LoRG 1

Unfortunately this gave the other two time to approach and now the headache was increasing to the point it began to throb a vicious insidious pain

Fuck it Randidly spat out and 4 Hammer’s of the Dawn crashed down smashing the ground to pieces annihilating the two remaining monstrosities with fire The ground burned the flames licking upwards and Randidly watched it for several seconds his expression intent But he could sense that his skills stopped activating

The bird reformed in the air in front of him You okay You’ve got that expression

I’ll be fine Randidly said grimly turning to look towards the direction the monsters departed He quickly did some mental math Yes Mending Fluid would help him now and if he had enough of it he could probably force Curse Resistance to being healed and lower the amount of shrapnel in Mental Strength

But that would give the monstrosities and the Raid Boss spawning them several hours to strengthen themselves and grow in numbers Although the damage they would do to him was lower there would be more and based on what Randidly knew about Raid Bosses the worst part of them was when they started creating Lieutenants which would possess the Raid Boss’ ability to grow and could lead others of its kind

In addition these monsters if you weren’t prepared for them they would absolutely rip through a village Hell even if Donnyton faced these they would probably suffer heavy losses before they found out ways to deal with them and Randidly didn’t know much about this Refuge they sure as hell weren’t Donnyton

He had the strength The headache was annoying but it was just pain something that Randidly had a lot of experience with

And he had Simon on his side Apparently his Astral form was immune to the illusion or the distance was enough to make the skill ineffective Either way their duo was uniquely capable of handling these threats Randidly couldn’t afford to take a break now not while these absolutely fearsome monsters rampage killing these people

Randidly took a small vial of the Extracted Mending Fluid and took it which almost instantly took him back to the baseline with some remaining in his system to combat the beginnings of pain the last time

Then Randidly moved activating Empower to the max ripping forward Now wasn’t the time to care about Stamina it would come back fast enough No this was a race against time

What’s the situation Thea asked bringing Simon’s attention back to his body He was getting much better at moving his consciousness between his Astral body and his physical one and now he could practically teleport his focus between the two while maintaining some awareness of both

To everyone’s shock most of all his own his Skill Level in Astral Projection had grown to 52 where it had begun to slow down but still Astral Manifestation was nearing 30 too The huge amount of PP had enabled him to finish off a Path and start him on the Astral Body Path which was giving him increased Intelligence and Wisdom

Simon was finding some strength and it felt really great

He uh David fought something but it was weird He couldn’t hit them until I pointed them out and he kept attacking the air It sorta seems like these monsters use illusions Simon said feeling extremely embarrassed in front of Thea’s intense gaze

Alright I’m going ahead then Keep us informed You can see them right Just point them out Thea said hopping on Chrysanthemum’s back

Uh but Simon began trying to explain that based on David’s expression he really didn’t want any help but Thea was already riding off her bear bounding forward with more speed than he would have expected

Cursing Simon focused his consciousness leaving his physical body and returning to his Astral one With an act of will that body moved from the quarry David had left it rushing forward to catch up with him Within seconds he had found the other man who was methodically tearing into the air seeming to search for something

The small grey monster beneath him was hissing and spitting but even as it dodged side to side David’s strikes got slowly closer Then he found it and killed it Simon reformed his projection Thea is coming

Why There was a hard edge to David’s tone and Simon abruptly realized that there were at least a dozen of the small bodies crushed around as David blurred to rush forward The other man had torn through a dozen in the time that Simon and Thea were speaking and was already moving forward And at this speed

Simon began to sweat He should have hopped on the back of Chrysanthemum If they got much farther away

Uh Simon realized he hadn’t answered when David gave him a look Well

There was a screech and suddenly from several bushes on the slope ahead of them there was a rustling Then fully 30 of the small grey humanoids dashed forward aiming for David

Immediately David’s face scrunched together and he waved a hand 6 Hammers of the Dawn crashed downward in the thick of the creatures probably killing almost 10 But they rushed forward and a few dozen more followed them rushing downward

Slowly ponderously three more creatures left the brush looking towards David with glowing eyes Two of these were around double the size of the grey humanoids and had a copper tinge to their skin The final which stood in the middle was as similar size to the grey monster fodder but was slender and had golden skin Small tentacles wriggled from its head giving it a strangely feminine vibe A Lvl 32 floated above its head

It hissed pointing and its two copper attendants rushed forward aiming to swarm David

David was lashing out left and right fighting against things that weren’t really there as the grey humanoids crowded around It was actually slightly comical to watch or it would have been had the outcome if David fell not been so scary

But even surrounded he was an absolute machine twisting and attacking eliminating one monster at time although each time it took him around 10 seconds to find the bodies

Focusing his will Simon created arrows near the ones closest to Randidly and instantly he began to rip through the surroundings killing the monsters But Simon couldn’t help but notice that there were several long cuts on David’s arms and legs although he could see nothing attacking him Was he being damaged by the illusions

Then the two copper skinned monsters arrived and the grey ones dived to the side David looked up high above their bodies at least 10 meters into the air and then he was just abruptly thrown backwards smashing into a nearby tree There had been nothing for Simon to see but there was clearly a huge impact

With a grim expression David got up rubbing his neck Thea was rushing forward but would take another few minutes before she would arrive Her max speed was much lower than Davids

In the meantime Simon needed to figure out what the fuck was going on And what he could do to help

Chapter 305

Randidly looked up at the towering goliath above him just in time to see its leg smash forward aiming for his chest The thing appeared to be made of maggots hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of maggots wriggling and falling free leaving a trail of nightmarish waste along the ground behind it What was even more troubling was that there was another of the same behind the first lumbering forward

The nightmarish bouncy ball with arms creatures scrambled backwards moving out of the way clearing a path for their larger reinforcements There was a split second where Randidly hesitated wondering if dodging was the best option because the nightmare creatures remained close ready to pounce

This combined with the growing head pain caused Randidly to wait a bit too long the foot of maggots struck him in the chest throwing him dozens of feet backwards and smashing him into a tree

Luckily the tree instantly cracked and Randidly was able to collapse to the ground in relative peace But it was a shock the strength of that strike The pain of it was enough to shake some of the edge from the constant headache And when he scanned the two maggot goliaths rushing closer Randidly felt a sinking feeling in his stomach

It was going to be very hard to destroy their bodies enough to get at the creatures that made up their core There was simply too much mass to their bodies Idly Randidly removed a maggot from his shirt and hopped to his feet rubbing his toes in the ground

Sighing Randidly stopped for a second as the enemies approached and just enjoyed the feeling of Golden Roots of Yggdrasil It truly did so much for him beyond just increasing his Health and Mana regeneration It felt right having this connection to the Earth It made it so much easier to feel grounded and to prepare for the fight that was about to arrive knowing he could count on the ground beneath him for support

To see the effect Randidly used two Hammers of the Dawn striking the large maggot goliath Huge chunks of the body were burnt away smashed to pieces and the remainder quickly caught on fire Heedless it continued forward reaching out a maggot y hand towards Randidly

So it seemed that he hadn’t hit anything vital But if this was an illusion and Randidly had missed completely what ACTUALLY happened What damage had the spell done

Then Randidly had a flash of inspiration If the aimed spells didn’t work just rely on the unaimed ones There was still a single chunk of Aether shrapnel in Burning Footsteps but maybe it would help Randidly understand what was going on around him

After activating the skill Randidly immediately regretted the decision but he gritted his teeth and rushed forward weaving back and forth around the maggot goliaths as they swiped at him with their large hands This seemed to infuriate the smaller monstrosities which screeched and leapt towards Randidly

Randidly wasn’t sure what this was supposed to really do but he avoided combat with them while he sprinted back and forth covering the area with a burning trail of footsteps which would hopefully hem in the monstrosities

Immediately one of the monstrosities skittered to a stop looking down at the flames in front of it Then it raised its singular eye and hissed

Randidly grinned Better you than me bud

In that moment another monstrosity took the opportunity to run up behind its friend and use the other as a springboard to throw itself up over the fallen first and to the area where Randidly had paused

Shrugging Randidly slapped the creature out of the air and into the fire

Immediately the cadence of the noises it was creating changed and the illusion faded away leaving just a single small grey humanoid rolling in the flames clearly pushed beyond its pain tolerance Randidly could only shake his head sadly this fellow wouldn’t survive a single day in Shal’s training program let alone Azriel’s

Unfortunately there were two problems with this plan Technically three

The first was that the pain in his head was reaching the point where it was making it very very difficult to focus and it was only getting worse as these larger monstrosities acted using an even more advanced form of the illusion technique

The second or second two problems were that the maggot goliaths didn’t seem affected in the slightest A pillar of maggots swept across striking Randidly and sending him flying almost senseless from the force of the blow

This time there was no trees just the long slope to crash into and slowly roll down Randidly’s pride taking a huge hit in the process After dozens of meters of rolling he finally managed to latch onto the ground and get a sense of what was going on The maggot goliath that had taken a hit from the hammers had completely recovered while Randidly wasn’t looking the illusion bastard

The other displaying a surprising amount of dexterity leapt across the space between them aiming to directly crush Randidly After scrambling narrowly to the side Randidly belatedly deactivated Burning Footsteps the strange buzzings in his head fading somewhat

Of course it wasn’t that the pain stopped It just wasn’t constantly increasing anymore As fast

They were strong too strong and fast This level of opponent would dominate a Zone easily Either this game had a terrible case of vindictive RNG or they were using his own strength against him Most likely the latter although it was clear that these monsters had been able to kill some other nearby people

Simon Randidly growled his eyes scanning the area No more threats But there was a shadowy figure farther up the hill that seemed to be watching the whole experience with eyes far too intelligent for Randidly to be comfortable

He raised his hand and fired off a Mana Bolt It wasn’t a polished spell compared to some of his others but it was one that was backed by a very high Intelligence and the price tag was just right The bolt of energy slammed into the figure and sent it staggering but then Randidly had no more time the goliaths had arrived

Simon as if belatedly realizing what Randidly wanted formed his lopsided arrows in the air directing him to the spots where he could strike the monsters Feeling slightly without confidence Randidly advanced Even if the opponent was here this level of maggots there were simply so many that it would be difficult to do damage through them all

But his hands were sharp and vicious coolly cutting through the flesh seeking

The arrow shifted and Randidly could only grin The fact that it ran meant he was close His barrage intensified doing his best to hit the areas in a logical fashion and after a few seconds his Talon Strike sank into the flesh of a shoulder and the maggots trembled and flickered around him revealing a furious copper face about at his chest

Only after cutting off the creature’s head did Randidly speak Spill your blood for me and bring your progenitor out here Simon Next

Randidly couldn’t hesitate now the pain was constantly growing To his mounting horror his vision was beginning to swim from the pain alone Not that his vision was particularly useful against these enemies but this was a level of pain that Randidly had hitherto not experienced It certainly wasn’t a good sign

With a roar Randidly leapt at the next maggot goliath Even if it could hide in its body it was still stuck on the ground If he moved with enough force

But mid flight he sensed the blow coming and twisted to the side letting it glance off of him rather than smash him again Still this strike knocked him farther than he would have guessed This opponent moved forward like a living floating bubble of mercury twisting and sliding its body full of thick tentacles of dark reflective metal

Grimacing Randidly looked around The other monstrosities gathered closer aiming for him The remaining maggot goliath bellowed and rushed closer This metal creature likely the Raid Boss itself seemed content to just ooze slowly nearer helping its minions surround and swarm Randidly

The headache had sharply increased in intensity and that continued to rise His eyes were watering and everything was vibrating It was impossible to see and his hearing was beginning to be drowned out by a ringing that emerged from his soul

Randidly growled his higher functions of communications falling away and reverting to his baser caveman instincts

He would kill them if they approached closer

They moved closer

With eyes burning brightly Randidly raised his head to stare at the sky and then he activated a skill absolutely embedded with chunks of foreign Aether Even though it was dangerous Randidly couldn’t find it in himself to care He was swept up in a great rage a growling hungry thing that refused to acknowledge the opponents before him He would crush them

Besides how much worse could the pain get

Activating the skill Randidly’s consciousness went white and then the human parts of Randidly slowly shut down from overexposure to pain

Chapter 306

Thea dug her heels into Chrysanthemum’s sides causing the bear to skid to a halt It was strange but the more they traveled forward the more this strange dull pain in the back of Thea’s skull grew To her horror when she checked her Status her Health was also ticking down albeit slowly

Was this a power of the Raid Boss If it was this boss was a nightmare for group battles It could slowly rip away at the Health of the backline fighters pushing them so far back that they wouldn’t be able to exercise their superior firepower They would completely roll through civilians without any effort at all on the monster’s part Merely its presence would cause pain and loss of Health

Luckily it seemed that at this range the effect was minor and Thea was sure that right over the next hill was where the fighting was occurring

David was strong and true Damn what the Board of Directors thought he wasn’t a spy Or if he was he wasn’t

Thea hesitated trying to formulate her thoughts correctly In the meantime she prodded her partner and the two began to trot forward heading deeper into the influence of the pain aura

He was a good person Thea finally decided When they had first heard about the Tier III Raid Boss Thea had felt only fear And then her second thought was that she could avoid this fight with this beast by continuing her mission of testing Simon and David by leading them on a wild goose chase in the South seeing if they revealed anything or became impatient

That failed on two fronts of course They found proof that the Wild Rider had been here recently and also encountered a Raid Boss Not exactly the idle circumstances to test either of them Not that Thea was even sure what they were looking for after watching David fight

He was the real deal 100% Which should have made her feel better but it just made her feel as though this was a worse outcome It was small mindedness and suspicion that drove the Executive Board to this decision and it wouldn’t assuage their worries if there really was just a wandering person with this much power Was David from Donnyton or Franksburg Or even the solo Village far to the East

One question at a time Thea reached the top of the hill and looked down and then froze There was a creature sitting there cross legged seeming to regard what was happening below A being she recognized The Wild Rider

A friend of yours The Wild Rider asked tilting their head towards what was occurring below

The Wild Rider stood only about 1 5 meters and was absolutely covered in furs Their head was covered in a low hood that only sometimes revealed a flash of lips Mounted on top of the hood was a pair of elk horns or perhaps they were coming directly out from the Rider’s skull Either way they stretched half a meter in each direction giving them a regal look

And when they spoke it was as if 100 different animals were calling and strangely all of these came together for sound

It was always hard to understand this strange cacophony voice and it was only after a few seconds that Thea realized the question was directed at her The strange waves of pain that were flooding up from below were making it hard to think

But after a few seconds she nodded The Wild Rider breathed a long sigh

He has lost his way Only by relying on his ala does he remain And even that will not last long unless

Unless Thea asked her eyes glazing over as she looked down below her David stood still looking at the ground He barely even seemed to breathe In front of him several small grey creatures a large bronze skinned one and an elegant seeming gold one lay moaning in agony rolling back and forth

Of them all the gold one seemed the only one capable of movement and as Thea watched it was attempting to crawl away but its body wouldn’t obey its orders Its arms gave out pretty routinely and its whole body was shaking

Thea could hear the smile in their voice Unless we act Unless we teach this rider to stop ignoring his mount

Randidly coughed lightly and then sat up rubbing his eyes Darkness Deep eternal darkness and swirls of energy calm and consistent He knew this place And

Ah you’re awake

The unexpected voice caused Randidly to spin around instantly raising his guard Was it the Creature once more trapping Randidly inside of himself

But no the figure that Randidly found when he spun around was far far too slender and innocent looking to be the Creature Besides that she gave off a very different feel than he had ever gotten from the Creature

The girl was only as tall as his shoulder and appeared 12 She had warm brown skin and short dark hair From underneath the unruly hair small protuberances of bone stuck out of the crown of her head 8 altogether giving her a strangely noble appearance

But it was her eyes that held Randidly’s gaze They were a glittering metallic gold She smiled at him Greetings I am Ten’malla Teyit but I have come to this world of yours as the Wild Rider I figured meeting you here without my Regalia would help move this along You should feel proud to see my face it is a great honor amongst my people

Randidly just looked at her frowning slightly This was the Wild Rider

Well that explained somewhat how they ended up here Could everyone related to the System do things like this That certainly made them very dangerous enemies

Seeing Randidly’s expression the Wild Rider’s smile swiftly withered She coughed into her hand Sorry that was a bad joke Um but we need to act quickly You are destroying yourself

This certainly made Randidly focus He abruptly became aware that he could no longer sense his skills or soul there was some sort of force blocking him isolating him from it This did have the bonus of lowering the pain to manageable levels but

The Wild Rider raised her hands Don’t struggle please It’s hard enough to do this as it is Believe me I mean you no harm If I did I would have simply left you to die

What’s going on Randidly asked his tone more stern than he had intended

The Wild Rider’s smile withered further taking a step back all of her previous joy and playfulness gone Um your shattered skill the Aether fragments They have been forced to vibrate by the activations of other skills so much that they are resonating Resonating so much that they are beginning to activate other skills with enough fragments in them which in turn

makes it 100 times worse Randidly said imagining just that scene Then he turned to the Wild Rider keeping his voice as neutral as possible If we can get some of the Mending Fluid from my companion Simon

No it’s far too late for that for two reasons The Wild Rider said shaking her head One his liquid doesn’t have the potency you need even after all these weeks And also there is no way to bring it to you safely The skill activations

She trailed off Randidly tried to imagine what it would be like to walk towards him when he would intermittently release something like Anguish Circle of Flame or the Spear Advances Ash Trails Basically any of his offensive spells would inflict huge amounts of damage and pain Sure it might be in a different direction but as you got closer

Then Randidly said feeling abruptly very tired This fucking injury

Spreading her arms wide the Wild Rider said you are in luck In a way we share the same fate If we do not find our Ala we will die Individually we are weak Together strong

So you want me to pledge to you so I can get a bonded animal Randidly said his mind abruptly clicking together for several reasons Was it possible then that the Wild Rider was exaggerating But no what she said made a lot of sense Now that he was aware of it he could sense a terrible rumbling from outside the bubble the Wild Rider had wrapped them in keeping them safe

That was not a good sign At all

She laughed and it was high and bright reminding Randidly that she was just a preteen No Haha you don’t need to pledge to me I’d honestly prefer you didn’t it just means I have to give you missions or something Sometimes the #)(# of the System is

She trailed off then tilted her head to the side Ah from your expression you couldn’t understand that This world is truly very early on in its growth Well no you don’t need to pledge to me to learn my skill And also you do not need this

Then what Randidly asked feeling exasperated now Was she able to help or wasn’t she

In an even more childish display the Wild Rider stomped her foot How can you not get it What could I even teach you You already have your Ala and even my bond with Traefalgr is not so strong How did you do it

