Sometimes The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is An Oncoming Train [DxD / Celestial Dojo SI]

[Kot_Sleep]

Why did this:

Give him Water God Style?

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What's more, you also have a talent at coming up with entirely new techniques and and ways to use any powers you have for most any situation you can think of.
and
You also possess the mental faculties to actually question how your powers work, and if you ever used shadow magic, you would surely recognize that it could only work if a seperate shadow realm existed
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I think perhaps the Northern God style itself was formerly the Water God style, which is why our hero, with his talent in Mountain God, was able to develop some of the basic skills required for Water God and recreate useful skills for his current situation. Not a complete style, just some techniques.

 

[ApatheticArchivist]

Why did this:

Give him Water God Style?

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If I had to guess, he was recalling information from the North God info drop and with his new savant abilities inferred/recreated something using similar principles. If I recall correctly, he learned the North God style by living through the memories of wielding the style of hundreds of its users. So it likely had enough stuff in it of fighting against that technique, successfully or otherwise, to help him with bootlegging it. The North God memories likely have enough of all the other styles hidden away in it for him to recreate them all in their entirety if he wanted to (with his new Ability Savant-ism at least).

Best of luck with your irl stuff.
Thanks for the chapter!

 

[K.st0ne]

Refusing to pollute her martial path nor concede advantage to a bunch of feckless scoundrals, a Water God Style swordswoman dove deeper, deeper, and deeper, learning the most difficult techniques of the Style.

If North God Style had a technique for every situation, then she would create a technique that would be able to counter all of theirs. If their unpredictability and adaptability was the danger, then she would simply become able to read every single one of their attacks and strike back.

After years of refinement, she finally revealed it, and the world would know a new Water God—

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Kinda reaching isn't it? So one of practitioner was also Water God, then he learned secret art of Water God Style? Can he do Ran Ma or whatever Magic Cancel of Beastmen called cause one of practitioner was Beastmen? Pretty sure Orsted is North God level too, so basically become Orsted, the Dragon God?

Edit: [Is it possible to learn this power? Not from the protagonist.]
- Using your abilities to their fullest potential (a child's play to you)
- Can easily use "several abilities" you have in tandem to amplify their strength beyond what might be expected of them
- Come up with entirely new techniques
- Come up Ways to use any powers you have for most any situation you can think of
- Possess the mental faculties to actually question how your powers work

[Animalistic Incorporation]: Incorporate movement of animals into personal Fighting Style. Excellent synergy with Survivalist, Random BS go North God Style. Boosted to Terraformars type unscientific but hype animal mimicry.
[North God Style]: North God Style. Boosted, just become North God, none of that Water God bs.
[Captain]: Weaker and less experienced Captain level equivalent of Human. [Star Wars Meme] doesn't say perfect control, but fullest potential North God must be someone with perfect control.
[Tenacity]: Willpower Boost
[Motivated to Greatness]: Motivation based all around minor boost. Motivation must be grand, worthy of story.
[Blessings and Curses]: Xianxia style energy property change. Heal allies and Poison enemies.

 

[DodoDude]

It's an infuriating feeling, having the capability to help people, truly help people, and not be able to use it for fear of consequences

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This is a very good section. The constant conflict and divided nature of the world preventing anyone from being an open and unclaimed healer is a truly tragic thing. Tuberculosis is also no joke. At one point around 25% of all deaths in Europe were caused by that single disease. Nowadays we have specialized antibiotics and programs dedicated to fighting TB, but it's an eternal battle as huge portions of the population have latent TB, which only properly begins to show symptoms once the immune system has been weakened by other factors.

Haru being unable to do anything at the moment because of the fragile politics is a real indictment of the worldstate.

In order to sustain operations down here, as well as not keel over from the smell despite my enhanced senses, I had a fox mask covering my face, the disguise kit providing an airtight seal over my face. Nishina-san's shrine didn't have the most ideal kami to petition for this, but Susano-no-Mikoto was a kami whose domain governed wind, while Inari Ōkami had quite the broad domain, one of which included success.

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One of my favorite things about clerics, miko, and writing blessings as a power system is the idea of praying to specific gods for specific situations. There probably is a kami of specifically clean air who could be petitioned, but Haru makes do with what they are given.

