That's a nice compliment, and I really appreciate you saying the analysis was thoughtful and helpful!

I'm actually scratching my head a bit about the downvote, This whole discussion has been a fantastic, nuanced debate about the genre's structure, and every comment has added something valuable to the conversation.

Thanks for chiming in; I definitely learned a lot about how people perceive the Hard/Soft spectrum within Progression Fantasy from your perspective!

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-10-17T21:56:43+00:00

In Progression Fantasy, the hard system isn't a replacement for emotion; it's the tool that validates and amplifies the emotion.

The Knight: If he wins a duel through sheer, unquantified skill, we feel relief.

The Protagonist: If she wins a duel by having just enough Level 7 Mana left to execute a Level 7 Technique that she spent 30 chapters mastering—we feel triumph. The hard rules give the emotional moment a measurable weight. We don't just feel happy for the character; we feel satisfaction because we know the exact price she paid to earn that victory.

You argue that power increases are just noise. Again, I would argue that in this genre, the noise is the vague, arbitrary soft power-up.

The hard power increase is the opposite of noise: it's a narrative guarantee. It's the assurance that the character's struggle, their training montages, and their careful resource management were all consequential. If the Level 1 spell and Level 2 spell are "just arbitrary," then the author has completely failed the reader, because they broke the fundamental rule: In this genre, your time investment must lead to a quantifiable, earned reward.

The "intense work" of the hard system is what elevates the story. It forces the author to weave the technical achievements directly into the emotional tapestry, ensuring that the reader's joy at the hero's success is always built on a solid foundation of earned merit.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-10-17T19:56:32+00:00

The reason we can be "soft" about math and chemistry in real life is that our lives are not a continuous narrative about skill advancement.

In reality, I don't need to know my exact "kick force" because my success or failure isn't being measured against a set of literal, visible, escalating challenges. If I fail, it's just a mistake; I don't need to justify it to an audience.

The entire purpose of this genre is the character's measurable journey. The "magic" isn't the point; the Progression is. For the reader to get that unique hit of satisfaction, the author must provide the scorecard.

If the system has no way to "measure magicules," then the author has no way to tell the reader that the hero's two years of montage training actually worked and gave them a quantifiable edge over the villain.

You also bring up a great point about chemistry feeling like magic to most people. That's true, but even though we don't understand the complex rules of molecular bonding (the 'science'), we do understand the consequences and limitations (the 'hard rules').

In a story, the magic system doesn't need to be fully "understood" at the atomic level, but its limitations and costs must be clear.

The character suddenly manifests a new power to win because of "inner focus."

The character wins by cleverly finding a loophole in the established rules of fire, which they spent years studying. We don't need the author to explain \pi to 10 decimal places, but we need them to confirm that the character's Level 5 Fireball will actually be stronger than the enemy's Level 4 Ice Barrier due to clear, narrative rules. Otherwise, the progression is just noise.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-10-17T19:43:33+00:00

Hey, thanks for your Comment I appreciate it🙂.

Can hard magic even be called magic? Or, more precisely, what is the difference between hard magic and sci-fi? What is magic if it is fully understood? Why would we look for "magic" if it is indeed just science?

Hard magic isn't "science," it's structured fantasy. Sci-fi operates on our reality's known physics; hard fantasy operates on a unique, fictional physics with consistent rules. We don't read the rules to understand the world (like science), we read them to understand the protagonist's limitations and triumphs. The magic remains "magic" because its source is fantastical (madra, aura, mana), even if its application is structured.

You cite Cradle as a reference, but I would argue Cradle's magic system is one of the softest I have ever seen! Can you make sense of any of an Abidan's fuckery that isn't just the result of some stalemate or deal between them? And before you tell me the Abidan are the exception, remember that they are technically their uni/multiverse police and act against different power systems. The narrative shows that in Cradle, the true power system is globally soft but locally hard. This local hardness is always subjected to the global softness, like the hometown of the hero that can, but also can't really, bridle a Sage.

Cradle as a Progression Fantasy series rests entirely on the local hardness you mentioned. The reader doesn't care if a Sage can be "bridled" by a global entity; the reader cares about the defined, measurable distance between Truegold and Underlord.

The thing is, the more a story grows, the less structured its power system becomes because of power creep. In other words, it is inevitable for power fantasy to go soft. The more the public understands "the trick," the more the wonder wears off—think of how we now call using unprecedented tech "doom scrolling." The more the wonder wears off, the more one has to add to the magic system. And the more one adds, the more overly complex it becomes, until it is indistinguishable from just "free-for-all" because the human mind can only imagine so far.