Randidly frowned What

Why do you think I brought you here away from the distractions of your impending death The Wild Rider asked her head flopping back and forth her short hair swishing marginally Because this is where your Ala sits waiting for you asleep Only they keep you alive now bearing the worst of the Aether backlash And only with their help will you heal this wound in time to save yourself

Ah She added as she turned away You have about 5 minutes before your Anguish skill drains you of Health That should occur before permanent brain damage but that is the hard time limit currently Goodluck

Then she vanished

Chapter 307

Randidly looked around slowly So what the Wild Rider was saying was he already had a companion and it lived here inside of him Here at his core deep in Aether

A smile danced across Randidly’s face slowly growing stretching across his skin Then he stepped crossing through the deep darkness inside of himself flooded with Aether It was a lonely and echo y area not a place to exist

Randidly s memory of that moment still shook him the freely given support the strange acceptance the deep need the bright first spark of hope So much was conveyed into a single deep emotion expressed only as a vibration And yet Randidly had left whatever it was here He had thought

Well he hadn’t really thought at all He had struggled with the Creature then and that struggle had consumed him Even later when he had the vision of that strange being in his chest during the Trial of Ash he hadn’t given it another thought afterwards Once more his current struggles had kept him from pursuing that truth

And now only when he was about to die he was going to go barging in asking for help

Randidly felt like a dick of a landlord And of a friend Or of a companion It was sorta hard to conceptualize what they were to each other

But still he walked forward taking his time even though the threat of his death loomed above him After everything this creature had done for him it just felt right to be respectful despite the urgency It wasn’t as though a few seconds either way would likely make a difference He didn’t even know exactly what he had to do Just ask for help

Randidly found himself at his heart the ice cold iridescent heat spot at his heart where Aether flowed outward which was where this being dwelled for whatever reason

After a moment’s hesitation Randidly reached out Are you

Here

The word was worlds wide strangely conveying so many things The being’s struggles and pain the plight of Randidly’s body Randidly’s body as its vessel a wistfulness a curiosity a great wariness a dulled mind and a small joy at the other’s visit

They all crashed into Randidly sending him staggering somewhat Being here directly here made each word produced by the other to be incredibly powerful To the point that Randidly had a hard time enduring But he couldn’t turn away That power made Randidly believe slightly that this being might be able to provide some solution

Even now he had no idea what he was doing or what his goal was But he knew he was desperate and based on the Wild Rider’s words the answer was here

I might die I think Randidly said unable to really articulate it any other way He could feel the rumbling going worse shaking the very foundation of this place An earthquake of the soul

I fix

It was even more complex this time the sound But he could feel the sentiment Some of the more detailed plans were lost in translation somehow However before Randidly could even feel the flood of relief there was another word that gave him pause

But price Two

Where the previous words were filled with complexity this was simple just vast Far reaching wide Grave sacrifice Whereas now Randidly was a vessel somewhat they would need to bind themselves to each other A permanent bond One that would benefit both but also shackle both Their lives would be tied together As for the other price

Randidly just smiled and stepped forward A lot of the information contained in the other being’s brief words was lost as he pressed forward but it was mostly a sense of vastness and time that Randidly didn’t really have the time to parse apart It was a permanent bond that they would be forming

It was not that this form they had already had wasn’t permanent Randidly thought Well he couldn’t be sure but the way that being had settled in the Aether Crossroads in his chest made him believe that it was here to stay

Perhaps he should think more closely about it but Randidly trusted this being He had seen from its eyes felt its pure emotions and the care it had treated Randidly with Even now that they were so close he could feel it using Aether streams to control the worst of the soul tremors But it was too little too late It had no body no real existence somehow It was just a strange free consciousness that took shelter here in the Aether to survive

Or at least that is what Randidly suspected But although he didn’t have all of the information he still believed in the being It was willing to help him and had in the past So much that Randidly had accomplished escaping the grasp of the Creature and seizing control of his Aether was due to this being

Randidly took another step forward putting himself at the heart of the Aether Crossroads inside of him which was where the being rested It swirled around him hesitating

Sure Price

The concern it displayed only made Randidly more sure There was a mental barrier that he had erected probably unconsciously between them With a straining effort Randidly took that down The next part was harder His Soul was self destructing his physical body was failing and Randidly needed to get both of those things to accept the strange being At the present he was cut off from all of his skills so he couldn’t even rely on his broken Inspiration skill to get him out of here The being would have to accomplish the rest itself

Randidly just smiled wryly I’m pretty helpless here Can you

Pain The other promised worry for him clear in its tone Laughing Randidly just shrugged Pain was passing death was not

Sure

One last time the being hesitated but Randidly sensed something different here Now it did not worry about hurting him but rather as far as it could remember there was just the darkness and then there was Randidly’s heart It was nervous to leave

Randidly smiled but it was starting to get strained He could feel darkness at the edges of his vision even here in his soul His life force so much as it existed

Yes I’m sure

Thankfully the being acted immediately But Randidly was already fading somewhat Once more the darkness claimed him

Thea tapped her hammer against her palm her hands covered in sweat It was hard to just sit here According to the Wild Hunter they would have to act quickly to save David’s life but immediately after they had told Thea to wait

So she had Almost 10 minutes of waiting and

David swayed and then fell The aura of pain that filled the air left Instantly the Wild Rider leapt up from their sitting position and dashed towards David Meanwhile Thea had another quarry

Chrysanthemum roared some of Thea’s frustrations bleeding over into the bear and she raced forward bounding towards the barely moving monsters Thea’s eyes burned a hole in the gold skinned one her hammer gripped tightly This apparently was the Raid Boss David had held it still and hurt it stunned it even but he hurt himself in equal measure She would need to act before it could recover or the sacrifice would be for nothing

It only took about 8 seconds to cover the distance but it felt like an eternity Activating Righteous Hammer Thea leapt off Chrysanthemum’s back arriving over the golden figure preparing to strike But then Thea blinked then swore

She had overshot the Raid Boss and arrived at the bronze one Thea spun around and prepared to strike Then she froze

The bronze creature was behind her That meant

She spun around again and found that the golden Raid Boss was gone and in its place was a strange mercury bubble stretching and twisting into long and powerful looking tentacles The blood drained from Thea’s face Did she really just mess this up

But then an arrow formed pointing downwards towards the ground At the same place that Thea had seen the golden Raid Boss had been laying from afar Thea’s eyes flashed

Illusion Ha

Thea used Quick Strike to move before the opponent could react bringing it down at the location pointed to by the arrow There was a strange shudder and then the monster reappeared its skin split strange black blood flowing outward

Again Thea used Righteous Hammer striking the monster again and again until its head was just a mass of gore Only then did Thea stop her chest heaving Chrysanthemum was behind her calmly eating the other monsters swallowing her distaste along with their bodies Better safe than sorry

It seemed that the Wild Rider had reached David in time feeding him a strange potion so Thea just sat quietly wrapping her arms around her knees Although she was used to it and it got easier the sight of death It still affected her She was glad in a way but it was also hard

So for now Thea just sat letting the rest of them clean everything up

Chapter 308

Simon was profoundly disturbed by the Wild Rider Well perhaps disturbed wasn’t the right word but the other person shrouded in furs with the large moose antlers spreading from their head certainly cut an impressive figure In comparison Simon felt profoundly underwhelming just a regular skinny teen wrapped in leathers

That feeling was reinforced by the Pledgees of the Wild Rider

After Thea and David had combined forces to kill the Raid Boss and Simon was shocked by some of the resulting notifications he had returned to his physical body to find himself surrounded by two children riding wolves and an elderly woman on top of a rhino Tersely they informed him that he was coming with them

Simon had seen the interference of the Wild Rider in the battle although he didn’t really understand exactly what they had done he assented to going with the Pledgees All the while as they rode back together the children on the wolves were whispering to each other giving Simon long looks

He stared at the thick skin of the rhino beneath him unsure of what to say Sure he had definitely progressed in skills but there wasn’t anything flashy in what he did Trying to keep in mind that his assistance was part of the reason that David had been able to kill so many Simon just sat silently

After a 20 minute ride they arrived at a small camp absolutely bustling with humans and animals of various breeds What was perhaps the most confusing was that some of the animals appeared to be directing the people and didn’t have a rider strutting around the camp The Pledgees gave these animals a wide berth and hopped to attention whenever these alphas growled

A tall shaggy sheep with thick snow white fur of all things seemed to be in charge and trotted neatly over towards the newly arrived group the crowds of barking crowing screeching and hooting animals moving organically out of the way

It gave them a look then got down on its knees in front of them

What One of the children gasped and even the old woman frowned The sheep simply snorted turning and giving the people the stink eye

The old woman turned to Simon She uh she will be escorting you the rest of the way Get uh on her Be gentle she

The sheep snorted again louder this time and the old woman’s rhino made a pained expression and nudged the elderly woman Simon tried to remain as unobtrusive as possible and was slightly aghast at the thought of getting on the back of this sheep Simon supposed that it was larger than a typical sheep around the size of a motorcycle but still

At the prodding of the children Simon awkwardly walked forward and put his leg over the sheep’s back After several seconds giving Simon time to position himself the sheep stood lifting him off of the ground

Then the sheep began to run The world seemed to blur All of his earlier respect was forgotten as Simon was forced to run his hands through its luxuriously soft fur in order to keep his seat on the sheep’s back This sort of speed

Wasn’t this even faster than David moved

Then abruptly it was over There was a single small tent ahead of him a beautiful patchwork thing made of brilliant and bright squares of cloth in every color of the rainbow After Simon had shakily dismounted the sheep trotted ahead using its nose to open up the tent and walking right into the area After a brief hesitation Simon followed

So now he found himself sitting with the Wild RIder simply waiting Several candles burned throughout the room and Simon was seated on a series of cushions Neither had said a word as of yet and it was really starting to make Simon nervous

Just as he opened his mouth to speak the Wild Rider moved standing Quietly they walked to the back of the tent and pointed Your friend is not yet recovered but you should speak with your other companion She struggles

Blinking Simon was so shocked by the abrupt movement that he didn’t initially recognize what the Wild Rider was saying Uh Thea

It was extremely unexpected that she was the one who was struggling After the reward she had received for killing the Tier III Raid Boss wouldn’t she be delighted Not just the skill but also that item

But still Simon nodded uncertainly and followed the Wild Rider’s direction walking back into the room at the back left of the tent almost surprised to find that there was a great space there another room filled with cushions where Thea and Chrysanthemum sat To Simon’s surprise the sheep was also there seeming to converse with Chrysanthemum with low growls and snorts

Thea Glasshammer for her part sat on the cushions almost slumped over leaning down her head between her knees In her hand she held a small crystal about the size of a walnut but glittering with rainbow light the soft glow illuminating the lines of her hand

Honestly none of that was even what had Simon stopped dead What really stopped Simon was that Thea was out of her furs and she

You’re my age Simon blurted out his eyes widening Thea straightened her thin face at first blank and then pursed in annoyance

Why do you sound so shocked Thea snapped And I’m NOT your age I’m almost 16 What are you like 12

I’m 14 Simon said clenching his fist And almost 15 I think Maybe even 15 I sorta lost track of counting when

Suddenly the fight went out of both of them and they looked awkwardly at the ground The System’s arrival had done a lot of things and one of them was warp people’s sense of time It was hard to tell how many weeks had passed towards the beginning there as everyone scrambled for food and shelter from the newly arrived monsters

Combined with the fact that the increased Endurance and Vitality allowed people to stay up for 24 hours without blinking an eye days quickly lost their meaning and it was only recently after their contact with Donnyton who had instituted a uniform calendar already that they once more kept track of the days

The new calender put them in early November and they tentatively thought that the System arrived at the end of February based on what they remembered Still they lived in a mild climate but not THIS mild The temperature should have lowered to at least the 50s but it remained constant right under 70

But based on the announcement when Thea killed the Raid Boss perhaps that would change soon

Abruptly realizing that they had been silent for almost a minute Simon floundered and then finally said is the skill good

After a brief hesitation Thea stood and held out her palm that wasn’t holding the crystal A strange white at the edges black at the center flame emerged flickering in the dim tent barely producing any light

Ghost Fire Thea whispered Will burn and cause extreme pain on the victim while being completely invisible to all others I can throw it but much easier to press it up by hand to be sure on who it touches I haven’t really used it on anything but it seems strong It is a skill taken from a Raid Boss after all Uncommon Rarity

Then Thea sighed letting the fire disappear The problem is I’m a physical fighter My Mana can only support using it once every several hours So I have to decide whether to invest more stats into Intelligence and Wisdom or

Her expression was helpless Simon blushed He had been listening but

Thea was really really cute

Inwardly Simon was somewhat aghast that he had originally taken her to be rather husky She just wore several layers of bushy fur that made her body look slightly tubby looking It wasn’t that she actually weighed any more than him

THAT thought made him flush Honestly with his belly he was definitely a good deal heavier than she was

Are you sick You keep making faces Thea asked her expression concerned She took the crystal and put it into a pouch on her belt and stepped closer to him

Which of course made Simon flush even more Uh I

Your friend is awake The Wild RIder interrupted pointing to an ever deeper entrance shrouded by a thin gauze blanket Glad for the distraction Simon hurried over joined by the sheep

Chapter 309

Randidly opened his eyes Then he winced His entire perspective was still vibrating with a vicious insidious pain He wanted to vomit With his will he wildly pressed down on the vibrations trying to get a handle on what was going on around him What was he doing

The Raid Boss the Wild Rider the being inside of his chest

Well at least he was alive but he didn’t really feel like that was a positive thing right now His body felt extremely strained bare and strained Almost as if he hadn’t drunk water in several days and everything was becoming taut and dangerously close to self destructing

But to his surprise when he pressed with his will the vibrations lessoned A notification popped up but Randidly ignored it as one side of his view was already crowded with notifications Instead he pressed harder clamping down on the vibrations Not easily but evenly they slowed and stopped reaching a manageable rumble

Strangely his soul and skills seemed to buzz shocked by the sudden lack of vibrations which was almost just as disorienting Another wave of nausea hit him causing Randidly to groan No matter how high his stats were it was hard to deal with an upset stomach and while he was on the subject just how long had it been since he ate something

A curious question that Randidly discarded for now but swore to revisit It was past time for him to put his Cooking Skill to use After sitting up Randidly inspected his inward world What he saw caused him to wince Most of the skills that had Aether shrapnel in them seemed oddly blurry some of their energy bleeding out through the cracks and wounds in them that the Aether shrapnel had created Luckily no other skill had been so damaged that they shattered but some of them were definitely weakened

However as he watched he could see the Aether slowly regathering the damage slowly healing So he would recover but how did he get to this point He should have been pretty far gone after using Anguish to weaken the Raid Boss

Curious Randidly turned his attention to his notifications At that moment Simon rushed into the room followed by of all things a large sheep with intelligent eyes Thea and Chrysanthemum filed in after followed by the strange figure who Randidly assumed to be the Wild Rider with her Regalia on

David Simon began his voice worried but Randidly raised a hand feeling a creeping beginnings of a headache No talking yet please Seeming to sense what he wanted Simon fell silent and begin to produce some of his Mending Fluid In the meantime Randidly looked back at his notifications

He gained various skill levels which Randidly ignored for now But then he started to find notifications that he didn’t expect and made him frown

Congratulations A Tier III Raid Boss has been slain in Zone 33 This is the 2nd Tier III Raid Boss to be slain For their accomplishment Thea Glasshammer has been given an Uncommon Rarity skill as well as a Stone of Fate

Congratulations The first Stone of Fate has emerged on Earth in Zone 33 For this a natural treasure the Eternum Mine has spawned at a random location in Zone 33 Find the Eternum Mine clear the monsters who hold it and mine it for Stones of Fate and other treasures

The Stone of Fate is a treasure of the System that can upgrade any System related construction It can be used to upgrade a Village upgrade a Skill to a random higher rarity upgrade a stat to a more powerful version or even upgrade a Class Stones of Fate must be used at a Holy Altar which can be purchased by Journeyman Villages or higher

In addition as this is the 2nd Tier III Raid Boss to be slain a Zone wide quest is given Slay the final Raid Boss and open the Raid Dungeon After slaying the 3rd Raid Boss a key will be acquired that will lead to Zone 33’s Raid Dungeon More information will be available as the quest progresses Good Luck

Interesting but unrelated to how Randidly survived But it was worth noting that Thea had moved in and finished off the Raid Boss while Randidly was unconscious And honestly she deserved the bonus The Stone of Fate would probably be more trouble than it was worth until she used it as other greedy people moved closer to her in order to steal it

All of the options were intriguing Randidly believed that most people would be drawn by the Class upgrade but Randidly was most interested in what upgrading a stat would entail Well not that he coveted it anyway It would be useful but ultimately it was more reliable to rely on training to strengthen yourself

Randidly winced Training that he could do once he started to heal more and figured out what happened He continued to scan through his notifications Simon handed him a vial of some of the more potent fluid which Randidly took and drank taking the edge of the remaining aches in his soul

Congratulations You have recognized your inner bond with L#() #NKL You have learned the skill Soul Bond Lvl 1 Due to previous unrecognized accomplishments the skill level has increased to Lvl 49 48 PP has been gained

Your connection with ()098 dkjldu09(9032 kjldkajslkdf dja902392k23 ()91203fjdkla s lka ndklfa sdl “““““““““` laksjd lkj

98098i23jkln Y/N

You have selected yes You have gained the skill Aether Detection Lvl 1 You have gained the skill Aether Manipulation Lvl 1 You have gained the skill Living Aether ® Lvl 1 You have gained the skill System Interference Lvl 1

Warning Due to the nature of your skills your Heretic Path has progressed You have gained access to the System Transgressor Path 0/1

Your bonded being currently is only a soul It is possible for it to assimilate with another body to obtain a physical form Please choose carefully before you make your selection

Randidly’s expression darkened Well it can be considered a good haul of skills but it seemed that it came with a host of problems The System Transgressor Path Randidly grimaced If this was just an upgraded version of Heretic that would already be difficult to handle But unlike the Heretic which was numbered this was simply a path That cost a single PP

Ominous and confusing Probably wouldn’t bother to investigate that for a while Randidly turned his attention to the various skills he had gained with this bond

Aether Manipulation Allows one to control Aether This includes the ability to purify Aether and set Aether instilling it with your own meaning The degree and strength of control increase with skill level

Aether Detection Detect Aether This also includes the ability to generally sense any information and meaning from set Aether Degree of detection increases with skill level