The roar of the dragons was that of life and so it was: the cries of children being born. The despairing sobs of those who were about to die. The wailing of the unquiet dead, the people left behind by the "times," all those who were too inconvenient to look at. The struggling, the striving, the strong and weak alike — a song of survival and the journey beyond—

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Tokyo is an utterly brutal place for Senjutsu to awaken, or any major city for that matter. Its forcibly opening your eyes and ears to some of the worst conditions for people and nature, all now beamed directly into your head.

What wasn't comical was that what I saw before me was an array of negative geomancy so powerful, so plain in its blurring the boundary between the world of the living and the one of the dead, but near completely empty of anyone making use of it. The demesne that had been created had clearly taken a considerable amount of resources — all of this material, all of this spellwork, all of this spiritual architecture… and all of it had been left to rot. The presumed fruit of their labors, giant pulsating gray cocoon in the center of the cavern, had been left unguarded. The spirits that had been pumped out of here couldn't even be called security, considering the amount of work the knowledge in my head was telling me this had taken.

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Frankly a horrifying and effective way to take advantage of the negative emotions and energy inherent in a modern city. Where ancient liches robbed graveyards, modern magical terrorists use the sewer system.

Also demesne is a very specific word to be used given what power set was just rolled.

Stepping forward, I struck eight times all at once across the body of what could only be some kind of mutated Gashadokuro. Eight became sixteen, sixteen became thirty-two, and thirty-two became sixty-four as my fists, elbows, knees, and feet crashed into the skeleton, my limbs blurring faster and faster until the monstrous spirit had enough of getting constantly having to regenerate itself back into physical substance. Howling a silent scream, it detonated its body to blow me away, leaving only an ectoplasmic skull floating in the air. Its jaw unhinged, it began sucking in the miasma at a prodigious rate. Instead of rebuilding its body as it had before, however, an ominous light began to build within the head of the Gashadokuro.

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Quite fitting that the concentration of all of this rot and filth gives birth to one of those. The OG yokai were made from the lingering remnants of unburied soldiers and victims of famine who died unknown. How many die in Tokyo without anyone else noticing, either from a lack of family to care, or by already being an ignored part of society?

I originally had this plan to show how the Old Satan Faction had bought up a lot of territory to do chicanery with their resources buying up real estate after the bubble popped, leaving various Devil investors in Tokyo sitting with bad debt, but I just didn't have the time and energy to do that, so I decided to just slam through it with raw power and leave the investigation into how this occurred to the Shrines instead. Sorry, guys.

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OSF wasn't my first suspect. but in hindsight when you mentioned the "certain inhabitants of Kabukicho" it really should have clicked. I wonder how many other abandoned sites and rituals they have left around the world without any effort in clean up? Once again I can only kneel to Serafall for having to perform the utterly herculean task of being the devil's main diplomatic face. Girl has to run herself ragged to merely keep the public reputation of devils at "mildly negative".

Eight-Fold Geomantic Mastery

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I laughed so hard upon seeing this power draw. You wanted a way to change the world Haru? A way to fix things in Japan? Here you go! (just don't worry about the little things like having to get access to all those founts of unworldly power, it'll work out easy. Trust)

Loved the chapter, can't wait for more!

 

[Uthalem]

Thanks for the chapter hope things start getting better soon

Stepping forward, I struck eight times all at once across the body of what could only be some kind of mutated Gashadokuro. Eight became sixteen, sixteen became thirty-two, and thirty-two became sixty-four

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Ok Neji

monstrous spirit had enough of getting constantly having to regenerate

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you might want to get rid of getting

 

[BlueHelix]

Thanks for all the edits and the well-wishes everyone, hopefully I can get back on the saddle for real soon (tm). I swear every single writer I know instantly has had their luck get ten times worse, but if Raging Heaven would strike me down, then I'll rise regardless. Xianxia jokes aside, let's get on with it, although things will be out of order.

Why did this:

Give him Water God Style?

Click to shrink...

