LoRG 1

There was another avenue Not to actually understand Aether but to understand the ways that he could mimic it

It was time to see Sam

Regina raised her eyebrows adding more potatoes to the pot He still hasn’t visited you

Sam simply grunted in response his back to her as he continued cutting the meat Regina smiled bitterly Even after 5 months of marriage he could stump her like this She really couldn’t tell whether he was ambivalent or upset He was very excited she knew to unveil some of his creations but perhaps the wait wasn’t so bad

If she could see his expression it would be different

Sam Regina said sharply He glanced over her shoulder at her then turned back to the meat Upset then

As Regina opened her mouth there was a knock on the door Even Sam looked up somewhat shocked Basically only the higher level foremen in the Production District knew which house was theirs located in the mezzanine passages of the housing zone that was propped up against the side of the main production building

Calmly Regina wiped her hands and walked to the door There she found a tall athletic young man with cold emerald eyes and black hair down to his shoulders She clucked disapprovingly

You need a haircut

The Ghosthound smiled chuckling I think so to but there just hasn’t been time Also one of the unfortunate side effects of high Vitality is that the hair grows back to this length really quickly Seems more trouble than it’s worth

Then he paused Is Sam in

Here boy Sam said rinsing the red blood from the meat cutting from his hands before walking over to the door and offering the Ghosthound a handshake He took it and soon Regina had to step out of the way because the handshake had turned into a rough hug

The two men parted sizing each other up

The Ghosthound spoke first a small smile on his face You need some exercise I didn’t even know that you could get fat since the System arrived

Sam grunted and gestured dismissively Hiding a smile behind her hand Regina continued to prepare the stew She had actually made a similar comment to Sam a few months ago when it started to happen It had actually been very concerning to Regina at the time so she had consulted Mrs Hamilton about it

After all Regina had conducted examinations of Sam and there was nothing physically wrong with him But Mrs Hamilton seemed to think that it had something to do with the connection to the Ghosthound

All Classers Regina had learned began to show slight physical changes based on their Class For whatever reason the four who got the Blessings from the Ghosthound received a very markedly increased effect from this So Sam was simply shifting towards a body that was more appropriate for a Dawn Smith to have

It was relieving and concerning at the same time to Regina The changes did seem to be slowing down now as Sam settled into a rather portly figure but the fact that Classes had that sort of power

Shaking her head Regina asked Would you like to join us for dinner then Randidly

The Ghosthound nodded and from his ring produced a series of bottles of beer After they popped them open poured them out and took a drink Sam’s eyebrows rose

This ain’t from here Sam muttered taking another appreciative sip

The Ghosthound laughed Yea a souvenir from my trip Actually while we are talking about it I don’t know if you are interested in it or not

2 hours later the older and younger man were standing next to each other the stew STILL in its pot the table instead dedicated to the different weaponry that the Ghosthound had brought back from wherever he had been which he didn’t seem keen on talking about

There were also materials and most importantly information on Engraving Since the Ghosthound had left Sam had continued to slowly improve in Engraving but it seemed that what the Ghosthound lacked in patience as compared to Sam he more than made up for it in sheer Mana pool size and background information

He had brought with him a full set of encyclopedias about Engraving as well as several special runes that he had received The two were currently deep in a philosophical discussion about the behavior of Mana and also subjective versus objective energy

Very discreetly Regina poured herself a bowl of the stew and left Those two could certainly entertain themselves without her

Chapter 368

Stan Culcart was in love with Raina that much he was certain about Well mostly certain He scratched his beard awkwardly trying to keep her in sight so the organizers wouldn’t be mad at him but trying not to watch too closely while she limbered up by stretching They were in the small preparation tent behind the performance area with just them remaining to go out in front of the crowd

Are you nervous Stan asked the air about 2 meters to Raina’s left The woman straightened shrugged and flashed him a sunny smile

Nope Just a little rusty It will work itself out

But Stan knew she was lying Of all the strange Skills the one that Stan had received in the wake of the System’s arrival was Emotional Sensitivity He could basically intuit what most people were feeling at most times Of course around someone like Raina who was effectively broadcasting her emotions

Sometimes Stan felt he wasn’t even himself any longer he was just swimming in the emotions Raina had 5 minutes ago So now when she smiled at him he could feel the nervousness bubbling right beneath the surface

At first upon his arrival to Donnyton the emotions that Raina was throwing off had driven him crazy It was a constant drone in the background He almost left But Stan was a man who had had mental problems his entire life His anxiety and depression were more familiar to him than most people So he decided to try some advice that his old therapist used to give him

Stop fighting this and just accept it

So he did

Now 5 months later Stan was buzzing with her energy acting as Raina’s manager Which of course made his feelings for her completely inappropriate And also made Stan very aware of Raina’s own confused attraction towards Tykes one of the golden boys of Donnyton although it had only involved posturing and sharp comments up to this point Everything was just so

No really Raina said her expression softening You are giving me that look again It will be fine Stan I’ve got this

The warm flood of her emotions washed over him and once again the anxiety was pushed backwards Sighing he shook his head and said I don’t even understand why you agreed to this Didn’t you want to start only performing in front of small audiences Basically all of Donnyton is gonna be here and word got out to Franksburg Tentatively another 800 fans are convoying up

Ha really it wasn’t you that told them I figured you were just trying to promote me Raina teased

Giving her an exasperated look Stan ran his hands through his hair No he had not spilled the beans Fitting all of Donnyton in the quarry amphitheatre was a squeeze But now with people coming up from Franksburg

No it’s just it was a favor for Randidly so Raina trailed off looking at the ground her emotions swirling around wildly Stan did his best to study the same spot on the ground and studiously kept himself from examining the emotions she felt now too closely And I agree with what he’s trying to do We’ve sorta been coasting along not really thinking too deeply about what has happened to our lives what the System means I guess we are going to have this one last hurrah and then make everyone address the elephant in the room

Basically yea

The extremely close voice caused Stan to jump He spun around shocked to find an athletic man with black hair standing their dressed in an apron He offered them both the plate he was holding which was covered in sliders scones and a thick helping of macaroni and cheese Figured you could use some fuel before you went on stage I’m Randidly by the way

The man who founded the town Randidly Ghosthound the most powerful man in the world extended his hand towards Stan After breathing loudly for several seconds Stan took it feeling very overshadowed

I’ve heard of you He said meekly tuning into the man’s emotions This was actually hard Impossible in fact There was something about the Ghosthound that just muted the emotions From him Stan could only feel a strange even coolness It wasn’t just for himself either His very presence muted the constant flow of emotions of Raina turning it to a trickle For the first time in months Stan was alone in his heart feeling only what he wanted to feel

There was a deep sickness there and a melancholy Stan shivered

You want me to eat fucking mac and cheese before performing I guess it’s good to know that even you can be a total guy sometimes Raina said playfully taking a scone and ripping off a small corner to eat

Shrugging the Ghosthound offered it to Stan who waved it away Then the Ghosthound feeling no compunctions sat down and began to eat Your loss

In his core Stan felt extremely strange After the sick feeling and melancholy passed there was just a strange shivering sensation almost as if his arm had fallen asleep and now it was slowly reviving His chest tingled feeling rushing back into it after so long of it being numb It was a joyous occasion Stan couldn’t tell

How long am I performing Raina asked folding her legs underneath her carefully to sit next to the Ghosthound without damaging her dress

You know the answer to that ’ Stan wanted to say but instead he said nothing because he knew there was no point The vibrations had shifted from prickles to tremors his chest twitching his heart thumping painfully

Not a big deal Just finish with the song that you sang the first time I saw you The Ghosthound said That will be a signal that I recognize Then we will come up for the press release Afterwards if the audience isn’t bored to tears feel free to sing some more

In a very indelicate way Raina snorted and rolled her eyes Then her expression became serious But thank you This is nice to have this opportunity

She’s lying ’ Stan wanted to say his chest cracking and erupting strange deep things moving there But there was no point in him saying it was there His mouth twisted bitterly She would look at guys like this at guys like Tykes and he well he would always be the simple manager That was his role It was a role that he was satisfied in His connection his understanding of her

Easy you don’t have to fake it This is hard for you But thanks for doing it anyway The Ghosthound said setting the plate down

Both Raina and Stan froze Stan began to panic as he couldn’t tell why she froze The dampening from the Ghosthound The rumbling was growing worse and more painful

I Raina began but the Ghosthound waved her off

I should be thanking you I didn’t build this even though everyone thinks I did The people that were here living built Donnyton Like you Celebrate that The peace here you accomplished that

Then the Ghosthound stood and left taking the numbness with him Towards the end Stan was about to explode unable to truly understand what to feel about the fact that his connection with Raina wasn’t one of a kind That this man could look at her and understand her too This great man

But then Raina’s emotions rushed back in cool and cloying at first but then sweet and warm Happiness surprise a low longing a begrudging admiration relief

Stan sighed with relief

Thank you for your time and attention everyone Raina shouted smiling brightly even though she was clearly covered in sweat

Randidly rolled his eyes He shouldn’t have said sing as long as she wanted The girl had gone for almost an hour and a half At this point due to the dancing and singing components even a System enhanced individual would have a hard time keeping their breath But the crowd didn’t see that They only saw the sparkle

And now we have something special Donnyton’s leaders want to announce a few things for you all But first what we’ve all been waiting for the most adorable person in Donnyton what is her name Let’s hear it for Annie and Dozer

The cheers were loud but much more low and masculine as it seemed Dozer’s Squad had come in force Again Randidly could only roll his eyes Annie and Dozer walked out onto the stage Dozer fully 3 times the size of Raina a hulking mass of meat and muscle

Very perfunctorily Annie walked up and took the mic from Raina and then tapped it three times to make sure it was on Then she said I do not approve of this being such a big deal But she is the first baby in Donnyton so well her name is Delilah Please stay away from my child

Then she handed the mic back while the crowd laughed and began whispering excitedly the name Delilah on their lips Again Randidly rolled his eyes They took it as a joke but Randidly knew that Annie was actually threatening these people Hopefully no one got too excited to see the first baby of the Village

And now let’s bring to the stage the Counsel of Donnyton

Chapter 369

Donny breathed in and out looking out over the sea of faces packed into the quarry He didn’t know Donnyton had this many people Hell in some part of his mind he probably didn’t even know that this many people were still alive after the System arrived It was strangely reassuring in a way to see them all arrayed there looking up at him with serious expressions

Next to him came Dozer Mrs Hamilton Regina Sam Glendel Daniel and Clarissa Their expressions had varying degrees of nervousness from Daniel’s white eyed terror to Mrs Hamilton Regina and Glendel who appeared completely unphased beneath all of the scrutiny

Donny had noticed how he was changing but standing here with these people this counsel he realized it was more than that They were all changing Slowly warping and shifting becoming almost caricatures of themselves Emphasized expressions of their most poignant qualities

Backed with the power of the System

Donny shivered and began to speak

Donnyton is changing He said Then he took a breath In some good ways in some inevitable ways and in some bad ways Today we are going to announce some systemic changes to Donnyton that will hopefully keep us changing in the good ways make the best of the inevitable changes and curb some of the negative side effects of our new world

In his head Donny heard his voice speaking slowly and confidently from very far away He was 17 Before the System came he was a punk asshole with no spine And now and now he found himself moving methodically through a prepared speech revealing things that would affect thousands of lives

Again Donny shivered But this shiver was tinged with something much darker and more sinister than fear

There are three big announcements tonight and I’m in charge of the first and second one The first one is policy The big thing is that Donnyton is gonna start to make its own currency It’s a hybrid of gold and steel at the high end and paper currency to serve as small bills We will be buying back all System produced money and standardizing everything We have a very large backstock so don’t worry about us running out Mrs Hamilton has assured me that this change will help alleviate some of our economic concerns

Mrs Hamilton nodded serenely while Donny felt very cold inside This was perhaps the most innocuous change on the service but it left him with the most foreboding feeling For no sooner had they agreed to the idea and experimented with the formula that Donny received a notification from the System asking if he would like to allow the Donnyton Dollar to be given as payment in System stores in the Village

He had quickly said no but he still had the ability to transform the currency Which effectively eliminated all of the logistical issues they had with this plan But to know that the System was watching to that degree

If it turned against them at the wrong time

But Mrs Hamilton’s discussions with the Ghosthound had led her to believe that it wouldn’t work like that the System was primarily that just a system It would not turn against them it wasn’t intelligent It just responded to inputs

Still Donnyton couldn’t shake the bad feeling in his heart To dispel his rising doubts and also the whispers in the crowd Donny continued to speak In a similar vein over the next few weeks we will be delivering a certain amount of gold to all landowners which is Donnyton effectively buying all the land from people Of course you are free to buy it back within a week at the exact same rate but if you wish to diversify your assets or hold onto some of the gold you can leave the land in the hands of Donnyton

Louder and more suspicious whispers at that but Donny ignored them There are other small economic changes for which Mrs Hamilton has prepared a pamphlet Grab one at the exit if you are interested Mostly it involves new construction loans and expansions for Donnyton If you don’t plan on owning a business it isn’t necessary you read it line by line

Which wasn’t exactly true There were some very firm resolutions in there regarding tourism and how it was to be handled But moving towards that would be a slow process and everyone thought it best to leave that for later So for now it remained unspoken But it was definitely an emphasis for some of the changes

Second there will be some changes to the Squads of Donnyton The amount of people allowed in each will be increased to 20 plus the Captain In addition all members of my own Dozer’s and Decklan’s groups will be freed from the restriction of not joining Squads The limit on Squads will also increase to 60 active Squads at one time Demands on the individual Squad member will decrease but we want to have more individuals in fighting shape for the expansion we plan for Donnyton

Everyone took this neww stoically most trying to figure out what it really meant The only people against it would be those in the higher tiered Squads already who would need to recruit new members A lot of mid tier Squads would likely be cannibalized in the process but that was acceptable Also there would be more individuals flowing from the pool of hopefuls into the Squads which would mean they would probably retain more of the people who had wandered in from Franksburg or from the North

Of course this would mean a dilution in their Squads’ strength but better to happen now than later when they would be forced to fight in larger scale battles

Nobody had said anything but everyone on the counsel was clear that the threat of war was the reason for a lot of these changes And after the Ghosthound had returned Mrs Hamilton’s certainty only increased That made Donny shiver too with a perverse joy It had been too long since he had been allowed to fight at the front despite his constant training

But that was for another time

Finally to make the final announcement I would like to bring our founder Randidly Ghosthound to the stage

There was silence for several seconds a stunned one where the only noise was the slow even slap of the Ghosthound’s bare feet against the wood of the stage For most of these people this was probably the first time they had seen him in person or at all Although some had argued for it no one had ever made a portrait of him or a statue Mostly through the interference of the counsel who knew he wouldn’t like it

Now they saw him And then they began to clap

In came in waves thunderous echoing waves that filled the quarry reverberating off the walls smashing back and forth wildly full of energy the people’s eyes burning with a strange fervor Donny felt strange watching it watching the Ghosthound walk towards him and take the mic

Of them all this man changed the most But at the same time Donny could tell that at his core he was the one who most stubbornly refused to let go of who he had been It was almost tragic to see the hardness in his eyes but to know that if he wasn’t a person built on kindness none of this would have happened

Sighing Donny stepped back The Ghosthound looked out over the crowd and from his vantage point of behind him Donny couldn’t see what expression he made but the crowd instantly fell silent Then he began to speak

I’ll be brief At my request Donnyton is creating a semi annual Assessment one every six months The first one will be in 10 days It is voluntary but I recommend participating Right now there are thousands of you and you are different types of people When you look at each other and when new arrivals come to the city you can’t tell unless you recognize a person how long they’ve been here or what they’ve done

This is supposed to change that The Assessment will be done in 4 portions over 2 days in the mornings and afternoons Right now we have the Squads which will continue to be an important part but this will give recognition to other people who contribute a lot but don’t get recognized

The first test will be combat a duel Everyone is welcome to participate aside from myself and members of the counsel There are a variety of rewards we have prepared mostly gold and weapons but the winner of this will get one weapon made by request from Sam and they will also be able to challenge any individual to a duel if they wish Even me

The second test will be for production It is not limited to weapons and armor but also includes cooking brewing weaving basically anything that will become an export of Donnyton We want to know who is creative and productive and what we will be offering the Zone There will be a panel of judges for this and the winner will receive very generous support from Donnyton to get their production an order of magnitude higher

The third test will be one of System Knowledge Daniel insists and I agree that we take this System too much for granted For those of you who have attended some of the talks hosted by the library you have an advantage But those of you who haven’t practical experience matters too For this the reward for the winner is a Stone of Genesis a reward I received from killing a Raid Boss It will let you create your own Skill

The final test is one of tactics We need leaders for larger than 20 person skirmishes Mrs Hamilton has designed a basic wargame Over the next 10 days those of you who are interested learn it The winner of this will receive a position as vice head of our First War Battalion of Donnyton and also

The Ghosthound paused Even Donny couldn’t help leaning forward feeling the tension in the man There was not a peep from the crowd

And also I will change that person’s fate

Chapter 370

For the next week Randidly isolated himself turning his attention inward The actual administration was being taken care of by others and during that time he could finally focus and work on the problems that loomed most prominently in Donnyton’s future

Randidly had not been idle for the week instead he had taken advantage of Mrs Hamilton’s generous offer to move a bunch of her Class based experiments a bit ahead of schedule Therefore he had been able to see dozens of individuals receive Classes Very carefully he observed their changes and the structures of Aether that were erected within them and conducted interviews to determine what sort of Class they received

The results were basically what he had expected A more powerful more specific Class were better with more well defined Aether as a base for them With Lucretia’s help and the reference of the encyclopedia of Mana Engraving they were even able to determine the critical mechanisms of the Class structure within these individuals

Within a person’s Soul Space the Class was basically a small tree that was transplanted into an individual with a belt spreading out to surround the Soul Space These “belts” functioned as a limiter on the ability of the Soul space to grow but it did provide focus and support for those Skills that were within its purview Which explained why when Randidly returned to Earth his Skill level lead over most people wasn’t as monstrous as he expected Those people who had classes received some benefit from them that improve the speed of leveling certain Skills

In addition to limiting the space those base belts appeared to also contain within them the Skills that Classes obtained as well A sort of balance to the Skill limit imposed upon the person It then appeared that when a person gathered experience and their level increased the ‘trunk’ of the tree began to grow slowly upward guiding the absorption of the energy Then the trunk consumption was what was important to understand in order to have level up gains Although they weren’t exactly the same studying the Mana Engraving runes did a lot to allow Randidly to recognize different parts of the trunk in the people who obtained Classes giving him a fraction of insight into what level up gains they would have