Living Aether ® You have forged a bond that involves access to Aether As such your Aether is much more pure and resilient than others Increased effectiveness of Aether Increased recovery to damaged Aether Increased affinity to your own Aether The degree of all attributes increases with skill level

System Interference Ability to understand and subvert the System It is now easier to reproduce or change various aspects of the System on your own Abilities will increase with skill level

Past that was simply more notifications on skill level increases mostly Living Aether and Aether Manipulation which were both likely the reasons that Randidly was able to recover to this point The Living Aether kept the worst of the damage at bay and that being he bonded with likely did the heavy lifting while Randidly’s subconscious did what it could with Aether Manipulation

Speaking of which The notifications said that the being needed a physical form Which made sense because that was the second price that the being had insisted upon Not that it would be easy Randidly suspected finding a good body for it but it would work out

And just as Randidly thought that he could feel it the warm familiar presence now out of that deep well of Aether in his chest flitting around his body curiously Now it was in Randidly’s right hand which was gripping the vial Simon had given to him It was strangely delighted seeming to enjoy the physical feeling of touch

Well Randidly supposed it had never really existed so it really was a delight Randidly grimaced Imagine how excited it would be when the body it was in wasn’t rattled almost to death and aching

Randidly breathed out a sigh and stood feeling his joints crack and pop He massaged his neck and turned to the people standing in front of him feeling slightly uncomfortable

Chapter 310

Randidly turned to Thea first Of them all he expected the surly and conflicted woman to be the easiest to handle at the moment Congratulations

To his horror Thea started to shake her head slowly at first but then with increasing speed her brown hair bouncing back and forth No no I’m so sorry I didn’t deserve this at all I just cleaned up And I almost messed it up

She straightened her eyes bright and offered Randidly a stone that she produced from her pocket It glowed softly filled with strange crimsons violets and emeralds Here I can’t do anything about the skill but you deserve this You did all the work You are really the hero

Thank you but no keep it Randidly said waving his hand I wouldn’t have been able to kill it alone That belongs to you

Her eyes widened the shock clear on Thea’s face Then she became uncomfortable biting her lip But still she held out the stone and reluctantly said No you don’t understand This is the Stone of Fate With it you can

Oh I get it Randidly said shrugging But don’t you need it much more than I do Believe me when I’m fully healed I’m much more capable than this

Sure he was interested in it but his experience going to Shal’s world had taught him that he couldn’t be everywhere at once There were some paths that were not his to walk It was probably better for the health of the area if Thea grew in strength rather than more strength being concentrated within himself Although he did plan on asking her later if he could watch her use it If his new skills gave him insight into how that process worked

He turned away from a very pale Thea before she could continue Instead Randidly decided to focus on the Wild Rider Thank you for your help as well My companion needs a body I was wondering

Of course She answered smoothly her voice reverberating strangely out of the hood seeming to be composed of the calls of many animals rather than a voice of a young girl There should be another parade soon anyways There are many who have pledged to me who desire a bond that will last a lifetime The ceremony will take a week but if you are willing to agree

After thinking it over for a minute Randidly nodded He did have some things he wanted to do in the meantime but this week would be focused on healing himself now that he had a much more direct way to manipulate Aether And as time went on he should grow more skilled anyways A week wasn’t much time

The Wild Rider turned and regarded Simon who seemed abruptly very nervous by the Rider’s gaze You too Simon are welcome to participate Your skills are lovely

After a moment of hesitation Simon nodded Randidly chuckled but said nothing Honestly of all their skills Simon’s were probably the weirdest and most creepy The kid hadn’t tested it yet but his skill could manifest almost ANYTHING while he was in his Astral form He could create a monster It would be a good idea if he took a few tricks from this past Raid Boss’ group

In addition his healing skill was called Mending Fluid which Randidly had had a very hard time not laughing at at first when Simon presented him with it to drink

The Wild Rider snorted which sounded extremely strange through the voices of 1000 animals but then covered it up with a cough Randidly blinked and both Thea and Simon turned to her curious

Even through the hood Randidly could almost sense the little girl blushing My Regalia gives me a certain amount of telepathy reading minds at a very surface immature level

Randidly chuckled but said nothing while Thea and Simon seemed incredibly confused So she enjoyed crass jokes Randidly hoped she was older than she looked

Now the Wild Rider stamped her foot then turned on her heel and left the tent heading outside This time Randidly didn’t bother to hide it and chuckled aloud The sheep gave him a very unamused look but Randidly could only shrug It’s not like he was out to impress this random sheep

After it huffed it turned and left and Thea and Chrysanthemum followed Simon hesitated then gave Randidly a searching look Randidly nodded encouraging him and they left leaving him alone

Then he sat cross legged his eyes burning emerald in the dim tent Hopefully someone would come back tomorrow and tell him what he would be required to do for this ceremony because otherwise he would miss out But for now it was time to see how much he could heal

So his will flowed back into his body and instantly Randidly smiled his lips curling up at the edges It had been a good haul although he had to nearly die to do it With the assistance of that being that now traveled his body until he found it one of his own he now could quiet the Aether shrapnel and remove it at least 10 times as fast and without the assistance of Simon’s Mending Fluid

It was going to be a long night

It was the second day of their participation in the ceremony and Simon was already dead tired

He blamed this on two different sources The first was that the ceremony was just a glorified name for chores As the Wild Rider gathered more and more animals of different species in a giant fenced in area for the ceremony the Pledgees (and David) took care of them They carried water up in increasing quantities three times a day the first being long before dawn

They grew and harvested food They provided for every animal’s weird diet They made sure every animal was happy and situated and that everyone had received enough attention and exercise for the day IN ADDITION to all that they had their own individual tasks

Which was the second reason that Simon was dead tired The tasks were different things that people had to do but it made sense for only one or two to participate in Simon the fool had chosen laundry as his chore and the previous laundry person had only been too happy to give it up and allow Simon to take over

What should have been a manageable amount of laundry a day spiraled out of control because they had to deal with a lot of animal shit and a lot of animals who didn’t like to smell other animal’s shit so the Pledgees had to change their clothes often to keep animals calm and resting

There was one bright note Simon had no idea why but instead of any sort of manual labor David had chosen to handle the farming and cooking duties People were dubious that he could manage both at the same time but the Wild Rider’s weird attitude towards David meant that most of the Pledgees let it slide ready to pick up the slack if he failed

David did seem able to keep up but he was definitely running himself ragged doing it He was constantly either cooking or checking his plants and didn’t seem to ever stop moving It soothed Simon’s heart somewhat to see the other man pressed towards his limits even if it was just with chores

There were almost 30 Pledgees including Simon (and the non pledging David) who split the chores Of these there were three main groups One was the military leaning people who possessed classes and came from either Star Crossing or the Refuge They were here to increase their combat prowess by earning themselves a partner This group was typified by Heather from the Refuge and Kirk from Star Crossing who were the most serious and meat headed as glorified animal herders could be

The second group seemed more to be here due to their love of animals which was led by Lally a tired seeming woman who acted as de facto leader of the Pledgees divvying up their work every day Her job seemed impossible and thankless because part of the ceremony was for this group to care for all the animals and monsters with no guidance while every day the Wild Rider returned with an even larger group

The final cohort of people were just the dirty and desperate who flocked here for safety There was only a few of these people but they all kept to themselves and had scared eyes At first when Simon asked for their clothes to wash they almost seemed aghast before he explained it further

It was sad in a way that these people so quickly forgot the trappings of modern life Washers and dryers were a thing of the past Of course it was possible that these people were poor enough they never had these things but that just made Simon depressed for different reasons

Still they were all here now and working hard So although it was somewhat of a miracle to make it to the end of the second day Simon did it and collapsed into his pallet satisfied to his very core

Chapter 311

By the dawn of the 5th day Simon’s outlook was much more bitter True this would only last for 3 more days but the days it had taken to get here had been a slowly increasing hell The animals that the Wild Rider was bringing in became increasingly monstrous as time went on while the area of land they had to manage them had grown increasingly cramped as more and more creatures filled it

Which was the point that several people took on their roles as peacekeepers in the enclosure Originally Simon had been extremely dubious that this was necessary but as there were more monsters with surly tempers displays of strength became increasingly common

Having a Classer put them to rest was reassuring in a way

Hey um Lally paused looking around Simon Heather and a few others meekly sat around a fire eating as fast as possible trying to get a meal in between work David lay over to the side seeming to doze in the grass next to one of his vegetable farms Simon would give David this those were the largest tomatoes he had ever seen Well they at least seemed like tomatoes although they were colored differently

Simon and Trey can you come help me carry some firewood back If we can get it done within the next hour we can start repositioning animals for the next big wave of arrivals before they get here Imagine Lally’s voice was filled with faux optimism They all knew that this group would be even larger and all their preparations would be for naught

Simon nodded wearily and stood looking around For whatever reason the area around where the humans ate was filled to the brim with monsters coldly regarding Simon as he stood The three of them made their winding way through the monsters It was inconvenient but better to leave them laying where they were than move them and have to deal with them angry

A shout caught the trio’s attention as Simon was stepping over a 30 meter python

Down

Grimacing Simon turned and followed a frowning Lally as she walked towards the source of the shout Kirk was standing glowering up at a crimson eagle the size of a bear spreading its wings and knocking away nearby monsters Its wingspan was probably almost 8 meters and several nearby monsters were giving it disgruntled looks

As it attempted to spread its wings further Kirk who was in front of it prodded it with his spear keeping it from spreading its wings too wide The eagle screeched furious glaring at Kirk and then looked balefully around at the monsters nearby who blocked it from spreading its wings

Kirk just Lally began but Kirk snorted

If we don’t fucking teach it a lesson it will be unruly for the next three days Look how fucking big it is Better to strike now while it’s on the ground

Do we really need Simon tried to interject but a long hiss silenced him Simon froze To his horror that huge python that he had stepped over had followed them its huge body slithering between his legs In fact Simon had to widen his stance because the head was so large that it brushed up against his ankles

Once it was through it straightened and hissed at the eagle its pupils narrowed to slits Screeching the eagle hopped forward towards the python

You fucking Kirk bellowed stepping forward bringing the butt of his spear against the chest of the eagle The aim was probably not to actually damage the eagle but rather to shock it and put some fear into its attitude But when Kirk struck he simply rebounded off as it hopped forward again overwhelming him

Simon abruptly felt very afraid that the crimson eagle was going to attack a snake that was currently slithering between his legs But he couldn’t find the impetus to move He was frozen

Luckily that didn’t seem to be in the cards Instead of fighting they began conversing briefly in squawks and hisses Then in an extremely confusing and comical manner the eagle hopped on top of the python gripping the middle of its body with its talons Then as the python slithered deeper the crimson eagle just sat on top of it glaring at any monster that blocked it

Kirk got back up his face beet red We should fucking gang up on it while it’s asleep If we don’t

Lally didn’t even answer just sighed and walked away Simon and the other wood fetcher helping

After they had finished with the task of hauling wood and after they spent several hours accommodating the new batch of animals that the Wild Rider had brought the group of 30 Pledgees were eating when Heather suddenly looked up from her bowl and glared at David What are you doing

David didn’t bother to answer continuing to patiently harvest his plants which had swollen to a huge size filling a basket Heather didn’t seem to mind the lack of response but she did seem to have a problem with what he was doing Have you been sneaking away to feed these monsters Do you think that will help you get a better companion

David again didn’t answer but there was some more focus from the eating group their eyes sharp After all if someone got a better companion that was a companion that they couldn’t have And it made sense to feed the animals earn a little bit more of a positive association in their minds

Very quickly Simon could tell that the mood was souring towards David And Simon could sorta understand why Those that had spent their time trying to physically intimidate and control the monsters probably realized that while they were working hard to control the animals David had been here simply feeding them One of the militant focused Pledgees dumped her food on the ground her expression dark

Which was a message sure but one that made Simon wince he didn’t know how but David was a phenomenal cook It was slightly disappointing to see all of it wasted

But what no one expected even David was that one of the dirty and desperate people a 12 year old girl would speak Can I help

Jemma looked up at the quiet man who cooked the delicious food her hands trembling as she gripped her bowl

His eyes were slow to turn to her and the entire while Jemma trembled Emerald fire rippled and grew in his eyes a piercing light that caused Jemma’s heart to pound but at the same time she was unable to look away

Jemma was here because she wanted a peaceful life taking care of animals She didn’t want to have a companion and then fight against the monsters threat No her calling was closer to a breeder or a caretaker Before the System arrived she had even dreamed of being a veterinarian Initially when Jemma arrived she had latched onto Lally doing everything she requested doing her best to help hoping to learn how to deal with the animals

This became increasingly difficult because for whatever reason the powerful monsters began to gather around the location where everyone ate and slept It made it impossible for her to rest and Jemma had taken to prowling the camp at nights just to rid herself of her restless energy

She almost cursed herself inwardly for investing some of her bonus stats from Paths into Vitality which kept her away from the sweet oblivion of sleep But there were some benefits A few nights ago she had discovered that the calm cook also did not sleep or if he did it was even less than she did

It was oddly soothing for her to watch him care for the plants He was methodical and efficient With a touch the man seemed to be able to intuit the health of the plants Then he would either pick them cull them or use them for the human food

Because of course as Jemma quickly realized the choicest pieces went to the monsters

The first time she had witnessed it was two nights ago but she had only noticed by the end as the man was winding his way back through the lines of animals his basket empty So last night Jemma had kept herself up to watch what happened

What she saw left her stunned Not because of anything that happened but because of what didn’t happen

The cook had simply walked out among the monsters every single one of them perking up as he approached The monsters shifted slightly in an overly casual way Working his way in a clockwise manner the cook would set a fruit or vegetable or whatever in front of the monsters then continue in a circle slowly working himself in a wider area giving fruit to monsters farther back

Those monsters in the near circle seemed to be acting on an unspoken agreement and only after all 9 monsters in the closest ring received their fruits did they eat all of them gulping it down in a single bite There was a shaggy grey wolf a two headed lion a strange glowing eyed boar a sheep with fluffy white fur a python a huge komodo dragon a strange metallic dog a turquoise frog with four eyes and a gorilla with soft grey hair

These ate together ignoring their compatriots and then settling down What shocked Jemma was that they seemed to change after absorbing the fruit Most of these were in subtle ways the wolf’s fur grew increasingly bristly the boar’s eyes became even brighter the frog’s skin became increasingly blue But Jemma also saw that the sheep simply grew a small but visible amount and the komodo dragon’s level increased by 1 to 26

The monsters that were farther out were much less patient and ate theirs immediately snapping them up as soon as they touched the ground These pieces of fruit and vegetable were smaller and less eye catching seemingly much less potent and all the monsters eyed the man with the basket as he strolled around taking his sweet time

But none made a move to take more than they were given despite their obvious greed There were two reasons that animals didn’t act Jemma knew Confusion and fear And there was no confusion in those expressions as they gazed at the basket

Which made even less sense to Jemma The Path that had kept her alive this far in the System was the Fearful Path from which she learned the skill Fear’s Tremor Some might consider it a detriment but Jemma didn’t mind the small tremor in her hands when she was near a creature that she was afraid of In addition it was predictive there were times she was about to take a turn on a mountain trail and her hands trembled and she waited until it passed before proceeding The exact details were confusing but she was content to trust it

All 9 of the monsters in the first ring and many beyond them caused her hands to tremble The cook did not Which plunged her heart through thick ice into cold dark water

Chapter 312

So Jemma acted because although this mysterious man filled her with increasing dread she couldn’t deny that he lived the life that she desired He was peaceful and calm all day tending to the garden and cooking meals for the group Whereas the monsters would pester others for food and special treatments Jemma never saw any of the animals approach the man

They didn’t dare That was the only conclusion Jemma could come to

Slowly the man nodded and beckoned Jemma closer Abruptly Jemma realized that they were within the group and everyone was watching and she had just volunteered for an activity that was being criticized Even the monsters seemed interested the 10 monsters in the inner circle (now that the crimson eagle arrived) opening one eye to regard her coolly

But she couldn’t stop now So blushing furiously Jemma walked carefully over to the man’s side He offered her the basket and Jemma took it with a grunt Very quickly her eyes widened as her body with a Strength she had raised to 19 became unable to support the basket Huffing Jemma did her best to control her fall to the ground but almost instantly the man moved his hand flashing into the basket Abruptly it was much lighter and Jemma sighed with relief

Still it confirmed her opinion on the cook His emerald eyes hinted at it but he was definitely much more powerful than he let on

What remained in the basket were 10 fruits some long and skinny others squat and fat Some seemed almost like a large banana while another was just a spiky ball that Jemma was slightly intimidated to touch

Are you just going to let this happen Kirk asked his expression annoyed as he turned to Lally

The tired woman just shrugged causing both Kirk and Heather to frown and regard Jemma and the cook with barely veiled fury

In a very small voice Jemma asked Which is for

The 10 fruits seemed to glitter Even Jemma could tell that they all were unordinary even the spike ball But the cook just smiled and shrugged and pushed her forward After a brief stumble and a glance over her shoulder to confirm that the cook was coming with her Jemma trotted up to the giant sheep which was the least intimidating of the monsters

Jemma hadn’t been close enough to see which fruit went to which animal so she felt quite a lot of pressure to start For a sheep

Very quickly she ruled out the spiky one and the banana Hesitantly Jemma touched one that seemed unassuming and immediately pulled her hand back The fruit was warm like the head of a child with a fever which threw her for a loop Not that one either then

Finally Jemma settled on a large fruit that seemed like an overripe peach the size of a basketball She set down the basket and carefully removed the peach and set it in front of the sheep careful to suppress the trembling in her hands The sheep didn’t seem to react at all and instead closed its eyes seeming to sleep

For several seconds she didn’t know what to do but then she just picked up the basket and moved on Next was the giant grey gorilla and feeling more confident now she removed the banana and placed it in front of the gorilla

The giant creature said nothing but gave the cook a look that could only be described as aggrieved The cook simply shrugged

Um Jemma squeaked abruptly aware that the gorilla was 4 times the size of the man beside her who was at least double her size The trembling in her hands got worse Is there another one you’d prefer

This time the gorilla looked at the cook nervously Still the cook said nothing Very delicately as if afraid to set anyone off the gorilla lowered its huge head until it was only a few centimeters above Jemma who was holding the basket

He’s going to eat me ’ The thought dominated her being and drove out all other thoughts even the thought to run She was frozen there before this monster

But instead of biting the gorilla sniffed Then it blinked leaned a little closer and sniffed again

The second sniff was met with a cacophony of noise The komodo dragon hissed The two headed lion stood and growled dangerously The turquoise frog released a bubble of phlegm that popped audibly But most violently the crimson eagle screeched taking a step forward its wings spreading