Kinda reaching isn't it? So one of practitioner was also Water God, then he learned secret art of Water God Style? Can he do Ran Ma or whatever Magic Cancel of Beastmen called cause one of practitioner was Beastmen? Pretty sure Orsted is North God level too, so basically become Orsted, the Dragon God?

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It didn't, actually, although Haru could probably work to create it from first principles. It's less having full access to the Water God style, and more --

If I had to guess, he was recalling information from the North God info drop and with his new savant abilities inferred/recreated something using similar principles. If I recall correctly, he learned the North God style by living through the memories of wielding the style of hundreds of its users. So it likely had enough stuff in it of fighting against that technique, successfully or otherwise, to help him with bootlegging it. The North God memories likely have enough of all the other styles hidden away in it for him to recreate them all in their entirety if he wanted to (with his new Ability Savant-ism at least).

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This

And less

I think perhaps the Northern God style itself was formerly the Water God style, which is why our hero, with his talent in Mountain God, was able to develop some of the basic skills required for Water God and recreate useful skills for his current situation. Not a complete style, just some techniques.

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This.

The actual perk that allowed Haru to do this chicanery was Eight-Fold, because the whole concept of Water God style is being able to read the flow of magic / Battle Aura and then immediately be able to counter and block by predicting the incoming strike. Haru doesn't have Water God training to do that, but they can cheat because Haru has access to Senjutsu, which, well...

"Yes, senjutsu is different from demonic power and sorcery. The biggest difference is that senjutsu stresses the importance of something called chakra, the aura that is the great original power that flows into one's spirit, in other words one's life-force, and turns it into a constant current. It's a power that is both similar yet different from the demonic power of demons and the light power of angels. Its direct destructive power can't match that of demonic power or the power of light, but senjutsu can make use of the unknown part hidden within plants, animals and people. For example, if one learned senjutsu, it's said that they excel at reading the flow of someone's spirit, of their aura, and that they can also grasp the movements of a faraway target to a certain degree."

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Every single component soul / skull of the Gashadokuro had been tagged by Haru's spirit due to them consuming any energy they can in the room to regenerate / explode / reconstitute themselves, and Haru, instead of having their senses cast wide in the sewer system, is deliberately closing everything off except for senjutsu in the bounds of the sealed cavern.

(I've been reading too much wuxia / martial arts manga lately lately, but no-mind / mushin is a classic concept)

Combined with the fact that Captain kicks their baseline combat capability way high, Battle Aura and Touki boosting their physical capabilities even further, and Animalistic Incorporation for the past few months feeding Haru a lot of cracked out reflex and quick-strike techniques in the last month or so due to the masterful Rat-shishou and Insect-sensei, the last perk (what can I even shorten the perk name to for easy reference...) basically just served as an epiphany for Haru to take inspiration from Reia, rather than just giving Haru Water God capabilities free and clear. I hope this makes sense -- it's basically hacking together a bunch of abilities to ape something at the right time, since going full blast risked blowing a dimensional hole, and not doing a simultaneous attack risked just contributing to the chain reaction.

Ok Neji

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Less Neji, and more of a reference to Muay Thai -- that's why I emphasized hands - knees - elbows - feet, the whole Art of Eight Limbs and all. I've been rereading a lot of martial arts manga lately when I can, haha...

I still dont understand the excommunication or why the main character cares about it.

You were excomunicated and cut off from housing and school. Tough and horrible to happen but you had another option that took you in.

Why is he being so...hmm...I dont know another word for, being a pussy about it now? Who sincerely cares if the know you helped thos exorcists? You were cast out, their opinions now should not matter at all to you and helping those wounded exorcists was just something your upbringing told you was a good thing to do.

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NemoMarx covered it, but the risk/benefit just isn't really there compared to a bit of minor effort to disguise themselves. Haru's kind of been reeling from being literally insta-excommunicated, but also, like, having a known healer be in connection to a bunch of orphaned kids and retired or elderly nuns is just a risk Haru doesn't want to afford. Being a High-Class combatant is relatively a dime a dozen, but being able to heal is genuinely a strategic asset, Asia was getting all sorts of requests canonically in DxD. Juice just isn't worth the squeeze, especially with the Church probably riddled with Khaos Brigade moles to boot, too.

