LoRG 2

Feeling confident Randidly took the Porpoise to Henrik

Henrik hit the thing with two Fireballs and the thing fizzled to a stop Randidly blinked the thinner internal circuits had melted very quickly under the barrage of heat More than that though this was the first time Randidly had seen someone use a powerful magic spell since coming into Zone 1

In his chest more and more sparks of frustration were coming together

Then Henrik kicked the Porpoise over Or at least he tried to The thingsÆ spread wheels kept its balance through the first two kicks Henrik blinked Without a word he handed Randidly 75 and took the thing away

Shaking his head ruefully Randidly returned to his workshop and considered the modifications he had made And as he did so he burst out laughing

The problem is that IÆm trying to adjust the materials while using the same runes as everyone else That wonÆt work TheyÆve been pushed to their limits I might make some small improvements but Randidly grinned at the ceiling Those sparks inside of him had become a conflagration and he could feel the intensity driving him forward DoesnÆt that just mean I simply need to invent a new runic language to do what I want

Before he let himself get carried around for another week Randidly returned to his base in the forest checking in on things there The flowers that he had empowered had bloomed perhaps a little TOO largely They were the size of dinner plates and a sweet scent wafted from them for about a mile Luckily the trees covered most of it but

Then Randidly frowned He had planned to head then to the shanty town where his hovel was and Maude and Jude were staying but his attention was caught by a group of people in the small farming compound there

Because he recognized quite a few of them

Randidly felt a headache brewing Why had Nathan and company turned up here

Well Randidly looked at his arms At least he could get the illusion touched up

Chapter 540

Tatiana looked at the kid in front of her with her eyes narrowed Step away from her We appreciate your help but we will take over now

A kid he was even if he was built like a linebacker and carried an iron wrecking ball like it was just a balloon He shook his head slowly his eyes never leaving hers The poor girl was sitting behind him on the ground shivering Tatiana knew rationally that the kid had probably carried the poor girl here but now he was a violent male presence He needed to leave

And if he wouldnÆt willingly she would make him

Pushing her body to the limits Tatiana rushed forward while drawing a stun baton Having no real animosity with the kid she set the baton to its stun mode Then eyeing his physique as she shot forward towards him she upped the charge to incapacitate If she had learned one thing from Baloo it was to never underestimate someone based on their appearance

And this fucking kid looked the part of battle veteran much more than Baloo did

Much to her surprise the kid deftly flicked his wrist and sent that dangerous metal ball careening forward She rolled to the side and drew a small caliber plasma pistol She only fired twice aiming for his extremities but he moved his arm and leg and stepped toward her his face filled with aggression

What she needs right now isnÆt violence Tatiana said doing her best to keep her voice even

The kid sneered at her Real rich from the bitch who started the fight

At the word bitch Tatiana felt her heart grow cold This time when she raised the pistol she shot a dozen times burning quickly through her Mana The whole point was to impress upon him the danger of pissing her off To follow up she upped the charge on her baton once more and rushed forward

But then her instincts screamed to her and she leaped to the side The huge iron ball came shooting back and would have smashed her to the side had she remained standing there

As the ball arrived back before him the kid twisted and kicked and the ball was launched towards Tatiana just as she completed the throw of her stun baton aiming for his head But then her eyes widened

Three times she used her Quickstep moving backward away from the ball But even then it had arrived before her in less than a second She had no time

Her eyes flicked upwards shocked at this kidÆs power Suddenly a voice whispered that she had been too hasty to jump to conclusions when she saw the wounded women in his arms He wanted to protect her too She shouldnÆt have started the fight

But he was a dick for responding so aggressively for sure

She saw him calmly reaching for the iron chain a sneer on his face Then the idiot let her baton hit him The electric current rushed through him his body seizing There was enough power in that jolt to power a grade school and yet the guy just twitched as though he was paralyzed

But that second meant that the iron ball was about to hit her She raised her arms and crossed them hoping vehemently that when she was nothing but paste on the dirt the other members of the compound would hear and rush over from caring for the other women Hopefully this asshole had enough empathy to feel guilt and would remember this day for the rest of his life

Tatiana didnÆt like the twisted satisfaction she felt imagining him torn up by the guilt but there it was Sometimes you couldnÆt help the dark parts of yourself

Should I have kissed Baloo that night by the fire Æ Tatiana wondered idly It was a strange thought she felt

Coughing Tatiana fell back There was a figure in front of her

Is this serious A mild voice asked A familiar voice

To her surprise the kid answered sounding somewhat sheepish no She fuck man no it wasnÆt Shit

Grumbling the kid turned around and looked down at the girl curled up on the ground She was a lovely thing with long blonde hair and vivid blue eyes The only problem was that her face was slack her eyes empty She had lost something wherever these people had come from But the look on the kidÆs face when he looked down at her

Even sitting on the ground 20 meters away peering around the iron ball which Baloo had stopped Tatiana could see the expression was pure and genuine empathy There was a depth of emotion there too that Tatiana dare not examine too closely lest it drag her own trauma back out of the box she had separated it into

Then Tatiana blinked Because Baloo had stopped that huge ball of iron like it was nothing

He crouched down next to her his eyes bright He seemed somewhat bemused So what did I just walk in on A loversÆ spat I understand sometimes there is a palpable connection from the first glance but isnÆt this a little soon

Sighing Tatiana leaned back on the ground and looked up at the sky Please leave me alone for a minute I just thought I was about to die and do you know what I thought right at the end

What were you thinking

After a pause Tatiana said that I wished the ball was a little smaller so it would destroy my body but leave my face for an open casket funeral

That got a laugh out of him at least

Randidly looked at Dinesh with a frown They were currently in a small tea room on the farm compound As it turned out Dinesh and company had encountered a strange bunker on their way South to find Randidly and had liberated the 4 women and 2 men that the people of the farm were now caring for While the more conscious 5 were being helped into buildings by the women who lived here Tykes had brought up the rear carrying the blonde girl

She was a light thing probably only weighing 120 lbs but he had taken his time Even RandidlyÆs meager social skills could discern that Tykes was smitten with the girl Which was fine but then Tatiana came over and demanded that Tykes release the girl He had been somewhat slow to comply and Tatiana understandably concerned with the girlÆs safety took exception to it

Of all the details of the story the most shocking was that Tatiana lived and ran the farming compound The same compound in the forest under which Randidly had a secret base He shook his head almost helpless Life was weird sometimes

Clearing his throat Randidly gestured for Dinesh to continue

Heavy resistance for the Zone But it was strange These were people who behaved like monsters high Stats but their Skills were haphazard at best All wearing these black cloaks They wore crosses around their necks too From the little weÆve learned of the Zone we suspect they were a less than savory arm of the Unity Church

They were alone in the room Bruya had come up to Randidly and touched his shoulder briefly but after that the rest of the crew headed out to camp with the farmers That was all it took to reinforce the illusion around him which took one of RandidlyÆs worries away at least Once Tatiana recovered she had to go check on the new arrivals and left Randidly to his own devices without even questioning his presence

He admired her commitment to these strangersÆ wellbeing at least But Randidly had intuitively known that about Tatiana She was rough but kind A total cliche in a way

Do do we know what is wrong with them They were all Randidly began slowly

Weak Yes they were Dinesh glanced towards the door Perhaps their doctors will have a better idea I can only guess at the specifics

Randidly snorted Knowing the small group living here he doubted they had anything like a true doctor with System related Skills A general guess then

Organ harvesting Dinesh said closing his eyes A lot of metal tables in the inner parts of the bunker Large glass containers filled with flesh And there were a lot of empty cells that we found

Randidly breathed slowly out his eyes narrowing There were two bits of information here First that the Unity Church really was involved in some very dark things From the first time he had run into them he had suspected it but he didnÆt want to let his atheism color his opinion But so it was

The second thing was that there was a trace around them A hint of the scent of a familiar Aether

The Creature

Unity Church huh Randidly said almost to himself thinking over his scans of their area Nothing of note that he could remember But a lot of bodies

Dinesh nodded as if it had been a question for him They responded quickly too We hit the bunker hard Tykes going wild on the cave fortifications they had to guard and Karlito and I following to mop up the rest They put up a good fight but they did more damage to themselves in the fight throwing themselves against us than we actually inflicted Within 10 minutes a team of 20 had arrived and we had to slip past with illusions

Randidly grinned and saw Dinesh shiver slightly But he couldnÆt help it Because at that moment Randidly finally found a target for his focus

But even though he caught the scent it was still extremely faint Just passed along through several intermediaries Perhaps the upper levels of the church

But even more confusing why was the Creature involved in organ harvesting

Chapter 541

Donny steepled his fingers his expression grave What do we know

They knew the location of the mine They knew its defenses at least in the general sense They knew the location of Tellumurite in the mines They retrieved the Tellumurite ItÆs hard to tell if they knew our shipping schedule but they struck two days prior to the packing day Therefore they received five days worth of the mineral Mrs Hamilton said smoothly as if she was checking off items from a list in her mind Then she glanced at Simon who sat cross legged in the middle of the room

It was extremely rare for Simon to travel anywhere in person since he had become the ZoneÆs Champion Which just made Donny more worried

Simon said nothing so Mrs Hamilton continued

Their main force was composed of Raid Boss minions The Raid Bosses themselves were located in a small camp several miles away Their location has been found but they have done well to cover their tracks The Raid Boss minions were released to run rampant Although we may have missed a few Glendel is using his ghosts to cover most of the plains as we speak Based upon these facts I surmise that they have been biding their time nearby the mine for at least a month building up forces These all were fodder to obtain the mineral

Why Donny asked straightening his hands and flexing them Why spend so much time to get Tellumurite It can give a boost to Skill performance and learning Skills but with just that amount

We canÆt rule out that they plan to use it in an unusual way Mrs Hamilton said with a sigh

you mean in the way Randidly used it To ignite a great deal of Aether to cause an explosion Donny said with a sigh We are talking real terrorists And if thatÆs the case I assume the prime suspect is Yystrix The Creature as Randidly calls her

All gazes turned to the fourth person in the room Lyra She calmly sipped her team seemingly unperturbed by their suspicions Donny had taken RandidlyÆs message seriously but he had a very different relationship with Lyra He understood that she was prideful but she truly wanted the best for humanity

But her posture now very clearly indicated that she would contribute nothing to the conversation So Donny moved the topic forward

He turned to Simon How did you miss this With this many Raid Bosses shouldnÆt it be easy to detect

Simon sighed and Donny was surprised that now of all times Lyra spoke up Let Mrs Hamilton talk about the core squad of the enemyÆs operation

Yes I believe that also contains the answer I am of the opinion that the Creature had a hand in this but she hired out the labor The core was four individuals A man with obsidian armor A huge man with a deep bass voice who remained covered the entire time A strange monster the size of a car And

Simon sighed again and then spoke Someone who wields a hammer yes It was they that struck the final blow

The room fell silent for several seconds

Thea Donny said slowly looking around Lyra smiled at him

She is Nemesis The Village Spirit who had once been a person said softly Just like Champions seek to raise us up us as in Humans Nemesai will attempt to make us fail the tests of the System The Calamity is their god It makes sense that they would work in conjunction with Yystrix

The group mulled that over for a bit A classification that would hinder the Zone made a lot of sense considering the past moves the System made to fuck them over It was just somewhat tiring because there was always a trap

But where did they find the man with the obsidian armor that kept Decklan tied up That level of fighter he wasnÆt someone from Zone 1 unless they are severely tricking us with the information available Donny said

Mrs Hamilton pushed her glasses up her nose I have a theory But it has some troubling implications Specifically that the SystemÆs goal is to punish overly powerful races Even the final resting places of seven Zones means that there would be an extremely high pressure

She trailed off for a second then snapped back into focus What IÆm saying is that I believe that the obsidian armored man was in fact a foreign power But he was not a person He was Zone 1Æs Nemesis

Everyone fell silent again Simon opened his eyes slowly I had felt something was wrong But to think well as you expect I have tested my limits I cannot leave the Zone I am bound here I did not lie Nothing changed after joining the wider world I can dream of anything under the sun as long as I dream it here

so the working theory is that there is System created super powerful terrorists Donny said slowly That can move from Zone to Zone And as more Zones connect to the wider world the more of them there will be can they be killed

This final question was directed at Lyra She nodded Plus all ChampionsÆ powers currently grow fuzzy around the Nemesis A head start When there are more that fuzziness will fade so they can be located more easily

Better to kill them now IÆll look into it Mrs Hamilton said with a nod

Donny almost wanted to smile If today was any other day he would have smiled at the relentless practicality of the woman Just like that a whole new series of threats were coming their way but she faced it unflinchingly Donny wished for that assuredness

He also wished that the Ghosthound was still here Because what he had to do next was very difficult But the Ghosthound had made his choice clear and it made sense Donnyton needed to grow on its own It couldnÆt rely on that manÆs strength forever

With a sigh Donny stood The rest followed his lead Well letÆs get to it This funeral wonÆt run itself

Randidly left the compound before Tatiana had emerged content to return another time to speak with her about her presence there He moved Nathan and the rest into town where they took up residence in his small hovel like it was nothing Tanya seemed the most happy because there was a distinct lack of hairdressers in the steelworkersÆ town

But Karlito took all of an hour to ingratiate himself with some seedy looking workers and was soon playing dice while preparing his stew Bruya hummed softly and began curing leather from some monster they had killed Tykes was surly and seemed perpetually looking West towards the girl he had carried

Nathan was the most delighted because he finally had some children his own age to play with

Each wore a powerful illusion as their faces were known to Ghost which was another headache that Randidly needed to explain to Tatiana But that could wait for now

Randidly had intended to return to the smelting rooms to make some more metals but he was stopped by another large screen that the Unity Church had erected Now they were talking about asking for volunteers in the building of their new shelters for the rapidly growing number of refugees The government predicted another wave of suburbs would be freed up in a week and they needed labor to finish the project in time

We are also happy to announce An elderly man said with a stern face making his message somewhat comical that the Unity Church will now be purchasing large quantities of steel made from this location for its construction and even more importantly many of the drones produced by GhostÆs initiative These observation and defense drones will constantly patrol the areas owned by the Unity Church while working on the project your safety is all but guaranteed

Randidly snorted and turned away He wasnÆt sure what he wanted to do about the Unity Church issue as of yet but he had already given Dinesh orders to scope out the surrounding area for similar organ harvesting locations And when one was found

Well Randidly would personally go to get to the bottom of the issue

But then he froze and turned around looking at the elderly man who was still speaking Because he recognized him

It was his maternal grandfather Kulwort Shaw

Chapter 542

There were ten thousand people standing in front of him gazing intently up at Donny Donny kept his face neutral impassive The sunlight sent speckled stars of gold careening off of his armor Honestly Donny was surprised so many people were willing to look so directly at him all things considered

But the air was somber There was a seriousness in everyone that wasnÆt usually there This had been a cold splash of water in the face of Donnyton Already rumors about what happened were spreading to the other Villages Donny hoped that it wouldnÆt become politically important but it was something worth keeping an eye on But for now he had a job to do

As Donny cleared his throat he noticed that Decklan was conspicuously absent from the front row where the other leaders of Donnyton sat neatly It was good that Decklan had been evening out recently especially since the borderlands opened The wildness was good for him and helped mollify his spirit

But all of this had ripped away that humanization Donny knew that as grief seized the man something else would creep out of him his true nature as a Killer

Tera Feeny has fallen who next will stand for Donnyton Donny said enunciating clearly

It started with Dozer but soon the entire first row was stomping their feet Very quickly those rows spread backward in ripples until the entirety of the assembled ten thousand were stomping in unison It was a slow even beat but extremely powerful when spread across so many individuals

The tradition was a spin off of the GhosthoundÆs challenge to Donnyton It had started in small scale funerals those of people who died in Dungeons or to ambushes from Raid Bosses Often for the tragic loss of a talented youth who recently became a member of a Donnyton Squad

Boom Boom

We will stand Came the spoken reply It was almost breathy It was a sigh as everyone released the energy of emotion they held in their hearts And as they did so the stomping got faster

Boom Boom Boom Boom

Donny breathed in and then breathed out The Vice Captain of the Assassination Squad of Donnyton has fallen who will next stand for Donnyton

This was different Donny abruptly realized than any other funeral he had been to Part of it was the scale but another part the more important part was what Tera had been to Donnyton

She had been there at the beginning She was one of the firsts She knew the Ghosthound before he was the Ghosthound At the time he had gotten to the Skills faster but they were still reasonable It was more like the Ghosthound knew some tricks that the others hadnÆt grasped yet Whereas now he seemed to be operating on a scale that none of the rest of them could fathom

One of their first one of their strongest one of their brightest had died

We will stand The crowd bellowed against the sky In the combination of noise something seemed to be rising An old sleepy beast was shaking off the dust that covered it and baring its fangs

Donnyton had lost something And it was angry

The stomping feet grew even more rapid so much so that people began to lose the rhythm But they more than made up for it in terms of volume of sound

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

A citizen of Donnyton has died Donny said his mouth dry When he spoke he opened his chest and used every bit of his enhanced Stats to yell as loud as he could If he did not it would be impossible for these people to hear him Who will next stand for Donnyton

WE WILL Came the reply and the beast was awake now It seemed to be rising up from the stomping bodies strands of noise and emotion weaving themselves into something truly monstrous This construct was out for blood

Those individuals who were able to attend this funeral were not only TeraÆs friends and family but everyone who was someone in Donnyton Arrayed before Donny was the army of Donnyton to a greater degree It was the weapon they had forged urged on by the Ghosthound

After the Ghosthound had left they had continued to sharpen that weapon with training and armor but they had lost something They had lost sight of their ultimate enemy the System The strange collection of impossible rules that had changed their lives and threatened to kill them But under it they grew strong

