History Literature / CradleSeries

-->'''Yerin:''' Only storms can turn a fish into a dragon.

* MasterOfNone: The reason why no one learns more than one Path. Even if you could find two Paths with compatible madra and find someone willing to teach you, you'd still have to focus on them both separately. Instead of having two full-power Paths, you'd have two half-power Paths, which is deadly when there are such major differences in power levels in the world. [[spoiler:Lindon finds a loophole by splitting his core (letting him use madra types that would otherwise conflict), a Path that is relatively quick to advance and extremely powerful, and by training at every waking moment.]]

** Eithan dislikes the constant dog-eat-dog nature of the world, where the strong bully the weak and everyone tries to fight everyone else. He has repeatedly forgiven ''major'' slights to his honor that he could have used as excuses to execute his enemies, and often uses his [[TheOmniscient omniscience]] to make minor corrections to make people happier (such as moving a ladder half an inch so that it won't fall).

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: When something filled with madra dies, it leaves behind a Remnant, the remains of its power. Weaker Remnants act completely at random, but stronger ones have some intelligence and are even capable of speech. Notably, Remnants actually get ''stronger'' the longer they last, rather than weaker.

* ParasolOfPain: Eithan briefly uses a Parasol infused with Soulfire to beat on [[AtrociousAlias Longhook]] before finishing him off.

** [[SpaceMaster Northstrider]] creates another one of these [[spoiler: as a reward for Yerin's advancement in the Uncrowned King Tournament. This one will only last a day, but thanks to YearInsideHourOutside, they will get thirty-six days inside of it.]]

** Lindon gets the tiniest dash with several other Akura women. Not only does Pride [[MistakenForRomance mistakenly think that Lindon and Mercy are dating]], but Mercy is notably horrified at the thought of Lindon specifically seeing her shamed. Lindon and Charity grow to have a healthy respect for each other over their association, and she gives him permission to [[FirstNameBasis call her by name]] [[spoiler:after he becomes a Sage]]. And then there's Malice, who shamelessly flirts with Lindon every time she sees him. [[ObliviousToLove Lindon doesn't notice]].

* SuccessAsRevenge: Lindon was spat on and mistreated his entire life by the people of Sacred Valley, who saw him as a cripple who couldn't do anything useful. He spent that life trying to make something of himself regardless, and never considered fighting back. When he discovered that a great catastrophe was coming, he left the Valley to train to become strong enough to defeat it. When he finally comes back, he tries to get all his old enemies to evacuate. They ''cannot'' understand why he would possibly want to help them, assume it's all a trick, and try to murder him multiple times.

** The Ghostwater facility was the Monarch Northstrider's attempt to replicate a celestial Presence. It failed pretty utterly, but even the trash he left behind was invaluable to lesser sacred artists. [[spoiler:A random speaker construct gains intelligence from being left in a pool for fifty years, and once combined with the rest of the pieces Northstrider left behind, is able to finish the project and become a true AI. Apparently the missing ingredient was that the Presence needs a will of its own, even if it just wants to serve]].

** In book 10, [[spoiler:we find out that it's more than that. The Monarchs are, in fact, fully ascendant beings who ''absolutely'' should not be on the planet any more. The world is constantly trying to push them out, and their mere presence creates the Hunger aura that creates the Dreadbeasts and the [[GodOfEvil Dreadgods]]. Lindon resolves to drag the Monarchs with him when he and his team ascend]].

* CoolGate: One of the many ways of travel on Cradle. They are massively inefficient in terms of power consumption, and only Sages and Monarchs can make them, so they're used sparingly. The one from Eithan's homeland to the Blackflame Empire only opens once every ten years. [[spoiler:One is set up as a method of escape for the Akura forces in Wintersteel in the event that their fighters lose the Uncrowned King tournament. Ends up being used as a method of evacuation anyways when a four-way fight between [[PersonOfMassDestruction Akura Fury]] and three other Heralds begins.]]

* CouncilOfAngels: The Abidan, combined with SpacePolice. Lesser beings on the many Iterations call them Messengers from Heaven, and their primary antagonist is [[SatanicArchetype the Mad King]].

** Pure madra is excellent at disrupting other forms of madra... but can't be used for anything else, which is why just about everyone aligns their madra to a Path.

