LoRG 2

Darksteel Sam said with a sniff There is a big push toward using the stuff these days It has a powerful dampening effect on Skills so itÆs the best equipment for defense out there The key ingredient comes out of East End but if the market grows well youÆll see quite a bit of Equipment like this I expect

Randidly peered back into the chest and noticed pants and gauntlets within Each was made with dyed leather and the darksteel and feature short sharp spikes that bristled from the joints

Slowly Randidly put the armor on He heaved the curtain of chain mail over his head and then slid on the gloves and pants He flexed his still free toes in pleasure As he did so Sam snorted You look like a demon king wrapped up in black metal like that

DonÆt act like you werenÆt the one who designed this armor Randidly replied Then he considered the Stats of the armors

Imposing Darksteel Shroud Lvl 68 An extremely powerful defensive equipment that covers the upper body of the wearer Weaker to attacks from the side but this weakness provides the wearer addition mobility Due to the material Skills will have a difficult permeating the armor Health +1000 Strength +25 Dark Before the Dawn IV Set of the Black Knight III

MarauderÆs Darksteel Gauntlets Lvl 62 Effective gauntlets designed to decimate and wound an opponent Not only provides protection for the forearm but the meticulous design increases attack speed Stamina Regeneration +50 Agility +25 Dark Before the Dawn IV Set of the Black Knight III

Bloodsoaked Leather Pants Lvl 71 Leather pants that have been processed to the point of being impossibly soft Will fit to the body of the wearer Quite comfortable despite the darksteel woven into the equipment for defensive purposes Reaction and Perception +30 Agility +50 Dark Before the Dawn IV Set of the Black Knight III

Dark Before the Dawn IV Forged in the moments before Dawn Due to that a strange grudge is present within the steel Somehow the metal seems to understand it will never truly know the light of day While the bearer is immune that unwillingness will increase the wearerÆs ability to ignore Skills Resistance +100 Wisdom +20

Set of the Black Knight III A portion of the equipment made by a master artisan while thinking of a loner knight who seeks vengeance against the world For each piece of the set worn increase Endurance Strength and Willpower by 25

In terms of stats and attributes the gains were ridiculous to the point of Randidly being shocked And yet

Randidly shifted uncomfortably within the dense armor He felt isolated Numb When he moved his body to test out the mobility it wasnÆt so bad that it was impossible But

A line of text stuck out to him Skills will have a difficult time permeating the armor Randidly frowned

Chapter 873

With a sinking suspicion in his chest Randidly closed his eyes and reached for Grasp of the World Seed It took several seconds and then the fuzzy shapes of the surrounding plants finally appeared at the edges of his mind Even then the energies that Randidly was so used to were sluggish and amorphous As he reached out for the plants his grasp felt weak

With a grunt Randidly pressed against the strange boundary that was around him It didnÆt give so much as grudgingly let more of his will through The plants in the surrounding area spiraled upward under his implacable urging But the growth was slow overall The effectiveness of Grasp of the World Seed at the moment

RandidlyÆs eyes burned emerald In his mind the powerful image of the World Tree Yggdrasil spread its long roots into the surrounding area Fine do you want to test me darksteel LetÆs see how you handle this

The Skillset expanded with an unstoppable urgency into the surrounding area But that too was muted It was a pale and flimsy imitation of the sensation that Randidly was used to Gritting his teeth Randidly forced his will forward through the strange material of the armor As he did so Randidly could feel the darksteel beginning to hum

That made Randidly raise his eyebrows The passage of images physically affected the armor So it was less of a strange side effect and more of a direct result of the physical properties of the armor

Well physical was inaccurate The Aether arrangement of the armor must somehow interfere with other Skills in the surrounding area Which was disturbing

Snorting Randidly took off the armor and threw it on the ground Because of its weight and his one arm it was actually a little inconvenient Especially because his ability to make and control a fake arm was restricted by the armor

When it hit the ground a poof of dust spread in a small area Sam raised his eyebrows Something wrong

I need to try something came RandidlyÆs tight reply He sat down cross legged directly on top of the darksteel armor Then he closed his eyes and brought his will to revolve around inside his Soulspace Lowering his hands Randidly pressed his palms against the arm and began to focus on reaching through the material in front of him and into the ground with the image of Yggdrasil

The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil was one of the earliest Skills he had received Randidly wouldnÆt have been able to make it half as far in this System without it It provided a very sizable boost to his regeneration qualities as long as his feet were touching the ground For Stamina especially this Skill had been the only reason that Randidly was able to rely on his extremely high cost Skills during fights and get away with it

When Randidly established that necessary connection a spiderweb of vivacious golden roots would spread below him sinking to the core of the Earth and drawing strength upward to fuel Randidly Over time this web of roots had become more and more powerful To the point that his Regeneration of Stamina was ridiculous

And yet now

Slowly the Skill activated in fits and starts Those golden roots that had been the base of his whole combat style were now thin and sickly The boost that they provided was tenuous and weak as Randidly gritted his teeth and pressed as hard as he could against the Skill His breathing became heavier Yanking at the strength within the ground the only response was a small wave of energy that trudged sluggishly up through the darksteel

Of course this wasnÆt really an issue for this Skill if he would wear the armor normally As RandidlyÆs feet were to be left bare the energy would pass freely through him But it was just strange that the material had such an effect upon Skills

And these days Randidly relied very heavily on Skills Especially area Skills that would give him supplemented Perception and aid his ability to manage large numbers of enemies

Closing his eyes Randidly stopped using the Skill and then relied solely on the image that animated a portion of his soul In his mind the grand Tree of Yggdrasil towered behind him reaching up into the clouds He could feel the breezes amongst the branches hear the rustling of leaves Beneath the auspices of its bowes Randidly slowly released a breath

And below the ground he saw the roots as thick and sparkling like gnarled pillars of gold rushed through the crust of the Earth toward the horizon There wasnÆt a spot on the planet that could escape the touch of these roots He circumnavigated the globe carefully wrapping the core beneath the protective forces of his roots

Yet as Randidly pressed his image into the darksteel the image wavered and began to fade With a hiss Randidly martialled his Willpower The image surged into even greater clarity and specificity Armed with this empowered image Randidly flexed his fingers and smashed the image of Golden Roots of Yggdrasil downward toward the armor

Sam was frowning His eyes flicked up from the ground to the air above Randidly and then back down Randidly

Give me a moment Randidly managed through his locked jaw His eyes were open but he didnÆt see the world around him at all instead his focus was completely consumed on creating the image within himself What was within was without what without within A seed in his chest exploded into the towering force of the world tree and the ground around Randidly shook as he forced the image to rise over himself Then he brought it down like an executioner’s ax

RandidlyÆs hands were pressed against the armor which began to hum and groan as he forced the image through the material Beneath his fingers the darksteel began to hiss and steam RandidlyÆs emerald eyes were narrowed to slits So there really is a physical component to this And it was as I feared the material doesnÆt simply block Skills If it were solely Skills I probably could have managed it But with images

Almost wistfully Randidly remembered the huge amount of stats and Health that this armor would provide to him But then he sighed and shook his head Just gathering Health wasnÆt a way to grow stronger

He remembered the overwhelming strength of Aegiant burning like a sun as he laughed over an evaporating pool of lava

Before that sort of image how much use are stats Even Aemont the Spear Phantom who was a one in a million talent found that he couldnÆt overcome the Propagators alone He needed an image to strangle them with

The hissing beneath his fingers grew worse He channeled more and more of his image downward ignoring it Steam began to waft upwards obscuring his view of the armor

What what is this Sam whispered

Randidly was too deep in his own concerns to answer He felt every length of the roots that burrowed into the ground as if he had brushed his hand along their rough and knobby lengths He saw their branching paths and the vital energy that flowed through them to invigorate him Harder and harder he shoved those images down through the material

Every second was a struggle as the passage through the material threatened to confuse and weaken the image Honestly it reminded Randidly in a terrifying way of the prison that threatened his Stamina and Mana

Except this time the focus was images It took RandidlyÆs full focus to maintain the world tree image as it passed through the darksteel Without using images his strength

Suddenly there was a roaring boom in RandidlyÆs mind and the images exploded outward Steam continued to waft upward but thick pythons of golden energy swam through the ground like they were eels in a fish tank Very soon a tidal wave of energy crashed against Randidly as it was pulled forcefully up from the ground by his empowered image

Now that it finally had free reign to move the roaring image gleefully began to fulfill its purpose The golden roots bulged as they ripped out energy from the ground and brought it up to Randidly Such was the force of this sudden flow of energy that he was briefly stunned simply staring down at his stream shrouded hands His wrists were trembling

Gulping down large breaths of air Randidly leaned back Then shaking his head he took several steps away from the steaming remnants that remained on the ground Sam was completely mute as he stared at the source of the steam seemingly mesmerized

Slowly the steam died down What remained was a crumpled and partially melted pile of darksteel Very clearly were two indentations toward the center in the shape of RandidlyÆs hands which had completely burned through the armor

What Skill did you use Sam asked quietly

It was difficult for Randidly to speak he felt exhausted from the mental exertion of forcing his image through the armor But with the energy flowing in from the roots his mind slowly relaxed and recovered it wasnÆt a Skill Just images

Randidly walked back over to the darksteel and crouched down next to it Almost in spite of himself he pressed his eyes closed Just like that 1000 Health was tossed to the side

Even if it wasnÆt going to change the course of his life Randidly had also learned against Aemont how important having sufficient Health was

But Randidly was confident in his decision to toss it to the side Perhaps it would have been better to keep the armor and give it to someone else to use someone who relied less directly on images but Randidly had wanted to test this darksteel And ultimately the benefits it provided were nowhere close to equaling the value of what he would lose by wearing it

Not only did it block his Skills but it also prevented Randidly from using Aether Detection easily while wearing the armor More than that most of the benefits that he had obtained in Tellus were related to the strength of his images Tossing that aside now was akin to taking a step backward

No while this armor would have been a boon to him in the short term it was extremely restrictive in the long term It was better to make that clear now than wait until it was too late

I didnÆt mean to destroy it completely Randidly said slowly as he looked up at Sam But then he shrugged But my armor cannot be made out of that material It is strong sure But the user is also affected by the stifling effect on Skills Such armor will only end up limiting the growth of the people who use it

To RandidlyÆs surprise Sam laughed He began to chuckle at first and then it slowly spread to a complete guffaw that had him slapping his knee Randidly just watched as the man allowed his mirth to run its course Very soon Sam was simply shaking his head and smiling at Randidly I am glad you think so We discovered it before but only now are most smiths able to work it into the shape we desire Now that it has some traction in Donnyton and everyone is very excited about using it somehow I donÆt like it It even muffles my Skills even while I attempt to forge it

Sam frowned down at the ruined armor on the ground For all that it is powerful But it is an external power I was barely able to shape it into such a fine arrangement I cannot promise that the armor I will next make for you will be its equal that is truly the fearsome power of that material but it will be an armor that fits you must more specifically

Randidly nodded slowly Do your best Sam It doesnÆt look like Donnyton will make it easy for me to challenge them in this contest

Snorting Sam said Well it is a foolÆs mission Even if you wish to inject a sense of urgency into the town getting publicly humiliated is not the way to do that

With a grin Randidly said Even you think IÆm going to lose

mm if you had asked me yesterday Sam began slowly But then he looked around at the surrounding ground It had splintered and cracked underneath the assault of RandidlyÆs image Visible holes appeared in the ground that were shoved to the side by the imaginary roots And at the center of it the pile of partially melted darksteel remained well anything can happen That is the world we live in But there is one truth I do not doubt you will definitely lose without me making you the perfect armor

Randidly laughed DoesnÆt that weigh on your conscious You are one of the leaders of Donnyton DoesnÆt this count as aiding the enemy

Sam shrugged Making armor is much more fun than worrying about the aftermath That is why I became the Dawn Smith

Chapter 874

In the half light immediately before dawn Ed slipped down toward his bakery

Ever since Randidly Ghosthound had returned to Donnyton a strange note of excitement had filled the air It had shifted the town from a confident city to an expectant teen who had sighted a crush Everyone couldnÆt help but gossip and giggle about what the Ghosthound would do next

This became worse after the announcement of the challenge that would occur in thirteen days Of course this had nothing to do with Ed but still he grumbled about it constantly to Bekany Because he was constantly exposed to talk about it If he had to listen to even one more person speculate how much the Ghosthound had grown in his time away from Donnyton Ed would drown that unlucky sod in shit

A brutal way to die but since realizing that he had participated in a lighthearted talk with Randidly Ghosthound without even noticing Ed had felt strangely furious And he had found strange ways to cope with that anger

Luckily no one else was aware that for several days before the meeting in the Observatory Ed had sold crepes to Randidly at a discounted price because he liked the look of the boy After thoroughly and vocally trashing the GhosthoundÆs legacy and usefulness to Donnyton it was abhorrent to Ed that the had so easily been seduced by the boys rather forthright directness If someone else knew

Perhaps he approached me purposefully to grow close to me Ed thought suspiciously It made sense He was one of the most influential men in Donnyton and the only one at the top that wasnÆt already in the GhosthoundÆs pocket It made a certain strategic sense to target Ed therefore the most difficult to influence individual at the Donnyton ruling table To think that that the boy was such a schemer how disappointing

Puffing his chest out confidently Ed imagined the inevitable moment were Randidly approached him and begged him for assistance It would feel absolutely divine to deny the boy then and bring all of RandidlyÆs careful manipulations to naught But such was the prerogative of an honorable man such as Ed

And such was the rush that Ed felt as he imagined this scenario was that it took him several seconds to recognize the situation around his bakery as he approached it this morning When the reality of what he was seeing finally struck him Ed slowed to a stop and frowned at the area in front of his door

Three people were chatting there rather relaxed in the pale early morning light From their outfits they had likely just come from a training session all three wore armor indicating they were in the 93rd Squad of Donnyton Unfortunately for those high numbered Squads they were forced to practice at absolutely disgraceful hours in the training center due to their relative unimportance to the Village

But what else could they do Even Ed had signed off on the schedule without any fuss There were simply too many other Squads that needed to use the training center Some sacrifices had to be made

Yet that failed to explain why they were here In front of his bakery

Hastily Ed applied the illusion that removed his illustrious mustache and approached the group Then he inwardly chided himself for wasting so much time without applying the illusion Perhaps that was RandidlyÆs goal To reveal his real identity

Would that fucker try and blackmail him then Heh let the fool try it Then Ed would drown him in shit

With narrowed eyes Ed approached the three When they looked up he forced his face to relax into a smile Can I help you

Oh you are the owner A young woman with straight orange hair asked I really love what youÆve done with the storefront It just looked so inviting and there have been pretty good rumors about this place too

Ahem Ed coughed scanning his storefront It certainly did seem inviting But to wait for him to arrive because of a rumor and a paint color

Well people like this were often very careless with money Ed found it distasteful but he didnÆt mind when he was the one who took their money That was honestly how Ed moved up in the hierarchy of Donnyton he was simply willing to roll up his sleeves and work on the jobs that no one else wanted to do

Or at least thatÆs what he used to do Now he hired Classers with low Levels to do it Such was business

Unlocking the door Ed called out behind him Come on in This is definitely the place youÆve heard about only the finest baked goods are served here

Perhaps should I come to the store a bit earlier tomorrow Ed wondered

As promised Wendy Vuss had designed a flawless mechanism for a fully articulated arm and gave it to Randidly within twenty four hours In spite of himself Randidly was impressed Very quickly he scanned through the plans Then he winced

For all that he had SpriggitÆs Tinkering and Engineering Savvy Randidly was very soon lost in the maze of intricate scrolls she had provided to him In order to achieve the result of full articulation WendyÆs plans called for hundreds of extremely small and intricate pieces to be fitted together into a cohesive whole As Randidly forced himself to slog through the gritty details of the construction he slowly was able to form an image of how it would work

Yet there were a few problems with that

I donÆt have the tools to make something like this Randidly said helplessly

Wendy shrugged They were standing in WendyÆs workroom which was a low ceilinged cave at the top of the rodent warren the Spriggits occupied At least there was light enough to see by Within she had several extremely sophisticated machines for melting and processing metals Is that my problem IÆll even let you make it here in return for another favor

I donÆt think it can be made it here Randidly said with a frown He had been able to bring some things into his Soulskill but his interspatial ring was not one of those items Perhaps if he Well no it wasnÆt worth the effort And without his interspatial ring Randidly didnÆt have access to any of the high quality materials that he had kept with him for all this time

For all that they had the technology here they didnÆt have the level of materials that Randidly was interested in using for his arm What was the point of making a fabulously mobile arm if an average person from Donnyton could cut through the weak material of the limb Engravings could only increase the metalÆs toughness so much

No these plans definitely need to be simplified Randidly said

That wasnÆt part of the deal Wendy Vuss pointed out with a dismissive glance toward Randidly

Randidly blinked Then he frowned down at her You did this on purpose to extract additional compensation didnÆt you

Wendy shrugged You rode roughshod over me and gave me an ambiguous request because you wanted to pay me more didnÆt you

In spite of himself Randidly snorted Alright fine I was a little demanding in our previous negotiations I was just feeling pressed for time But I do still have almost a week to complete this Based on how quickly you were able to finish the plans that will be more than enough time to discuss suitable compensation and complete the work yes

Wendy Vuss nodded smartly This is acceptable Besides in case you were dissatisfied I had already settled on my counter demands

While Randidly watched with raised brows Wendy walked over to the far side of her workroom and pulled a cover off of a chalkboard Written there in large white letters were the following words

FIVE HIGH LEVEL MONSTER CORPSES

My final offer Wendy Vuss announced

Randidly struggled to keep a straight face And what is the definition of High Level

The Spriggit woman regarded him with palpable suspicion for several seconds as though sensing that there was something amiss with RandidlyÆs reaction Her mind was locked in the task of doing some careful mental calculations Once more Randidly could practically hear the whirr of her gears behind Wendy VussÆs eyes as she struggled to land on how much value she could extract from him

Level Fifteen or higher Wendy Vuss finally spat out

This time Randidly failed to cover his snort But he shook her hand and departed immediately

In actuality the request turned out to be more difficult than he had expected Not because Randidly was slowed at all by monsters of that Level but finding five monsters of that Level proved to be a challenge He had to range pretty far from the settled lands in order to locate any

Going was rough outside of the area cleared of mist and even Randidly proceeded cautiously But once he found a group he quickly mopped them up and dragged the bodies back to WendyÆs lab

With the grimacing face of someone who realized that they had been hoodwinked Wendy accepted the bodies and asked Randidly what his requests for the new plans were

Ah you are certainly a genius Randidly thought smugly as he was much more specific about what he wanted this time But itÆs a question of perspective You likely hadnÆt seen a monster above Level 10 before to you Level 15 seemed like an unavoidable disaster But to me well thatÆs just childÆs play