Perhaps they had confused this given strength for kindness or compassion from the System As if this was a collaborative effort rather than humanity using every tool at its disposal to fight for every scrap they had received

We will not make this mistake again Æ Donny thought closing his eyes and letting the noise wash over him

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

A human life has been taken Donny bellowed raising his arms Who will take it back

WE WILL

Randidly returned to his workshop on the drone factory campus and spent another day working He didnÆt attempt to trade in any of his drones as he was slightly disappointed with the outcomes but he had slowly been developing some ideas about how he would need to adjust the runes inside of them to do what he wanted

The actual adjustment was a very frustrating job

After 6 hours with only minimal success Randidly took a break and considered his available PP It had been quite a while since he had spent the time to upgrade his Paths and he suspected that he had plenty of PP now to finish off his current Path

He of course was right Randidly had gained 7 Skill Levels in Spearing Roots 4 in Plant Dominance 13 in Potion Making 9 in both Refine and Extract an impressive 20 in Chosen of Fire 6 in Fire Resistance and Cooking 5 in ChefÆs Palate 2 in Farming and Roundhouse Kick 5 in Mana Engraving 10 in SpriggitÆs Tinkering 4 in Aether Understanding and Aether Detection 7 in Living Aether 9 in Gravity Affinity 3 in Soul Bond and 14 in Engineering Savvy

There were plenty of PP so much so that he could easily finish off his current Path

Congratulations you have completed the Intermediate Soul Bond Path Some consider these paths to be lonely pursuits but you have found a way to forge a bond with another while each of you continues on their own path There is a danger here because this connection will associate you with threats against the other but there are rewards as well Take care traveler For the farther you walk with another the more catastrophic the eventual parting will be Health Mana and Stamina +200 Level up gains increased by a small amount due to your partner’s abilities

Due to the power of your partner you gain an additional 6 unallocated Stat points per Level You have gained the ability to instantly summon your partner to your current location Consumes ? of your total Health Stamina and Mana There is a one month cooldown

Chapter 543

Randidly chuckled wryly at the rewards for this Path The attributes were a nice boost but what was the focus of his attention were the allocatable Stats He wondered whether 6 was high relatively speaking In terms of rewards for Paths it was undoubtedly high But Randidly wondered if he gave Neveah an even bigger amount of power through his enormous Stats

This did remind Randidly that he needed to contact Neveah and see what she was up to Obviously she wasnÆt in any danger but her just hanging around that political man made him somewhat nervous

As for the bonus ability perhaps there were situations where that would be useful but the cost was somewhat hard to bear in the short term Obviously there was a lot of strategic value of one of them being able to go into battle while the other could summon them out if things grew too sticky It was worth considering down the line

Satisfied with the gains Randidly looked at his available Paths Honestly he was starting to grow somewhat weary of the proliferation of options

Heretic XXV 0/ Nexus Traveler Cohort 5 0/50 Experimenter I 0/50 Fighting Proficiency III 0/ System Transgressor 0/1 Steps of the Godling II Path 0/200 The Road to Mastery 0/500 Growth of Yggdrasil II 0/500 Crown of Yggdrasil 0/500 Friend to Humanity 0/100 War Leader 0/200 Path of the Patron 0/500 Metallurgist 0/300 Advanced Mana Engraving 0/400 Aether Convergence I Perfect Soul Bond 0/1000

After the Judgement once more descended at 20 Heretic continued to climb steadily upwards Strangely that Judgement hadnÆt been that difficult to handle the yeti that had attacked him the previous times wasnÆt summoned on that occasion Instead just hundreds of the empowered minion yetis came They were extremely annoying but werenÆt a serious threat without their larger counterpoint

It was honestly a pleasant surprise But at the same time it gave Randidly a chill It felt too weak to be purposeful Another option then was that the yeti was still alive on ShalÆs world It seemed impossible but

Shaking his head Randidly considered his other options He could worry about the Judgement later Nexus Traveler 5 Experimenter I System Transgressor and Friend to Humanity were all immediately discarded None of them seemed to yield useful Skills which was sorta what Randidly was looking for now Although he had a limited number of slots finding quality choices for those slots were important

And Randidly had the feeling that he was beginning to be deep enough in the Path tree to find them

Because he was unsure of how it would affect him he discarded Steps of the Godling Lucretia had taken over much more directly in handling the issues of his Soul Skill which freed him up from that responsibility She didnÆt rule it directly but as far as Randidly could tell she had an organization on the ground inside of it When there was trouble she dealt with it decisively Internal weakness could not be permitted again

War Leader was intriguing but he was not one who would ever be leading an army That was not the GhosthoundÆs MO Although Path of the Patron was extremely tempting it was discarded for similar reasons Becoming a Patron which is what Randidly believed that Path would result in was an official process Randidly would not take the System lightly

A new arrival Perfect Soul Bond was discarded just because its cost was a monstrous 1000 PP Randidly shivered Depending on how quickly he grew that might take him as long as a year It was hard to imagine keeping a Path for that long

Another new Path open to him Aether Convergence seemed tempting But Randidly was wary of what heading down that Path might mean After all what changes had he made that would lead the System toward rewarding him with an Aether Convergence Path What if the effect was to combine his AetherÆs with the System

No better to avoid it Randidly decided Which left a much reduced list to choose from

Fighting Proficiency III 0/ The Road to Mastery 0/500 Growth of Yggdrasil II 0/500 Crown of Yggdrasil 0/500 Advanced Mana Engraving 0/400

Fighting Proficiency was another shot in the dark but it was growing slowly and the prior two Paths cost 80 and 100 PP respectively Therefore the next leg of that Path couldnÆt be very long On the other hand the Skill he had obtained previously from that string of Paths was Counter Although Counter was a useful move and one that Randidly had been able to grind recently for experience its power was only so so Honestly Randidly had suspected that ShalÆs way of teaching was the real problem Randidly was simply not very skilled at counters

Growth of Yggdrasil was another leg of something he had completed in the 6 months of training before the borderlands opened He had earned a pretty sizable amount of Vitality from putting points into it and was rewarded with a boost in the Rarity of his Yggdrasil Skills at the end which was extremely tempting He put that as a maybe

Road to Mastery was the next step in the Newbie Trainee Apprentice Journeyman Adept line of Paths or so Randidly believed It was something that would probably yield Skills So that was another maybe

Advanced Mana Engraving might help a lot now as Randidly struggled to figure out how to make these runes that he wanted But that was a red herring and Randidly knew it He wouldnÆt receive the knowledge from a Path He might obtain a useful Skill but the actual knowledge of its use would only come from himself

For this Randidly had a new plan He wanted to go back and make a sizable chunk of metal and then use that to buy all the different blueprints that he could afford He would learn the runes involved in them and then use the Mana Engraving Encyclopedias he had been given all that time ago on ShalÆs world With both these sources of study Randidly refused to believe he wouldnÆt be able to make progress on the creation of his own style of runes

There was a ghost of a smile on his face The Spear Phantom Style of runes

But Randidly knew what he was taking For a long time he had wondered why he had not created a Skill Set with the Yggdrasil Skills One explanation was that there was a special process to do so but Randidly had done it with the Ashen Spear without doing anything at all special Then what was missing was not a random input but a Skill to hold it all together and make it a Skill Set

The Crown of Yggdrasil had a certain solemnity to it that drew RandidlyÆs eyes It made his skin tingle Instinctively he knew his answer was there

Of course when Randidly put his PP into it nothing happened for a long time It was only after he dumped fully 50 PP into it that it gave him 10 unallocated Stats Randidly shook his head unhappily but tried not to pay too close attention to it It would give him the reward he sought he had no doubt He wasnÆt sure of the details but from the treatment of Skill Sets on ShalÆs world it was clear they held a special allure

The fact that he had a high Level Skill was interesting but not enough a Skill Set at his Level made him exemplary Randidly was looking forward to seeing how obtaining a Skill Set would change his Yggdrasil Skills

Before Randidly rushed back over to the metalworking factory to put his plan into action he took a glance at his Stats and rolled his eyes Honestly at this point it was getting hard to follow all of the changes to himself But in his heart he knew he was becoming strong

Health(/R per hour) 3522/3253 (+730) (1477 (+165

Mana(/R per hour) 4109/3616 (699 (+9

Stam(/R per min) 3211/3094 (+60) (482 (+45

Vit 322 (+15)

Str 342 (+52)

Agi 362 (+24)

Resistance 277 (+45)

Willpower 430 (+10)

Intelligence 360

Skills (Soul Skill) Seven Lands of the Spectral Tree Lvl 1346

Combat Spear Mastery Lvl 178 White PhantomÆs Half Step (Un) Lvl 73 Heavy Blow Lvl 94 Dagger Mastery Lvl 10 Iron Skin Lvl 47 Dodge Lvl 98 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 137 Block Lvl 74 Phantom Onslaught Lvl 42 Sweep Lvl 54 Spear Deflect Lvl 10 Calculated Blow Lvl 89 Roundhouse Kick Lvl 67 Idiosyncratic Cut (Un) Lvl 99 Pierce the Skies Shatter the Earth Lvl 57 Body Control Freeze Lvl 37 Stalemate Breaker Lvl 29 Talon Strike Lvl 38 Counter Lvl 51

PoFE Class Skills Plant Dominance « Lvl 110 Spray Holy Sap (Un) Lvl 9 Sharpness Lvl 69 Call Grove Defenders « Lvl 34 Earthquake (Un) Lvl 43 Invigorating Call (Humanity)(Un) Lvl 14 Four Shaded Domain Lvl 29 PhantomÆs Lantern (Un) Lvl 33 Grasp of Lava « Lvl 67 Erode Image Lvl 7 Vengeful Bloom (Un) Lvl 19 Gallant Intervention (Human) Lvl 4 SpriggitÆs Tinkering « Lvl 23 Aether Understanding Lvl 43 Summon Lava Golem (Un) Lvl 22 Aether Infusion Lvl 41

Aether Skills Aether Detection Lvl 91 Aether Manipulation Lvl 97 Living Aether « Lvl 100 System Interference Lvl 10

Spells Spearing Roots Lvl 92 Mana Bolt Lvl 28 Mana Shield Lvl 32 Arcane Orb Lvl 22 Fireball Lvl 30 Magic Missile Lvl 4 Healing Palm Lvl 12 Pollen of the Rafflesia Lvl 20 Summon Pestilence Lvl 54 Wall of Thorns Lvl 29 Yggdrasil Soul Seed « Inspiration « Incinerating Bolt Lvl 91 Circle of Flame Lvl 75 Plantomancy Lvl 35 Hammer of the Dawn Lvl 37 Burning Footsteps Lvl 23 Ashes to Ashes Lvl 49 Touch from Beyond « Lvl 24 Gravity Affinity Lvl 52 Incendiary Eruption Lvl 22

Crafting Potion Making Lvl 73 Farming Lvl 34 Plant Breeding Lvl 19 Mapmaker Lvl 7 Analyze Lvl 29 Refine Lvl 62 Extract Lvl 47 Mana Engraving Lvl 104

Auxiliary Sneak Lvl 46 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 21 Pain Resistance Lvl 63 First Aid Lvl 16 Pathfinding Lvl 18 Fire Resistance Lvl 99 Sewing Lvl 11 Cutting Vegetables Lvl 2 Manual Labor Lvl 6 Digging Lvl 5 Cooking Lvl 72 Clockwork Mastery Lvl 16 Aether Connection Lvl 15 Soul Bond Lvl 102 ChefÆs Palette Lvl 30 Nether Resistance Lvl 13 Child of the Rain (Un) Lvl 16 Chosen of Fire « Lvl 66 Engineering Savvy « Lvl 15

Chapter 544

Hank measured the man in front of him Everyone who he had run into in Donnyton had a certain something It was purpose Hank eventually decided but the part of him that had been raised by Rick refused to let it lie at that There was a certain surety about them but it was more than that

They were decisive and believed in what they were doing However that was tempered by the knowledge of their own weakness It was a delicate balance and one that so many of them seemed to easily adapt to

The man a teenager really in front of him was an average looking fellow It was hard to believe that the Chieftain of Donnyton was so young a man But he had been there since the beginning and his shoulders had grown to fit the mantle of a responsibility that he wasnÆt prepared for and he didnÆt want But in his eyes there was a certainty that said he had risen to the challenge against all odds

My nameÆs Donny ItÆs good to meet you Donny said shaking HankÆs hand His grip was firm I didnÆt mean to keep you waiting but Tera was a dear friend of mine I hope you understand

Of course Hank said meaning it The System ainÆt made it easy for us The monsters seem to grow stronger and smarter every day

DonnyÆs smile was sharp They really do Will you be acting as the diplomat of your Zone

Chuckling ruefully Hank shook his head Partly it was because neither Alan nor Ghost trusted him but the other part was that Hank had been doing his best to give off the air of an irresponsible leader during their lazy journey down to Star Crossing where they teleported to Donnyton Due to that Laurel had become the spokesperson for Zone 1Æs leadership

She was only military adjacent but she was trusted by enough important high ranking individuals that she would suffice Plus Hank had no doubt they had Ghost run dozens of simulations and seen her betray them or defect in none of the scenarios

She was also a much better choice than the other options Ezekiel and Affina

IÆm more the rough and tumble type Here for safety HankÆs the name Besides while IÆm here IÆd love to learn more about your training methods I had my teeth kicked in by fellows going by the name of Paolo and Kayle on the way down

Donny laughed I donÆt doubt it The two of them are both notoriously difficult to fight IÆm not totally confident myself in beating them in a straight duel And feel free to look around The training sessions generally cost some of our currency but while your here consider it on the house Just no starting trouble alright

Hank gave his toothiest smile I wouldnÆt dream of it sir

Laurel rolled her eyes

Generally LaurelÆs instincts were very accurate It was partially the result of her impressive intellect but Hank consoled himself these days with the fact that her Class also pushed her in the correct direction Still Hank was extremely surprised himself that it only took 17 minutes before he got into trouble

Why would you bother with bows Hank repeated They are cumbersome slow guns A good pistol on the other hand

The attractive woman he was facing smiled even wider She waved away his words and just said I get it You are slow And IÆm sure your toys there are very precious But this training ground is for adults Maybe take a step back

Normally Hank wouldnÆt have talked trash so quickly But as soon as he arrived at the training area he had witnessed about a half dozen burly men tripping over themselves to make way for this petite pretty thing They even had the gall to act like she was godÆs gift to archery when she was fiddling around with two pathetic small bows the size of her hand

It was what Hank assumed was the sad comparison to a pistol and he couldnÆt help but laugh She looked at him sharply seemingly insulted That only goaded him on further He had come to Donnyton excited to meet competent and powerful individuals To find this woman teaching here toying around with her worthless little bows

It was something of a letdown And Hank wasnÆt a man to let such a disappointment slide

Girlie Hank announced The day I take a step back is the day I eat my boot Now run along before you get hurt

There was a strange surrealness to the air Hank could feel it as he spoke as if these words werenÆt all him but were something more A natural outpouring of his Soul Skill But honestly he didnÆt mind There was a recklessness to it a challenge to anything that purported to be something that it was not that he admired It was a part of him that would chase truth and beauty to the end of the world

Delightful You are new and you seem at least halfway decent Do you already have a Class Splendid then this wonÆt be bullying She said with a sweet smile My nameÆs Annie You are just a treasure arenÆtcha How about this an old fashioned duel to first blood IÆm short on time so IÆm going to start without waiting for an answer But you donÆt mind right

With a great deal more ease than she had previously she spun the tiny bows across her fingers

HankÆs expression became serious There was something in her expression all of a sudden

She had it too That surety of the strong of Donnyton And strangely as soon as it had come that impulse from his Soul Skill was gone leaving satisfaction It had apparently seen all it needed to She had passed its test

But HankÆs grin just spread wider In a duel he might not be the best but he was more than enough to put up a good showing Having an opportunity to fight against someone who gave him the chills like this lovely girl wouldnÆt happen often so

She already spun the bows holding them steady with her pointer and middle finger Her pinky and ring finger reached into small quiver tied to her wrists and she flipped it up to the bow With her thumb she drew the string of the bow backward Within a split second a tiny needle streaked towards Hank

His eyebrows rose So she wasnÆt just a pretty face

Hank Dodge Rolled to the side and straightened reaching for his repeater But then Hank froze Because his guns werenÆt at his sides they were laying on the ground back from where he was just standing His eyes scanned them and he held back a gasp

Something had expertly cut through his belt at the point he was about to go into the roll so he didnÆt notice the difference in weight at all

Annie spun the bows again laughing What are you looking at The duel is to first blood I seem to have missed your skin completely LetÆs keep going then Maybe IÆll get lucky if I keep trying

Gritting his teeth Hank rushed her But no matter how fast he thought he was or how well he planned and predicted her moves she seemed to be able to disappear like a ghost at will and appear behind him In terms of speed he was nowhere near her match

After 20 minutes Hank was completely sleeveless

After an hour he was panting with the continued exertion as he attacked her over and over again After his pistols were taken from him he made no move to pick them back up It was a point of pride The only weapons he would use were his fists But he couldnÆt for the life of him close the distance enough to use them

His torso was completely bare

Sighing Annie stopped abruptly around the two hours and ten minute mark So much so that Hank looked up surprised He hadnÆt come close to catching her but his Dodge Roll and Dueling Skills were rising so quickly he couldnÆt believe it Had she finally given up

Honey can you take care of this man HeÆs surprisingly resilient Annie complained flipping her hands He just wonÆt admit he lost this duel It truly surprises me that he can claim with a straight face that he is a man

The individual that Annie was speaking to smiled Hank would call him a man but that would be woefully inadequate in describing truly who she was speaking to It was a man like the hulk was a man But where the hulk had a physique without an ounce of fat this man just seemed solid Not that he was particularly fat but he did have something of a belly and there wasnÆt much definition to his arms But where he stood out was pure size