Of course this was only a week’s worth of experience and although he had become passable at identifying what stats would be emphasized Randidly had no ability to actually predict which of the different stats would be emphasized which was slightly concerning They didn’t appear to shift based on an intricate weaving pattern that could be found in the core of the trunk partially hidden from his view Other than that he was unable to think of any ideas where the pattern might be coming from

More positively he was becoming increasingly adept at examining the Classes of others The higher his Aether Skills went the more he could see but it was far from enough to actually parse it apart

This face gave Randidly a headache but there was nothing really to do The only way to see what was occurring within the Skill would be to effectively dissect someone And not just themselves but also the Aether construct within them Sure Randidly was training in order to create that sort of Aether construct but by its nature the farther it grew the more difficult it would be to weave it back together once it was pulled apart Even if Randidly were to dissect someone who was level 1 there was always the chance that his interference would reduce their Class to a shabby alternative of what it had once been which filled him with too much guilt to ignore

Still Lucretia poured over the information that they did have conferring with Neveah trying to figure out how it could work together in such a simple way when the energies arrayed within were so volatile

Hopefully they would be able to reach a conclusion within another week

Which meant that whoever won the contest would probably be the guinea pig by which they judged the success of their research They really didn’t have any other methods Already there was guilty creeping into the edges of his awareness crusting and settling

Shaking his head Randidly breathed in and then breathed out allowing his mind to turn away from the issues of Aether Carefully he stopped channeling his Mana controlling the 16 Root Avatars to fight each other Although it had started slow he was really starting to feel an improvement in his Skills with the strange training method It was hard to split his mind and then allow it to flow into a very reactive unconscious state Honestly it took him several tries every day to get the right sort of balance for what he was attempting But once he had it it would progressively eating away at his Mana his Spear Mastery creeping upwards but his Root Control going up in surprising spurts of motion

It was a welcome change of pace a strange mental/physical hybrid that he enjoyed but he would prefer if he could participate in a more thorough improvement of his spells There just wasn’t enough time Deciphering the encyclopedias took long enough but then he also had to participate in physical training designed by Mrs Hamilton in order to reestablish his physical limits once more and then he needed to take the information provided to him by Sam’s Engraving experiments Neveah’s intimidating intuition and Lucretia carefully couched hypotheses

Because while the two women would seem to have a better understanding of the mysteries of Aether he was the one with the Skill that could manipulate it And neither Neveah’s nor Lucretia’ influence was enough to ACTUALLY influence him it would just make clear some of the steps that were the necessary

Which was reassuring in Lucretia’s case but also disappointing considering the stakes to what they were trying to accomplish Creating a Class and having the methods to create the Class would essentially eliminate one of the large differences between what Randidly carried in his chest and a Village Once that gap narrowed he would feel much more comfortable breaking away from the System and having his own interaction with people he could support A threat such as the one posed by the Raid Dungeon would no longer be enough to sway him

After cracking his neck Randidly left his cabin and was surprised to find that it was the early morning Although he hesitated for several seconds he knew in his heart that he couldn’t stand anymore Aether discussion for the day His time in Shal’s world had given him the ability to endure almost will crushing levels of adversity but that had been in terms of physical threats To these influences which were enough to give him several levels in Mental Strength over the past several days Randidly found himself completely exhausted The mental strain added up and weighed him down in a way that the physical strain never had

And since he was looking for a distraction on just such a day perhaps he should go see how the Assessment was playing out It would only be the first day but it still might be interesting to use his newfound knowledge of Classes to examine all the participants

Slightly bemused Randidly put on a cloak pulled the hood up and walked out towards Donnyton proper

Donny didn’t know whether to laugh or cry Today had been a day of almost embarrassing truths From his prominent seat above the combat assessment he had witnessed it all and had to keep his face very controlled in order for his feelings to remain hidden

First there was a cloaked individual with bare feet wandering through the combat assessment which was the assessment that occured the first morning In order they would go Combat System Theory then the next day Production and then Tactics These two days would be busy as hell for Donnyton’s administration but hopefully they would have a better idea of their Village’s strengths at the end of it

But there were several problems A huge problem was that immediately upon arriving this morning the cloaked individual captured the attention of everyone He earned himself a berth of 1 meter almost immediately as to why his feet were bare and there was only one person who had bare feet in Donnyton

Even more than that he exuded this absolutely impenetrable vibe that made him seem mysterious and distant giving weight to the whispered rumors about him And yet Randidly for his part seemed completely oblivious to the fact that everyone knew who he was and let him pass through Donny supposed he just assumed that anyone would walk up to the front of the arena stands and get a better view

There had been one point that the Ghosthound was walking forward and a particularly rowdy group was in front of him It almost made Donny smile and he leaned forward interested to see how it would be resolved But a woman from Paolo’s bruiser Squad was there and saw the issue coming and single handedly moved 6 men a few meters to either side clearing a path

It was disappointing but also illuminating because it let Donny expand his focus a bit looking around the grounds When he did it became clear that there were several dozen individuals moving in the crowd maintaining a constant distance from the Ghosthound They were an amalgamation of people from the first 3 Squads Paolo Kayle and Alana’s and when the action was at its height their gaze was always reverently pointed towards the Ghosthound

Even if he wasn’t actually hidden it was obvious that when people learned that was him walking among them something changed He wasn’t just some mysterious benefactor He was a man slowly changing into a god He was also the person who pushed for this this Assessment which was met with some reluctance by some parties but it was not because they didn’t relish the opportunity to compete but because they didn’t know what it meant

Donny knew that deep down a lot of people felt dissatisfied by the fact that the only way to prestige in Donnyton was through participation in a Squad But the Ghosthound came and changed that He sought out everyone who had the ability to kill and to suppress an opponent And the enthusiasm for battle could be seen in the fact that the final count of the number of participants was just over 400 Without Daniel and Mrs Hamilton’s personal helpers who made paperwork evaporate even holding the tournament in the morning would have been impossible

It would be an interesting day Donny mused somewhat bitter But it at least was a day without paperwork

Chapter 371

Luckily most of the participants didn’t need much sleep so everyone was present at dawn when the fighting began It was single elimination to stay in the winners bracket but the top two individual from the losers who would be put in battle royal after battle royal until the winners reached the top 6 would finish out the top 8

Even then after the top 8 were determined fights would continue because they wanted to determine not only finish in the tournament but also the percentile they finished in It wasn’t explicitly stated in the Ghosthound’s presentation but they would be dividing the participants into percentiles and awarding them “Contribution” points For example a person who was in the 64% percentile would get 6 points And this was from the combat portion alone You would be able to display your individual combat contribution of course as a show of strength but you might also be able to combine it with your participation in the Tactics section to have a higher contribution amount

There would be badges available already forged by Sam and his workers which would provide various benefits In fact upon the return of the Ghosthound Sam had exploded with ways to improve the contribution pins giving them a much more appealing amount of stat bonuses Already Sam had requested that Mrs Hamilton provide him with a talented NCC er with a high Mana pool It hadn’t been feasible previously to have a few Classers dedicated to Mana Engraving but now with the library of runes that Randidly brought

Donny and Mrs Hamilton were working through the specifics of what benefits you would receive from having a higher contribution but it would be noticable And it would be pushed up or down depending on how you interacted with people who weren’t familiar with Donnyton incentivizing helping the tourists Donny planned on being able to give away a few more points This of course necessitated a census and something like a Social Security Number in order to keep everyone straight but Mrs Hamilton turned out to already have such a compilation Slightly disturbing but useful

The second reason that Donny didn’t know whether to laugh or cry was that he couldn’t help but feel that the movers and shakers of Donnyton were overrepresented in the Final 8 of the Combat tournament the 6 that came from the winners bracket were Alana Tykes Decklan Kayle Paolo and a fire mage named Tina From the loser’s bracket an absolute beast of a man who rivaled Dozer in size who called himself Thor emerged as well as Jaylen whose Class was Magician

shouldn’t we have let some of the working Class in Donnyton work up to this point and taste their share of glory

But Donny supposed this was for the best The Ghosthound needed to have a look at their best and this was their best aside from both Dozer and Annie who hadn’t participated in the tournament to watch the baby

The matches for the top 8 were selected by random drawing Decklan would face Kayle Alana would face Jaylen Thor would go up against Paolo and Tykes would face Tina

These matches were a level higher than those they had seen in the past because now everyone was forced to bring out their hidden Skills All the participants here had levels in the 40s and the difference in stats wasn’t so sizable that one could easily handle the other And to Donny’s surprise the first match was Decklan losing to Kayle

As it turned out Kayle was the ultimate opponent of Decklan There were very few exemplary things about Kayle aside from his leadership and Skill in tactics But his Perception and Reaction stat were unusually high and his mastery with his duel knives was such that very few attacks could get through his defense Although Decklan was powerful in assassination attempts and in burst power he was probably the highest in Donnyton he wasn’t able to use that to its full effect in a 1v1 situation He could only become frustrated and then succumb to the small wounds that Kayle inflicted upon him

Aside from the first match Alana was able to trounce the misleading and beguiling Jaylen and Paolo demonstrated to Thor how size wasn’t everything to power The fourth match was also interesting because Tykes was in a bad predicament

After a bit of inquiring it came out that Tina was not affiliated with any Squad so it was no surprise that she wasn’t on anyone’s radar But she did have purely fire focused magics and the ability to shoot Flamethrowers Fire Grenades and also Flame Slashes which possessed very different areas of effect Reading the report that was hurriedly brought to him Donny wasn’t surprised that they hadn’t been aware of her until now She had mostly participated in the clearings of the nearby Turtletown going into the dungeon with some friends avoiding the sanctioned trips But she was sharp and she was methodical

It was clear to Donny that Tina was not aiming for a win early as Tykes stumbled multiple times rushing for her Instead she focused on pushing him back and working on slowly burning through his Stamina

Tykes realized her strategy 30 seconds too late and with a roar he charged at her directly But she just Flame Slashed towards his legs and tossed a Fire Grenade to keep him from closing the last dozen or so feet between them Again he was forced back and now without anymore strength he was forced to concede in the face her Flamethrower

Donny’s brow wrinkled as he watched Tykes spike his large iron ball into the arena leaving a huge hole and then stomp off That kid

But the matches continued as an individual with Earth Mastery healed the wound he had left The semi finals would be Alana versus Paolo and Kayle versus Tina

“I’ll see you in the finals ” Paolo said with an exaggerated bow

Kayle snorted “Perhaps I’ll be in the finals but you “

The two of them glanced at Alana who was beginning to glow a warm gold color the energy from the sun filling her driving her forward Both of them winced

The matches started without much fanfare the attention of even the losers aside from Tykes focused on this battle Alana and Paolo’s fight turned into a grind where both were just slowly landing hits on the other dealing damage and pulling back to recover quickly before skirmishing again This continued for almost 10 minutes before Alana started to rely more heavily on her Skills which were superior even to an untrained eye She simply started to overwhelm Paolo pushing him slowly back until he conceded

In Donny’s eyes it was an honorable loss although a tragic one In the wake of it Donny couldn’t help but wonder how his own Skills compared to Alana’s She was a monster birthed from common origins but Blessed by the Ghosthound and she had quickly overtaken basically everyone to become the most feared fighter in Donnyton Even Lucifer had turned down her request for a duel although his attention had truly been focused mostly on clearing out Raid Bosses of late

To everyone’s surprise as Paolo sat on the sidelines a towel over his head a man in a cloak and bare feet the only such man in the entirety of Donnyton stepped out of the crowd and walked over towards the bench on which the depressed man sat He sat down next to him

“Where’s your pride ” When the Ghosthound had walked out everyone had fell silent Which made his insult echo strangely in the arena And afterwards well no one could come up with an answer to THAT

Paolo looked up the expression on his face hidden by the towel The Ghosthound continued “Your Class is the Grappler yes Yet you do not embrace the core tenant pride in the ring When she is there she is doomed to be suppressed for that is your area While she would be more comfortable on the battlefield you should show her how stifling the dueling arena can be Can you see it “

As he spoke a strange aura spread slowly out from the Ghosthound A suffocation A pressure that couldn’t be understood with the typical human mind a primal animalistic thing where the very breath caught in your chest escaping understanding avoiding it

Even Donny as he opened his mouth felt that nothing could happen but stillness He was completely suppressed

Then the moment passed and the entire crowd breathed out a sigh of relief

“Do you understand ” The crowd shivered then because that cloaked figure was now ominous his power to suppress most everyone here made clear That strength was not a fluke It was the spine of Donnyton that kept them all almost invulnerable in the face of the threats arrayed against them It was the Ghosthound spreading his wings

“Huhuhu to think it was as easy as this Thank you Mr Ghosthound ” Paolo said standing whipping the towel off of his face And from his body a different aura exploded a strange energy that seemed to spread outward in a wave hitting the blood of everyone in the vicinity and setting that blood buzzing It was a resonance a beautiful call and response a power that no one could ignore And the more their blood resonated the straight Paolo seemed to stand the heavier his shadow was as if it became more real with every audience member

Chapter 372

After Paolo’s silent transformation the Ghosthound said nothing but he returned to the crowd Donny could see that those of his volunteer honor guard that were part of Paolo’s crew were particularly reverent in their gaze while Kayle’s crew seemed somewhat displeased

But the other match ended in a surprise to finish Kayle off Tina summoned a Flame Tiger which stayed in a fixed position but threw constant fireballs towards Kayle Using her remaining Mana Tina controlled Kayle’s movements forcing him to accumulate damage And her Mana lasted longer than his Stamina which was surprising

Kayle sat down on the bench sighing and depressed He rolled back and forth He threw his hands up to the sky

He sighed again

Finally he looked in the Ghosthound’s direction and coughed “Hmm I really feel like I am only a single step away from understanding something profound “

The silence was deafening so much so that Paolo’s snort echoed throughout the arena

After a few seconds the Ghosthound walked out onto the arena once more “Your knives why don’t they just cut through everything If you cede those things beyond your range it’s only fair you demand that range belong to you “

Then he walked away From his hunched posture Donny was sure that the Ghosthound felt embarrassed from his first outburst and even more uncomfortable from the forced second and would spend some time hiding

But to his credit Kayle began to chuckle and then laugh maniacally a strange aura appearing around his knives

“Kukuku to think I was neglecting my ultimate weapon ” Kayle laughed a silvery glow surrounding his weapons Now it was Paolo’s group’s turn to have ugly expressions as they looked on at the arena

The final was Alana versus Tina the powerful blessed individual of the Ghosthound going up against the unknown girl from Donnyton Tina perhaps channeling her inner flame mage had dyed her hair a vivacious shade of red violet that was difficult to look away from A lot of the men among the audience were looking at her in a way that made it clear her rather close fitting robe was popular among them

Meanwhile Alana was more metal than woman wearing very serviceable chainmail mixed with shaped bone plates specially made by Sam She had a spear that was glittering with runes which she was slowly polishing as the crowd repositioned themselves to gather around the central stadium where the final match would occur

Tina was surrounded by a group of people with similarly bold hairstyles One girl had a mohawk and the tall gangly male that was holding Tina’s hand had his hair in pigtails They talked quietly amongst themselves While watching them carefully Donny gestured for one of Daniel’s aides to bring him the info that he had on those kids

It was strange to think of them as kids considering they were probably of an age with himself but Responsibility had a certain propensity to warp your outlook To Donny these people who hadn’t run a Village for almost a year were just kids enjoying their relative freedom Not that he would begrudge Randidly his lost innocence but

His newfound power and influence came with drawbacks

There really wasn’t any true information to be had about the kids only two of them had received Classes from Donnyton including Tina The other 3 had gotten them from Franksburg Not that it really mattered but Donny made a mental note to push a little harder for the information exchange with the other town Donnyton had all the expertise but Franksburg had numbers an order of magnitude higher than Donnyton possessing somewhere between 5 and 10 times the population

Tina’s Class was Fire Caller and her stat gains if not her Skills were recorded here It was a Class that no one had achieved since which showed it was rare and the stat gains were high which meant it was powerful But neither of those explained Why she had done so well in the tournament Not to doubt her skill but

Donny’s eyes were flinty as he examined the group There was something amiss

The fight started without fanfare the two fighters 20 meters apart Instantly Alana rushed forward holding her shield in front of her while the spear was pressed tightly against her body As expected Tina danced backwards throwing Fireballs and trying to create space

When it became clear that Fireballs were far from cutting it she began alternating the typical Fireballs with Flame Slashes and Fire Grenades This caused Alana’s speed to slow down but it was far from being able to stop her or inflict any real damage

Then with a shout Tina pointed upward and her flaming bird descended spewing fire towards Alana This was the first real damage that she was forced to face and there was a split second where Donny’s eyes narrowed watching the fight Because Alana hesitated

And then she leapt backwards moving out of the area covered by the flame phoenix Some members of the crowd began to boo in jeer in good fun but some others because they had been knocked out in a very dispassionate manner by Alana Then they fell silent because after scratching her chin briefly Alana leaned back raised her spear and threw it like a javelin

The projectile streaked across the arena so fast that Donny almost had a heart attack If Alana’s casual throw killed this talented girl and suddenly a new headache was dominating Donny’s attention as he struggled to come to terms with the balance they needed to strike between putting these warriors in danger and raising them safely Threats like this that could legitimately take away your life in a second seemed a bit

Looking bored Alana raised her hand and pointed twice Meanwhile Tina finally reacted scrambling out of the way just in time the spear barely missing her She stumbled and then straightened to look at Alana but was struck in that moment by the two Mana Bolt’s that Alana threw while she had been distracted They were weak like getting hit with a snowball but they had hit her in the gut and chin and had caught her completely by surprise

Although Alana’s Mana Bolts weren’t strong Donny knew that she had focused very long and hard on making them extremely pure so they were practically invisible if you weren’t paying attention

As they landed Alana leapt forward but this time Tina was more on top of her game pointing at the ground

Smokescreen

Thick black smoke billowed upwards cutting off vision in every direction In a 10 meter area But contrary to expectations Alana simply raised her shield and ran right into the smoke Donny’s mouth crinkled up So Tina what tricks do you have left

The smoke screened area exploded a huge gout of flame shooting upwards But spoiling the image was the sight of Tina scrambling backwards cursing loudly covered in soot Alana walked smoothly after her relatively unscathed her armor only slightly scuffed

You can make a clone that’s a bomb Interesting But if I hear your breath running away from your body how could I fall for it Alana said coolly raising her shield

