2.7.7
on April 6, 2026
at 3:00 am
I really like it when multiple characters CAN technically solve the same problem but some of them can do it with precision and others kind of have to just do their One Thing hard enough to make it blow up
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: have we considered: hitting it really hard
Image source: opening
Tumblr text: warning: incoming “KRACKOOM”
(apologies to the person who usually posts this, I saw it hadn’t been done and wanted to get it posted so more people could see)
No worries, I forgot it was Monday.
Bluesky text: will I ever stop setting chapters in environments with zero natural light sources? the world may never know. fortunately enough people glow in this comic that it hasn’t been a problem thus far
FALCON PAAAAAWNCH!!!!!!!!
That ligtning is blue… We don’t often see blue ligtning
If I remember correctly, Caturus’s lightning was blue. Also, I think in-lore, blue and yellow lightning are different?
Blue and yellow lightning are pretty much equivalent to positive and negative charges and as far as I can tell the only difference is how they react to each other (attract the opposite, repulse the same). Mages tend to have a tendency to one over the other, Tess obviously like the yellow better.
(I hope this actually goes through.)
Blue and yellow lightning are different! They’re oppositely charged and attract each other 🙂
I think Red has said that they are the two different charges that make up lightning?
Yeah, if I remember correctly, yellow lighting has the property of attraction, which we see Tess usually use by magnetizing herself to walls, while blue has the property of repulsion, also known as blowing things up. A fun detail a few people noticed was that late in chapter 9 of arc 1, when Falst used a yellow lightning lacrima on Erin, when we see him discharging the energy to recover, it’s blue. They’re opposites.
Go Tess!!!
But now I’m very concerned for why she can only do this once, is it an energy thing or something much worse.
This could simply mean it’s too taxing for her to do it twice without having properly rested, which isn’t an option at the moment.
My understanding was that either this is one of the only spots they could reasonably make a breach to the Caves, or that it wouldn’t make sense for Void!Erin to make multiple cave breaches, so it wouldn’t draw the Paladin’s attention the same way, they’d just start getting suspicious that the party is still on the island.
My guess is that there’s only one shot since the Paladins are immediately going to follow the sound. There wouldn’t be time for her to charge up a second bolt before they find her.
She needs to take a long rest before she can get her 7th level spell slot back
Presumably it’s just that there’s only the one cave opening here so she can only do it once.
Hopefully there’s nothing else going on and she’s not going to pass out and need a nap right after this.
I interpreted it as “I can only blow this open once before the Paladins arrive, we’re not getting another try”, not that Tess can only do this technique once in her life or something.
I think she just means that they can only open the Cave once, which means they’ll only be able to lure the Paladins inland once, which means Erin and Dainix have one shot to make it underwater before being spotted. “As soon as you see your opening, sprint for the shoreline.”
My read on it was that this would exhaust the nearby lightning magic of the island, making a second spell of this scale impossible to cast again.
this is what I thought as well
It’s a little weird that the Paladins didn’t locate the cave entrances first and put troops there. But then again, maybe that’s not their style. I suppose they didn’t garrison the Storm of Magic either.
They might not have the ability to sense these caves like Kendal and Erin can? And tend to rely on maps of where the cavern entrances are, with this one not being on their map? Also this one seems pretty well-covered by the lava flow, which could block their ability to sense it if they are able to do that.
The two ways Team Floof have to sense the caves are Vash’s soul (which as far as we know nobody in the world is attuned to save Kendal, maybe the Collector, and possibly Vash’s fellow gods) and the Void Dragon’s power (which as far as we know nobody in the world is attuned to save Erin). The Paladins likely haven’t the faintest clue there even *is* an entrance under this lava bed.
I assume the Paladins have SOME better option than manually searching for all the caves, but maybe not. It’d be pretty ironic if, for all they talk about their Lady guiding them, the Paladin powerset includes telekinesis, forcefields, flight, psychic attacks, lasers, telepathy, healing (?), and sentient dragons, but no way to detect the influence of their dread nemesis.
I would guess that they would have posted troops to any *open* cave entrances, but I don’t think they have the ability to sense places where the caves are sealed (but still close to the surface) like Kendal and Erin. Kendal can sense it because he feels Vash’s presence and can tell when he’s getting closer/less obstructed to him, and Erin can feel the pull of the Void Dragon more when he gets closer to Stone’s heart. The Paladins don’t have any direct connections to powerful forces living in the caves, so they’re in the same boat as the rest of the Floof Squad.
I LOVE TESS SO MUCH I CANNOT EVEN ARTICULATE IT
She’s so cool. She is SO so cool!!!
Also her back muscles and entire pose in the second to last panel would make anyone sit down, short of breath. Also also, the lighting effects!
…excuse me while I regain my breath, this entire page just made me swoon.