His shoulders were the size of basketballs and his hands were large enough to wrap around a personÆs head He was probably fully two meters tall and weighed close to 300 pounds At least

The man cracked his knuckles It looks like he just wants to box Annie But look since you seem uninterested how about I handle it

Annie tittered You would do that for me

Chapter 545

Annie actually thought that this ambassador from Zone 1 was rather cute if misguided There was a very aggressive pleasure in slowly shooting the arrows until his clothes revealed the body underneath for all that the man was probably 10 years her senior

Besides there was something very pleasurable in how he refused to concede even when it had become increasingly obvious that there was a vast disparity of power between them Of course this meant that he had probably gained two dozen Skill Levels over the course of their confrontation but that didnÆt mean that most people could see the benefits in remaining in the fight and being humiliated Men especially found it a hard pill to swallow

There was a spark in this oneÆs eye he was desperate for the wildness and thrill of testing himself

Crossing her fingers Annie hoped that Dozer wouldnÆt be too rough with him

Dozer moved with surprising quickness for his bulk and closed the distance between himself and the cowboy The cowboy for his part said nothing to imply he rejected the challenge In fact he raised his fists and adopted a boxing posture

Dozer was not a particularly emotional man although he truly was more insightful than Annie gave him credit for early on in their relationship But when the cowboy adopted a stance he smiled pure and wide It was the look of a child who had found the toy he had been waiting for

At an unspoken signal both rushed towards each other the cowboy moving much more quickly than Annie would have given him credit for She had been aware that part of her advantage lay in her use of her stealth Skills to keep him from being able to read her shots but it was still impressive to see his stride eat up the distance His movement style also revealed that he was a competent boxer as well

Dozer had no grace just momentum Then he threw his first punch There was an audible crack as Dozer tightened his hand into a fist and raised it The blow seemed deceptively slow

To his credit Cowboy rolled backward instantly But as the cowboy looked up at Dozer his eyes narrowed and she sensed he could intuit that he had just made a mistake

Building on his momentum Dozer rumbled forward two more blows smashing outward From anyone else these would be casual jabs From Dozer it could kill a regular human and even those with Classes would blanch at the thought of being hit with the fist directly

Instead of dodging Cowboy stepped forward and under the blows After he had narrowly missed getting his head knocked off he threw a left of his own one that smashed into DozerÆs midsection Dozer had a good 7 inches on the man and the closest target to him was DozerÆs huge torso

Without bothering to dodge Dozer brought his left arm around in a hook

The cowboy expertly stepped to the side and then threw two more lefts But before they even landed his eyes widened as he sensed the danger After throwing the hook Dozer twisted his left arm and clawed outward at the cowboy using a lot more force this time It was fast and too late to dodge The cowboyÆs eyes narrowed

He adjusted his stance and twisted to throw a right at DozerÆs jaw

It hit and DozerÆs head tilted incrementally to the side At the same time DozerÆs hand landed on the cowboyÆs shoulder There was a moment of pause as the cowboy was knocked off balance and stumbled while Dozer gathered his strength

With a roar Dozer burst into motion his body twisting almost 90 degrees to the left His attack was now more of a grab than a claw and the cowboy yelped as the rapid rotation caught him and brought him around flinging him into a nearby tree

He tumbled head over heels and crashed into the tree which cracked Wood and man collapsed in a broken heap to the ground Silence reigned for several seconds

Annie rolled her eyes I know heÆs tough but jeez That barely took any time at all You need to learn to savor your meals

Shrugging Dozer cracked his neck while rubbing his chin thoughtfully All the while that wide grin stayed on his face It was a good punch

Randidly stared intently at the remains of the bonfire he had made the previous night

There was a weight to burning he was slowly realizing and that was key There had to be a certain amount of constant heat in a large area around it and then like a seed an even deeper and more dangerous seed would slowly bloom That bloom would slowly spread outward until it filled the entire space that the prior heat had occupied If there was enough fertile ground now an even more powerful heat would be born there But that required area

The coals in front of Randidly glowed orange and red a luminous rainbow of ambient energy It was impossible for him to up the scale of the experiment without alerting Ghost so he had simply made a small example after a barbecue was held in the small shanty town

It was very far from what happened in the case of a sunÆs formation of course But it was illustrative of where the power came from It was almost pseudo science at this point but that heated area slowly increased the possibility of something greater being born

The supernova phenomenon occurred because at some point that seed of heat that bloomed was to the functioning process of a sun fundamentally more dangerous than any of the vast space had been previously It broke the balance

Unfortunately no balance would be broken in a small fire

Congratulations Your Skill is now 75% formed

But that didnÆt mean there wasnÆt something to learn

However before he could consider further Randidly received a message from Dinesh

I found another one of Unity ChurchÆs facilities

Randidly eyes glowed emerald and vicious in the darkness It was time to find out what the Church was truly doing He had been somewhat hesitant about what to do after learning that his Grandfather was part of the Church After all RandidlyÆs relationship with his mother was strained to say the least She had a similarly distant relationship with her father who had raised her alone after his wife died

But there was always a wariness there On those rare occasions that Randidly saw his grandfather he had always been on his best behavior Because the man was extremely eccentric and volatile One time to prove to Randidly that there was nothing to fear from riding a bike his grandfather had ridden a childrenÆs bike 12 miles from the store back to his house and back

He had returned with RandidlyÆs overnight bag because he was staying with his grandfather at that time Then his grandfather had checked his watch I might as well just tell your mother to pick you up here Good day

Then he had left Randidly and the bike and gone home It was confusing more than anything else

Plus right now Randidly was Baloo Erickson There didnÆt seem to be any organic way to approach the man while he remained affected by the illusion Well other than joining the Unity Church which was becoming increasingly popular in the area More and more Raid Bosses had been showing up in the area so their assistance was useful

Of course Randidly kept the area around him clean with the help of Sulfur and Acri so it wasnÆt too pressing But it was slightly annoying He had even begun to suspect that the Raid Bosses were being herded somehow into the area to scare people into joining because there were suddenly so many more than there had been previously

Letting his thoughts go for the moment Randidly asked Dinesh for the location Then he returned to the underground base to meet with Bruya She adjusted his illusion to look more like a Randidly sized Lucifer with short but vivid orange hair and a strong nose

Looking at himself in a mirror Randidly flashed a smile The mini Lucifer sneered back at him looking so haughty that he couldnÆt help but laugh ItÆs perfect

So it was only an hour after he had received the message from Dinesh the two of them were standing above the location of the compound It was a peat bog from the look of it and the day was humid and hot to match it The wetland was covered in a dozen or so low mounds and they stared at the smallest of these from a nearby hill

I followed a suspicious truck to this location Dinesh said quietly 9 individuals were unloaded very quickly while they were bound and seemed semi conscious I donÆt have confirmation but I knew you would want to know

Randidly nodded absently Already he reached out to the plants in the area and their tendrils wound their way downward He turned to Dinesh How many trucks did you need to follow to find this place

Dinesh simply shrugged Chuckling Randidly let it pass Let it never be said that he complained of the presence of competence in his groups Then abruptly he received feedback from the plants surrounding the underground bunker Very quickly his expression soured

We are going in Randidly grunted

Chapter 546

The first thing his roots told him was that there were several people crying in tiny cells along the back of the facility There was a large front area that he couldnÆt really get into but beyond that there were several smaller rooms Two of them appeared to be laboratories One was a gym of all things

In one of the laboratories a woman was standing over a senseless young woman seeming to stop and admire the scalpel RandidlyÆs lip curled upwards

DonÆt you fucking dare Æ

All across the facility Randidly poured his Mana into the plant matter that was squirming along on reconnaissance missions With that infusion the tiny individual plants swelled to ten times their size reaching out to grasp the half dozen or so workers that were in the facility Instantly alarms began to ring

Randidly cursed quietly If he had time he could have disabled that But saving the girl was more important And within 10 seconds his plants had ripped deeply enough into the electrical lines that ran through the facility that the alarm sputtered and failed There wasnÆt even a backup power to the bunker so everything was plunged into darkness Those crying individuals in the back continued to wail

For now Randidly had to ignore them Instantly he sprung into motion and leaped over to land on top of the small mound He had a problem Although he had quickly overwhelmed the other workers that fucking scalpel woman was fighting off most of his vines Although Randidly thought he had her dead to rights from the get go she was able to overpower his vines and click something on her belt It activated an energysuit which sprung up around her

The suit burned through the plants but it also quickly ripped through the energy cell that kept the suit going RandidlyÆs mouth quirked into a vicious smile That was the real problem with the exosuits that Randidly had seen they simply didnÆt embrace the System They were powerful sure but they relied on batteries Who had time for batteries in a fight

After making a mental note to see if exosuits used different runes to operate Randidly redoubled his efforts against the scalpel woman Luckily she had moved away from the unconscious woman when Randidly moved in with the plants but it also meant she had been able to reach other cutting medical tools which she used very skillfully to fight his plants off

Then Randidly was able to cut the power Within 5 seconds the woman was bound and restrained albeit with some difficulties Randidly grimaced The woman probably had almost 200 Strength or a Skill Leveled to a ridiculous degree

Upon the surface Randidly pointed at the ground and sent a command to his plants There was likely an easier way down into the facility but he couldnÆt be bothered with it Besides the woman had spoken rapidly while fighting off his plants and Randidly somehow doubted that she was asking for mercy from a plant

So his plants swelled and simply ripped apart the ground exposing the facility below Randidly hopped down Dinesh close behind him

There are 8 people at the back in cells IÆll go handle the girl they already brought to the operating room Randidly said grimly and Dinesh nodded and dashed off into the darkness Randidly took a different path and soon arrived at one of the laboratories Although he didnÆt want to dwell too long he took the time to peer in

The plants had senses that Randidly could use but mostly they were pressure and air currents Therefore sounds and objects were possible to discern with a little work but color was difficult Not that Randidly thought he would find a big red button but still

What he did see in his brief glance was that there were bloodstains on the table RandidlyÆs eyes narrowed Although it was almost perfect darkness Randidly seemed to see the room in perfect clarity It was due to one of NeveahÆs Skills seeping over but it was extremely useful

Below the operating table there was actually an apparatus that collected blood The wall was lined with shelves that could house jars There were 6 tables in the lab but only one of them ever seemed to be used Underutilized It was audacious that it seemed that whatever organization that created these locations had plans to scale up the usage

What was their timeline

After checking the scalpel woman was still safely bound and the unconscious woman was breathing Randidly walked forward a bit and peered into the gym area The large area up front he had now infiltrated and was just a loading bay for their trucks There were small housing quarters for the employees along the east wall but the gym still struck Randidly as extremely strange

And upon seeing it Randidly realized why

This equipment isnÆt for the employees Randidly whispered as he looked at the intricate and intimidating pieces of machinery Every exercise piece contained restraints these are for the people they captured

To test their strength

Randidly looked sharply up Dinesh

At the same time he sent a message There was a series of abrupt movements at the other side of the facility in one of the holding cells Very quickly so quickly Randidly didn’t get a plant over in time it ceased

Yes I am fine came the reply I believe I believe one of the prisoners was a plant They were placed here to prevent escape When I liberated him he attacked me He was likely Level 30 as well I was forced to kill him

Swearing quietly Randidly moved away from the gym It was a curiosity but it wasnÆt worth the risk Very quickly he arrived at the scalpel woman The fact there was a plant was worrisome

It might be a coincidence that the first didnÆt have a plant and the second did but on the other hand

What if the opponent was altering its behavior now that it had been alerted to the threat of some outside group knowing what they were doing Or even worse what if there was a plant in the first group of rescued people

Randidly needed to move

Roughly he yanked the scalpel woman to her feet His plants curled around the unconscious woman and carried her away Although interspatial equipment did a lot for transportation they couldnÆt hold people Therefore they would need to make due with physically moving them in order to make it out of here

Even with the help of RandidlyÆs plants it was a slow process Well it felt extremely slow to Randidly But in truth they were clear of the facility in a little over four minutes Pausing outside Randidly looked down at the scalpel woman She was completely bound and blinded but it was a strange thing to be taking a prisoner

Would he torture her

The question would have to wait because at the moment RandidlyÆs ears twitched drones were coming along with helicopters The reinforcements were coming more quickly and more heavily

Randidly clicked his tongue unhappily There was nothing definitive but Randidly didnÆt doubt that he would be able to trace these people to the Unity Church It was almost a let down that he hadnÆt been able to find more than a trace of the CreatureÆs energy That similar trace was still here of course but it was frustratingly vague

How did the Creature control its influence so well What were its goals in making these strange facilities

Dinesh Randidly said abruptly Keep going to the agreed meet up point Tykes and Karlito will meet you there

Buying time Dinesh asked skeptically Is that really necessary Besides the public Randidly Ghosthound that is staying with the senator is known to control plants If you

Relax this is just stress relief Randidly said flexing his fingers Some combat drones were on the way and he wanted a look at their insides He would try his best to capture a couple so he wouldnÆt need to buy their blueprints

Besides I have many types of spells Randidly pointed at the ground which began to bubble and hiss After a few seconds the dirt had become a bubbling pool of molten rock A hand pierced the surface and grabbed at solid ground Then it hoisted its red and orange body out of its hole

LetÆs see if they have an answer for a Lava Golem

Chapter 547

IÆm really sorry I havenÆt had time to talk Tatiana said to Randidly as she moved a pot off the fire to a stone slab to cool IÆve been rather preoccupied with nursing the injured we received back to health

Randidly scratched his chin no worries ThatÆs actually why IÆm here Recently we discovered a group of similarly abused individuals We brought them here because well I wouldnÆt know where else to turn I have a lot of Skills but this is an area where I donÆt think IÆd be very helpful

Tatiana looked up at Randidly sharply his eyes searching his face for something Inwardly Randidly wondered if something had gone wrong with his Baloo Erickson illusion But after several seconds she gave him a tired smile

More huh Well this is definitely the place for them We wonÆt let those fucking Unity Church goons touch a single hair on their heads Where are they

That woman Monica Randidly said gesturing over towards the central hut Last time I was here she seemed like she knew what was going on We gave them to her Eight more this time Are you do you have proof the Unity Church is responsible for them

Honestly Randidly had the same impression But he would appreciate some proof

Tatiana hissed sitting down on a wooden chair Well no But those that were willing to talk did all confirm they were staying in one of the Unity Church Refugee camps The last thing they remember was heading to bed like any other day If someone really was going into Unity Church camps and body snatching I have a hard time believing the church wouldnÆt know about it

Inwardly Randidly wondered if that was true It seemed like more and more people were being vindicated from the borderlands every day The methods of rescuing had become much more refined and now there was a constant stream of new blood to the System Of course there was apparently a super camp in the East that was a city entirely composed of refugees but that was still unable to handle the sheer volume of people

Fuck Tatiana swore abruptly She glared at the ground shaking her head back and forth Her hair was up in a ponytail and Randidly found himself oddly comforted by the way it swung back and forth ItÆs true it’s just a gut instinct But even worse than their wounds is what some of the girls said about life in the refugee camps How they need to repeat the chants of the priests How they are told they need to indicate specific flaws they see in other people in their daily prayers so they can stomp such behavior out of themselves How the primary virtue in the Unity Church is faith in God and trust in your fellow man Asking questions is frowned upon especially in regards to the System They say that everything will be revealed in time

Tatiana trailed off seeming to run out of gas Suddenly she just seemed tired She was definitely a woman who had fought her way through some tough times to get where she was The time spent struggling became the bags under her eyes

Then she sighed Well if Monica has them they should be fine for a while I just made bean casserole would you like any

So for the next 10 minutes the two of them sat outside and slowly ate in silence Tatiana seemed lost in her thoughts and Randidly was already thinking about the drones he had recovered from the spat earlier as he was leaving the bunker There were a half dozen different varieties he had recovered and Randidly was pleased to find that they were some of the most expensive

Besides it was nice to just sit and think Slowly Randidly was learning the role of rest in his life

I have a strange question Randidly said finally

Tatiana looked up at him her eyes curious Randidly scratched the back of his head

IÆm not sure if I should even say it It just sounds well anyway why are all the girls who live here with you so attractive That canÆt be normal right

Tatiana burst out laughing Ha And here I thought you were near celibate

Randidly gave her a sour look but she ignored him

No itÆs not a coincidence A lot of these gals were people that I knew before the System They were recently freed from the borderlands Worked as escorts or were reporters or the pretty lawyer at the firm Back in old Washington when the same older men with wives were hitting on you you swiftly learned to rely on social cues from other women to understand what sort of situation you were in for if you decided to humor the man Did he have weird kinks Would he try and blackmail you If it was a transaction for money would he stiff or shortchange you

Saying it now it sounds seedy But thatÆs just what life was like Now I dare not let these girls go I mean look at them they are gorgeous It was one thing to have threats hanging over them was just how much more upper body strength men have than women And when men got old enough in the old world that went away Now They would be devoured

As they were speaking two women walked from one hut towards the central hut It was clear from the breathy laughter of the one and the constant spinning and posing of the other that the latter woman was wearing a new dress and showing off Her friend was more than happy to laugh and compliment

It was a simple thing a sapphire blue number that stopped a bit above the womanÆs knees She paired it with a leather belt that was probably from some of the oversized wolverine monsters that Tykes had helped kill last week When they noticed Randidly and Tatiana they both waved and continued on their way

Both were tall and slender with high cheekbones and thick hair that cascaded down their backs They seemed more at home in a catalog than a series of brick huts

See one you like Tatiana said elbowing Randidly

He chortled lightly None more than you

Well then She said smiling back at him

They fell silent just looking at each other In fact the silence lasted so long that Randidly began to get uncomfortable And she was just looking at him sizing him up again