Very quickly the gorilla drew back and carefully used one of its very large fingers to point towards a purple eggplant seeming fruit in the corner After retrieving the banana Jemma gave the gorilla its desired fruit and continued on around the circle

The rest of the divvying up of the fruits proceeded smoothly with each monster carefully peering into the basket and indicating their desired fruit Some Jemma was able to guess while others were more perplexing to her For example the turquoise frog wanted the prickly fruit which Jemma was very careful to set down in front of it without puncturing her hand on the spikes How would it even eat it

It was only on the second to last animal the crimson eagle that there was a problem The eagle peeked down into the basket at the two remaining fruits giving them both careful regard It seemed supremely torn its golden eyes flicking back and forth between the two options Jemma grew intensely nervous the shaking in her hands more pronounced After fully 5 minutes had passed and the shaking was starting to affect her ability to stand Jemma felt a spurt of energy and just picked one out of the basket and set it before the crimson eagle

Anything to end the prolonged torture

It seemed satisfied at first but as Jemma moved to walk away it shrieked and pecked forward aiming for the fruit that remained in the basket Jemma’s body instantly lurched to a stop unable to move with the crimson blur that was rushing towards her

Then she had a large hand on her shoulder The world seemed to slow

At the edges of her vision she could see the world falling away fading to a blackness There was a low mist on the ground around them With increasing volume a ticking rose to dominate the world around her

The crimson eagle seemed to slow its beak shuddering to a stop midway to the basket in Jemma’s hand as if it was caught in some sort of bog It shrieked again but it contained none of the arrogance and pride that it had previously Now it was confused and fearful But that confusion drove it forward a desperate rush towards the basket

Smoothly a finger slid past Jemma’s shoulder sliding to meet the peck As soon as she saw that finger Jemma began to tremble much more violently and uncontrollably than she had in the past Her whole body was racked with wild shakes

Because when she saw that finger she didn’t see a finger but rather a cold sharp tip of a spear the edge thick with the stench of death She became hyper aware of the hand on her shoulder and the cold vicious energy it released

All at once the strange images faded away and the crimson eagle twisted and hopped backwards squeaking plaintively The cook dropped his finger

Every other monster was carefully not looking at the cook standing behind her just like Jemma wouldn’t dare turn to regard the man It shouldn’t have come as a surprise but that thick stench of death around him in that moment filled her with dread

That’s what the world was now The world was an empty place where only through killing can you survive

Woodenly Jemma turned to the final monster the metallic dog It was probably the most eye catching and the smallest of the monsters in the inner circle The fur of the dog was a beautiful mixture of silver and copper its teeth pitch black as it panted

What was strange was that after Jemma placed the fruit in front of the dog the dog ignored it and trotted towards her She was so numb from the previous experience that she didn’t even react as the dog walked up to her

She felt something damp on her hand and looked down to see that the dog was licking her hand Then it looked up at her with its pitch black eyes its concern for her clear on its face

Jemma began to cry

Chapter 313

Randidly felt profoundly tired as he watch the young girl cry silently the large metallic dog licking her hand He supposed he should say something ease the harsh transition between what she had just seen and the more typical life but

Randidly couldn’t bring himself to soften the blow There would be times in this girl’s life where she would be forced to confront her own weakness no matter what Randidly did After that she would have decisions to make that would change her life or maintain the status quo From his perspective it was probably better to let her struggle with that decision on her own

Instead Randidly reached into his interspatial ring and produced a small fruit that glowed golden its power clearly visible He could feel the focus of the animals around him lock onto the fruit immediately It had been the true treasure that he had produced after these days of cross breeding fruits and injecting Aether directly into the plants the positive result of all of his experimentation

Setting it next to the other fruit Randidly said Good boy and then picked up the basket With a wave it was filled with the other fruits he had produced after experimenting with his abilities to inject Aether into plants and have them refine it Calmly he walked passing out one to each of the nearby monsters

The way the fruits were divvied up amongst the 10 strongest animals was not what he had expected and often the animals did not choose what he had created for them But it was still interesting to see the way the plants could refine Aether and how the animals viewed it

Profoundly fascinating When Randidly finally reached a point where he wasn’t surrounded by pressing issues he needed to experiment more consistently with it But for now

After passing all of the fruit out he returned to his stew pot ignoring the angry gazes from some of the Pledgees focusing instead on the taste of the stew

Not only had Randidly had quite a few gains in terms of his understanding of Aether as he experimented with the farming but he also had a sharp increase in his Cooking and Grace skills as well as the acquisition of the skill Chef’s Palette which sharply increased the fineness of Randidly’s sense of taste and smell Not that it would be a very useful skill overall but it certainly would help Randidly actually increase his ability to make delicious food which was a goal worth pursuing

As Randidly sniffed the stew and added some more ground spices also grown in his garden the Wild Rider arrived At her side was a young buck with white fur and short golden nubs that would become antlers growing from his head The animal regarded Randidly coolly while the Wild Rider beckoned the surrounding Pledgees closer

You have done well these past 5 days She announced her voice echoing queerly spreading to the surrounding areas Even the animals reacted to her voice shifting side to side Today is the last day of work Tomorrow meditate clearing your mind restoring yourself to your peak condition At dawn of the 7th day you will walk from one end of this area to the other At the end you may turn around and select a companion from those that have followed behind you

With that short speech she turned and left Randidly closed his eyes

Dozens of individuals who had previously pledged arrived taking over their duties escorting them to small sparsely populated tents where they were to meditate Randidly went along with them and sat in the darkness of the inside of the tent centering himself for several minutes

Then when he was prepared his eyes opened sparkling emerald

His ability to manipulate Aether was still clumsy but it was growing at such a speed that he was able to completely clear out his skills Now all the fragments of Aether spiraled slowly around in a circle glowing with potential Randidly had not yet figured out how to reform his skill but that didn’t matter for now

He was back and better than ever

In the darkness Randidly smiled All together Randidly had earned 499 PP over the course of his battle with Drak the escape and the intervening weeks of recovery Randidly felt good and was ready to reap the rewards of this But first

Randidly’s will billowed outward flowing into his inner zone and then towards his Soul Skill He almost didn’t want to look just in case of the worst but he couldn’t avoid it He would likely get more information when he poured all of that PP into Paths and leveled his Soul Skill but some early warning was probably for the best

But as Randidly looked through his world he was almost disappointed The Weavers were the most useful for information and Randidly poured through their redone weave which detailed the events that occurred

Apparently the person that Randidly had used to exchange out of his Soul Skill had been on top of his funeral pyre when he was taken so it was not noticed initially when he disappeared However it was very clear when a spear descended from the sky destroying the scepter and the hammer crashing into the funeral pyre

This was seen as a punishment done by Randidly the Progenitor There was of course the minor matter that when the dust cleared they found that instead of the Golem’s body there was a woman there bound by the spear to the altar

There seemed to be a great deal of disagreement on what to make of this information On the one hand some people suspected that the woman was the Progenitor sacrificing their own life to save the life of their champion This view was favored by the Earth Golems

However the general consensus was that this was not the case Others preferred to think that the woman was another person who was punished by the will of the Progenitor bound to the stone for all eternity by the holy spear Others seemed to revere the woman saying that the Progenitor wished to destroy the entire world with the spear and the woman used her body to protect the world or even to protect just the emperor whose body disappeared

This was further complicated by the fact that the woman was holding two daggers which both appeared to have a portion of the holy runes that were present on the spear In the face of all these confusing and conflicting series of evidence most people just threw up their hands and moved on with their lives The emperor was dead that was enough for them

The site of his passing was turned into a great temple where the Weavers continued to furiously research and experiment with the runes on the spear and knives although they dared not touch the spear which continued to hold the woman’s body in place

Randidly sighed and withdrew his awareness Lucretia truly looked peaceful there his spear in her chest Randidly’s lip curled Which just made him more suspicious There was definitely a danger here but it was an insidious one rather than a direct one If Lucretia had the strength she wouldn’t have just let herself sit in plain sight

or perhaps it was an elaborate mind game and she stayed there in order to confuse him and accomplish something that he wouldn’t expect

Again Randidly sighed Either way his examination did confirm that the spear’s seal on her power was still intact at least mostly And it was a good sign that the people haven’t touched it although their research into the runes on the daggers could be dangerous

After shaking his head Randidly refocused With no new information it would be for the best to let it go for now but remain aware as he used his PP With his newfound resolve Randidly put 34 PP into his Ash of Aemont the Spear Phantom Path which leveled up his Soul Skill

Congratulations You have received the Blessing of Devouring Ash Strength +5 Willpower +9 Focus +5 Your body temperature increases Your immune system grows more robust resistance to all status ailments and debuffs increases by 1% Free stats +5

The world of your Soul Skill turns The denizens of your inner world evolve Rumors of your judgement against the mysterious woman spreads while belief in you deepens in some hearts it is now tinged with fear In that small space some whisper of the mystery woman as a great martyr

The Matriarch has fallen and her daughters have splintered off into areas These have become increasingly attached to other societies patrolling their areas protecting them from the rising threat of monsters

The Swamplings have expanded taking over a larger and larger area as the power of the other races shift Their cities are populous and varied and they have grown to achieve great commercial success

It is an era of peace and the Spriggits and Golems have achieved some healing between their races Once more the Golems have become numerous and the Spriggits’ technology has advanced by leaps and bonds Their improvements have raised the bar of civilization

A great darkness rises in the East a monster king of great power Most of the world does not yet know of its presence but in the darkness it is growing more wicked

It has been four cycles since this world’s creation Would you like to add anything to the world (Warning the added qualities will be taken from a skill A single skill level will be consumed in the taking Other side effects are unknown)

Chapter 314

Randidly rubbed his chin briefly Seemed like his little spirit babies were entering into an era of opulence and sloth Well it seemed that the monster in the East would hopefully wake them up from that and get them to regard things more seriously

Randidly was instantly suspicious of the darkness as it seemed to coincide with Lucretia’s arrival but again it was impossible to tell what was what It was incredibly frustrating and his ability to discern what was happening inside his world was extremely limited

God give him an enemy he could fight any day

Well after thinking about Lucretia presence the times they had met Randidly changed his mind Perhaps this was for the best at least for now There didn’t seem to be any initial effects

Satisfied for now Randidly rather randomly decided to add Grace and Chef’s Palette to the world They were both useful skills but neither were dangerous enough that it could cause a stir like the Hammer of the Dawn and Superiority did

As the skill descended into the world Grace condensed into a cloak which floated down into an alley in one of the Spriggit cities Meanwhile Chef’s Palette spread out condensing into new varieties of spices and herbs in the forests of the world The swamps too received special attention and dozens of tasty mushrooms came into being

Then Randidly poured another 200 PP into his Path completing another rotation immediately It truly was nice to be rich

The world of your Soul Skill turns The denizens of your inner world evolve There has been a great schism amongst the religious sects of your world as they split into three main churches The first worship the mysterious woman as the Progenitor another reveres her as one of the great saints of the Progenitor who gave her life to seal the greed of the great emperor and the third believe she was a foreign power who attempted to steal the world for herself and was smited by the Progenitor

As the Monster King has become more active a slow war is building fought mainly by the Spriggits and the White Hunters The lands of the Swamplings are beyond the grasp of the Monster King and the Earth Golems are having a grand competition to determine their next emperor

Due to the powerful pressure on the Spriggits they have begun to produce powerful metallic exoskeletons in which they fight These have turned the tide of the war against the Monster King giving them some brief room and adding more credence to the Swampling’s non interference

Unbeknownst to most a young Spriggit is making a name for herself in certain circles boasting the title of greatest thief in the world able to avoid any and all forms of detection

At the center of the world more clockwork pieces snap into place Something is coming Ambient Aether in the air increases

It has been five cycles since this world’s creation Would you like to add anything to the world (Warning the added qualities will be taken from a skill A single skill level will be consumed in the taking Other side effects are unknown)

Although there was some talk of Lucretia splintering off his churches otherwise she truly seemed to be sealed having no influence on his world Unless of course she was somehow controlling the Monster King

But even then the current actions of the Monster King were not consistent with how Lucretia behaved The Monster King was attacking wildly gaining more territory for its people wildly attacking the other races That direct cause of action was exactly the opposite of what Randidly had seen from Lucretia But again perhaps that was just her trying to trick him

Useless to speculate Randidly finally concluded Waste of time

For this cycle Randidly decided to inject Soul Bond into the Soul Skill While doing so his focus was wide spreading its influence generally across the entire world giving the entire populations the ability to form bonds with the monsters Honestly Randidly suspected that in the short term the result would be a sharp increase in the Monster King’s power as it bonded with one of its powerful monster subordinates But it was hard to say for sure

It would certainly escalate the conflict which would give Randidly more information on what was occuring in terms of Lucretia Although he didn’t shape the monsters in the same way he had the other races Randidly had nothing against them They were the natural creatures of his world after all evolving on their own

Perhaps what was most concerning about that notification was the final indication that something was coming Although it had powered his Soul Skill Randidly did feel a great deal of regret that he used the strange Aether construct of the Creature Too late to have regret now however

As if sensing his thoughts he felt the being inside of him flit around emitting a calming warmth Randidly smiled Yes he was no longer alone Together they would be able to handle the Creature

Which shifted Randidly’s focus once more He really hoped that there was a suitable body for the being amongst the monsters that came There were a few that Randidly considered but ultimately didn’t think were great fits for a variety of reasons

But that was for tomorrow Today Randidly would consolidate his strength Again he used 200 PP all at once advancing his world further Of course the bonuses from all the Blessings were a great help as well increasing his stats and attributes but most of Randidly’s focus was on how the rotation changed his world

The world of your Soul Skill turns The denizens of your inner world evolve The three religious sects have set aside their differences and announced that the Monsters are a scourge that needs to be eradicated A holy war has begun

Spriggit Exoskeletons fight side by side with White Hunters and Earth Golem Chieftains on the front lines holding back the Wicked Riders of the monster race Although the crusade pushes deeper and deeper into monster territory the Monster King has not been seen in some time

The young Spriggit thief is torn for she had received a request from the monster people of the greatest theft in history She is to steal the holy spear of the Progenitor and deliver it into the hands of the monsters This is the ultimate job the act that would leave her mark on the world in the way she’s always dreamed She must simply betray her people in order to accomplish it

On a distant side of the battlefield the Swamplings continue to trade with the monster people establish a rapport and hoping for the possibility of peace

It has been six cycles since this world’s creation Would you like to add anything to the world (Warning the added qualities will be taken from a skill A single skill level will be consumed in the taking Other side effects are unknown)

Randidly groaned He had no proof of this and he couldn’t locate the thief in question through examining the world but based on the trajectory of the narrative it seemed that the thief really would choose to steal the spear and release the seal on Lucretia Which meant that if possible he would really like to shift the narrative of his world

There were two options for this The first was to add additional skills to the world now the second was to pursue the Godling Path and hope that the rewards would equip him to intervene more directly in his world Both were incredibly inefficient

But it’s not like he had any other choice With a grimace Randidly added three skills this time Talon Strike Phantom Onslaught and Burning Footsteps When they descended to the world he made sure they remained concentrated The Talon Strike became a pair of dark gauntlets covered in spikes Phantom Onslaught became a set of 13 knives Burning Footsteps became a pair of dirty looking boots the heel of which was made of gold

People looked up at the sky and saw the descent of the Progenitor’s will and Randidly hoped it was enough to distract the thief from this quest although he suspected it would not be Sighing Randidly added enough PP to finish off his Path preparing himself to deal with the consequences

Congratulations You have completed the Ash of Aemont the Spear PhantomPath It was a long path framed in ash that has led you to this place And here you find a figure waiting for you

The world around Randidly blurred and his expression hardened As he thought there would be a test at the end of this Path It was good that he had waited until he was back to his full strength Hell combined with all his increased stats and skill levels Randidly was almost remade in terms of the amount of stats that he had

Soon the world reformed and Randidly found himself standing on a vast battlefield Around him all was still all the bodies and piles of broken weapons completely still In front of him a man stood his arms clasped behind his back As Randidly watched the man too was completely still

The battlefield itself seemed to have been a fight between three sides humans insectoid monsters and a group of monstrous bears Now though all those bodies lay together their arms wrapped around each other even as their faces were locked in vicious expressions of unwillingness

Welcome boy This The man finally moved spreading his arms wide This is where I discovered the resolve to create the Spear Phantom Style You can consider it my womb

Chapter 315

Aemont turned around and Randidly was immediately surprised by how similar he looked to Shal aside from the skin color His eyes too were different were bland and empty which was very different from Shal’s lively often angry eyes But Randidly could not fault Aemont for this the man had sold his heart in exchange for power

A heart that Randidly now carried in his chest

After a small hesitation Randidly focused and drew those disparate feelings that had embedded themselves within him out and tried to collect them all together to return It was a difficult process one that did involve Randidly weakening himself as those emotions were extracted But before Randidly had accomplished much Aemont raised his hand

Keep it I no longer live boy What strength you can draw from those feelings consider it a gift

Frowning Randidly ceased gathering the emotions allowing them to return to their current locations in his soul space So now you test me

Aemont shrugged looking at his hands It is a curious thing this ash of yours I truly feel as though I have been revived and I sense that afterwards I will cease to be Here I can create anything I want It is curious that of all things I find myself here I chose to recreate this moment in my life

After a minute of moving his fingers Aemont seemed to return to himself and looked up sharply at Randidly Ah that is to say I am in no hurry but I also do not mean to tarry here long Just reminiscing as well as I can with my hollow soul

A strong wind arose rustling the ground Before Randidly’s very eyes time seemed to reverse and some of the fighters that littered the ground stood removing their weapons from the bodies of their enemies Then they walked back away from each other and more and more bodies rose from the ground To his horror Randidly realized that the ground was covered with a layer 3 bodies thick More and more rose their gore flowing creepily back into their bodies making themselves whole

Follow me Aemont said producing a spear and handing it to Randidly Gingerly he took it and followed the other man as he walked to the center point in the valley between the armies

The wind ceased and now noise and time returned to normal and the armies were shouting and bellowing rushing towards each other with Aemont and Randidly standing in the middle of them

Although they were both strong individuals it was one thing to to fight against a bunch of people it was quite another to simply be crushed by the force of the bodies rushing towards them foaming at the mouth The blood lust was a thick palpable thing in the air around them Everything seemed to shimmer charged with emotion

With the armies charging towards them Aemont led Randidly out and into the middle of the group A dull roar filled the air and suddenly the fighters had arrived thrashing and attacking striking every which way the bodies crashing together