After explaining Randidly shook her head with a bright expression on his face Pleasure doing business with you Wendy

Wendy grunted sourly

Chapter 875

Randidly watched the emerald flames dance across the fingers of his one remaining good hand entranced by their vivid hue It was a lively and demanding shade of emerald one that grabbed the attention of the viewer and pulled it into the flame’s depths Partially it was the color but there was another variable at play the power of flame was simply that compelling to humanity

This fire was special of course It was RandidlyÆs own Ignition of the Emerald Essence Of all his images it was his newest and perhaps the portion of himself that Randidly understood the least

A fire of inspiration A fire that jump started humanity With fire food could be cooked Work could be done after dark It attracted the attention of beasts in the surrounding area but those creatures of the wild had always implicitly feared that light which they didnÆt understand Perhaps the first human that would harness fire had feared its strange secrets too

Yet she approached and the whole world changed

Randidly clenched his hands into a fist and snuffed the fire out Although he would love to continue refining his images he had told himself that he would accomplish something rather unpleasant today he was going to go speak with Lyra

He had let this particular wound fester for long enough already

Even if it wasnÆt something he wanted to do he needed to do it For all that Lyra had betrayed him on several levels she was the Village Spirit of Donnyton And due to that she was connected with the larger System She had somehow usurped control of the Village from Nul almost two years ago and installed herself in an unassailable position Even now the consequences of that action were still difficult to name

At the time Randidly had been somewhat shocked and impressed But those reactions had been largely eclipsed by his fury for how foolishly Lyra had endangered her life in order to achieve her goals She had shown exactly zero concern for her own survival when she had recklessly allowed the Tribulation into their Village

More than that she had brazenly allowed such a dangerous individual into the Village where it could have harmed so many of the people who lived in Donnyton All because she was confidentÆ Because she was sure of herself

The reality was she was a fool But for all that she was likely the human who understood the System the best Even more than Randidly Especially because she was a part of that System architecture and had been for several years

Sighing Randidly stood and stretched It was the middle of the night and Randidly began to walk East from Donnyton When he had mentioned it casually to Donny the younger man had commented that Lyra was largely absent from Donnyton these days All the facilities still worked but they didnÆt interact with her directly very often

Especially since Randidly had arrived in Donnyton Lyra had been invisible She hadnÆt made a peep Which Randidly supposed was out of concern for him But he had already resolved himself to speak with her There was no point in delaying it

Of course Randidly knew that although her absence was true the reasoning Donny provided was not Lyra was without a doubt preparing for something Randidly could feel the swirls of Aether from the location of her abode swirling in the sky in strange patterns It wasnÆt a dangerous working from what he could tell but it was slightly obnoxious to note that Randidly couldnÆt quite parse apart what Lyra was doing

Which was perhaps a reason not to go talk to her It could be a trap

By the same token that was a reason he absolutely needed to talk to her He couldnÆt let such a caldron bubble so close to Donnyton without knowing what it contained

Randidly didnÆt think it was something that would actually pose a threat to Donnyton however Lyra had been within his Soulskill and had pushed Alta toward violence but while she had been within himself Randidly was able to sense a portion of her motivations for acting the way she did

It was of course another on a long list of violations of his trust Lyra was sorta predictable in that manner she was rather self absorbed in what she believed was important and seemed to assume you shared her opinions But her transgressions were also not malicious moves It was motivated by genuine curiosity and a powerful fascination with Randidly

Which didnÆt exactly make him feel better But it did mean that he would risk talking to her in order to find out more information about the System and her strange construct of Aether

After all when Octavius spoke about the society that ran the System that had given Randidly pause It was one thing to be fighting against the general System and also the strange overlay System that provided the information regarding Skills and Classes to the people governed by the System It was quite another to have managers periodically checking in on what was occurring

The latter was much harder to fool

Which was basically the warning that Octavius gave Randidly Most people wouldnÆt notice his deviant activities as long as he no longer interfered directly with his own Class Skills Soulskill etc What Randidly sought from Lyra was a little context so he could figure out the danger associated with this society

If they brought their resources to bear what sort of threat would they present

After all Randidly had no doubt he would be forced to alter his own Aether makeup once more in the future He just wanted some guidance as to the cost he would incur from doing that

And moreover

The Creature had been conspicuously absent since their last confrontation There were supposedly thousands of iterations across the universe in Cohort 7 seeking to accomplish its aims Yet there had been no real moves to threaten Randidly who had forcefully escaped the control of the Creature He had been prepared to find sinister happenings across the Earth when he returned yet there was nothing

It was almost worse than if he had found his home planet burning His formidable determination was losing its guiding focus of resisting the influence of the Creature

Was it as Randidly continuously feared that his current path was exactly what the Creature desired Or was it as Lyra had suggested previously that the Creature was seeking to make itself RandidlyÆs greatest fear so it could make use of the Second Calamity Would it simply bide its time until then

Yet the Creature was not a being that Randidly would suspect to be willing to wait patiently If it could be active and prepare it would

Frustrated Randidly scratched his head Then he grimaced Hair was getting longer He would need to get it cut soon

It was exactly for this internal struggle that Randidly moved to see Lyra even though he couldnÆt trust her even though she represented an unpredictable element even though she would betray him in a heartbeat if she thought it was for the best of the Earth

There was that at least Randidly implicitly understood that all that Lyra did was for the sake of the Earth And perhaps that was the reason that he was willing to risk approaching her for information

Lyra had set herself up in a flat grassland that was wide and filled with lush grass rustling in the wind In the middle of the grassland there was a tall oak tree with gnarled and crooked branches its reach spreading over a rather large area Calmly Randidly walked into the shade of the tree and took a few seconds to inspect the irregular waves of Aether radiating off of it more directly

It was a complicated array of rotating lines of power and even when inspecting from this distance Randidly wasnÆt able to tell what it was It was a mesmerizing series of wheels and extremely complicated Aether constructs But somehow it seemed quite familiar

And then it hit Randidly This was a variation on what he had seen within the Raid Dungeon This strange machinery removed the overlay System and only allowed the main System within the area hidden inside of the tree

With this in mind Randidly studied the engineered Aether more critically Now that he knew what he was looking for Randidly was able to focus his intent and get a better picture of what was going on This seemed to be a much more sophisticated version of the previous one because the swirling motion somehow sucked more of the System Aether into the immediate surrounding area But why

Ah of course Randidly thought with a dawning realization The concentrated System Aether must be used as a cover This variation has the added ability to hide this construct from the System

Which was a dangerous proposition but it was about in line with what Randidly had expected to find when he came here But of course considering the warning he had received from Octavius perhaps staying here very long wouldnÆt be a good idea The System overlay wouldnÆt be pleased if he passed from its purview after the antics he pulled in the prison

Randidly stopped short of the trunk and slowly circled the tree There was nothing distinguishing about the trunk to his normal senses but that was fine Randidly retreated out of the treeÆs shade and sat content to wait

He luckily didnÆt need to wait long

IÆm surprised you came you seem like one to hold a grudge

Randidly looked up Lyra stood there looking every bit of the lovely young woman she would have been had she still been human Her tawny hair curled down around her face in ringlets Her lips were pursed somewhere between a pout and a smirk which were her two favorite expressions And her eyes Those were what grabbed RandidlyÆs attention

Violet red the eerie color of Aether

Of the two of us I think itÆs pretty obvious which of us would hold a grudge Randidly grunted as he stood up DidnÆt you chase me after I refused to take you out to hunt monsters with me

Lyra flashed a bright smile at the sudden memory She was obviously a beauty capable of being a movie start even as a teenager And now that she had time to mature

Yet Randidly felt a strange bitterness in his heart You no longer have a true human body just like perhaps I no longer have a true human soul We can shape ourselves however we wish with enough preparation What is within without Without within Therefore that beauty my strength can it truly be called the providence of humans

That line of thought quickly became too dark to bear so Randidly shook his head and focused on Lyra

She rolled her eyes Well you were being an ass It was rather misogynistic to refuse to let me help you just because I was a young lady

I mean it was because you were sixteen Randidly retorted Then he frowned Or am I misremembering Were you even younger

Lyra smirked ItÆs rude to inquire after a ladyÆs age young man

They both looked at each other feeling the traces of the bond forged by being the original sword and sheath for Donnyton That compelled connection by the System But now it was just a memory just a decipherable old construct of Aether between them

As one both of their faces became serious

So why are you here Lyra asked quietly

Randidly raised his chin To talk Both about Earth and about the society that runs the System

Chapter 876

They speak of you Lyra had said You are known to them It is difficult to describe There is curiosity Interest But it is largely idle Most are content to wait until the status of Earth has been decided Then they will simply read the detailed report that the Cohort Overseer has made and pull your secrets directly from your recorded Aether

Randidly walked slowly back from visiting Lyra wondering if he had learned anything useful there About the society and its reaction to the announcement that someone had risen two Cohorts and caused a previously stalled planet to pass the Second Calamity Perhaps he would perhaps he wouldnÆt But it was somewhat reassuring that none was investigating him too actively

Randidly and Lyra had then spoken about her goal in building an Aether construct that would allow herself to be hidden away from the world The answer that Randidly received was less than satisfying

IÆm building an ark Lyra had announced Due to your successes I wonÆt say anything of your methods But I do not wish Earth to have to rely solely upon you to survive what is to come So consider this backup if we would need it the most

And where would the people of Earth go on your ark Randidly had asked

In typical Lyra fashion she looked at him witheringly If the System truly controlled all of existence where would new Cohorts come from One thing I learned from Yystrix is that there is an edge to the System We would simply need to head past that wouldnÆt we It might be a far distance but it is better to run than to die

An Ark Just what they needed To have an escape valve for potential if the pressure against Earth was growing too great

But ultimately Randidly said nothing He could say nothing For all that he wore a crown he was one man If Lyra truly chose to escape that was her prerogative But he intended to struggle as hard as he could to give people a future on Earth This was their homeworld after all Even if it had been largely remade by the coming of the System

And as for the third reason he wished to speak to Lyra the status of the Creature

Randidly had said nothing Lyra didnÆt bring it up and Randidly hadnÆt pressed It was almost a relief to allow those wounds to remain dormant and speak relatively amicably with Lyra Besides who could tell whether Lyra wouldnÆt just try and play more head games with him

Shaking his head Randidly focused his mind on moving forward As he thought he hadnÆt found a trace of the CreatureÆs Aether in the area He even had forcefully invaded the Ark folded in space within the tree to check And unlike the strange runes on AjaxÆs soul Randidly was able to pierce through easily

It was slightly different than what Randidly expected but there was a completely empty city on a floating island hidden within the tree All completely free from the touch of the Creature Almost unwillingly Randidly stopped searching and accepted LyraÆs explanation

That at least was one less thing he needed to worry about now At the moment Randidly had other things on his mind

After all another one of his Riders that he had sent out had died And perhaps most disturbingly the one that had died was one of the original two that had wandered off

But Randidly did his best to ignore his growing irritation One more try IÆll attempt it one more time

So when Randidly returned to his hut he activated Riders of the Baleful Wood and summoned more Riders Due to increases in the Skill Level Randidly was able to summon five Riders now that he was above Skill Level 50 Which of course meant that his Riders continued to be active somewhere earning him experience Honestly it was a pretty good deal The only frustrating part was that they continued to refuse to heed his orders and return

DonÆt murder people Randidly opened with this time Then he conjured his Crown of Cataclysm and Gloom to drive home his sincerity with the order Again he really didnÆt mind his Riders wandering around after all he gained quite a few Skill Levels due to their actions But there was a small chance they were up to some hijinks that would come back to bite him in the ass

Some hijinks were par for the course but he wanted to avoid anything that would serve as a significant distraction to his goal of preparing Earth for the Calamities One way people might be distracted would be to find out that Randidly GhosthoundÆs summons were committing murder sprees

Ah and also go find your fellow Riders and bring them back here Randidly finished If you donÆt I will come find you in three days So get to it

To RandidlyÆs surprise even the rhino camel spider mounts nodded in understanding Then the five of them galloped off heading East Shaking his head Randidly returned to his hut and began to slowly create more metal to be used in his arm Although the plant arm was serviceable it would dissolve into ash whenever he stopped channeling it and focused on something else

As a result Randidly was very ready to create a functional arm he would have for a longer term

In the meantime Randidly distributed his PP into his Ashen Aura Path Although he hadnÆt finished it yet he was coming very close Hopefully the reward for it would be worth the long time since he had obtained any stats from his Path

Randidly Ghosthound sighed Wendy we cannot keep doing this I need this job done The whole point of coming to you was to get a quality product Spriggits are supposed to be the best My Skill well I don’t come here because these sort of visits are a nice vacation

Wendy Vuss put her hands on her hips and glared at Randidly What do you mean The plans are vastly simplified In terms of parts they require about 1/10th as many as the prior plans That was what you requested and that was what you received

The man who had been the Progenitor and was now just a big bully sighed and shook his head Then he brought out the plans and pointed to several critical joint areas Well then what are these These Sucrium CulturesÆ Every joint requires these to be present and I can see why with this design the joints will grind themselves to dust ItÆs some sort of lubricant But I donÆt know that those are

Wendy frowned This was not the problem she expected to encounter Mostly people complained that her handwriting was too messy or the products she created were too expensive If she was being honest with herself this most recent bout of plans she had purposefully written sloppily as a small fuck youÆ for the gleeful ease he had killed Level 15 monsters

But to not know Sucrium Cultures

They were very widely used in the Seven Lands Wendy said Without them the mechs would have been impossible to use at scale

Well how is it made Randidly responded with exasperation

Wendy considered that It had been a trade secret that was carefully monopolized by the Bounty Corporation Wendy supposed there might be a few survivors of said corporation remaining but then there was the problem of actually creating the culture Hum an actual interesting problem she would need to be present to watch their methods

Which would require a high investment in order to establish the important mechanical equipment that would create the cultures And they would need someone with the skill to successfully harvest and store them

The more she thought the more Wendy honestly had no idea how long such a thing would take She was the idea machine which was why she had taken the role of head engineer here It would probably take a week At least Maybe a bit more than a week assuming they could find someone with the requisite knowledge Hmm

Randidly released a heavy breath as if this answer was exactly what he had expected

Feeling somewhat hurt that neither of her plans was satisfactory Wendy said maybe give me another day no IÆll only need six hours This set of plans is on the house IÆll use solely metal to construct them And they will be the most original and innovative

Randidly just waved a hand and left her office

For several seconds Wendy just started after him Then her mouth firmed into a line Fine then she would take this as a personal challenge And she would make a mechanical arm so inspired that just looking at the plans would reduce that insufferably competent Randidly to a drooling

Calm down Wendy urged herself The plans canÆt just be inspired They need to be elegant as well And strictly mechanical No strange materials Plus done within six hours

Wendy put her head into her hands and groaned Why the hell did I say six hours I already havenÆt slept in twenty four hours urrgghh

But even as Wendy felt a smidgeon of doubt she gritted her teeth and straightened her spine No matter what her word was worth its weight in plans made by her And considering her genius that was a significant amount of value

She just needed a modular well maybe not modular simple design for a fully articulated arm without using anything but simple metal parts

How hard could it be

Chapter 877

RandidlyÆs process of creating Bloodsteel hadnÆt changed much since returning to Earth The few changes that he had to make were only because the processing facilities available to him were so lackluster Basically assembling a full scale forge wasnÆt possible in a short amount of time without quite a bit of money

Money that Randidly didnÆt currently have

Perhaps if Randidly had monetized his ability to create engravings and spent a day or two adding stats to the equipment of DonnytonÆs Squads he could have managed to gather quite a bit of capital But Randidly was already torn between time training and refining his images that it felt like a waste to pursue money

Besides what he lost in lower tiered metal processing equipment Randidly was more than happy to compensate for with an increasingly exact image for Refine and Extract

With his powerful Willpower Randidly whipped the molten metal into something akin to a froth and then methodically Refined away the air bubbles that had been injected into the mixture The result was a metal that was more dense and muted than then typical iron ore that Randidly used but it seemed to possess an internal strength that far surpassed the original metal

What followed was the careful experiments to determine what was the best mixture of blood and molten ore to make Bloodsteel At first Randidly was worried that this new refined ore was in fact weaker because it couldnÆt handle as much of his blood as it could previously but then he realized with a start that the problem was probably that his blood had grown much more potent during his time on Tellus

His images were now imprinted physically into his body in the form of his Soulskill It would be strange if there were no new develops regarding his blood But it did make the mixing process relatively volatile

When his blood began to simply devour the metal Randidly used Extract to remove the Ignition of the Emerald Essence and Ashen Image portions that were physically present within the blood That did make the process easier but Randidly knew in his heart that the result wouldnÆt be as dependable as it would have been

So after perfecting a weakened formula Randidly rubbed his eyes and flared Ignition of the Emerald Essence to increase the heat in the forge Then he began again working this time to make an alloy that included the full complement of his blood

In the middle of the process his blood once more began reacting negatively to the presence of the ore In the small crucible the two liquids hissed and spat as they touched Frowning Randidly called on his Crown

Instantly the light in the room shifted Even the emerald glow from the conjured flames faded somewhat With methodical strokes Randidly shaped the metal using his consciousness to calm the two opposed forces And when they didnÆt comply willingly Randidly smashed down with the Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil

As the air in the forge warped Randidly sensed small imperfections forming within his metal The mental torture twisted in his cerebellum like a thin buzzing drill But he ignored that and allowed the Skill to slowly grind away at the reality of the mixture

Beads of sweat ran down RandidlyÆs temples He swore quietly a headache brewing behind his eyes The two liquids sputtered and trembled overwhelmed by the combined force of the Crown and the Indignation Seconds ticked by as they teetered toward an equilibrium

Finally the two liquids calmed Immediately Randidly used Refine to remove the imperfections that had been added in the process

Strangely this was one of the more difficult Refine uses that he had done Frowning Randidly focused on the metal It wasnÆt just physical there were still slight Aether flaws from the exposure to the Skill But Randidly Refined completely until his product was absolutely pristine The metal turned strangely lustrous shining even as a liquid That made RandidlyÆs eyebrows slide upward but he did his best to ignore it as he continued to treat the metal

At the end of an extremely arduous session at the forge Randidly had three shimmering bars of metal for his trouble Rather than the usual red these ingots were a silvery grey with crimson and emerald speckles scattered through the metal Even simply hefting it Randidly could feel the difference between his prior Bloodsteel

This this would be a bitch to work with

Grinning Randidly looked around the mess of his forge Then he threw his hands up in the area Probably just fucking fifty or so more ingots before he would feel confident attempting the forging of the arm

Randidly sent a message to Sam asking for his help with the forging of something then returned to his Soulskill