It was a relief when she spoke So you just found these people

Yep

So IÆm to believe that it is a coincidence that you and your group is the only few that have found these tortured people

you realize that makes me wonder whether YOU are the group that is hurting these people No one else has even noticed they were missing

Shocked Randidly blinked at her Did she really think But Tatiana laughed and slapped his shoulder lightly Before she got over her giggles both her and RandidlyÆs watches beeped and flashed red

Frowning down at it Randidly almost didnÆt notice that Tatiana took it in stride and pressed a button on the side A voice began speaking out of her watch

Warning This is not a drill We have breaking news Approximately two hours and seven minutes ago a military bunker was attacked by an unknown terrorist assailant The assailant himself did not appear to use exosuits but his accomplice had an extraordinarily powerful energysuit that made him glow and emit vast amounts of heat

In the course of his actions the terrorist killed a dozen employees at the facility even taking the time to execute sick civilians that were being treated at the facility Attached is a depiction of the terrorists If you see this man please contact the authorities immediately I repeat this man is highly dangerous and

Before the message could continue Tatiana touched the button again A face appeared above the watch a cruel and haughty face with a strong nose and bright orange hair Randidly frowned Not that it was a problem that he possessed an illusion that was labeled as a fugitive but there was something profoundly disturbing about the whole thing

Why had the location he had attacked been called a military bunkerÆ Was it just a coincidence or

This was you guys wasnÆt it

Randidly jerked upwards staring at Tatiana Her face was very close to his Her eyes were bright She looked down and tapped the button again The holographic display changed to a fuzzy approximation of his Lava Golem It was crouching on the ground above ripped metal that had previously been a drone She hummed softly and pressed the watch again The display went dark

What Randidly asked trying to scramble to figure out what to say

Your hands smell like blood Viking How many did you kill Tatiana said not looking up at him

Randidly took a step back and looked down at his hands How could she

Then she reached out and took his hands in hers She was looking at Randidly with a face filled with worry Jesus are you a war veteran or not Look I didnÆt mean to sound so accusatory IÆve seen these people If this was you it was the right thing I just want you to know I trust you

Randidly looked at her That feeling was back This was becoming intimate the way they treated each other WasnÆt this fast They had only known each other for a little over two months

Randidly cleared his throat you sound like a Unity Church member talking about trust all the time

She punched him in the gut

Chapter 548

The problem with the truth Randidly knew was that once it was out it was impossible to take back If he were to tell her the truth there would likely be repercussions that were difficult to predict So at the time she asked Randidly had simply said that yes they were related to that man He refused to say anything more

They had fucking held hands through the whole talk Well less a talk and more her asking questions and him looking at the ground

What the FUCK was he doing Randidly didnÆt have time for this

So now sitting in his workshop Randidly considered

The Creature was here likely fueling some arm of the Unity Church or the Zone 1 government to perform experiments by taking body parts The details of which were difficult to understand Why on such a grand scale Why would a gym be included in the blueprints Why had the media found out about it so quickly

Obviously to locate him But who would have the power to request that

Randidly needed more information Part of that would come with being around people but he needed to be around higher ranking individuals To understand the power structure he needed to be a part of it Based on what Davey had told him creating drones would get him there

Meanwhile there was the problem of Tatiana both personally and what she stood for She had obviously used that vivid language in her accusation on purpose to incite a reaction in him Curiosity was clear in her eyes It was slightly emotionally cruel but some part of her worried that Randidly truly might be that cold blooded killer

Well wasnÆt he

Randidly shook his head This was wildly off topic

Beyond just telling her the truth there was the problem of what truths to tell That he was that orange haired man That he was Randidly Ghosthound Or just that he was from another Zone

A waste of time Randidly announced So he closed his eyes and focused on himself There were growing feelings towards Tatiana There was nothing he could do about that But he could set them aside for now Above personal issues finding the Creature was the most important

Briefly he considered trying to just sneak into the locations of high Tiered citizens but then he felt somewhat at a loss What was he even looking for The information he needed was likely to be disguised Although it was a tenuous plan focusing on drones gave him concrete goals and a path that he could follow These other ways that was the domain of people like Mrs Hamilton This was not his strong suit

So Randidly got to work

Besides he enjoyed it

Two days later Randidly emerged from his workshop disheveled and found Henrik This version of the Skylark left the man silent So much so that Randidly worried about whether he had made a mistake But then he was passed 400 00 and was told this was exactly what they needed Specifically RandidlyÆs version of the Skylark weighed the same amount as the previous version but he had been able to boost the thrust of it by almost 200%

Of course it could only maintain this increased boost for brief periods Otherwise it would overheat Or it would shake so much that the internal components could come out of line But it was a bit of progress nonetheless

Much of the inspiration for it had come from the recently acquired drones But he had only gone through two of them and was able to figure out several ways to adjust the runes inside of the drones Once he went through them all

But before he focused more directly on his plan to adjust the runic language he needed a product that would bring predictable income to him That would make it much easier to plan out how to proceed

Afterward Randidly returned to his underground base to train Honestly these past two months in Zone 1 he had spent a lot of time working on ancillary things He had gotten a bunch of PP in the process but letting the performance of his other Skills was not an option Especially because the invitation from Helen was for around four months from now

Shivering Randidly got to his spearwork It was a reassuring movement to stab with a spear These were his roots not literally and reminded him of simpler times in the Dungeon with Shal RandidlyÆs lip curled upward He wondered whether Shal would be his match when he returned to ShalÆs world It was hard to judge now how strong his teacher was

Especially because Randidly had the sense that something changed for Shal during the events at the end of the tournament He thought about asking Lucretia about it but decided against it mostly he didn’t want to ask because it meant they would need to talk about what would happen to Lucretia when he returned to that world

Receiving a generic request to meet from Karlito Randidly stopped his training early and headed back over to the shanty town When he arrived he was extremely surprised His old shanty was being dismantled by some locals They were putting up a more traditional house in its place

Karlito walked up next to him Did you hear the news

What that the neighborhood is being gentrified Randidly asked wryly looking around This whole area of town was shifting A lot of the buildings closer to town were already demolished and rebuilt in a much more enduring manner It was clear from the quality that these were being built to stand for a while

Well there is that but no Karlito said He was chuckling now barely restraining a grin on his face While one hand held his belly with the other he lifted a newspaper clipping and presented it to Randidly He scanned it quickly

To his shock it seemed like one of the gossip column magazines that had been popular prior to the SystemÆs arrival He supposed there was no reason to expect that the System would change human nature And he was distantly aware that there were movies and television being produced in Zone 1 When most of the population didnÆt embrace the System as directly they needed ways to occupy their time

The clipping was a reactionary piece to the fact that pop icon Tia Alexandra was now engaged to

Foreign Political Heartthrob Randidly Ghosthound

For several seconds Randidly had no thoughts in his brain The series of words that he had just read left him completely blank He slowly lowered the article Karlito was howling at this point leaning a nearby pile of cinder blocks that were going to be used for the construction of the house

No matter how many times he looked up at RandidlyÆs face each time was enough to set him back to his endless laughter At some point Maude wandered over to see what the fuss was about When she saw the clipping in RandidlyÆs hand she sniffed primly

I would have expected you to be better educated than to read a trash rag like that Maude said matter of factly

This finally was enough to wake Randidly He shook his head slowly then said Yea this

If you want to hear the details of the engagement She continued tapping her interspatial watch and producing another magazine Lifeline is the best There is an interview with Tia that explains the whole proposal Honestly it reminds me quite a bit about how my late husband proposed to me

Numbly Randidly took the magazine

It was the most philosophical Tia began telling reporters but then she couldnÆt even finish the thought

You hear a lot of what heÆs like from all the refugees he works with Tia said her eyes glowing with the apparent emotion she has for her fiance ThatÆs actually how I met him doing a benefit concert at The Orchard But people never talk about how deep and thoughtful he is The date where he proposed was simple He just invited me to help pick apples When I told my publicist she fell off her chair She said ArenÆt there bugs in orchards Æ

I already knew This was probably our 5th date and I already knew you know There was just something there But I didnÆt know if like he knew you know So after we picked apples I just asked him if he believed in soul mates And you know what he did As serious as can be Rand turned to me nodded and said I have one Æ Then he reached over and squeezed my hand I mean whoo Where did he get the confidence to phrase something so important like that

Tia Alexandra 19 is probably the most popular performing artist currently working in Zone 1 Reporters from Lifeline attempted to contact Mr Ghosthound or Senator Firefly for comment on Mr GhosthoundÆs age but they made no comment But based upon his appearance

Randidly stopped reading and handed the article back WasnÆt this wasnÆt this just Neveah talking about him

Neveah Randidly growled Summon me Right now

Chapter 549

Tia Alexandra before the System was the girl who at 16 was creating plans to sleep with the 40 year old musicians at the concerts her father took her to By the end of the concert her father was far too intoxicated to pay attention to her so she would worm her way to the front of the crowd and wait

There was a very specific way to get the attention of an older man Tia knew The first and most important was to be attractive Thankfully her mother had blessed Tia with overly large eyes and an expressive mouth Her other assets werenÆt particularly notable but Tia had played soccer and volleyball since she was a child Her limbs were long toned and tanned

The second thing was to have the man look at her with a suggestive eye Most of the time this was the simplest part The only trick was that the man had to be the initiator of the look It was very important not to be caught looking

Once the man looks you catch him You maintain eye contact

Then instead of looking away you smile

Which was how Tia lost her virginity in a tour bus probably not 100 feet from her father

As she grew older Tia became more adept at utilizing this technique It had never failed her Until she met Randidly Ghosthound Even now her stomach did flip flops as she remembered the way they met

Not that Tia had truly considered this strange pseudo political figure an object worthy of her affections Not at the beginning He was attractive in a serious way Tia originally thought but that image was shattered when you saw his almost childlike grin

At the insistence of her manager Tia performed for some newly rescued refugees from the borderlands It was part of an initiative to make them feel more in control of their lives and also to prove that the government sponsored refugee camps were fun too The young people they were vindicating had been leaving for the relatively similar Unity Church refugee camps in droves mostly this was due to the attractive young men and women who came to the government camps to promote it

Tia was the answer to this problem

When she encountered him there he was speaking to some of her techies before the concert The group of men and women didnÆt even notice TiaÆs arrival so enthralled were they in RandidlyÆs story One of them appeared to be laughing so hard she was crying As she casually approached Randidly looked up She caught him looking at her

She held his gaze and smiled

He smiled back

He turned back to the techies and continued to tell his story

Now Tia didnÆt want to say that she obsessed over the fact he hadnÆt shown her any real attention but it remained in her mind through the concert And afterward the next day Through sheer force of will she had charmed her way into meeting Senator Firefly knowing that he was a close friend of Randidly Unfortunately he was on his way out as she arrived

But for some reason even know she couldnÆt understand Randidly stopped as he was leaving and approached her

Hey YouÆre that singer right Randidly said his emerald eyes blazing There was an easy smile on his face

Tia smiled back ThatÆs me Are you a fan

No Randidly said shaking his head But IÆve always wanted to sing I just think my throat is the wrong shape My singing makes people well Anyways you should teach me sometime

Are you free for dinner Tia said just as surprised as Randidly seemed that she asked in such a direct manner

Randidly simply smiled back

The history of Randidly absentmindedly forgetting about their plans and Tia growing increasingly infuriated But for some reason the more that he blew her off the more Tia couldnÆt help but throw herself at him

For fuckÆs sake they hadnÆt even kissed yet And she had agreed to marry him What sort of move was that if not crazy

Today was a private celebration they were having just to enjoy the relief with several close friends Randidly was finally hers she didnÆt need to chase him any longer

But the party had already started below in Senator FireflyÆs grand ballroom at the Orchard and Randidly was nowhere to be found The butler assured Tia that Mr Ghosthound hadnÆt left but Tia wasnÆt sure how reliable that information that was For one thing the butlerÆs family had been rescued by Randidly and were now staying at the Orchard so the man worshipped Randidly

Also Tia was surprised to discover how capable Randidly was at moving through locations without being detected It was almost impossible to keep track of the man unless you were looking directly at him

As she had expected Tia heard the sound of him working in the stone room She rolled her eyes at her soon to be husband He truly was a workaholic in every sense of the world Whoever had taught Randidly about work ethic should start a clinic They would revolutionize the industry When he wasnÆt helping build housing for refugees Randidly was creating sculptures Some of them were of monsters while others were humans but everyone assured Tia they were extremely captivating

To Tia they just seemed like rocks but she wasnÆt much into modern art

But as she was walking down the ornate hall to RandidlyÆs workroom there was a strange popping noise Then she heard her fianceÆs voice but it made her freeze on the spot

Neveah what the fuck are you doing

What stopped Tia was the coldness in RandidlyÆs voice She had seen him display a lot of emotions but anger was never one of them Instantly her heart started hammering in her chest Could it possibly be that the Randidly she knew was just a front What if he wasnÆt the gentle spirit that was her soul mate And all that raw anger from just that one line with a different tone Tia could envision a man who was a disciplinarian In the bedroom he was rough and callous It wasnÆt that he wasnÆt good at sex he simply viewed the womanÆs body as a tool to his own pleasure

why was she getting so turned on

Then there was another voice and TiaÆs entire world shattered

Sculpting do you like it

you know you are good at working with stone What I mean Neveah is what are you doing here All this stuff I thought

Randidly was alone in his workroom with a woman And in his voice there was fury gentleness frustration and also affection This was a woman he cared for A woman who had

Instantly Tia could understand the truth of the situation perfectly An ex girlfriend from the other Zone had seen the news of their engagement Driven wild by jealousy she had traveled to the Orchard and snuck into RandidlyÆs quarters lying in wait for him to be alone But from RandidlyÆs tone it wasnÆt a clean breakup and perhaps there are even lingering feelings

You know IÆm getting married right IsnÆt it fun The woman spoke again and once again everything settled into place in TiaÆs mind

This woman Neveah was here not to because she truly wanted Randidly back But to inflict emotional pain on him Perhaps her marriage to this unknown other man was even the reason that Randidly Ghosthound had left his Zone Many people had speculated as to his motivations and finally Tia had gotten to the heart of it

Neveah even carried not for her new husband he was just a tool to hurt Randidly Her childlike glee when saying isnÆt it funÆ clearly displayed her vast ocean of malice that she harbored in her chest What sort of tumultuous relationship did these two have

ThatÆs exactly why IÆm here Do you even know what marriage is Randidly asked And as he asked it TiaÆs heart healed at a rapid pace His righteous indignation seemed to say I understand what love is due to my life changing happiness with Tia Do you Æ It filled Tia with hope

Resolving herself to accept whatever she found in the workshop Tia stepped forward with confidence But during those last few steps she produced a mirror from her interspatial watch and checked her makeup If she was going to meet this slut she sure as hell had better look better than her

Well The woman began but Randidly cut her off

Wait someone is outside There was the sound of footsteps and the door opened

Randidly with a furious scowl on his face looked out at Tia His eyes scanned her quickly Tia threw herself into his waiting arms

Chapter 550

Randidly caught the strange girl who leaped at him by the shoulders steadying her She was a slender lovely thing but she was only as tall as his shoulders It was easier than even Randidly had expected to stop her dead He recognized her too from looking through NeveahÆs memories through their connection

This was the teen fiance Tia Alexandra

Abruptly Randidly realized the reason she had thrown herself at him the usage of the Soulbond to teleport him had completely dispelled the illusion that surrounded him Whereas he previously had been Baloo Erickson skinny fat and brown haired he was no once more Randidly Ghosthound

Honestly it felt somewhat good to be back

No matter what IÆll always love you Tia announced tears in her eyes as she regarded him Then she squirmed out of his grip which he had left rather loose and kissed him

Now Randidly could probably have dodged the kiss But today he had been subject to a lot of unexpected things And even at the last second Randidly didnÆt expect this strange tiny slip of a girl to kiss him

Her lips were soft and warm but Randidly felt no attraction to her just bewilderment With a much firmer grip Randidly pushed her away and held her at armÆs length To his surprise she continued to try and squirm out of his grip to get back at him While keeping her in check Randidly turned and glared over his shoulder

For a second he saw nothing But then he focused and his high Perception he was able to pierce through the illusion that Neveah had thrown up She wasnÆt disguising herself currently but just made herself appear invisible

It had been a bit of time since Randidly had seen Neveah in her true form Even while attacking the Danger Zones Neveah had maintained her fake illusion reminiscent of Alana But now she was a two meter tall being that seemed to be more an exoskeleton of bone than a biological being On her back two huge wings of bone were pulled tight against her back Such was the size of the wings that even folded as they were they were almost as big as the rest of her body Her eyes were tiny beads of obsidian and her mouth was a vast maw of teeth Undoubtedly if this Tia were to see the true form of her fiance her enthusiasm would wane

What are you doing Randidly asked mentally

I can feel you want to end these disguises This has upset you I think thatÆs a bad idea for a lot of reasons

What reasons Randidly demanded But before Neveah could answer TIa began to speak

You oh wow you are such a good kisser

Randidly turned back to Tia nonplussed The girl was looking at him with her mouth wide open But it seemed she then realized something and peered around suspiciously Rand who were you talking to Where was the other woman

Other woman Randidly said slowly Then he sighed He couldnÆt believe he was so distracted by his emotions that he hadnÆt noticed Tia outside in the hall With his Perception it would have been childÆs play to spot her if he wasnÆt so distracted It also meant that Neveah was right about how this upset him Did he really want to end the disguises

If he was being honest with himself he did Part of it was the frustrations of trying to keep his progress with the drones as something reasonable When he was behaving as himself he never had to think about something like that He could just be The other part of it was that he didnÆt feel very comfortable with the fact that other people were using his name and face