Get fucked Tina said flicking her fingers and creating 3 Fire Grenades Immediately afterwards she shot out a Flamethrower which Alana deftly deflected with a spear Rather than stepping backwards Alana continued forwards and the Flame Grenades bounced harmlessly past her before exploding

Widening her eyes Tina scrambled backwards raising her hands again for another attack But nothing happened Of everyone Tina seemed the most surprised Rather than paying attention to Alana she turned around and looked towards her group Donny followed her gaze

The Ghosthound stood among them his hand on the shoulder of the pigtail guy Narrowing his eyes Donny allowed himself a small smile So it had been cheating Sam had been right Can’t trust anyone these days

But Tina’s strength was real even if she used some sort of supplemental Skill from someone else Probably some sort of Mana linking which would explain why she had access to so many spells constantly But that was a strength that could be reproduced in battle even if it wasn’t very useful in single combat Not a situation where she should forfeit her rewards but still

Donny tapped his chin He had a few ideas with what she could be used for

Now that he had caught them cheating Randidly felt no qualms about digging deeply into both of the people his Aether Detection prodding them feeling their classes and Skills examining the details The fiery haired and hotter tempered girl was interesting but she mostly seemed to have a strange ability called Mana Syphon which was a Spell Vamp that stole Mana from the opposing party

He wondered if Alana had noticed and that’s why she began to use her spells against Tina Either way it would make Tina that much more effective in areas where she could inflict huge amounts of damage The Mana returns would make her unstoppable

Meanwhile the pigtailed man whose named was Peggy which didn’t end up clearing up his/her gender identity at all had a much more interesting Class Mana Blessed Hermit Upon consulting Daniel it seemed the Hermit was a know Class possessing superior Meditation esque Skills as well as some basic healing earth magic and monster interaction Skills Either of these three Skills could be improved relatively quickly and they all gave Paths at Skill Lvl 25 that then rewarded another Skill effectively specializing the Hermit

Mana Blessed had apparently given him another Path that allowed him to give and take Mana with willing participants So the whole group had fueled Tina’s run It was fascinating because the way Aether interacted with the Mana to provide that effect gave Randidly some ideas about how to use the runes they had made with Mana to intuit how Aether would do a similar thing

Although he had wanted a break from studying Aether improving the success rate of the final attempt was most important so he had Peggy use the Skill dozens of time examining the strange series of interactions

Satisfied around 3 PM Randidly finally around the tired man to stop collapsing exhausted on the ground It was truly a good haul for the day Looking at the sun Randidly judged he still had time and began walking over towards the next Assessment

Chapter 373

The Assessment on the afternoon of the 1st day was System Knowledge and it had just as many if not more people attending as the combat Assessment had Perhaps because this was open to all people and while not everyone had any wish to participate in combat Donnyton’s almost 4 000 strong population all thought they knew a thing or two about the System

Because almost 800 people wanted to participate in this in order to test them all in an efficient manner Daniel had done his best to design several tests A huge part of the knowledge of the System was memorization because there simply wasn’t a logical underpinning they understood yet So to start everyone had to do three tasks Name 10 Classes 10 Skills and 10 Paths The only caveat was their choices couldn’t be the Class Skills or Paths that they had access to

There was no real way to check for sure if people were following the rules for the second and third categories but usually people’s Skills were obvious and their paths even more so Of them all Paths was the hardest to remember as most people had never really thought about the Paths that other people used

With these three tests the large group had been knocked down to just under 100 a 90% failure rate from something so basic

Because he was bored Randidly found himself taking the test and rather easily passing through the first three tests Afterwards however he went over to Daniel curious and asked how they would know if they weren’t just making up Classes Skills and Paths

I suspect it doesn’t matter Daniel answered shortly barely looking up from his papers people rushing about him in the small tent they sent up for him to hold court at If you have made up something that we haven’t considered yet so much the better Plus it shows initiative and ingenuity This is just to knock away the lookie loos The hard stuff comes later

Bemused Randidly took the next round of tests as well This time the test asked Randidly to rank 10 Classes in order of Strength The question was very careful to say that accuracy wasn’t as important as logical underpinning The Classes were Spiritualist Warrior Archer Arcane Mage Axe Warrior Thief Strongman Glorious Knight Amazon and Lich Necromancy

Randidly raised his eyebrows This

Was a trick question Because Strength was capitalized Which meant it wasn’t overall power but rather basically which were the most physical Classes Which probably meant Strongman was first followed by Axe Warrior and Glorious Knight then Warrior and Amazon followed by Archer Behind them were Spiritualist Arcane Mage Thief and Lich Necromancer that were basically all not strength focused or even Strength adjacent

Randidly turned in his paper one of the few to answer so quickly and was waved onto the next area

It took about an hour but around 40 or so people came trickling in Listening to other people talk some people had apparently not actually gotten the trick of the question but talked at length about the power of adjectives and specificity and Classes and they were given special exemption to proceed

Inwardly Randidly approved even while he rolled his eyes He approved because Daniel needed people like this who could wholeheartedly research things like Class specificity He rolled his eyes because Daniel clearly just wanted people he could get into pointlessly long conversations with talking about what the System had done to people Even Clarissa grew weary around Daniel after being exposed for too long

This Assessment did a good job of bringing those people to the surface What was interesting about this Assessment rather than the other three is that this type of test could only be used once Every 6 months a whole new criteria had to be devised both because general knowledge would improve but because people could study for the test specifically if it didn’t change rather than actually becoming knowledgeable

Randidly shrugged Oh well that was Daniel’s problem

The next round was a word problem Randidly found much to his own bemusement

Alice has received the Class Brave Adventurer She receives 15 Attributes per level as well as 5 Stats mostly concentrated in Health and Physical Defense She also receives the Skills Struggle Brave Strike Desperate Stand and Aura of Hope She has 6 free Skill Slots

James has received the Class the Armored King of Turnips He receives 11 Attributes per level as well as 4 Stats which is balanced between Health Vitality and Wisdom The Skills he obtains are Turnip Strike Green Thumb Farming Rising Strength Valiant Block Armor Proficiency and Ruler’s Aura (Un) He has 4 free Skill Slots

Dmitri has just gotten the Class Conqueror Please speculate how many attributes stats skills and free skill slots Dmitri will receive Include your reasoning Assuming he obtains at least 3 Skills speculate as to the nature and strength of three of Dmitri’s Skills Explain your reasoning

Following this please develop criteria on which to grade Classes and explain how the different types of Classes affect the bonuses that come along with stats

By the end of reading it Randidly had a cold sweat dripping down his back It wasn’t that it was difficult per se but really just that it seemed like an incredibly time consuming activity He even suspected that he understood what Daniel was going at generally even if Randidly didn’t know if it truly was that easy

There were two things to care about in terms of Classes Well Randidly amended three things But the third was closely intertwined with the first two The first was specificity and the second was for lack of a better word coolness The third thing was image

Between the two provided Classes Brave Adventurer was certainly much more general than the Armored King of Turnips Meanwhile it was arguable much cooler than anything related to Turnips From this it could be seen that Adventurer had higher Attributes and Stats Turnip King had more Skills but a few of them seemed like throwaway Skills

But still the image of Turnips was that much stronger than the adventurer and Randidly would suspect that some of the Skills that were more interesting than they appeared Specifically Green Thumb and the uncommon ranked Ruler’s Aura would probably end up paying dividends Of the two of them Randidly would likely go with the Turnip King for that reason

For the final part of the question the Class Conqueror was introduced It was very general but also seemed very cool and powerful And in terms of image it probably ranked about the same as Adventurer

If it was powerful but general it would probably have higher Attributes and Stats with fewer and more straightforward Skills But depending on the image there might be something surprising buried there

Randidly looked around Every one of the other 39 participants were writing like crazy their eyes filled with an insane zeal Sighing Randidly directly conceded and left the testing grounds sitting next to Daniel and focusing on his Golden Roots of Yggdrasil It was a Skill that was one of his most important but it was a difficult one to improve Usually he relied on grinding

But because Randidly was already here and he wanted to see how the Assessment continued he stayed and focused on it To remove his Mana Randidly shot Incinerating Bolts into the ground then sat down pressing his hands against the ground as well His attention flowed down through the thin tendrils of golden energy into the deepest parts of the Earth

When he had created this move this sort of distance was already his limit But since then Randidly had changed WIth his eyes burning emerald Randidly pushed his perception digging downwards grabbing and sucking absorbing the energy of the Earth Parts of his inner soul world began to vibrate shaken by the abrupt increase in pressure on them

It wasn’t simply that he was increasing the power of his pull although that was true It was like he was forcibly expanding the infrastructure of the Skill he created digging it deeper into the Earth shoving it downward Then he expanded its power creating a more demanding suction using it to gather more energy than it had every handled before

The strain on the Skill was quickly evidence by the annoying resonance it had but Randidly clamped down on that pressing forward His Willpower and Control made this left of strain a small matter

The ground beneath his feet trembled

Grinning Randidly began to have his golden roots spin slowly not only absorbing the nearby energy but grabbing more and more his net spreading wider gathering faster Too long Randidly had been content to allow himself remain a sapling He had learned in Shal’s world the important of Willpower and image when using a Skill to broadcast to the world how you wanted it to work eliminating inefficiency and wasted space by general thoughts

By this point the strain was growing at a rapid pace so much so that Randidly had started to sweat First expanding the scope now upping the voltage of the hardware to handle the increased load and all of this done on pure will and determination alone But once it was complete the huge upgrade would likely cause huge changes to the efficacy if not also bumping his Skill level up

This was what was important to Randidly The previous Skill was important but it was just a toy What Randidly wanted now was an engine that would drive him farther forward Aether began to stir within him but only trace amounts What was surprising was of all things the Aether from the creature’s construct was reacting

Lucretia was clearly annoyed that her precious research subjects were moving but Randidly ignored her allowing a small amount to slip over through his soul space settling into the Skill filling out its shape making it more complete Immediately the difference was evident as the speed of his gathering Mana jumped upwards

Chuckling Randidly let it fall away savoring the new feeling even while he was mentally extremely exhausted That was not something that he could do very often Or should He could feel the strange amount of strain it placed on his mental world But still

The energy flowing into him felt warm

Chapter 374

To pass the time Randidly studied the shattered remnants of his 2nd Self Created Skill in the Ashen Spear Skillset Randidly had done his best to ignore the thing as it reminded him of the deep wound that he struggled with for several months Even now after everything else was more or less dealt with and the quality of his inner world was much higher he couldn’t suppress a shiver thinking about the echoes of that pain

It was because it was a different sort of pain than any he had ever experienced It was a strange pain beyond the physical and the mental It was something that threatened to wrest away control of his body from him Had it became too powerful that resonance would begin activating other skills slowly warping him until he died

Or became an unstoppable monster his personality shattered running on pure instinct And constantly activating his Skills

Forcing himself to chuckle and dispel some of that dark thinking Randidly carefully looked at the floating pieces of himself They swirled in a circle hovering in the general area of where the skill once was Among them he could intuit their previous shape knowing how they could be reunited joined to form a powerful whole once more

And Randidly had to hand it to himself that skill had been powerful It had been enough to make a Master level spear user stumble even if only briefly even if it was only against a Skill incarnation But there was a problem

A slowly growing problem

At the time of the accident Randidly’s skill had been shattered spreading out into fragments that now floated around calmly orbiting him Their previous shape was clear in his mind But during the intervening time they hadn’t been idle

It was likely a useful attribute when a skill was simply damaged but upon fracturing the Skill had begun to madly absorb Aether swelling to form strange warped shapes Had the general shape been intact they would likely have swollen to cover the cracks then slowly sank back down to normal once the Skill realized it was working properly

But without that feedback Now his Skills had became a series of twisting well honestly gnarled roots They squirmed like maggots writhing back in forth slowly swelling as the desperately absorbed more Aether It was becoming slightly disturbing Some experimentation let Randidly discover that he could trim the shards of the Skill but doing so eliminated his intuitive understanding of the previous form

So as long as he let them run wild they would let him remember how they used to be But if he tried to return them to that state his interference would eliminate that understanding and leaving him holding a weirdly shaped chunk of raw Aether

Randidly rubbed his eyes in annoyance There was simply too much to learn about Aether these days

Feeling exasperated Randidly focused back on the outside world and was shocked to discover that it appeared the nerds had been whittled down to two people Someone had produced bleachers and podiums and it now seemed like

there was a debate going on

Daniel sat in the middle his hands folded seemingly extremely pompous On his left was Peggy of all people and across from Peggy was a bright eyed elderly woman who was pounding the podium Knowledge is power That is everything we stand for How you could come to such a conclusion is beyond me

It’s simple Peggy’s voice was drawling his pronunciation dragged out Look at the most powerful Classes we are aware of the Sovereign of Ghost Was that a Class that we earned No it was a random Class

Shrugging Peggy continued from the rather mundane Class options that most everyone has access to combined with the acknowledged fact that our expectations affect the Class and Skill System there is only one conclusion the current humanity’s psyche produces weak Classes We simply don’t have lexicon and lore needed to really invent an emblematic and powerful Class There are obviously exemplary individuals but they were exemplary before they obtained their Class

Before he obtained his Class Glendel was a timid average man Now he’s one of the most mysterious and profound individuals in Donnyton The random options allowed him an escape from the way he was raised Did he even imagine a ghost sovereign before Of course not He could only see laborers and things popularized by role playing games warriors rogues priests mages etc Which is why I believe it would be most prudent to hide information relating to Classes from the public

If we do so public opinion will run wild thinking up Classes far greater than the disappointments of reality I think Mr Ghosthound has been invaluable in this regard inspiring growth in new and unexpected ways

Peggy bowed towards Randidly in a very polite manner which was strange after Randidly had sealed away his Skill during the combat portion giving Alana the victory she deserved But still this man probably thought Randidly was someone to be wary of and to watch A little flattery never hurt

But it did leave a weird taste in Randidly’s mouth to be on the receiving end especially because this Assessment was his idea

You have a flaw in your argument The elderly woman said leaning back with a relaxed smile on her face At the core you are saying that the unconscious mind can surpass the conscious in terms of creativity and ingenuity And that just isn’t accurate

The great accomplishments of the past century the things that pushed the cutting edge of technology further were deliberate acts of man Accidents perhaps and experiments but it was what the people did with those small truths gleaned from coincidences that shaped the world In the same way we cannot know what tidbit of information we have from the Classes will eventually inspire someone I’m just confident in the belief that someone will be inspired Knowledge should be disseminated as much as possible

Peggy folded his arms Daniel tapped his chin then looked at Randidly

Randidly shrugged This sort of debate was interesting he supposed but it didn’t really strike him as one that they should be having when the danger of an Aether drought was looming over them suddenly he felt a decent amount of regret that he had come over here at all

And the winner is Shawna I believe she is correct and her argument has better logical underpinnings But that was a profoundly fascinating point of view Peggy we should

Randidly left before the conversation devolved further

Back at the small cabin he had claimed for himself he found Nevaeh curled up and an extremely small seeming Kiersty climbing over her bony protuberances to slowly near Neveah’s head

Neveah was supremely amused at the child’s struggles and was doing her best not to move Sighing Randidly scratched his head and hid a smile as he walked passed Now since so much time was wasted time to focus back on

Mr Ghosthound

Randidly blinked and looked around It was extremely rare for him to miss something and the voice came as surprise When he turned he found himself faced with the slight form of Kiersty’s brother Nathan

He seemed less healthy than he had then when Randidly had last seen him with hollow eyes and deep bags as well as his bones being extremely prominent but it was hard to really worry The System caused a lot of weird effects especially upon the younger generation who wasn’t quite so used to the world free from the the System They accepted things more easily and carried them to stranger and more foreign extremes This was likely just an example of that

Hopefully

Yes Randidly said curious

Nathan nodded slightly then continued I want strength like the Blessings To protect Kiersty I even obtained a Soul Skill hanging around the Arbor worshippers the Twisted Sapling I’ve snuck over to watch the military training but when they catch me they kick me out

Nathan’s gaze fell to the ground and Randidly could feel the slowly growing self hatred there he could practically see Nathan’s inner monologue of recrimination and blame for failing to grow stronger

But this puzzled Randidly I know they don’t allow you to get a Class but isn’t there training for

Shaking his head emphatically Nathan said There might be Classes but they are slow and pointless Most of the other kids want to just play tag or shoot Mana Bolts at things None of them really understand the just don’t get Then he fell silent his gaze slowly turning upwards towards Randidly’s They eyes locked

Randidly did not look away first but he shivered Just because Donnyton was flourishing when he returned well run and well equipped he had assumed that things had been easy for the residents Based on the look in Nathan’s eyes that wasn’t necessarily the case Something very particularly had happened to light a fire in his chest

There was a strange tightness Randidly put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder feeling extremely awkward

Please The boy’s whisper was desperate

Do you truly crave power so much child Randidly said feeling something very strange in his heart It was something he recognized however after a moment of reflection

Karma The binding threads of fate Nathan nodded

Inciting Action All a spear can do is advance

I’ll see what I can do Randidly said his voice so quiet that he was afraid he wouldn’t be heard

Or maybe he hoped he wouldn’t be

Chapter 375

What do you plan to do with him Lucretia asked Randidly He didn’t turn to look at her just so he didn’t see her face

Not that you could even see inside the Soulspace not really but Lucretia’s amusement was clear just from her tone And how could she not be It seemed that somehow Randidly had triggered the use of one of her Skills that allowed her to manipulate a target give them three gifts and then consume them

It seemed like their strange parasitic partnership wasn’t as one sided as he thought

And he didn’t know whether it was the Skill or his desperation but he could feel the glimmering of ideas on how another person’s Soul would be useful to test out his theories But he forced that part of himself down and away suppressing those instincts Holy Christ but he wasn’t just going to become her sacrificing other people just because there a bump in the road

So Randidly said nothing and just began to focus his attention inward focusing on his Path Menu He finally had enough to finish the Adept (+1) Path

Randidly had gained 6 Levels in Mana Shield 12 Levels of Aether Manipulation and Breath of the Spear Phantom 21 Lvls in Aether Detection 11 Levels in Superiority and Mental Strength an astounding 26 Lvls in Living Aether 5 in Grace and Cooking 17 Lvls in the Golden Roots of Yggdrasil 15 Lvls in Root Manipulation 7 Lvls in Spearing Roots 4 in Flexibility of the White Hunters and Anguish 10 Lvls of Soul Bond 8 in Spear Mastery and 7 in Mana Engraving

With this PP Randidly finished the Adept (+1) Path or at least tried to Part way there the notification for his Soul Skill popped up