After all that rant about devil society, and then you say nah doing anything'd be racist.

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Had this post saved to respond to but can't find it again, but fuck it I guess.

I kind of feel that one doesn't follow the other? Haru doesn't perceive Devils as inherently disgusting, but if they do get the full context on Devil society, they absolutely will find it absolutely depressing, lol

But realistically, Haru's not going to spend years on end doing regime change in Hell, or trying to get Sirzechs to get off his bum ass. It's not a matter of "doing anything would be racist" and more that getting down to Hell is noted to be extremely difficult for those not connected to Hell infrastructure (its part of the whole appeal for Devils contracting magicians, in fact)

If that's the reason, they could just go to the Underworld personally to get the things they want, or they could also get it through different routes. However, it seems like those methods had high risks. For the former one, it's risky because there were very limited ways to go to the Underworld. Those like me can go to the Underworld easily, but that's because I'm a servant of the 'High-class Devil Gremory'. Going to the Underworld was not an easy journey for Magicians, who weren't Devils. You could go between the Underworld and the human world if you were the servant of a Devil, though it would be a problem if Stray Devils did it. I registered myself inside the train when I went to the Underworld for the first time during summer, but I heard that Magicians will be asked something with high risks. I hear that those who can leave their name in the history of Magicians can attain a pass to the Underworld, but that will also have quite a lot of requirements. In other words, those that weren't a Devil or a Fallen Angel couldn't go to the Underworld that easily. ...The reason why Vali and his team could appear in the Underworld like nothing was because they are insanely strong. If we are talking like that, then there were Magicians who trespassed to the Underworld by using their own powerful teleportation magic... Though those were people who were seen as a threat from both the Devils and the Magician association. Vali was the same, so entering without permission was bad.

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They have much more immediate problems, and much more immediate plans to deal with those problems than figuring out how to get down to Hell and trying to enact a one-human-revolution, is what I'm saying.

Those plans that might involve regime change in Hell, but you know, it's not intentional if it happens, definitely accidental. Ah, spoilers, haha…

Interesting draw, considering that's basically Yasaka's bread and butter.

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It's kind of hysterical to see how broken a lot of my 200 CP rolls have been, tbh. Natural Energy Manipulation and Geomancy is already ridiculous, but the ability to explicitly create Demesnes and Manses outside of Creation is genuinely ridiculous. Tip of the iceberg is being able to create certain Hearthstones with a bit of time and effort, although some must be naturally formed so Haru can't just farm the "no ghosts allowed" Hearthstone infinitely, but boy Exalted's rolls are pretty stupid lmao

Rough to read the dilemna of being able to heal people but being unable to because the powers that be would jump Haru's ass immediately.

Those rolls are insane, giving bro immediate access to Touki and the ability to use new stuff on the fly. North God was already Bullshit Go but now it's even more so.

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This effectively turns him into a savant with his abilities, if I'm reading it right.

Completely busted roll, here.

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I would want to heal people as well (and make some serious bank), but I agree the possibility of getting forcibly pieced, kidnapped, or murdered for asset denial is just to high at this point.

Sorry to hear about your family situation, I'm dealing with something in the same approximate ballpark here as well.

Thanks for the chapter.

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Yeah, the whole question of being able to heal but not being able to for fear of your own life is a pretty rough one, and it's one that is faced ethically IRL for a lot of first responders and so on as well. You're trained a lot, almost indoctrinated if I'm being uncharitable, to put patients and others first because you've poured your heart and soul into this field because if you've stuck it out, you really do want to help people

But you also have a responsibility for your own life, and to also help people in the future. You can't heal people if you're dead, after all.

Senjutsu helps and complicates this. The ability to detect others and suppress your own existence will be very funny in the next chapter if things come together right. On the other hand, Senjutsu is another healing technique, haha… although it's limited to contact to some degree apparently, and the best method is apparently the "Bedroom Method" lol

It's a good disguise I suppose considering how unrestricted Blessings and Curses is

(Considering Youkai tend to have the canonically highest showing of Senjutsu users, makes you think about their political position with regards to the best of the world tbh)

Also, good luck with your family too, Custodes. It's rough out here.