Even though it was Neveah it was still rather uncomfortable

I heard her voice Do you take me for an idiot Tia glared at him She flipped her hair over her shoulder and pulled at her top exposing a bit more cleavage Where is she I want to see this woman who is bold enough to come harass my fiance

Trust me Neveah said simply seeming to ignore TiaÆs demands Walk around as my version of you I think you will change your mind

Sighing Randidly addressed Tia thereÆs no one here LetÆs go

Randidly turned and walked out of the room practically dragging Tia as she gripped his hand I know sheÆs back there Hey wait RAND IÆm being serious oh are you ready to go to the party I canÆt wait to introduce you to my friends

RandidlyÆs growing sourness must have been readily apparent because he received a very amusing thought from Neveah Do not think that I have put up with her strange whims If you do not want to do something donÆt do it ThatÆs a behavior I learned from you

Simmering Randidly tried to take some deep breaths as Tia nattered on and led him downstairs Although RandidlyÆs instincts were screaming this was a waste of time Neveah was a part of him in a way that no one else was If she believed that spending some time as her as him would be worth his time Randidly would give her the benefit of the doubt There wasnÆt any particular pressing issue and it would certainly give Randidly some insight into whether he could gather more information as himself than as a random drone maker

Plus t seemed that the excitement of having this party with Randidly present was enough of a positive spin to completely wipe the memory of NeveahÆs feminine voice out of TiaÆs mind She was undeniably adorable even if it was just in her single minded infatuation for the upcoming party

In his mind Randidly considered himself a great deal more worldly than he had been before the System Hell in terms of seeing ritzy locals he considered his stint in ShalÆs world as him brushing up against the upper crust But the ballroom he walked into was a reminder that Randidly had only been a part of the Northern Region of ShalÆs world which was considered relatively remote

The floor was black marble with gold trimmings and large granite pillars rose upwards The ceiling was done in pure alabaster carvings a veritable menagerie of creatures prowling about the upper area of the room And in those myriad animals Randidly clearly recognized NeveahÆs handiwork The splendor of the room did a lot to knock away the rest of RandidlyÆs resentment and at that moment he could see the value in sampling this life Neveah had created

It was a strange statement to RandidlyÆs mind Because the ground was black and gold and the upper areas of the ceiling were white with silver It seemed to say that these people were in hell while heaven watched from above He hoped this wasnÆt a religious statement

Tia OHMYGOSH is this him You didnÆt tell me he was a model A squeak brought Randidly back to earth and an Asian girl dashed across the ballroom floor towards Tia and Randidly who had just walk down the steps The girl was wearing a cream and red floor length dress and her shoes clacked loudly on the marble floor as she ran towards them

Instantly Randidly felt his internal tension rising But immediately NeveahÆs cooling influence settled on him This is so foolish you always become so involved in people You are Randidly Ghosthound If you do not like them do not give them your time

Somewhat soothed Randidly smiled and nodded at the girl and then stepped past her and continued walking forward towards the group

So sorry Aimee there are just so many people to meet Tia said with a pout but to his surprise Randidly could sense that Tia was rather pleased with how he handled things In her mind it was a statement about status but as long as it meant that Randidly didnÆt have to associate overmuch with these people he would be fine with it

Striding forward Randidly approached the well dressed group of 30 people that were grouped around a few buffet tables In groups of twos and threes they broke off from the central group and approached Randidly and Tia who was still locked onto his arm like a sea urchin It made RandidlyÆs eyelids twitch to hear all these people congratulate him on his recent engagement but due to NeveahÆs plea he said nothing

He simply smiled and nodded

His gaze was locked on an elderly man dressed in a purple suit with a white feathered hat This was Senator Firefly who was the political figure who guaranteed RandidlyÆs validity If anyone would be able to give Randidly the information he needed it would be him

So Randidly shook a few hands and continued walking It seemed that from Senator FireflyÆs gaze he realized immediately that Randidly wanted something and disengaged his conversation with the two attractive young women who were standing around him

Randidly my friend Congratulations I donÆt suppose youÆd indulge an old man for a walk I believe there are a few tricks an elderly bachelor such as myself can impart on someone of your age haha

Without waiting for an answer Senator Firefly turned and began to walk Although he could feel how the two women the senator had left and Tia for that matter was filled with disappointment they remained silent Almost wondering at this strange social power Randidly followed the older man out of the ballroom through a few hallways and into the gardens

Pretty early in the season for dragonflies to be active The Senator said as they began strolling down the path As they had entered the gardens a pair of the insects had lifted from the ground and buzzed path Instantly Randidly was able to identify that these were tools of Ghost but it was a wonder that this man was able to do the same

Was it a warning from the other man or a coincidence

Chapter 551

You were right Senator Firefly announced To think I doubted you If not for you I would never have started this city for refugees they now call the Orchard in my honor I apologize for that You have my gratitude

Randidly shrugged He hadnÆt realized that Neveah had been the one to push for this refugee camp but it made sense As he looked through her memories earlier he had seen many instances of her helping people and building She had chosen to dedicate her time to helping these people and that was something that Randidly could appreciate

Honestly aside from the marriage proposal Randidly was impressed by everything he had seen from Neveah He didnÆt quite understand why she would now want him to walk through this role she created but he was willing to give her a bit more leeway

Senator Firefly continued calmly to speak As you know my status as a Senator lets me view some of the analytics data that Ghost gathers on different populations in the Zone Imagine my chagrin when that strange being reported that according to his observations and self reporting Skill Leveling in the Orchard is about double as fast as the rest of the Zone Part of that is the training courses you created but in the words of Ghost

The Senator trailed off as he produced a piece of paper from his pocket He adjusted his glasses and frowned down at it before reading Æthere seems an intangible difference in outlook that both raises the willingness to work in these humans and also gives an amorphous but undeniable increase in the rate of Skill growth Æ Now I donÆt want to get too far ahead of myself but for them to grow at double the rate of the rest of the Zone and to feel deeply indebted to you and I Well it makes all the money IÆve poured down the throats of these miserable people worth it

RandidlyÆs lips twitched

NeveahÆs voice sounded in my head He is a foolish man All things are toy soldiers in his eyes But he can see the importance of intangibles Plus he was desperate when he came to visit me in my castle He has been useful

As Randidly regarded Senator Firefly doubtfully the other man waved his hand in irritation DonÆt make that face at me I know how you feel about my outlooks But it is due to those outlooks that IÆve made it this far They are part of my strengths it is due to this way of mine I have climbed as far as I have As they say sometimes it is preferable to have a predictable enemy than a fickle friend And I have been a predictable enemy to many

I donÆt think IÆve heard that before Randidly said but Senator Firefly just chuckled

Of course Because it is one of my own sayings Do you like it

Randidly rolled his eyes examining the beautifully manicured garden around him The fireflies continued to however nearby Without a doubt Ghost had zeroed in on this role of Randidly as someone worth watching That if nothing else made Randidly realize some of the value of having Neveah working out here independently of him It gave Ghost a focus

I have no doubt that Ghost is doing this secretly with his watchers Senator Firefly said But he has inquired your methodology in igniting the textile industry in the Orchard The cloth they are producing is softer and stronger than should be possible he claims What a fool Heh

Randidly looked sharply up at Senator Firefly He waved his hand airily

Oh donÆt say it IÆm not sure why you are so sensitive of Ghost but he is just an AI An information gathering tool used by the government He wonÆt ever become more than that not anymore Already President Howard has turned against him If not for his usefulness he would be ousted very quickly by the Congress

Again Randidly was taken aback by the senatorÆs casual treatment of a serious issue Perhaps that is so But most people do not think that Ghost is such a simple machine to dismantle And the belief of those people is a dangerous thing for your opinion

Senator Firefly gave Randidly a look then nodded slowly Hmm IÆll keep it in mind Would you like to return to the party

No Randidly said shaking his head Neveah was right If he didnÆt want something he shouldnÆt force himself Besides he knew that if he didnÆt return to the part Tia would remain the center of attention Perhaps she would be a little disappointed but this was a domain where she would feel more at home Randidly either of their identities didnÆt belong there

Instead Randidly followed his memories and walked toward the Orchard specifically the newer district where they were still performing construction To his surprise immediately after he arrived at the edge of the sprawling city a group of people turned up in front of him

Mr Ghosthound did you see my new apple tarts Here try one

Mr Ghosthound wait until you feel this My silk has improved a lot ItÆs like wearing the wind is it not

Mr Ghosthound thank you so much for your advice I think that my new ice cream

And so on over and over a stream of people who came to thank him and provide new examples to Randidly It was overwhelming at first but soon Neveah began to speak feeding Randidly the information he needed in order to respond to the people and make them feel heard

Only four minutes after this stream of people arrived a gaunt man with a large beard arrived and he took Randidly away heading to a construction site Very soon Randidly was raising metal beams and assembling a 20 story apartment building It was honestly impressive because all of the work was done by men They were so empowered by the System that they were able to reproduce the mechanical power of machinery from before the System arrived

After all most of the heavy machinery from before the System was lost in the initial chaos It was now much cheaper to just have System empowered individuals work than to purchase one of GhostÆs expensive pieces of machinery

With RandidlyÆs help the building seemed to grow before his very eyes assembled one piece at a time By the end of it everyone was cheering as Randidly held the steel beam aloft as two men on either end slide the nuts and bolts that would serve as a placeholder until the braces could be prepared

Afterward the gaunt man shook RandidlyÆs had and left without a word The men and women who had worked on the project patted Randidly on the back and departed as well leaving him alone in the strange half built district It was now close to sunset and the light filtered through the bones of the building in an exceedingly strange way It came in beams and glow so the whole place was suffused with an orange red half light

And in that glow Randidly saw a small boy

The boy stood in the half light oblivious to RandidlyÆs presence His cheeks were dirty and his clothes were worn but it was clear that the clothes themselves were of high quality And without sort of ceremony the boy was punching a stone wall

Pat Pat Pat

His expression was scrunched up enough that Randidly knew the experience was not pleasant for the boy But still he had an unyielding determination It was clear that in his mind he had to continue this action

You learned it from Shal I learned it from you and now with your face I am teaching them Neveah said walking up next to Randidly She was still in her true form and in the half light she seemed more like the Raid Boss that she had inherited the body from than someone who had created a safe haven for thousands of displaced people

Randidly turned back to the child That determined look on his face it truly reminded him of himself struggling all those years ago under ShalÆs wing in that first dungeon This was the change that Neveah was working she was giving people hope and tools to seize it

Could Randidly do the same Perhaps But he would need to sacrifice his other life and he wouldnÆt be able to do the same things that Neveah could Her patience and endless energy to help people and try things far surpassed his own Still

It was never a matter of whether what you were doing was productive Randidly said with a sigh That doesnÆt matter to me What matters is this engagement After that comes marriage Neveah you cannot marry this girl And IÆm profoundly uncomfortable with you marrying her with my face

She regarded him carefully but all she replied with was Why

Because it feels like she is not marrying you she is marrying me Randidly said

Neveah shook her head slowly I had hoped you would get a taste for Tia and understand why I went along with her misunderstanding Or at least I hoped you would get a feel for what I was doing here and want me to continue But it appears we see things from a different perspective That is okay It is only because of the way you are that you accomplished so much But now I must tell you something Randidly

Here Neveah paused and took a step closer to him looking down at him

Although you are Randidly Ghosthound you are not the pen that will write the legend of Randidly Ghosthound

Chapter 552

Through your actions you have become more than yourself you have become a symbol Neveah said patiently You are not just a person but you are proof of a concept you are proof that humanity can stand up against the System But your legend is more than that as well Because it is every story from the lives you have touched It is every way that you existing rippled outward changing the course of history

You are upset because you see yourself and some part of you says thatÆs not meÆ Even if those actions are good you have that instinctual reaction In the nicest way you are naive Randidly

Do you think that some others have not also have had the ideas to impersonate you You are the most powerful human I know of both in terms of individual might and in terms of renown In both Zones you are known If I was not acting as you there is no doubt in my mind others would attempt to do the same either for good or for ill Your legend would grow piecemeal from the tales of these impersonators At some point it is possible that the fakes proliferate to such a degree that your own actions can do little to sway the course of your legend But that is okay because you are not the type of person to care about such things

That thatÆs not Randidly said grasping to find exactly why he disagreed so strongly with what Neveah was saying He could understand that some people might try and use his identity to their advantage but to actually pass themselves off as him

You are self absorbed If you were not you would have been crushed by the details of what you have been doing Neveah said matter of factly I have watched many people I started thinking that people were like you but you are atypical in so many ways I would not have become the Soulbond of most people But with you it was the most natural thing in the world Most other people do not like themselves They clothe themselves in status distract themselves with pleasures hide within righteous emotions and religion You have become such a thing that you are a piece of clothing these people can wear

You are an icon

Randidly just stared at Neveah When they were bound Neveah could barely speak She wasnÆt even gendered at that point Now she seemed to be lecturing Randidly on his own existence And honestly her words rung true There was a lot here that Randidly hadnÆt thought about simply because he was too close to the issue He should have understood that people would use his identity at some point NeveahÆs actions here did have a sizable anchoring effect on that

People being what they were if there was no news to talk about they would make news on their own Usually by imitating the past news But as long as Neveah was the face of Randidly Ghosthound they wouldnÆt act out as him Or at least that was what Neveah was claiming

However Randidly could see now how it was all of those things It was her being the Randidly people could see it was her helping people it was her enjoying this life it was her making a good name for him But it was also

Neveah waved her hand and suddenly she was him Before we continue thereÆs something that I need to take care of Can I have a minute

For a second Randidly was confused but then he heard something and nodded He stepped into the shadows just as Tia stomped forward Her face was scrunched up into a scowl and she glared at Neveah who simply smiled affably back

You left the party The ENTIRE party Tia huffed There were tears in her eyes Randidly saw Abruptly he felt guilty that he had assumed that she would be glad to have him gone so she could take the limelight Although Randidly wasnÆt sure how superficial the relationship between Neveah and Tia was it was still a relationship Both of them needed to be a part of it

Perhaps thatÆs why his own relationships were so sporadic and short lived

I know IÆm sorry I was helping a friend Neveah said simply

Tia shook her head Today of all days You spend every day helping people You are obsessed with helping people CanÆt I have a SINGLE day where you are just mine

With a sigh Neveah shook her head and said No

Abruptly Tia burst into tears and threw herself into NeveahÆs arms The two embraced and Randidly was a little afraid that Tia would be scared off by the feel of NeveahÆs true body But if she noticed it she gave no sign Then two of them held each other for several minutes the only sounds between them TiaÆs sniffles

This is the way I am In a way I am blessed that I have many soul mates Neveah said some of her cheer restored

Tia snorted When my next tour starts IÆll be even busier I probably wonÆt even take your calls And god help you when I finally am ready to record another album Oh ThereÆs even been talk of me acting in a movie

We will always find time for each other even if it makes us uncomfortable Neveah announced That is what a soulmate is

After a while the two took a step back from each other TiaÆs eyes roamed the dark alcoves of the half constructed building behind Neveah where Randidly was standing SheÆs here isnÆt she

Neveah nodded I must finish talking to her

I would like to face her Tia said but as she said that she reached up with one hand and fluffed her hair

Neveah chuckled but beckoned As he stood there Randidly felt the air around him adjust as NeveahÆs illusion settled around him Annoyed that Neveah could do this so easily and he couldnÆt do it well at all even when borrowing her Skill Randidly stepped forward

When Tia looked at him she looked at a spot that was on his chest because the form Neveah had given him was much smaller than he actually was

WhatÆs your name Tia asked

For a second Randidly froze What name should he say DonÆt save Valkyrie donÆt say Valkyrie

But then abruptly a word came to his mouth because he suddenly knew who Neveah had made him look like Lyra My nameÆs Lyra

Tia gave a small nod looking Randidly up and down And as Tia looked Randidly saw Lyra too Her sharp features her tawny hair her wicked smile And ultimately Tia seemed satisfied and turned to go Randidly wanted to roll his eyes

Really all you wanted to check was that your fianceÆs ex was attractive

After she had gone the joy left Randidly and he felt tired There were two things he wanted to do before he left because today had proven to him that taking back his name and face would be more trouble than it was worth First because of the engagement then because of the work and finally because of GhostÆs watchful eye Senator Firefly might be a good source of information but he was a fool in some ways and just as likely to tip the Creature and its servants off to his goals

The first thing he wanted to do was look at his reflection Although RandidlyÆs attempts at illusion were clumsy he could still manage to create the illusion of a mirror and he looked at himself

Maybe the real reason that I was so furious Randidly said slowly Was because with her it was never about trust Lyra only cared about results And she believed that you should be the same The thing she shared her secrets with was the Creature not me And she wanted me to accept that

Then Randidly shook his head There was a knot here inside of himself due to her involvement with the Creature It was something he didnÆt understand on so many levels But his gut just kept repeating the same thing over and over

Why didnÆt you pick me

Maybe Lyra thought she had But her way of picking was not something Randidly was willing to put up with Shaking his head Randidly turned to the issue at hand He looked at Neveah

You actually care for her When I heard how you came to be engaged I thought it was a misunderstanding Did you truly know what you were doing the whole time Randidly asked

Well no said Neveah her Randidly smile sheepish But does anyone The more time I spent with her It made me happy

Randidly regarded Neveah skeptically This will not end well Do you think that Tia would really want to marry you if she knew what you were

Neveah shrugged It was oddly infuriating to watch his own body perform gestures thought Randidly as he gritted his teeth

More than that she is shallow and self centered She canÆt see past what is put in front of her SheÆs basically nothing more than a child

Am I not the same

NeveahÆs words stopped Randidly dead in his tracks

Perhaps not shallow but I play games I donÆt do things I donÆt want to do I donÆt worry about responsibility I just act That is the freedom that you gave me I understand that in your mind this is a stage I will grow out of but what if it is not ItÆs true we might decide not to get married or we might get married then end things but do not most humans do this