The world of your soul skill turns The denizens of your inner world evolve A strange peace descends to the world After the great mecha of the Spriggits battled against the Monster King and its mount leaving both heavily wounded none dared reignite the flames of war And those that remained continued to throw dirt on the slowly dwindling ash

The Weavers broker an uneasy peace and as part of that individuals from the Monster Kingdom spread out into the outer lands some disguised but some traveling openly The three religions of the world struggle to understand these new interlopers and how they fit into the Progenitor’s plan

In the dark volcano where he was born the Monster King nurses his wounds and wonders the same thing

The Spriggit economy has transitioned smoothly into industry after the war ended and new inventions seem to come out everyday More and more peoples flock to their capital seeking their wealth

A young Spriggit thief touched by the Progenitor bearing his weapon asks the sky why she was chosen The heavens remain silent

Randidly considered interfering more directly with the world but the System seemed inefficient Besides he felt a certain amount of responsibility towards these people but he didn’t think anything would be gained my actually governing or guiding or whatever

Scratching his cheek Randidly couldn’t help but remember how useful that emperor of the Earth Golems had been when he needed a warrior If he could find a way to repeat that but it also relied heavily on Lucretia’s skills at that time

And that thought brought him right back and he grimaced

Well for now best to leave things as they were They would develop naturally which was best for everyone Instead focus on the task at hand Randidly needed to strengthen himself as much as possible because after the Assessment ended both Thea and the winner of the tactics Assessment would undergo System related processes that he would love to glimpse

It was somewhat a surprise that when Randidly added more PP to his Path he was stopped again this time by a branching path

Congratulations Branching Path This Adept Path is a condensed and purified version as you never bothered to walk the Path of a Journeyman You Path led you far beyond the normal trappings of civilization and out there there are no tiers only survival and the struggle against the world around you As such you never had the opportunity to choose your focus moving forward

Now you understand that with your increased proficiency you may choose one area with which to apply your abundant experience focusing and refining it further Please either select one of the following or create your own focus Warning efficacy of the self made focuses might be less than the precreated one

Health Attack Defense Blocking Dodging Movement Mana Usage Stamina Usage Mana Recovery Stamina Recovery Physical Mental

Tilting his head to the side Randidly considered the very short list He had the option to create his own but they wouldn’t be as effective as those listed So this was just another way to specialize the character He supposed those people who got to the level where they could do the Journeyman Path wouldn’t usually have many other options for advancement which meant that this sort of boost could really help them reach the next level or address their weaknesses

It also made him regret slightly that he hadn’t waited another tier But he simply didn’t have time

Just as Randidly was about to select Mana Usage he hesitated biting his lip Because

Instead he opened up the self made option and said Recovery

He already had a lot of Skills relating to the subject and his Attribute totals were now nearing ridiculous levels where the people with Levels could only barely keep up with him Therefore giving him more tools to leverage that high amount of Health Mana and Stamina was exactly the way to increase his lead on his enemies

It might be a little general of a category but Attack and Defense were included as options so

Recovery selected Calculating Success

Initiating Recovery as focus High Synergy detected

High Synergy detected

Perfect Synergy detected

Low Synergy detected

Medium Synergy detected

Congratulations Due to the rampant Synergy between your Skills and your focus of Recovery some Skills can be consolidated together These Skills will retain their efficacy as one Skill and the performance and growth of the newly acquired Skill will be greatly increased

Would you like to continue Warning this transformation will require some of your vital energy and if your energy is insufficient injury or death my result

Randidly could barely resist rolling his eyes looking at the notifications Of all his problems Aether was not one of them

This was actually a difficult decision For although Randidly liked that this would increase the performance and growth he didn’t like that when it stated Consolidated it seemed like he would lose skills in order to make better Skills Some part of him simply didn’t like that he would be losing Skills which were his access to PP in order for more utility

But Randidly supposed that was exactly what he was doing anyway by creating a Class for himself It was time to cash in all of the investments he had made and make a big purchase He selected yes

Consolidating the Skills Meditation Mental Strength Mental Fortitude and Weeping Cloud have been consolidated Creating new Skill based on other available themes the Skill the Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil has been created Based on the average level of your Skills the Skill level has been set at 99

Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil Under the leaves of Yggdrasil you find peace and eternity The strength and resilience of your mentality increase with Skill Level Your passive Mana Regeneration increases with Skill level Your resistance to Status effects increases with Skill level Some of the benefits of this Skill will be obtained by friendly parties while they stand near you This effect increases with Skill Level

You have abundant vital energy remaining The effects spread

Consolidating the Skills Bacterial Regeneration Second Wind and Living Blood have been consolidated Creating new Skill based on other available themes the Skill the Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil Has been created Based on average level of your Skills the Skill level has been set at 94

Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil Through your veins flowed the blood before blood the sap of the entity that holds the world aloft The efficacy of your recovery has increased across the board Your body is constantly reinforced and reinvigorated from the inside Stamina regeneration has greatly increased and will increase with Skill level Health regeneration has greatly increased and will increase with Skill level Your blood has become a weapon that will deal significant damage when spilled upon enemies This effect increases with Skill Level Your blood has been a powerful reagent which may cause strange reactions in other materials This effect increases with Skill level

You have abundant vital energy remaining Growing Synergy detected The effects spread

Consolidating the Skills Physical Fitness Running Sprinting Haste Empower Mana Strengthening Grace and Flexibility of the White Hunters have been consolidated Creating new Skill based on other available themes the Skill the Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil has been created Based on average level of your skills the Skill level has been set at 101

Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil Your body is no longer simply flesh but you are the substance of life and the line between existence and nonexistence Yours is a body that would make a world feel safe should it rest on your back An active and passive skill Passively your physical performance if vastly increased both in strength speed and defensive capabilities This effect increases with Skill level Your body’s ability to bend and twist has been stretched to almost impossible levels The effect increase with Skill level As an active double the bonuses associated with this Skill The percentage increase will vastly increase with Skill level

You have abundant vital energy remaining Cascading Synergy detected The effects spread

Consolidating the Skills Battle Intent Struggle Weather Affinity and Superiority have been consolidated Creating new Skill based on other available themes the Skill the Indomitable Spirit of Yggdrasil has been created Based on the average level of your skills the Skill level has been set at 91

Indomitable Spirit of Yggdrasil Your mind is incomparably clear and your wisdom and experience becomes a tangible weapon with which to strike your enemies They may not bow before you but time will take them as it has all others You simply continue on your path Efficacy of images greatly increases Effect increases with Skill level Allies will be filled with hope and confidence in your presence while enemies experience despair Effect increases with Skill level You have developed an intimate understanding of the natural world Effect increases with Skill level

Chapter 376

Randidly had a lot of emotions Sure these things seemed amazing and an improvement on his previous skills and the names were cool but

Did he really need to fucking have 19 Skills become 4 And these were Skills that he used all the time too Most of them were near 100 in level and would likely continue to grow independent of each other fueling his Path craze but he supposed if he was switching to the Class track anyways

It was still frustrating But Randidly could only sigh and turn to the most recent notification that popped up

Congratulations You are the first individual on your planet to obtain a Legendary Ranking Skill You have obtained access to the First Legend 0/ Path

Another reward path Well at least there would be some positives out of this Randidly dismissed that notification but then was greeted by something that made his heart sink

Noo My skills Randidly shouted falling to his knees’ in his Soul Zone Lucretia and Neveah spared him a glance then shook their heads and muttered to each other about shirking responsibility and slacking off

Consolidating the Skills Anguish Rejection Torment Curse Resistance and Flesh Eating Virus have been consolidated Creating new Skill based on other available themes the Skill the Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil has been created Based on the average level of your skills the Skill level has been set at 92

Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil With the same hands you support life you can take it away There is an active and passive effect The Active unleashes your inner horrors upon the world warping and damaging the fabric of reality in the area around you You will also experience the repercussions Effect increases with Skill level Passively all attacks Mental and Physical will inflict increased pain susceptibility to status ailments and weariness upon recipients This effect remains for 10 minutes and the timer will reset if another stack of the effect is added The effect stacks to the level of the Skill

So the final count was 24 Skills become 5 huh

Randidly chuckled to himself falling to his knees Well now at least he had other things to test and experiment with

Sighing Randidly left his Soul World At this point he wouldn’t be able to focus on studying Aether not with all the strange and sudden changes that occured Instead better to address the strange turmoil in his chest figuring out what exactly had changed So he felt himself slip back to his physical body touching it

Immediately everything was roaring around him hot and present a vibrant heat that seemed to fill him illuminating his insides with pure heat and fire The strange sensation was so sudden that as Randidly’s eyelids trembled he gasped

Was he being attacked But now this

A breath of air rushed into his lungs filling them setting them on fire They tingled and twitched and his whole body began to spasm lightly With his eyes still pressed shut Randidly rolled on the ground of his cabin flailing around for something to grab onto Everything was burning and tingling not really in a bad way but in a way that was so present that it was overwhelming It was like every part of his body had fallen asleep and now it had to slowly wake back up again

Finally his hand landed on something and Randidly desperately gripped the item It snapped instead crumbling into powder under his fingers

Furious and feeling profoundly stupid Randidly tried to open his eyes but found his eyelids continued to play hookey simply spasming Randidly rolled a little further and felt something give underneath his shoulder as he rolled Then he felt something else collapse on him

Randidly lay there for several seconds savoring the strange new feeling of his sharpened senses which were slow adjusting to his new body It didn’t feel more detailed really It just felt strangely intimate And of all the Skill effects to strike him Randidly first noticed the understanding of the natural world Around him he could feel the warmth of the ground as the sun’s heat slowly was syphoned off by the cooling night He could feel the roots and bugs and small rodents around him struggling He could feel how they would eat each other get eaten by something larger and then die giving food for the least and smallest

Randidly let out his breath his consciousness tracing across this grand cycle Another mistake however because his breath came out too fast causing him to sneeze His whole body seized at this twitching and threw the portion of the roof that had collapsed on him off of his body

Fucking Randidly slowly stood on one leg from laying on his back straightening the leg under him and pushing himself up without any problems

At the end of it he found himself striking a strange sort of yoga pose his arms at his sides leaning backwards bent at the waist His other leg stretched out in front of him The leg underneath him was rock solid

Hmm This level of balance

He hopped on the leg a few times delighting in the perfect balance While he was doing that Randidly discovered that he could move his other leg with basically no change in his balance He began to spin it in a great circle Except during one of his little hops his instincts somehow got spooked as he stepped on a small bit of debris

Pinwheeling his arms Randidly attempted to straighten but overcorrected unused to his new reactions He ended up face planting on the ground

It didn’t hurt exactly except his pride but his face did buzz pleasantly seemingly delighted to have new sensations flowing through it With an aggrieved expression Randidly stood up the normal way this time He found himself face Neveah who was showing him her teeth

Worse than me She said annoyingly smug delighting in the destroyed cabin and the wreckage he had made of the tables and chair Randidly wanted to say something about being new to this body but could only hold his tongue bitterly After all Neveah had the same excuse

And his body hadn’t changed completely like hers just the passive underpinning Skills that he had grown so used to using were replaced by something bigger newer A strangely powerful new engine that left him shocked

Randidly checked around but no one was here Carefully he lifted up a hand cupping it to the sky

And then he showed the world the Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil

Instantly the air in front of him began to roil and twist mixing with itself and hissing Very quickly the effect spread to his entire body and then to the surrounding area creeping outward The ground crumbled and cracked the wood of the cabin rotted Then another wave spread from his hand and Randidly was forced to grit his teeth as the pain and the strange buzzing grew stronger

The air was popping now the ground seething beneath him warping and self destructing even as the wood had melted into a puddle of steaming liquid

When the energy reached her Neveah squeaked surprised and swiped her tail at Randidly

Activating Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil Randidly reached up and grabbed her tail stopping her from knocking him on his side He swayed but was otherwise completely unphased Randidly grinned wolfishly and looked at his new status screen Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad after all

Health(/R per hour) 1322/2027 (+118) (799 (+27

Mana(/R per hour) 649/2034 (+5) (333 (+9

Stam(/R per min) 1233/2163 (269 (+9

Vit 199 (+9)

End 111

Str 178 (+17)

Agi 227 (+17)

Perception 177 (+10)

Reaction 196

Resistance 158 (+15)

Willpower 272 (+10)

Intelligence 191

Wisdom 116 (+9)

Control 283

Focus 243 (+4)

Progenitor’s Influence 71

Skills (Soul Skill) Four Shaded Clockwork World Lvl 1627

Combat Spear Mastery Lvl 151 White Phantom’s Half Step (Un) Lvl 52 Heavy Blow Lvl 74 Dagger Mastery Lvl 10 Iron Skin Lvl 47 Dodge Lvl 80 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 120 Block Lvl 54 Phantom Onslaught Lvl 42 Sweep Lvl 54 Spear Deflect Lvl 10 Calculated Blow Lvl 78 Roundhouse Kick Lvl 41 Flesh Eating Virus (Un) Lvl 63 Idiosyncratic Cut (Un) Lvl 70 Pierce the Skies Shatter the Earth Lvl 39 Body Control Freeze Lvl 27 Stalemate Breaker Lvl 29 Talon Strike Lvl 38

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 26

Aether Skills Aether Detection Lvl 59 Aether Manipulation Lvl 57 Living Aether ® Lvl 64 System Interference Lvl 1

Spells Spearing Roots Lvl 67 Mana Bolt Lvl 28 Mana Shield Lvl 32 Root Control Lvl 119 Arcane Orb Lvl 22 Fireball Lvl 30 Magic Missile Lvl 4 Healing Palm Lvl 12 Pollen of the Rafflesia Lvl 20 Summon Pestilence Lvl 54 Wall of Thorns Lvl 20 Soul Seed ® Inspiration ® Incinerating Bolt Lvl 74 Circle of Flame Lvl 48 Plantomancy Lvl 35 Hammer of the Dawn Lvl 33 Burning Footsteps Lvl 16 Ashes to Ashes Lvl 22

Crafting Potion Making Lvl 37 Farming Lvl 32 Plant Breeding Lvl 19 Mapmaker Lvl 7 Analyze Lvl 29 Refine Lvl 39 Extract Lvl 29 Mana Engraving Lvl 91

Yggdrasil Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil Lvl 99 The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil Lvl 98 the Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil Lvl 94 the Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil Lvl 101 the Indomitable Spirit of Yggdrasil Lvl 91 the Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil Lvl 92

Auxiliary 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 Fire Resistance Lvl 23 Sewing Lvl 11 Cutting Vegetables Lvl 2 Manual Labor Lvl 6 Digging Lvl 5 Cooking Lvl 50 Clockwork Mastery Lvl 16 Aether Connection Lvl 3 Soul Bond Lvl 76 Chef’s Palette Lvl 19

Chapter 377

After an hour of tests Randidly looked away from his Status screen and realized he hadn’t finished his Path yet The strange branching path portion had taken his attention for so long that he had simply forgotten about it Plus there was the stress of the consolidated Skills

Although he hadn’t tested them extensively Randidly had tested each and every one of his new consolidated Skills Each one was more impressive than the last demonstrating why seeking out Skills at the Ancient rarity was desirable So much so that even a suspicious Randidly had to admit that the extra benefits generated by the more powerful Skills outweighed what he had lost in PP generation

Besides Randidly supposed he was about to make himself a Class soon Depending on what the Class was he would obtain some Class specific Skills that would help him generate more PP

And in the meantime his consolidated Skills were currently rising fast He had gained 2 Skill Levels in all of them except the Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil in which he gained 3 levels With this extra PP he finished off the Adept (+1) Path

Congratulations you have completed the Adept (+1) Path Your path

Error recalibrating

Randidly’s good mood that he had gained from the performance of his consolidated Skills quickly evaporated A System Error The System errors that he had encountered in the past had not left him with a good feeling in his stomach

But very quickly the notification fixed itself

Congratulations you have completed the Adept (+1) Path Although you have wandered far afield your steps have led you back towards the road to Mastery With the experience you have gained the benefits from raising your level to the Adept level have been increased From this stage it is possible to see the next level above you

Congratulations All Stats +5 all Attributes +50 and all Regenerations +10 +1 Stat point per level +2 Health Mana and Stamina per Level You have gained the Skill Counter Lvl 1 In addition you have the opportunity to select an addition Skill which has been generated based upon your previous Skills

Please Select one of the Follow Intimidating Shockwave Lvl 1 Fire Manipulation Lvl 1 Lightning Bolt Lvl 1 (Un) Chaos Thrust Lvl 1 (Un) Disguise Lvl 1 Shadow Dash Lvl 1 Touch from Beyond Lvl 1 ® Mana Infusion Lvl 1 Ashen Explosion Lvl 1 (Un)

Randidly lightly bit his lilp as he looked through the list of Skills When he clicked on them no details appeared so apparently he would be forced to choose based on the name and Rarity Which was annoying because Randidly had some questions about what the effects of Skills would be especially after he had lost so many

Counter was an interesting Skill if uninspired It gave him a slight amount of additional damage if he could time his strikes to counter his opponents Which was unexciting but it would add bonuses and incentivize him to focus on countering in the future These other Skill options they all appeared to be active Skills although Disguise was not quite active in the same manner of the others

Specifically however Randidly wanted more information in regards to Fire Manipulation His Root Manipulation had evolved in interesting ways that were supremely useful but it was only a common Rarity Skill In addition it had taken some time for his Root abilities to develop

Perhaps also relevant was the fact that none of his Skills really produced fire Most of the damage from Circle of Flame came from the explosion and Incendiary Bolt was a concentrated attack that was mostly molten metal Surely he could produce fire with Fire Manipulation but there wouldn’t be much synergy with his current Skills

Much more interesting was Ashen Explosion for that reason Although he hadn’t trained it recently Randidly still had a deep interest and fascination with the Ashes to Ashes It was an almost cheating level Skill that made an ash copy of himself that would be destroyed by the opponents strike while Randidly’s actual body would be repositioned in a location to strike at the opponent

Although he couldn’t be sure Ashen Explosion seemed like a Skill that might somehow be related The notification did say that the Skills provided were given to him based on his other Skills if it had the option for Randidly to detonate the deteriorating ash clone it would certainly be incredibly powerful

Other than the Ashen Explosion the other two Uncommon rated Skills were Lightning Bolt and Chaos Thrust One would be a magic attack the other would be a physical one Lightning wasn’t something that Randidly currently had any power over but it certainly would be powerful