Aemont for his part just seemed to move his spear and a path opened in the bodies as they fell away around him The wounds were small and precise barely noticeable but instantly the other’s lives fled their bodies under the guidance of Aemont’s spear

Meanwhile after Randidly realized that his mana was suppressed somehow he had to struggle to use his spear to protect against the attacks that came from every angle and began to wade through the enemies as best he could What surprised him was that while the bodies of the monsters here were powerful their spear skills were abysmal Not just the spear skills either but all of their moves were clumsy and full of holes

After finding his footing Randidly began to move with more confidence catching up with Aemont who spared him a glance

Simply recruits these only have held a spear for a week at best It is a dishonor to struggle like this boy

Randidly frowned but said nothing and he began to look more closely at those that fought around him Although some had strange monstrous forms he could see how wild their eyes were how thick the madness how powerful the fervor These were not true zealots elite warriors Randidly could instantly see but instead just conscripts with a basic amount of training The subsisted solely on ideals And yet they gladly rushed forward throwing their lives away in this brutal meat grinder

Although Randidly had been very quickly disabused of his innocence with the arrival of the System it was still somewhat disorienting to see all these people throwing their lives away They didn’t have the strength to win here and yet they threw themselves forward anyway Why

But Randidly knew He knew since seeing them Because they believed in something greater than them And it gave them courage and

Randidly watched as one bold individual bellowed a furious rejection smashing aside another’s spear throwing himself onto a stomach wound in order to kill 5 of his opponents As they all fell he raised his head and screamed squeezing his hand on the shaft that penetrated him then slowly removing it blood running down shaft and mixing with the churned up muck and grime beneath the fighters

As the spear was removed he could only pant and then he straightened wading deeper into the melee looking for more opponents

It made them strong too these beliefs

Do you see their strength You pick it up faster than I would have expected Good your heart is open to other paths than your own That will help you when you hit that final wall that is The Calamity ’ Aemont said simply glancing over his shoulder towards Randidly Then he began to move forward increasing in speed

Randidly hesitated for a second then shook his head These men were already dead anyway But he still muttered Rest well before cutting into them with abandon

After walking for about 3 minutes in the deepest parts of the fighting they came to an area where the men were thinner but more well armed and serious These fights were brutally quick displaying a level of skill that caused Randidly to pause But Aemont walked forward through the gauntlet his casually placed spear making the warriors around him look like children

Randidly swore under his breath before following He really needed to stop apprenticing himself to these overpowered monsters Sure they provided great benefits but the things they expect from their students were absolutely ridiculous This man had no real concept of difficulty

So Randidly could only force his way forward battling against these warriors Truthfully they preferred to fight each other more than him but they were still determined and vicious if he came over towards their area And their physical prowess was a level higher than the previous fighters bodies and they had the skills to back it up

Luckily it seemed that Randidly’s two years in Shal’s world had still given him a slight edge and he was able to beat them in skill even though he felt like he was just barely below them in stats even though he had just received a huge boost in stats It instilled a sense of awe in Randidly because that meant that the stat total of these fighters was absolutely monstrous and not due to grinded skill levels

After around 10 minutes Randidly finally made it through wincing It did still seem that his passives were working Bacterial Regeneration quickly restored the small wounds he had earned against the souls in those hard fought 10 minutes Aemont stood waiting for him and didn’t comment on the time it took him to get there Instead he turned and walked forward

The System will interfere if I say anything specific but The skill I want to leave to you is my own small answer to the Calamity And it wasn’t enough Aemont whispered without turning continuing to walk rapidly forward

Now the crowd was completely gone and there were only 4 figures A man in gold armor on a hill and three men below Aemont stepped and with a single step moved across the battlefield arriving next to the golden armored man Then he turned and beckoned towards Randidly

What followed were probably the hardest fought 30 minutes of Randidly’s life In terms of stats they were another order of magnitude higher than the previous enemies absolutely smashing apart his guard shrugging off his attacks and lashing out with their weapons with expert precision Randidly felt an abrupt pressure Although the people he had fought in the tournament were powerful they were not powerful like this This was

Just the pure difference in stats Although he was skilled it took about 4 skill levels to equal a single stat It was an unbelievable difference in efficiency Although it could be said that overall a Skill level would increase performance across the board both mental and physical a single stat would be useful in every skills

And these 3 had skills equal to Randidly’s own

For the first half of time Randidly attempted to force his way through This produced no benefits Then his strategy shifted to turning two of the juggernauts against each other which worked slightly better After 10 minutes of struggle one grew annoyed and landed a direct attack against the other’s back sending the other stumbling In that hole Randidly advanced

And so panting Randidly arrived before Aemont who stood before the golden armored man Aemont glanced at Randidly

Would you like to give it a try

Randidly didn’t even need to ask what it was for It was to strike the man in front of him A man who was likely another caliber of being higher than those three below Another huge difference in stats A monster in every sense of the word

The air around the golden armored man was heavy A thick stillness weighed down on the several feet to each side

Randidly shook his head slowly Aemont chuckled you might be surprised by I am not my son I respect that you recognize your opponent is beyond you It takes a certain awareness and a certain self control

But Aemont stepped forward and continued Now watch boy the move that changed my fate The Breath of the Spear Phantom

Chapter 316

Simon woke up early on the day he would receive a companion shocked that he had fallen asleep He had promised himself he would continue to grind away at his skills focusing on improving himself even if just a little before he would be tested by all of the companions and be forced to have a poor mount But before the physical demands of the last few days that was quickly wiped away

Not that Simon was initially very worried about what he would obtain Although he wasn’t the strongest he trusted David’s judgement that his Class would begin to show how useful it was And to be fair it had The initially peculiar Astral Form and Astral Projection were becoming increasingly second nature It was weird but one of the effects of the preparation tent was to suppress his form keeping him from phasing through the wall

Because he could only sit here thinking himself into a corner

To Simon’s surprise the Wild Rider themselves came opening up the door to his tent beckoning him outward After a gulp Simon followed

Everyone else was already there standing around in a loose group even David who appeared thoughtful gazing over towards the enclosure the group had built and maintained for 6 days

And that looked extremely different The monsters were running wild whooping and crying filling the air with their sound as if they too were excited for what was to come Which in a way Simon supposed that they were They would be receiving a companion as well But Simon couldn’t help but think that the monsters were in higher demand even if there were fewer people

After all aside from David the monsters were probably head and shoulders more powerful than all of the assembled humans

It is simple Simply walk to the end of the enclosure and then return When you reach the entrance turn and find who has found you to be worthy You may begin immediately The Wild Rider said waving her hand The gates opened After a small hesitation people began to walk forward

More and more people followed until there were only 5 people remaining Simon David the young girl that had helped David previously and Heather and Kirk who were just glaring at David

What are you chickening out now Even after all of your shitty bribery Kirk sneered

David didn’t even look at him but walked over to the girl and kneeled down next to her

Would you like to walk with me

His voice was softer than Simon had ever heard it and he abruptly realized that the little girl was trembling There were several seconds of silence as Kirk’s face went red but Heather just walked to Kirk’s shoulder and tapped it shaking her head in disgust The two left throwing glares behind them disappearing into the swarm of monsters as the beasts criss crossed around them taking the time to sniff those that passed through their area

Eventually Simon hesitated and said I I’ll go on ahead

To his surprise David nodded as well and stood going to join him leaving the girl behind In fact David walked right past Simon and into the swirl of beasts They slowed around him Simon saw everyone taking a longer moment to sniff him and the others being careful not to jostle each other too much lest they get in his way

Simon took a step towards the enclosure then hesitated then looked back over at the girl Are are you okay

He felt extremely lame to ask but he didn’t want to just leave her there Especially after David had taken the time to see how she was Her trembling was really bad too Initially Simon had thought that he had some fear towards this but compared to this girl

I don’t belong here She mumbled still standing still and looking at the ground her arms wrapped around herself Simon looked at her looked at the monsters then looked back at the girl Inwardly he was torn Well the Wild Rider never said there was anything like a time limit but if his animal companion selected someone else

Cursing to himself Simon turned and walked back towards the girl Then he just stood there because he never really had to be around children His mothers were pretty distant with their own family so he didn’t ever have any cousins And he had no siblings Sure he had comforted his peers but

Simon scratched his head It had been a while since he had seen anyone this upset Feeling helpless Simon raised his hand and used his skill to produce Mending Fluid producing several drops in a vial He offered it to her

The girl shook her head furiously No no it’s not you can’t fix it Because it’s me I’m not a broken person just an incomplete one Not like Not like him I don’t belong here I just like animals

She began to sob and Simon blinked He actually knew how she felt Feeling strangely out of his body as if he was in an Astral form he walked forward and knelt before the girl putting his hands on her shoulders She flinched but just from surprise more than anything else

I get it He’s he’s not like us Simon said slowly But for two months I nursed David back to health from being so injured he couldn’t even move You see him now and you can’t tell but he’s still human at his core And he’s looking for a companion that’s why we are all here to follow the lead of the Wild Rider and acquire freedom through a friend

Simon stood and turned away And that’s a very human emotion One that you have too right So so don’t be so hard on yourself

And with that mutter he walked forward entering the monster horde Instantly they surged around him and Simon stumbled worried about the girl about David about being trampled here about the arrival of the Skeleton Knight All of these things ran together forming a thick swamp of emotions

But although Simon thought it would swiftly overtake him these things quickly faded away Instead as the animals squawked and growled and squeaked and grunted around him That stuff was scraped away leaving only a desire to discover his other half in the throng of animals around him

Very soon Simon could pick out individual animals even though they rushed and flowed around him Time seemed to stretch Every step was an eternity and he met and held the gaze of every single animal from the smallest monkey to a huge horned elephant for at least a second

Then their gazes broke and Simon moved on

Blinking Simon was shocked to discover that he had reached the fence that marked the end of his enclosure So he turned around

Behind him the animals were sitting now silent watching their eyes seeming to glow with a strange magic After a brief hesitation Simon walked forward

Here although there weren’t any moments that stretched as they did in the walk over the walk backwards took much much longer to walk forward The silence was heavy a ponderous thing as both sides considered But Simon knew that the animals would be drawn to his strength so he refused to look behind him He walked straight forward head high

It was a little burst of positive emotion to find that the girl was gone when Simon arrived back to the gate to the waiting Wild Rider and most of the other pledgees There were also marked poles and Simon walked to the one with his name careful to keep his gaze forward until the last minute When he arrived he spun around cleanly

Smiling Simon looked at the several animals that had followed him A ponderous ox A young sheepdog The horned elephant A variant of the fluffy sheep this one with soft blue fur And also an adolescent python

Then he looked around His grouping was one of the largest of all the people but everyone had a couple But what shocked Simon the most was that there were only 3 sitting in front of David and two of them were newborn animals

It appeared to be a baby from the Fluffy White Sheep and from the crimson eagle Aside from them the metallic dog stood stiff and proud in line

The little girl on the other hand who was only a few steps behind Simon arrived and turned to find at least a dozen or so monsters of different varieties Her eyes went wide at the sight

You may now choose The Wild Rider said gesturing

Kirk was the first to move striding forward and putting his hand on the head of a komodo dragon the size of a surfboard behind him It flicked its tongue out pleased while the other animals turned away and dispersed

Everyone moved while Simon studied the monsters in front of him Of these he was most tempted by the horned elephant and the blue sheep although the draw to the blue sheep was mostly due to its association with the fluffy white sheep which seemed pretty powerful But still that was compelling enough evidence But the horned elephant was young but still the size of the van The damage that it could inflict

Simon took a hesitant step forward then looked around Most everyone else had chosen except David the girl and himself David seemed puzzled looking at the monsters and the girl was still shocked that she had the largest group so Simon supposed it was his turn But before he moved a voice stopped him

A bit of advice The Wild Rider said appearing behind him Don’t just look with your eyes You have other ways of sensing too

Simon just looked at her Did they mean

Closing his eyes Simon spread out his senses activating his Astral form Immediately one figure amongst those in front of him glowed with a powerful spiritual energy that Simon wasn’t able to perceive in his physical form The energy was so thick that his Astral form had difficulty approaching and he wasn’t able to form a projection in that chaotic area Shocked Simon opened his eyes

If he could bond with a powerful spiritual animal would his abilities increase as well

I choose you Simon said simply looking into the wide set eyes of the ox It blinked slowly at him then nodded

Chapter 317

Randidly smiled as Simon made his selection He had sensed that there was something unusual about the ox but he wouldn’t have intervened if Simon had chosen another animal He didn’t think it was his place

But it seemed that the Wild Rider cared more than she let on about her charges Amused Randidly turned back and regarded his own choices He took a step forward

Hello little one Randidly whispered looking at the newly born white sheep I understand why your ancestor gave you here so you could grow with me and eclipse him in power But

Sighing Randidly shook his head Your kindness and purity I am sad to say it is not my path And my companion will be merged into you affecting your personality You are too pure for me to use as a body I’m sorry but no

The animal looked up at him with its wide eyes uncomprehending But out of the watching mass of animals the regal fluffy white sheep walked forward nodded to Randidly then picked up its young counterpart with its mouth and carried it away

and you are the opposite Randidly said turning to the young crimson eagle You are here because your father fears me but wants my strength However just like the sheep had innocence you have pride You do not need me to become strong do you

With a righteous cry the young crimson eagle screeched its agreement and hopped off its tennis ball sized body making poor time as it haphazardly hopped towards its father The father gave Randidly an unfathomable look then the too turned away and left

Chuckling Randidly looked at his final choice the metallic dog examining it closely It appeared that the golden fruit that Randidly had gifted him had done wonders for it Its eyes were clear and bright the iris flashing that same gold color And based on its age it understood exactly what it was offering Randidly that Randidly’s companion would wipe most of him away taking away his will

But Randidly still shook his head For you you do this out of gratitude and of loyalty Beautiful sentiments But unnecessary I’m not truly the one you want to be bonded to am I And as long as you feel that way you aren’t suitable

The metallic dog nodded then trotted out of Randidly’s group heading towards the young girl’s Her eyes widened further her already strained senses pushed beyond her limits as the dog came over to her and she began to cry With tears running down her face she rushed up to the metallic dog who stood about as tall as she and threw her arms around it

Randidly smiled and put his hands on his hips So what more do you need A herald to announce you

A display of power The words were a soft rumble Randidly couldn’t sense the details of the other being but he had noticed it was there from the beginning The Aether that coiled around it was much much thicker than any of the others and there was only one logical explanation as to why although it left Randidly shocked

But that power was something Randidly needed And if it wanted to see a display

Randidly closed his eyes

Simon rubbed the nose of his ox pleased at his companion His companion was pleased too but Simon was very swiftly discovering that no matter what emotion the ox felt his face didn’t change Instead it seemed looked into that strange dopey expression that had made Simon originally write him off

Simon smiled and opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t Simon tried to again

Truthfully Simon wasn’t trying to speak but he was trying to breath in before he could speak And even though his higher than base human stats would let him survive for a long time without breathing his heart began to pound burning through his precious oxygen

Why can’t I breathe ’ Simon thought his eyes wide But very quickly the feedback from his new companion made him realize that the ox couldn’t breath either and the difference in lung power between them was not small

Spinning around Simon looked at the surrounding area Around them all of the monsters all of them all of the pledgees even the Wild Rider seemed frozen unable to breathe Standing at the center of them all was David glowing faintly smiling at the ground with all teeth

In that moment Simon understood a little of what the girl had felt thinking about David He was another level higher than them all in power

Something more than human

With a sigh Randidly released the Breath of the Spear Phantom Unfortunately that many people was hard to suppress at once and he couldn’t control the skill with any fineness It seemed to hit with an area of effect rather indiscriminately And he was forcefully keeping the lungs of those around him closed with his will Thinking back Randidly recalled the notifications after he had seen Aemont kill the Golden Armored man with this move

Congratulations You have completed the test of Aemont Path complete It was long but at the end you received something that few others have received a chance to know the Spear Phantom Stamina +100 You have learned the final sign of the Spear Phantom Breath of the Spear Phantom ® Lvl 1

Breath of the Spear Phantom ® Forcefully suppress the breathing of those in an area around you You must experience the same effects Intensity of suppression increases with skill level Stamina cost decreases with skill level Area of effect increases with skill level

Truly although it wasn’t a skill that had anything to do with the spear it was the ultimate weapon of Aemont After watching the battle against the golden armored man Randidly understood that even Aemont was far from having the stats to equal him But he could use this move and his ability to dodge and control fights to simply starve the other man out letting him suffocate

It obviously wasn’t true suffocation’ but rather Stamina suffocation At that level of stats air mattered very little if at all But if you could destroy the other’s Stamina

Randidly shivered remembering how weak he himself had felt towards the end Perhaps what was more memorable however was after that Aemont had slain the man he had turned to Randidly and looked at him and simply said Do you see it Good luck And then disintegrated into ash

From what Randidly understood that was a true and final death for Aemont And yet

And yet he walked into it without fear leaving Randidly a tool he had spent his life creating as if it was the most casual thing in the world It was a moving message even though Randidly couldn’t quite parse apart what it meant

But Randidly put those thoughts aside focusing on the present The ground rumbled and a tunnel opened up a creature the size of a tree trunk crawling up out of the darkness and into the sun staying far enough away from Randidly to dodge back into the hole if necessary

You Randidly said slowly looking at the notification above the creature’s head Are a Tier II Raid Boss

It was a Lvl 28 Bone Wurm regarding him with inky black eyes set into a thick carapace of bone

Tier I I have just hid in the earth slowly growing The wurm said crawling a bit farther forward

Why are you giving it all up then to become my companion Randidly asked with forced casualness There was certainly quite a bit of Aether billowing off this thing If there were also hooks of the System associated with it or even the influence of the Creature You understand I have this being inside of me that you will host yes

The wurm nodded But still I choose this path For my children If you swear to protect them my body will be yours We as a species can produce invaluable marrow silk I suspect that you humans will be very interested in using it

Randidly pondered for a second then shook his head slowly That isn’t enough To trust you I must truly know why

Because there is no other way to survive The weariness was clear in the Raid Bosses voice We were given the ability to grow here in a lower Cohort yes But it is a reduced thing carefully controlled I am a Tier I Raid Boss On my own I am nearing my limit It is already a miracle I have made it this far And you do not know how this world will change as the System progresses My people will be ground to dust Would you not take any desperate chance if you could take it Would you not risk it all

You would be giving up your will Randidly said but his eyes were bright as he looked at the Bone Wurm Although they were very different for a moment Randidly was reminded of the eyes of those shades in Aemont’s example battle That fervor that madness The power of having everything to lose should you fail The power to gamble your life for something greater than yourself