This time a bloodshot eyed Wendy handled over the plans without a word She barely looked up from the desk Her one hand appeared to have been dipped in ink and then dried gluing it to the desk Even though he was annoyed at her for wasting his time Randidly couldnÆt deny that she seemed completely wrung out

But before he felt sorry for her he examined the plans Instantly his gaze intensified This design was far from her previous two attempts

Satisfied She asked tilting her head up from the desk over which she was draped

Randidly chuckled ItÆs certainly better than the previous two So the idea is just to make a series of slanted hoops and fit them all together But how will the whole thing fit together

Wendy gestured at RandidlyÆs stump irritably Just install a base Then slide each piece on top of the next There is some slots for them to slide together but they will be small so as not to restrict movement overmuch If that doesn’tÆ work magnetize the different metals and stick them together I just hope you have a good blacksmith

Randidly grinned That wonÆt be a problem

When he returned to Earth Randidly was delighted to see that Sam had responded in the affirmative so he sent a time in six hours and began to work in earnest to forge more of these improved metal

It was a rather optimistic estimation of the time it would take him to work but Randidly wanted to push himself Already the time until the challenge against DonnytonÆs Squads had fallen to nine days His arm needed to be made as soon as possible so he could begin to try and master the use of it

In addition once Randidly had his new arm Randidly wanted to head down to visit Neveah Both to see what was keeping her and to rapidly Level himself to Level 49 He would take some time to consider his approach before he formed his Fate but he saw no reason why he shouldnÆt rise to 49 like most of DonnytonÆs other elites

Those extra Levels would give him some extra Stats which would give him an edge Plus Randidly would probably earn a Skill from the more dangerous aspects of his Class at Level 45 If he obtained something completely ridiculous Randidly wanted to have some time to Level it to a useful state

At exactly six hours and twenty three minutes Randidly felt SamÆs tread walking up the path toward his hut Likely the older man was already impatient to know why Randidly had called him out and headed over to investigate Randidly rolled his eyes sympathizing somewhat with Regina Northwind

Outside of armor and forging Sam was something of a willful child Randidly and he would end up walking back over toward SamÆs work area anyway to come over here now

Well it didnÆt matter All that mattered was focusing on this last ingot

Randidly allowed Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil to fall and began to use Refine repeatedly to purify the mixture Very quickly the color shifted to the now very familiar silver with crimson and emerald speckles Breathing through his teeth Randidly poured the molten metal into the mold and settled back to the ground with a sigh

When he allowed his plant arm to fall limp it collapsed into the ground and began to slowly smolder toward ash He looked at the gleaming stack of ingots and smirked in spite of himself

This metal even if it’s just an arm this will be the most powerful equipment that I could ask for

There was a knock at the door Randidly got up and brushed himself off With a wave of his hand he gathered all of the ingots into his ring Then he wondered whether he should try selling Sam some of the metal to make his equipment

It was a good idea Because of the methods used to make the metal anything made with it would be innately sympathetic to RandidlyÆs images after all those images infested every inch of the metal

Yet Randidly had sensed that although Sam was amused by RandidlyÆs earlier rejection of his creation it had now shifted to a personal challenge for Sam To offer him such an easy way to achieve what Randidly wanted now

Randidly pressed his eyes closed Would it not also inhibit SamÆs growth Part of the reason Randidly had rejected was to warn Sam away from relying on the Darksteel to create powerful armor It was ultimately a dead end forging wise By the same token simply providing an easy answer to Sam was not ideal

After all the ingots were likely just as strong as Darksteel and possessed none of the drawbacks They had it now but such a perfect solution wouldnÆt be available in the future Forcing Sam to find his own Path was probably RandidlyÆs best course of action right now

Besides Sam would see the material when they worked on RandidlyÆs arm If he thought that was the best bet if his pride wasnÆt an issue he would simply inquire about it At that point Randidly would need to make a decision But not quite yet

Is this truly what will happen the longer I wear the Crown Randidly wondered as he opened the door to speak to Sam I will be slowly consumed by worries about preparing others for what is to come

But I suppose itÆs better that I be consumed than I let my sense of urgency slack Randidly thought his determination that had dispersed somewhat at the lack of sighting of the Creature firming once more The foes we face are not just the ones we can see and the ones the System has promised us And I need to be ready We all do

Chapter 878

Alice Wilde looked up from her danish rather annoyed at the sudden interruption to one of her very few moments of peace She was currently monitoring entrants and exits to DonnytonÆs Dungeons and there was no one scheduled to enter for a while so she was enjoying a rare moment of peace

Honestly playing babysitter with the Dungeons was one of her least favorite duties Assholes usually liked to hang around after they cleared a Dungeon and brag about their accomplishments Despite the fact that they could clearly see AliceÆs emblem that indicated she was in the 20th Squad of Donnyton and therefore eminently capable most seemed to hope that she had slept her way into joining the Squad and treated her appropriately

Still they were just polite enough that Alice couldnÆt justify reprimanding them Or dragging them into a Dungeon and beating the shit out of them As a frontline tanker Alice packed more than enough punch to knock idiots like this on their assess

But polite upbringing prevented her from crossing that line as long as they didnÆt So it was an endless parade of sludge that she was forced to slog through One that she had believed was blissfully over when the System arrived but had very quickly reestablished itself after society managed to get back on its feet

Such was human nature

But it was due to these concerns that Alice valued her time alone so much

Alice blinked Groaning the body that had collapsed outside of the Dungeon portal rolled onto her back She spat blood to the side and then just lay there A sharp dagger of guilt ripped Alice open from hip to shoulder

After another blink Alice dropped the danish in the dirt and hurried over to the wounded woman Thank god itÆs a woman Are you alright

She immediately realized how dumb the question sounded but Alice couldnÆt help herself It came out like a reflex Cursing her idiocy Alice raised her hand and used Mending Touch Very quickly the worst of the gashes across womanÆs upper torso knitted back together The wounded woman released a relieved breath

Thank god She muttered as she sat up and spat out a fat glob of blood

Alice put her hand on the other womanÆs shoulder inwardly marveling at how soft and clear her skin was Probably not the time to mention that Ah careful This is my fault I knew you had been gone for a while but

Alice trailed off Probably not a good idea to say that she had lost focus because a friend had brought an absolutely delicious danish from a cute little bakery that was becoming popular recently Instead Alice drank a Mana potion and used Mending Touch once more It didnÆt actually restore Health but it would remove all of the wounds and the associated debuffs that would lower a personÆs natural regeneration

Holy shit no no stop looking at me like a stepped on puppy IÆm just glad it turned out like this The woman said as she stood and stretched Thanks for that by the way Real convenient that you know healing magic

Yea well usually people wounded enough for it to matter canÆt escape the Dungeon so Now that the wounds were gone Alice recognized her Her name was Helen right The one who had come earlier and demanded entrance to the Dungeon Since the woman had money and no one else was scheduled to use the Level 50 Dungeon Alice had allowed it but

Then Alice froze Wait a second if she had been gone for almost two hours in the Level 50 Dungeon DidnÆt that mean that Helen had been alone in the Dungeon for almost 3 months

The Level 50 Dungeon

Alone

Ah you should Alice started but then she trailed off Aether Sickness was a problem that no one could avoid What help could Alice give but go find a bed and quick If you spent too much time in a Dungeon you simply werenÆt able to function in the relatively thinner Aether of Earth You would be bedridden for weeks

Right wouldnÆt have been able to try again if it wasnÆt for you Thanks again Helen said briskly Then she walked right back up to the Dungeon and disappeared

You Alice tried to stop the other woman but she was already gone

Crazy Alice said looking down at her bloody hands Then she looked over at the danish lying discarded in the well trodden dirt After sighing she said Seriously Why I am surrounded by so many weirdos

Even with SamÆs very full complement of equipment forging the metal that Randidly had created was difficult Even he had a hard time believing how resilient the ingots he provided turned out to be

When Randidly had given Sam the ingots the other man had just grunted sourly fiddled with one tested their weight and then nodded his head As they got deeper into the creation of the molds for the arm and the shaping however SamÆs idle interest quickly sharpened to a viciously sharp point

Very quickly it was obvious that the heat produced by a normal forge wouldnÆt be enough to melt the ingots Not even close Even when placed in a compression furnace the process was slow to the point of being aggravating Randidly was forced to show his hand and use his own Ignition of the Emerald Essence to rapidly heat the metal to the point that it would melt

And even he could only cut the time in half the metal stubbornly resisted all other influences

Still it was a lesson for Randidly that he shouldnÆt take his Skill for granted The fact that there was such a stark difference in the heat of the flames meant that his Skill was improving

There was a moment in the midst of the sweating struggle that was the process of melting the ingots into the molds when Randidly could feel Sam standing behind him carefully considering the pile of ingots Then Randidly felt SamÆs gaze shift to Randidly where it remained for quite a long time Even as he continued to exercise tight control over his flames Randidly gritted his teeth

Ultimately Sam simply turned away without saying a word about the metal He had chosen to go a different way

As I thought Sam wonÆt accept this shortcut He will find his own Path forward Randidly thought as he bowed his head Not that he could blame Sam after all Randidly had chosen the same path Randidly just had the benefit of a very extensive headstart

Luckily Sam didnÆt need much of an explanation for the details of what they were doing A few seconds looking at the plans and the other man had been already on the move gathering the materials they would need While Randidly handled the treatment of his ingots Sam prepared the molds that they would use to create the pieces of the arm

As Randidly had discovered the arm was to be made by layering hoops Specifically hoops which possessed outside edges which were slightly raised Then these different sized hoops would just need to be slid inside of each other The inner hoops were slightly smaller so they couldnÆt fit all the way through and would protrude some distance forward In this way with an increasing number of hoops the arm would slowly be built outward

There were some complications due to the presence of a working elbow and the fingers but the solutions created by the troublesome Spriggit Head Engineer were relatively clever and simplistic Randidly was honestly impressed by how well Wendy was able to design when she had looked like a zombie

Once the arm was assembled all Randidly would need was a stop on the back to keep any of the parts from falling off That would be at RandidlyÆs shoulder Sam already had rigged up a basic leather harness that would tie around his torso and act as the base to attach the arm to Randidly

Perhaps due to his plans to create equipment for Randidly Sam didnÆt need to measure Randidly at all And when the leather harness was thrown toward him Randidly was surprised to find that it fit perfectly

Randidly decided not to dwell too much on that strange fact

Another benefit of this particular design was that in theory the arm could be retracted by pushing all the hoops back into themselves The arm itself would be hollow which would allow the rest to slide neatly into place In theory at least Randidly didn’t think it would be so easily accomplishable in practice Especially considering the hand and the elbow

Still that didnÆt matter Most of the control over the arm would fall on the runes Randidly would add to the metal later So it was enough just to make sure the thing was mobile before Randidly started to plan out the runes in earnest

The whole matter of forging the arm was something of a letdown Once they had the molds all they needed to do was pour the molten metal into them Sam didnÆt even bother with a sophisticated extraction method due to the hardness of RandidlyÆs metal he felt confident enough to just smash the molds to pieces with a hammer It was a bemused Randidly that watched Sma clear the entire set of molds with several devastating blows with the hammer

It also made Randidly remember that very soon he would fight against Sam The challenge against Donnyton was a message meant for Sam as well

At first Randidly winced But very quickly a pile of elaborate hoops made of the silvery grey with emerald and crimson speckles appeared In terms of efficiency Randidly couldnÆt deny that SamÆs methods achieved results

In the end the two men look at the scattered pile Sam picked up a hoop and flicked it lightly

Tingg

The clear ring of metal echoed throughout the workroom

Sam couldnÆt resist in allowing his face to break into a wide smile Good metal Whoever made these plans you owe them a favor For all that the concept is a simple idea the execution should be a bitch Some of these hoops should be structurally flawed so that they could fit into a cohesive whole Most of that weakness should be made up by combining a bunch together but you should never be able to completely rid the inherent flaws But these plans

Gesturing helplessly at WendyÆs scrawls Sam grumbled But somehow this guy manages to do exactly that The slight alterations to shape in each iteration of the hoop it’s very precisely calculated Combine that with the material and well

Sam trailed off as he stared toward the horizon Seeing that he was lost in his own thoughts Randidly swept up all of the pieces into his ring Next would be the Engraving which may or may not be the most difficult portion of the entire project It would take some experimentation to find out

itÆs given me some ideas though For your armor What you look like What you are Sam said slowly pulling RandidlyÆs gaze back to him Randidly tilted his head to the side

Putting out his hand Sam grinned like a wolf Look forward to it With this stuff in mind IÆm going to transform you into a monster

Chapter 879

The Engraving wasnÆt easy but it also wasnÆt the slog that Randidly had expected In fact it turned out that he had been subtly training for exactly a problem like this for quite some time

The individual runes he would use werenÆt difficult to make Well aside from the special Skill related rune that Randidly intended to add to the whole of the construction The sort of runes that generated mechanical motion in response to energy were of the type that he had designed originally for the drones he had created

It wasnÆt that difficult to transfer that energy from Mana to Aether controlled which left only the process of figuring out how to perfectly engrave these runes onto the many hoops of metal that Randidly had created for his arm

But his experiences trying to manage a growing Skill in a Mana Engraving had made Randidly master the understanding of how the 2D Engravings would work over a three dimensional armor Most of his practice time Randidly had done his best to work on armors that would simplify this process as much as possible but he couldnÆt completely ignore the issue

And learning to use your brain in such a way wasnÆt a Skill so much as developing a knack As things became more complicated it put more stress on the individual but that stress could be managed with RandidlyÆs Intelligence of 621

He just had to see the engraving and then wrap it around the whole of the armor And for the past two weeks Randidly had been smashing his head against just that issue

So Randidly spent about an hour meditating slowly picturing each individual piece of the arm he intended to create and then imagined how it would fit into the broader arm in terms of use and Engraving

Although he didnÆt classify the issues as such originally Randidly quickly realized that there were two criteria of which he needed to be aware shape and image Each individual hoop would need its own set of Engravings although most of them would be blessedly simple But those images couldnÆt cross each other and their purpose couldnÆt directly conflict

In addition Randidly had to consider that this was ultimately just an equipment The Engravings that he had originally learned would be useful here he had the option to add more Engravings to boost the arms power Yet as soon as Randidly began planning to add a bunch of additional statistics to the arm the calculations swiftly became untenable

Randidly pressed his eyes closed In this case simplicity was best Although the material cost for this arm was significant it was not something that would trouble him if he had a long time to prepare In addition his next iteration in the future could contain additional Engravings after he experimented and found patterns that allowed them to work well together This wasnÆt the final version of this arm

This would just be the first

No for now it was best to focus on two things freedom of movement and the potency of the Skill Engraving

Some part of Randidly wondered whether putting a Skill on the arm was actually worth it It did as did the stats Engravings complicate the design he was making immensely Both in terms of image and in terms of shape

Plus the Skill had to go across every individual hoop to work the Skill into every fiber of the arm That was where the power of the Skill would originate from Even if his Skill Engraving was low part of its power would stem from the utilization of the complete whole of the Skill

But flowing through every hoop meant that every engraving needed to be shifted to accommodate it Because Randidly was struggling to picture the hoops design the Skill Engraving and adjust the control Engravings all it once it was an almost overwhelming endeavor

The sheer amount of calculations and adjustments involved

Even Randidly tasting at the energy flowing up through his bare feet to sustain him was swiftly developing a headache

With a shake of the head Randidly dropped the imaging and walked outside of his hut In the distance he sensed some awestruck watchers who gathered in the surrounding area of his hill but he did his best to ignore them For all that most people were fascinated with him they maintained their distance For that respect Randidly wouldnÆt drive them away

So why make a Skill Engraving then

Randidly asked the nighttime air The low hoot of an owl in the dark brought the answer

To make the arm about a specific image To give it a specific role in my arsenal

In terms of utility Randidly had no equals And his spearmanship combined with a very deep Mana pool made him able to respond to threats from any sort of attack with a variety of Skills But if there was one flaw in his makeup

It would be that Randidly didnÆt care to use those Skills he possessed that possessed an overwhelming quality His spear Skills were sharp but they were ultimately just spear Skills Randidly could create an overwhelming offense from just utilizing thousands of spearing roots but that was simply compensating

Perhaps his Deific Mien of Yggdrasil or Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil would be considered overwhelming but they were largely just Skills used to influence others It would work well against the Squads of Donnyton but it was just pressure It wasnÆt true power

His Breath of the Spear Phantom had a certain sort of moral crushing component but that was ultimately a utility move too You could restrict otherÆs breathing so as to gain a mental advantage But it took quite a bit to squeeze the air out of their lungs as Randidly had barely managed with Aegiant

No what Randidly wanted to add to this arm was something much more direct and satisfying He wanted the ability to strike or stab with a spear or throw a punch with enough force to just level a building Which considering how high his Strength stat had already climbed likely wasnÆt very far off

Of course that Skill wouldnÆt grow with him It would be a crutch that Randidly could use for the current challenge against Donnyton A part of Randidly felt like it was a bad idea to learn to rely on something external like that but another part of Randidly was extremely practical what Randidly needed now was to show them the stark difference between what could be accomplished with an image versus without

This Engraved Skill was something that he would carefully make out of an image Therefore it was appropriate to use It would drive home his point

Randidly gritted his teeth In his heart he still remembered the sorrow he had felt when he realized he wasnÆt able to stand against the best of Donnyton without resorting to deadly force Which simply was an admittance of his own weakness Of how desperate they had made him

Now he wanted to show all of Donnyton how strong he had grown

It was perhaps childish But it was also true And sometimes the hardest thing to do was just allow yourself to admit those immature truths to yourself

Randidly wanted to shake the town

Based on his previous thought processes Randidly had settled on an evolved version of the Wild Phantom as the basis for the Skills But to reach that point Randidly planned on following the exact same path that he had taken to create the Sea of Emerald Flames Skill that had been on that random fellowÆs equipment

First develop a pattern then find a base Skill that fits within that pattern From there extend the pattern outward and create a higher tiered version of the Skill Ideally this would rather easily result in an offensive Skill but Randidly couldnÆt discount the possibility that an evasive Skill would come from this process

The Wild PhantomÆs Embrace was RandidlyÆs highest ranked Skill in that subset and might exert some influence over the result But as long as that interference could be prevented well even if it turned out that way it would just mean that he would need to shelve that Engraving and work on a different tack

Which would mean he would need to start over to develop a pattern that was more aggressive But Randidly believed that as long as he concentrated on the Inevitable Phantom Arrives he should be able to create something that would focus on offense As to the time that would take

Randidly grimaced So many things to do

After checking the time a powerful anger gathered in RandidlyÆs chest Twenty four hours have elapsed since I sent those most recent five out to retrieve their predecessors and nothing Well then Just you wait Riders

With that malicious glee as a weapon Randidly began to prepare his engraving pattern for his armor If the basis was the Spear Phantom then he would need something amorphous