And it was certainly more tempting than Chaos Thrust when Randidly had the Inevitable Phantom Arrives to use as his bread and butter thrust attack Sure he could obtain two and differentiate the images between them but then the Skill leveling would be much more slow Better to concentrate the levels for similar Skills in a single Skill and have that Skill be vastly more effective across the board

But Randidly didn’t know if he could resist the allure of Touch from Beyond It wasn’t to the level of Randidly’s recently acquired Ancient and Legendary Rated Skills but it was still higher than the others and seemed like an active skill rather than a passive one

After a once over to check if there was anything he was missing Randidly selected the Skill and the information appeared before him

Touch from Beyond ® In that chaotic space ungoverned by the System the cold energy of Entropy dwells Reached beyond the veil and pull a small speck of that energy into your body empowering your attacks with this phenomenon Will inflict extremely high damage on the recipient that ignores most forms of defense Damage vastly increases with Skill Level Ability to maintain the touched state increases with Skill Level Ability to summon larger amounts of Nether energy increases with Skill Level

An interesting Skill that would vastly increase his damage but It wasn’t that he really needed a damage increase but Randidly supposed he was somewhat used to fighting opponents that were human these days He would be heading into the Raid Dungeon where he would be forced to face monsters

It wasn’t a big influence on his fight with the Skeleton Knight but it was obvious during that clash that the Champion’s Health was much higher than his stats should indicate It was a common occurrence in games where as the difficulty rose what really changed was the amount of health that the enemies would have turning what would have at one point been a quick fight into something that would last for a longer amount of time Simply put durability would invalidate lucky strikes and force the one side to be consistently skilled

Otherwise they would die It was a style of play that emphasized perfection And this was not a game Which would mean that if the Squads of Donnyton were expected to face off against the upper tier of monsters they would need that much more training in order to stand firm for longer fights Their Vitality and Stamina would obviously be higher but the mental strength needed

Randidly had a headache Still there was no point in thinking about this now it was just speculation based on a strange and interesting Skill If nothing else it was a way of attacking in an unexpected way in an extended duel All the better if this new technique could be combined with Talon Strike All it really said is the Skill summons a bit of this Nether which is used to attack

Curious Randidly raised his hand and activated the Skill He was surprised to discover that there was no cost but as soon as the Skill activated he discovered why And he realized two three things

First it could be used to Talon Strike At the center of his left palm a small bit of blue black darkness was summoned which swirled with power The activation took about a second but Randidly thought he could perform it while moving But it would never be instantaneous and would always give away what he was doing while it was happening

Second there were some side effects While it was active the air in the surrounding area was very quickly chilled Frost formed on Randidly’s hand and water condensed on his arm In addition Randidly was losing Health Mana and Stamina at a constant rate of 50 per second which appeared to be the cost of the activation

Third it was powerful He felt a strange chill completely unrelated to the temperature in regards to the this Skill After a few seconds he had even gained a Nether Resistance Skill which gained two Skill Levels He also gained 4 levels in the the Touch from Beyond Skill

Dismissing the Skill Randidly frowned at his hand There was even some stiffness to it as he stretched but he could feel the blood in his veins begin to pump and very quickly that vanished Truly this Skill was beyond what he had expected He would need to experiment more with attacks but an extra finishing move was never a bad thing The striking speed of it combined with Talon Strike was rather good too

Sighing Randidly steadied himself in the moment and looked at the available paths

Heretic XV 0/ Nexus Traveler Cohort 5 0/50 Path of Control 0/200 Experimenter I 0/50 The Phantom’s Embrace 0/150 Fighting Proficiency III 0/ System Transgressor 0/1 Steps of the Godling II Path 0/200 Basic Soul Bond 0/75 the First Legend 0/ the Road to Mastery 0/500 Seed of Yggdrasil 0/150

Randidly groaned God fucking damnit more Paths that he wanted to try

Shaking his head Randidly walked back towards Donnyton He only had 40 PP there was no need to rush making the decision on which to choose Besides before he did he wanted to blow off some steam

After so much considering and weighing options some exercise would do him some good

Chapter 378

Alana sat upright slowly controlling the movement With a yawn she wiped the sleep from her eyes and then focused on what her senses were telling her It was about an hour before dawn her internal clock told her primly almost reprimanding her for sleeping in for so long

Snorting Alana stood Although her high stats meant she didn’t require sleep it was still something that she preferred even if just for an hour a night It always gave her a little bit of an edge that she could use to push just a little harder with in training

But it was time to turn to the issue at hand Someone was standing outside her door And the feeling that she got

It was familiar yet foreign like catching the flavor of your favorite spice in a strange stew It felt a lot like the Ghosthound in terms of the strange sharpness and vitality to the energy but there was also a ghastly pressure something like a weight of history It felt like what Alana would imagine a collapsing cathedral looked like ancient and desolate

So when she opened the door and was faced with the Ghosthound she felt no surprise just a flash of fear and excitement in equal measure Something had changed with him since their fight last week Something hugely influential The very aura he threw off became much more concentrated and multifarious which was confusing in a way But Alana had no doubt that it meant that his power had taken another step forward

“Are you free ” The Ghosthound asked the corner of his mouth quirking up in a small smile

Alana grimaced at him unsure if he was making a joke about her solitary nature in Donnyton or legitimately asking Then she had a few seconds of wondering what she would do if the Ghosthound had some romantic interest in her After all she admired him a lot and thought he certainly was handsome in his loner sort of way but

And then she was caught by his eyes and all the romantic thoughts fell away replaced by a wariness His eyes were always green and the System had somehow magnified them to emerald letting their color shine incomparably clearly even in the dark There were small flecks of gold there hidden in the rich color hinting at the wealth of power he held

But now they were almost lime lanterns in the dark Alana couldn’t look away

“I want to test something ” He said slowly

Sam folded his arms slowly Looked like Randidly wasn’t coming so he might as well get started

“Alright punks listen up ” His voice cracked like a whip over their heads silencing them instantly Long hours of competing with the sound of hammer clangs had taught him how to shape his voice to cut through the chauff There was as certain sort of voice that everyone recognized and demanding and insistent one one carrying an ultimatum That’s what Sam used and everyone fell silent gazing at him It wasn’t a bad feeling

“There are two phases As you’ve been told the first phase is simply the product You can bring anything you’ve made so far to compete I’ll judge Part two is judging a process You need to perform that process in a 2 hour window demonstrating how it works and then letting us judge the product you do in that time I’ll judge that too Any questions “

When there were none Sam nodded a rare smile crossing his lips Thank god that most of the individuals who gravitated towards the production focus weren’t idiots If he had to deal with those who went out for the System Knowledge Assessment

Once the Assessment was announced to have begun the people sprang to work half moving towards the table to get in line to present their pre made product the other half here to secure the loans from Donnyton to expand their business based on the efficacy of their process

Accepting a freshly squeezed lemonade from an aide Sam shook his head He took a long sip It would be a long day for sure

“How how are you so fast ” Alana whispered staring at the Ghosthound No this couldn’t even be the Ghosthound any longer He was

Well her senses swiftly crushed her rising fear This was still the Ghosthound using the exact same sharp spear skills to pressure her His speed had indeed gone up by a level but it wasn’t at the point that she couldn’t cope with it If anything the changes in his speed were rather simple he was simply a fraction of a second faster

No what caused her the most grief was not the change in speed and strength but rather he seemed to never lose his balance or have a second where he wasn’t at his strongest His balance and flexibility were boosted to an impossible degree and the Ghosthound casually swiped at her with enough strength to send her sprawling A new Skill perhaps

If it was a Skill it was one that Alana was profoundly envious of The Ghosthound had no problem completely suppressing her with messy spears work alone It was as though his baseline strength had risen by a whole level

And more than that when she activated her Solar Flare Skill for the speedboost

In the past it had given her enough of an edge to gain an upper hand But now she felt him activate his own Skill and quicken his own movements So much so that they were once more of a speed with each other and it didn’t seem to deplete any of his Stamina at all Very quickly Alana was overwhelmed and staggered backwards looking to establish space

But the Ghosthound was not one to go easy even in a spar He pressed her until she broke her spear knocked away her stance destroyed even her hope extinguished Sitting on her ass she just looked up at him in wonder His eyes glowed as he studied her

Then he extended a hand and helped her back to her feet ” I consolidated some things It looks like the effect was even greater than I expected perhaps it won’t end up being a waste after all “

One of Sam’s previous students a leatherworker ended up winning the pre prepared product contest The leather armor that he produced was almost a work of art with molded shoulders and complicated patterns sewn into the leather with gold silk In addition there were two factors that pushed it above the works done by everyone else First the leatherworker had taken the time and effort to contact Franksburg and purchase a portion of the Tier III Raid Bosses Corpse and made the armor from its skin From that alone the armor stood head and shoulders above its competition in terms of effectiveness

One could not overestimate the value of high quality ingredients With them a master of their craft could truly display a vast amount of power and influence

The second large advantage that this man had was that Sam had taught him the basics of Mana Engraving It wasn’t enough to actually manage it but he firmly understood the underlying concepts From that he was able to create his own special skill Blood Embroidery

Even Sam was forced to sigh in admiration as he looked at the armor

Tough Leather Armor (Un) Lvl 41 A very durable and sturdy leather armor Protects the wearer from damage and the spirit of the animal it is made from infects the user with a bit of ferocity Bloody Embroidered Stallion II Blood Soaked IV Health +200 Endurance +20 Reaction +5

Bloody Embroidered Stallion II Embroidery in the shape of a Stallion dances across the armor The golden thread to make it has been soaked in the blood of a powerful Monster Strength +7 Agility +9 while moving gain momentum more easily

Blood Soaked IV The leather was produced through long periods of soaking in monster blood The process was devised by a prodigy in the art of leatherworking Health Regeneration +100 per hour Stamina Regeneration +30 per minute User gains 5% Lifesteal

Even Sam struggled to consistently get one of the bonus features of his armor up to the IV category That the product that won had reached that level and in such useful areas was just proof of the level of competition for this Assessment In terms of production Donnyton was at the peak

Looking at the armor again Sam whistled Especially the bonus towards Stamina Regeneration when this armor was sold it was sure to generate a lot of interest

But now he was faced with a tough and annoying decision It wasn’t so hard to pick the winner and pick the 9 people below the winner that were the closest in strength but beyond that ordering them seemed so arbitrary

Sam’s eyes lit up as he spotted Randidly arriving Hurrying over Sam hailed the boy and explained that he should handle the ordering of the top 10 while Sam dealt with the process portion of the Assessment Then Sam wandered off but he still kept a close eye on what was going on at the other side This was another bonus of working long hours in a huge foundry he had developed a knack for spotting what was going on across the space where he was working

Mostly he had used it to ferret out when someone was slacking off but this use was fine too Sam was looking forward to seeing how Randidly would differentiate between the different contestants and how they would respond to his choices Although he had seen it in spurts this would be a very concrete and small scale test of the Ghosthound’s strength as a leader

Chapter 379

In a surprisingly short manner Randidly looked at everything and selected the winners ordering them cleanly and in a manner that Sam could find no fault with Second place ended up going to a pair of eyeglasses that increased Mana Regeneration Perception and Reaction Compared to them the Ghosthound didn’t put so much stock into the powerful weapons that were entered into the top 10 He gave the rewards to those that added bonus functions through the ritual of production rather than straight Strength bonuses from powerful materials and larger weapons

Although there were some extremely dissatisfied expressions no one dared speak out and Randidly calmly explained every decision that he made Those expressions faded somewhat but they settled into stubbornness as the dissatisfied contestants squinted at Randidly They surely had opinions but it appeared that his succinct manner of delivery and his aura of majesty as the Ghosthound was enough to silence them

It made Sam want to snort No man should accept criticism of his work simply on the basis of the status of the speaker It went against the pride of the craftsman Not really his problem however but he would note those who probably had a good case for arguing for a better position in the ranking

Not that any of them was weak But Sam was tired of constantly be growled at by surly smiths A note over who would back down would be useful to use as blackmail down the line Sam’s mouth curled Hehe let these assholes dare complain before him in the future after rolling over before the Ghosthound so meekly he would see how strong their nerves were

The process portion of the Production Assessment proceeded in a much more typical way Not that the processes weren’t impressive and useful just that there were less shocking than the prepared works Which is how it should be Sam would have been very disturbed if two hours of work would have been able to surpass the level of several weeks of toil

There was a method for weaving some of the newly acquired Marrow Silk into very powerful and lightweight armor there was a method of making chainmail from over large loops of metal (only possible due to the System enhanced levels of strength) there was a fermentation method for quickly making pickled vegetables and also a powerful fire strengthening ritual that could be added to most weapons post forging which would give an extra 7 to 10 points in his stats

The fire strengthening ended up being the victor due to the fact that someone was willing to give away their fire strengthening technique which would improve metal weapons across the board Sam privately thought it was foolish to reveal the secrets he applauded the sentiment and publicly spoke words of thanks

What he was surprised by was that Randidly stepped forward to speak

This you could have kept this and made a lot of money couldn’t you It means a lot that you chose this come here The Ghosthound extended his hand

The man’s name was Callo an overweight Italian man and at first he seemed at a loss of what to do But then as the Ghosthound remained still standing there Callo stepped forward allowing the Ghosthound to touch his shoulder

The contact was brief and then quickly broken The Ghosthound’s hand fell to his side Consider it a gift I think you’ll find your future hard work won’t be in vain

Blinking in a daze the man simply nodded before he was lead away by his friends The Ghosthound stared after him a while and Sam stepped forward going to his side

A reward Sam asked

The reply was only a small smile and a shrug Sam wondered what it could have been Then something clicked the Ghosthound had made a connection similar to what that Sam himself enjoyed

Interesting So he had that ability it also made sense The greatest benefit that Sam had been able to intuit from his experience with the Blessing of the Ghosthound was that he could very easily develop and learn Skills More than that it was very easy for him to create Skills involving his specific processes shaping the Skills in a manner that he wanted If Callo could develop skills relating to the creating of forging processes or the process itself

His potential just skyrocketed meanwhile the man was lead away giddy with the fact that he had been chosen as the winner Well one of two winners for the Production Assessment but both would be awarded the maximum amount for their contributions After all Donnyton felt no compunction over shamelessly pushing most of the people towards production Classes

Scratching his beard Sam walked over towards the pre prepared product winner Long had he struggled inwardly over what he should give towards the Ghosthound in terms of equipment And for the first time in a while he had the seed of an idea

Unfortunately for Randidly this was not exactly the sort of rest that he had in mind when he put off choosing his Path This was simply busy work So after the Production Assessment was finished he disappeared sneaking away while nobody was looking

In a way he felt a sharp stab of disappointment he hadn’t chosen to go the route of Disguise as the chosen Skill It would have been much more useful in terms of allowing him to move through Donnyton without being harassed

After the the constant struggles and studying followed by the strange roller coaster of emotions with the Yggdrasil Skills Randidly didn’t want to really focus on Aether Also although the fight against Alana was enjoyable it wasn’t enough Training his Skills in a similar way was not what he wanted at all In fact of all the things he could do what he wanted was

Randidly blinked and then smiled

Razor Fleetfoot official embassador between Kith Klark and the Donnyton wandered through the stalls in Donnyton’s market licking his fingers greedily After the initial friction between the two towns when they first encountered each other over the past 6 months the two Villages had settled into a very mutually beneficial trade

With the help of Donnyton’s superior numbers Kith Klark was able to eliminate the Raid Bosses in the surrounding area and put themselves in the position to secure a dominant presence in its Zone As they were naturally very secretive and suspicious of the humans most of the people of Kith Klark were content to allow the humans to handle things on their side provide them with weapons and armor while they supplied raw materials

However Razor was different He found the human’s strength fascinating especially because by all accounts the level of gains they obtained through their Class was so much smaller than theirs In addition they didn’t have access to Soul Skills like the denizens of Kith Klark did through their animal totems Yet at the same time

It seemed like the flexibility and growth of the human’s skills surpassed anyone’s expectations Especially

Razor stared down at the item in his hand which glistened when it caught the light Truly kebabs were the epitome of culinary delight

After ripping the meat off the skewers and licking the grease Razor wandered to other places looking for food Most everyone was in festive spirits because of the Assessments that were going on in Donnyton and they had set up dozens of special shops based on people who had made production items and hadn’t won the competition

And to pander to those people the food had arrived It was currently between the final two Assessments and the area was filled with a throng of people laughing and buying and exchanging the newly established Donnyton currency It boggled Razor’s mind that none of his people wanted to enjoy this They just wanted to sit in dusty rooms and extol the virtues of stoicism and the superiority of their tribal spirits

Yet here there was

Razor’s nose twitched and instantly his eyes narrowed This smell this unfamiliar smell and yet his taste buds were already watering

Already his Discerning Nose Skill had reached Level 61 which allowed him to accurately move through the crowd and pick out any foods of interest It was a point of pride for Razor that often times the shops and stalls that he stopped at were soon swarmed with people as he was the barometer of taste in Donnyton despite the fact that he wasn’t a native

His rabbit ears twitched and he isolated the source of the smell focusing intently There were clangs cracks sizzles These noises were highly indicative of superb flavor

Spinning around Razor utilized his unearthly grace and speed to rush through the crowd the 20 meters to the source When he arrived he passed a youth who was walked away with a cheeseburger on a wooden plate

There was only a single man tending the small fire over which there was a simple iron grill To one side he had several bowls of spices to another he a pile of ground up meat In a low metal tray nestled in the coals there was an iron dish in which a variety of root vegetables popped and sizzled merrily As Razor arrived the man was adding a sprinkle more to the mixture and he looked up at Razor’s arrival

Razor opened his mouth then closed it

The man was wearing sunglasses and a bandana over his mouth as if he was a notorious killer trying to hide his identity

May I help you sir The man asked straightening

Chapter 380

Razor didn’t think this man would murder him in the public like this but surely there was something hidden here With a sick sensation in Razor’s stomach he examined the pile of meat which seemed to suddenly take on a sinister color With a man of ill repute like this it was hard to know what sort of sources this meat could have come from

Perhaps even a low level sheep

Shivering Razor crossed himself hoping against hope that the meat that this man was peddling was at least Level 20 while alive There was no way that Razor’s delicate and refined palette could handle anything less And based on the evidence

Although the smell was extremely appetizing the wood of the small shop was of poor quality and the level of the counter part of the stall was slightly tilted Razor wrinkled his nose in distaste but that heavenly smell filled it again lifting him off the ground and pulling him a step closer

Uh Two sides of him were at war his eyes and his nose But ultimately a true chef lived through the nose so Razor could only close his eyes in defeat I would like one of the burgers as well as a serving of the veggies