My will my life The wurm whispered Is that not a cheap price for my people’s peace

Randidly closed his eyes Then stepped forward reaching out the being in him curious pressing forward to the tip of his finger After a brief feeling of his finger touching bone and a weird give as the being inside of him broke free and swam into the other being there was only a small crack and then the Aether began to surge around them

Chapter 318

Instantly Randidly could detect that while the fusing was going well in the bone wurm’s body there was something troubling about the movement of the Aether above it in the air around it

With his eyes closed Randidly’s senses flew forward following the flow of Aether Although it probably wasn’t a very complicated construct but it was still difficult for him to sense Aether with any sort of precision outside of his body Still there was very clearly some sort of lattice of Aether surrounding the bone wurm’s soul and one of the sigils was starting to activate

It was a sigil that was part of the inner framework Frantically Randidly spread his senses out farther feeling the shape of the Aether as best he could

As far as he could tell in a few seconds this was very clearly the work of the System There was a cage of Aether that acted as a tether and as a feeder giving and taking Aether There was also a portion that seemed to moderate the amount and type of Aether it could receive

It was truly a delicate work of beauty filled with strange graceful runes that Randidly couldn’t understand It reminded him of the work by the Creature truly but this based on all the context clues it should just be the System Randidly supposed it made sense that the system was even more sophisticated than the Creature But it was an intimidating truth because Randidly’s path appeared to be directly against what the System wanted

The glyph that was activating continued to glow and Randidly saw that it was beginning to send some sort of energy back off one of the lines upwards heading towards whatever was on the other end of the tether that controlled it

With no other recourse and unwilling to let word of his escapades reach anyone who could actually DO anything about it Randidly smashed the most complicated bits of the lattice with pure Aether burning away the tether

After all Randidly had dealt with the Judgements from being a Heretic but those seemed more like automated reactions than anything else Randidly had as of yet not run into any real Administrators for lack of a better word The System seemed to function so far on its own killing any who didn’t capitulate to its desires

Randidly had a bit of pride but he wasn’t oblivious to the fact that what was going on with him might have happened before in the past It was hard to have a sense of it but it truly seemed that the System covered a staggering number of worlds Enough to make the population’s size absolutely massive or at least Randidly expected so To control that population there might even be larger safeguards in place than the Heretic system

Perhaps the System Transgressor was one of those Randidly shivered

Without the tether although different parts of the lattice began to go haywire no connection could be made to inform an outside source Randidly worried that the severing would also inform them but he figured that something similar would happen should someone kill the Raid Boss

Instead of worrying Randidly focused on the sigils even as his purer version of the Aether ate away at them and they slowly deactivated Although it was just a tiny portion of what they could accomplish watching the graceful way the Aether flowed from one to the other creating an interlocking framework was extraordinarily beneficial to Randidly in terms of understanding Aether

This was truly far beyond his level

Abruptly Randidly’s focus was broken as his body shuddered Grimacing Randidly felt a great heat building in his chest His own Aether was joining the wild surge a huge torrent of the Aether swirling upwards in a tight spiral Then that Aether speared forward piercing out of his chest and flowing into the body of the bone wurm

This finally completely destroyed all the remaining Aether constructs within the Raid Boss’ body washing it all away in the vicious and life giving flood That Aether swirled settling in the other establishing itself deep inside of his bonded companion as two of them became linked

Randidly’s companion could no longer be felt which gave him a sharp stab of worry but Randidly quickly realized that it had spread and was slowly settling into its new body The Aether exploded in a torrent between them huge amounts of Meaning and Life flowing back and forth circulating normalizing their two bodies to each other

It was enough to cause Randidly to fall to his knees stunned There was so much so many images and emotions and moments in its memories and not even just from the being that was held in his chest embedded in it all was the powerful will of the old Raid Boss its stubborn refusal to allow its people to die

All of this swirled and mixed Until it finally clicked together

For several seconds Randidly just sat still The sound of his pants filled the air He wasn’t even aware of what was going on around him with the Wild Rider and the pledgees and the other monsters Instead his focus was forward on the creature in front of him as it looked at him with inky black eyes now shaded slightly purple

I am It rasped its voice echoing out strangely clearly not used to the finer points of speaking Neveah

Randidly Ghosthound Randidly said simply reaching out and touching the bone armor that covered its head Strangely it was warm The touch was electric Aether freely jumping between them

I have a body It well it sorta seemed feminine and the name so she said quietly

With a great effort Randidly stood a small tremble in his body The sheer volume of Aether that they exchanged was still difficult for a human body to withstand no matter how high the stats were

That’s not all Randidly added Now you have the chance to explore the world would you like to take a look

Jemma sat on the back of Rhaidon her new companion patting his ears idly as she watched the cook move around with his new scary monster companion The beast was probably 10 meters long and 1 meter thick At first Jemma was very puzzled how it was able to move either like a snake or more like an inchworm but it appeared that instead the thing just used a very advanced and specialized earth manipulation to press its body forward

Jemma wondered whether the thing felt like it was laying still the entire time while the world moved around ti

It wasn’t the largest monster but there certainly was something about it Trembling slightly Jemma looked away allowing her system to settle down to something closer to baseline Even looking too long at the cook and his monster activated her passive skill How strong were they

Peeking over her shoulder Jemma’s eyes traced the huge bone carapace that covered most of the body of the worm Giant overlapping plates of bone sort of functioning like over large scales made it so that whatever vulnerable bits it had were not visible to its enemies

Only on its face could you see its flesh a metallic grey purple color and the inky black eyes that it housed As she watched the creature seemed to roll and flail around feeling out its body Jemma wasn’t too sure what was going on It honestly looked like the creature forgot how to move

Perhaps the joining with the cook had some sort of feedback because of how strong he was

Rhaidon felt her question and followed her gaze Then he informed her sorta clumsily with many images that part of the deal of becoming the soulbond companion of the cook was to gift up your free will to a companion he already had It would be simply offering your body to him which was why most did not choose to try and become his companion or offered their young

That gave Jemma a slight chill but she was also curious because when Rhaidon referred to the cook he sent not an image really but a swirl of colors Deep vibrant emerald Bright vivid orange crimson And finally a deep ashy grey As best as she could she asked why he was those things

Rhaidon just gave her a look that said because he is

A commotion caught her attention and Jemma looked up to find the Wild Rider only a few feet away her head tilted to the side At first she froze but then as Jemma realized that her tremor hadn’t started she cautiously relaxed Could this person really not be this powerful

Or would it be just like it was with the cook at first she was just unable to truly sense his strength until she witnessed it with her own eyes

But the Wild Rider just beckoned her closer and asked Can I ask you for a favor

Chapter 319

Randidly grinned at Neveah who was flailing and rolling around on the ground struggling to grow used to her new body He supposed that she had spent so long as a presence just floating in his chest that she was pretty unfamiliar with the limitations that it possessed which was rather understandable

Luckily she was a quick learner and already she had grasped some of the basics of keeping her body rightside up and moving around comfortably Now she just needed to figure out the finer points of using Earth Manipulation to help her travel above and below ground

It seemed like an incredibly useful skill and Randidly suspected that it was not straight Earth Manipulation but something more specialized based on how effortlessly the Raid Boss had managed it In addition Randidly wondered what really happened with the Raid Boss when Neveah went inside of it

Was it simply eliminated Did they merge Was Neveah really just a name the combined consciousness gave itself

Was there a chance that it remained inside of her lurking biding its time when it could strike back

This worried Randidly because there was little he could do about it and probably even less that he could do to check But if it was a matter of connection his connection was very clearly with Neveah Already he could feel increasing amounts of Aether flowing out towards her and Meaning beginning to flow back along towards him

Besides Randidly had a very powerful will and multiple skills that boosted that Hopefully Neveah would be able to take advantage of some of that and resist any dangers that a lurking consciousness of a Raid Boss might entail

Although it wasn’t a perfect solution Randidly didn’t know any way of taking a more active role It made him slightly uncomfortable now that he thought about it to have such a glaring weakness right now especially after he recovered Not that Neveah was not powerful but she was very unused to her new body And it was very clear from the nature of the connection that damage to her would also deal a large amount of damage to him

At least her body seemed sturdy

Randidly shook his head Best not to think about that sort of thing Instead

Randidly opened up his Path screen After finishing off Aemont’s Path he had 45 PP still remaining and also some new Path options to consider It felt like it had been quite a while since he had this sort of decision and it was slightly nice to be able to look at some of the shorter but perhaps long term beneficial Paths

Heretic XIV 0/ Nexus Traveler Cohort 5 0/50 Path of Control 0/200 Basic Mana Engraving 0/100 Adept (+1) 0/250 Experimenter I 0/50 Steps of the Godling I 0/50 The Second Seedling 0/50 The Phantom’s Embrace 0/150 Mentalist I 0/50 Fighting Proficiency III 0/ System Transgressor 0/1

Randidly grimaced The System Transgressor was Randidly really couldn’t unpack his emotions about it It was simple and took a single PP But what if it caused him to be instantly hit with the power of the System killing him

Until Randidly could use his newfound Aether powers to understand how Paths worked probably better to leave it alone

Heretic had grown again but Randidly supposed that was to be expected His Aether powers were pretty much toeing a line especially his System Interference Skill In terms of the things Randidly wanted to use eventually that was pretty much every Path

Journeyman Path had been replaced by Adept (+1) Path which was slightly interesting Based on what Randidly knew about the System Adept must be the next tier of the main progression of Paths which was computed based on stat totals His current stat total put him a little above 2100 so it made since that his path had evolved When he reached 2k total stats

What was strange was the +1 Was his Adept Path different Was it because he was at 2100 Or perhaps it was a matter of reaching it without taking the Journeyman Path

Randidly sighed Too much he didn’t know but the Adept Path was a 250 PP sink which Randidly wanted to wait on for now For the same reason Randidly put off the Path of Control as well even though his monstrous Control stat would probably give him great gains at the skill at the end of that path

Experimenter and Second Seedling made Randidly curious but not enough to blow his PP The Phantom’s Embrace Mentalist and Fighting Proficiency would all probably give him a tangible boost in power but honestly

While Randidly was back on Earth did he really need to raise his fighting capabilities Mentalist was the most tempting for this reason but it still could wait Randidly’s time Farming and Cooking had given him some ideas for other ways he could grind and experiment improving his power in ways not related to straight training

That wasn’t to say he wouldn’t continue to train but that his emphasis would be on his passives and his support skills trying to keep them up with the huge jump his spear skills had taken

For that reason Randidly was looking towards Basic Mana Engraving and Steps of the Godling Between the two of them Randidly’s sense of unease pushed him towards Steps of the Godling After all although Lucretia seemed to be contained for now it was hard to imagine that she would stay that way for long especially if Randidly did nothing especially if the thief in his inner world wasn’t dissuaded from stealing the spear

It gave Randidly quite the headache

That was of course based on the premise that the Path would help him towards the goal of intervening in his inner world which wasn’t guaranteed But based on the timing of when the Path appeared Randidly was willing to bet that they were at least related

Feeling confident enough to move forward Randidly put his PP into Steps of the Godling I Strangely he immediately received a notification indicating he had obtained a new Statistic Progenitor’s Influence which went up by 1 with each PP

Progenitor’s Influence A stat that reflects your ability to influence your inner world As the stat grows you will unlock new ways of interacting with your world Warning the Stat has no individual effect but simply affects your access to related abilities

Randidly’s face was dark and wrinkled when he added 45 PP to the Path and still had not received access to any related abilities He had even received the first of his 4 Blessings from his Soul Skill so time would be moving forward there Cursing his luck with Paths Randidly looked at his status screen

Health(/R per hour) 1900/1815 (+118) (764 (+27

Mana(/R per hour) 1769/1772 (+5) (297 (+9

Stam(/R per min) 1233/1878 (263 (+9

Vit 195 (+9)

End 105

Str 157 (+17)

Agi 215 (+17)

Perception 161 (+10)

Reaction 176

Resistance 147 (+15)

Willpower 242 (+10)

Intelligence 147

Wisdom 107 (+9)

Control 271

Focus 224 (+4)

Progenitor’s Influence 45

Skills (Soul Skill) Four Shaded Clockwork World Lvl 1272

Combat Spear Mastery Lvl 138 White Phantom’s Half Step (Un) Lvl 50 Heavy Blow Lvl 70 Dagger Mastery Lvl 10 Iron Skin Lvl 47 Dodge Lvl 78 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 116 Block Lvl 54 Haste Lvl 89 Phantom Onslaught Lvl 42 Sweep Lvl 54 Spear Deflect Lvl 10 Empower Lvl 111 Calculated Blow Lvl 70 Roundhouse Kick Lvl 36 Flesh Eating Virus (Un) Lvl 63 Idiosyncratic Cut (Un) Lvl 69 Pierce the Skies Shatter the Earth Lvl 39 Battle Intent Lvl 133 Struggle Lvl 92 Body Control Freeze Lvl 25 The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil Lvl 74 Stalemate Breaker Lvl 25 Talon Strike Lvl 33

The 7 Kata of the Ashen Spear The Spear Advances Ash Trails Lvl 51 As the Sun Stills ® Lvl 1 (Broken)

The 6 Signs of the Spear Phantom ® The First Sign The Inevitable Phantom Arrives Lvl 85 (Un) The Fifth Sign The Spear Phantom’s Embrace ® Lvl 160 The Breath of the Spear Phantom ® Lvl 8

Aether Skills Aether Detection Lvl 18 Aether Manipulation Lvl 34 Living Aether ® Lvl 26 System Interference Lvl 1

Spells Spearing Roots Lvl 48 Mana Bolt Lvl 28 Mana Shield Lvl 26 Root Control Lvl 99 Arcane Orb Lvl 22 Fireball Lvl 30 Magic Missile Lvl 4 Healing Palm Lvl 12 Pollen of the Rafflesia Lvl 20 Summon Pestilence Lvl 53 Mana Strengthening Lvl 65 Wall of Thorns Lvl 19 Soul Seed ® Anguish (Un) Lvl 59 Inspiration ® Incinerating Bolt Lvl 73 Circle of Flame Lvl 45 Plantomancy Lvl 35 The Weeping Cloud ® Lvl 64 Hammer of the Dawn Lvl 31 Burning Footsteps Lvl 16 Ashes to Ashes Lvl 22 Torment Lvl 4

Crafting Potion Making Lvl 37 Farming Lvl 32 Plant Breeding Lvl 19 Mapmaker Lvl 7 Analyze Lvl 24 Refine Lvl 37 Extract Lvl 29 Mana Engraving Lvl 74

Auxiliary Physical Fitness Lvl 89 Meditation Lvl 93 Running Lvl 39 Sprinting Lvl 19 Sneak Lvl 46 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 21 Pain Resistance Lvl 61 First Aid Lvl 16 Equip Lvl 25 Pathfinding Lvl 18 Mental Strength Lvl 51 Curse Resistance Lvl 22 Fire Resistance Lvl 23 Sewing Lvl 11 Cutting Vegetables Lvl 2 Manual Labor Lvl 6 Digging Lvl 5 Cooking Lvl 42 Grace Lvl 67 Bacterial Regeneration Lvl 116 Superiority Lvl 56 Mental Fortitude Lvl 76 Second Wind Lvl 71 Weather Affinity Lvl 43 Clockwork Mastery Lvl 16 Rejection Lvl 42 Aether Connection Lvl 3 Flexibility of the White Hunters ® Lvl 44 Living Blood (Un) Lvl 42 Soul Bond Lvl 48 Chef’s Palette Lvl 10

Bonuses +12% Concentration +7% hearing and vision range +3% size Immunity +6%

Well Randidly reflected at least his stat line was pretty impressive all things considered Now that he had recovered back to full health he was back

Chapter 320

Doing his best to put his Path woes out of his mind Randidly turned his attention towards his immediate goals Dealing with the Creature was at the top but Randidly still wasn’t confident in his ability to do that yet Although it felt a little bit like procrastinating Randidly was unwilling to move forward without first understanding Aether a little bit more completely

The strength that thing had displayed on their last encounter it made Randidly grit his teeth He was not at that level yet

Below that was investigating in the whereabouts of Sydney and Ace This was difficult because based on what Randidly knew from his dreams she was near the Skeleton Knight IF those dreams could even be trusted

Ace was apparently in contact with her although there was some conflict there so he was likely near there

Randidly turned and surveyed the area Previous classes of pledgees had come back to the area around the Wild Rider from whatever anthill they had been hiding in There were about 70 of them and based on their movements they were quite well trained and focused As Randidly watched the Wild Rider held a quiet discussion with Jemma while a contingent of these riders flanked her glaring at anyone who would come near their leader

There was a blind devotion in their eyes that made Randidly slightly uncomfortable Well perhaps uncomfortable was the wrong word He didn’t like them and planned on having as little interaction with them as possible

Of course just as Randidly thought that the Wild Rider began walking over towards Randidly dragging Jemma along with her Randidly groaned inwardly and did his best to keep his face neutral

Apparently his acting was extremely poor because as soon as she arrived the Wild Rider said Am I really that bad of a conversationalist You look like you are preparing to eat your bonded animal’s dung

As Randidly opened his mouth he paused because every one of the riders that followed and ostensibly guarded the Wild Rider was giving him a glare thick with jealousy and animosity Were they offended because the Wild Rider came over to joke with him or because he didn’t consider it an honor to eat his animal’s dung

This was exactly why he didn’t want to interact with extremist groups Randidly supposed that the Wild Rider’s extreme independence was similar but that also made it so she cared very little whether people followed her Probably she would prefer if they didn’t As such it fell to her little peons to become over involved in the affairs of the world

Randidly just shrugged helplessly half meaning it as an apology

The Wild Rider laughed which sounded like chirping insects Well anyway I would like to discuss your future plans David And of course you too

The Wild Rider gave Randidly a questioning look Neveah He supplied

David and Neveah The Wild Rider said nodding Randidly could tell that underneath her Regalia the girl was giving the Bone Wurm a wide smile as if it was the cutest thing in the world and not a huge construct of bone and rot

What Randidly didn’t expect was Neveah’s reaction as she flailed somewhat and rolled her body towards them with a upthrust of rock Why David Name’s not David

There was an awkward silence Randidly winced rubbing his neck It took a few seconds for the people around to understand Neveah’s raspy echoing voice combined with her broken english but very quickly they seemed to reach the correct conclusion all at the same time

Of them all the guards seemed to take this the most seriously as if a fake name was a discovery that could threaten the Wild Rider As if now that his fake name had been revealed Randidly could turn against them striking now that his cover had been blown