** Eithan and Sha Miara are nominally of the same rank. Their duel in the Uncrowned tournament lasted nine seconds, [[spoiler:during which Sha Miara managed to touch Eithan ''once'': a block that Eithan predicted and used as leverage for a follow-up blow]].
* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: The Blackflame Path, a sacred art stolen from dragons, which was used to build an empire. In a world where AsskickingLeadsToLeadership and everyone challenges everyone, ''no one'' challenges the Blackflame sacred artists. Not only is it [[CripplingOverspecialization focused on offense to an insane degree]], but the flames are not designed for humans; they slowly eat away at mind and body, resulting in the imperial family slowly dying out without any outside intervention at all. [[spoiler:When Eithan admits that he plans to train Lindon in this path, Cassias starts ''screaming'']].
* DarkSecret: [[spoiler: Dreadbeasts, Subject One, and the Dreadgods themselves only exist on Cradle because the Monarchs of the Iteration [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse to ascend]] like they're supposed to, leading to a build up in [[HorrorHunger Hunger Aura]]. [[AncientConspiracy They all know this]] and to keep the people of Cradle from rising up against them they force anyone who reaches Sage or Herald to take an [[BloodOath oath on their soul]] to not reveal this secret, ascend right then, or die. Tiberian Arelius was killed by Reigan Shen because he wanted to kill the Dreadgods and talk the other Monarchs into ascending. It's entirely possible that Emriss Silentborn was killed in her first life to keep this secret as she was originally intending to spread all knowledge to all corners of Cradle.]]

* DeathWorld: Magic is everywhere to the point that even random animals can use it, nearly anything that dies will leave behind a dangerous ghost, and the average person can punch through stone and will happily demonstrate on your skull. That's Sacred Valley, the ''safe and coddled'' place. Outside the Sacred Valley, not only are the ghosts and magical animals much stronger, but there are also horrifically mutated "dreadbeasts" that are just as dangerous as the rest but are impossible to tame, and even the random bandits are an order of magnitude stronger than the strongest people in Sacred Valley. And the rest of the universe considers this planet ''the safest in the universe''.

* DividedWeFall: The squabbling Monarchs don't even agree that the Dreadgods rising is a bad thing. Which makes it hard for ''any'' of them to intervene when one does, because if they do, even when they beat the Dreadgod, they'll be weakened and their assets threatened by their rivals. Akura Malice was able to put the Bleeding Phoenix back to sleep and save the Blackflame Empire, but after that [[GodsHandsAreTied her hands were tied]], and even that cost the Akura clan a lot. [[spoiler:This is partly an excuse: they could defeat them any time but don't want to pay the personal price that it would require. They would rather spend the lives of their subjects.]]

* DramaticIrony: After his ScrewThisImOuttaHere Jai Long thinks to himself that he will never see Lindon again, since he and his sister intend to find and retreat to a legendary hidden valley. Unbeknownst to Jai Long, said valley is plainly the Sacred Valley Lindon originated from.

* DugTooDeep: What the original empire of the Blackflame dragons did. They found the Labyrinth filled with sacred treasures and left the doors open for years. This caused the Dreadgods to all converge upon the Blackflame Empire and lay waste to it. When they were finished, the Empire was a fraction of a fraction of its original size and strength. Now entering the Labyrinth is considered a last resort and requires the emperor's approval to do so. [[spoiler:Jai Daishou violated this restriction and his going into the Labyrinth (along with interference from the Abidan), caused the Bleeding Phoenix to attack the Blackflame Empire.]]

** While Suriel speaking Lindon's language is justified by her [[ArtificialIntelligence Presence]] (Lindon even notes her accent shifting to one he's more familiar with), no explanation is given for why the rest of the world shares a language with Sacred Valley. The Valley only had minimal contact with the rest of the world for thousands of years at least, but somehow Lindon understands everyone perfectly. No one even comments on his accent being especially odd.

* EvolutionaryLevels: Sacred Beasts seem to have this in regards to their advancement levels. When they get to Underlord they have to decide how they will appear after their Revelation. Some decide to just become insanely large and others decide to change their appearance to that of another species. The Dragon King is notable for taking on the appearance of a male human child of maybe twelve years old and staying that way for hundreds of years.