Sure sure The man said nodding and moving to the task To the man’s credit he moved with an obvious grace as he adroitly separated out a patty’s worth of meat and threw it over the fire In addition Razor didn’t miss the small amount of spices mixed into the meat Immediately the smell intensified and Razor raised his eyebrows

Who was this man This level of spice mastery was unheard of in Donnyton Not that the small restaurants here were bad but it was mostly just a side thing run by people with the brewing Skill Food went well with beer and spirits Meanwhile this man was on the level of opening his own shop just based on the smell

if the taste could match it then

Razor shivered unwilling to be done in so easily by this man There was still the chance that the subpar ingredients would destroy him but for now Razor had to grudgingly admit that he was intrigued by what was happening in front of him

After a few minutes the man expertly placed the patty on a toasted bun added a soft melty cheese and put in on a wooden bowl with a couple of the potatoes and carrots After paying Razor moved a small amount of distance away A few more customers were lining up behind him whispering and gazing at Razor

Immediately Razor felt regret He shouldn’t have been so quick to go up to the stand His honor and reputation were on the line and to be seen going to such a shoddy stall

Thanks by the way The shady man said scratching the back of his head Seems like you brought a lot of people over I mean I didn’t take much time to make this but to waste it would be a bit

As Razor was raising the burger to his mouth he choked back a sob Didn’t take much time to make this And around him the whispers began

Oh this man knows Razor Foodfoot

Indeed even though this man looks a bit

Perhaps this is the equivalent of a dive bar

Razor hid his tears and ran away as fast as he could hoping that not too many people would hear about this blunder As he ran he cursed his nose which had lead him astray For so long he had relied on that and this dirty and shady man had used that same reliance to take advantage of him

And the prices the man was charging was relatively expansive for this sort of stand at the market He would make a killing through this

After reaching the edge of the market Razor staggered still holding the plate His hands trembled with rage as he gripped the edge This damn swindler He took a deep breath ready to toss the food on the ground but the smell hit his nostrils again and instantly a dopey smile took over

But truly this smell

Well better find out how angry people would be

Razor gripped the burger and raised it to his mouth He sniffed it again Still delicious seeming With a quick bit Razor scooped the front third of it into his mouth

Wiping away his tears Razor collapsed to his knees This was

Perfection

Stan Culcart carefully had read the rulebook over the past several days studying the game that would be the Tactics Assessment It was a relatively simple game with 10 units and three different maps that would allow them to compete against each other in a variety of scenarios

The 10 units were Sword Adventurer Axe Warrior Spearmen Rogues Mages Archers Knights Raid Boss Werewolves and Workers

They were arranged in 3 sets of 3 Sword beats axe which beats spear which beats sword Rogues beat Mages which beat Archers which beat Rogues Knights beat Raid Boss which beats Werewolves which beat Knights The final three were a bit special in that they each had a special ability Knights had charge Raid Boss has taunt and Werewolves could split their pack into several smaller groups The Raid Boss was the only singular unit but had a high power to back it up A power that was only surpassed by the strength of a full contingent of charging knights

The only special unit was the worker which was a relatively weak on in terms of combat strength but had the special build ability If given enough time the worker could create a Wall a Ditch a Trap or a Hiding Spot With these buildings the terrain of the map could be shifted creating scenarios where your particular team could exert is maximum strength

The three maps were a forest map a winding ravine and a grassland with a small lake in the middle The game itself was played in a rather unorthodox way two individuals would sit with a view blocker in between them They were each given a copy of the map Turns were taking simultaneously with a third party watching both sides passing notes at the end of the turn to indicate what had happened after your units carried out their orders All groups of units aside from the Raid Boss consisted of 20 people Meanwhile the Raid Boss had 30 Health

There were explanations for how and why each unit countered the others and in which way but Stan was content to take it on faith In fact you had to be content to take these things on faith for all of it because you would be relying mostly on your imagination for this game

Most of what happened would run through the third party but Stan didn’t worry too much about any sort of partial behavior Besides everyone took this strange little game very seriously even if it was a cross between old school RTS and DND It would be fun Stan thought glad for the numb buzzing in the back of his head He had taken advantage of the several practice games offered by the hosts of the tournament and although he received a middling result Stan wasn’t to worried

Nothing really worried him these days

At the beginning of each round each person had 7 points to spend purchasing units For now the first 6 units each costed two the Knight Raid Boss and Werewolves tier cost 3 and the Worker cost 1 From this several different combinations could be made

Well relatively few when it came down to it but it was important to keep a balance and to anticipate the opponent Truly tactics was all about manipulating units in battle but it was fair that there was an aspect of strategy involved Preparation and planning could slide very cleanly into tactics and there really wasn’t any way of predicting the others choices so early

Stan supposed at some point that trends would emerge in usage but that was for down the line Although the games were extremely fun to play now it remained to be seen whether there would be any longevity in the game

More than that Stan also couldn’t decide whether this would really test for a useful Skill Well it would test for something but likely not what the directors of Donnyton were looking for

But if those thoughts and dissatisfactions grew too strong the numbness rose again blanketing it out It would leave Stan sighing with relief He didn’t know where she was but Raina was here somewhere during the festival likely enjoying herself As she wasn’t performing she didn’t really inform Stan her manager where she had gone but that was fine

He hadn’t had dwelled on it for too long the numbness wiped those feelings away leaving only a bland sense of enjoyment Truly the games were fun and fascinating enough to keep him engaged in spite of the buzzing

No perhaps it was the buzzing but sometimes Stan had strange inklings of what would happen He was very careful to not activate his Feeling Skill so he wasn’t cheating but it was more than that

Stan stood with the rest of the 200 or so odd people who had chosen to participate and listened to the rules Then after that he was matched up and sat opposite a pretty young woman with red hair who shook his hand and then ignored him seating herself

Shrugging Stan sat down as well It wasn’t that he was feeling the opponent And even if he was he couldn’t feel the specifics of their choice All that was conveyed to him were the strong emotions that the other was feeling No Sometimes it felt like he could just feel a little bit into the future giving him a bit of an edge

Ready What are your selections for your units The referee asked

Humming tunelessly along with the buzzing in his head Stan slid the bit of paper with his choices across to the man and began putting the tiny wooden pieces he had carved last night onto the table They weren’t very detailed but he had received the Whittling Skill after several hours of effort so they would likely improve in the future

Let’s have fun Stan whispered

Chapter 381

Randidly was quite pleased with the way things had turned out with his stand Although business was slow at first after that rabbit had come through everyone had wandered over And once that group of people had tasted his food word of mouth spread news of it even faster

Soon dozens of people were swarming around his stall and his Cooking Skill could be displayed to the fullest It was a very satisfying night and exactly what he needed to get his mind off of the nonsense of Paths and Skills

He had even gained a few Skill Levels in his Chef’s Palette and Cooking Skills as well as one in the Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil Every little bit helped now that he was much lower on Skills

Afterwards most people were pulled away towards the Tactics Assessment to watch but after reading Daniel and Mrs Hamilton’s rules for the competition Randidly knew that it wouldn’t be a very interesting game to watch More interesting to just wait and see who would emerge as the victor For the person who was the winner of the Tactics well the highest NCC at the Assessment would be a person that Randidly had to make a decision over

At the very least Randidly would establish an Aether connection with the individual who won but also he might very well use that person as an experiment to see how creating a Class would work

An image of Nathan’s determined face flashed before Randidly who could only shake his head That that was not a possibility Although the boy had a firm resolve that reminded Randidly of himself he was 9 8 The fact that Randidly didn’t even know reaffirmed in his mind that it wasn’t possible to use the boy as a test dummy He would simply need to accept whoever won the Tactics portion provided Mrs Hamilton could assure their quality of character

Randidly wasn’t currently very confident about his Class creation experience if he was being honest with himself They had a little over two weeks remaining in their month time frame and the effects of the Aether being cut off was becoming increasingly apparent Although crop yields were still high the produce harvested was empty compared to the previous crops The same vital energy wasn’t present

For the first time since the System arrived most people were finding that they needed to sleep at least for a few hours each night The Assessment was acting as a good excuse as everyone could tell themselves that they were just tired from the excitement but the truth was their Zone was being starved of Aether It was not how Randidly wanted Donnyton to end

In his heart he suddenly felt a lot of guilt over all of the activities that he had spent time doing this past week that were not related to Aether His eyes hardened That stopped now He had enough of a break

Sighing Randidly removed his sunglasses and mask and left his stall He stopped a Squad Member of Donnyton and sent a message to Daniel to send for him when the Tactics Assessment concluded Until then he would be studying Aether And more than that working with Lucretia and Neveah to improve his ability to shape it

It wasn’t simply knowledge that he lacked currently it was also a soft touch to weave the Aether together

As Randidly found a quiet spot by his cabin and sank into his inner world he found Lucretia creating a strange weave of Aether Welcome back Good try this we likely need to be able to do this in real time during the Class creation so practice hard

In another corner of his mind he could feel Neveah pouring over the list of runes they had gathered tinkering with them making them in 3D models of woven Aether threads that made Randidly’s head spin He shook those doubts clear Only one struggle at a time

Then he got to work

Kayle cracked his knuckles sitting down for the finals of the Tactics competition To his surprise Kayle had enjoyed the concept of the game immensely He had faced a dozen opponents to get here and each one had made relatively unique choices in how they arranged their units and what units they chose

It was just they behaved rather similarly on first contact which let them play right into Kayle’s hands Most people would simply bring their other forces around to attack units they found happy to have encountered an enemy at all The fact that you couldn’t see anything and all information was fed through notes made a lot of people nervous

Meanwhile Kayle felt that his own patience and imagination was exactly what was needed to persist in the competition You could not let the lack of information influence your decisions On the battlefield an imperturbable attitude was key Without it you would swiftly make a mistake

His opponent a man named Stan didn’t seem particularly intelligent or savvy but he did seem extremely good natured and calm This put Kayle on edge for some reason Also because the man he was up against had won his games either very quickly or after a very long time That showed that this man was not one who got into messy scraps and skirmishes He controlled the battlefield and attacked at all the right points

Hum this was an opponent who valued flexibility so

For his starting units Kayle chose the Raid Boss Mages and Rogues He had been very impressed with the Raid Boss as an unit so far and the other two were designed to counter the hard counter to the Raid Boss the Knights

One of the great things about the Raid Boss and the weakness Kayle supposed is that when its health was 15 or above it recovered one health every turn However below 15 it lost health every turn With this recovery combined with its taunt it was difficult for any significant damage to be dealt to it without a Knight’s charge

The selected map made Kayle grimace The ravine map A double edged sword for a Raid Boss but it definitely meant a lot that he had a singular powerful piece When the battle began Kayle spread his forces out sending the Rogues further afield to scout Almost instantly a paper was returned to him Kayle raised his eyebrows It seemed the other played fast

Nothing to report So Kayle moved his Rogues farther forward while keeping the other two back

Again the note came almost instantly in response Nothing to report

After a hesitation Kayle had his units sit and wait One more turn If the other hadn’t appeared by then he didn’t want to commit his Raid Boss without finding the enemy first

Again the response was instantaneous The content of the note made Kayle frown Werewolves were scything through his Rogues It was annoying but for the best that the opponent had chosen Werewolves but he would sustain losses to make the opponent bleed

While having his Rogues engage Kayle moved his Raid Boss to provide support and his Mages to stay close on its back protecting it from ambush Which was why the next note made Kayle’s jaw drop

Ultimately his Rogues had repelled the Werewolves as only half the pack was there He had lost 6 Rogues but his opponent had lost 8 Werewolves Meanwhile the other 10 Werewolves and a group of 20 Workers had hit his Mages How had the other

No now wasn’t the time for that Shaking his head Kayle ordered his Rogues to pursue the remaining 2 Werewolves Better to flush out a ambush with the wounded Rogues Meanwhile he ordered his Mages to engage and moved his Raid Boss to cut off the other Werewolf group’s retreat Truly his opponent had been lucky with the Werewolf choice The ability to split them into groups made them dangerous especially when most of the soft classes were weak to physical combat And their speed

When the note returned Kayle wanted to tear out his hair

His opponent had immediately disengaged as well and then moved towards the center of the arena aiming for the chasing Rogues However the Werewolves and Workers had encountered the Raid Boss instead

They had all been slaughtered by the Raid Boss’s powerful taunt but not before lowering its Health to 13 Kayle crushed the note in his hands In slightly better news his Rogues had chased down the escaping Werewolves killing them and had also discovered something strange A wall built at the edge of the deepest ravine

So Kayle had a bleeding Raid Boss 14 Rogues and 12 Mages remaining and all he knew from his opponent was that he had lost both Werewolves and a Worker That was 4 points worth of units leaving him with 3 remaining

This time Kayle took his time thinking Immediately he dismissed the idea that the opponent had bought a 3 cost unit After all that unit was stuck behind a wall If his opponent hadn’t run into the Raid Boss and lowered his health below 15 he would have been screwed keeping that much fire power behind the wall he had built No more than likely what was behind the wall was either a Worker unit or a ranged one Archers or Mages

If a Worker was behind the wall it would be filled with a trap which would do significant damage If it was an enemy they would likely try to keep their distance and damage those that came into the ravine Although the best case was to send the Rogues out and search for who was hiding outside of the wall taking the time to do so would let the Raid Boss slowly bleed out And if BOTH the unit and the Worker was out around that wall and they had made a hiding place

So better to just bust down the door There was also the chance that the opponent had Rogues hidden in the surroundings and would ambush

Kayle ordered his units to gather in a tight clump keeping a lookout at the surrounding area and moving towards the erected wall

The paper came back they arrived at the wall uncontested

Fine then Kayle muttered He launched a full scale assault at the wall

The paper came back After reading it Kayle began to laugh slapping his knees and pushing himself back out of his chair

Truly I guess that’s one way to lose

Chapter 382

Randidly followed after the young man that Daniel had sent over still musing over the flows of Aether in his mind It was strange the more he learned the less it seemed like learning to handle Aether but more just remembering

For a while this strange sensation had Randidly deeply disturbed Could it possibly be a side effect of the strange apparatus that was at the center of his Soul Skill How deeply did the Creature’s game run Even now as it had sealed itself up inside of the Raid Dungeon allowing him to do as he pleased was he not still playing to its tune

But then the more he studied the sensation inside of himself the more he realized that it had a much simpler origin Neveah

There was something so natural in the way that she utilized Aether and it made a certain amount of sense that if she was able to do it some of that would flow over to him through their connection It also left Randidly slightly shaken If this was how much information that he could intuit how much did Neveah have access to

Suddenly her flashes of insight and her strange ideas about how the Class should work didn’t seem so odd

Both Lucretia and Neveah agreed that the main part of the Class that needed to be refined was the trunk That was the sort of the information about it concretely in terms of growth and also provided the blueprint for how the absorbed energy can be used to push the soul space further More than that Lucretia hypothesized the Class trunk would eventually do something with all of the space inside the soul it set aside binding the rest

Randidly had examined Alana’s Lvl 47 soul space and there were definite signs that something was changing deep within her The space was almost colored The very air was infected with the image of her Class This was independent of the Soul Skill which existed in harmony with the Class but didn’t affect the same things Which again made Randidly wonder what exactly Soul Skills were but this probably wasn’t the time to speculate on that

Or perhaps it was exactly the time where that needed to happen and it was impossible for Randidly to tell which is which

Another problem that Randidly had been wrestling with was choosing what Stats would go into his Class He had figured out the patterns that would likely cause growth in each Stat although chaining them together was more difficult than he had imagined and all that was left was to choose which to put into his Class

Based on their investigations the more Stats that were packed into a Class the wider the trunk of the Class would be Which was fine in theory but the difficulty in weaving Stats upwards increased geometrically as there was an increasing number of possibilities and also a growing number of dead ends in the weave These dead ends wouldn’t affect him initially but it was important to plan how everything would move forward

If his Stat increases ran into dead ends they wouldn’t continue to grow with him as he grew Instead he would be stuck with what was remaining And because the growth had been designed with a flaw the remaining Stats would also have a hard time finding an equilibrium among the weave and they too would falter By the end the Class would effectively stop being able to grow

Randidly didn’t relish the thought of discovering what happened when your Class collapsed inward like that firsthand Better avoid it if at all possible

The words that Randidly had said to Nathan popped unbidden into his head Those words and the absolute relentless certainty that had filled the boys eyes in response

Do you truly crave power so much child

Randidly shook his head feeling strangely queasy The threads of fate were moving and he didn’t like that Best to avoid Nathan in the future It was an easy decision He would not use the body of a child to test his foolish experiments

Even if it could save thousands of other lives A voice inside of Randidly asked almost amused

instead Randidly would focus on living in the present

He walked up to Daniel who was standing and talking with Kayle and of all people Raina’s manager Stan The guy gave Randidly a creepy vibe but it seemed that he had made it far in the Tactics Assessment which meant he would need to look past that and work together with him to discover a few more tricks of Aether

Kayle was speaking excitedly Daniel I don’t have any regrets It was a move that tied his own hands but it ended up being the right one Buying both Werewolves and Knights and then immediately sealing your Knights behind a wall that took guts

Shrugging Stan said I don’t really like playing defense Better to just have offensive cards

Kayle laughed but Daniel was frowning It’s fine now but when would the strategy work in real life Keeping your best offensive force locked up like that Sure it misled you but

Your competition was winning the game That’s what he did Kayle said still amused More than that he controlled my perception perfectly Based on what I saw I immediately ruled out Knights as an option for his other units which made me group up my units perfectly for his charge when I knocked down the wall That isn’t something that could be accomplished with luck

Then Kayle turned to Stan Even now you don’t even mind that he’s trying to argue you out of your victory

Stan shrugged a small frown on his face but honestly there was a pleased air around him Randidly sniffed Yes creepy Gotta ignore it

Congratulations I guess you won Randidly asked stepping forward

Stan turned and looked at him and as soon as he did so Stan’s expression fell There seemed to be a tremor in his eyes as he gazed at Randidly which made Randidly extremely self conscious He forcefully suppressed that impulse Right now he was public Randidly and public Randidly didn’t falter or acknowledge his awkwardness Better to just rush forward and pretend that everything was on purpose

When Stan simply continued to stare Randidly continued Perhaps you recall but there will be a very special reward for the person who achieves the highest performance in the Tactics Assessment I believe the words that I used were something about changing your fate

Randidly trailed off Stan simply continued to stare his expression worsening as time went on

Did I do something wrong ’ Randidly thought to himself wonderingly He had showered recently His clothes were rather tattered but they were clean There was no blood or shit anywhere on him He had come to the Assessment with as much effort as he was willing to put into looking presentable So why

