Prologue

Before anything else, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read my ongoing book, especially to those who scrutinized my work in order to bring out both its strengths and weaknesses. To name some of them: aftermat  windsireyna  ChantalCruz30  ReddHumann  leoconstellwriter  purple_porpoise  NowhereGray. I have no idea what to write as a response since this is the first time that I subjected my work for review, so please bear with me. The chapter numbers have nothing to do with the real chapters of the book, mind you.

Chapter 1: Hello Philippines and Hello World

My heart was filled with joy after reading all of your review especially when most of you felt nostalgic after reading the first three chapters. I made this story with three objectives in mind and one of them was to introduce Philippine folk creatures to the world and at the same time let fellow Filipinos know that our country is rich with creatures that we can use and play around in our stories. Ironically, when I was making the outline for this story, I realized that my knowledge on Philippine folklore is limited to what my grandmother told me when I was a child. Afraid that I might lose the drive to finish the outline by getting lost with my search for the appropriate Philippine creatures that will fit the roles in the story (since a good thorough research takes a lot of time), I resorted to hiring some creatures from foreign lores to do their job. Sorry ReddHumann if you were disappointed. I tried but with my short attention span, I need to get the outline done before all the ideas sublime from my head. Don't worry, I tried to put more emphasis on the creatures of our local lore. And since I used creatures that are not as popular as Tolkien's elf, I may have to describe them a bit more. Thank you ChantalCruz30 for your suggestion. I will do my best to add necessary descriptions in order to help the readers picture the creature that I want them to imagine. (Or maybe I should find an illustrator. I'm so bad with words that I think I should just show them. Haha! Kidding! But not a bad idea, right?) Oh, about purple_porpoise 's question on the mandragora/mandrake. There is a belief that the mandrake is formed when a hanged man's 'seed' meets the soil or something like that. That's how I got the idea of using it for the tiyanak so I don't know if you can consider that original.

Chapter 2: A Chapter is Worth a Thousand Words

With grammar, I definitely need to fix those tenses. Thank you for pointing that out and thank you most especially to purple_porpoise for the tip. That's a very cool tip. Also, most of the reviewers commented about the chapters being too short. It's actually both my fault and intention. I limit the word count of each chapter from 1,500 to 2,000 because I experience eye strains from reading directly from the PC monitor and so I assume some readers are like that as well. Plus I have a very short attention span. (Did I mention that already? I said very short so reading lengthy chapters is a bit of struggle for me. So just imagine the torture of editing my work if the chapters were longer. Haha!) Though I know I have the option to chop one lengthy chapter into subchapters and publish them as separate wattpad chapters, the 'maarte' in me decided not to do it. However, I think I should consider adding more details about the setting, like putting what the characters in the books see, not just to lengthen the chapters but to help the readers picture the scene as well. So thank you all for that feedback. I have one question for the reviewers regarding this matter, even without adding too much detail do you think I achieved the goal or story that I want to achieve per chapter, or do the chapters feel lacking in the content department?

Chapter 3: Who are you?

The characterization has a bit of a problem, I admit. purple_porpoise pointed out that Fremont's talkative and perky nature disappeared. It's actually a consequence of changing the outline. I already published Chapter 4 when I decided to change the story a bit. That's why in Chapter 5, someone took on the perky and talkative trait in the person of Kasch. With that change and my laziness to edit the entire Chapter 4 (Remember, editing a 1,500-word chapter is torture for me), Fremont was not able to sustain his initial character. My bad. For the case of Eric's mannerism, I have to thank purple_porpoise for pointing that out. I actually forgot about that. leoconstellwriter mentioned something like this as well. I guess I may have to work out the character's profile a little more. I was too focused on the story and the messages that I want to relay to the readers that I forgot all about my characters. It's not nitpicking. It's good that you, as reviewers, were able to point that out. It's true that characterization is as important as the plot of the story and your reviews helped me realize this. So, thank you so much.

Chapter 4: Not so Cliché. Well, Maybe a Little.

I mentioned that I wrote this story with three objectives in mind, right? The second objective is to write a fantasy story that is not about levelling up and achieving the ultimate skill that will wipe out all that is evil in this world... or in the alternate world. ReddHumann asked how I will go on with the story without conflict. Well, there is a conflict and it's a conflict that is too common we fail to realize that it exists. (Oooppps! I'm giving out too much information. Haha!) You have to read further to find out. Which puts me to the next point that purple_porpoise mentioned in her review. One weakness of this book (She did not say it's a weakness; I did okay?) is I did not present the conflict earlier so readers will get hooked. Well, it's because that's how most stories are written, and I just want to be different. I like to break rules like eating pasta with red wine. Is that a bad thing? Maybe. Which is why if you only read up to Chapter 3, it just feels like an introduction to (the magical world of) Thera. It is only when you decide to drag yourself to read up to Chapter 8 and give this poor book a chance that you, as a reader, will realize that there is something more to the story than just a young man getting lost in Thera. Should I present the conflict earlier in the story? Honestly, I don't know. But learning that the readers are amazed by the story that begins to unfold at Chapter 8 and how they react to it (with all the 'Oh my goodness, I did not expect this twist' expression) puts a satisfied smile on my face. Like really satisfying smile on my face. Like really. Imagine me saying 'Gotcha there, huh?'

Chapter 5: Hidden Gems

And what about the third objective? To write a story that will let people know of the silly decisions that we make as humans. Embedded in this story are the lessons that I want to present to the readers in a non-condescending manner, some of them are sensitive (I once tagged this story as mature). I commend purple_porpoise for leafing through all the published chapters so far. Though it is not required, my heart fluttered sky high when I received notifications that she was reading way past Chapter 3 (She actually read up to the last published chapter.). Gotcha there, huh? But it's a good thing she did because she was able to find the precious gems I hid inside. The other readers shouldn't worry about that. Like I said, you need to drag yourself way past Chapter 8 in order to view the world that I created and we are only required to review at least three chapters.

Epilogue

As I mentioned earlier, this is my first time to write a response so I really have no idea how to do this or what I should write about. But one thing is clear, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who read my ongoing work. Rest assured that your comments and reviews are well received by yours truly. My personal favorite is the review by purple_porpoise . I wish I could have uploaded all the chapters so you don't have to wait for the ending. Thank you FWFC for giving me a week to rest and the opportunity to just wait in agony for the reviews. Thank you everyone and I hope for the day that we will see our works in book stores.

Word count: 1,500