Randidly blankly looked at the dirt ground waiting for the genius idea he was going to use to create the overwhelming offensive Skill Then he groaned

Of course it wouldnÆt be this easy every time but Randidly really wished it would have been

Guess he should take some time and lay out some iterations

Chapter 880

After another sixteen hours alternating between working on his Engraving and training his other Skills Randidly finally had a Skill worthy of scaling up

PhantomÆs Finisher Lvl 41 (Skill Level limited by Item Level) Strike out with a vicious blow that partially ignores the targetÆs defenses User develops a slight sense of when an opponent is off balance and that the sharp move will be most powerful The strike is explosively powerful but consumes a large amount of Stamina Amount of defense ignored increases with Skill Level Power increases with Skill Level Speed slightly increases with Skill Level

Randidly bared his teeth Perfect All that was next is to scale the engraving up and cover his entire arm with it And in the process engrave the control runes across the arm so that the two engraving work in tandem

For ten minutes Randidly simply breathed and considered the problem before him Especially for extended periods of concentration sometimes the preparation was just as important as the act

Then he nodded sharply to himself and exerted a bit of Mana to extend tall interlocking walls of roots up over as hut It was already night so Randidly didnÆt feel like it was very noticeable to completely surround his dwelling with a dome of powerful roots Then Randidly casually engraved a few runes for strength into the dwelling

This was not the sort of thing that Randidly would like to be pulled out of for anything but a dire emergency

Without the dim starlight it was pitch dark within RandidlyÆs small forge But that just made Randidly smile fondly Although it was almost like a nostalgic blast from his time in the underground prison there were so many ways that he had taken definite steps forward that would ensure that would never happen to him again

Perhaps for that reason Randidly felt extremely comfortable in the darkness Especially as he imagined a new form for himself

Randidly began by clearing a wide area and then setting out the assembled metal pieces of his arm one at a time He took care to place them and mark that physical spot in his mind so he would not forget how they were laid out As he did so he began the arduous process of mentally connecting those individual pieces to where they would be laid out on the arm

Slowly Randidly developed a mental picture of what the arm would look like

Breathe in breath out

Then Randidly began to imagine the lines of engraving skittering across the arm tracing the lines of power and meaning that would cement it as a powerful tool There were stops and starts as Randidly encountered problems he didnÆt expect and slowly accounted for them but the mental inventory process turned out to be much shorter than the physical preparations

Finally Randidly settled on the style he wanted to go for to add both the Aether controls and the PhantomÆs Finisher Skill he wanted to the arm RandidlyÆs eyes cracked open as torches of Ignition of the Emerald Essence illuminated the space

Emerald within emerald without And in that world he would create

Carefully Randidly studied all the physical pieces and made sure they matched his mental image exactly Piece by piece he pored of them rubbing his hands against the glossy metal to understand the feel of them He raised them and measured their weight Then with great care he laid them back down on the ground

He continued until he had touched every single piece of the arm And although it was just a touch it gave Randidly a sense of what each one was for the arm he was making

Then with a nod Randidly picked up the first piece and began to Engrave

It was funny to Randidly that he had once had extreme difficulty with even the simplest runes Mostly that was due to his smaller Mana pool and lack of Control and both of those two factors experienced an insane amount of growth since Randidly had started engraving As it was Randidly calmly moved through each of the strokes of Mana shaping how the equipment would be able to interact with the world without pause

The first piece was extremely simple It was much more difficult to set down the first piece and smoothly begin to Engrave the second piece The jump from material to material was difficult Even with a powerful Intelligence Randidly paused before each piece and wracked his brain to consider all the ways these different lines would touch and interact with each other

It wasnÆt as dangerous as the growing Skill Engraving but it would still be a colossal waste of resources if this didnÆt work out

Well not colossal Randidly corrected mentally Probably only about a dayÆs worth of work all told And the second time will be much easier than the first Which is probably the only reason why I didnÆt make a prototype out of a weaker metal

Which at the moment Randidly dearly wished he would have Yet another part of Randidly was amused at that suggestion It was far too late to back out now He could only pick up the next piece of metal and begin the engraving

In the dimly lit dome of roots RandidlyÆs focus became the vicious edge of a razor He carefully scraped through every challenge checking all the edges for consistency His mind was constantly at full alert considering the complex interactions of the two engraving patterns and the numerous pieces sliding against each other

Time moved quickly past

Honestly Randidly was having fun

He worked tirelessly in the emerald light engraving piece after piece Very quickly he entered something of a trance Instead of watching with his eyes RandidlyÆs hands traced the metal hoops to understand their shape With his senses Randidly created the looping strokes of Mana Engraving upon the equipment

His eyes simply looked to the far wall unfocused In his mind he was picturing the floating phantom of his mother the cold distance the flesh stripped away to reveal the stark white of her bones beneath The spooky and distorted noises that haunted his nights as a child

His heart slowed the speed of its beats Still RandidlyÆs gaze remained fixed in the middle distance his eyes unfocused

The skeleton wrapped in shadow was a small figure One that wasnÆt going to intimidate another physically Instead its strength stemmed from the fact that it was unavoidable Inescapable All things would eventually arrive before the skeleton It was a phantom of judgment Of time and of death It was a wild and fickle creature by human understanding Its schedule erratic and its arrival unpredictable It took and took and offered no solace to those that remained

But all Paths would lead to its Inevitable Arrival

Randidly released a breath he hadnÆt realized he had been holding His hands were trembling Immediately his gaze snapped back into focus

Even though his Mana pool was fine his Willpower was growing strained and blunt That came as quite the shock Did I really tire out so quickly

Releasing a surprised laugh Randidly paused after finishing the most recent metal disk and took some time to simply watch the unpredictable shapes that emerged from the fire It wasnÆt ideal but it was enough Because RandidlyÆs Ignition of the Emerald Essence was special It was the light which accompanied the genesis of humanity

Fully fifteen minutes later Randidly blinked Then shook his head Alright back to work

With a refreshed psyche Randidly continued to draw the lines of engraving across the hoops His fingers moved with methodical precision By this point he knew his strokes by heart

A frame for control Followed by the thin and violent lines of the phantom this was the step that drained the most of RandidlyÆs mental energy Then there were the functional runes of control within the frame and flanking the phantom rune Followed by a detailed rune for Mana to Aether conversion that tied the whole thing together

Piece by piece Time after time

And then Randidly started looking around to find that the ground was covered in bits of metal that glowed with the power of an engraving Grinning Randidly conjured some vines to pull the disparate pieces together Starting with the largest the pieces of thinly wrought metal were brought together and threaded through each other

With the assistance of plants the process was over very quickly It was bulky perhaps twice as thick as RandidlyÆs normal arm but it was complete with working elbow and fingers

Watching with an expression of wonder Randidly stretched out his right arm and touched the engravings They instantly flared to live a spider web of glowing blue lines that crisscrossed the silvery metal

Like a jellyfish’s drifting tentacles Randidly carefully alighted upon the metal arm mentally The fingers twitched and then flexed The elbow bent inward slowly like a door blown open by the wind The forearm twitched

As a smile grew on his face Randidly moved the arm more actively It twisted back and forth gripping the nearby roots that held it aloft Then Randidly pressed harder forcing the hands to squeeze With a crack the metal had ripped through the root and dropped splinters as the supportless arm crashed to the ground

Randidly chuckled Good This is the sort of force IÆll need

Randidly produced the leather binding given to him by Sam and put it on Then he raised the metal arm to the shoulder and twisted through the groove Then he put down the clasp locking it into place

Although it wasnÆt intuitive Randidly raised his newly created left arm looking at its Status

The Left Arm of the Baleful WoodÆs Lord Lvl 75 A powerful mechanical arm that is controlled with intricate runes Although the item was designed to compensate for a weakness there is an air about the weapon that indicates this will quickly become the LordÆs Strength Possesses the overwhelming ferocity of the Wild Phantom within its material Strength and Reaction +25 Stamina +100 Touch of the Baleful Wood V Runic Elegance II Wild PhantomÆs Raucous Finale Lvl 74

Touch of the Baleful Wood V Made with the blood and sweat of the Lord of the Baleful Wood All Class Skills will cost 25% less when used through this arm

Runic Elegance II The engraving upon this equipment was done by one who is quickly approaching the abilities of a master As such the effectiveness of all engraving is moderately improved Activating the effects of the Engravings will require moderately less energy

Wild PhantomÆs Raucous Finale Lvl 74 A powerful strike that calls to mind the cackling laughter of the Wild Phantom Possesses such force and power that the cost is significantly increased and the user sustains some small amount of damage to his/her muscles in the limbs used to move Will ignore a significant portion of the targetÆs defense Amount of defense ignored increases with Skill Level Power increases with Skill Level Speed increases with Skill Level

Randidly raised his two hands and clapped them together The metal felt warm to his real hand almost like his old left arm was back After twisting his hand to and fro Randidly reached out and dropped the veil of roots that surrounded his hut

To his shock it was already midday The sun was high overhead Birds chirped pleasantly to each other gossiping about these strange plants that appear and disappear overnight

But Randidly was done His arm was back Once more he could use his spear Skills to practice

RandidlyÆs expression became thunderous It might be a bit early but his Riders hadnÆt returned It was time to go find out why His metal hand clenched into a tight fist

Chapter 881

Ed was sweating as he dashed down the hill toward his bakery Due to an unfortunately timed backup at one of his facilities he had spent all of the prior two days up to his elbows in shit Literal shit The problem ended up being that the Engravings on their processing equipment were starting to wear down under the constant use

It turned out that they had expanded too fast The current staff that Ed employed wasnÆt enough to handle this scale of equipment But finding more people willing to participate in this line of work was a bit

Because of the backup they needed to go through and cast the Cleanse Skill by hand So now wasnÆt exactly the best time to bring new people onto the team Basically Ed ended up handling most of it himself

Which normally Ed wouldnÆt mind but there was another factor in the background that complicated the whole process

For whatever reason his bakery was the talk of Donnyton

The so called guerilla marketing Not that it matters With my baking ability it was inevitable that the quality of my desserts would seize the hearts of Donnyton Ed eagerly buttered his own ego as he hastily applied the illusion to his face and rushed down the sloped paths to the North side of Donnyton Even though it was two hours before dawn there were still a few people on the roads who gave him annoyed looks as he careened past them

But he had to hurry For the first time since his bakery was founded he had missed a day Now that his overwhelming talent had finally caught the eye of the Squads he couldnÆt let his chance to finally escape his shit industry slip away

His sanity was counting on this

Once more Ed was brought to a dead stop as he entered the square where his shop was located Because despite the early hour there were almost a hundred people milling about the square

Haha Of course Even with a single dayÆs delay the hold my chocolates have over these people

But EdÆs train of thought was brought to an abrupt stop as he looked more closely at the surrounding area Although the people were around his shop it seemed like most were being served at tables immediately adjacent to EdÆs shop At other shops The people there were waiters and waitresses

What the hell Ed muttered as he stomped forward

For the last year that Ed had owned this storefront the shop to his immediate left had been run by an old woman who offered clothing repair services The shop to his right was one of the many second hand shops where one could purchase used and damaged equipment for only a few coins

Obviously neither was doing very well The old woman only did it to keep up the appearances of trying to gain Skill Levels so her daughter wouldnÆt bother her and the second hand shop was a front for something much darker Ed always meant to investigate that but now

Now both were cafes

What the hell Ed growled as fury erupted in his chest To think that vultures would be circling so quickly But they would soon see As soon as EdÆs shop opened its doors the transcendent smell that he was able to produce

Ufufu you must be the owner of this fine establishment It must be nice to be able to sleep in

Ed spun around and came face to face with a very familiar foe Slugworth

Slugworth smiled wanly You must be mistaking me for someone else Of course my name is Mr Jones

Ed narrowed his eyes but said nothing to this obvious lie Upon examining Slugworth further it was clear that the man was using an illusion to shrink his positively dominant hawk nose to the size of a button Due to the size of the manÆs long face the effect was slightly off putting But then again Slugworth was always detestable His general aura was one of disrepute and seediness

Yet Ed dare not call the man out on the lie as he himself had used illusion to rid himself of his distinguishing mustache Both of these two eternal rivals were incognito and there was a tacit agreement to say nothing lest the other spoil their own cover identity They would duel on even terms here on the merits of their businesses

Slugworth was an old foe of EdÆs a man who worked tirelessly for the farming communities around Donnyton to provide composting services The walking slimeball was constantly haggling over the quality of excrement that Ed sold to him If not for Slugworth squeezing every bit of scrap iron he could out of their deals Ed would be significantly more well off

Often he stayed up late and complained to Bekany about how different their lives would be if only Slugworth would have spawned nearer to a monster at the beginning of the System It was one of EdÆs favorite conversation topics

apologies Mr Jones Ed said through gritted teeth I saw a dying pig on the way here and the resemblance was rather uncanny Perhaps a cousin of yours

LetÆs cut the pleasantries there is no need to be so formal We are neighbors after all Then Slugworth leaned toward Ed and sneered ItÆs so strange I have talked to the many patrons who were interested in your bakery and you know what they always said The desserts were passable but the reason they came back was for the ambiance There is just a feeling in the air

Slugworth turned and grinned Honestly I donÆt know how a snake like you managed it but I feel it too This place it feels like home So IÆve set up my own little side business here LetÆs get along for the foreseeable future kekeke

To even buy up the shops on both sides of me YouÆve gone too far this time MISTER JONES Ed rumbled

The shops on both sides There was a flash of confusion across SlugworthÆs face Then his expression twisted in bitterness and paled No I

A voice cut across him Ah gentlemen A meeting so early in the morning Perhaps I as a fellow shop owner in the area should join

Ed spun around to face

For several seconds EdÆs mind struggled to comprehend the strange figure he was faced with The hair was shorter But

WasnÆt this clearly Mrs Hamilton guised with an illusion

But as he was given the chance to examine the figure further EdÆs face went red with fury Because in addition to shortening her hair she had also added a mustache to her face A very fine extremely voluminous and well maintained mustache that any true man would envy Even now she stroked it contemplatively as she smiled at Ed Her expression was vicious and provocative

It was of course EdÆs mustache The real deal on EdÆs face twitched excessively in protest even as it was hidden by the illusion

What the hell are you doing Ed hissed

Mrs Hamilton chuckled and spoke in an excessively deep voice Hohoho thereÆs no need to shout I simply wished to introduce myself I am Mr Greene A new arrival to the area who simply loves commerce And you

Mrs Hamilton paused as an attractive man dressed up as a maitre de came and whispered in her ear Then Mrs Hamilton gestured helplessly behind her to her very popular cafe So many customers IÆm sure you understand I have not the time that the two you possess having fewer individuals demanding service from you Honestly IÆm quite jealous Hohoho

Then she walked away leaving Ed as red as a beat and as volatile as nitroglycerin

Randidly glared at Acri What did I tell you Stop killing them all I need to get the experience myself

Acri wriggled in dissatisfaction as if asking how it could grow it didnÆt get experience too

Randidly threw his hands up into the air Yes his hands Because over the several hours of hard running down to the Southeast he had managed to reach a passable proficiency with his arm While he wasnÆt at the point that he could control it instinctively like a normal arm but the process of adjusting to it was proceeding faster than he would have suspected

It seemed that Aether being the medium did a lot to speed up the process

Looking at the cooling bodies of the monsters he understood AcriÆs complaint This was likely the largest break in using Acri Randidly had experienced since he had rescued his spear from the Death School And that honestly wasnÆt very long ago as well

Plus now that he had both of his hands back Randidly desperately needed to spend some time practicing spear forms He simply hadnÆt had the chance for a few weeks and he would need to be on his A game to fight against Donnyton Yet he hadnÆt

Without two arms Randidly had largely need to set aside Acri and focus on images and Engraving in order to improve It made sense that Acri was slightly disgruntled But after his experience of the insubordination of his Riders Randidly wasnÆt going to let this slide

He leveled a glare at the spear even as the dozen or so remaining grizzly bears cowered nearby Look these are mine alright I need to Level up After I get used to the feeling I promise IÆll go back to using a spear But for now

Then Randidly shook his head Anyway youÆve helped me a lot to get here I would not have survived if not for you But that doesnÆt mean you can put your own concerns in front of mine What would you do if I died down the line Would you just wait for someone else capable of using you to show up I know your feelings are hurt but right now I need to become comfortable with this new body as soon as possible Otherwise

Randidly trailed off Acri wilted It too remembered the fight against Aegaint It remembered how powerless they had been before him If it wasnÆt for the help of outside sources they likely would have slowly perished inside of that lava pool And likely that was exactly the reason that Acri was so determined Because just like Randidly it never wanted to experience that feeling ever again

Okay good Randidly said with a kind nod He raised his bulky left arm and turned back to the grizzly bears that remained They were between Level 45 and 49 and therefore were pretty good experience for him right now At least good enough that Randidly would stop and deal with them As for you

Instantly the bears perked up Randidly did feel some pity for them but it wasnÆt to the point that he would be merciful Especially when he could sense human bones in their den some distance away

They get pulled from their homeworld and taken to a place where they need to kill to survive and then we kill them for killing Randidly thought sadly But even if the larger culprit is the System They canÆt escape their own Path

He activated Wild PhantomÆs Raucous Finale and blurred into motion The Skill propelled him forward with unstoppable speed toward the largest of the bears

Honestly Randidly hadnÆt truly succeeded in creating the finisher he wanted What he received was similar to the Spear Advances Ash Trails With two important difference

The first was that the motion of Raucous Finale was much more volatile It wasnÆt just a straight line charge that could be easily read Of course it was slightly slower to give Randidly control of the movement

And the second detail

While the Spear Advances Ash Trails was mainly focused upon the idea of piercing the Raucous Finale smashed

RandidlyÆs fist hit the bear in the chest and the monsterÆs fleshy torso disintegrated into flecks of blood and gore

Chapter 882

Congratulations You have reached Level 42 +8 Stats distributed between Vitality Perception Resist Intelligence and Control +20 Free Stats +1 Stat to a Mental Stat +1 to a Physical Defense Stat +1 to a Mental Support Stat +2 Control +36 Health +40 Mana +40 Stamina +3 5 to all Regenerations +1 to Health and Stamina Regeneration

Randidly sighed ruefully and stretched It would be a long road to Level 49 at this rate Already he was starting to feel the diminishing gains for killing monsters below Level 50 If he wanted to improve further he would need to hunt a lot more or hunt those at a higher Level

Of course Randidly would easily transition to more dangerous prey The reason so many people became stuck at this tier was that they didnÆt have the ability to hunt monsters over Level 50 There was a sharp rise in stats at monsters of that Level and most of them werenÆt just above Level 50 but they neared Level 55 That gap was too much to overcome with hard work