Abruptly Stan’s expression eased and one of peace settled across his features Oh yes Pardon me And how does that work Will I need to leave Donnyton

Randidly considered that It never really occurred to him but he supposed that most of the people who lived here were rather fond of Donnyton so much so that they would prefer not to leave it overmuch Well not that Randidly wasn’t fond of Donnyton but he had seen many strange places both on Earth and in Shal’s world It would always be the place that he would return to but it never really had the strange attraction that home should have for people

Instead it was something like a child Perhaps a bit like his Soul Seeds And even more difficult to control

Idly Randidly wondered where Thorn was Since coming to town he had seen basically everyone else that he had set out to see and interact with Perhaps when he had free time he should go talk to Arbor and Kiersty and see whether they had any leads

I want to give you a Soul Skill Randidly said formally to Stan It’s a pretty rare thing and it can be considered a way to grow just for spending PP on Paths It’s sorta a giant permanent Path that gets a point anytime you spend PP on anything else It basically doubles the value of PP

Nodding slowly Stan said Those are the things that the four you Blessed have It’s why they are so strange

That’s part of it yes Randidly said almost relieved that this was the direction that Stan’s curiosity had driven him No questions about what it would mean how it would be done or the way that it could backfire should something go wrong But Randidly was much more confident in a Soul Skill than a Class although there were some similarities between the two

Randidly had arrived at the idea for a Soul Skill early in the Aether research partially because he had successfully created three by himself to date although the first was heavily assisted by the System Mostly because it involved complicated workings and interactions of Aether and also was something that needed to be able to grow

Similar to a Class it was supposed to have a guiding image and then some guidance for how it could change in the future On the other hand it had fewer risks than a Class because it wasn’t so intimately connected with the recipient

A Soul Skill created a sealed off area in the person’s soul space where a particular reaction would be occuring With the power of retrospect Randidly could understand it as a factory where Aether was mined and refined out of the air becoming more suited for the body Normal Soul Skills were smaller scale than Randidly’s for that reason there simply wasn’t enough ambient Aether to justify the initial investment

But with Randidly footing the Aether bill

And a Class had to bind the soul space leading to far reaching consequences in the event of failure Randidly figured a Soul Skill could just be burned away with pure Aether harming that area of the soul space but largely leaving a person undisfigured Or at least that was the working theory

Hopefully he wouldn’t have occasion to test it out

Chapter 383

When the knock sounded on her door Thea looked up I’m coming

Thea swiftly dressed herself petted Chrysanthemum seven times for good luck then walked out of her room into the hallway With her typical lumbering gate Chrysanthemum followed Thea wasn’t sure if she could have gone through with this without her support

Not that she was ever really apart from her due to their bond but still

Mrs Hamilton stood there with Donny a small smile on her face as she looked at Thea Are you prepared Time is of the essence but the Ghosthound doesn’t mind if you delay somewhat to make up your mind You only have one chance at this

But Thea shook her head No I’m ready

Would you like my advice Mrs Hamilton asked her smile widening a fraction

Inwardly Thea wondered whether she would be like this woman when she grew up Although their interactions had been few everyone talked about the Grey Spider of Donnyton and how she was the force behind the scenes that animated this place She was both manpower and mastermind a woman who seemed to have an endless supply of time attention and energy to deal with Donnyton’s problems

She was cool and calm and a woman that Randidly trusted implicitly Thea had never seen her fight but when she looked at this woman her instincts were completely silent as if the space in front of her was occupied by driftwood rather than woman And yet here and now as they stood waiting for her to make her decision

Perhaps it was just artifice but there was such kindness in her voice as she inquired whether Thea wanted her advice

She did she truly did but what if her advice was couched in such a way to serve Donnyton rather than Thea Thea wasn’t an idiot she understood that Randidly wanted to observe the process so he could discern something Something important that everyone was keeping very hush hush about

Yet

Trying to keep her shoulders from sagging Thea said Yes of course Any advice you can give is appreciated

Mrs Hamilton’s smile widened and she walked towards Thea and fell to her knees and pulled Thea into her embrace Thea froze at first shocked by the sudden display of affection but then softened as the genuine warmth from the gesture melted away her inhibitions She buried her head into Mrs Hamilton’s shoulder

Mrs Hamilton was probably a foot taller than Thea standing but kneeling she was several inches shorter Thea was wrapped in armor while Mrs Hamilton wore a long black dress Between them there was probably 20 to 25 years age difference although the System would probably make that much more difficult to discern in the future

They probably looked almost silly they in their strange embrace but Thea didn’t care She had struggled all week beaten bloody in training by almost everyone driven to her limits shown the true strength of Donnyton and god damnit being strong for so long fucking sucked Plus now everyone was waiting on her decision on what to do with her one use item

It was all too much So Thea buried her face deeper into Mrs Hamilton’s shoulder while the other woman stroked her hair Even if this was just to manipulate her Thea knew she needed this This small moment of weakness of kindness from a stranger

Oh child Mrs Hamilton whispered the smile still in her voice although Thea couldn’t see it My only advice is that you already know the answer The women and the young have for generations suppressed our guts to listen to others telling us what to do But now you have the power to change that Seize that power and make it yours

Mrs Hamilton pulled back and smiled at Thea who could only blink

Then she straightened and walked away Donny following after her as if nothing happened Then several seconds later Thea staggered after them her head swinging as Chrysanthemum brought up the rear

Just trust her instincts Seize the power

What the fuck did that mean

Stan sat in the Cathedral gazing at the Ghosthound There was a calmness in the air a numbness perhaps keeping him from feeling the feelings of people around him It wasn’t oppressive like it had been previously but rather regal in a way

When Stan had seen the Ghosthound walking up to greet him as the winner of the Tactics Assessment all the joy that he had felt over the fun of the game fell away replaced by anxiety When they had met previously that strange numbness around the Ghosthound had stripped Stan of all of the emotions he had felt especially those he absorbed from the powerful emotional broadcast that was Raina

With that void inside of himself some emotions that perhaps had been suppressed in the wake of the System and suppressed further now that he had encountered Raina were able to squirm to the surface filling him with powerful angers and vicious hatreds But something had changed about the Ghosthound

Squinting at the man it was even possible to see the difference in him His body while not necessarily bigger looked different Like he had been made out of skin and bone in the past but now he was made out of twisting wood and molten metal There was a density and grace to him that had been present but much more subtle Now the man could hardly move without making everyone around him notice the difference between them

Bitterly well as bitter as Stan could feel Stan supposed that was just the difference between their two fates He was slightly interested in the Soul Skill that the Ghosthound proposed but Stan didn’t harbor any hopes that whatever he gained from this would be able to change Raina’s relative opinion of the two of them

But more than the physical changes it was that strange presence that the Ghosthound had now that enabled Stan to survive near him It was like being on a beach where the constant low hum of the wind robbed the world of their words and reduced everything to a humming In the same way the powerful presence masked everything else but not so much that everything was numbed away

Still constant was the chilly pride that suffused him that strange self confidence that bordered on arrogance It made Stan feel inferior but not in a way that he was angry about It was like swimming next to a whale

In front of the realities of nature how fragile was a human’s pride

There were 4 people in the room already and they were apparently waiting for a few more There was himself the Ghosthound the winner of Knowledge Assessment and a bored looking woman called Clarissa Clarissa was a name that Stan had only heard vaguely during his time in Donnyton and seeing her here chatting so amicably with the Ghosthound Stan almost wished he had paid more attention to her so he could understand her role

The Cathedral itself was a beautiful area filled with tall ivory pillars and warm wooden benches Unlike a typical church however at the center of the Cathedral was not an altar but rather an indentation in the floor in which there was a small resting chamber where a person could lay It was somewhat like a permanent casket had been placed there drawing everyone’s gaze

About 10 minutes passed and just about the time that the Ghosthound was looking impatient 4 more figures came into the inner chamber of the Cathedral The leader was Mrs Hamilton who was followed by Donny and one of the head healers whose name was Ptolemy Following him was a youngish looking girl who seemed extremely confused as if she had wandered in off the street

But based on the Ghosthound’s gaze this girl was who they had been waiting for And Stan was very interested in starting but

somehow the fact that one of the head healers had come here gave him a sinking feeling in his chest

Are all three of you prepared The Ghosthound asked his eyes glowing a luminous emerald while he looked at them all In turn they all nodded

Breathing out through his nose the Ghosthound exhaled slowly Alright then Let’s start with you Here this is the Stone of Genesis You have the idea for the Skill that you want

After a brief pause the elderly woman he was referring to nodded There was a nervous energy in her stance but she was clearly suppressing it in front of the Ghosthound Stan felt a slight annoyance that his emotional reading was suppressed because it would have given him some comfort to feel these emotions through another and then to finally feel her relief when her part was over and his would have to begin

Taking the stone from the Ghosthound she looked around confused Donny pointed It’s slightly unfortunate but you just need to lay in the resting area down there This whole building is designed as a focus of sorts and it will improve the efficacy of the stone

Oh but first The Ghosthound reached out and touched the woman’s shoulder A tremor ran through her and she stumbled The Ghosthound didn’t move to help her and stepped back Wordlessly she turned and looked at him

A gift Use your imagination to your fullest the stone can give you anything right now The Ghosthound said speaking softly He folded his arms

Nodding the woman stepped down and laid inside of the resting area

Chapter 384

Even though part of his attention was focused on the woman most of Randidly’s attention was on the Cathedral around her Immediately after walking in here he had felt it the thick layers of Mana Engraving through the entire building the funneled ambient Aether down towards that resting space

Even now with the Aether slowly being drained there was a thick layer there No wonder this was the building that allowed people to Reclass it had such a high cost and a powerful upkeep According to Donny they needed to gather thousands of contribution points to fuel it each week likely to flood the place with this placid Aether

It wasn’t as pure as his own but some of the harsher restrictions had been removed from it For creating a Skill this was also a very useful area But

Upon taking stock of the energy around him Randidly closed his eyes and opened himself to the world in the smallest way Due to the vast difference in energy pressure Aether rushed out of him blooming like a flower in the air around him He could feel the way instantly it warped the space a dose of concentrated power that came into the world It was still formless of course and an average person would miss it but

All of the people who were in the Cathedral were not average people When he released the energy they stumbled backwards stunned by the sudden explosion But very quickly the Aether that Randidly released was caught in the pull of the Cathedral and was dragged down to pool around the woman

Ignoring the people around him Randidly focused his senses keeping his eyes closed Very delicately he felt the Aether forming a cocoon around the woman as she held the stone Then he felt her hands tighten

The stone cracked and then disintegrated

Immediately Randidly was stretched to the limit trying to keep up with what was occuring in front of him A small part of him marveled at his mental acuity and he realized that the Indomitable Spirit of Yggdrasil had a very powerful mental component And Randidly said a small prayer of thanks for that

A strange apparatus of Aether sprung out of the stone almost fully formed Immediately Lucretia and Neveah leaned forward scrutinizing it while Randidly manipulated his sense to cover as much of it as possible probing its shape Very quickly the apparatus twisted and folded in on itself becoming smaller and snapping onto the woman

In a way it reminded Randidly of a breathing tube for divers because after the thing snapped into place Aether began to flow back and forth through the woman clean pure shapeable Aether

The woman frowned The apparatus began to glow

A small point in the air above the woman began to shimmer and there was a ripple in the air like of god sighing Then the glow around the Aether apparatus brightened and different portions shifted again

Catalyzing improving mental capacity now applying a small amount of something Lucretia whispered her eyes narrowed to slits

Pain Came Neveah’s reply almost casual although there was a certain frenzied look in her eyes Applies pain Pressure

A mental catalyst Awe was in Lucretia’s voice as she spoke One of the newly brightened portions of the Aether apparatus began to glow even brighter The frown on the woman’s face deepened

Randidly took care to breath his senses tingling Focus he needed to remain focused

Aether began to move suddenly becoming a huge whirlpool swirling around their figures sucked very quickly into the singularity that was swiftly forming just above the woman’s chest Now Randidly began to frown Because although he wasn’t as intuitive as Lucretia or Neveah he understood Aether and understood how Skills were shaped after his had been injured for several months

That Skill that was slowly forming which was no more than a gentle curve of energy in the air right now was quite a bit of time away from becoming an actual Skill It needed to develop and refine itself further And yet

And yet the Aether in the air had almost been completely thinned out The area around her was swiftly being sucked dry by that greedy Skill

Jesus christ what sort of Skill had she chosen to create Randidly supposed he should have warned her that the more complicated it was the more difficult it would be to create and the longer the process would take absorbing more Aether but he supposed he hadn’t even thought to it made sense that it should be said but he was still too inexperienced in this area

And yet he needed to create a Class within two weeks and enter the Raid Dungeon

Focus Neveah chided him and he could feel the warmth and concern in her message She understood the stakes she understood how out of his depth Randidly felt And more than anything she understood how much anxiety he had that he was basically relying on Neveah and Lucretia in order to accomplish this goal

Randidly was good at a lot of things and he would learn quickly how to use Aether but they didn’t have time for him to learn So instead he simply needed to be a tool in their hands In some ways it was relieving to be basically absolved of control But on the other hand this was not how Randidly had created himself in the post System world He had pressed forward ignoring the odds and stubbornly continuing

Was this the wrong path Was this a show of weakness relying on them A total mistake perhaps in Lucretia’s case

Well it was too late to back down now Sometimes faith was necessary

And if faith failed Randidly would just overcompensate with the quantity of his pure Aether pressing it together in a ball until he had created a Class so he could at least help out with the Raid Dungeon Those rips in the fabric of Aether would stop anyone but him dead By killing them

Suppressing a chuckle Randidly focused back on what was going on in front of him The Aether was almost completely gone now and after grimacing Randidly opened up his stores again Immediately the billowing energy was devoured by that growing Skill It was just a drop in the bucket because Randidly’s Soul Space had been constantly filled and compressed and refilled with Aether as the Aether Crossroads continued to operate barely moving even with the growing demands

So when it was clear this was an opening more and more Aether mobilized moving to exit his body and enter the world It increased at an exponential rate exploding outward in a howling swirl almost gleeful But just as quickly it was devoured by the Skill

The Skill itself continued to suck the Aether in but after another 10 seconds Randidly was producing too much Aether too fast The Skill couldn’t keep up Belatedly the Cathedral activated trying to gather and channel the Aether and that held it back for a bit but that was only a fraction of a second before the amount of Aether produced outweighed the absorption

At that point Randidly could barely keep both the opening in his chest under control and pay attention to how the Skill was forming Well it was less like he was seeing and understanding the Skill formation and the underlying Aether apparatus and more like he was just keeping a light shined on the occurrence so other people could absorb and dissect the information

More and more Aether gushed outwards coming out in huge waves sweeping out of him filling the Aether starved air spreading to cover all of Donnyton and then after another 10 seconds tendrils of it reached all the way down to Franksburg More and more farther and farther

The limpness to magical plants was slowly rubbed away as Randidly’s body hummed with the passage of the Aether flowing through him and filling the land But very quickly Randidly cut off the flow slowly at first then more and more until it was down to nothing and he was left gasping for breath Anymore than that any bigger a hole and he might lose control of it and the Aether would explode out of him His soul space was already completely rattled shaken by that much energy moving through him

Holding onto his knees to keep himself upright in the face of a spell of dizziness Randidly remained trained on the occurrence And finally with a strange tinkling it happened The Skill condensed from that singularity almost fully formed glistening and sank into the woman’s chest

She immediately sat up gasping for breath Ptolomey hopped down checking her vitals After around 30 seconds he signaled everything was fine and helped her up taking part of her weight on him as she was lifted out of the indentation at the base of the Cathedral

Mrs Hamilton folded her arms her gaze lingering on Randidly while she spoke to the woman Well Did it work

Grinning the woman shared the details of her Skill with the surrounding people

Eternal Eye Yours is a gaze that cannot be blocked Things such as distance substance disguise time and understanding need not bar your vision should you know where to look Control over what you see improves with Skill Level Distance away that you can see improves with Skill Level Complexity of relative temporal placement that is possible improves with Skill Level

Chapter 385

When he saw the description of the Skill Randidly’s eyebrows rose On the one hand it reminded him a lot of Simon’s Skill in terms of flexibility It did not present the same ability to form an Astral projection that Simon’s Skill did but Simon was limited in only being able to explore the world in a linear manner slowly spreading his influence out over a Zone And he could only focus on one portion at a time

Meanwhile this Skill seemed like it was more possible to already know what you wanted to see and look and pierce through everything between your two positions and depending how well you knew how to look it was possible to see something Fascinating

Almost out of reflex Randidly used his Aether sense to feel along the surrounding area quickly locating Simon’s tiny bird avatar Unsurprisingly it was hovering around Thea watching her as she gazed wide eyed at the coughing woman Although for a while after they arrived in Donnyton Simon had paid attention to Randidly very quickly his focus narrowed The poor kid Randidly wondered if Thea realized the crush he had on her

Back in the present the woman was explaining with an excited voice her notifications as she received a short Path that seemed to be a reward from it It was after all an Ancient Rarity Skill and the System rewarded their creation It seemed that hers was the 301st Ancient Rarity Skill to be created

Which wasn’t a large number but it wasn’t a small one either It gave Randidly a bit of hope and made him realize that although his circumstances seemed extraordinary there was probably other individuals with similar ability although probably not the Aether Crossroads or his Stats based on all the time he spent in Shal’s world

But still these people might have just as much potential as Randidly Hell they probably had more potential than him Sure before the System he had been pretty physically fit and intelligent but he wasn’t a genius And he wasn’t someone who understood how important working hard was It took him weeks of near death experiences and Shal’s brutality in the Dungeon before he had taken the first step to being the workaholic he was currently

Lucretia was thoughtful as she looked out at the woman through Randidly’s eyes I wonder if the amount of Aether required was because of the type of Skill or because of the rarity

Even general Not specific

Oh that’s true Lucretia said nodding If she just had a general idea then it probably would be so much less efficient It would need to have enough Aether to sense the subtle images that she was generating

Finally Randidly released a breath as he could feel the last dregs of the strange weariness leave him in the wake of releasing Aether It had the added benefit of slowing the death of this land adding a little bump of Aether especially to the area around Donnyton but Randidly didn’t think that the small amount of Aether that he had managed to channel was anywhere close to being able to influence the whole Zone

It was an interesting question how much Aether he had within himself but like a lot of things these days it would have to wait for another time There were pressing issues

