When in doubt, be awesome

“When in doubt, be awesome” is the verbal principle that turns Vainqueur Knightsbane’s uncertainty into performance. It does not advise investigation or restraint. Instead, it demands an overwhelming display of confidence, allowing Vainqueur to seize control of a scene by making his response grander than the problem confronting him. Its decisive use comes when the existence of the Class System and the value of his hoard are both vulnerable to public challenge: rather than defend himself modestly, Vainqueur enlarges the claim until skepticism itself becomes an opportunity for triumph.

Definition and Function

The expression appears as a compact imperative: “When in doubt, be awesome.” In context, it functions less as detached wisdom than as a tactical rule for Vainqueur’s behavior. Doubt creates a dangerous pause in which rivals or spectators might judge him; awesomeness fills that pause with spectacle. The maxim therefore joins uncertainty to exaggeration, treating magnificence as a method of control rather than merely a personal quality.

Its force depends on the gap between what has actually been established and what Vainqueur chooses to proclaim. The surrounding scene identifies a real achievement: Vainqueur has gathered a greater golden hoard and spent it to revive his prized, dragonized chief of staff, Victor Dalton. But the maxim encourages him to present that costly act not as a loss or a desperate necessity, but as proof of extraordinary wealth. The expression converts a potentially embarrassing fact into a demonstration of power.

The Public Performance

Vainqueur invokes the principle while addressing dragons who are unimpressed by the size of his treasure. Icefang has already called attention to Vainqueur’s “paltry hoard,” establishing the immediate threat to his prestige. Vainqueur ignores the rival’s criticism, then makes the recovery of his reputation depend on a deliberately audacious declaration. He announces that rumors of a greater golden hoard are true and that he sacrificed it to revive Victor, described as his greatest treasure and his prized, dragonized chief of staff.

The speech works because it reverses the apparent value of the event. A hoard spent on resurrection might suggest depletion, but Vainqueur presents the expenditure as evidence that his resources are so vast that he can afford to spend them. He states that his hoard is so large that he can afford to use it, then intensifies the boast by naming the sum: twelve million gold coins spent on reviving one minion. The number gives the performance a concrete scale, while the phrase “That’s how rich I am!” turns the supposed disaster into a slogan of superiority.

The audience’s response confirms the maxim’s immediate success. The dragons gasp as Vainqueur transforms the damaging situation into a triumph, while his minions cheer, “Vainqueur best dragon!” Victor kneels in gratefulness, making the boast visible as loyalty, resurrection, and restored hierarchy rather than mere speech. Vainqueur then silences the cheering minions with a look and waits for the audience to calm down before continuing, showing that his awesomeness includes command over the rhythm of the public scene.

Relation to the Class System

The maxim also belongs to the book’s larger tension between theatrical self-image and an impersonal system of measurable advancement. Vainqueur initially rejects the idea of a class suitable for him because he considers himself a great red dragon, king of the mountains, and apex of creation. The system nevertheless grants him a level in the Noble class through his ego and noble dragon bloodline. His self-regard, which might ordinarily appear foolish or excessive, is translated by the Class System into an actual mechanical reward.

The same system produces unexpected identities for those around him. Victor becomes a Monster Squire after being promoted to Vainqueur’s minion chief of staff and living signature, receiving increased health, stamina, and attributes. Later, Victor earns seven Monster Squire levels for leading monsters against superior opponents and gains the Monster Lifeforce (Red Dragon), Monster Rider, and Monster Insight Perks. These notifications make Vainqueur’s hierarchy materially consequential: his boastful authority can become another character’s class progression.

Yet the system also imposes limits that spectacle cannot simply erase. Victor reaches the level 30 class ceiling and can no longer gain levels without using a Crest; experience gains fall to zero, although special deeds can still grant perks. This contrast clarifies the maxim’s role. “When in doubt, be awesome” can redirect social judgment and produce rhetorical victory, but the Class System remains governed by thresholds, requirements, and rules that do not yield merely to confidence.

Challenge and Consequence

Icefang’s challenge exposes the maxim’s most important pressure point. He dismisses the Class System as a system that grants power and money, arguing that if it were accessible, he would already have access to it. His disbelief threatens to puncture Vainqueur’s authority because it attacks both the reality of the system and the uniqueness of Vainqueur’s achievements. The response is not a careful explanation from Vainqueur. Instead, Icefang demands that the system appear before him at once.

The command produces a visible reversal. Icefang stops ranting and appears to look at invisible text before him; everyone falls silent, while Vainqueur wears a smug expression of triumph. The maxim’s logic has therefore been vindicated at the level of performance: the doubtful challenger receives an experience that confirms the contested reality. The scene moves from ridicule to stunned recognition, and Vainqueur’s confidence becomes the emotional frame through which the revelation is received.

The expression’s deeper irony is that Vainqueur does not become awesome by overcoming doubt through evidence alone. He becomes awesome by acting as though the outcome already confirms his grandeur. In this world, that posture can be surprisingly effective because the Class System rewards traits and deeds that conventional judgment would separate from heroism. Ego becomes Noble advancement; service becomes Monster Squire advancement; leadership becomes a cluster of perks. The maxim thus captures both a character strategy and a comic rule of the setting: audacity can become power when the world is organized to quantify it.