Tess: Kame. Hameeeeee…. HA!
Has anyone else had to max out their brightness to read this chapter? Thank you Tess for the extra illumination!
Is this a “once the cave is open I can’t open it a second time” kind of “I can only do this once”, or is it the “this will mess me up badly” kind?
I assume the first, because if the second, why not have Kendal do it instead? A starfire blast would maybe not be heard all over the island, but most definitely seen from all over.
Didn’t Vash tell him not to use Starfire because its terrible for him? I imagine he could but to do so would be pointlessly painful.
“I am a hammer in a world full of not-nails and this is a problem.”
Fortunately, she’s got a brother who can identify things that could be nails if you squint.
Love this comment.
If only there was some kind of button to show it….
WOOOO GO TESS!!!
incoming full page of just one KATHOOM
Cut to an extreme wide shot of Rakhn’s Island being struck by a lightning bolt the size of a skyscraper.
That would instantly become my computer background, Red PLEASE
Oh, that’s a good idea.
I do the rotating background thing, and I like adding more. Hmm. Does anyone have a list of all the most visually epic Aurora pages?
My phone homescreen is 1-18-22, the page where Kendal is falling into the retrospection pit.
Mine was 1.22.63 for a while (Floof Squad group shot) and is currently 2.6.28 (dragon beach). I also very much like Erin’s firebending on 1.16.33 and Kendal on 1.18.10
Yesssss that’s my thought as well I’m so hype
And every dragon’s head turning.
since @redpandaofalltime seems to be missing i’m gonna steal their thing and see if it makes them reappear
oh my golly me it’s Danix
Oh golly me it’s Tess
Oh my golly me, it’s Erin!
Oh golly me it’s Kendal
oh my golly me it’s lightning
In Tess-World, a problem you can’t solve with lightning is just a problem you haven’t figured out how to solve with lightning
“Punching, Lightning or both” instead of “Lightning”.
Tess does have variety.
She’s also got lots of good life advice! Probably one of the most emotionally intelligent people in the Floof Squad.
Hmm I’m seeing the Tesslinua parallels. Using big powers to destroy some rock. Though Tess’s are certainly more powerful.
OH. that’s blue lightning. basically the same as yellow lightning, most mages prefer one or the other though. the only difference is in how they interact with each other. wheras they repel the self, the attract each other. think like magnets, or electricity. i don’t know what exactly tess’ plan is, but she sure seems to be focusing right now (since she’s getting out of her comfort zone).
When your main tool is lighting punches, almost every problem looks like a dragon’s face
If you think about it, the dragon is inside the planet. So she is indirectly punching a dragon.
Tess Stormbreaker you are the awesomest, coolest, most absolute fucking badass person in the entire dang universe!!!
If Tess has a thousand fans I am one of them, if Tess has one fan it’s me, if Tess had no fans than you’re lying bc even dead I will still be a hardcore Tess fan <3
If we weren’t an army before, we will be after these gorgeous shots of her back muscles.
TESS! The bolt out of the blue, the Puncher of Dragons, the Stormbreaker, the world’s coolest Action Girl! YEAH IT’S TESS!
Woohoo, Tess!
(also, sorry if this is a weird question but do I know you? If I don’t please don’t feel the need to reply, I just have a friend who recently made an account but I don’t know the username)
If avocado charm means nothing to you, don’t worry about it (also sorry if this comes of creepy I promise it’s not)
How do you even draw glow effects like that? Pretty colors…
I think Red mostly uses Glow? https://comicaurora.tumblr.com/post/678897742600388608/ https://comicaurora.tumblr.com/post/677843104109330432/ and the best explanation is linked at my username (I just went to her tumblr and searched ‘glow’)
Will this diversion suffice? Are the paladins completely unable to consider the possibility that Erin is more than a puppet? Will they be able to catch on to this ploy before it’s too late to intercept the Floof Squad? Will a certain anxious & grumpy catboi figure out how to spam their psychic com-link with advertisements for Temptations cat treats?
Tune in This Week to Find Out!
This is not at all related to the current page, but I do wonder: if it’s possible for Ferin to wield Light magic, does that mean they could also become Void mages?
Every mortal shares a sense of hunger. My two cents is “probably”.
Next page better be epic, red. You have left me with EXPECTATIONS :>.
(f%; I love this woman.)
Just thinking of that exchange from Ocean’s 11:
“You want broke, blind, or bedlam?”
“How about all three?”
“Right, it’s done.”
Oh, dear. I don’t think people are going to be normal about Tess on this page. In fact, I think *I* may not be quite normal about Tess on this page.
I know that this is verry un-related but I love cover art!!! Like the silhouette of the dragon in the background? AHH ITS JUST SOOOO GOOOOOOD