Huh, wonder what that's referring to?

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There's an Asian superstition (I think Korea, Japan, and China all share this, along a few others) where if you whistle at night you'll attract ghosts and they'll follow you home. Theres a number of historical reasons that could be the cause of this but honestly it's pretty common sense not to make too much noise at night when traveling tbh.

One of my favorite things about clerics, miko, and writing blessings as a power system is the idea of praying to specific gods for specific situations. There probably is a kami of specifically clean air who could be petitioned, but Haru makes do with what they are given.

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It's one of the funnier cultural things about how casual or professional, I suppose, some Shinto worship is. A friend told me that it was a good idea that I had Haru visit Nishina-san's shrine in the morning because that's when the Kami is most likely to be in. Even gods have business hours, it looks like.

OSF wasn't my first suspect. but in hindsight when you mentioned the "certain inhabitants of Kabukicho" it really should have clicked. I wonder how many other abandoned sites and rituals they have left around the world without any effort in clean up? Once again I can only kneel to Serafall for having to perform the utterly herculean task of being the devil's main diplomatic face. Girl has to run herself ragged to merely keep the public reputation of devils at "mildly negative".

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It was honestly really just Occam's Razor imo because Devils are really the ones who would be buying up territory. The Fallen do have some businesses and carve out some territory especially in red light districts, but Azazel gives a lot less of a shit about owning territory (or properly running his faction, tbh…)

They probably are in good with the drug trade now that I think about it. Some of the biggest shibari and amphetamine fiends I know are PhDs or postdocs, so there's a couple of Venn diagrams to be made there

But yeah, I mentioned earlier that a number of Devils got sucked in to the asset price bubble and bought a lot of stuff when things are good, and while the Pillar Houses have fuckoff money, having negative assets isn't a great feeling, much less for smaller investors. Real Estate investing, not even once. So the Old Satan Faction swept in when the prices got hosed and bought up a lot of stuff vulture fund style because deniable territory in Tokyo is useful in its own way

They've mostly given it up though, because a) people are dicking around in the sewers ahead of schedule b) Tokyo is really hot territory to be dicking around in c) they have a better source of power and empowerment than human suffering and misery now, haha

(No-prize for those who determine what that is, lol)

And yeah, Gashadokuro was a fun little miniboss to break out. Terribly appropriate, and I wanted a proper "boss fight" for the sewers. Would not have been as… simple, I guess, of a fight if Haru didn't have some prep time and also give skele-bro a proper wakeup call, but hey, if you're not jumping them you're not trying

In a pseudo-Underworld in the depths of the misery of a metropolis isn't a great place to awaken Senjutsu — people tend to be vastly more prepared and more trained in a certain mentality to unlock it, considering the known hazards. There were definitely worse places — the world always has its fair share of atrocities and tragedies, but misery isn't exactly a competition. Things might've been very exciting if Haru didn't have Tenacity, haha…

Glad you and Ark are enjoying the historical tidbits as well. It's honestly mostly yap on my end to get the ball rolling, but sometimes I think it sets the tone pretty well. Obvious themes are obvious and all

Once again, thanks y'all for the well-wishes, encouragement, and commentary. Means a lot!

 

[RookDeSuit]

No lie, If I didn't see the rolls for what he got, then I would have assumed his Shinigami-Captain Level powers had a severely bad reaction down there, before those same Powers dragged him out.

After all, The Cycle of Souls must Flow- Rot or No Rot.

 

[jahaad peterson]

Yeah, the whole question of being able to heal but not being able to for fear of your own life is a pretty rough one, and it's one that is faced ethically IRL for a lot of first responders and so on as well. You're trained a lot, almost indoctrinated if I'm being uncharitable, to put patients and others first because you've poured your heart and soul into this field because if you've stuck it out, you really do want to help people

But you also have a responsibility for your own life, and to also help people in the future. You can't heal people if you're dead, after all.

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The reality is actually the opposite for medical practitioners. Before we even get into triage, the very first rule drilled into us is scene safety. We're taught — repeatedly and without compromise — that we must ensure we are safe before treating anyone.