** The Blackflame Empire, where most of the story takes place, uses [clan] [given], so Jai Long is Long of the Jai clan. Most clans always use their clan names and given names together (even Jai Long's sister calls him Jai Long), but the Akura clan that rules most of the continent typically just uses their given name in casual conversation; Akura Mercy is almost exclusively just called Mercy. Likewise, they are almost exclusively named after virtues, with the occasional vice thrown in (Mercy has a brother named Pride, and the matriarch is named Malice). Although, from the Akura clan's perspective, [[GoodIsNotNice they're all virtues]].
** Third, the Arelius clan uses a familiar [given] [clan] format, so Eithan Arelius is Eithan of the Arelius clan. While they are well-established in the Blackflame Empire, they're foreigners from another continent, so presumably that's the format used over there. It also makes it convenient when they want to adopt promising young people into the family, as they can just slap their clan name on the end. Lindon becomes Wei Shi Lindon Arelius when he joins the family.

** TheLancer: Yerin. [[RedOniBlueOni Red Oni to Lindon's Blue]], she prefers to take the direct approach. As the pysically strongest in the group she also has shades of TheBigGuy even though she is smallest in stature.

*** Every single time he seriously demonstrates his strength, he is far more skilled than anyone of his advancement should be. Several people demand to know ''what'' he is, but he waves it off as focusing more on skills than advancement. [[spoiler:While that's true, it's also a sign that he's already gone through all the levels before, and thus knows far more about the Sacred Arts than anyone else still on Cradle]].

* HeadInTheSandManagement: When Lindon [[spoiler: returns to Sacred Valley to evacuate the residents]], the local clans and Schools have...mixed reactions. Many either try to bunker down instead of run, or assume Lindon is lying to them as part of some scheme. Mercy herself has to use an AppealToForce to get one clan moving.

* HerdHittingAttack: Ruler techniques make use of the vital aura of the world, ruling it and forcing it to the practitioner's purpose. These techniques have a wide AreaOfEffect and are powerful, but they take time to set up (more if the right aspects of aura aren't around) and can be difficult.

** Eithan has the Raindrop Iron body, which is said to enhance reflexes to the point that one can weave between raindrops (he immediately notes that it's an exagerration). He got it by... playing games. Catching birds, running as fast as he could, hitting balls with sticks, that sort of thing. The two people who were just discussing the TrainingFromHell Iron bodies require glare at him.

** TheChick: Mercy. Generally cheerful [[NiceGuy nice girl]] who wants to be friends with everyone, but as the favored daughter of a Monarch she has been [[FriendlessBackground kept at a distance]] by everyone for most of her life.

# ''Waybound'' (2023)

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Cradle has one rule: The strong can do as they like. There are strict rules of honor and the like, but even they mostly boil down to "I might piss off too many strong people if I do this." Everything is backed by threat of force. Eithan tries to rule more gently, but doesn't have much success, and has to throw his weight around. This is played with, however, in that the honor system is based on ''theoretical'' asskicking potential. Lindon is seen as dishonorable for beating people of a higher rank, and not just because he does it through [[CombatPragmatist Combat Pragmatism]].

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: The Blackflame Path, a sacred art stolen from dragons, which was used to build an empire. In a world where AsskickingEqualsAuthority and everyone challenges everyone, ''no one'' challenges the Blackflame sacred artists. Not only is it [[CripplingOverspecialization focused on offense to an insane degree]], but the flames are not designed for humans; they slowly eat away at mind and body, resulting in the imperial family slowly dying out without any outside intervention at all. [[spoiler:When Eithan admits that he plans to train Lindon in this path, Cassias starts ''screaming'']].

* MoralMyopia: Due to the constant use of AsskickingEqualsAuthority, the vast majority of sacred artists are bullies who will do anything to get ahead, and then call an honor duel when someone else does the same thing to them. Lindon has, on multiple occasions, been called an honorless dog for the crime of ''not dying'' when someone much more powerful randomly attacked him.

** Eithan is rated as the eleventh-strongest Underlord in the Blackflame Empire. He's sandbagging - he's probably the ''most'' powerful, but he doesn't like being too obvious about that. [[spoiler: He's stronger than that, actually.]]

** What all of Ghostwater is, created by the [[PhysicalGod Monarch]] [[SpaceMaster Northstrider]] as a research facility. Abandoned by him when it apparently failed, but still picked over every once and awhile because "The trash of a Monarch is still the treasure of lesser beings".
** Thanks to The Bleeding Phoenix waking up and destroying Ghostwater's anchor to Cradle, it slowly falls apart.
** [[spoiler:[[SpaceMaster Northstrider]] creates another one of these as a reward for Yerin's advancement in the Uncrowned King Tournament. This one will only last a day, but thanks to YearInsideHourOutside, they will get thirty-six days inside of it.]]