Mrs Hamilton led away the woman who she passed off to Daniel who was waiting at the door Together the two left talking excitedly about how she could use that Skill The remaining people looked to Randidly Ah they likely wanted to know what was next Well preferably

He turned to look at Thea Are you ready

After a brief hesitation she nodded I I think so I think I’ve made my decision

So are you upgrading your Class then Or even a Stat Randidly asked already distracted He knew that he would prefer that she choose to upgrade her Class so he could watch how it would change when the Stone of Fate was used but Also seeing how Stats could shift would allow him to use that upgraded Stat in his Class

A Skill actually Combat Proficiency Thea said her voice meek

Randidly paused Then he turned to look at her What Why would you do that

Stan frowned at that annoying Randidly further but he refused to let himself be distracted His gaze was fixed upon Thea Sure improving a Skill was an interesting process and Randidly wanted to see how it worked but they currently only had one of these Stones of Fate They hadn’t located anymore from the mine yet so this was the only chance Randidly would have to see a process involving a Class happen

As he was opening his mouth Randidly noticed how much Thea was trembling just standing there silently in front of him And suddenly he felt profoundly tired

She’s a good example If we let this pass Lucretia began but Neveah cut her off

Wants something else Her choose

So instead of saying anything Randidly just gestured for her to continue At first she seemed hesitant and then she shot a glance at Mrs Hamilton who was smiling at her Randidly’s lip curled Of course Mrs Hamilton was responsible Well she enabled it and probably primed Thea to be able to stand up to Randidly if she chose to Would Mrs Hamilton have known that it would happen

No perhaps not but she would have given Thea the tools to do so if she needed them Which filled Randidly with a hot fury But just as quickly it melted away and that same wariness came back

That was the other problem with being here everyone treated him like he could do no wrong People didn’t stand up to him they just listened to him Other than Lyra but after recovering she seemed unable to speak and stayed shut up in a small room even while continuing to give Classes and allow Donny to purchase buildings Which was slightly suspicious but

Like everything else a question for another time

Being treated this way didn’t come without consequences Already Randidly could feel his petulance and his stubborn insistence of his own way And he was 100% sure that his way was the correct one and would yield the best results for both himself and for Thea but he supposed that it wasn’t his job to correct other people’s mistakes They could make their own choices

But if those choices endangered the lives of others

I I think that Alana told me the best sort of Skill is a general one Thea said her voice uncharacteristically squeaking as she nervously looked at Randidly It was strange listening to her Suddenly you would think that she had forgotten all the times they had fought together like it was nothing Like they vanished like ghosts

So I want to upgrade my Combat Proficiency A Stat would likely make me more immediately powerful but I don’t think I don’t think it would be too ridiculous Meanwhile a Class my growth will probably increase but I’m already Level 28 I missed a lot of that growth already Thea was finding her voice now and she began to speak more quickly But a Skill a Skill would benefit me now and it would probably grow with me more powerful faster

And also She stammered her eyes almost pleading as she looked at him The System loves specificity correct A Skill can do that leading to a Path leading to more Skills to a whole branching growth On my own I don’t think I can find that But with this chance I have a vision A strong image Specific And with it

Her head fell to her chest and Thea spoke the final words to the floor I can be strong too

Sighing Randidly said nothing for at least 30 seconds simply closing his eyes and feeling the air around him The Mana Engraving on the Cathedral was humming gathering a portion of the Aether that Randidly had released making the Aether here extremely thick To his surprise both Neveah and Lucretia remained silent letting him think in peace

The other people in the Cathedral too said nothing but from Mrs Hamilton’s smug seeming silence Randidly could tell that she already knew what his answer would be Once he was aware of it there was no way that he would overturn Thea’s decision Perhaps he would have stubbornly argued with her before she had make her stance so clear thinking he was convincing her but basically just railroading her but

This turn of events made him feel helpless He was a man who was currently experiencing a large amount of stress based upon his inability to control his destiny Instead he was forced to rely on Lucretia and Neveah Although it would be a simple thing to take that out on Thea forcing his will on her Randidly resisted that

Okay He said simply Then let’s begin

Without Randidly opening himself and spreading Aether this time through was more of the same This time however a Skill slid out of her chest and was surrounded by the Aether apparatus Again a small singularity of Aether was formed much less hungry than the previous one and absorbed Aether for several long minutes before the old Skill sank into it was rewritten and exploded as something new

If nothing else even Randidly could notice a pattern in the amount of Aether used and the way it was absorbed He could also see how the System apparatus would influence other Aether while being made of Aether itself which was one of the concrete problems involved If they solved that it would be that much easier at least in terms of the manipulation But that was half of the battle

The other half was the planning and after examining so many Classers both Neveah and Lucretia had an idea on how the Class was created All they needed was to prepare the Aether and to carefully let it take shape They had watched people gain Classes but they seemed to spring fully formed onto a person Perhaps that was just the Village Spirit version of the Aether singularity and it was very difficult to witness a Class getting created

That thought made Randidly’s hackles rise So he would just need to be lucky

What’s the upgraded version of the Skill Mrs Hamilton asked

Thea was blushing For several seconds she didn’t speak Everyone paused noticing her and how she was behaving Thea’s blush deepened She muttered something unintelligible

What Randidly asked somewhat bitter If they had wasted this chance

M m my Combat proficiency is now is now Dance of the Ghostbear ® Thea muttered

Ghost bear Which almost seemed like it was based on

What were you imagining when you were upgrading your Skill Thea Mrs Hamilton said her wicked smile clear in her voice Thea’s blush made her head look like a tomato

Chapter 386

After that grudging explanation Thea hurried away leaving the people behind her with bemused smiles except Randidly who was just blinking and staring wordlessly after her

She had based her combat Skill on him

Honestly the fact it had only become a Rare Level Skill was the bit of information that Randidly latched onto It had taken away his opportunity that his anxiety stated would be very important to develop a Class and she had upgraded a Normal Skill to the Rare grade It felt somewhat of a waste

Perhaps not Lucretia’s extremely timely whisper came You’ll notice that most Skills that have high Rarity are relatively specific not including your consolidated Skills Those are a bit broken But the more general a Skill is the harder it is for it to be a higher Rarity Which is why your Ashes to Ashes Skill is so impressive because it feels like there is more to understand about it even now This girl achieving a Rare rated Skill on flat combat ability can be considered a great boon to her future She likely achieved what she had set out to do

When Randidly remained quiet Lucretia just laughed You are too used to your own performance I suspect Not everyone can break the mold everytime Most people must be content with remaining in the System

Trying to distract himself Randidly turned his attention to Stan who had been watching all of the previous goings on with a very mild if respectful expression It was hard to judge from the other man’s face what he thought about the things that just occured and it was also difficult to see any sort of stress or nervousness in the way that he was standing If anything Randidly had a weird sense of deja vu when he looked at Stan because his posture seemed to be mimicking Randidly’s own

That made Randidly wonder sardonically when he was noticing his own posture in someone else It wasn’t like he had a monopoly on a way of standing And also what he saw in Stan’s posture might be what he was aiming for rather than the spot he was currently at

Mrs Hamilton coughed lightly ” I suppose my presence won’t be required for this Good luck gentlemen ” And then she turned and left with a smile

Which left the room with just the four remaining men Randidly Donny Stan and Ptolemy Of them all Ptolemy seemed the most uncomfortable as he scrutinized the strange depression in the middle of the Cathedral There was a suspicion there and it was a suspicion that did not seem to be based on any real occurrences but Randidly figured that Ptolemy was not a person who would make judgements without evidence

But if Randidly could not sense this with his Aether Detection Skill what could that be based upon A sense of the woman’s body after she created the Skill Was there perhaps a physical side effect to the Aether Apparatus

Finding that out at this point would be difficult now that she had left and some time had passed but it was something worth paying attention to moving forward

Randidly’s thoughts were interrupted by a voice in the back of his head “Neveah and I have been speaking about this actually “

mm

“It seems as though the Soul Space is perhaps inaccurately named By you But I suppose that you couldn’t have actually known what you were doing at the time The “soulspace” is a physical thing rather than something relating to the soul Its a person’s Aether based body Therefore we can see Classes as useful towards growth simply because it gives shape and order to the chaotic Aether that was being slowly composed into the body

“Thinking about the soul space in this way also gives some insight into Aether Sickness and Aether Starvation Aether Sickness occurs when you spend too much time in a Dungeon Physically this is analogous from moving to a low to high pressure environment and the physical distress that can result from the change Meanwhile Aether Starvation is what happens when your Aether body has become so large and complicated without a central pillar of support that it begins to sag and stretch at the edges

“All this to say when you are working on this man’s Soul Skill that might actually be more closely related to the ‘Soul’ “

Randidly scratched his chin In the real world there was an awkward silence as each of the four men had their own thoughts Donny just seemed bored although he was currently studying the architecture and the Mana Engraving that made the Cathedral work Ptolemy continued to study the area of focused Aether while Stan mildly looked at Randidly Annoying but Randidly did his best to remember that the man didn’t mean to do this he just seemed somewhat bland Perhaps not the best choice to change his fate but

Then again Randidly had to remember that this was the man who had won the Tactics portion of the Assessment For whatever reason this was the most strategically minded individual in Donnyton

Inwardly he asked “What do you mean “

Soul Skill is soul Grow Seen Vivid Neveah said pleasure in her voice to be lecturing Randidly He almost rolled his eyes

Lucretia seemed similarly amused although for perhaps different reasons Well basically The Soul Skill becomes a lense that can focus the images a person has giving them direction If it is some sort of complementary relationship with the Class so much the better But people can exercise and also research to educate themselves without having those two areas overlap If they do it’s just that much better

Important Class is body Base important Thick and heavy Neveah added

So Randidly said speaking through what he was hearing Creating a Class also has the added benefit of adding order to their Aether Then I

As far as we can tell you have been incredibly inefficient in the way you utilize your Aether Lucretia said You are currently using a huge sea to provide water for sprawling haphazard farm And that is even after the reward for the Adept Path cleaned up a lot of what you were Imagine if you had a Class that boost would have really sharpened your power creating an entirely new on theme brand of Skills As it is you can consider it lucky that the effect chained so many times organizing your soul space If that hadn’t happened it would have been that much more difficult to create a Class because the trunk of it would need to support so many different things

It makes me wonder about the Classes people obtain from Village Spirits Lucretia continued Because with this knowledge the Classes that are provided must be Classes that can support the different sections of yourself that you have already created Which means that they cannot offer a truly random Class but they can offer a Class with a trunk that would fit with the shape if not the theme Which on its own is an incredibly suspicious option Could there be damage Could

Rambling

Lucretia sighed shaking her head sorrowfully You do you truly not appreciate that we are on the cutting edge of the System and Aether The things we have learned here

Not yet solved

Bah Lucretia waved a hand airly It’s only a matter of time We have the base materials we can shape them we have the tools we have a rudimentary plan all that’s left is the execution

As the two female entities inside of him continued to bicker Randidly walked over to Stan bringing all of the focus in the room to him Donny shifted his stance and Ptolemy came to his feet

Alright Randidly began I think I’ve prepared as much as I can I intend to try to create a Soul Skill in you But for that I need some guidance The stronger and more distinctive the better The less this is shaped the less benefits you will see And once it’s created it will grow with you shaping you while you shape it What would you like Or more rather how would you picture your soul

A mirror Stan muttered his eyelids slowly descending to shutter off his gaze Randidly immediately perked up This wasn’t quite enough on its own but it was a bold start

More What are you

For a full minute Stan was quiet just holding his eyes shut Although Randidly began to grow slightly nervous he felt that this was a man who would not waste time And in a way he was right when Stan’s eyes snapped open he spoke in a very direct specific manner although whether it would be useful to Randidly

Just general I’m almost non descript But I can reflect what is around me More than that I can take it and broadcast it as my own Not just vision but also sound and taste I can change it make it bigger or smaller I’m a catalyst almost useless when left alone

For a few seconds Randidly considered whether he should say something to this man maybe encouraging him in someway Because some of the things he was saying well perhaps it wasn’t that he had low self confidence but

Still a person who was struggling inwardly didn’t have the intensity of gaze that Stan had Or perhaps more likely although people with this gaze might be having a harder time it was worth it to them This was the gaze of an individual who was willing to give up almost anything in order to accomplish their goals But behind these eyes and behind the rather nondescript description what was the goal that he so desperately was aiming for

Randidly had an inkling that it had to do with Raina based on the man’s puppy dog like eyes when she was around but he didn’t think it was his business to dig into if it was only at this level Raina could take care of herself Instead

Nodding Randidly closed his eyes reaching for the Aether Immediately it surged around him seemingly happy that it would be used greedy to experience more This was a new sensation although it had always been willing and Randidly wondered if it was due to the earlier large release of Aether Either way

Aether could not create substance not really Well perhaps that’s not true but Randidly wasn’t at that level But what it could do is contain a powerful flavor of something So all that remained was to create that flavorful vision or object and then insert it into Stan’s soul space Which was perhaps the most dangerous of the steps but seemed the easiest

Better just to start then Randidly closed his eyes and began to picture

Chapter 387

In the darkness of the area outside of his soul space Randidly felt oddly cold and oddly exposed as he shaped Aether But there really wasn’t anything out here either to help or hinder There was just a strange sluggishness to the Aether and a resistance to be shaped as it wanted to expand and fill the area given to it

But not today What is needed was a much sharper hold of the Aether to resist it a higher Control and a very distinguished Skill And those Randidly could handle

First he started with a simple mirror That was the basis of what Stan had said after all Of all the things Randidly had learned through his experiences with the System and he had gone through a lot at this point what stuck with him is how many different ways that this System allowed one to gain power

Some powers came slower some more quickly but what came the easiest was the simplest things And although it was a bit ambiguous this was simplest and most honest of the answers that Stan had given

Randidly’s Aether very quickly swirled around and very easily began to shift and morph holding onto that image of the mirror as if its strange existence depended upon it Then Randidly began to expand the mirror folding and shaping it

Because the second thing that Stan had referenced was not really himself but his relationship to others He was someone who interacted with others shaping and capturing and catalyzing what others give him In terms of vision the easiest way to do that was to change the shape of the image of the mirror so it would send off different light than was reflected on it But larger than that

The mirror rippled the substance of it becoming liquid then swirled upwards becoming a 3D shape It was a little jerky due to the shaping out in the world in front of him but after a stern press from Randidly it generally snapped into place accepting its role It wasn’t a shape that Randidly created which left him dissatisfied Instead of stopping he continued to work the mirror changing the shape again And then again Then again

Keep speaking Randidly whispered barely emerging from his trance to address Stan who had fallen silent content to continue to stare intently at Randidly Briefly there was a flash of panic on Stan’s face but then a strange stubbornness emerged in his expression Even distantly through the haze of handling so much Aether Randidly could feel that this reaction for sure was one that came from him

Perhaps it was a good thing that Randidly had taken his first answer so literally But this did clarify what he meant with the second half of his earlier statements it was more than a reflection it was a copy that was played back to the original Stan could apparently very easily mimic people although why he didn’t use this ability more accurately was difficult to understand

Almost unconsciously the shape that Randidly was aiming for changed forming into curves and long widening lines It was an instinct and Randidly let it flow through him while he let the words Stan began to supply flow through him All the while Aether came together swirling in a tighter and tighter spiral funneling to the object that Randidly was creating

I I’m not sure what to say I think What I am is just that I’m not anything special but I can listen I can I can change I can be anything if someone asks it of me I’m just the way I am is though I just Everyone flows through me you know And I can feel them all I think that I

Randidly’s focus fell away from the speech and drifted towards the Aether image It had twisted itself into a gramophone made entirely of mirrors It was a small object that was composed entirely of the mirror substance warped and shaped to the small object with the curving amplification horn on top of that But also below unbenounced to Randidly there was a large cage

Honestly when he turned his attention downward on the image of his creation and found that strange uniform square cage he was extremely shocked How had this emerged without him attempting to shift the image Perhaps the answer was the location this had been created inside of Stan’s body and something about the host had affected the result

Or perhaps this was of a much more sinister origin and placing this inside of the man would have consequences Randidly’s mind immediately jumped to the Creature shifting the image from afar while he was paying attention to other things but that didn’t feel right Randidly’s knowledge of Aether and his ability to track it was increasing by huge margins everyday with the constant research If something was different it was hard for him to believe he wouldn’t have noticed it

You underestimate Aether Lucretia’s voice was soft and Randidly was beginning to get annoyed with how she kept chiming in as if she could read his thoughts without him conversing with her It has much in common with my ability to manipulate the threads of karma Can’t you feel it After you set out to create this some sort of connection has allowed his words to guide your creation

Inside of the cage a shadow formed small and amorphous a blob of shifting pitch black mist It seemed sometimes that there was a figure within that shadow but a new wave of mist would billow outwards obscuring it and by the time that wave was close to dissipating the form within the shadow had changed into something else It was a new creature a new form even if what was at its core animating it stayed the same

The Aether in the air began to rumble even as Stan’s increasingly wild whispers and Randidly’s silence continued As time went on the ability of Randidly to feel the connection between the two of them grew They were drawn together This Soul Skill was taking shape partially by Randidly’s will but partially because it would snap seamlessly into Stan’s soul shape

There was not so much a sense of completion with it as much of a silence Abruptly the Aether rumbling stopped Stan’s whispers cut off and the quicksilver mirror gramophone floated quietly above the cage in which the mist creature was kept

Randidly let out a slow breath holding that image in his mind and then pressing sharpening focusing deepening His Control and Willpower were at a level that there was a qualitative change in how he could use his will upon the world and with that extra bit of influence he refined the Soul Skill making the details brighter and the whole project much more distinct

Of its own accord the Soul Skill floated through the chasm between their bodies buoyed by Randidly’s will It sank into Stan’s chest

Stan’s eyes widened

Two hours later Donny looked grimly down at the shivering body of Stan The Ghosthound said nothing his arms folded his expression guarded Ptolemy was sweating and seemed profoundly disturbed

So he’s fine Donny asked slowly He had been initially interested in what the Ghosthound had offered wondering if he could acquire a second Soul Skill based on his association with the Ghosthound After all his Village Chieftain Soul Skill had the opportunity to grow and seemed to be very close to that level but having one on an entirely different track that he could draw strength from would be the ideal But after witnessing Stan’s reaction to it

Ptolemy shrugged Well physically he’s only exhausted now There is no damage to him or any lasting damage He does however continually have the Status Effect Crippling Fear’ After using my Skills on him for a time it’s clear this isn’t really a side effect of this Soul Skill inside of him but rather his reaction to it