Not because we don't care, but because if we go down, we add another casualty and remove a responder from the equation. You can't save anyone if you're dead, injured, or compromised. That's not selfishness; that's operational reality.

In medicine, especially in prehospital and combat environments, the hierarchy is simple:

- Personal safety — If the environment isn't safe, you don't enter.
- Team safety — Your partners and other responders come next.
- Patient care — Only once the first two are secured do you move in.

This isn't cowardice. It's discipline. It's the understanding that your responsibility extends beyond the moment — you're responsible for the people you'll treat tomorrow, next week, and next month. You're responsible for the mission, the team, and the continuity of care.

That's why the fantasy framing you're talking about hits so hard. Characters who can heal but hesitate because doing so might expose them or put them in danger? That's not weakness — that's realism. It mirrors the exact ethical tension real responders face: the desire to help versus the obligation to survive.

And Senjutsu complicates that beautifully. The ability to sense others, hide your presence, or manipulate your own "signature" adds layers to the decision-making. It's a tool that can save you… or tempt you into taking risks you shouldn't. And the fact that it includes a healing technique — even one with hilarious limitations like the "Bedroom Method" — makes the contrast even sharper.

Blessings and Curses being unrestricted while Senjutsu demands contact or intimacy? That's a perfect metaphor for how some medical interventions are incredibly powerful but require proximity, exposure, and vulnerability.

So yeah — in the real world, we're taught to protect ourselves first. In your story's world, that tension becomes a narrative engine. The healer who can save someone but shouldn't yet? That's not just drama — that's authentic medical ethics wrapped in fantasy mechanics.

 

[Bigreader]

Man, the church is gonna be kicking itself. When they find out this guy's talents and that they kicked him out as soon as he discovered them. Especially since the reason they probably kick him out doesn't matter that much. Since griselda and vasco strada also know about the big man's death upstairs and they're still active members of the church.

 

[BlueHelix]

snip

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Hm. I'm not really sure how to take this post, but I'll roll with it in the spirit that it's given.

Combat environments are an entirely different ballgame, I'll admit to having no experience to that, and I feel that I probably should have noted just healthcare workers in general, but this is kind of a really complex situation.

Yes, training will always tell you to keep yourself safe and I do note that (and experience will eventually build that into you), but what I'm getting at is that a lot the like, getting into the field (especially for those that require professional education like medicine, pharmacy, nursing, etc) tends to select for people willing to burn at both ends and sacrifice a lot for others and being okay with that, at least in my experience. People by and large try to get into the field and stay in the field (beyond job security lol) because they tend to actually want to help people, and are initially willing to tolerate some really terrible conditions to do so

Administration and so on will then take advantage of this, as they encourage you to always push you to go out on a limb, go a little further, tolerate worse and worse conditions, because everything is for the patients and we can't compromise patient care but we won't support you for jack shit when Code Grays happen--

I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that yeah in terms of direct danger you're trained to get the fuck out of the way, but for all the other dangers, all the other things that will demonstrably make your life worse and suffer through, you're trained to just push through because that's how it's always been (it wasn't) and it's how things have to be (they don't).

Sorry, I think I'm getting a little frustrated here. I get the point that you're making, at least uh, in the first portion of your post, but I hope what I'm saying makes sense too. In the end, I think we're on the same page, and that for fields that help people, you gotta keep yourself intact first.

Man, the church is gonna be kicking itself. When they find out this guy's talents and that they kicked him out as soon as he discovered them. Especially since the reason they probably kick him out doesn't matter that much. Since griselda and vasco strada also know about the big man's death upstairs and they're still active members of the church.

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Hilariously, I legitimately actually do not think that it's ever confirmed that Griselda and Vasco know about God biting it. It's generally assumed that Vasco knows because I think it's mentioned somewhere he was putting belt to ass to Kokabiel but Kokopuffs somehow escaped and that's the given assumption, but I don't think that it's ever mentioned that they know. Griselda might know now that she's Gabriel's Queen of Hearts, but like, the vast majority of fucking Angels do not know that God bit it outside of the Seraphim, I think

It's a pretty well-kept secret, some-fucking-how, haha...