Jesus how touchy can you guys get

Jemma just seemed confused and the Wild Rider tilted her head to the side Your name isn’t David But you told Simon

Not David Ghosthound Neveah supplied happily righting herself and trying her best to rub in a way that Randidly had to assume was affectionately against his side She basically just tore a hole in his pants with a protrusion of bone Randidly sighed

Unlike the previous time THIS time the reaction was immediate

There was no one in Zone 33 that didn’t know the name Ghosthound

The guards drew their weapons and leveled them towards Randidly Jemma began to tremble looking at him with wide eyes Her metallic dog squeezed through the press of bodies and rubbed reassuringly against her side

One of the taller guards riding a moose and holding a glaive said to Randidly You are the Ghosthound Of Donnyton What’s your angle coming here

His voice was cold and from his eyes he had a confidence in his ability to fight Randidly just shook his head inwardly Jesus if he had known founding that village would make him famous someday he would have thought long and hard about whether to do it And likely refused to do it This was getting annoying

As if she couldn’t sense the palpable animosity around her the Wild Rider walked forward and patted Randidly’s arm Randidly looked at the horns next to his face curiously Although the girl was only tall enough to reach his shoulder her Regalia stretched higher level with his eyes It truly was a beautiful headpiece He wondered what effects it possessed

Ah of course I should have known You are Randidly Ghosthound the man who has made this Zone much more advanced The Skeleton Knight and I were very surprised that we were called down so early We were actually second but the first Zone on this World was of course Zone 1 The Zones are numbered based on size so statistically the area that Zone 1 possesses is about 100 times as large as yours Statistically you could not compete To beat Zones 2 32 is something to be proud of

Randidly filed this information away for now but didn’t say anything It would perhaps be worrisome going forward trying to compete against a larger Zone once all of the Zones opened up but for now it wasn’t an issue

Instead his mind latched onto the fact that based on what the Wild Rider said she and the Skeleton Knight had peaceable time together before they came down to this world Perhaps they understood their role as part of a larger System and accepted it to a degree

Realizing that the Wild Rider was waiting for a response Randidly opened his mouth and said thank you As for what I’m doing I think for now I want to

Randidly trailed off But then he seized onto an intermediate goal that he would enjoy and would be an understandable thing for the people around him I want to improve my equipment I have some ways on my own but I’d like someplace to buy raw materials or even finished products It doesn’t look like you have anything here but

Randidly trailed off as the glares from the guards grew more pronounced Randidly didn’t know whether to be angry or roll his eyes Although it probably would be annoying Randidly was 100% confident that he could defeat them all all at the same time He had improved by leaps and bounds since he had lost to the squads of Donnyton and although these guys probably trained well enough they were not at that level

Well Randidly reflected perhaps his frame of reference had just changed by too much They might be the equal of Donnyton’s Squads from 6 months ago Time was also hard to keep track of

You probably want to go to the Refuge A woman rider said who seemed slightly more friendly than her peers The armor they have there isn’t so good as what comes out of Donnyton

She stumbled her eyes flicking to Randidly He didn’t respond Obviously going there would get him the best options but the Creature was still there and Randidly wasn’t willing to draw her attention

Perhaps the most annoying part of this conversation was that Neveah had revealed his name If word got back and she started looking for him

After a hesitation as she scanned his face the woman continued But it’s good enough and the best place in the North to get it Just know that they will test you

Yes Jemma whispered her arms wrapping around her shoulders Dauntless is a monster

Chapter 321

The grim faced riders provided Randidly with a very basic map which would enable him to leave their location and find the Refuge They seemed profoundly displeased when he thanked them and said he would need to delay his actual departure by a few days though When asked why Randidly gestured towards Neveah who was trying to touch her nose to her tail forming a perfect circle

Hmph A black haired man snorted Well don’t blame us when we move on and you become monster feed

Don’t worry about that Your name is really Ghosthound though wow that’s such a fun name The Wild Rider chattered sounding extremely strange in the weird echo that came from her Regalia

Randidly shook his head You are the first person to ever say that

For his part the rider’s face twisted but he couldn’t say anything to directly contradict the Wild Rider Strangely Randidly felt some sympathy for the man It must not be easy acting as a glorified babysitter to this young girl without even knowing it

Body fun Neveah said rolling over towards the talking people eager to be a part of the strange interaction now that she had a body Randidly smiled but the surrounding people scuttled back annoyed at her antics At least the riders

The mounts seemed profoundly skittish around her and for good reason Not only was she double as big as most of them she probably weighed about 5 times as much as the heaviest of them She was just in another class of beast She was or used to be a Raid Boss

After some more stares and the riders pleading with the Wild Rider to take care of some other things the group wandered off leaving Randidly alone with Neveah Feeling relieved he walked over to her and patted her bone exoskeleton awkwardly Could she even feel this

Whether or not she could actually feel it with any sort of fineness didn’t really matter to a creature who had not had a body before an hour ago so it was enough that she rolled around brushing up against him and causing him to stagger slightly After chuckling Randidly hopped on top of her body and began to walk along it

When she spoke next it was through their connection Confusing

What’s confusing Randidly asked walking along her spine trying to balance as she began to roll onto her side to peer up at what he was doing

You Name They wrong But you make so

It’s called lying Randidly said wondering really how developed the intelligence of Neveah was It was something worth investigating Especially because they would be bound from now on working together as a team Even now it made him slightly uncomfortable but that was the way it was

So even though he didn’t like it Randidly continued speaking I told them my name was David to avoid a monster who was seeking me

But as he trailed off Randidly felt something strange through their bond A displeasure Neveah sensed through their connection that this wasn’t the whole truth Randidly laughed out loud feeling strangely relieved and also strangely insulted

He was never very good at communicating and the people around him knew it So when he was awkward and slow to say something they just assumed it was because it was difficult for him to speak Which was part of the truth but it wasn’t all of it Which Neveah could sense and her perhaps naive nose pressed deeper intent on finding the whole truth

Randidly was forced now by this bone wurm to reveal that whole truth the bit that he always kept back And strangely he didn’t mind it

I also didn’t use my name because Randidly hesitated for a second before continuing Because my name means something here in this area I have a reputation And it’s so weird People look at me for guidance They rely on me to protect them Both of which are fine I can handle it but they don’t understand me So they push and push

After trailing off for a second Randidly found his voice again hopping down off of Neveah and turning to her It’s the same with the Wild Rider Did you see the way they treated her Did you understand what was going on Well it might be hard but the people around her think they know what is best for her and want to control her Or protect her whatever it is that they tell themselves I don’t want that I don’t want

Want me

The question was surprisingly frank and Randidly started He looked at her with sad eyes a small smile on his face Sad because she had to ask but smiling because the question was surprisingly easy

Yes Us That’s how it’s been for a while yea Now you just have a body Nothing really changed right

Right

Neveah seemed finished with conversation and she began to wiggle back and forth moving towards the far side of the enclosure Randidly scratched his head and then followed her Well she could figure out this body for now In the meantime it was time for him to return to the study of Engraving Because recently he had a hunch about the reason some of the complexities of Engraving currently eluded him

What Thea said jumping to her feet Simon didn’t really react to the news his eyes slightly unfocused as he looked at the ground

Jemma nervous at the strength of Thea’s reaction began to lean side to side switching her weight back and forth at a rapid pace Wincing that she had made the young girl freak out so much Thea spared a glance for the metallic dog that was now always by Jemma’s side It lay on the ground its head on its paws its breathing even

As long as the dog was calm

Thea turned back towards Jemma sitting back and relaxing slightly putting on a face that didn’t match the turmoil inside of her body Hearing that David was really Randidly Ghosthound THE Ghosthound

It was unbelievable And at the same time it made so much sense So many things clicked She had built up the Ghosthound into a superhuman in her head able to accomplish so many things so much faster than everyone else He founded Donnyton which was like a mythic city in her mind filled with characters who stepped right out of fantasy

They already had blacksmiths leatherworkers and potion makers and the market wasn’t even present yet They had seen a few of the examples of the things they could produce and it left everyone at Star Crossing absolutely flabbergasted The equipment they made was higher than their most powerful person It was impossible

Then she had met David a man with no weakness A man who faced down a Tier III Raid Boss apparently while he had a crippling injury and knocked the Raid Boss on it’s ass And now after he was healed he gave off a completely implacable feeling It felt like she was looking at the calm surface of the ocean but her instincts screamed that more was going on beneath the surface

As these characters overlapped everything snapped back together

Now at the head of these bustling metropolis pushing forward past the boundaries of what was possible very quickly in the wake of the System’s arrival Thea saw David She could see him with his quiet intense eyes immediately adjusting to the System change and methodically working himself into a position to do something about it To help people around him

He still must have had some martial arts training before or at least he was in top physical condition He likely gracefully transitioned into the System and very rapidly dominated the area where he started overwhelming the location monster type with sheer implacable determination

Based on what they understand once you become connected with a Newbie Village while you could leave it wasn’t wise If that person were to die they would drop the Village Key which could be used in multiple ways against the Village It was much safer to stay at the Village if you were connected to it

David no Randidly no the Ghosthound clearly didn’t make that decision Somehow as if it was happening right in front of her Thea could picture the Ghosthound standing there his eyes clouded by worry surrounded by the scrappy group of survivors that he had gathered and led to a place of brief respite from the terrors of the System

Did he know the benefits of founding the Village of the Soul Skill he could gain His was the first village so probably not He easily passed off the coin to another to found the village while he continued to explore heading South to save the unstable and populous Franksburg right before they starved to death

Did he find out the truth and regret it

That too was clear Of course he found out but he didn’t regret it He just once more thoughtfully handed the coin over to the people of Franksburg leaving to go on another adventure always moving always seeking out the next threat to humanity always moving forward

Although someone from Franksburg named Lucifer had killed the first Tier III Raid Boss and the rumors were that the Ghosthound disappeared immediately prior to its arrival Thea had no doubt in her mind that the whole time the Ghosthound was moving in the shadows paving the way for others to shine

Thea smiled bitterly Just like he had done with her

Chapter 322

It actually makes a lot of sense Simon said raising his head Thea looked around as he spoke and their eyes met an understanding passing between them Simon felt his heart pounding slightly and then he realized that he had been staring at Thea and smiling for several seconds

He looked away embarrassed and said But I want to go see him To understand

Once again Simon and Thea shared that strange agreement nodding together Jemma just seemed nervous

Maybe wait a bit Rhaidon says that until the bone wurm can control her new body its a bit dangerous so After seeing they both assented to this Jemma continued Uh the other pledgees well everyone the old riders too there’s a big party thing to celebrate the Rider and freedom and stuff

Again she trailed off Simon felt his stomach do a weird flip flop Are you inviting us to a party

Unsaid was the fact that the girl in front of him couldn’t be older than 11 or 12 But she nodded Simon immediately turned to Thea who was thoughtfully looking at the ground She seemed to sense his gaze however and looked up nodding

Yea it happens every time A way to relax and mingle a bit Thea confirmed If we aren’t going to see Dav the Ghosthound we might as well After all you can’t work all the time humans just aren’t built that way

At dawn Randidly breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth his eyes glittering as he examined the greaves in front of him

Basic Iron Greaves Lvl 14 A rather simple design that was done by a hardworking man Health +10 End +2 Wrought in Shadow I

Engraving of Shadow IV 39% © The air you walk is thick with shadow Due to the shadows you are slightly less easy to predict and you take slightly less damage from physical attacks Stealth abilities are 50% more effective May activate and consume the Engraving to double the previous effects for 30 minutes as well as a slight amount of darkness damage to all physical attacks

Wrought in Shadow I This piece of armor was engraved completely in darkness Agi +2 Focus +2 Wis +1

It was really that simple Randidly thought gazing at the Engraved greaves with wonder There were of course several problems with the method but

The difficulty in Engraving Randidly speculated is that Engraving was an incomplete art because it was based on Aether manipulation by people who actually couldn’t manipulate Aether So although they could find some way to peer into the mysteries of what Aether could accomplish they weren’t able to do it directly as they didn’t have access to it

So they were forced to use what they had access to Mana and tried to shape it into the rigid shapes that Aether could be formed into Because Aether was a strange mystical form of something that was alternatively an energy source and then some sort of building block for meaning Additionally some parts of Aether could be infused with meaning causing the symbols to be rigid

While some portions were rigid and others could still be flowing and fluid Meanwhile mana was a pure liquid energy source So the trick was to mimic how Aether behaved by carving shapes into the armor with mana

Although the previous Engravers likely had to spend a long time experimenting and testing different theories in order to achieve the results they wanted Randidly didn’t really have that difficulty he already had access to an ability to sense and manipulate Aether Of course the Engraving Pen he possessed couldn’t channel Aether and all of his attempts to shape it thus far made strange twisted constructs that ticked in a way intimidatingly similar to a bomb but that didn’t mean he had any less of an advantage

After all he knew what it SHOULD look like He just needed to use Mana to do it

Randidly had spent the night refining his technique until he came upon a very cumbersome but manageable way to do it The only reason he could use this method was because of his huge Mana pool but instead of pouring Mana into the armor in a shape Randidly used flashes of Mana to burn away huge chunks in the armor

It was a little like setting off dynamite

Then when there was a general shape clear he poured a little Mana into the hole he had made and used his amazingly high Control to use that Mana and even out the spaces creating the specific shape

Then he added more Mana creating a thin film around the outside of the entirety of the shape putting the finishing touches on the Engraving Speck by speck Randidly shaped everything creating the perfect Engraving Then with his still quite full Mana pool he simply flooded the empty space with Mana once more using his Mana to create the proper flows and turns

This method didn’t have his same control over the flows as actually Engraving did but Randidly believed that would come with time It also had the chance to blow up too much of the armor when he ignited the Mana rendering the armor useless But it gave him an unparalleled ability to control the shape and incorporate multiple complex and overlapping constructs

With it he had finally created the Shadow IV Rune which seemed to have not improved much in terms of the subterfuge but there was now an effect of evasiveness and defense And while combusting the rune it would also grant increased damage although it was hard to know how much damage it would do

It had even earned him a few levels in Engraving which was nice

In the meantime Neveah had thoroughly destroyed Randidly’s previously tidy farm It hurt slightly but in the tumult of the testing yesterday some enterprising animals had already come and picked most everything clean desperate for his Aether infused fruits

It was slightly sad to Randidly but he knew that as much as he would love to spend his time experimenting further with Farming learning to create multiple things he really wouldn’t get the chance to do so There were so many other things that he was uniquely equipped to do that no one else could handle

Randidly glanced at the greaves Of course the real problem with this piece of armor was that it was altogether too much foot covering After spending so much time with bare feet it was hard to imagine forcing his feet back within the confines of a constricting shoe Besides his Golden Roots of Yggdrasil was invaluable and he didn’t really think it would be nearly as effective as it had been as when his feet could directly touch the Earth

Randidly left the small hut he had been studying in and out into the world looking at the dawn It was truly breathtaking He wasn’t sure if it had something to do with the presence of Aether or even if it was just the effect of his increased Perception but there was such vivid mixing and bleeding in the shades of red orange yellow and purple in the sunset than there ever had been previously before the System

From his memories from before the colors had been beautiful but it was like they had just been basic shapes in a sunset Now there was depth and intensity and frantic refraction of light As he watched the sun rise Randidly wondered idly whether staring at the sun was still dangerous to his eyesight He would feel profoundly silly if he blinded himself after becoming this powerful

Sensing Randidly’s presence Neveah flipped over and used Earth Surfing which was really what her skill was to move rapidly over towards him What do

I have some things I want to do but I guess before I make our plans I should ask what do you Randidly hesitated not using the word want’ It was hard to tell what Neveah thought There was still some small space between them although they were connected inwardly and could sense each other’s thoughts

Randidly’s epiphany due to her earlier didn’t solve all of their communication problems it just let him know that there was a path forward And it was one that he was excited for

Us Explore

The answer was so simple and blissful Randidly burst out laughing Reaching over he rubbed her spine Yes we will explore But I need a bit more time here refining my Engraving

At first he hesitated to say the real reason but then he just shrugged inwardly There was no reason to hide anything from her after all She knew him inside and out So he continued After that I need to grow strong There is something very dangerous at my home When we have strength we will return and kill it

Kill

Randidly shivered Neveah’s lack of experience with existence or rather life with a body made it so she seemed innocent sometimes But Randidly forgot that she had been inside him for some of his darkest moments dormant but cognizant She knew well the scent of blood They were in that boat together

Yes we will kill the Creature

Chapter 323

Coppernicus held up a hand and the squad fell silent around him The night was dark and ahead of them a huge fire was burning away about 100 meters away There were very few in the north who were so bold as to have such a large fire without any care in the dark especially after the System arrived

Even Iznock seemed troubled as he regarded the fire burning cheerily ahead of them He had drawn his magic back into himself which caused his usually inflamed head to fade slightly only giving off a soft glow

Their group was on a low hill that sloped down towards a stream that ran along the edge of a forest Right between the group and the stream the fire sat multiple figures clearly moving back and forth around it

Did you sense any sentries Iznock asked surprising Copper Sentries weren’t often used not yet although Sydney was bullish on the subject saying that just because they had been coddled their entire lives didn’t mean they would continue to be now that the System was here Better to protect yourself

But Star Crossing and the Refuge didn’t use sentries Which only left

None Vandal said sidling up between the two larger skeletons Although there’s something weird in the air Electric almost

Wards Iznock growled and then he cursed violently in his own language The System did its best to approximate what he said but Copper could tell that it was strained at the edges as if it were unable to translate Which was interesting because it had seamlessly translated everything that came before

Odd that Perhaps unable was incorrect Was it unwilling Was the System hiding something

Worth watching at the very least as Copper focused back on the men around him The squad was tense all 10 men looking at the three in the lead for direction Their eyes were haggard from two weeks of eating rations and what they could scrape off of the land Still the meals they did manage to hunt and cook were excellent Vandal was a master at preparing monster meat

If Copper still had a fleshly body he would have shivered The dark cruelty in Vandal’s eyes as he caught and cooked those monsters it was chilling It was good that he was on their side

Then the face of that impossibly powerful man appeared in Copper’s mind’s eye and he clacked his jaw unhappily Nothing was ever easy Which was why preparation was important During these past two weeks Copper had been using his Scribe skill to make spell scrolls and he believed that he could change the outcome of that previous fight

Copper shook his head feeling foolish The one problem with this new almost tireless body was that he could very easily lose himself in his skull following his thoughts around for far too long With an effort of will he focused back on the group around him