** [[spoiler:Sophara receives one that turned out to be the late Aurelius Monarch's vacation home. After her death at his hands it comes into Lindon's possession.]]

*** During Eithan and Reigan Shen's conversation in ''Wintersteel'', there are a couple of mentions of killing Dreadgods and Shen ascending. One in particular is Eithan mentioning that Shen's plan, ostensibly to kill the Dreadgods, won't work [[spoiler: unless Shen ascends.]]

* AbandonedLaboratory: Much of the overall plot of the series centers around a mysterious [[EvilTaintedThePlace cursed]] [[AdvancedAncientHumans ancient]] [[TheMaze labyrinthine]] laboratory that has entrances all over the world, and the researchers' creations.

** In ''Reaper'', [[spoiler:Eithan drops all pretense and reveals his actual ability as Ozriel, the Reaper, Eighth Judge of the Abidan Court]].

Lindon, however, is allowed to remember--that his home is destined to be destroyed in thirty years time--and he will be able to do nothing to stop it. To save Sacred Valley, he must travel to the outside world, where even the strongest sacred artists from the Valley would be considered little more than children. There, he can find the power to save his home.

Lindon, however, is allowed to remember. He is allowed to remember that his home is destined to be destroyed in thirty years time--and he will be able to do nothing to stop it. To save Sacred Valley, he must travel to the outside world, where even the strongest sacred artists from the Valley would be considered little more than children. There, he can find the power to save his home.

* BlackSwordsAreBetter: Netherclaw, the Archlord weapon that Yaren gets as a prize in the Uncrowned tournament, has a black blade. Yaren sometimes dual weilds it with [[YinYangBomb her master's sword, which is white.]]

* ClingyCostume: When she is introduced, Yaren wears a bloody red "rope" around her waist that can't be taken off and always appears on top of whatever else she's wearing.

* CoolSword: Yaren inherits her master's sword, which has a pure white blade made of [[FantasyMetals wintersteel.]] It has a binding, but since it's an Archlord weapon she can't activate it. [[spoiler: At least until she gets strong enough, and reveals that its binding is an [[AnIcePerson Ice ruler technique.]]]]

** TheLancer: Yaren. [[RedOniBlueOni Red Oni to Lindon's Blue]], she prefers to take the direct approach. As the pysically strongest in the group she also has shades of TheBigGuy even though she is smallest in stature.
** TheSmartGuy: Eithan: Lindon and Yaren's [[EccentricMentor teacher]] for most of the series, he seems to prefer directing things [[TheChessmaster from the shadows]] while maintaining a weak, [[ObfuscatingStupidity silly public persona]]. In addition to being a [[BunnyEarsLawyer genius at everything]], he is also TheOmniscient.

* DungeonCrawling: Most of ''Reaper'' is a dungeon crawl as the team explores [[spoiler:[[TheMaze the Labyrinth]]]]

* NeverLearnedToRead: Yerin. She didn't have a chance to learn as a child, and once she joined the Sword Sage he didn't consider it important to teach her. At first she seems a little embarrassed when she tells Lindon about it, but later she jokes about it. Notably, she does have at least some basic understanding of [[MagicalLanguage scripts]], something that ''is'' immediately relevant to being a sacred artist. In ''Wintersteel'' the Winter Sage declares that she will teach Yaren, but it hasn't been mentioned since then.

* RewatchBonus: In ''Unsouled', Yerin explains that the Sword Sage was killed by being poisoned and then dogpiled in his sleep by every Jade in the Heaven's Glory school. Initially, it's presented as a measure of how powerful he is that he still managed to kill half the attackers. Later, as we find out more about the relative power levels, it becomes obvious that not only should they not have been able to kill him, they should not have been able to ''disturb his sleep''. [[spoiler:Turns out the Valley-wide suppression field is to blame]].

