So, after spending half a year, I’ve finally finished with all the changes. For the old readers, you may remember that I was planning to rewrite the whole breakup, and for it, I needed to add new chapters and new events in the middle of the story.

I finished that quest back in October, and then I spent the following months updating the subsequent chapters, so those events could be “remembered” and have consequences.

The changes may not be 100% perfectly correct, but I’ll leave that editing phase for the paid ebook version, which I’ll update with the new content, for those that bought it.

Now, here is the complete (I think) list of changes. Some are so numerous that I encourage you to read the whole thing from the start if you’re in the mood. If you’d rather spend your valuable time reading new content, I’ll add a note down below, telling you what new content is, especially new flashbacks.

***** NOTE TO NEW READERS:

THE FOLLOWING LIST IS MOSTLY INTENDED FOR OLD READERS. IF YOU STARTED READING FROM NOVEMBER OF 2022, YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY ENCOUNTERED THESE CHANGES DURING YOUR READING. BUT, I RECOMMEND YOU TO AT LEAST CHECK THE LIST AND SEE IF THERE’S SOMETHING YOU MAY HAVE MISSED OUT.

Chapter 1 - A whole new introduction, practically doubling that chapter’s word count. It’s written from Astrid’s point of view, showing you her chemistry with Alan, and their teamwork. (it’s a battle against the Weasenox, the last enemy Alan encounters in volume 1, so it comes full circle). The other half of the chapter, it’s a somewhat more condensed version of the original, from Alan’s point of view. His thoughts and monologues have changed dramatically, to mirror his new character arc following chapter 8 and up, and it gives new meaning to “Shooting Stars”. Chapter 2 to 6 remain unchanged. Chapter 7 - I removed the entirety of Astrid’s arrival. Once she crash through the ceiling, Alan faints due to the constant torture. (More about why I did this, down below) It follows with the old rewritten parts: Alan waking up in the Shooting Stars’ headquarters, after having a wet dream/nightmare, about Amelia Laflamme acting like a succubus. Chapter 8 - The same as the old rewritten chapters, a day in the guild’s headquarters. One significant change is Jason Foreman, apologizing to Alan about the “stolen money” fiasco. Following, an already rewritten scene: Amelia and her friends talking about the current guild drama. Chapter 9 - After Marco Souza and her most trusted followers leave the guild, Marissa is the one to inform Alan about what happened the night he was tortured, showing a 10 second video of Astrid fighting all of Marco’s followers. I made these changes because in the original (when Astrid beheads him with one punch) Marco looked pathetic. So, there’s that. Chapter 10 to 16 - Mostly unchanged. Revisited dialogues. Chapter 17 - This is where the new content starts (for old readers) Alan decides to tell Astrid about his secret mission, but changes his mind after seeing the state her guild is now. He runs to the city, looking to be alone, but crosses paths with a mysterious woman that seems to “recognize” him. Meanwhile, Karen (Amelia’s best friend), disguised as Astrid, is looking for Alan to trick him and humiliate him, but she also crosses paths with another mysterious woman, wearing full armor. This woman, thinking she has encountered the real Astrid, picks a fight with her. At the same time, Alan is talking with her own stranger, about the implications that living in a utopia will have for the future terra formars. Then, the stranger, trying to prove a point, summons a giant twin-headed dragon in front of Alan, and threatens to destroy the whole city. Chapter 18 to 24 - I would prefer not to make a summary of this, it’s practically 6 whole new chapters for those that never read them. It includes Astrid fighting Scarlett, Amelia fighting Serenity, and it ends with the destruction of a third of the city, and a new motivation for Alan to leave the guild. Chapter 24 it’s the most important for me out of the bunch, since it’s the reason I started all these changes. Chapter 25 - Mostly the same. Alan leaves the guild, and on her way back to Unus Town, Amelia shows up and joins his adventure. A lot of dialogue has changed as a result of the previous events. The other half of the chapter it’s exactly the same as the old one, showing Astrid using a raid boss as a punching bag to release all of her resentment. Chapter 26 to 27 - Same events, different dialogues. One significant change, it’s that after rejoining with Ashley, Amelia decides not to follow them to the town. (In the old version, Amelia buys a house, where they spend their first night in Unus) Alan and Ashley go to an inn, have dinner together, and when they go to their respective separate rooms, Alan meets Ricardo Silva, the Glitch