Yet this sort of barrier wouldnÆt stop Randidly at all His images and Skills were at a level that had made Levels irrelevant when he was Level Twenty five Now that he was closing in on Fifty it wouldnÆt take long before Randidly was completely invincible at this Level

After scanning the surrounding area for any more monsters that he could easily find and kill Randidly gathered up Acri and began to move They were almost at his destination and it was time to find some answers

Randidly had quickly made his way South after finishing his arm to catch up with his Riders Although the connection to them was still too distant for him to be sure of their location Randidly had paid rather close attention to the direction that they had departed when setting out from Donnyton With that information he had a pretty good idea of where they had gone and why they refused to return

After all Neveah was operating in that direction If anyone would be able to usurp control and inspire rebellion in his Riders it would be her It made him chuckle

Of course it would be her

He had briefly considered simply sending her a message and asking about what she was doing with them but Randidly suspected that she was trying to hide something from him That was why she wasn’t able to leave and return to Donnyton to see him even when she claimed the state of that portal to another world was “manageable” Therefore surprising her might yield more information than he would get by giving her time to predict his arrival

It was a slightly immature tactic but at this point Randidly was annoyed Although maybe it was unfair to blame her for the Riders continued absence Perhaps she didn’t know that he had ordered them to return

Maybe she had needed bodies and their noncommunicative asses had arrived She simply was making use of the tool that came to her

Shaking his head Randidly extended his flesh and blood arm and allowed Acri to slide up his limbs The weapon comfortably settled around his neck warm to the touch Then Randidly continued to lope Southeast

There was only one other group of monsters that he encountered on the journey aside from the grizzly bears There appeared to be a rather well established Tier II Raid Boss that had been able to gain a foothold and now had four lieutenants accomplishing its bidding A powerful force to be sure but not one that Donnyton would normally have trouble eliminating Which meant that this area was either past their sphere of influence or that this group was purposefully left alive perhaps as a way to train weaker Squads

That made a certain amount of sense Monsters would continue to spawn in the world in absentia as long as Earth remained on this portion of the System’s tests but there was a danger to fighting against an organized foe that couldn’t truly be compared to fighting one giant monster

After all such combat would more closely resemble what it was to battle against humanity Even if it wasn’t necessary in today’s world it might be in the future Practicing those Skills was valuable Such a controllable monster grouping was something that Randidly could see Mrs Hamilton supporting Plus the growth of Raid Bosses was relatively predictable even if left alone Tier II Raid Bosses wouldn’t grow infinitely There was a soft Level cap that would keep them in the perfect sort of punching bag area

Despite the fact that Randidly understood the uses of such a monster presence he didn’t bother to control Acri as the spear greedily ripped its way through the whole settlement The strange four armed giants ran for their lives but their Levels were only in the early thirties They weren’t able to deal with Acri at all

Which made Randidly idly wonder how indestructible Acri was He was hard enough to resist blades and sharp enough to cut through the armor of the high Level Masters of Tellus so the plant being certainly possessed extraordinary survivability Honestly the fact that the Wight forces had captured Acri and hadn’t just been able to break it into kindling was probably a testament to the spear’s power

When a gleeful and blood covered Acri slithered back to Randidly he barely suppressed a shiver Perhaps he should treat the spear with more respect moving forward But Randidly’s point about selfishness was definitely correct

Their experience fighting Aegiant was a lesson but it would not do to allow that lesson to warp them with fear

At the end of Randidly’s long road Southeast was a rough looking city on the edge of the great sea that constituted Zone 32’s Southeastern neighbor As most of the ZoneÆs population was scattered in the diverse group of islands that dotted the sea there were few places that actually served as a gathering place for this Zone’s people One of those places was the City in the Clouds that Randidly had heard rumors about

And then there was this place

While the City in the Clouds was where most of those with any ability or coin ended up this harbor town affectionately called Scant by the locals was where flotsam washed ashore Every boneheaded youth looking to make coin and seek adventure on the seas ended up here There was simply something about the salty air and the sound of water lapping against the shore that drove people crazy

It filled their heads with dreams even as all that the sea gave them was sand and salt

But perhaps the people had reason to be crazy Of all the known Zones this one had the highest known concentration of Dungeons Some of them were hidden in islands while others were associated with particular sea currents

What that meant was that every week or so someone would stumble back wounded and announce they had cleared some high Level Dungeon and found gems Or pearls Or powerful items Which set another ten youths to dreaming and sailing wildly out in search of adventure

Besides the fools that packed this town there was something else that put Scant on the map fish

While Donnyton and Franksburg had made great strides in developing and domesticating monsters for meat most of their diet was still grains and vegetables In comparison to the difficult to control monsters which always had the chance of reverting to their feral forms the vast schools of tuna within the sea were easier to catch and more tender to eat

Perhaps just due to its initial scarcity fish had shot up in popularity over the past few years Lake Apollo in Zone 1 had once produced fish but the strange infestation of Raid Boss/modified humans had killed out most of the local species When Randidly had informed Tatiana in one of their calls that he would be heading to the Southeast she enthusiastically demanded that he grab some fatty tuna for Erickson Steel

With a bemused expression Randidly walked up to the line of shacks that formed the outward perimeter of Scant Because there were no true walls He wondered how they dealt with roaming monsters Or whether the people at the edge of this poorly constructed place

Then Randidly paused The ground rumbled Within a few seconds large cracks formed in the dirt beneath his feet Very soon familiar small feelers exploded outward and Randidly didnÆt need to wonder how the town of Scant was staying safe for the moment at least

Randidly laughed “It’s certainly been a while hasn’t it “

With a gleeful trill Thorn exploded upward and enthusiastically wrapped itself around Randidly

There were a few points there the nominal “thorns” dug into Randidly’s exposed Skill but he couldn’t help but notice how deftly Thorn shifted its body so Randidly didn’t end up looking like a piece of butchered meat He filled the note about ThornÆs physical control away as he simply laughed and watched as meters and meters of vines as thick as his thigh exploded out of the ground and waved wildly in the air

Randidly noted with amusement that several people noticed the strange plant display and hurried in the opposite direction Windows were closed and doors were audibly locked

“Easy there buddy It’s good to see you too ” Randidly said warmly There were probably fifty individual thorny vines waving almost 30 meters into the air at the moment but Randidly could sense that this was just a fraction of Thorn’s current size “You’ve certainly been eating well haven’t you “

Thorn hummed in confirmation greedily rubbing itself against Randidly Sulfur chirped and pleasure enjoying the physical touch

That caused Thorn to pause Several smaller tentacles came out of the hole in the ground and carefully felt along Sulfur to determine what this interloper in the enthusiastic reunion was As recognition dawned in the cognizant plant the frisking became more vigorous

Very quickly Sulfur wiggled in glee as Thorn’s sharp thorns scratched away at it After all when Sulfur’s surface layer was cracked or scraped away Sulfur had the chance to produce a stronger shell So it was quite willing to be the subject of Thon’s peculiar style of attention

Quickly Acri trilled and flexed upward Its head bobbed back and forth waving its head like a cobra Within a few seconds a dozen of Thorn’s vines popped and mimicked that movement much to AcriÆs displeasure

With a laugh Randidly stripped off Acri and Sulfur and tossed them to the side “You three have some fun It’s been a while since you met right “

As Randidly moved out of the way the three Soulseed beings engaged in a wild wrestling match Acri and Sulfur were soon trembling from the exertion of challenging their older sibling while Thorn methodically tired them out and prodded them

Such was the power of Randidly’s first Soulseed Then Randidly showed his teeth It would certainly be different if Randidly brought Thorn to the Donnyton challenge wouldn’t it

That might just be overkill Donnyton wouldnÆt know what hit them

Chapter 883

“Well fuck me sideways ” Sam muttered

In a strange repeat of a similar scene two weeks ago Donny stood next to Sam while twisting to and fro nervously The boy certainly had a right to let down his guard at key moments and display his own nerves but Sam would prefer that he not be included in that trusted circle This was a bit too much “What does it mean “

“It means that they have made more preparations that I thought and it means we should meet with them ” Sam grunted His mind shifted from the messenger to the message from Zone Seven In front of him sat a wooden box a similar wooden box to the one that Donnyton had received earlier Except this time instead of hundreds of very low quality swords there were three weapons lying within

One ax one sword one spear

All three pieces of equipment had reached Level 79 It was a Level that made Sam clench his teeth

Cheerful Butcher’s Axe Lvl 79 A weapon imbued with the inner peace of a cheerful butcher Strikes made with the ax have a high likelihood of inflicting severe damage The edge might not seem sharp but the practical intent of the butcher has made this weapon extremely deadly Strength +30 Endurance +10 Ritual Use III Spirit of the People IV

Ritual Use III This weapon has gone through a series of refinements by being consistently used over a long period of time When fulfilling the use that the weapon was designed for the effectiveness of all related Skills is increased by 30% Resistance +15

Spirit of the People IV Each weapon is imbued with the unstoppable spirit of the People enabling a warrior to continue fighting long after their body would usually run out of strength Willpower and Endurance +55

Qilin Horn Rapier Lvl 79 The rare horn of a powerful monster that was slain and transformed into a blade Such was the craftsmanship that the equipment has transcended even the rare nature of the original material The mystical properties of the Qilin’s horn are perfectly suited to this stabbing blade Elemental Kaleidoscope III Not of This World I Spirit of the People I

Elemental Kaleidoscope III Due to the materials used to create this weapon there will occasionally be explosions of elemental Mana during attacks Such explosions will add as much strength as a Level 30 Skill Wisdom +20

Spirit of the People I Each weapon is imbued with the unstoppable spirit of the People enabling a warrior to continue fighting long after their body would usually run out of strength Willpower and Endurance +5

Spear of the Intrepid Monarch (Un) Lvl 79 A spear held by one who has led many souls into battle With such a spear the holder will be seized by the collective will of the army and wield that strength with impunity The larger the army the more strength the holder will draw from the army Strength Agility Reaction and Perception +10 Folded Metal III Spirit of the People VI

Folded Metal III The complex production process has created a beautiful kaleidoscope of color with its folded metal Perception and Reaction +35

Spirit of the People VI This weapon has been made with a very insistent and powerful image for the PeopleÆs role in the world As such it will be able to help its bearer surpass his or her limitations when following the will of the People Willpower and Endurance +85

“So ” Donny asked again

So at least they have not reached Legendary Rank But aside from that edge I have over them this is beyond the current me Sam sighed In some ways Donny was so foolish So persistent What can be said that hasn’t already been said The information was already in front of them What really mattered was what they did with this information

Suddenly Sam felt like RandidlyÆs words about Donnyton believing it was the strongest was spot on Which meant that Sam needed to use this as the prodding to push himself forward to a Level higher than this

Well if what Donny wanted to know was whether Donnyton was capable of producing something like this

Sam pressed his eyes closed Not right now But soon I know it With what I’m about to make for Randidly I’ll blow this away

Yet that wasn’t now So Sam opened his eyes and said “How much do these cost What did the ambassador want for them “

“No cost ” Donny said with a shake of the head “He claimed they were a gift “

That was exactly what Sam hoped he wouldn’t hear Sighing Sam looked up at the sky “No such thing as a free lunch hey talk to Sydney and get her to send some of those elemental manifestations South to us We are going to need to send a gift in return to our neighbors and we need to make fucking sure it blows their socks off

Sam had been focused on so many things the past few months that he had forgotten to raise the bar of what was possible But this combined with RandidlyÆs rejection of his initial equipment lit a fire in his chest

It was time to remind the world of the power of the Dawn Smith

Randidly frowned down at the ground sitting cross legged in one of the deep burrows that Thorn used as its home Even here not all of Thorn’s body was visible Thorn’s core was exposed but much of his body was spread through the area beneath Scant

Although the strange fleshy pink and green core was hanging right in front of Randidly that wasn’t why Randidly was frowning No Randidly was considering his next move

Because through their mental communication Thorn informed him that Neveah had ordered Thorn to stay here and destroy any of the frog people that washed ashore And to do it quickly before anyone saw them or they saw people Randidly also learned from Thorn that Decklan was with Neveah accompanying her

Perhaps more disturbing was that the connection to his Riders still wasn’t close enough to sense their specific location But he was able to get a faint sense that they were even further to the Southeast across the wide sea that separated this Zone Right in the direction where Randidly could feel Neveah’s constant and even connection

Snorting Randidly stood “Thanks for the info and for working so hard Soon I’m going to need to head across the sea so you handle everything here alright “

Cooing in dissatisfaction Thorn’s core contracted

Randidly shrugged “Yes well you can’t very well dig through the sea can you Have you tried moving through water “

Thorn slumped in defeat causing Randidly to chuckle

” yea I figured it was something like that Everyone has weaknesses Even I do Although if I had to describe them ” Randidly trailed off Thorn just seemed confused so he just shrugged and rubbed ThornÆs core affectionately

It was difficult to climb back up to the surface level through the series of tunnels and cracks that Thorn had created but from there Randidly was rather undecided on what to do Very soon after he had headed in this direction to surprise Neveah he might have just hit a stumbling block that would reveal his plans After all Randidly didn’t have the heart to try and convince Thorn not to tell Neveah that he was here

The plant was rather innocent it simply wouldn’t understand the reason for the deception

So Randidly sighed and opened up a connection to Neveah

Neveah I’m headed your way I have some down time so I’ll help you out with the portal for a bit

For several seconds there was no answer and then Neveah sent a wave of pleasure across their connection

Good timing Do you have more of these bug Riders They help with the image

Frowning Randidly tried to parse apart what Neveah was saying What did she mean help with the image

Well it’s not as though I can’t make more if they keep Leveling up the Skill I see you’ve been putting them to work for the past several weeks Why didn’t you tell me that you were using them I thought they had gone rogue

Neveah seemed surprised Oh I thought you sent me them on purpose They just showed up And they kill well

Shaking his head Randidly told Neveah he would be there soon and ended the connection They just showed up Well when he had allowed them free reign he supposed it made sense that they would head toward another being that produced similar energy to himself Something like instincts

The sun hung low over Scant fat and hot causing several beads of sweat to form on RandidlyÆs neck In spite of his internal conflict about this situation he sighed in contentment Despite the rather pungent smell of dead fish that was wafting out of Scant the heat and humidity reminded Randidly of the few vacations he had been able to take into Tropical climates before the System arrived

Those were good memories It was hard to come by those these days

As he walked deeper into the city he idly wondered whether there would be a point that tourism became a widespread thing on Earth once more Currently most people stayed in one spot because of the external threat of monsters and to sharpen their Skills but as the years turned into decades Randidly suspected that the rate of advancement for Skills would fall off a cliff

And after that happened the speed of Leveling would fall even more quickly once people lost the ambition they had to grow

Randidly affectionately dubbed this arms race period between the different Zones early stage System ism The period of growth would likely push them to the limits of what was possible for humanity After that would come mid stage System ism where the next few generations of children who would be born into the System would push a little past the current exploits After all with the benefit of experience they would have an edge over their predecessors

As for Late stage System ism

Randidly grimaced as he walked past a stall where the reeking innards of fish were heaped into a pile to be sold in bulk Hopefully he would be able to overcome the Calamities and give Earth the chance to reach that point That was why he was here

Getting distracted by other things was inevitable but he needed to keep it to a minimum For now he should gather information and then head toward Neveah

Chapter 884

Due to the relative peace of Scant Randidly was just letting the noises smells and pressures of the crowd wash over him It was not very enjoyable to stay here but it was a necessary evil He would need to make preparations here before he could move forward

One step at a time Randidly released a breath and closed his eyes just in time to feel someone reach for Acri who was hanging around his neck like a necklace and yank

Of course Acri sensed this too and surged into motion Without any of the sort of restraint that Randidly would display It wiggled out of the way of the grasp and then lashed out with one of a few tiny blades that were almost like Thorn’s that Acri was now mimicking from its older sibling Acri’s shaft became like a razor whip that ripped through the air toward the offender

Grimacing Randidly reached up and caught Acri with his metallic left arm Looks like Acri was learning aggressive tendencies from Thorn as well That would hopefully be tempered by some time apart

With his other hand Randidly snagged the little thief She was young and skinny a beggar with incongruously bright blue eyes for one so dirty and smelly In the first second after Randidly snagged her wrist she exploded into motion like a feral cat hissing and clawing But her fingernails were a far cry from the strength and toughness that she needed in order to harm Randidly through his growing Endurance

Stoically he endured it examining her carefully Obviously she wasnÆt a threat He hadnÆt even registered her movements because they seemed so harmless Yet to do something so foolhardy as trying to rob a stranger in a System governed world

After that initial burst of energy the beggar went as limp as a wet rag allowing Randidly to be the only force holding her aloft Sighing Randidly let go of her and allowed her to drop which caused her to begin to cry

Inwardly Randidly groaned With these sort of developments what she said next was probably going to be something like

“Just kill me ” The young girl whispered her eyes on the ground “What’s the point Without money me and my brother Our lives mean nothing “

The Crown you wear is one of Upheaval and Gloom Randidly thought furiously at himself That is the burden you bear You must survive the Calamities and to do that you must grow strong Focused and strong By walking the dark Paths and destroying the established ways

Yet in spite of those thoughts Randidly crouched down next to the girl so that their eyes were on the same level Slowly those brilliant blue eyes rose watering and intimidated to meet his gaze that was so vividly emerald that the girl had to blink several times as their eyes met

There are no perfect Paths just appropriate ends Even if itÆs a slight distraction I canÆt just walk away

“You think quickly because I’ll only ask this once Can you and your brother guide me through Scant “

An obviously leading question Randidly could help this girl and her sibling but for all her plight Randidly wouldn’t give her any sort of concrete aid until he knew her personality a little better Money would be as quickly given as stolen again if that money were given to one as weak as this Equipment would be more trouble than it was worth And what would a young girl do with a bar of iron

As for an Aether Connection Randidly steeled himself against giving one out casually for all that this child was clearly in dire straights

Poverty was one of the few things that the System left entirely intact Randidly thought sadly as he looked at the girl This was the help he could give her a chance for him to see the goodness in her and consider what other specific assistance he could provide that would be useful Perhaps a vision of an image or Skill to inspire her

In the back of his mind Randidly felt his Crown of Upheaval and Gloom suffusing his Soulspace with its meaning He felt its stark practicality and dangerous edges Yet if he could truly assist this girl with it

But the girl began to cry harder and twisted away Randidly had let go of her when she collapsed so she easy regained her footing and sprinted away through the crowd Within a few seconds she was gone

Very slowly Randidly stood The words she had spoken

Just kill me Without money me and my brother

Randidly’s metallic left hand screeched in protest as it clenched into a fist filled with crushing force

I can’t save everyone

It was an easy truth to acknowledge but a hard one to hold To wear a Crown is to have the ability to open Paths for those who agree to follow you