# ''Literature/{{Bloodline 2021}}''
# ''Literature/{{Reaper 2021}}''

** The fact that a ''Sage'' was able to be killed by a bunch of ''Jades'' foreshadows the eventual reveal that [[spoiler:Sacred Valley is under a suppression field that keeps everyone at Jade level]].[[note]]The Sword Sage is killed by being poisoned and then dogpiled in his sleep by every Jade in the Heaven's Glory school. Initially, it's presented as a measure of how powerful he is that he still managed to kill half the attackers. Later, as we find out more about the relative power levels, it becomes obvious that not only should they not have been able to kill him, they should not have been able to ''disturb his sleep''.[[/note]]

** The fact that a ''Sage'' was able to be killed by a bunch of ''Jades'' foreshadows the eventual reveal that [[spoiler:Sacred Valley is under a suppression field that keeps everyone at Jade level]].

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: OneWordTitle style: ''Unsouled'', ''Soulsmith'', ''Blackflame'', ''Skysworn'', ''Ghostwater'', ''Underlord'', ''Uncrowned'', ''Wintersteel'', ''Bloodline'', ''Reaper'', and ''Dreadgod''.

# ''Literature/{{Bloodline 2021}}'' (April 2021)
# ''Literature/{{Reaper 2021}}'' (November 2021)

A series of fantasy novels by Creator/WillWight. The series currently consists of ten books, the first three of which have been gathered into the "Foundation" collection, Books four through six into the "Path of Gold," and books seven through nine into the "Rise of Lords."

*** He is '''''shocked''''' when he thought he killed someone but was actually tricked. "That hasn't happened since--no, it's never happened!" [[spoiler:In addition to being the Reaper (and thus very, very skilled at killing people), he's using pure madra instead of the destruction madra from his first life. He isn't quite used to how much weaker he is now than he was the first time around, and thus was genuinely tricked]].

# ''Dreadgod'' (July 2022)

* AntiMentor: Lindon soon learns that no one in the Sacred Valley has any idea what they're doing. Practically ''everything'' they do to advance their sacred arts is horrendously wrong, hamstringing their own development to the point that no one in the Valley has reached Gold in centuries. Their cruelty towards Lindon ends up working in his favor, as they refused to teach him all these things that would have seriously crippled him.

* InternalReformist: Akura Mercy's family is one of the strongest on the continent, but she hates how they bow and scrape to everyone above them while demanding everyone below them do the same to them. She decided she would become the most powerful in her family so that she could change that. Her plan got derailed a bit when she had her Underlord revelation and realized that [[spoiler:the real reason she learns the sacred arts is just so that her mother will be proud of her]].
** In Wintersteel [[spoiler:Lindon [[VampiricDraining Consumes]] a Black Dragon Underlord who from his memories was a vocal opponent of the Dragon King's directive to destroy the empires of humanity and had adopted many human children to protect them from other dragons]].
** In Reaper [[spoiler:we find out that Ozriel has been this the entire time. His strongest desire is to form a team who's sole purpose is saving worlds from corruption, but unfortunately the Abidan in general would much rather purge those corrupted worlds from The Way because AMillionIsAStatistic.]]

** The Sandvipers use the Bloodforged Iron body, which grants improved healing, by taking a single prick of sandviper venom and drinking a thimble of sandviper blood. [[spoiler:Eithan gives Lindon a Bloodforged Iron body by having ''four'' sandvipers bite him directly and then drink all their blood. Lindon's body is ridiculously overpowered, to the point that he has trouble keeping up with it considering his madra supply. Between Uncrowned and Wintersteel, Orthos has gone through the lengthy process of removing Wei Shi Kelsa's old malformed Iron Body and replacing it with one that would best fit her path]].
** Yerin developed a Steelborn body after her master “dropped me in a black pool, and it stung like fire. Water drilled right down into me until I thought I was dead for sure. Three days and three nights I squirmed like a worm on a frying pan, breathing through a reed. Then he let me out.”

* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Averted; when Lindon has a duel with a Highgold in a year's time, Eithan promises him that with training, he'll have a good chance of defeating a Highgold by then. After Lindon leaves, Yerin notes that Eithan didn't mention his opponent won't be a Highgold by the time of their duel, since he just got his hands on a weapon that gives him a CannibalismSuperpower. In ''Bloodline,' however, [[spoiler:[[AntiHero Jai Long]], who has spent the last couple of years in Sacred Valley's suppression field, assumes that Lindon is still Gold like he is. He is shocked when he realizes that Lindon is an Underlord, and doesn't believe that he's a Sage until he witnesses his Sage Authority in action.]]