Administrator. Chapter 28 to 29 - After talking to Ricardo, Alan goes for a walk. The Mayor’s statue in downtown now depicts Clara defeating a wyvern dragon. (I changed this little detail because I need it for the Dylak’s Revenge chapters) Alan gets robbed there, like in the old version, and this time Amelia comes and helps him get his stuff back. They talk like in the original, but instead of sitting on their house’s rooftop, they do it in the inn’s. Chapter 30 - A chapter dedicated to Astrid, like in the old version, we can see her trying to recruit new blood to her guild. Then, a guilder shows up, someone that lent her a mount to get out of the raid boss island. A long time ago, during the ‘first draft phase’, he was a character named Brandon, but I changed him for a girl, Brenda Hannes, like a year ago. If you never knew about this change, well, you know it now. Chapter 31 and 32 - The same events, but with a lot of updated dialogues, due to the Nuke Dragon Event (chapter 18 to 24) happening in this version of the story. Among the many changes: Amelia knows about Ashley’s true identity from the start. Alan tries to pay off his debt with Monique Ascencio in person, but it’s intercepted by her assistant. And Alan enters Amelia’s new house by the end of chapter 32. Chapter 33 to 35 - Alan looks for information about what people think about the Nuke Dragon Event on the Novus’ internet. Mostly the same. I changed the order of some events. In chapter 35, when the Administrators are having a weekly conference, they no longer talk about the next Novus’ anniversary, instead, they discuss the rebuilding of Londorus. They don’t seem to pay much attention to the people that started a war there. It is implied that they cannot access a User's private information unless they all agree. Chapter 36 to 41 - A lot of dialogues have been changed, due to Serenity and Scarlett appearing earlier than in the old version. Something new I like, it’s on Chapter 38. I changed the description of Amelia’s High-Level Gear, to make her look more “royal”, and added “Flavor Text” and “Novus lore” to her pendant and weapon. Chapter 42 - A whole new Amelia flashback, telling the story of her unfortunate encounter with the Singular, and how she lost her stepmother. Chapter 43 - I have completely rewritten Alan’s flashback. The one that shows his godmother. I really, really encourage you all to read this new flashback. A minor spoiler: Alan had a sister. Chapter 44 to 48 - Revisited dialogue, especially Amelia’s kiss. She gives a new excuse of why she did it. Once Alan gets his “Ghost in the Machine” power, I changed some dialogues to make it seem that getting an Anima (ghostly companions) is not that unusual, but getting it at such low level is. Chapter 49 - New flashback, about the real Ashley Yates. It’s short, but if you’re really digging this story and its mysteries, don’t miss this one. It has some very dark implications about Isabella and the organization behind the Santa María. Then, it follows with new material, showing the moment Ashley caught Serenity by surprise and defeated her. (In the original, this happens off-screen) Chapter 50 to 51 - Unchanged. Just some revisited dialogues. Chapter 52 - SO! Back in June (I think) when I told old readers that I would nerf Alan and Amelia’s relationship, I thought I’d get some backlash, (and if it happened, no one expressed it through the comments) So, I was wondering how I’d handle the… scene… when Amelia tries to get under Alan’s pants. I changed the dialogues, of course, so by the end of the night, they don’t end up as a couple. There is some sexual tension between them, but it will mostly be Amelia starting it. Something that stands out is that Alan shows his “Ghost in the Machine” to her, and she freaks out. It is implied that the video streaming of the battle was censored, and that people that watched it, could not see Alan’s Anima. (Aaron) Chapter 53 - The one that reveals Miss Cosmica’s true identity. So, I wasn’t happy with the way Astrid was talking to herself, revealing all of her plans inside Amelia’s “empty” room. So, I changed it so that Miss Cosmica is talking to plushies. (Clara Domínguez, taking advantage of Alan’s new fame, sells a lot of merchandise, including a plushie of him and Amelia) Chapter 54 - Astrid’s backstory chapter. Astrid no longer calls Aston Bradford “father” or “dad”. That’s all. Chapter 55 to 57 (Final) - Just some revisited dialogue. Nothing worth mentioning. Dylak Revenge: I haven’t touched those chapters since I wrote them, because I’ve been making all these changes. But from what I remember, it will remain 99% the same, since the Nuke Dragon Event doesn’t affect it. The only change that comes to mind is that Clara will now summon a wyvern dragon during her fight against the Dylak clones. Carving in stone her role as a “summoner” in the guild.