Also Randidly Neveah gazed at him with soft eyes Do you realize why she infuriates you so much ItÆs true she has her own shallowness and vanity she is very different but I think if you look closely about how eclectic her attention is and how much her world is centered around herself How kind she is without thinking and how she would act without asking for anything in return you can see just how similar you two are at your core And why I will marry her

Chapter 553

Randidly understood what Neveah was saying what does it matter that their relationship was doomed People made bad decisions about relationships all the time Should Neveah being a monster stop her from the privilege of doing the same

After begrudgingly agreeing that NeveahÆs actions in his name were likely the best option this new argument was infuriating in a whole different manner Not only that but for Neveah to say that Randidly was just as scatterbrained and childish as Tia

Randidly needed a break So he went to a place where he could let loose

With his eyes burning golden emerald in the darkness Randidly walked into the danger zone that housed the Three Headed Ogre Sulfur hissed in pleasure as it settled around his body Acri whistled as it wound its way up his leg and presented itself to be grabbed

Just like last time the first ogres in the Danger Zone did not bother to use any sort of trickery they charged out of the brush with clubs held high The fury inside of Randidly numbed him somewhat so he didnÆt even move even as the ogres approached him Their wild blows crashed downwards and Randidly did not dodge

They smashed into SulfurÆs plates and the strange carbon plant lifeform did its best to disperse the force of the blow But still Randidly staggered somewhat After all these monsters were in the low 60s and their build was focused on Strength It was no surprise that they could deal damage if their blows actually landed

There was a spark in RandidlyÆs chest and he grunted but it was not enough to disperse the slowly building fury When he swung Acri it was a clumsy thing All raw force and the vicious desire to kill But still the ogres fell back with severed limbs and mortal wounds

Randidly staggered forward his eyes brilliant emerald stars As he continued through the walk more and more ogres came for him No longer would Randidly give them a chance to strike him first but instead he would swing Acri with all the force he could muster and trade blows with these two and a half meter tall ogres

Sizable chunks of RandidlyÆs health were ripped off but immediately his huge Health Regeneration began activating at full capacity to restore him After a time Randidly found himself panting alone in a clearing Around him 40 silent ogres lay their bodies hacked to shreds

For several long breaths Randidly lay still as he allowed his Health to restore itself Then he moved on

It took Randidly only four hours this time to reach the inner sanctum of the Three Headed Ogre Partially this was due to his knowledge of the layout of the Danger Zone but the other big detail was that every battle he fought was over in a single strike His attacks cut through the opposing partyÆs weapons and sheared into their body It was only a matter of how quickly could Randidly throw attacks

When he reached the ridge of the Three Headed Ogre the creature roared and climbed up out of its warren to see who dare disturb it When it saw Randidly it immediately blanched But then the leftmost head began whispering in the center headÆs ears and the two other heads gritted their teeth but nodded Obviously the thing remembered the limit on RandidlyÆs power

But Randidly wasnÆt here to actually finish it off He simply wanted to blow off some steam And he didnÆt want to gain another Level so he couldnÆt use spells against the other monsters He needed an opponent who was strong enough to be a challenge but wouldnÆt die and also wouldnÆt pose any threat to Randidly Although this thing could cast three spells at once so could Randidly And his were better

During his free time in his workshop he had gathered enough materials to remake his rings with his increased Potion Making Skill As such he now had 10 rings which had between a 500 and 600 Mana storage Combined with his actual manner Randidly had just above 9000 Mana to play with

Kekeke foolish human coming back to fail once more The left head began Need we remind you how limp your

Spearing Roots Randidly said quietly and the air around his body seemed to distort as he moved more Mana at once than he ever had in the past He fueled this spell with fully 4000 Mana The ground trembled first and then exploded upwards as thousands of roots covered in vines shot upwards to impale the 10 meter tall three headed ogre Instantly the right head cast Wind Blades but the blades lost their edge after cutting through only 20 of the roots

It didnÆt even make a dent in the wave of plant matter that shot up towards them

Physical Shield The middle head bellowed and this spell was a bit more effective The shimmering armor that formed around its body repelled about half of the Spearing Roots but the other half burst through and curled around and through its limbs It grunted in pain

With burning eyes the left head shouted Lightning Bolt

Randidly snorted he had seen this trick before As the energy took a second to build up in the sky above he used Gravity Affinity to destabilize the point of formation It fizzled but the spell was completely dispersed Seeming only to remember now that Randidly had developed a way to overcome this trick the left head swore quietly under its breath

Now it was RandidlyÆs turned

Incendiary Eruption

A crack opened in the ground beneath the ogreÆs legs and superheated lava spewed upward searing the flesh on its legs It screeched in agony and the center head began casting a healing spell while the right continued to cast Wind Blades to cut its way out But Randidly wasnÆt interested in giving them that chance

Incendiary Eruption Incendiary Eruption Incendiary Eruption Incendiary Eruption

Again and again Randidly cast the spell slowly burning away all the flesh on the ogreÆs legs and the continuing the assault until its bones cracked and crumpled from the heat This had the negative side effect of burning away a lot of the Spearing Roots but Randidly was ready for that eventuality as well

Grasp of Lava Grasp of Lava

Now that it had fallen to its knees its feet having been burnt to nothing Randidly could produce huge hands of lava from the ground to grip onto its body This burnt away the rest of the root spears but they were no longer necessary They were just used to keep the ogre still enough that it could get to this point

The ogreÆs screams grew increasingly loud so much so that the ridge shook with the force of its shouts The right head appeared to have passed out even as the center head was shedding tears while continuing to cast healing spells The left head kept trying to use lightning bolts and cold snap but both could be destabilized with the use of Gravity Affinity and proper timing

Eventually even the left head ceased casting spells and just looked at Randidly with pleading eyes The burnt flesh had reached its waist and the bones of its thighs had been revealed after everything else was burnt away It was broken

But it was not dead and Randidly was out of many

His body was trembling as he felt a strange overexertion that he hadnÆt encountered before He supposed this was the result of using more Mana than his body could handle He smiled bitterly as the rage departed from him and just left him feeling slightly ill

True the being in front of him was something that would kill him if it could without thinking about it but it was also an intelligent living being What he just did was torture

What he did was lash out because he was upset about something He took his anger out on an innocent party

What he did was childish And it probably proved Neveah right

As Randidly turned away there was a small ding and a notification popped up Most notifications Randidly had learned to ignore but his eyebrows rose when he saw this one because it had been a long time since he had obtained a notification for a Path

Congratulations You have unlocked the Great Path Wrathful Dual Mage (Plant and FIre) 0/1000 As the first person on your world to unlock a great Path you have received the Skill Blessed Instincts « Lvl 1 Because you are the first person in your Cohort to unlock a Great Path your Skill has been upgraded to Weaver with the Threads of Fate Lvl 1

Chapter 554

As Randidly departed from the Danger Zone he realized two things First that being Randidly Ghosthound was truly a hassle He could see it now in the small ways that people had treated him and that they had treated him when he was playacting as NeveahÆs version of him People expected things of him and while he wore that identity he was constantly watched More than anything else Randidly hated being watched

If there was something that he could only accomplish as himself he would deal with it but right now there was no reason to deal with the hassle of that attention

The second thing Randidly realized was that he truly enjoyed working with metal and creating machines It was a stab in the dark towards the beginning when he had chosen to go through the metalworking factory to get a probationary citizenship Or perhaps it was more than that Some part of him might have sensed that this was something that he was drawn towards

Now with the Creature basically a no show as an enemy Randidly would focus on his crafting to address the two very real threats that he faced raid bosses and the influence of the Unity Church

So it was with a much more focused heart that Randidly left the Danger Zone But right near the entrance some instinct of his pulled him up short It was a strange sensation and it took a while for Randidly to realized that it reminded him of the ties of Karma that he could sense through LucretiaÆs Skills But these threads were even more difficult to pin down He found himself reaching for them and they would completely disperse It was like you could only spot certain things out of the corner of your eye in the dark but when you looked at them there was nothing there

Still Randidly believed that this was his new reward Skill because as he let his instincts guide him forward he gained a new Level in Weaver with the Threads of Fate Which was a pretty definitive clue in and of itself

As he followed these frustrating hints Randidly soon heard the sound of fighting in the distance and pulled up sharply He frowned Someone else was pushing into the Danger Zone The respawn rates for monsters were so fast here that they probably didnÆt benefit from RandidlyÆs earlier actions at all so they must have some strength to get at least this far But they clearly werenÆt familiar with the area because they had already wandered away from the main path

But when he located the source of the commotion Randidly froze These were Raid Boss minions

All of them were centaurs moving in formation to repel the attacks of the ogres that charged forward At the back a larger being amongst them clearly commanded the rest with grand gestures and grunts They were actually fairing very well against the ogres There appeared a few injuries among their number but it wasnÆt enough to stop their momentum

Randidly snorted let it never be said that he let a Raid Boss wander past him

Incendiary Eruptions ripped up into the middle of their grouping and made the backline go down screaming Randidly winced as he saw a few die he had some leeway with leveling but he still didnÆt want to kill too many

Luckily the ogres did the rest of the work for him They crushed the front centaurs when they were no longer being harried by the supporting line and smashed their way to the boss It happened so quickly that the Raid Boss itself was just turning to search for the source of the interference and his head was crushed by a club

It was strange that the Raid Bosses gathered up to push into the Danger Zone but Randidly supposed he had seen monsters fighting before He checked the bodies but they only had that thread of the CreatureÆs Aether again Although they may be connected to it it was a tenuous connection

Shrugging Randidly supposed that Raid Bosses were getting more active everywhere The fact that they were pressing into a Danger Zone was a good way to keep their numbers low Unless they actually cleared the Danger Zone which was a disturbing prospect No one knew what the effect of it would be To have Raid Bosses be the first

Lowering his head Randidly began sprinting the rest of the distance back through the borderlands to his small steelworking town Although he had to admit it wasnÆt so small anymore As more refugees showed up there was an even larger population and a similarly rising demand for steel So people came to the town

After having his Baloo illusion reapplied in secret Randidly began working in earnest on updating the runic language he used His production of purchasable drones was such that there was a steady stream of income he was able to use to buy more blueprints With those he was able to make more comparisons between the different models and research more variations on what Randidly had begun to think of as the Ghost sponsored runes

But his breakthrough happened for a completely different reason

About 18 hours after his isolation started Randidly swore bitterly and stood up as another drone overheated His runes that he was creating were undoubtedly effective but that was part of the problem Too much energy was running through the metal it melted about half the time If he had it run at levels where it wouldnÆt melt the output was such that it didnÆt matter that he was using a whole new group of runes He might as well have stuck with the old runes

If only there was a fucking way to get rid of all the heat

Randidly paused frowning

Lucretia Randidly asked after a pause Whatever happened to that spear

Hank refrained from pulling the trigger but only just

What the fuck have you done He growled The barrel of his pistol was locked on EzekielÆs heart The man was glowering furiously at Hank as he stood above the girlÆs body

How many times do I have to fucking say it Ezekiel hissed I just FOUND her Hank Why would I make a scene if I killed her myself

You werenÆt very vocal about your findings until I started walking over this way Hank spat back He had been so caught up in the training with the people of Donnyton He was improving at a visible clip But if it cost the life of this girl if she had died because Hank was too focused on himself to care about what was going on around him

And she was just a girl too a slip of a thing that was probably not even 20 Pretty if only due to her young age Her whole life was ahead of her Even though the System was incredibly dangerous with proper protection she would have grown to a ripe old age

Give me one reason why I shouldnÆt kill you right now Hank said his eyes blazing as he looked at Ezekiel But the longer he looked the more he understood Ezekiel had felt he needed to do this His stats would slowly decrease over time if he didnÆt kill Those stats were something that he worked for To have them slipping away due to a Class

But then Hank crushed all his empathy out of himself He had warned the man and he had still insisted on behaving like this

A moment Mr Howard

Without taking his eyes from the man in front of him Hank sensed the man who had moved to stand next to him He was tall and gaunt and very slow a name floated up to the surface of HankÆs mind Glendel

GlendelÆs smile was sharp as he looked at Ezekiel There is no need to accuse the man without evidence Very soon we will know the details of the girlÆs death And if it should turn out that he did indeed kill her there will be no need to raise your own hand Mr Howard The vengeful ghost will take her own pound of flesh

Even standing near Glendel Hank could feel a chill rising off of the man THere was an air around him that was slightly unnatural Hank had never heard what exactly he did around the Donnyton but he was high ranking

To HankÆs surprise Glendel just kneeled next to the girl His hands gently reached forward and closed her eyes Then he knelt next to her as if praying for fully five minutes During that time Hank took a step backward from Ezekiel and lowered his repeater The other man still glowered at Hank but a lot of the aggression drained away as he waited for Glendel to make his move

Abruptly GlendelÆs eyes shot open And as it happened the air shimmered above the girl Then like a flower blooming a ghost rose pale and translucent Her eyes opened too and there was nothing there Her irises and pupils had become one until her eyes looked like a pale cueball

Did this man kill you Glendel asked gravely

Slowly the specter turned and faced Ezekiel HankÆs hand tightened on his pistol Just as slowly however she shook her head no

Even Glendel seemed surprised Then who

The ghost only pointed West and North

Chapter 555

Henrik wasnÆt in his quarters so Randidly left his new creation with one of HenrikÆs assistants with a note Randidly was filled with confidence in regards to this new Porpoise model that he had designed He suspected that Henrik would miss some of the more deft usages of RandidlyÆs new runes but even the more obvious side effects of his new model would undoubtedly win Randidly enough attention to begin working on more interesting applications of the runic system that Randidly had created

Idly Randidly wondered whether Ghost would be shown the creation Undoubtedly he would Would it be a simple thing to copy his runes After some thought Randidly decided that the details could be copied but the execution of creating them was not something that many would be capable of

Randidly was aware that there were other drone creators working but they were all scientists who were trained towards mass production Their transition to hand making all these different drones was not a smooth process They simply couldnÆt understand why these drones would behave so differently based upon how much attention they received It wasnÆt scientific it was an art form To them this was almost disgust inducing

But it served to make Baloo EricksonÆs accomplishments that much more impressive so Randidly didnÆt mind

After three days of hard work lost in the runes Randidly felt he had calmed down quite a bit and had considered a lot from his previous interactions with Neveah With a placid mind he opened up a communication with Neveah

Neveah I was thinking First thank you I cannot deny that you assuming my identity has freed me up for some things You are also right that people will gossip about things I may or may not have done and there is little I can do about it But that doesnÆt give you a free pass to do whatever you want

Neveah seemed to sigh I know But I want this

Randidly almost chuckled ItÆs a selfish thought One of the first selfish thoughts I have heard from you Which is why it struck me so strongly when you asked

Yes It used to be us Now Neveah seemed profoundly sad and Randidly responded by flooding her with his impression of their connection

DonÆt go severing us too quickly Randidly sent over mentally How about this honestly I donÆt give a shit whether people think IÆm marrying someone If it becomes a problem later IÆll just burn my way through any obstacles to get what I want But you cannot use my identity to lure the girl in If you tell Tia you are fake I donÆt care if the two of you decide to go through with the marriage

Shaking his head Randidly continued I would think that it would be best to be completely honest but considering your physical form IÆll leave that decision up to you If you refrain I guarantee it will cause more trouble for you down the line Still as long as all parties close to the issue know that the real Randidly Ghosthound is not getting married you may enjoy the spectacle of it

Neveah sent her assent to his request and then she brooded for several seconds Finally she asked Should I tell Mr Firefly I am a fake

If possible donÆt do that Randidly thought back He walked out of his workshop and looked up at a small camera installed at the corner of the roof If he knows others will know too If they know this ruse is meaningless

Neveah understood but before she let go of the connection she said Also you have been working so you likely havenÆt heard Something happened late last night You should check a news feed

Ghost watched the humans in the room dispassionately Alan Howard leaned forward rubbing his arm Likely because the technology was new some of its implementations were still rough The point where the needle had been attached to his skin for the past half hour

Alan looked up sharply at the doctor Was it a success

After consulting some readings on the medical devices around Alan he nodded It will take some time for your body to acclimate to the serum but considering your prior physical stats you will likely experience a 20% increase in ability

GhostÆs six fleshbags hummed beneath him The serum was finally some fruit borne of research Ghost had started due to looking at some of Dr KarmanÆs old notes Still he wouldnÆt have been able to push it so far or so fast without the discovery of Randidly GhosthoundÆs Elixirs They werenÆt able to get a sample of course but by studying the effects on EzekielÆs and AffinaÆs body with nanobots they were able to get something with an approximate effect

The only trouble was the elixirs were an absolute increase The serum decreased in effectiveness the higher a personÆs strength was It was particularly frustrating for Ghost to feel outdone by a single human when he was a hyper powered AI built by the greatest genius the world had ever seen but GhostÆs analytics all pointed to the Ghosthound having a powerful catalyst that caused the results

Without finding the catalyst Ghost was helpless But at least he knew that the Ghosthound was just lucky not truly superior

President Howard hopped from foot to foot flexing his hands He appeared pleased with the feeling because he flashed a wide smile Ghost took particular note of this A genuine smile was rare for Alan Howard Perhaps some minor hormonal variance due to the serum Or was the physical sensation of receiving the serum truly pleasurable It bore watching

Satisfied Alan turned and looked up at the roof Alright letÆs walk and talk Ghost report on the Lake Apollo situation

