Title: The Beginning After the End Vol. 8
Author: TurtleMe (Story), Fuyuki23 (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press, Tapas
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 312
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Publication Date: July 22, 2025
The Story
It’s Arthur’s sister’s birthday! Eleanor wanted a quiet family party; however, they made a massive ordeal out of it! Of course, for such an occasion, Art wants to get his dear little sister a special present, so he has Vincent bring him before Dicathen’s greatest artificer, who is somewhat of a mad scientist, Gideon. Even if Art came there for a gift, he also has knowledge and goads Gideon into spilling a massive royal family secret, something that has to do with the upcoming announcement. When he learns of what is to come, Art draws out a solution to Gideon’s problem. Astonished by Art’s impressive knowledge, the two form a bond, and Art receives his gift for Eleanor’s party.
While at the party, Gideon decides to talk to Art some more. He wants Art to come up with more world-changing inventions, but Art isn’t interested in such a thing. Instead, a different deal is struck where Gideon will receive advice from Art on occasion in exchange for artifacts that only Gideon can make… one of which he has made in the form of a bracelet that is to willingly suppress two of his four elemental powers… for reasons!
This brings us to the big announcement… one that looks to unite the three nations of Dicathen, all due to a major discovery. It seems as if the world is attempting to move forward by eliminating racism amongst the humans, elves, and dwarves; however, one does not simply erase racism so easily. On the first day of school, Art, Elijah, and the rest of the first-years are greeted by the student council, and their President is a familiar face that we haven’t seen in a while… who is all grown up and still has a bit of a crush on Art! She hopes to reconcile with him more properly, but when Art steps in to prevent a racial beatdown, our new President must intervene! Once things have settled, Art returns to his dorm room when there is a knock on the door. Of course, it was only a matter of time before he was paid a visit from the head of Xyrus herself, but what does Cynthia Goodsky want with him?
Characters
We had quite a few points of development here this time around.
First, we have our new character, Gideon. He reminds me of Hojo from Final Fantasy VII, if Hojo were an actual good guy, not spoiled by corruption. Other than that… same vibes. Gideon is a world-renowned artificer who claims that every other artificer around the globe would get on their knees in his presence, and yet, Art was able to best him by using knowledge from his original world to solve Gideon’s problem. Because of such, a bond is formed between them as he wishes to know more. In fact, Gideon even stated that Art’s invention will bring him more fame, more money, and more status, but he only sees those as a means to an end. Instead, he wants to use all of that to pick Art’s brain and to help support him in any way he can. The fact that the greatest artificer in Dicathen was bested mentally by a now 13-year-old Art shows just how humbled he became… even if he doesn’t openly admit it. A fun new character that is sure to be a major ally for Art!
With the announcement, we were introduced to The Six Lances, those chosen to be the strongest defenders of Dicathen. While five of them are just names for us to memorize for now, the sixth struck a chord with Art because he is none other than Bairon Wykes, older brother of Lucas Wykes who most recently almost slaughtered Art’s entire adventuring party and got off with the equivalent to a slap on the wrist (if you look at the bigger picture). While not a lot of depth was given to this yet, his mere appointment as one of The Six clearly shows that the feud between Art and the Wykes family is far from over, and it sows the seeds of Art potentially replacing Wykes as one of The Six, or standing alongside him, perhaps.
Arts travels have paid off because the Student Council President is none other than our cute lil elf girl Tess from back at the beginning of the series when Art first got separated and discovered her in the forest! My, my, our little Tess has sure grown up! Of course, she still remembers Art and the training he underwent with her grandfather, and given how much she swooned when she knew that Art was going to be attending the academy, one could say that he has, yet another, connection in a high place. As if having connections with the royal family, the head of the academy, the auction house, the best artificer in Dicathen, and high-status members of other nations wasn’t enough, we might as well toss in Xyrus’ Student Council Present, too. Art is becoming quite untouchable!
Final Thoughts
While I would consider this a filler volume, it was still highly interesting, especially with the major announcement that was made in regards to not only the joining of the three races together, but the sole reason for them becoming united. You know that the unification of the continent could only mean one thing… something big is on the horizon, and this is just the calm before the storm! Plus, with the way this series has been moving as of late, it’s nice that old characters are returning, and that we are getting caught up with them.
There is one thing that I am very thankful for, and that is something that happened within the first couple of pages of the volume. Art tried to forget a pact with the Elderwood Guardian that he had defeated. He still had possession of its core, but he was unable to do so, noting that Sylvie would have destroyed the soul should he attempt to merge. I’m happy that they didn’t give him a dual beast tamer skill because Art is strong enough as it is. I would much rather him take the path that he is already taking, and that is reshaping his body and getting stronger just through typical training. Sometimes, it’s tempting to make our main characters as powerful as they could be, but this time, restraint was shown, and I’m thankful for that!
I don’t think we’re going to explore the big announcement in the next volume, as I can see more “filler” happening. I mean, we do need some more time for our returning characters to breathe, but it doesn’t mean the entire volume will be just that. I can see more pieces of the puzzle falling into place before we fully commit to a new action-oriented arc, but when we do get to that point, I’m expecting some big things to go down, and I can’t wait to check it out. For now, let’s let the dust settle and enjoy seeing some old friends!
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This item was purchased for review.
