Awesome / Mistborn: Secret History

• Kelsier taking up the power of Preservation pretty much takes the cake.
• When Kelsier first meets Preservation, he asks if he is God. Preservation says yes. Kelsier then punches him in the face hard enough to knock him onto the ground. Preservation says Kelsier is the first person to ever do that to him.
  • During Kelsier’s stay at the Well of Ascension, he meets Hoid while he’s trying to steal a bead of Lerasium. Kelsier attacks him to try to prevent him from getting into the Well. He fails, but he puts up a good fight for a dead person. Hoid even tells him that it’s been centuries since anyone has managed to "get the drop” on him.
  • Later on when meeting Ati, Kelsier punches him in the face hard enough to knock him onto the ground.
• Kelsier managing to avoid going Beyond by first tricking Preservation into revealing that there is a way to stay in the Cognitive Realm, and then getting into the Well of Ascension to remain as a Cognitive aspect. Even Preservation admits he’s clever. His followers call him the Survivor, and he earns it.
• Kelsier vs. the Ire. Given his skill with Mistborn powers, it's easy to forget that he's an Empowered Badass Normal; he and Mare ran the most infamous crew in Luthadel long before he Snapped. Without metal, without even fighting, he wears down the Ire and absconds with their plan to steal Preservation's Shard.
• Remember how Marsh intercepted Spook's messenger, and Marsh, remembering that message about metal piercing the body, ripped out Vin's earring at the key moment, allowing her to ascend to take Preservation's power? Yeah, it turns out that Kelsier set the whole thing up behind the scenes, and distracted Ruin, counting on his brother to have the mental strength to do that, without Ruin realizing until it was too late.

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