Yet for those who will not follow what could be done His Crown above his head seemed to ask You do not rule a peaceful kingdom You struggle to manage the ending of the world DonÆt flinch as flows of blood beneath your feet begin to accumulate

With gritted teeth Randidly wandered deeper into Scant following the scent of dead fish and human filth toward the docks

Kerrar Minnow flashed his gap toothed smile “You wish to hire my boat It can be done but the amount I make in a day fishing is not small sir I am very good So your pay on a daily basis will need to be higher than that “

The young man sighed and pressed his eyes closed Which wasn’t a no

Kerrar eyed the young manÆs equipment skeptically He was wearing rather worn leathers but on his chest was a strange charcoal colored piece of armor There was also a strange plant necklace that sometimes seemed to move An Elementalist then Although Kerrar hadnÆt met any himself he knew of them

That would mean this boy had wandered down here from the East End Quite a far way from home

An easy mark And the fact that he was thinking about this amount of money meant that he could pay

“In addition ” Kerrar continued smoothly “LIfe on the sea is dangerous We will require guards and those do not come cheap If we pay them per day “

“Unnecessary ” The man opened his eyes and spoke with definitive confidence And those eyes they were so green and piercing that Kerrar’s breath caught in his throat

Well itÆs not like I thought it would be easy If he came from the North there is no doubt he has some grit Kerrar thought The young man smiled and Kerrar’s Dangerous Depths Skill tingled

That fact slid into KerrarÆs back like a spike of ice

“I’ll be more than enough to keep monsters away So the price Give me a number “

Kerrar rubbed his sweaty hands on his leather pants as his mind scrambled to process this information Although Kerrar planned on robbing this Northern fool blind it was true that Kerrar would have kept him safe during the voyage The Long Minnow Kerrar’s ship might not be as fast or comfortable as some others but it boasted the greatest track record for safety amongst the vessels Most of the money Kerrar made was from kickbacks from guards everyone was willing to take a little less pay to run with Kerrar’s ship

The Long Minnow might run afoul of weather but never of monsters Because Kerrar was always able to steer his way out of the worst of it

That was due to his signature Skill Dangerous Depths It was twinge whenever the boat was heading toward an area where an extremely powerful monster lay below the shifting currents of the sea

This was as far as Kerrar knew the first time the Skill had ever activated on land The man in front of him looked at Kerrar with his luminous emerald eyes and a small smile on his face as though he knew exactly what Kerrar was thinking right now And somehow the young man looked profoundly pleased

Suppressing a shiver Kerrar tried a different tactic Well then that just leaves the matter of the guide Because of the unpredictable nature of the currents we will need someone will a deep familiarity with your destination If you could just tell me

Honestly why am I hiring you if there are so many things you canÆt do The man asked in amusement

Kerrar scowled to discourage this sort of behavior immediately As time passed Kerrar began to wonder if he was overreacting Even now that strange sensation of danger from this man was fading into his memory It was becoming difficult to be sure that he didnÆt just imagine it Well then if my boat isnÆt fit for you IÆm sure you can find others in the harbor

I asked for someone fast Yours was the name that came up The man grinned and his face was that of a hungry predator eyeing its next meal I want fast And I can pay I donÆt need anything but a crew to run the ship And a captain to point it in the direction that I indicate The rest I donÆt need it

It will be expensive even with no extra personal No maybe more expensive because we go with so few The sailing will be difficult Kerrar said slowly

The man tilted his head to the side Do you take Donnyton Coins

Money Kerrar reflected Makes men do foolish things

Chapter 885

Randidly let his tongue taste the air it was salty and full of particles dragged here by strange winds

This place truly was a sea It was easy to see how an image of adventure would quickly and naturally develop in Scant There would be a darker underbelly of that but if this process continued for a long time

Behind him the hunched and suspicious face of Kerrar glanced at him then returned to his busy work around the boat Chuckling Randidly let the thoughts of ScantÆs development slide away Honestly Randidly was relieved that the man was able to stop trying to upsell him on useless additional personnel after they began talking about the price for being rented out as RandidlyÆs personal ship for an indeterminate amount of time

Especially when Randidly revealed how much he was willing to pay

It was somewhat upsetting that Kerrar insisted on charging a bit more as insurance when Randidly wouldnÆt pay for guards but he could understand the other manÆs point if they really did encounter a sea monster it was hard to simply trust that Randidly would handle it without seeing it for himself

Which of course was almost comically easy for Randidly That was just a difference in perspectives

Yet Randidly said nothing about the ease he could manage it and instead engaged in the haggling For two interrelated reasons He very much wanted to actually have a local sail with him out toward where Neveah was located in order to know the gossip going around the islands about what was going on

After all Neveah ordered Thorn to both prevent the Frogpeople from landing keeping them away from humans and keep humans away from them What was Neveah trying to accomplish with these interrelated by slightly different orders

Understanding of the context of what Neveah was doing would be difficult to pry out by simply asking questions and Randidly didnÆt have much use for money at the moment he didnÆt mind paying a little extra for KerrarÆs presence

The second reason was that because he truly wanted a pair of local eyes to give him context Randidly had spoken with several to find someone with which to work And that Kerrar was the fifth captain that Randidly had spoken to All the men that Randidly had met were all blustery and dismissive sneering at Randidly and insisting that he pay for their guards and their guides and their oracles and their retainers An endless series of kickbacks that even Randidly wasnÆt so loose with money as to allow

Such was the similarity of KerrarÆs demeanor to that of the half dozen shitty clones before him that Randidly briefly lost his temper during their interaction Which wasnÆt in an of itself special he had lost his temper with the other captains as well

But unlike the others Kerrar froze like a mouse that had looked up to find a hawk sitting on a branch above it with a rumbling stomach His instincts had detected the brief moment where Randidly had decided that he was done with the conversation and mentally dropped the guise of civility

In that space the images of Yggdrasil Ash and the Wild Phantom loomed heavy And Kerrar was filled with fear

Which made Randidly smile Perhaps Randidly should be more disturbed about his casual reaction but he hadnÆt used a Skill against the guy the other was just sharp enough to catch the shift and understand the danger it posed to him A man with good Perception or a powerful Skill that would notice RandidlyÆs brief lapse was someone worth working with

Ah It appears thereÆs something coming Kerrar said sidling up to Randidly

Randidly did his best to suppress a grin You saw something Or do you just have a feeling

KerrarÆs face flushed For whatever reason he was extremely sensitive about the treatment of his Skill I have detected danger in the direction you have indicated Normally we would ask a guide about the local currents in order to navigate around the impediment but because you refused to pay for

DonÆt worry Randidly said lightly He removed a wooden block from his interspatial ring and tossed it into the water next to the boat IÆll handle it

A pulse of Aether illuminated the surrounding area to RandidlyÆs senses and a second later thorny vines ripped out of the block and slithered down through the water toward the squid creature that was approaching them from below Some part of Randidly was tempted to use the boat as the base for his attack as a small spite toward this man who doubted him but Randidly refused to let someoneÆs livelihood smolder to ash just because of disrespect

He was not so mad with power to think such a reaction was reasonable Not yet at least

But that didnÆt mean he wouldnÆt tease the man

Kerrar was frowning looking at the block that was bobbing in the waves What is that

Shaking his head Randidly turned away Better to show than to tell It was difficult to see from the deck but there were already three dozen thick roots heading downwards to deal with the squid Full steam ahead captain Problem solved

After a moment of internal turmoil Kerrar turned and exchanged a long glance with a silent man named Mack who was the only other member of his crew who Randidly had begrudgingly allowed Mack spat over the edge of the ship and shrugged as if to say in life you can only have money or sense never both Did you expect anything less from your patron

So they sailed forward

The squid was killed easily as the thorns punched large holes in its thick skin and allowed it to bleed out in the unforgiving waves Then because he wanted to make sure they wouldnÆt underestimate him in the future Randidly slowed pulled the large corpse of the monster up toward the surface

Inwardly Randidly wondered what would have happened if he hadnÆt intervened and there had been guards to handle the thing it was Level 39 and possessed an extremely large body Although it would likely be possible to beat back its long tentacles very little real damage could be inflicted on its main body from the deck

So how would they have handled it

In RandidlyÆs mind it either meant the guards were more capable than he had given them credit for or that Kerrar and his ilk possessed more methods than he was showing Randidly It was likely a mixture of both Still probably wasnÆt worth the effort to root out that truth

Fuck Mack swore Randidly chuckled impulsively that was the first word that he had heard the morose man say

Quick as a flash Kerrar crossed the deck and peered over the side When he saw the eviscerated corpse he blinked several times It seemed that Kerrar had a lot of these moments when faced with new information where he simply stayed completely still and allowed himself to process this sort of information

Sometimes such breaks could be dangerous but Randidly also knew that the small window of weakness compensated for itself by providing a large benefit Because those moments of stillness meant that Kerrar could shift instantly

Such was the life of seafarer Randidly supposed Always ready to be drawn out of harmÆs way by a strong current

You did this And brought it up here on purpose Kerrar said slowly as he turned to look at Randidly

Because there was no point in hiding it Randidly nodded

Kerrar shook his head helplessly then turned to Mack Hey bring up a fishing line A strong one Pulling up this body He turned back to Randidly Will defray some of the cost of your passage Hell if you could bring enough of these your trip would almost pay for itself

Kerrar trailed off as a bright smile bloomed on RandidlyÆs face From his tone Kerrar had been joking about such a possibility But to Randidly

Besides Randidly justified to himself as a pale faced Kerrar and Mack hauled the body aboard and expertly extracted the usable parts The experience it gave wasnÆt terrible About three hundred at this Level and IÆll hit Forty Three

Plus Randidly was pleased to note Kerrar pulled a few of the ropes of the rigging and adjusted the sail of their boat Instantly they surged into motion heading toward Neveah as if drawn by a magnet Their speed was incomparable to before

When Randidly gave him an amused glance the man coughed into his hand Err I was taking a cautious track But if your power truly can guard us I see no reason why we canÆt proceed more expediently

Randidly would likely have continued to tease the man but he received a message When he opened up his menu his frown deepened as he saw the sender Lyra

Heya I got some juicy info for you which IÆm willing to give to you as long as you answer a question of mine honestly

Instantly Randidly was wary On the one hand Lyra had very rarely sent him a message That she did so now so soon after their previous discussion meant that the information was probably sudden

Or perhaps because of the rather amicable parting she was now advancing a plan to manipulate him in some other way

Randidly grimaced But she did have a line on information through the System framework that he could not get access to any other way Even if it was ultimately aimed to be a manipulation there were quite a few possible benefits that Randidly could obtain from hearing her out And all she wanted was his answer to a question

WhatÆs the question Randidly replied

Could you give me a Class

That caught RandidlyÆs attention Because instantly his mind started racing as he considered the implications of that statement He had scanned Lyra briefly with his Aether Detection and idly inspected her System structured Aether form but largely there were portions of that architecture that kept him from being able to view the important sections

Therefore he had satisfied himself that she simply wasnÆt an incarnation of the Creature at the moment her Aether was pure Without wanting to dig any deeper and risk setting off any sort of warnings Randidly hadnÆt pressed the issue at the time

But whether he could build a Class around that without fucking up the System stuff and pissing off Octavius Shrike That was a more difficult question

Still RandidlyÆs expression cooled to a frown quickly Kerrar at whose back he had inadvertently been glaring jumped and looked around wildly

Slightly embarrassed Randidly turned away and thought about the question more generally It was not will you it was can you likely to encourage Randidly to think about it and normalize such an option in his mind It was a pretty straightforward framing to get a positive response Some part of Randidly was annoyed by that but he didnÆt let that emotion take root

Maybe I would have to do a lot more thorough examinations of you It is theoretically possible But I was already warned by Octavius about interfering overmuch with the System So extinguish your hopes I will not be giving you a Class

There was no response for a while so Randidly stood and looked at the squidÆs blood being sluiced off of the damp boards of the deck by an efficient Mack There was something oddly detached about the whole thing It made Randidly realize that in a lot of ways boats are an omen of death for creatures of the sea

Finally the answer came

Interesting Anyway the information someone above is moving to find out more about you And very proactively theyÆve interfered with your Judgement Be careful

Randidly slowly released a breath One thing at a time

So his Judgement would be even harder His Heretic Path had slowly been evolving toward Fifty That just made the coming Judgement that much more imposing It was a looming shadow that was slowly stretching above Randidly

But also another question swam around in the front of RandidlyÆs mind

Why does Lyra want a Class

Chapter 886

Donny cracked his neck He had been called out of bed early because there was a warning about a woman staying so long in a Dungeon that she had developed Aether Sickness but it turned out to be a false report

Then again sheÆs associated with Randidly Donny thought with a wince She might just be a weirdo

But because of the early morning he wouldnÆt have time to go to his home and shower he would need to meet the representative without looking anymore imposing than an unshaven young man Basically none of any of the trappings of power he normally liked to have when meeting foreign dignitaries would be present

Still it couldnÆt be helped They hadnÆt been given much warning Only six hours ago in the middle of the night the delegation from Zone Seven arrived at Star Crossing and met with their Tribunal After exchanging pleasantries the representatives requested permission to use the transporter in order to visit Donnyton

After a brief delay they had been given permission

Which was why Donny now slowly walked toward the heart of Donnyton the System Village itself

There were currently thirty or so shops operating in that area most of them bought with points earned through the village In addition they had a cathedral and several facilities for processing equipment that was advertised by the System as intensifying the power of production based Skills within

Sam thought it was a waste of points to buy such facilities but Donny had agreed with Daniel that buying it was a good idea if nothing else they would learn much about the trick that the buildings provided With that information they would be that much closer to finding the trick to the System

Ultimately that thought didnÆt come to fruition truths were not so simple things as that But they did learn that not everyone was affected by such buildings Most of the high Level craftsmen in Donnyton wouldnÆt bother with the forges they had the expertise needed to finish basic processing already In addition something about what the forges did weakened certain aspects of the forging process

Sam was of the opinion that the three high Level pieces of equipment that Zone Seven had sent over were made in just such facilities Each possessed a strange weakness in its aspects Or rather than weakness it was a lack of intensity in some aspects According to Sam the numbness from the System assistance would cause exactly that sort of result

But of course for those starting out the System forges were a blessing that would give them a feel for imbuing a vivid character into the weapons and armor that they made Just for the experience of that feeling alone the facilities were invaluable

There were higher tiered facilities available as well But Sam told him not a bother

Now Donny was wondering if ignoring those possibilities was such a good idea

There was an ornate gazebo at the far end of the Village near enough to the walls that it had been built of sturdy materials in case of monster attack but far enough away that it didnÆt feel crowded by the grimly honed walls

As per DonnyÆs instructions the representative from Zone Seven was already waiting there for him Well there had been no other choice Donny had been down at the hospital watching an extremely irate woman insist she was fine in spite of the fact that the Dungeon Operator claimed she had been in there for what would have been almost six months

Donny pushed his hair back He was a busy man leading Donnyton It was perfectly alright to be slightly late to a meeting like this

Ascending up the short stairs to the gazebo Donny smiled at the calm man who sat at the central table But as he looked that smile faded somewhat The man was sitting with his eyes closed

excuse me Donny said slowly so as not to startle him I didnÆt mean to keep you waiting A situation came up that I needed to deal with

Now Donny extended his hand as the manÆs eyes opened They were mild and brown IÆm Donny VIllage Chief And you are

Han Yazhu The man said His smile crossed his face quickly like ripples across water A messenger of the people It is a pleasure to meet you I have heard much about this Village And to see it it certainly lives up to its name as the center of New Earth

At that DonnyÆs smile turned a fraction more genuine But Yazhu continued to speak

Which is why I come from my humble Zone Seven with a simple request please allow us to connect to your transportation network I believe direct teleportation between the capitals of our two Zones will be beneficial to both sides

When he was sure that Randidly wasnÆt looking Kerrar fished one of the wooden blocks that the man had tossed into the water and studied it

Very quickly he swore and dropped the block waving his hand Wincing Kerrar looked at his hand it was burned

Then he frowned down at the block and watched it slowly smoldering into ash Somehow the burning happened regardless of the presence of water It simply was foretold that the block would burn somehow so it did It didnÆt cause KerrarÆs Dangerous Depths to activate but still

Was this some sort of equipment that Kerrar didnÆt understand that allowed Randidly to kill the monsters Then this burning was some sort of magical chemical reaction

That made Kerrar feel somewhat better about the situation If this was an external tool it made a bit more sense than that this strange man with burning emerald eyes was simply dropping blocks of wood into the water and then killing monsters

Yet it somehow made Kerrar more miserable If this character had obtained so many high Leveled pieces of equipment that he could simply toss them away every ten minutes or so Had Kerrar made a mistake to not research him a bit more before taking his money Had he been lured into association with some sinister figure from the other Zones

Should I have charged more Kerrar wondered as he gnawed at his lip

Very quickly all of those thoughts and worries were wiped away from KerrarÆs mind Dangerous Depths activated again And this time it was ringing at another octave higher than the previous warnings

There was something strange about the signal on this occasion but Kerrar bolted to his feet and swiftly climbed up the mast to get a better view of the surrounding area Unlike most warnings there was no direction There was only a deep sense that they had wandered somewhere they shouldnÆt But Kerrar was a practical man he knew his Skill wouldnÆt provide all the answers Some things he needed to find out by himself

Although he was getting older the System had given him a bit of his old spark back which enabled him to fly up toward the crowÆs nest Although the world was becoming more fucked up every day with dangerous wooden plank weapons of all things those that didnÆt die obtained capability from the System

Once up in the crowÆs nest it only took a single glance to find the likely culprit of the suffocating feeling that Kerrar had in his chest

A huge vessel fully twenty five times the size of KerrarÆs modest ship cruising swiftly toward them It had fucking cannons for christ sake This was not a fishing vessel or even a monster hunting expedition that boat was made to kill and plunder men

And the black flag flying above the ship was a snide declaration of that very intent

On the way down Kerrar didnÆt bother with the ropes He simply leapt and landed the boards of the deck quaking from the impact Very quickly he picked his way across the vessel to Randidly who stood on the starboard side and seemed to be contemplating the waves

We have a problem Kerrar said without any real greeting As time passed the urgency that Dangerous Depths warned about seemed to grow even more hysterical Pirates Murderers General characters of ill repute

DonÆt worry Randidly waved a hand Stay the course If they try anything IÆll handle them

They have cannons Kerrar hissed How much clearer could he be Immediately Kerrar felt a flash of regret He shouldnÆt have even bothered to inform this fool This calmness was that of someone who doesnÆt know how seriously out of their depth that they are Kerrar should have just turned the ship and dealt with RandidlyÆs ire They arenÆt here to make friends