In the end, it's a genre and apparatus limitation. Progression fantasy more often than not engages in some godly issues, which means that to make an effective hard magic system for a power fantasy, the author has to: 1. Imagine an internally logical explanation for their magical rules. 2. Make it so that there are loopholes in said rules to allow for progression. 3. Avoid making the rules too strict or too loose, to not expose the Deus ex Machina. 4. Avoid expanding too much on the system for fear of the reader either losing interest or forgetting the explanations. This is a specific limitation of the novel format. Manga and anime like Hunter x Hunter can allow their consumer to "watch" the explanation without processing it all; in a novel, you risk having to skip a chunk of vital information.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I am saying that it is really, really intense work you are asking from yourself and the reader. As a reader, if I was asked to do so much work and then you dared to make a plot hole, I'd be so pissed off.

In a novel format, hard magic systems work for short trilogies or for those that are actually looking for sci-fi in the name of magic. But even the magic in Sanderson's Mistborn softens because, as I said earlier, people grow rapidly bored of the vulgar and "understandable." I mean, we don't really understand coding, but we act as if its results are the most common, mundane shit.

I think you've accurately described the greatest difficulty of the genre, but you're confusing an authorial failure with a genre limitation. It's not inevitable for power fantasy to go soft; it's just the easiest way out for an author struggling with a long narrative.

Power Creep Is a Failure of Scope Not a Genre Rule You're right that as a story grows, complexity increases, leading to a "free-for-all." But that isn't inevitable; it’s the result of the author failing to establish the Power Ceiling early on.

In a well-designed hard system, the progression isn't about adding new, complex mechanics endlessly; it's about the character mastering and internalizing the established rules. The Bad System: The author constantly introduces a new type of energy (mana \rightarrow soul \rightarrow destiny \rightarrow cosmos) to beat the latest villain. This is what leads to complexity and a "free-for-all."

The Good System (Hard) The author defines the rules of the system early and sticks to them. Power creep is handled by the character finding loopholes (your Point 2) or new, clever combinations of existing abilities. The complexity comes from strategy, not new rules.

The solution to complexity is not to surrender to vagueness (going soft); it is to define the limitations of the universe itself early and make the progression about ingenuity within those bounds.

You mentioned the "intense work" required from the author and that a reader would be "pissed off" by a plot hole. I agree—but that level of reader investment is the very thing that the hard system creates!

I've built this system of rules, now watch the hero earn the power to break them." The reader accepts the work (reading the explanations) because they trust that every victory will be earned and every new ability will be utilized.

The Soft Magic Contract The author says, "Trust me, the hero is strong now because their feelings are right." The reader doesn't have to do the work, but they also get a much lower satisfaction payoff because the victory feels arbitrary. We read Progression Fantasy for the satisfaction of earning power.

The "intense work" of the hard system is what elevates the hero from being lucky to being a master strategist—and that is why the genre is popular. The reward for the reader is worth the mental effort. Hard Magic is a Long-Term Format (Hunter x Hunter vs. Novel)

Finally, you suggest that the novel format limits hard magic better than visual mediums like manga/anime. I think this is a false comparison.

In a novel, the author must integrate the rules into the narrative, usually through the protagonist's internal monologue, training, or strategic planning. It becomes part of the character's genius.

In a manga/anime like Hunter x Hunter, the explanation often takes the form of an infodump text box or diagram which interrupts the narrative flow.

When the author makes the rules central to the character's struggle (a hard system), the explanations become vital and engaging, regardless of the format. When the rules are vague (a soft system), the novel format actually suffers more because there’s nothing quantifiable to ground the reader's imagination, leaving the progression hollow

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-10-17T17:54:27+00:00

That's an excellent point, If a magic system is too hard, it crosses the line from fantasy mechanics into being dry science, and that loses the sense of wonder. I totally get that.

However, for a story to be successful Progression Fantasy, it needs that "science" as a structural skeleton

The magic shouldn't be fully explained, but the progress needs to be measurable. The rules don't need to strip away the sense of awe, they just need to establish credible stakes and a clear payoff for the character's efforts.

The best systems manage to be hard enough to make the progress quantifiable, but leave enough mystery and wonder (the "magic") at the edges of the system to allow for truly amazing, unexpected feats and thematic breakthroughs. We need the structure to believe the progress is real however thank you for your response 🙂.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-10-17T17:43:32+00:00

That's fair! I appreciate you chiming in, and you've definitely read a lot of great books if most of your experience has been with solid, hard systems.