And that’s it, those are all the significant changes I can remember from the tip of my head, and the ones you need to have in mind if you don’t plan on reading the whole stuff all over again.

As I said before, I will add all this new content to the paid version, and launch a new “Second Edition”. So if you paid for the kindle version, don’t worry, I’ll update it as soon as I can.

About volume 2: In a perfect world, I would start writing the first chapter as soon as I finished updating the kindle version, but I know this will take me a loooot of time. So it will be better if I write at least one chapter per week, to show you all that the story is not dead.

And now, to finish this update, let me show you some AI generated images I got from NOVEL AI.

Enjoy!

ALAN WARDEN, WEARING THE JACKET ASTRID GIFTS HIM

SOME DAY, HE WILL BE HAPPY, I THINK...

ASTRID DURING THE FIRST NOVUS DAYS WITH SHORT HAIR.

ASTRID'S FORMAL ATTIRE

ASTRID LITERALL VIRGIN KILLER SWEATER, DURING HER DINNER WITH ALAN

IN HER FIGHT AGAINST SCARLETT

NEVER MAKE A GIRL CRY CHAPTER

AMELIA LAFLAMME... SO... THIS IS THE CHARACTER THAT WHO I MADE A LOT OF PROMPTS OF, AND THEN, AFTER LIKE 200 GENERATED IMAGES, I REALIZED THAT HER HAIR WAS ALL WRONG. ALL OF THOSE FAILED ATTEMPTS DEPICTED A GENERIC, BUSTY, REDHEAD, WITH STRAIGHT HAIR.... WHICH IS FINE, I GUESS, BUT THEN SHE WOULD NOT STAND OUT FROM THE REST. I DON'T KNOW WHY IT BOTHERS ME NOT BEING ABLE TO PORTRAY HER RIGHT. AND THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN TO ME WITH ASTRID. MAYBE... JUST MAYBE, BECAUSE AMELIA IS MY FAVORITE?

DURING HER FIGHT VS SCARLETT. THIS IS HER HIGH-LEVEL GEAR.

HER AMELIA BLUEFLAMME FOR... AND YES, I TOTALLY STOLE THE AQUA-COLORED HAIR FROM SUPER SAIYAN BLUE. I ADMIT IT. BUT COME ON, GUYS, BLUE FLAMES ARE HOTTER, SO...

SMUG, SASSY, CASUAL

ASHLEY AKA ISABELLA II... I WAS GOING TO INCLUDE MORE, BUT FOR SOME REASON, IMGUR DOESN'T RECOGNIZE SOME IMAGES. OH, WELL

MARISSA LAFLAMME. -- SO... THIS IS A NEW "DESIGN". I STRUGGLED PROMPTING THIS ONE, BECAUSE I HAVE CHANGED HER APPEARANCE MULTIPLE TIMES. FROM LOOKING YOUNGER THAN AMELIA, THEN LOOKING OLDER, THEN CHANGING THE COLOR OF HER HAIR, AND SO ON, AND SO ON. SO AFTER TRYING DIFFERENT LOOKS, I LIKE THIS ONE A LOT. THE REASON SHE HAS A DIFFERENT HAIR COLOR THAN AMELIA IS BECAUSE THEY ARE STEP SISTERS. THERE IS ALSO A REASON WHY SHE COVERS HER EYE, BUT I DIDN'T INCLUDE IT IN THE NEW CHANGES. (MY BAD) IT IS SOMETHING SUPPOSED TO BE IMPLIED INSTEAD OF STATED.

FINAL BOSS SERENITY. -- HMM... THIS MAY LOOK LIKE A GENERIC PROMPT, AND IT PRACTICALLY IS. I WOULD PREFER IF SHE WEARS A BRAID BEHIND HER EAR, BUT THE MANY TRIES I ATTEMPTED LOOKED WEIRD.