Unless cannons have gotten a hell of a lot more powerful since the System arrived I think I can handle it stay the course Then Randidly stopped speaking as he glanced up and frowned

Kerrar didnÆt know what was more disturbing the fact that Randidly seemed surprised the fact that there was a huge shadow across the deck of his baby or that his Dangerous Depths was now conspicuously silent

Turning around Kerrar only caught a glimpse of a figure cracking onto his deck with enough force to splinter and crack the wood The shockwave sent Kerrar sprawling but he was up again in a flash with two daggers in hand If these pirates thought that he would go quietly into the soft night they had another thing coming

Yet the ambiance of the deck was somewhat strange Even Kerrar who was ready to leap into action paused as he considered the two figures who remained at the center of the deck

A tall and gaunt figure stood on the far side of the deck Belatedly Kerrar recognized him as the Pale Killer the scourge of the entire sea and took an involuntary step back He had seen the manÆs wanted poster hanging all across Scant Hell he had used to joke about one time he had seen a tall mast with a black flag on the horizon and fled immediately

Now the Pale Killer just stared at Randidly

And RandidlyÆs face twisted with a grimace as he stared back Finally he shook his head and said It was hard on you wasnÆt it I

You donÆt even fucking know the half of it The Pale Killer hissed His hands were balled into fists Lightning fast he pulled a dagger from his waist and raised it Again Kerrar took a step back in shock but Randidly just stood there

Do you want to fight Randidly said in a soft voice

Fuck you The Pale Killer whispered Then his limbs went limp and he collapsed onto the deck his dagger bouncing several meters away to skitter next to KerrarÆs feet Then the Pale KillerÆs shoulders began to shake as though the infamous killer of the seas was crying

Time slowly passed

Kerrar tried to decide how long was an appropriate amount of time to allow the situation to go on before he spoke up and they addressed the rather obvious issue of a crying murderer on his deck

The boat slowly bobbed up and down on the waves The other ship loomed over them similarly frozen

Very gradually Kerrar paled How long was this going to take

Chapter 887

Decklan knew what he was doing was foolish That deep swamp of darkness that he had slowly been wading into over the past year was not Randidly’s fault Yet as soon as he saw the familiar lean figure with emerald eyes Decklan wasn’t able to stop himself from collapsing on the damp wooden deck

So much would have been different if if

If I had your power the tightly held emotions in DecklanÆs chest whispered It wasnÆt a fair reason to blame someone at all And yet here he was glaring at Randidly

The tight ball of his emotions that he had so carefully packed away had exploded in a kaleidoscope of pain and color Words that his tongue wasn’t eloquent enough to say bounced back and forth in his chest His entire being was a swirling maelstrom of darkness that made Decklan grit his teeth And yet he couldn’t stop crying

Decklan hated purely and completely this world that had driven him to this point This world that held the bar above his head and refused to budge from its unforgiving path

In a small way he hated Randidly for the very same reason

“You weren’t there ” Decklan croaked out “You were supposed to be Donnyton’s shield You were “

But his words choked off into silence Because Decklan knew that his accusations shriveled up to something very near to whining in the light of day Part of the deal that Randidly had made with Donnyton was that the responsibility for the town’s protection would be determined with a duel And Randidly had lost that duel Given his all and still lost Which meant that from that point forward Donnyton would seize its own fate The Path the Village would now take was under its own control

We were so proud Decklan thought bitterly His sobs slowed and silent tears coursed down his face as he struggled to focus his fuzzy gaze on Randidly We believed we had won our future The System would just be another foe that they would overcome Did you know how foolish we were

They had been lucky before Decklan had been lucky There had been losses but they weren’t close to him Not like Tera was

She died in his arms after buying time for the rest of the Squad Decklan had been delayed and she had put her life on the line to protect those weaker than herself She was a hero And seeing her body lying broken on the cracked dirt of the badlands her life leaking out through her extensive wounds

Every night Decklan dreamed of her looking just like that reaching for him from the clay colored ground She was trying to say something but his dream was always eerily silent No words could pass between them not now To fill the silence there was only his own labored breathing as he struggled with the knowledge that it was too late

It was unfair to blame Randidly for her death and the dozens of deaths that followed as Donnyton struggled to protect is steadily growing interests in the surrounding Zone yet what else could Decklan do

Because another truth dominated the core of Decklan much more poignant than any animosity he held toward anyone else he hated himself bitterly He hated his own weakness and the obsession with the man standing so calmly in front of him He hated seeing pity in Randidly’s eyes as Decklan was collapsed into a heap of limbs in front of him

This reunion was supposed to be different Randidly he was supposed to But DecklanÆs thoughts were muddled and confused The emotions continued to surge within him crashing against his ribs His skin felt so thin and tattered barely containing him

It shouldn’t have happened The forced emotional stoicism that Decklan had embraced shouldn’t have been something that so easily fell to pieces Not from a single look Yet before Randidly all of that carefully managed suppression evaporated like shallow puddles underneath the sun’s rays In its wake salt and bitterness pooled and cracked coloring Decklan’s twisted face

Randidly who had remained silent through most of Decklan’s breakdown finally spoke ” is protecting this Zone from the Danger Zone truly so exhausting “

Decklan blinked rapidly and shook his head like a dog drying off “That No What I want to hold you accountable for is “

For making me dream that I no longer need to be weak Decklan admitted to himself Yet what could he say to Randidly The man had already proved that great strength was possible if one pushed hard enough The obvious reason for DecklanÆs failure was himself That was the unadorned truth that squatted between his ribs like a feral pig

Yet how could he say that to Randidly Even Decklan’s hatred was a cowardly thing that scurried away to the deepest part of himself as he stood before Randidly What the hatred left was poisonous envy and deference

More than anything at the moment DecklanÆs emotions were slowly giving way to deep shame Why had he broken down like this

After grimacing Randidly slowly said ” although I would not normally ask you should be aware that revival is possible “

“Don’t ” Decklan hissed He pressed his eyes together Watching Tera die a second time was even more heartbreaking than the first had been That wildness in her eyes on that dark day the sight of Decklan’s own dagger shoved into her chest “All experiments in revival ended in failure “

Randidly absorbed that Decklan wanted to speak to curse Randidly for bringing up such a topic but what could Decklan say His thoughts at the time of her death had been exactly the same If it could be done with Roy the Undying Hero why couldn’t Tera also return from beyond the grave

Mrs Hamilton had okayed it so Coppernicus was brought in for no small amount of coin to attempt it And the result

Whatever lay beyond lifeÆs fragile box warped all those who touched it Without fail all bodies revived regardless of time spent dead went mad and instantly attacked each and every living being that they could find

The result of which was Tera dying again By DecklanÆs own blade because she was not the first that they had attempted but she was the one that Decklan had prayed to be special Yet like all the others she needed to be put down

So she died once more And then again and again every night in Decklan’s dreams for the last year

By now Decklan’s tears had slowed to a trickle His face felt oddly numb Whatever strange impulse overwhelmed him had departed and left the inside of his head overturned and ransacked Yet strangely the explosion of emotion now left him feeling empty Blessedly empty The numbness settled over him like a cloak With a deft gesture Decklan used his Dagger Manipulation Skill to summon the discarded weapon back to his hand Instantly he felt Randidly straighten Then Decklan looked directly at the other man and prayed that he would let that moment go without comment

It was unbecoming And dwelling on it wouldnÆt help anything

“Apologies I was not myself Anyway you are heading to see Neveah right I’ll take you there “

“Decklan ” Randidly began but Decklan couldn’t stop himself from glaring at Randidly

Don’t talk to me right now Don’t don’t you dare Even if my hate isn’t fair Even if it wasn’t your responsibility

You breathed life into all of this Doesn’t that mean you need to bear our pain when we fail That is part of the Path that you chose

This wound is the last thing Tera gave me DonÆt you dare touch it

Whatever Randidly saw in Decklan’s expression he kept his silence Without a word Decklan leapt upward and grabbed onto a rope hanging off of his boat the Incognita With a monkey like agility he clambered up onto the deck and gave a few short orders to the members of his Squad that had been carefully watching the action below

None of them met DecklanÆs eyes as he hissed out frigid orders and set the group in motion

After he finished Decklan turned around He could hear Randidly talking below with the crew of the small ship that had brought him here Likely for similar reasons Would Randidly bring those people It didnÆt matter much It would be easy to hitch their boat to the Incognita After finishing his discussion Decklan had no doubt that Randidly would climb upward to join him on the deck

An old impulse stirred in Decklan’s chest While climbing over the deck it would be very difficult for Randidly to keep his guard up There would be a single moment where Decklan could strike With his unique combination of Skills and Stats Decklan had the utmost confidence in his burst damage against an unguarded foe

The memory of those emerald eyes had erased any confidence Decklan possessed Even now that gaze seemed fixed on him peering through the wood of the boat They ripped apart all unnecessary substances to peer through his actions and ascertain his goals It was a gaze that seemed to suggest that Randidly had seen it all and now he was simply waiting for everything to play out as he expected

Those eyes were the sort that only one who had long danced with death would possess Even on such a common activity would Randidly drop his guard Even if he did was DecklanÆs damage truly enough

So Decklan just waited Numb and bitter and tired and furious with himself Decklan waited for Randidly to come join him on the deck

“You’ve got quite a reputation ” Randidly said lightly wanting to shift the conversation away from the strange unpleasantness from earlier

Decklan grunted “Mostly a series of arranged deceptions The connection with the Danger Zone was immediately discovered by the frogpeople and they sent clippers out immediately to explore Earth Neveah pulled me in and put me on the ship in order to mop up the ones that escaped before she could put a cap on the portal But those clippers found and massacred quite a few vessels When people heard about the disappearances and investigated we already controlled the seas in that area We made an example of them “

“So your ship was the assumed culprit because that was all that could be seen in the scene of the crime ” Randidly said feeling strangely relieved Negative emotions roiled off of Decklan with an intensity that neared that of a palpable image Honestly Decklan probably was the individual closest to being able to use images as was done on Tellus that Randidly had encountered on Earth

Which made sense Decklan had the same sort of violent determination that the people of Tellus had His Path would eventually lead to the development of a powerful image

Although those violent negative emotions had settled after DecklanÆs outburst Randidly’s Crown seemed strangely keyed into the radiating anger and hatred from Decklan It fed on it somehow And it also made Randidly realize that the images he was encouraging in the world weren’t always solely the positive ones For all that there were moments where Randidly would be motivated to help the strange girl with the brilliant sapphire eyes there were also these moments

Moments were his willingness to ignore emotions would be mimicked and slowly lead a man toward madness

Yet even though he knew that was the case Randidly would say nothing even though he could see the ways that Decklan was nearing a more dangerous variety of breakdown He couldnÆt that wasnÆt the Crown that Randidly wore

And what could Randidly offer him If it was a fight that Randidly could engage in for Decklan’s benefit maybe If Decklan needed to shatter some expectation to live his life in a completely unique way

This emotional problem Randidly knew his weaknesses He was not very emotionally savvy Besides this sort of downward spiral wasn’t something that could be easily solved with a word or two There was something rotten in Decklan’s outlook Until that infection was removed this strange emotional instability would continue

Until Decklan was willing to address it there would be no way to move forward

Although Neveah was relying on Decklan now it might be a good idea to search for more dependable support in the future Otherwise

Humanity likely couldnÆt bear the wounds a desperate man could inflict Especially because Randidly used Aether Detection and could feel the dangerous contours of DecklanÆs Class He was a Level 61 Killer And the nascent image of bloodshed associated with that Class hung heavy around his Aether

Chapter 888

“So what is Neveah up to ” Randidly asked finally moving to the topic at hand The strange interlocking concepts of responsibility that were present were starting to unnerve Randidly

Randidly didnÆt regret the time spent sitting in his hut and refining himself in order to be prepared to face the opponents that would soon be coming his way He needed quite a bit of power to deal with the impending Judgement after all For all that it sometimes felt he was letting life pass by it was necessary

But even Randidly would admit that it was easy While he was in the hut he was cut off from most of the consequences of his choices

It was quite hard to walk out of the hut and see those who suffered because Randidly had focused on improving his own strength rather than building a base for Donnyton In his mind Donnyton wouldnÆt have grown half as much as it had if he had remained and led the town forward But there would have been lives saved Randidly didnÆt doubt

Randidly pressed his eyes closed All Paths have consequences It’s precisely because the other Paths seemed worse that I have acted this way I probably didn’t make the perfect decision but I made a decision I can only do so much alone

To wear a Crown is to bear the weight of lives you were not able to save

” It’s probably easiest for you to simply see her in her element ” Decklan said His voice was still rather subdued but there was a certain amount of awe in his tone as he spoke of Neveah “It was a creative solution One that required her constant presence but it bought us time Which we desperately needed These Frog People generally are much stronger than the average humans “

“How much stronger ” Randidly asked Idly he turned and looked over the ship’s railing Behind them the Long Minnow was bobbing after Decklan’s huge vessel Small lives dragged haplessly along after Randidly as the proceeded directly toward the World Crater as the Danger Zone was called After his recent train of thoughts he suddenly paused and considered that impulse to bring them along

Perhaps he should not have brought these two innocent and low Level sailors along with them Perhaps he should have forced the sapphire eyed girl to accept his assistance Perhaps perhaps perhaps

“All of them are above Level 50 and they are a relatively warlike people Most have combat related Classes ” Decklan said “Plus they can leap off their own vessels to swim up and catch human ships unawares They are a dangerous foe without numbers And even one escaping and living to talk about the state of Earth would ruin Neveah’s plan “

Once more Randidly’s eyebrows rose But Decklan just smirked and shook his head slightly to indicate that would be spoiling the surprise Shrugging Randidly settled back to wait In the meantime he closed his eyes and practiced visualizing the patterns necessary for Engravings capable of growth

Endlessly he practiced refining his ability to create mental images After seeing how useful the patterns had been in the lead up to creating his arm Randidly had a newfound respect for the process Even if it didnÆt rise to the level of a Skill familiarity meant something Using these precious seconds

Maybe this can prevent more lives lost down the road

Luckily he didn’t have to wait long For all that the Long Minnow had been fast it paled in straight line speed in comparison to sea leviathan that was the Incognita Three tall and sturdy masts seemed to reach out with their sails and snatch the wind out of the air to glide rapidly across the water

At some point Randidly could cleanly feel his connection to his Riders snap back into place as he came within range of the Skill Instantly he felt surprise and relief radiating through the connection into hiTheirere emotions hit him like a wave from the sea he was gliding across

The images were mixed at first but Randidly quickly was able to parse apart a sense of what they were telling him And first he gritted his teeth in annoyance at the bad news Of the Riders he sent one remained out of the first two one remained of the second group of three and only two remained of the final bunch he sent off

All of them sent confusing requests that they be allowed to leave the service of Neveah who was a brutal taskmaster in their eyes That caused Randidly to chuckle Neveah a taskmaster That free spirit used to barely pay attention to her actions It was good to see that Neveah was learning to accept responsibility as well They would need it as the System upped the ante on the threats it was throwing at them

Immediately Randidly felt bad for how suspicious of her he had been He should have put two and two together when she insisted that he fulfill the gardening promise she had made and refused to leave the Danger Zone to do it herself Even if her priorities were still a bit confusing she was clearly someone who stood by her word

When Decklan’s boat arrived the dock was so barren that Randidly shook his head It didnÆt look like any force had been left here to man the docks Sailors swarmed down from the heavily built ship to pull it to the mooring Luckily it seemed that the harbor was plenty deep and the dock extended far out into the water in order to allow this ship to do precisely this

Hopping to the ground Randidly called back to Kerrar “Wait here If I’m not back before nightfall well I suppose you can sail well enough to find your way home right “

Even from afar Randidly could see Kerrar flush with indignation at the jab at his ability but Randidly just grinned and turned away Instead he followed Decklan’s loping form as he headed toward the center of the island

Most of the island seemed consumed by a vast marsh but they followed a carefully constructed series of wooden platforms that kept them out of the water Feeling with his Grasp of the World Seed could sense that the water was only about knee deep in most places But that still meant quite a bit of discomfort from drenched shoes for most people so he could understand why they had made the wooden path And yet

Randidly sighed inwardly No wiggling my toes in the mud today I suppose Besides I’m here on official Earth business so

Deprived of one of the great pleasures of moving around barefoot Randidly woodenly followed after Decklan He could sense Decklan’s surprise as Randidly managed to keep pace with the man Honestly Randidly didn’t know why people always seemed to want to challenge him to footraces It was pointless With even the passive from Yyrwood Body of Yggdrasil his physical capabilities were far beyond what they had originally been with his stats

And his Agility stat was not low Decklan probably focused heavily on Agility but Randidly didnÆt think that the man would have broken 600 as Randidly had The victor of a race was a foregone conclusion

To pass the time Randidly used his Aether Detection to feel through DecklanÆs status screen to try and determine how high his Agility was Unfortunately it was a somewhat arduous process As near as Randidly could tell Decklan was close to 400 Agility but wasnÆt there yet Which was certainly impressive

Or at least Randidly thought so His sense of perspective was so skewed that it was difficult to know

Eventually they arrived at a strange pyramid Without hesitation Decklan plunged into the System made construct Randidly followed Inside was clearly a maze but there was a large hole punched in the ceiling that Decklan simply leapt toward Beyond that there was another ceiling hole and then another until they climbed easily up through the shortcut made in the pointlessly obtuse maze around them

Honestly Randidly was relieved He hated mazes

Finally they had climbed through so many holes that they stood at the flat pinnacle of the pyramid which was a raised platform about the size of a basketball court Still without pausing Decklan continued through the floating grey portal that formed the center of the area

Although this was very different from how the Ogre Ravine looked Randidly definitely felt the same sort of warped Aether in the surrounding area as the two worlds bled together Sensing his Riders and Neveah on the other side Randidly followed

There was a second where the transition was extremely disorienting and then the entire world around Randidly snapped into focus And once he was there with his bare feet planted on the spongy ground he looked around and took in the world of the frog people

Rain quickly splattered on his face but he wiped that to the side to get a better look

The first thing he noticed about this world was a tall and twisting castle that dominated the surrounding landscape Its high towers and dark walls spoke of money and influence There was an overflowing moat and a high wall of black stone that protected the bleak looking keep within its encirclement

More rain hit his face Frowning Randidly looked upward Across all of the sky that he could see a low layer of clouds spat a chill drizzle of rain downwards over the countryside framing this ominous castle perfectly Thunder cracked and rumbled illuminating the austere architecture

RandidlyÆs gaze drifted lower From the slopes of the castle Randidly could see an encampment below of a vast army There were probably twenty thousand people below ordered in neat rows across the marshy ground

That caused him to frown Not only did they have such a twisted and gruesome fortress looming immediately above the portal but they also had an army waiting below Things here were worse than he had guessed No wonder Neveah believed she needed to be here constantly the frogpeople were prepared to deal with Earth