Ghost pulled up the pre prepared statement he had made around 7 hours ago As you are no doubt aware Lake Apollo is a small lake in the Southwest corner of Zone 1 At the time of the borderlands opening it was revealed in the initial expansion The lake is three miles wide and 7 across Due to the particular challenges of fighting against water based Raid Bosses a military presence was established around the lake but the Raid Bosses there were largely allowed to reproduce as they pleased There were periodic monster horde attacks on the bases there but that was considered an asset It was the one place in the Zone where there were periodic predictable encounters with powerful monsters Generally the attacking beasts would number under 1000 and between the Levels of 26 and 34 Most recruits did a rotation on Lake Apollo to get a taste of combat before being sent deep into the borderlands or normal patrols

As more refugees poured into our Zone an area 3 miles East of Lake Apollo was selected as the site of a Unity Church Refugee camp Congress raised a ruckus as the geographic locations of the different bases meant the camp could be directly attacked There were three military bases around Lake Apollo one to the Northwest of it One to the Northeast and one to the Southeast As it was if the monster horde left the lake and headed directly East it could just demolish the refugee camp So a 4th base was made by Lake Apollo directly between the lake and the refugee camp This has become the hub of all long range ballistics testing

At 21 32 last night the Northeast base detected unusual monster movements and made the normal reports At 22 00 there were distress cries from the refugee camp Within 23 minutes the distress calls ceased During that time both the Northeast and Southeast camps dispatched special response teams to the refugee camp None made it farther than a quarter of a mile from the bases The Raid Bosses had set traps for both and ambushed almost all of the forces sent to assist

It was only after scout drones determined no humans were able to fight that the Eastmost base made its move Using long range incendiary rounds it annihilated most everything living in the vicinity of the refugee camp

Alan remained silent as he walked through the silent hospital Ghost watched the man carefully It was frustrating to admit but President Howard was his biggest supporter at the moment Not that he was in particular danger of being decommissioned but Ghost used to be associated with absolute assurance His word was law It was how the Tiered Citizenship came to be

But now the Unity Church was becoming a growing threat As the monsters became stronger GhostÆs drones were insufficient to handle them And with the military weapons that Ghost designed failing

Can we spin this in our favor Alan asked finally Ghost wished he had eyes to roll Of course they would attempt to but

It is undeniable that the Unity Church maintained less a fighting force in this refugee camp due to the presence of the military bases That will become the point of contention Who was at fault

Who was at fault Alan asked stopping and glancing up at a camera

Ghost hated feeling so powerless As my reports indicated Raid Bosses will increase in sophistication and strength the longer they are left alone This one had enough tactical knowledge to sneak out of the lake past three bases and assault the weak point But the generals have grown used to considering Lake Apollo an asset Human complacency is at fault If I am asked to speak before Congress

Ghost didnÆt bother to finish By AlanÆs darkening countenance he realized what Ghost meant People in AlanÆs camp were at fault

Yes well Alan said darkly Data isnÆt everything

The other man walked out of the building and into the cool morning air Ghost was filled with distaste but suppressed it After all a communication line was coming in

Ah Ghost Yes I would like to speak with you Father Foster said her voice even I have an offer of sorts “

Chapter 556

Randidly considered taking personal action but ultimately decided against it He was furious that the government had allowed so many people to die right under their noses As soon as possible he needed to strike at the Raid Bosses that were growing there in that cesspool of a lake But he obviously didnÆt want to Level up by doing it He still intended to go to ShalÆs world and participate in the postponed tournament

The way that one gained credit for a kill was strange In most situations it was easy to determine whether you would receive experience for an attack If you stabbed something and it died you received credit If you stabbed something it ran away then it bled out hours later you also got credit

If Randidly cast Earthquake on the lake and a monster fell into a resulting crevasse he would get credit If the monster fell survived and then was ground to death between rocks Randidly would get credit

But if Randidly caused a monster to fall into a crevasse and it was able to climb back out he wouldnÆt get credit even if it bled out and died If a monster was in a crevasse and a rock tumbled down and crushed it Randidly would only get credit if something else didnÆt cause that rock to fall

Basically there were ways of making sure he wouldnÆt be responsible for the death but they were flukey He still had some leeway to Leveling but killing even 10% of the monsters that were likely living in this rather large lake would be a dangerous prospect The half decade experience spike was nowhere near what happened at the end of 10 Levels

Which was why Randidly planned on gathering Tykes and Dinesh and heading down to the lake His short turn strategy was to cast Incendiary Eruption on the lake bottom and see what surfaced It would take a lot to heat the water enough to make a difference but the vaporized water would likely scare a lot of things up It would at least give them an idea of what was occurring in the lakeÆs depths

Unfortunately it didnÆt seem things were going to be that easy Randidly traveled through his tunnels to the underground fortification beneath TatianaÆs farming commune and found about two dozen people arguing upstairs Dinesh appeared to be out patrolling for more locations and Tykes was likely upstairs making puppy dog eyes at that delicate blonde girl that had brought in last week

Sighing Randidly went to see what the fuss was about To his surprise the normally confident Tatiana was visibly torn At her back was as expected Tykes and several other important women in the commune Opposite her was RandidlyÆs grandfather Kulwort Shaw He was glaring imperiously at Tatiana with 15 robbed men and women behind him Then he turned his attention to two figures that appeared to be the source of the commotion

The one figure Randidly recognized it was the young woman with the fiery orange hair She was holding the wrist of a teenage boy who was low key struggling with her

Let me go The boy growled glaring at the young woman

Honestly the young woman seemed more distraught than the boy Kenneth why donÆt you recognize me IÆm your sister After the System hit weÆve been struggling to survive together this whole time

Bitch I donÆt know who you are but I just was saved by the Unity Church from the Borderlands If it wasnÆt for them I would have died The teenager shouted pulling away Then he walked over towards Kulwort

Kulwort smiled frostily at Tatiana As you can see Miss Yosef he called us of his own accord and wants to return to the Unity Church facilities We mean no harm coming in such force but it appears one of your number has kidnapped him It appears to be a mistake but

Now KulwortÆs eyes narrowed and his smile was vicious As we have had our disagreements in the past we are no longer willing to give you the benefit of the doubt My men will be performing a sweep of your little farm I hope there are no hard feelings

RandidlyÆs watch beeped He looked down swore quietly and then looked up with a small grin at what was unfolding between these two

Tatiana stepped forward with clenched fists I donÆt think thatÆs appropriate As he wants to return with you we can do nothing but searching our compound

Kenneth The young woman sobbed falling to her knees At her neck was the modified cross of the Unity Church and she still wore the robe of an initiate IÆve looked for you so long why

Miss Yusef DonÆt make this more difficult than it is Kulwort said shaking his head But his snide grin seemed to beg Tatiana to resist more Inwardly Randidly shivered When he was a child he wasnÆt able to sense it as much but to see his grandfather now he could understand how his mother turned out so temperamental and vicious As you are an unaffiliated business over IÆm afraid your Tier 1 citizenship isnÆt enough to offer you protection I am well within my rights to examine your base especially with the backing of such damning evidence

All eyes turned to Randidly even those of the robed individuals It was a small warning that Randidly had spoken to Tykes primarily who looked like he was about to crush KulwortÆs face Randidly had no doubt the man was capable of it but it would do more harm than good at this point Besides even if he was an ass Randidly still felt hesitant to strike family

Even a sadistic asshole like Kulwort

No what was shocking was that everyone had heard his whisper meant for Tykes That meant their Perception was at least 100 likely closer to 150 Still if they were all looking his way he might as well play this new card

Tier 1 Citizenship is insufficient you say Randidly said slowly He pressed a button on his watch and the notification he had just received was displayed for everyone else It seemed that Henrik had looked at the modifications to the Porpoise and was impressed But what if I a Tier 2 Citizen vouch for them

There was a tense silence But what Randidly enjoyed the most was the slack jawed astonishment from Tatiana The woman was absolutely floored that he had citizenship It was honestly quite pleasant to see her left speechless While Kulwort scrunched up his brows and considered it Randidly gazed deeply at the man called Kenneth Then he looked back at the young woman

no matter how he looked at it Randidly would be shocked to find out that the two werenÆt related Why was he acting like he didnÆt recognize her Was it really just a case of mistaken identity

But while Randidly was looking at Kenneth he caught a whiff of it His eyes narrowed

The silence was broken again by the young woman Why why

Kenneth glared furiously at this young woman I donÆt have any fam

But then he paused His eyes went blank for a second and there was an internal struggle without him He opened his mouth then closed it He fucking stunk of the CreatureÆs Aether Still nothing pure but it was about 20 times as condensed as Randidly had seen it in other places so far Like a delirious man given sight of water he locked onto it

It seemed that Kulwort realized something too when Kenneth became confused Well since you vouched for them

But Randidly already acted Lightning quick he caused a root to shoot upwards smash the back of KennethÆs head and then drop back into the ground Because he was standing sideways most of the movement was covered by his body the robed figures would likely only see a blur And even if their Perception was 200 they wouldnÆt be able to clearly tell what was going on By the time they saw the movement Kenneth was collapsing

Mildly Randidly said It seems the stress of the situation was a bit much for that man Tykes why donÆt you go fetch him and take him to the first aid hut

Then he turned to Kulwort I beg your pardon but it appears this man isnÆt in a state to travel Perhaps he has recently experienced a traumatic event That might explain his possible amnesia

Luckily Tykes understood the only way this would work and he moved fast With deceptive quickness he was beside Kenneth and picked the thin teen up A few of the robed individuals took steps forward but Kenneth was already in TykesÆ arms and the black man probably had six inches and 40 pounds on even the biggest of them

DonÆt you dare Kulwort began furiously but Randidly just smiled at him

YouÆll understand if we are hesitant to release him into your care Randidly said After all he spent only a few seconds under your protection and he appears to have suffered for it

Kulwort Shaw opened his mouth and tried to speak but he could find no retort that made sense Instead he snorted and said You IÆll look into you and this matter DonÆt think that your connections will protect you If you dare harm a hair on the boyÆs head you will pay

Then he retreated with his minions Randidly chuckled One thing that he had been able to internalize from his time pretending to be himself is how effective it was sometimes to just do what you want For Randidly it was something of a nice change of pace

Chapter 557

Well itÆs not that I donÆt know of what Great Paths are Lucretia said slowly But I must admit that I havenÆt gained one myself They are written of in my world but only in legends Also they are generally unavailable to people before they reached Level 50 and condense their fate I suppose since your own images were never separated it is possible the Level 50 distinction has no meaning

So what is it Randidly said aloud He was sitting in the dimly lit room alone with Kenneth He performed several scans of the boy and he was still baffled as to how the CreatureÆs Aether was so strongly attached to him It was somewhat baffling As the resident physician was out Randidly could only wait for her to return and give him a more thorough examination So he turned his attention to other matters

I can only suspect based on the rumors But it is something you should not do now Everything I have heard agrees that a person can only have one Great Path in their lifetime Those who take it of course gain great power They are hard to unlock and contain rewards commiserate with that difficulty If IÆm being frank Lucretia paused I believe it is what the maker of the System is looking for Our philosophers noted that once a Great Path appears others occasionally appear with the same path with the same benefits Only it is no longer a great path To create one is to have a truly unique blend of images and strengths within the System

Randidly closed his eyes According to your theory then choosing a Great Path is to confirm my submission in terms of power to the SystemÆs judgment

Likely The CreatureÆs memories touch on it but only indirectly It always thought of Great Paths in terms of how well they would be received About whether they were sufficient

Any guesses how mine would fare Randidly asked

not well Lucretia responded with quite a bit of amusement in her thought

Randidly didnÆt take the judgment personally After all according to these hypotheses Great Paths were usually done by people who had survived for a much longer time in the Sytem and achieved Level 50 Although Randidly was powerful he didnÆt believe that he was so powerful that he could defeat everyone on ShalÆs planet for instance THere were people there that had spent their whole lives training under the System

It was clear that their Aether was much staler than the ambient Aether currently on Earth which would lead to slower growth But those people had the benefit of time

Lucretia Randidly said abruptly changing the topic Do peopleÆs lifespans change with the System

Lucretia thought about this for a while it is hard to say Mostly it has been too long since the System arrived in my world to tell But I will say that it is not uncommon to live to be 500 in my world Certain powerful individuals have been rumored to reach 1000 years

Randidly considered that then shivered If he had 1000 years how high could he raise his Skill Levels They become more difficult to raise and also less effective but still a Level 500 Skill Level would be a terrifying thing What sort of Paths would one receive at Level

RandidlyÆs thoughts were interrupted by a chirp from his watch Henrik was calling him Grimacing Randidly got up and prepared to return to the compound He had relied on his new citizenship in order to avoid trouble so Randidly felt like he should repay the alacrity with which the man had reported his new drone

Within 10 minutes Randidly stood before a red eyed Henrik

This The manÆs breathing was heavy The Porpoise was a disassembled mess on the ground in front of them What are these

Henrik pointed Specifically he pointed at two instances of the same rune that Randidly had created to dodge most of the problems he was encountering The inspiration was simple if the spear could transform Aether into meaning and vice versa how hard would it be to make a similar transition between two other forces

In this case Randidly made the transfer between heat and electricity The runes were in areas of high density runic activity and when the metal would heat due to the energy flowing through the metal these runes would turn that heat into electricity This electricity would flow through a sister rune that was created to expend the electricity In this case it created an ionized shield to add additional protection to the Porpoises armor

Now this was by no means a simple task mechanically to transform heat into energy In fact it was near impossible in a compact series of machinery But the ability of the System to simplify processes was a godsend in this case It took quite a bit of studying and experimentation but Randidly was able to intuit the inner process of the transition on the spear and bastardize it to work with much simpler inputs and outputs

It was almost less work than it sounded most of the runes on the spear were associated with carefully encapsulating Aether and Meaning Heat and electricity was childÆs play in comparison

Runes I had to do a lot of work to make the details work and they are honestly pretty inefficient Randidly said downplaying the research and resources he had relied upon to create such a tiny thin But they function well as a heat sink even now With some more time and funding

Yes yes yes yes anything For the first time since he had met the other fastidious man Randidly heard Henrik laugh It was honestly slightly off putting It sounded strangely like goat burps Bababababa With this The scale of the drones we can make Ah If you donÆt mind would you allow me to watch the process of engraving YouÆll be compensated for the process of course

Shrugging Randidly acquiesced His technique in Mana Engraving was not something that someone could casually copy In addition to his high Control and Focus and the stability that his large Mana pool provided RandidlyÆs Mana Engraving Skill had reached 115 in the past few days if Henrik could watch and replicate it Randidly would eat his non existent shoe

Much to RandidlyÆs chagrin he failed the first time he attempted it Gritting his teeth he did it again this time successfully All the while Henrik was scribbling notes furiously Afterward he thanked Randidly and gave him access to several higher tiered plans for free Unfortunately most of these Randidly had obtained by destroying the drones in the attack on the organ harvesting plant But Randidly could say that so he could only smile and accept

Besides these plans werenÆt warped by heat like the real metal copies he had obtained were There werenÆt any areas of difference that Randidly could notice but having the full plans at his disposal was a good thing

Afterward Randidly immediately began work on a flying combat drone Because he was able to basically ignore the heat problem that had plagued him previously Randidly designed a whole new model based on combining the Skylark with a ground based upgrade on the Porpoise called the Armored Turtle The Armored Turtles selling point was two low bore railguns mounted on a swivel on its back

With the heat dissipation Randidly could double the size of these guns without many problems Increased propulsion was necessary but also easily within his abilities without the problem of heat After he created it the real question for Randidly was actually whether to give this over to GhostÆs control

To ascertain the deadliness of the larger rail guns he tested the shot on himself The shot left him with small burns in the area of impact but also with a bleeding would This made RandidlyÆs expression grim The drone he created would likely have suspect accuracy as it was a flying railgun and it also possessed a limited ammunition cache But its long range and high penetrative power would still make it dangerous

Besides Randidly didnÆt doubt that they would try and slap the larger rail gun on ground mounted drones to increase the accuracy

There was one bright spot the railgun was good against armor but not against energy based shields Even RandidlyÆs positively anemic Mana Shield stopped the projectile dead That was likely a function of his Intelligence stat but it also meant that most people from Zone 32 would be safe

As for the people here

Well Randidly felt it very powerfully at that moment the lives of all of the people who would possibly be affected by his decision here But without these tools he could provide people couldnÆt stand up against the wave of Raid Bosses that were rapidly popping up They needed these weapons And for the short term anyway every drone would need to be handmade by Randidly No one else had the Mana Engraving to equal him

And so it was that Baloo Erickson invented the Pterodactyl drone with two swiveling railguns and enough mobility to escape most flying monsters below Level 40 He provided Henrik with the blueprints and the prototype The man was too busy drooling to respond but Randidly figured he would get paid for his trouble eventually

Leaving Randidly shook his head How quickly this recalcitrant man had shifted his opinion was somewhat amusing

Once he was away from the drone manufacturing zone Randidly gathered Tykes and Dinesh and headed South It was time to do a little pest control in Lake Apollo

Chapter 558

As the group headed South Randidly checked in with Tatiana To his surprise the woman he had felt so close to recently spoke distantly and only when prodded She did inform him that the doctor was with Kenneth and as of yet there was no sign of the Unity Church coming back to make trouble It had only been a few hours but the lack of anything was a little disconcerting

Meanwhile Nathan assured Randidly that he would soon be able to get in and see Kenneth before anything happened He was just less mobile than Randidly and would need to walk back from the shantytown

The actual process of cleaning out the lake worked surprisingly well Randidly used his Incendiary Eruptions and a huge amount of monsters charged to the surface enraged by this disturbance to their normal activities Although they were all mid 30s they came out confused and most were destroyed by Tykes and Dinesh before anything could happen

The two of them worked in perfect sync which Randidly made a note of It seemed the two of them had been practicing in the borderlands without him