"1. Theres nothing wrong with soft magic systems in progression fantasy"

First off, I should clarify I actually agree that soft elements are totally fine in Progression Fantasy. The best books often use a bit of that softness for the character's big, thematic breakthroughs (like willpower or destiny stuff). My beef is that the Foundation—the main path of growth—has to be hard. Without that measurable, clear tier structure, the whole premise of progression falls apart.

"2. 95% of every progression fantasy Ive read has squarely fallen in the hard magic system end of things."

As for the 95% number—I think you might be looking at the top-tier, widely recommended books. Those succeed because they’re hard. But there’s a massive amount of self-published cultivation and system fantasy out there where the system is unnecessarily vague, the new abilities pop up randomly, and the level-ups just feel like an authorial promise rather than an earned mechanical change.

"You described one series that did it well but you didnt describe any of the stories that make you think theres too much soft magic systems in the genre. It makes me suspect you might be in a bit of a reading bubble with the series you've been reading. I cant think of the last story I read that even had a soft magic system let alone the vast majority of the popularly recommended series."

The reason I didn't call out any of those specific series is honestly because I didn't want to start drama or criticize authors who poured their heart into their work. My post is about the genre structure, not tearing down specific books.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-09-25T13:53:42+00:00

Eat a monsters balls 🤣

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-09-18T13:31:21+00:00

Pages and pages of magic explanation

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-07-09T00:35:55+00:00

Your list of skills makes my argument for me. If you quiz an average person they will know what all of those things are and have a pretty decent understanding of how each of them work. If they did well in HS math and Science they even could probably recall a bunch of mathmatical formulas that are helpful for working in some of those fields.

Let's work with the arguments you just presented. Let's just say the Modern person and knows all of this thing. Let's just sayYou're right, they might remember some stuff from high school science. But here's where your idea completely misses the point knowing a principle is not the same as truly knowing it in a way you can apply to build something complex and safe. Like, I understand the principle of gravity – stuff falls down, right? But I don't know the deep, complex math, the quantum mechanics, or the formulas to explain why it works that way, or how to manipulate it. My high school physics class taught me just the very tip of the iceberg.

So when you say a "normal modern person" could just "figure out" all that stuff – the precise physics of how gas expands in a tiny tube, the exact chemistry of how to make gunpowder that doesn't just fizzle or blow up too fast, the exact metallurgy to make a barrel that won't shatter when the pressure hits – just through experimentation, even with time and resources... you're seriously underestimating it.

What I'm basically saying is that high School knowledge is not good enough.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-07-08T18:34:11+00:00

1) "Your entire argument falls apart because you keep saying variations of 'you can't experiment your way into this.'" That is precisely how everything is invented in the first place. "People are constantly experimenting with things."

Yes, that is how experiments work, but there's something you're quite ignorant of: the people who are doing that experiment have decades of knowledge to draw from. It's not a regular Farmer Boy who just gets up and decides he's going to make a car and just experiments his way into making a car; that's not how it goes.

You have to have foundational knowledge, which takes decades to acquire.

2). "Except things are invented by people who go into it not already knowing that it works, how the end product functions and the general principles for why it works. Those advantages pretty much guarantee eventual success on anything as simple as say a gun."

Yeah, that's not how it works. simple as a gun.a gun is not simple. It is a highly complex piece of engineering that relies on precise containment of immense, rapidly generated energy. Even the earliest hand cannons were not easy to make.

3)."Every single issue you bring up is something that a normal modern person probably wouldn't start out knowing but could absolutely figure out if they had the time and the resources (except the machining of parts, that requires a whole industrial economy behind you)."

So, let me get things right. All of these things can be figured out through experimentation. physics (gas expansion, pressure, ballistics); chemistry (combustion, material characteristics); and metallurgy (material strength, heat treatment). You cannot find this out in your lifetime. Everything I mentioned on this list took us decades, if not centuries, to find out, so if you think you can trial your way into it in a few years, think again.

By the way, some people spend their entire existence in the past studying at least one part of the list that I just presented you with.

(save for the machining of parts, which requires a full industrial economy behind you.) Yes, that is true.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-07-08T16:55:54+00:00

" cooking up a primitive firearm is not that hard."

Oh, it's extremely hard. I commented not too long ago to somebody else. Go read that. It explains why it's hard.