Beyond the army Randidly caught something that caused him to blink in alarm What he had initially taken to be a low hill was actually a vast and blank wall of stacked stone As he slowly spun Randidly saw that the entire surrounding area was encased in the wall giving the people of this world the perfect staging point to attack Earth while preventing any counter attack from being feasible

Clearly the wall was hastily built As Randidly peered at it flaws quickly began to emerge There were gaps for small groups of people to slip through But none were large enough to allow any more than ten or so people to proceed through unmolested It would carefully control the flow of any army that attempted to attack

Grimly Randidly followed after DecklanÆs shadowy form Not the construction matter Even if it was well constructed it wouldnÆt be hard for Randidly to break the wall with brute force to send a message to these fools as to what would happen if they fucked with Earth As they walked forward Randidly glared around and saw that a small group from the army was heading up toward the castle

Good timing Decklan said idly Then he upped his speed

RandidlyÆs eyes sharpened It would be good to see these frog people up close and have the chance to scan them with his Aether Detection Because he dearly hoped that this situation wasnÆt so dire that he would need to postpone his challenge against Donnyton in order to conduct a campaign here

RandidlyÆs new left arm flexed experimentally It certainly would be a good opportunity to test the limits of his new equipment Even if he had to miss the challenge fighting here getting an understanding of his strength would be a positive outcome

Randidly and Decklan were moving much more quickly than the small detachment from the lower army so they arrived at the castle gates at the same time as them The frog people were well basically what Randidly would have pictured if asked to picture frog people They were squatter than a human and had rubbery blue skin but otherwise looked a lot like people

What threw Randidly for a loop was that the frog people flinched and ducked their heads when Randidly and Decklan arrived Decklan didnÆt say anything so Randidly scanned the group

None of them were particularly strong above Level Fifty Five yet why had this group come to this Frogpeople Fortress Could they be messengers or scouts sent to report Then why

With a creaking groan the castle gate slowly lowered before the group that stood waiting And flanking the opening gate were two of RandidlyÆs Riders and a dozen people wearing the regalia of one of DonnytonÆs Squads

You may enter The woman who seemed to be in charge intoned and the frog people scurried forward

Frowning Randidly checked what his connection to Neveah was telling him That Neveah was directly forward deeper within the looming castle that seemed to ooze an evil villain vibe A strange suspicion began to emerge in his chest as they proceeded deeper into the castle

The hallways were ornate and dim leaving the frog people to stumble around into archaic furniture At the very least they were out of the constant rain Somehow Randidly suspected it wasnÆt often in this world that it wasnÆt raining That might be why the intelligent life had evolved from frogs

Finally after almost ten minutes of watching the panicked frogs they reached a grand hall Upon entering the room the frog people flung themselves on the ground Their leader a rather rotund frog called timidly Great Demon King Please have mercy upon this humble messenger but the Toad Lords refuse to surrender Please

If I do not get what I desire Neveah slowly stood as she spoke She was in her natural form at the moment a twisting evolution that combined human features and that of the bone wyrm Wide bone wings spread behind her back hanging above her open maw and burning red eyes

But most annoyingly she was wearing on her head a crown that was clearly a cheaply made imitation of RandidlyÆs Crown of Upheaval and Gloom

It was honestly kind of insulting

then I will bleed this world dry to teach these fools a lesson Neveah roared triumphantly

Blinking Randidly tried to rationalize what he was seeing The frogpeople flinched and begged for mercy pleading with Neveah that they be given more time to convince the other Toad Lords of the Demon KingÆs power

Randidly just watched the whole thing play out He had quite a few questions

Chapter 889

It was a good plan Neveah said almost defensively Randidly readjusted his stance so he wasnÆt just staring at her with folded arms He wasnÆt criticizing her he was just shocked They are stronger than humans Overall much stronger than Earth If they knew that fact no matter how peaceful they were they would eventually invade So I decided to play the part of evil being invading them Pretend that Earth was a terrible place to be feared where monstrous demons are common

The two of them plus a lounging Decklan were standing in the master bedroom of the castle which Neveah had constructed after sampling the many preserved horror movies from before the System arrived Apparently she had developed quite the taste for gothic architecture In addition she apparently had vastly increased her language proficiency through repeated exposure to media

Randidly was just glad her brain hadnÆt melted from watching too much TV

But if she is pretending to be a Demon King Randidly thought sardonically Can I really say that her brain wasnÆt melted WhatÆs that term for 8th grade syndrome in Japan Chuunibyou

Randidly rubbed his temples What he wanted to ask was why she decided to use his very respectable Crown in such a nefarious way Would this action influence his image The two of them were closely connected But he knew it wasnÆt very mature to ask that So instead he said And How has it worked

“Well ” Neveah said as a pleased smile spreading across her face Now that they were in a private area she had returned to using an illusion to create a rather androgynous human visage that looked like she could have been Randidly’s sister “They are a rather fractured people that are led by these Toad Lords I killed the two nearby to the opening but they were extremely weak in comparison to most of this world’s people Therefore the threat of me has bought time but more and more Toad Lords are sending agents to investigate Plus “

Decklan harrumphed “Plus the reason they found the portal so quickly was because after he opened it that Undying Hero fled inside and encouraged some individuals from the most powerful faction of Toad Lords to invade The irony being that what Roy said was the truth humanity would likely lose a war against the Frogpeople ” Then Decklan spared Randidly a glance ” provided that certain individuals move on our behalf “

To that Randidly didn’t respond But he did frown as he considered that conjecture From what he had seen from the Ogre Ravine World there were people within the depths of the world that would be more than capable of standing up to him Sure Randidly would be able to massacre the armies but they were never the threat

The real threat was those ancient things that had been biding their time in a world slowly draining of Aether They wouldn’t move lightly because their age made them cautious But when they did move

Neveah tsk’d “I have not been able to track him down because my presence is required here But until the Undying Hero ceases this foolishness more Frogpeople will gather And therefore I will be forced to kill larger and larger groups to keep my threat fresh enough to dissuade them It is dangerous “

That was the other fact that Randidly had realized as he listened to Neveah’s brief explanation of what had happened For all that they were acting to protect Earth what they ended up doing was coming into a dying world and killing indiscriminately to protect their own interests Of all of the options available to them this was the one that they had chosen

And the sad truth was the more they killed now the more likely it was that there would be so much bad blood between them that the Frogpeople might decide to go to war anyway

Yet what could Randidly say Elegant and peaceful solutions were nice but they simply didn’t have time or the strength to enter into a protracted war with a starving world that wanted the Earth’s energy like a drug Peace would be the goal down the line but it would only be possible where Earth controlled the portal And yet no doubt the frogpeople would think the same if they understood the circumstances

But then Randidly’s eyes narrowed Either way they would quickly become embroiled in a cycle of violence if the Undying Hero wasn’t brought to heel That was the key that would open up a more peaceful alternative

“Any leads on where the Undying Hero is ” Randidly asked

Decklan grimaced and looked at the floor Neveah shrugged “We can infer generally that he is steadily heading South from the information from the Toad Lords who have capitulated and by looking at who is sending representatives to watch us But we have no confirmed reports He moves too quickly and likely is wearing a disguise we have heard no word of a human with the description of the Undying Hero moving through frog lands And the Frogpeople would definitely notice a human “

“Even if you don’t know the exact position can you guess how far he has traveled ” Randidly asked

Decklan grimaced “Four days hard running for me if I went through the night And moving further South every day “

Grunting Randidly tried to calculate how long it would take to catch up It would probably be fair to say that Randidly could move almost twice as fast as Decklan should he go all out on the attempt Faster still if he used Inspiration on the active component of Yyrwood Body of Yggdrasil He still had about eight days until he wanted to get back on Donnyton so if Randidly left immediately he should be able to make it with time to spare

The only question was how would he deal with the Undying Hero when he found him

“Alright then ” Randidly said shortly “I’ll leave as soon as possible But before I go tell me what you know about where I’ll be going “

Why had the rapier had a third option yet neither of the other two did

Sam sat in a wicker chair as the sun rose over the horizon and considered this problem

Briefly in a fit of madness Sam had mentioned his confusion to Donny But the boy had taken it exactly the wrong way He was disturbed that so high quality equipments could be made with three different boosts to them Especially boosts that reached as high as V Immediately he had brought up the possibility of buying those production based buildings again

Sam had harshly shut him down Then he had proceeded here to think about the issue and why it was important Because there was something about it that seemed to suggest to Sam that if he could figure out why he thought this was weird his smithing potential would explode

But it was best to look at it methodically Sam thought to himself To start go to the beginning Then confirm every step toward the goal

Common doctrine in Donnyton said that the extra options that could be added to pieces of equipment came from three things Materials Process and Unity between purpose and construction With Randidly’s help Sam was beginning to understand that the Unity they talked about really referred to the image a maker had So Materials Process and Image

Even with those as a guide there were many times that a weapon would have a strange option one that seemed to somehow combine one or two of those categories Or an obvious preparation process would yield no changes in options Some of that could be blamed on failures by the smith but it also seemed likely that they were missing something

Which was why the details of that rapier continued to tantalize Sam

Elemental Kaleidoscope III Not of This World I Spirit of the People I

Spirit of the People could be set aside that was the overarching image that every sword and shield and glove and condom that came out of Zone Seven possessed They were certainly consistent in that respect

The other two were Elemental Kaleidoscope and Not of This World The problem with these was that both seemed to be attributable to the materials and neither to the process It is theoretically possible that elements could be imbued into a material but that wasn’t the case here The elements came from the monster itself

It was even less likely that Not of this World was created with a process How could humans process something to be not of this world That too was directly because of the monsterÆs magical nature

Perhaps Sam was simply shortsighted he could be fixated on nothing But that didn’t seem to be the case It seemed far more likely to him as someone who had forged hundred of items in the System that he was missing something important His categories regarding the options in weapons were incorrect

“Humm ” Sam rumbled closing his eyes and allowing the sun to just soak into his skin

“What are you grumbling about ” Regina said Sam started she had moved so quietly out onto the porch he hadnÆt noticed her When Sam opened his eyes he noticed that she was offering him a cup of coffee He took it and savored the rich flavor

Grinning in spite of himself Sam sniffed and said “Damnit how do you do it I haven’t had beans like this in years “

“Rarely do people need surgeons with the advent of the System ” Regina said wryly “I’ve had some time to work at it And I’m not the type of woman to stop before I’ve made a quality product So you think it’s good enough to sell I harvested about a ton “

“Do you have packaging ” Sam asked skeptically

Regina punched his arm softly “Shush I don’t need you to hold my hand through this I’ve got it handled You are just an old tongue whose been around the block so much that I trust you So how is it “

Sam wrinkled his nose but dutifully took another sip Rich and oaky the flavor lingered on his tongue for several seconds after tasting “Tastes good “

Holding the cup up he considered the dark liquid in the sun’s warm rays The amber color was inviting and the familiar smell of coffee drifted upward to his nose “Looks good “

Seeing Regina rolling her eyes Sam finished with “And it was made by the woman I love What more do I need “

“Uh huh thank you very much ” Regina leaned over and kissed his cheek Then as she straightened she released a helpless laugh “Really Looks good smells good We aren’t buying a table this is just coffee “

Sam rolled his shoulders “Well design is important in everything Just because it’s a coffee doesn’t mean “

Then Sam paused He tapped his fingers very quickly against the wicker chair Was it really that simple

“Sorry I’ve got to go ” Sam said as he lurched to his feet “I’ll uh take a look later at your packaging Or maybe tomorrow I might be in the forge for a few days “

Regina just laughed and waved her hand and Sam was off furiously comparing his theory to the pieces of equipment and their options that he remembered Based upon Randidly’s insistence there probably was no way to get away from image as a defining factor for the creation of an item Plus there was no evidence to the contrary

On the other hand What if instead of Materials and Process You thought about the item in terms of design principles

Which would make the options created by Function and Form

With a furious scowl Sam hurried toward his workshop He would need to perform some experiments to see the limits of this

Chapter 890

You are just going to walk in Decklan asked as he hurried to keep up with RandidlyÆs deceptively long strides

Randidly chuckled DonÆt sound so worried You already said that the settlement below is only the warriors from the defeated Toad Lords too weak to join another faction right So there isnÆt anyone that can stop me And a guide would help things along immensely

Decklan seemed to consider that as the two walked through the long halls of the castle toward the gate After hearing some sparse geographic details about where Randidly was heading and creating Neveah six more Riders to expand the spooky ranks in her service Randidly was ready to head South

Besides the more quickly he left behind this moral quandary the better Even now he could feel his Crown slowly absorbing a portion of the Aether here Randidly had never thought about it before but it seemed that actions he took while in a leadership role gave the Crown something more than experience

It gave it a Path

The Path that it would earn here well Randidly was ready to move forward All in all he was tired of chasing things down and he was working up a fair bit of resentment toward Roy who was forcing him to be in this situation

And if he Frogpeople misbehaved he would work out some of his accumulating frustrations on them

Good luck Decklan said shortly Randidly turned and spared him a glance carefully studying the man for any remnants of the emotional detonation that had happened on their initial meeting There were some traces around his eyes his gaze was tired and red rimmed But the previous explosion would have delayed the eventual collapse

For now it would have to be enough To solve the problems of those who follow me That is not my Path I only open up the future so they have the capability to choose That is the Crown of Upheaval and Gloom

When they reached the gate it lowered with a dull boom that sprayed mud and sludge from the far side of the moat The frog people had already been let out after their pleas before Neveah but the elevation of the castle meant that any noise here echoed in the surrounding area Randidly could see some in the camp below turn and stare at the sudden noise

At this distance they looked like ants Tiny numerous creatures that marched out of their strange buildings to peer uncertainly at the source of the commotion

Randidly slowly let his face split into a smile Over his head the true Crown of Upheaval and Gloom condensed into an austere grey metal circlet with long spikes sticking upward And in the grey and dim world of the constant drizzling rain the Crown itself seemed to radiate a sickly light that illuminated Randidly

But a small question from Decklan stopped Randidly just as he was about to bound down toward the camp

How do you keep moving forward IsnÆt it heavy

Randidly tilted his head to the side and looked at Decklan He was a scarred and broken man That much was clear But Decklan had also determinedly continued to fight for the good of Donnyton For all of his flaws he was strong

He deserves better than this Randidly thought to himself

But then another voice answered DonÆt we all

Mostly because I donÆt think about it Randidly answered quietly All I think about is what I need to do next And I keep reminding myself of the consequences if I wouldnÆt act ThatÆs all any of us can do

Then Randidly left Decklan and rushed down the slope toward the camp

Instantly the Frogpeople below scurried into action They seemed to trip over themselves as they struggled to array themselves into a defensible grouping Dozens turned into hundreds as they continually streamed out to form a loose line at the edge of the camp directly in RandidlyÆs way

Although no one drew weapons Randidly could tell that tension was very high in the camp A brief Aether scan confirmed that they were all in their high 40s and 50s in terms of Level These were strong individuals that could wreck a small Village on Earth

Their misfortune was encountering Neveah and Randidly It was a hard truth that this violence was the simplest option to stopping a tragedy But the fact remained that they had chosen the easy option willing to sacrifice the lives of the Frogpeople for the good of Earth

Although the System is at fault we will have to carry our sins Randidly reflected warily as he rapidly destroyed the distance between himself and the camp And in his mind DecklanÆs question reverberated

Is it heavy

The tang of fear was soon palpable on the air As the distance between them continued to shrink many of the Frogpeople visible flinched Which made Randidly wonder what Neveah had done in order to keep them so perfectly in line

As he approached Randidly slowed Then he looked back and forth at the camp before them Rather than tents these would be closer to longhouses They were made with mud and pitch permanent enough for now but overall extremely fragile buildings

Randidly also couldnÆt notice any difference between the frogs aside from small variations in size and coloring Overall they seemed completely ethnically similar Neveah had said these groups came from two Toad Lords but Randidly couldnÆt draw any distinction between them with most of the ways humans differentiated people

He supposed he would need to talk at length with his guide about just such issues The more information that Randidly had the quicker this process would go

W w who are you A rather large frog at the front eventually said The mood had eased somewhat when Randidly had arrived before them and not approached but everyone that Randidly could see continually glanced up at his Crown

Hiding his grimace Randidly announced I am the Demon Prince

After giving it a second for that news to sweep through the ranks of waiting frogs Randidly followed up with And I am looking for a guide to take me South I have heard of Toad Lords donÆt believe that this world will soon belong to the Demon Lord

Randidly bared his teeth I will teach them the error of their ways

There had been whispers among the frogs previously but that statement silenced them completely Awkwardly those nearest to Randidly just stared at him with steadily growing fear For almost ten seconds nothing happened

The rain continued to fall on them all standing and looking at him Randidly waited while the frogs just goggled at him They were frozen unsure of how to respond Then someone in the back audibly gulped

Ah I heard a volunteer Randidly said lightly stepping forward toward the group Immediately there was a panic in the crowd of frog people It was clear that those at the front who held sheathed swords didnÆt want to allow Randidly to walk through into their lines Yet they were seized with a deep fear And it seemed obvious that Randidly was only there for one person that fool who gulped

Randidly could see the conflict in their eyes as he strolled forward Was defending the honor of their people more important Would they protect one of their own from this external threat and risk exposing them to his ire

Always their eyes would return to the Crown that floated above his head

Yet as Randidly was only a few meters away the Frogpeople at the front looked at the ground and shuffled to the side Fear had won in their hearts

How easily we are divided Randidly reflected as he moved through the nervous bodies of the frogpeople It made him sad Not just because this happened here but because Randidly knew that humans would do the same if put under similar circumstances

Some things were the same amongst all people

When the frog had made the noise Randidly had locked onto it with his Perception So even as the frog attempted to creep deeper into the press of bodies the other frogs fearfully retreated away from that singled out individual It seemed that the people deep within the crowd had made the same decision that those at the front had made

So very quickly Randidly arrived before a trembling Frogperson who stood quite a bit shorter than those around it Likely this frog hadnÆt even been able to see Randidly as he was speaking The press of body was too thick Even now Randidly only had about two meters of space around him Aside from that the Frogpeople crowded around and stared fixedly at his Crown with dread in their posture

Believing itself to be anonymous the Frogperson hadnÆt suppressed its natural reaction Which was all the excuse that Randidly needed to approach A small tragedy in a world driven toward so many massacres by the System Slowly Randidly extended a hand toward the short and trembling frog person We are leaving immediately Thank you for your support

A thin voice cut across RandidlyÆs own He slowly turned to find another rather squat Frogperson forcing itself up through the press of bodies to stand near to Randidly Then the Frogperson paled and took several steps back as though it suddenly realized how close Randidly was wearing that baleful crown But the people behind it would not give space and it found itself pushed back toward Randidly