FINAL BOSS SCARLETT WITH HER HELMET ON DURING THE NUKE DRAGON EVENT

SCARLETT

A CASUAL SCARLETT WHEN SHE ARRIVES TO AMELIA'S SHOP AND ATTEMPTS TO ASSASINATE HER. IGNORE THE DIFFERENT STYLE. THIS IS AI GENERATED IMAGES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, AND SOME ATTEMPTS LOOKED WEIRD DUE TO HER CURLY HAIR. SOME LOOKED BADASS, WEARING A TOP AND SHOWING A SIX PACK, BUT I WOULD PREFER NOT TO SHOW THEM BECAUSE HER FACE LOOKS WEIRD.

CLARA DOMÍNGUEZ. --- SO, THIS CHARACTER HAS ALSO RECEIVE A LOT OF "REDESIGNS" DURING MY MANY REWRITES. WHAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN CONSISTING IT'S HER BROWN SKIN. HER NEW PINK HAIR IT'S A TRIBUTE TO MISS COSMICA. AND I THINK SHE LOOKS BETTER WITH A BOB THAN WITH LONG HAIR.

AND HERE IS HER HANDSOME NPC, AND MAYOR WHEN ALAN COMES BACK TO UNUS.

BELLA, AMELIA'S NPC AND MAGE APPRENTICE. SHE HELPS ALAN DEFEAT SERENITY AND THE WEREWEASENOX

ANASTASIA, AND FORMER UNUS MAYOR. ALAN'S NPC.

ANASTASIA WEARING FULL ARMOR. SHE UNFORTUNATELY DIES QUICKLY DURING THE FINAL BATTLE, SO THAT'S WHY I GAVE HER MORE SCREEN TIME DURING THE DYLAK'S REVENGE EVENTS. SHE EVEN GETS A NEW TRANSFORMATION.

AARON, AKA GHOST IN THE MACHINE. AFTER MANY TRIES, THIS IS THE BETTER ONE OUT OF THE BUNCH. ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE RESULTS, SHOWING ME A TEENAGER VERSION OF HIM, HAVE INSPIRED ME TO UPGRADE HIM LATER ON.

MARCO SOUZA, THE CHARACTER THAT HAS GAVE ME A LOOOOT OF HEADACHES. OLD READERS NOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.

KAREN, ONE OF MARCO'S CONFIDANTS AND AMELIA'S BEST FRIEND... THIS IMAGE DEPICTS THE SCENE WHEN SHE LEAVES SHOOTING STARS HQ. SHE'S THE ONE THAT LATER DISGUISES AS ASTRID, AND IN ONE OF THE MANY REWRITES, even SUCEEDS... IN THIS NEW VERSION, SHE HAS A SHORT BATTLE AGAISNT SCARLETT.

TAMARA, ASTRID'S BEST FRIENDS, AND LATER, SHOOTING STARS' SECOND IN COMMAND. SHE CAN CREATE MAGIC SHIELDS STRONG ENOUGH TO WITHSTAND ASTRID'S MANY TANTRUMS. (THAT'S WHY SHE GOT SO SKILLED AT IT) IN THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE STORY, SHE HAD ANOTHER DESIGN AND ACTED MORE SERIOUS. I NEEDED HER FOR THE NEW CHAPTERS, AND THAT'S WHY I CHANGED HER PERSONALITY. SHE LATER HAVE MORE SCREEN TIME DURING HER BATTLE AGAISNT THE TWO-HEADED DRAGON, DRAQUINOX.

TAMARA.... EVERY TIME ALCOHOL IS MENTIONED. THIS IS HER SERIOUS MODE.

BRENDA HANNES, SHOOTING STARS' NEW ROOKIE. (CHAPTER 30) A CHARACTER THAN IN THE FIRST VERSION WAS A GUY. LATER CHANGED INTO A GIRL BECAUSE ... REASONS.

THIS IS WHAT SLIME PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE. THIS IS THE BEST PROMPT I COULD GET, TOO BAD IS NOT USING CLOTHES.

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AND THAT'S ALL! WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO INCLUDE THESE IMAGES IN THEIR RESPECTIVE CHAPTERS? VOTE IN THE POLL BELOW!