Sousou no Frieren - Vol. 3 Ch. 21 - Coward

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Oh shit boi, look out, we got pepegas in the chat. SotiCoto's always included.
 
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Wait, so that means Frieren join the hero's party not for supporting the hero?!
Shes the one using the hero as her support?
Damn...
 
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For the one that didn't understant why they call this skill a mockery to mages, a great mana is the pride of the mages. And Frieren and her master trick them by limiting the power that others perceive but have a higher output and keep the same limiting mana. That's why there is a chapter where Frieren compliment her disciple to have a higher output compared to her despite a less reserve of mana to use this skill to deceive ennemy perfectly.

For example, you think that a heavy machine gun in front of you which can fire 4000 bullets per minute have 1000 bullets left on the paper but this information is wrong and there is more bullets to fire 🤣
 
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@Midoriha
i meant in general dude. like in daily life. frieren does it every day always forever. and she's old, too.

no one will ever forget the namek arc, because we are still on namek
 
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Well, I was reading the comments ( protip: don't do that :p ) and I just wanted to point out some things:

1) It is not demonic pride that makes the demon mages to seek combat as much as we see, like some people seem to think ... atleast that is not all of it. Notice how young Frieren reacts to Flamme sugestion of not confronting the demons head to head: she just asks about the "feelings of a mage" and Flamme just sort of agrees with it ( hinting that she actually feels the same ) , but point out that just going by those "feelings" will get you dead more often than not.

In other words, in this world, using mage powers apparently gives you certain "feelings" and one of the side effects of those "feelings" is a tendency to go for combat with all fangs out even when it would probably not be wise to do so. And by the looks of it this affects demons , elves and humans alike ( in fact , the only mage we see in this series that appears somewhat immune to this battle lust is Fern, that had training from hel ... Frieren and that was drilled in that magical combat = pain ;) ). Demons just pull out all the stops when confronted with what they see as bipedal sheep ( aka humans ) ...

2) Related to this, it is not that Demons will never hide themselves. Again, just look at this chapter: those three demon stooges were also concealing themselves as well in the beginning ( when they were most likely fighting elves ). They just broke cover when they were sure that what they had to face was a half dead elf and a apparently weak bipedal sheep ( Ok, better stop with the Overlord references ) mage and they felt no need to restrain themselves ( you might even argue that they did that just to scare the human mage in leaving the elf behind ).

In fact, this chapter makes the case that concealing magical powers is not as a hidden thing as that ( or maybe not even that dificult ): Flamme does it, Frieren does it without any training, Fern passed the last chapters doing it and the three demon stooges apparently also did that. The fact that the demons seem to think it is uncommon, cowardice even, either is demon arrogance or just that, while it is probably not that hard to limit yourself, mustering the self control to do so in face to those "feelings of a mage" is the real limiting factor.
 
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@rrolo1 i don't think that's supposed to be an unnatural feeling specific to mages. Flamme was refering specifically to powerfull mages. So i think it has more to do with holding power rather then being a mage. I interpreted it more as the tendency to become pridefull and arrogant once one becomes stronger then his adversaries, we don't see much display of other kinds of power so far, but i think magic here represents power.

So i don't think it's particularly like people who use magic have a tendency to partake in combat. That'd feel like a reallly weird property for magic to inherently have. I think it's more like the idea of someone powerfull thinking he can take on the world, or solve their problems through sheer force, since he's stronger. Or maybe the wish to show off their power and look down on the weaker ones. It's more of a human characteristic rather than anything, demons feel very human to me in this work. I see them as basically humans with horns, a long lifespan and psychopathy.
 
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@Pleppie

Maybe ... we haven't seen any weak mages to tell the truth, demon, elf or human ;) But note that I was not saying it a unnatural feeling or anything wierd, just pointing out that mages in this setting had a tendency to be boastful of their powers and go always for a full power aproach unless specifically trained for and that the mages themselves talked about this being somewhat linked to be a mage ( and not to be a demon , elf or human ).

It might be pride and arrogance ( or even plain power drunkness ), sure, but I think it is a little too consistent between races to be just that ... just because it seems to be so wierd to them not to go full throttle all the time ( note that a elf and a demon just plain said so and a human seems to agree ). It is like everyone expects Usain Bolt to run everywhere at top speed, even when walking would be just fine , just to show how fast he is ;)

And yes, I agree that in this setting demons are just sort of human psychopaths with horns and a long life. They just feel somewhat unnatural because of their open contempt to humans that human psychopaths do not always show :p
 
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i think thats not cowardly at all.. it’s strategy and tactics to make your opponent unguarded, whatever the way, the survivor’s the winner
 
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@Tersione Except Flamme was going on about how it was an ignoble and cowardly thing to do from the start, and Frieren only noticed it because of her genius combined with being an Elf and thus naturally close to mana, and even she acknowledge it as cowardly back then too.
 
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This contemplative storytelling and musings about pride, deception and overestimation.
I absolutely love it.
 
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If the reaction confuses people...

The one thing tricksters and cons never really expect is to be conned themselves. That explains the outright rage.

The thrust here I believe is magic is seen as a devotional path. Almost all the talk around magic here has been about devotion and faith in it. The greater your devotion to the path of practicing magic, the greater your expected power. As creatures and practitioner of magic, demons are doubly devoted to it and derive their sense of superiority from it. Releasing your mana might be seen as a statement of your status, your devotion to magic, and your statement of faith and challenge to other mages of power.

In that light, Hiding it might be seen as cowardly because it is hiding from the consequences of great power and of not having confidence in your own power and what you are in the world in regards to magical practitioners.
 
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imagine being angry that someone tricked you while you're a dirty piece of lying garbage
 

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