Don’t have much to comment on this chapter, I liked the feast with the Legion’s commanders/officers in terms of banter. Unlike when Rince was introduced, which I thought was an odd way for a minor officer to behave with his superiors, this time he really fit right in. The celebratory mood helps a lot to break down normal barriers. When he was introduced everyone was more on edge, so that’s why that moment felt off.
It feels like Jhuz, as a metsi and the army Standard (before he took command) should know more about the different metsi. I can understand how he wouldn’t know about the obscure metsi, such as Rince the fox, since there is only one fox in the army. But the herd are the largest group of metsi and the core of the army, so logically he should be aware of what they suffer from. He went to the academy right? He studied all the major battles. Herd metsi should be familiar. Now it could be he didn’t think of it, but a simple reminder from Ezlio should make him recall the Herd’s problems.
I didn’t quite get the comment “I just want to know how you survived. If it’s something we can teach to the men...”. Jhuz got lucky in that his head wasn’t ripped off or his neck broken; he was fortunate that Ezlio was there to stab the Chell to death after Jhuz hit him in the stomach. All they can teach is to walk in pairs and don’t let your head get ripped off.
I was surprised by Jhuz’s and the Academy’s disdain of weapons and engineering. It seems to me that soldiers would be more accepting of better weapons, especially the regulars who don’t have special powers to rely on. But here it seems like every technological advancement is rejected out of hand, at least before Jhuz got command. This makes no sense unless the civilisations are deliberately kept ignorant, which might be the case since the Chell have all those rules, including warfare and what’s allowed.