Like from video games Vandal was asking skeptical

Iznock just grunted not bothering with Vandal Everyone in the group had already learned not to bring up video games around the boy Although they were effectively stopped from playing video games ever again Vandal would still gladly spend hours dwelling on the past

Wards are magical sentries Copper said slowly looking around pushing his senses to the limit Although he wasn’t imbued with the power of monsters like Vandal his senses were still more finely tuned than a human’s

And after a few seconds of focusing he could feel it just lightly brushing up against his bones There was a definite electric charge in the air and they were wading through it There was no damage to their bodies but Copper suspected that could change and the person who set up such a field would definitely have the methods to sense their presence in it

Are they difficult to learn Copper asked Even in such a dangerous area far from reinforcements and surrounded by the pledgees of the Wild Rider he was still interested in learning new spells

But Iznock shook his head It should be far too advanced At minimum Level 35 if not 40

Vandal’s eyes narrowed and Copper sucked in a breath He was level 26 and feeling extremely proud that he had become one of Sydney’s most powerful warriors Most of it was due to the tireless nature of his body that enabled him to perfect his skills but

If this is an enemy can we handle it Copper asked quietly Vandal snorted but the entire group turned towards Iznock who was thinking

Without casualties No If we fight some of us will die But Iznock seemed not to care There was something else in his expression troubling him However they know we are here and have continued to do nothing So we have a choice

We go forward Vandal chimed in sniffing the air Someone over there is a good cook

Iznock nodded slowly and the group of 13 walked forward heading towards the fire As they came closer more and more figures around the fire spread away slipping into the blind spots that the fire left in the approaching group’s eyes

Welcome friends A low male voice with a southern twang said What brings the East End Village folk over here And with a skeleton lieutenant no less

Copper said nothing stepping forward I could ask you the same warriors of Donnyton What is Squad 13 doing so far North

Once they were close Copper’s worst fears were confirmed There was no mistaking the craftsmanship of the armor or its quality These were weapons forged in Donnyton And with so many of them gathered together moving as a unit that could only mean

One of the squads had come North without anyone being aware of it But the fact that they allowed Copper and his group to come close meant they didn’t care if they were being discovered Or were they just confident in eliminating their group No that didn’t sound right From every report they received Donnyton’s squads were methodical and no nonsense Arrogance didn’t factor into their decisions

Still the fact that it was the 13th squad wasn’t surprising Most of the top 10 were held up by the Skeleton Knight’s offensive although it didn’t seem like either side would lose soon Although it wasn’t steep there was a drop off in power after the X squad simply due to the powerful equipment that the higher squads received

There were also other reasons that a squad didn’t enter into the top 10 In this case Copper suspected this particular squad was more fearsome than their ranking indicated they were simply the type of squad to be weaker at direct confrontation

Two figures stepped forward their faces hidden in shadow with the fire behind them The man with the southern twang spoke again So we’re both a bit away from home but I think we have dibs on this here spot Why don’t y’all move on

The threat was clear in his voice The low sound of metal sliding across leather as squad 13 drew their weapons around their group gave weight to it And yet

Stepping forward Copper produced an item from his bag that he didn’t expect to be his best weapon in this situation Before we go would anyone care for a game of chess

There was silence And then a snort

You’ve done your homework skeleton boy Weird we don’t know anything about you I’ll go for a game If Copper had a body he would have been sweating and the voice eased some of his worries Clarissa the Weather Witch one of the top movers and shakers of Donnyton walked forward with interest as she looked at Copper

She gave the others a glance Interesting interesting What a unique crew you have here

Trailing off Clarissa took a moment to look at each individual in turn even the normal guards In her eyes it was clear she was activating some sort of skill and was able to see through their strength in an instant At least that is what it appeared to be to Copper and from Vandal’s expression the younger boy had a similar foreboding when he looked at this opponent

You are the one who created these thunder wards Iznock said abruptly the burning sockets of his skull locked on Clarissa

She shrugged Secret But I’d be interested in hearing how you detected it

Iznock said nothing folding his arms Clarissa seemed to have expected as much so she turned to Copper once more Well your intel is good I play games against my better interest Join us for dinner Your group can stay as long as we are playing If you win I’ll tell you what we are doing up in your neck of the woods You’re wondering right If you lose we need a bit of information from you skeletons What’s the Skeleton Knight’s Regalia

Clarissa smiled It was strange she just looked like a middle aged female librarian And yet the air around her was abruptly getting cold a thin mist spreading out from her Fair deal right What do you say

Copper turned to look at Iznock who remained still After a few seconds Vandal took a deep breath through his nose smelling once more the cooking Even Copper could sense although he had no desire for food how well made the stew they were cooking was

When it became clear Iznock would not act Copper said Alright you have yourself a deal

Chapter 324

Vandal hopped on one foot to the other while he watched Copper who continued to sit staring at the board his eyes blank

Well his eyes were always blank All he had was a skull But this was a particular brand of blank that Vandal was sure was not even healthy Feeling bored he skipped over to the dead fire sniffing There had to be

Ah there

Vandal found a bit of vegetable that had fallen out of the pot and was hidden in the coals Although it was charred Vandal happily gobbled it down You couldn’t imbue vegetables with the same power you could meat or at least he couldn’t but the vegetables that the Donnyton individuals carried were the most nutrient dense and delicious he had ever seen

They truly had the highest quality ingredients ’ Vandal thought with a wistful expression If he could get his hands on a bit of Lucifer’s body or even better yet the Ghosthound

Clenching his hands into fists Vandal repeatedly cursed that zombie man who had beaten him up Vandal spared a glance for Drake who was still watching Copper Everyone seemed to be waiting for Copper

The chess board remained untouched from the point where the two individuals had drawn and then rather abruptly the Donnyton squad departed And yet although Iznock was eager to leave he remained because Copper’s behavior was so profoundly strange Why was he locked into his focus so much

People had spoken to him but he had remained still ignoring them At Drake’s weary insistence they had waited Copper wouldn’t do this to them without a reason

Vandal kicked a stone It rolled forward a bit and then it stilled spinning to a stop He turned to Drake At least we made it out safe right And the Donnydums didn’t find out what the Skeleton Knight’s Regalia is What’s a Regalia anyway

Vandal hoped it was meat It was not

A Regalia is like proof of being a Champion It channels the System’s rules through a Champion’s body limiting them in some ways but giving them other powers in exchange It is well known that the Skeleton Knight’s Regalia is his sword Drake answered absently his eyes still on Copper The Regalia was just an easy bait Clarissa knew we would be too curious to resist coming and would take the risk of betting on a chess game once we knew who was here and they were perfectly fine with allowing us to dally They had another goal for keeping us here but

Part of it was drawing Vandal supplied He had seen some of the more sneaky moves the others made in the shadows due to his increased sight in the dark courtesy of a cat he had for dinner They made sketches of us all

I wish it were that simple Iznock rumbled But of course after his cryptic comments he remained silent regardless of the small stones Vandal kicked at him

Vandal sighed Tormenting someone without any meat was impossible

There was a cough and then Copper straightened reaching up and scratching the bone of his skull After a second of hesitation Copper turned to Iznock announcing I know why Donnyton is moving so far North

Iznock remained still seemingly unsurprised

Continuing Copper said They are after the same thing the Skeleton Knight is I believe Iznock what happens when an individual who is not a Champion holds both of the Regalias

Perhaps his feelings for you are not as strong as we once believed The Creature said almost mockingly as she looked across the scrying pool towards Lyra

For her part Lyra said nothing She had in her mind a mental list of sins that she would make Randidly pay for slowly Not too painfully perhaps but uncomfortably at the very least He had earned himself MANY such inconveniences in his time on the other world Even thinking about it made the blood begin to pound in Lyra’s ears and her vision go dark This would be just another comeuppance heading for him

It took an effort but Lyra filed that away for later One issue at a time She turned and regarded the Creature wearing her body as if it was her Which lately it practically had been

In the past 6 months since Randidly had left Lyra’s hair had grown down past her shoulders continuing to come in a tawny cascade that was full and thick without being too frizzy Truly hair that some people would kill for In addition weight had been redistributed on her body moving from her calves arms face and neck and settling down near her thighs and core a strong center of muscle while Lyra barely ate enough to survive

Her features hadn’t really changed except her eyes in a way that wasn’t immediately noticeable Her irises were still that violet of Aether but now the small burst veins in her eyes also had a violet tint as even her blood was slowly warped by overexposure to the icy fiery element Honestly Lyra wasn’t sure how Randidly managed to stoically completely ignored his exposure to the stuff

She looked older sure But older like a single mom of three not older as in more appealing to older men Not that some older men wanted the mature look

Lyra tried to squelch her sour thoughts and spoke to the Creature as if they were equals Well then what’s next

The Creature just shrugged Irregardless he will return One way or another Better to focus on nominating our own Champion in the meantime

Lyra slumped to the side sighing So she continued to wait in the darkness slowly working towards her goal

Randidly continued to work on refining his process of Engraving which was proving more difficult than he imaged The real issue was that there was a very noticeable mental switch to go from dynamiting the subject with Mana to carefully shaping it It was abrupt almost too much so Still he would get used to it in time

Very gradually the switch became more natural

Aside from that Randidly continued to improve his Cooking Chef’s Palette and Soul Bond skills It was a time of refinement for him as he began to immerse himself more and more in the Engraving encyclopedias in between the rather amusing periods spent trying to learn to ride Neveah

Not only did Neveah have a very hard time remembering to keep the same side of her body facing upwards due to unfortunate rolling habit she also couldn’t really judge the amount of acceleration she moved with Very often she would abruptly jerk forward thrust upwards by her Earth Surfing skill which was still rather clunky in her hands

Randidly wondered whether poor usage could cause someone to LOSE Skill Levels If someone could manage it it was Neveah

However on other fronts her development was impressive Her language skills grew because she could speak with other animals and people most of whom were deathly afraid of her rather than just hearing an echo of language through Randidly’s body The speed at which she improved demonstrated how intelligent Neveah truly was she simply didn’t have an experience with the world

On his off moments Randidly would wonder idly where she came from Why was this spirit living inside the Aether Crossroads inside of him Were they connected somehow

Still even asking Neveah produced no answers She seemed unsure what exactly Randidly was asking and just responded by having a rolling fit Laughing Randidly backed off and moved on from the question

The rest of the pledgees appeared to be going through some sort of special training learning to ride in formation with the different groups This kept them busy and because of it Randidly hadn’t seen Simon or Jemma or even Thea in the past few days

Still one of the days Randidly’s senses started going crazy but when he looked around he found nothing Then he spread out his Aether Detection skills and he was able to feel a strange ripple in the air For several minute Randidly sat stock still furiously wondering whether the Creature had finally come for him

But then he realized that the presence would come and then disappear at pretty regular intervals throughout the day that matched up with the pledgee training Randidly slowly relaxed So that was just some feedback from Simon’s Astral Projection skill Still it really shook Randidly up and made him realize that although he had a brief break now he couldn’t take it too easy His enemies continued to move

The Creature would not wait for him

Chapter 325

So Randidly expanded his training routine once more upping the intensity Once more he was back to using root forms created through Spearing Roots to practice spear usage But now that Randidly’s Control was much higher he could do multiple while even practicing other things He also experienced a brief breakthrough when he realized that instead of just forming them from the ground he could make an umbilical cord almost that would go up from the ground and into the back of his root people

Then they could spread from the back and they could be mobile fighters Which was how Randidly found himself watching with amusement as he controlled both of them causing them to fight awkwardly Although it wasn’t so helpful in refining Randidly’s spear attacks it definitely gave him more information about how the body reacted when his defensive stances were struck

It was mostly small things but the more Randidly used the spear the more he realized that it was 1000 small things done right that would win out over the opponent So he focused on this

Training took on a very immersive quality to it and Randidly was peaceful It was only after 5 days of this that Randidly started abruptly realizing how long he had been training alone for Truly it was hard to think about time without sleeping even with day and night

Randidly looked at his Path screen His gains the past several days amounted to 78 in total this was a large amount sure but most of it came from less used skills like Refine Extract Examine Chef’s Palette Hammer of the Dawn etc that were relatively low leveled and could be improved very quickly Although the difference in battle was practically nonexistent it was a general raising of the level of activities he could perform

And it paid dividends for his PP

With some of the PP Randidly finished off his Steps of the Godling Path

Congratulations You have completed the Steps of the Godling I Path This is a path that not many tread Special circumstances have opened this opportunity for you and it is one that comes with great rewards Still it is treacherous for the edges of the path fall off into an abyss from which none have returned For now keep your eyes straight traveler for the path leads ever onwards You have gained access to the Attribute Progenitor’s Influence Progenitor’s Influence +10 +2 to all stats +20 Progenitor’s Influence per level

Progenitor’s Influence An attribute that calculates how effectively you can influence the world over which you rule As Progenitor’s Influence increases you will gain access to new abilities relating to your world As Progenitor’s Influence increases the effectiveness of your abilities increases You may gain Progenitor’s Influence due to belief from your world

Randidly was cautiously optimistic about this Progenitor’s Influence and that it would give him the ability to intervene as he had wanted The real worry then was getting more influence As of yet Randidly still hadn’t found a way to get a Class without tying himself to the System although now he wondered if he could avoid that with his new skills

Testing it with his own body was probably not for the best however Better to wait and see

Randidly reached into his inner world sliding his perception into his Soul Skill Immediately he felt it It was extremely small in the span of the entire world of the Soul Skill but he could feel his minor influence There was however a large drawback that Randidly also noticed his mood worsening

Although it was slow time was definitely moving in the world even though he wasn’t giving it PP Randidly supposed that made sense His influence would only be worth it if he could choose when to use it And for that time had to move But that did mean that Randidly could sense forces moving in his Soul Skill

Once more he could not find the thief Who even now might be on her way to steal the spear that held Lucretia captured Randidly groaned inwardly Another enemy to worry about but this one would be in his chest

The other thing Randidly really wanted to investigate but he had no idea how was that Lucretia had combined with him to bring that powerful warrior out of his chest In Randidly’s mind it had just been a way to lock her into a lose lose situation Based on her actions and that strange hunch that Randidly had she cared deeply for Shal That was how he could bind her by putting Shal’s safety and her own as the two weights

Now Randidly shook his head wordless Why the fuck had he decided to take such a desperate gamble His instincts told him it would work but

Sighing Randidly accepted the fact that sometimes he did dumb things There was just so much going on with the tournament that it slipped through the cracks Randidly winced Yes Shal’s life just slipped through the cracks

Anyways the process that had enabled the transfer used his inner world as a template but it came from Lucretia’s strange fate and karma powers There was something about those three freely given gifts that would destroy people and even Randidly worried about it With her inside of his soul Could they come to an agreement Or

What was Lucretia’s goal anyway She had acted on this occasion for Shal but she had been giving out these gifts and destroying lives for hundreds of years before based on the memories Randidly inherited from Aemont

Then Randidly froze Because in an effort to distract himself he had reached for his influence to sense what his current abilities were Two things became clear Progenitor’s Influence was generated by wishes and prayers of believers and Randidly could reach out and grab them in a pretty large area floating over his world They didn’t last long however and Randidly watched one dissipate in front of him

Still Randidly had managed to gather 4 Progenitor’s Influence in this short time Which would be good if not for the truth of the cheapest method of exerting influence

Send Cryptic Dream Unavailable Requires 75 Progenitor’s Influence

Minor Prestidigitation Unavailable Requires 125 Progenitor’s Influence

Whisper in Follower’s Ear Unavailable Requires 200 Progenitor’s Influence

Randidly groaned With this much he couldn’t do ANYTHING And even if he flew around this world for about a half hour a few more influence the most he could do was send a Cryptic Dream

Absolutely worthless Randidly cursed this dumb Path and everything it stood for He left his Soul Skill and when he went to his Path screen to see what he wanted to do now he deliberately ignored the Steps of the Godling II Path 0/200

Instead he focused on his other options Specifically those relating to his current activities So he was drawn to Path of Control Basic Mana Engraving and Mentalist I Ultimately cheap won out Randidly would be able to finish Mentalist I immediately and the fact that time was moving out of his control would seem to mean his clash with Lucretia would come sooner rather than later So more mental strength was necessary

So all at once Randidly dumped 50 points into the Mentalist I Path

Congratulations You have completed the Mentalist IPath Another unusual path traveler You walk along not with your body but with your psyche constantly refining your spirit and soul As you do so that sharpness you possess naturally spreads Your Willpower +10 Resistance +5 Your mind is refined and the detail of your memories increases +1 Mental Stat per lvl Efficacy of Battle Intent increases

Again Randidly was slightly disappointed although the Path also netted him 5 free stats one every 10 PP It did also grant bonuses for Battle Intent but Randidly hadn’t worked out so well how to use that with spells although it was definitely possible and he had some small success so far

Every stat helps though and it was another bonus he could use if he ever got around to getting a Class

After that Randidly put his PP into Basic Mana Engraving deciding that would be the support skill he wanted most desperately in the immediate future This Path was much more lucrative generating 1 Intelligence every 5 PP which was a pleasant surprise But still these things weren’t really addressing the problems in the world around him

It was a balancing act right now Randidly intuitively felt that soon something would give The brief peace would not last But he did not rush towards it

Instead Randidly stood and went outside seeing if Neveah would be willing to practice riding more

Chapter 326

Simon hated Anthony the overweight leader of his training group Toto Simon’s Soul Bond beast agreed although it was in a very dispassionate way

Straighten your back Raise your weapon Anthony bellowed his eyes directly on Simon Simon hunched his shoulders cursing inwardly

Sure he was physically capable and his time with David the Ghosthound had taught him to survive in wild situations but most of Anthony’s training involved direct confrontation with the opponents charges of riders in formation towards an opponent

Which of course was not where Simon’s talents lay It took absolute begging for Simon to be allowed at the back where his healing and water spells could be used to their utmost effect Unfortunately there seemed to be no way to convince Anthony that his Astral skills and his Dreamer Class were worth planning around If anything Anthony seemed insulted at the concept

As if any Class could equal the strength of the Wild Rider’s charge That was what his eyes seemed to say as they squinted at Simon

So Simon day after day drilled pointlessly learning to do something that he would never do

To be fair it did do wonders for raising Simon’s Riding Skill and also his Soul Bond There were bonuses And the frequent accidents associated with the riding practice meant that Simon had occasion to practice his healing skills But would it really kill Anthony to just admit there were more options than just charging at the enemy

And based upon the way the other training leaders treated him Anthony was relatively high up If this was truly all the army of the Wild Rider thought about it Simon began to become worried for what would happen in the battle against the Skeleton Knight He supposed it was a good thing that Donnyton was taking the brunt of the forces right now