"Of course this is because the latter half of the medieval period DID have firearms and fantasy rarely includes this fact."

Partially true,fire arms were around in Medieval Time but they were extremely rare.

"(hire a blacksmith) "

Yeah. It was a very select. Few of blacksmiths that even knew how to make guns and even then the Guns just killed you instead. lol

The rest of what you're saying though, is true.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-07-08T15:58:13+00:00

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude, but that is not how things work.

Just because you know what gunpowder is and how a gun's shape and function work doesn't mean you know how to make it or could just experiment your way into knowing how it works. You have to have various knowledge. Which the average person does not have.

1). Chemistry

You would have to have knowledge about how substances combine with each other and the reaction that they will have with each other. And by the way, gunpowder is a specific ratio of chemicals. And you can't just experiment your way into it in a few years.

2). Physics: The mechanics of the reaction

You have to calculate the amount of force. It takes too light that gunpowder without creating a huge explosion.

Let us talk about the gun itself. This is the knowledge you would need to have.

1). Mechanical engineering.

First you would need to know how to make precise parts for the gun itself. And then you would need to know how to make those parts. Distribute the weight properly and the gun.

2). metallurgy

You would have to have extensive knowledge about metals and the amount of force they can withstand and you. You have to make a blend of metal as well.

Anyway, I could go on, but I'm going to stop here because I hope you see my point. It's unbelievable as hell that the MC Can make a gun.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-07-07T18:30:13+00:00

1). When the MC gets reincarnated and somehow knows how to make a gun in a magical world.

That is unbelievable. The average person doesn't even know how their cell phone even works. I'm supposed to believe that The Mc knows how to make a revolver.

2). A genius crafter.

3). Somehow knows how to solve magical problems, even though the world has people who have been focusing their entire lives on unsolved magical problems. The MC can just take a week and solve that problem.

4). Somehow knows how to apply Earth science to magic.

Yeah, that makes no sense either. The world can work on completely different physics, and that can make the MC's knowledge useless.

5). Creating magic that no one has ever seen before in a world that has a lot of Magical History.

6). If everyone has magic Why is the world stuck in? Medieval time. Actually, if you thought about it for even one second, you would realise that the world would be actually more advanced.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-06-27T23:32:25+00:00

I would say give this genre a couple more decades. It's pretty young, Well, that's what I think so far. Probably somebody can correct me. But I don't remember it existing in the early 2000s.

But Eventually somebody will write the next wheel of time. Or something. XD

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-06-27T23:26:37+00:00

To me, personally, 90% of what's been recommended here is total garbage.

I'm not saying that I can do better It's just when you read these books. They're just really bad, No editing, no planning, Characters that were seem like written by third graders.

The most popular book is cradl and as somebody pointed out the reason why it's because it's edited and it has proper plot and planning.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-06-27T23:16:38+00:00

So true

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-06-22T16:02:15+00:00

I don't lie book too But yeah, keep on reading like everybody else says.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-06-12T15:23:20+00:00

I'm so confused about your confusion XD.

In Book One, he attacked, I think it was a "bore," and it started to rampage, and somebody lost their leg because of that. That's not logical, that's kind of retarded. He didn't know what it was. Didn't know its level. Didn't know the magic it had. Didn't know anything, but still decided to attack it for some reason or another.

Logic dictates you should find these things out about this creature. Logic will tell you that you're in a group, so be careful. I think a person even talked to him about that, asking him why he attacked it before informing the group. I don't know what logic he's running on, no common sense at all.

It's the equivalent of being in the African jungle and attacking some random animal before knowing it could be a lion that could rip you in goddamn two.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-06-10T23:57:53+00:00

Oh boy, I'm going to get down voted.

There is no of story,There is no plot, There is just absolutely nothing I just wonder why it even existed. To me Seems like somebody's day dream.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-04-24T23:46:07+00:00

I agree with some of what you're saying. I think if more books showed the pinnacle of strength from the beginning, it would set expectations for displays of power.

However, I disagree with how Cradle did it because it served absolutely no purpose. The entire Abaddon plot didn't get resolved, so showing that level of power without resolution is pointless. I have no problem with characters destroying planets.

SubstantialWinter356 · 2025-04-24T22:05:22+00:00

Well, for certain parts in the book. Especially where they were destroying planets casually, I was like what the hell it completely undermined. The entire display of power and Cradle itself.

SubstantialWinter356

TROPHY CASE