I agree! This is why I love apothecary diaries because Mao Mao is acutely aware of the nature and corruption of the system and also her place within it, and uses the power and abilities that she does have to claim agency and create change when and where she can. She’s brilliant and resilient and the opposite of hot headed and reactive

It takes all kinds of people to make a world. Hotheads and cautious ones are only two aspects of humanity, but some situations need one over the other and sometimes both to work together :)

what do you mean? they each have their own manner of speech. that’s one thing i love about this series, you can tell who’s talking just by their interactions, aside from sometimes the Individual Antinium.

It’s because Ryoka, and Ceria here, are inflexible and hot headed creatures who instead react impulsively than to adapt. Which is the total opposite of my personality. I also find this personality to other MCs of different books that’s why I love reading those, and thankfully I also found it in Erin. You see, these two are active thinkers who acts by impulse instead of proactively thinking if there was a point for reacting. For example, when someone pissed them off for reason like politics, unofficial organizational rules and difference in perceptions or view like with Ryoka’s stint with the organizational structure of the Runner’s guild and Ceria with Wistram’s ‘secret’ system. I think they are so far of their head to oppose reactively with a system that was already existing before them, it looks like they’re imposing they’re own views and beliefs and expect things to change because they don’t like it and if not they’ll get angry. Yes, they are right, but there’s a boon to being subtle and not letting your reactions be known to others. It’s a self-preservation skill, you know that if you oppose, people in the higher rank in that organization will target you, and how can you protect yourself when your weak and lacking in power. In the essence, it’s called stupidity. The best action was to bottled up your feeling in front of everyone but plan to change the system or react when your not in front of them, being subtle is important because you are weak and powerless but this way you can still do something while still protecting yourself instead of prattling out your mouth that only invites trouble. That’s being smart, I like reading protagonist who knows when to poke and attack. Like my brother once thought me, ‘don’t be reactive, be proactive’.

Overall, this stems from Ryoka’s inflexibility. She can’t adjust to new facts and foreign concepts. She decides she didn’t like it, so she won’t. That’s arrogance without backing. Just like when she wanted to apply the concept of science in magicking water, so she can’t make one. She thought having levels was being controlled, so won’t have it, now how many tragedies, lives, she might have prevented if she’s flexible enough to know that she’s now living in a foreign world with foreign rules? Like an employee who suddenly don’t want to work well because he hated corporation and capitalism but still stayed because it pays. It’s like being thrown in a survival battle royale arena and won’t fight because killing is immoral. You see, it’s not that her views are wrong but she can’t back it up and instead of being flexible to wait till she’s powerful, she instead bark and expect people to change for her. She’s imposing her rules and thoughts in a world different from what she came from. If you wanted to act recklessly and mindlessly then I will commend you for standing on your belief only if you have power to back it. I’ve seen a lot if Mcs who opposes the system because they are powerful and they also know how to use the system against it.

What irritates me more was this is a common trait for those begot who love to discriminate people. Like those racist who can’t think in their head that it’s just a case of color and in the essence we’re the same human beings inside. Like those sexist who think women are less just because they are taught that men are superior than women, not flexible enough to think that women can do things and be also better on things men can do. Like those inflexible heads of homophobic people who thinks gays are bad just because the religion says they’re not the children of god and they are the spawn of evil when in fact gay people didn’t do anything bad to them so why are they reacting to them badly.

I have hatred for those people that discriminate someone for the flimsiest of reason. I find them inflexible. That’s why I have a strong aversion to those who can’t be flexible to know that we are continuing living for our views to change or influencing others for them to change, not to be leaded on or to lead on but for changing to be better and letting people be better through you.

I just find Ryoka a struggle to read because we differ in attitude, and the same her in a small way with Ceria. I would like it better if Pisces was the narrator here.

I’ve had trouble with this the entire time I’ve read this novel. It was worse at first, but now I know the characters well enough and based on the scene can pretty quickly figure out/ guess who is talking

I’ve been racing through the volumes since I started a week ago but it’s definitely a marathon. Every chapter is as long as 5 chapters from any other web novel I read!

Oh hey! Another fellow reader in 2022

‘Yes, Pisces, the upper levels are closed. The top three are only off limits for new mages, but after that—there is a door.’
I think you mean bottom three, since the restricted floors are higher.