The real trouble was keeping their actions out of the scanning radiuses of the military bases that had been set up around the lake This was made more complicated by the fact that the recent attack had really pushed the tension present on the bases to a new high There were patrols almost every hour

Randidly was very tired of throwing dead Raid Boss bodies back into the lake in order to avoid later detection It would be hard to avoid them noticing something but that wasnÆt really an issue Once they were gone there was no way that they could figure out who had killed them all even if they had figured out that much

In fact things were so boring that Randidly very quickly lost interest in the actual killing and turned his attention inward More and more he spent time contemplating the way the weight and mass would be concentrated at the tip of his spear Specifically he focused on that destructive power and what it would feel like

Through his previous thoughts he had slowly refined the image of the collapse of the weight But what Randidly was missing now was actually a sense for what that weight meant Randidly was almost bitter why was this so simple the previous time

He supposed that a lot of what he had accomplished previously was due to stealing the image from his opponent in the fight That had added the necessary density to what he was trying to accomplish Now he had to build it all on his own It was a different sort of labor

As he was looking at the lake however Randidly wondered if they would soon connect to something like the ocean Although it was probably dangerous heading to deep waters might give him some insight into the pressure that that sort of density would possess At the bottom of the sea Randidly believed you would truly feel like the world was on you

RandidlyÆs eyes sharpened The flicked his wrist and several Spearing Roots shot upwards to block the plasma bolts that were aimed for Dinesh and Tykes Both of them reacted and leaped backward out of the water but Randidly handled it much more efficiently

Most of the Raid Bosses had been mopped up but there was a lone figure standing in the shallows It had blended in with the press of bodies and acted now to strike for something that would likely pass for a deadly blow against lesser men

With another flick more plants surged into motion As he did so Randidly scanned the horizon no drones Since he was using the Plant Dominance safest to kill whoever this was Besides

As Randidly turned to regard the figure his eyes hardened The body was metallic and steaming as it stood there This was not a member of the military It was either an independent or someone who actively wanted to protect the Raid Bosses that were breeding here An agent of the Raid Bosses themselves It wasnÆt likely based upon just seeing the metallic exterior

That was man made

The figure reacted more quickly than Randidly expected As soon as its attack failed it turned and fled diving into the water

Fuck no you arenÆt getting away now Randidly growled and he reached out towards the figure Grasp of Lava

The molten rock spurted upward and engulfed the body of the figure The figure spasmed several times and then was still Cursing quietly to himself Randidly approached the mound of rock that was sitting in the shallows of the lake With pure strength he began to rip away the layers of cooling rock around the body

Although he believed that the crushing attack of the spell likely killed whatever this was he didnÆt lower his guard

Dinesh whatÆs the time looking like Randidly asked as he continued to free up the body

Dinesh checked his watch We have three more minutes of safety Four if you really want to cut it close

Randidly grunted and gave up on doing it delicately He smashed his fist down into the rock cracking it Then he dug his fingers into the crack and pried the thing apart The body of the assailant fell into the water and there was a moment of panic as Randidly expected it to escape

But it just bobbed up and down in the hip deep water Randidly lifted the body and was surprised by how light it was There was a pang of regret in his chest as he examined the body more closely it was wearing an exosuit It was a human

It never felt good to kill another even though Randidly had grown used to taking the lives of Raid Bosses and other intelligent monsters It was a tough world they were living in And now it seemed that forces within humanity were threatening the race as a whole in such ways that Randidly might need to kill less discriminately

Randidly shook his head pushing those thoughts away He pulled the mask back and revealed the assailants face It was a woman brown hair late 30s Randidly frowned down at her his initial regret giving way to puzzlement

This woman Randidly recognized her But from where

Neveah hummed to herself as she walked from her room towards the rooms where Tia was staying As she had agreed with Randidly Neveah had told Tia that she was not truly the man Randidly Ghosthound but another who was a very close friend of Randidly She left out the part that she was female and also her true form but told her fiance most of the rest

Tia had taken it very well listening seriously to NeveahÆs entire explanation Then she had asked Neveah if it was alright if she took some time to think about it Neveah had agreed

At the last minute Neveah stopped herself turned on her heel and walked away shaking her head It had only been a few hours She couldnÆt just just walk over there now and ask what she was thinking

Neveah walked back to the door to her own room which she barely used But now that she was waiting for Tia to come to talk to her she had to spend time here correct Otherwise she might miss the other woman

Well she might as well take a bit of a walk to see the night Maybe over towards TiaÆs portion of the mansion

But two steps back in that direction Neveah froze Her face turned grim When she stepped the wood of the floor splintered with the force of it Hurtling down the hallway Neveah felt her illusion waiver but didnÆt take the time to reinforce it This was more important

One thing she had learned from watching Randidly was that when it was time for action there wasnÆt a point in being subtle It was better to be decisive

So Neveah smashed the door down knocking it off its hinges

Uh What Senator Firefly said sitting bolt upright in his bed Although he had improved his stats he confided in Neveah that he still felt somewhat uncomfortable without sleeping on a daily basis So he habitually still lay down for the night even if he didnÆt necessarily fall asleep

It wasnÆt much but Neveah had a half step on the other party So when she settled into a battle stance after breaking down the door the windows were smashed in and four figures clothed in black rolled onto the floor Two immediately stopped up short looking at her while two streaked towards Senator Firefly pulling pistols out from small holsters

Those two that approached the Senator met NeveahÆs Jaws of Earth when crushed their lower bodies and twisted them away from a place where they could attack the Senator For good measure Neveah pulled up a Wall of Earth

Finally the two others recognized Neveah as a threat Several more strangely dressed figures rushed in through the dark windows The nearest one to Nevaeh threw a packet at Neveah Curious Neveah caught the thing

Enough electricity to fry a horse pumped out from the stun grenade Most people even System empowered would be stunned by such a rushed of electricity Neveah didnÆt even flinch But it did knock away the rest of her illusion

In the darkness NeveahÆs toothy maw twisted into a smile Today was not a good day to get on her bad side Her wings of bone slowly spread hanging above the assailants like a pale scythes

When they died the assailants didnÆt have time to scream

Chapter 559

Randidly burned the body without any remorse and continued the operation There were no more strange incidents and they were able to cover about 70% of the shallow areas of the lake There was likely more hidden in its depths but this was a preventative measure only This wasnÆt meant to rid them of the problem just buy them some time

Hopefully the military would get off its ass and mop up the rest but if it didnÆt they could just come back and be more heavy handed

Truly though they had killed so many monsters that even Randidly was shocked Thinking of an entire ocean full of the things Randidly shivered

When he made it back to the farming compound Nathan was waiting for him

Just like you I couldnÆt find the source Nathan said with a shrug ItÆs definitely coming from something internal But he doesnÆt have a Class and it’s not his Soulskill ItÆs like he soaked in the CreatureÆs Aether for a while and now some of it has soaked into him But I canÆt figure out how that would be possible or why it would be done

Randidly grunted He had suspected as much when he had performed his own examination There was the unmistakable taste of Aether on his body but it seemed to serve no purpose It was unbelievably frustrating Still there was little more that he could do He was something of an Aether expert with his Skills but they could extract no more information from the boy

After Nathan left Randidly to sit on the log bench and think he only had about 10 minutes alone before a new person approached him

YouÆve never really made sense to me until I saw you around your friends Tatiana said simply sitting down next to Randidly

Randidly gave her a sidelong glance What do you mean

It seems like you are competent at almost everything you do Fighting steel making even those brief times IÆve seen you cook it always comes out smelling wonderful For the longest time I was just stuck on wondering why Baloo Erickson was working so hard in a small steel town Tatiana tucked a strand of hair behind her ear but now it makes sense This isnÆt your real life That is Speaking and being listened to Thriving under the System

This time when he glanced at her RandidlyÆs eyes were much more serious

She smiled sadly and shook her head Oh donÆt worry IÆm not questioning everything It just clicked into place I could see you for what you really are IÆm not sure what you are trying to do working in a steel town but I donÆt doubt you will accomplish it And if possible I want to help

Now Randidly was truly surprised What

I want to help Tatiana repeated turning and looking at Randidly Her eyes were earnest as she continued to speak You are in charge of a business Or at least a small squad I have experience with management and a lot of girls who are making due based on what we can grow and what I can buy with my saving It seems it seems that the details of my own predicament were nowhere near as simple as I thought IÆm stuck here for a while Since we both have things we want why not work together

Randidly breathed out through his nose Then he looked at Tatiana He really meant to consider what she was offering After all he was aware of her Skills and the competence of the women who worked under here on the farming compound Idly he would balance the benefits they could bring to him against the cost of protecting them This compound was an eyesore as far as drone coverage was concerned and there was already that spat with the Unity Church

Not that he wouldnÆt fight the Unity Church anyway but this was a point of weakness that could be exploited That was dangerous

But instead of thinking it all through Randidly simply looked at Tatiana

With his powerful Perception he could see every pore in her skin every fine little hair on her cheeks It was clear that although she looked presentable in a casual way Tatiana hadnÆt had time to really sit and relax in the last several days She was determined and hardworking Her eyes were bright and clear looking straight at him

He also knew that it took a lot of guts to put oneself out there asking for help Because although Tatiana framed it as them engaging in an exchange help was exactly what it was There were long term benefits that he might reap from having Tatiana and her group be more closely bound with him but in the short term it would just be liabilities

Randidly pulled in a breath and let it out You donÆt know what you are asking Associating yourself with me is dangerous

Maybe But this is the world with the System Everything is dangerous Tatiana said simply

Shaking his head Randidly tried to figure out how to explain easily It wasnÆt an easy thing But he tried to at least be honest ThatÆs true but we are talking about another kind of danger altogether If you cannot grow strong quickly you will die around me Think about it if not for yourself for everyone who follows you Can they keep up If they do not they will be ground to dust by weight of what I mean to do

Although he had initially meant to just explain how dangerous it was around him halfway through speaking Randidly felt a tremor in his chest Suddenly his mouth began to move and speak grandly of what he was and will become Midway through he wanted to stop But at the same time Randidly sensed it was true

It was his new Skill at work again

And due to that same impulse Randidly extended his hand towards Tatiana even as he wanted to say she should run away But fate insisted there be an offer

Tatiana didnÆt even hesitate She took his hand A thread of karma formed between them while their hands were clasped DonÆt be an ass No one works harder than my girls So can you tell me what exactly are you trying to do Why are you spending so much time working on steel and now making drones

Chuckling Randidly lowered his arms IÆm looking for whatever is rotten here in Zone 1 It isnÆt going as well as I hoped The steel working and drones were originally to gather information but now I think IÆm doing it to create weapons to keep people safe At some point I wonÆt have time for this so I want to try and equip people now

What are you going to go on vacation Tatiana asked squinting at Randidly

Randidly grinned and looked up at the sky Something like that Alright fine if you want to be a part of my organization we are going to need to do a few things You have a Class yea How good is it

Tatiana just looked at Randidly then shrugged her shoulders What do you mean how good is it ItÆs a Class ItÆs not the best but

We will get you a better one Randidly said enjoying slightly how TatianaÆs eyes narrowed What about Skill Levels Not just for you but for the other women working here We will talk to Dinesh and he will set up training programs Your Skill Levels need to go up WhatÆs your highest Skill Level

74 Tatiana said through gritted teeth

Oh thatÆs not as bad as I hoped Randidly said with a nod But I doubt that all of the rest of the people are as well developed Within a few months IÆm sure we can get you up to standards In the meantime IÆll plant some more vegetables and fruits and build up some tree cover That will hide the true size of your base while we expand Next

Wait wait wait Tatiana said raising her hands This is all this is all great And I have no idea how you think you are going to accomplish this But letÆs be realistic Getting my Skill Levels At this Level itÆs hard Tree cover Guiding the growth like that will take a long time even with the SystemÆs help And getting a new Class Are you insane

No Randidly said simply but he let a fraction of his Indomitable Will of Yggdrasil show out There was a small flicker from his illusion but BruyaÆs work held admirably well underneath the strain Well maybe I am But I still keep finding myself able to move forward So IÆm not just gonna stop because no one else is doing what I am doing

Randidly once more raised his hand and offered it palm up to Tatiana This was a second offer the real one The System is bigger and more dangerous than you think ThatÆs what IÆm trying to accomplish I want to insulate the average person from the parts of the System you canÆt see coming So Tatiana are you in

Her face split into a smile so bright and rich that Randidly trembled to see it There was so much vulnerability and blooming trust in it that it almost broke his heart The threads of karma tied themselves slowly tighter You sure have a roundabout way of asking a girl out on a date Viking I already said yes didnÆt I

Randidly rolled his eyes But he didnÆt say anything to correct her

Chapter 560

Who is he Hank asked Dozer who stood next to him with folded arms Although the rest of the almost 100 man group were keeping together in tight formations Dozer strode alone So when they stopped at the gates of the Refuge to face the single man standing there Hank went to the big man for answers

He is strong Dozer said simply

Annie stood at the front opposite the man You are going to insist on doing this Just turn that squirming maggot over to us ItÆs already a big favor we donÆt just burn your shitty Village to the ground

The man grinned at Annie in a way that made Hank narrow his eyes This man truly had a lot of balls

Look I get what you are saying I was very surprised when it turned out the Undying Hero had committed an act of terrorism against Donnyton I was about to give him a stern talking to when I heard he was fleeing the city Then because I was bored I decided to set up shop right here and challenge anyone who comes this way to a duel ItÆs just a coincidence that I stopped you all

Annie looked at the man like she would look like a piece of dogshit How many people need to die before you take your head out of your own ass Ace

The manÆs grin didnÆt waiver

Annie sighed Fine but

Please let me

The crowd of people parted and a woman walked to the front She had a spear a buckler and was wearing a Valkyrie helmet Even just looking at her Hank felt tingles in his fingers Alana the true power behind this expedition When Donnyton went looking for the pound of flesh it was owed for the attack Alana was the sharp edge to that attack

Grinning Annie moved to the side Good this will be much easier then

Alana just walked forward Ace cracked his knuckles and crouched down He was only dressed in soft furs and a pair of leather gloves Comparing him to Alana was comparing a civilian to a tank But the longer that Hank gazed at the other man the more his estimation of him rose Even with HankÆs dueling sense he couldnÆt see any obvious ways to attack the man

Silently the presence of the two individuals rose upwards before HankÆs very eyes But even as the man they called Ace leader of the Refuge rose into something impressive it remained eclipsed by Alana As she walked forward the ground seemed to hum with the heat of her passage The tip of her spear began to glow golden and leave a slow trail in the air

Around him the entirety of the force from Donnyton drew a collective breath Often Alana would teach lessons on fighting but very rarely would she ever take an opponent seriously It was only training after all But now she was pulling out all the stops Everyone who was here wanted to etch this scene into their memory

After the dead body was discovered Donnyton had formed itself to the cause of tracking down the killer When it was revealed by Glendel that the one who killed her was the one called the Undying Hero the people were incited A troop led by Alana left almost immediately They even took volunteers which was how Hank joined in the search

Dozer clicked his tongue in annoyance What a fool

Hank looked up sharply at the other man and regretted it immediately Because by the time that he turned back to the fight Alana had already attacked

In a blazing charge she crossed the final several meters to reach her opponent Even as Ace sprang into motion spinning out of the way of her first thrust Alana thrust again Waves of heat roiled upward off of her blazing spear

Ace sidestepped three more times and then rushed forward There was a strange shadow around him making him difficult to follow with your eyes But as casual as could be Alana brought the shaft of the spear around and smashed Ace backward

Backflipping mid air he landed without seeming to have been affected in the least by the attack But when he landed Alana was already there relentlessly attacking This time Ace was forced to block and he was forcibly thrown another dozen meters backward by the clash

His feet skidded over the ground as he attempted to find his balance but Alana wouldnÆt let up She rushed forward again with a raised spear that seemed to burn with its own miniature sun

Roaring Ace pounded his chest The strange fuzziness surrounding him grew stronger but then Alana thrust forward with her spear and a wave of flames washed forward crashing into Ace The other man stumbled whatever Skill he had attempted to use broken Again and again she advanced and battered him

He is cocky Dozer grunted with another shake of his head Then he waved his hand Begin to move out

The duel Hank said nonplussed but Dozer just shook his head and said nothing

Hank turned back to regard the two people Alana continued to smash her way forward She raised her spear up and thrust it downward Like an eel Ace twisted around the blow and brought his foot up in a brutal high kick that struck Alana in the temple

She didnÆt even tremble as she thrust her spear through his side and pinned Ace to the ground Then she raised her fist and smashed it into his head Ace bellowed again so Alana did it exactly seven more times Then with a grunt she removed her spear from the prone body

As the group began to move forward Hank watched as Alana turned to another woman one who had come out of the Refuge

You are simply going to let this happen Alana asked the woman Honestly she simply sounded curious

The woman said nothing for several long seconds Then she said Be careful He has not let me see him since the early days IÆm not sure what he is up to

Alana just grunted Swept up in the momentum of the hunting posse Hank followed the group West after the Undying Hero

As Dinesh Karlito and Bruya began to take an inventory of all of the new recruits Randidly returned to his spot in the steel working facility It was almost nostalgic to see the grungy men and women trudging into the smelting areas Today Randidly was here for a very specific purpose he wanted to see what was the limit of the metal he could make

Before he could enter into his private room Foreman Davey spotted him and walked over to chat for a while They didnÆt talk about anything important but Davey did give Randidly a pretty good idea of the rising and falling value of different materials and metals

Oh by the way Davey said as he was about to leave You must have really done something to impress people because IÆve been instructed to get you anything you need to help your research Plus there is a charity dinner this weekend you are invited to No need to give me an answer now just think about it

In the smelting area Randidly breathed in the smell of hot metal and smiled There really was just something about the air in these blast furnaces that he enjoyed Then he began to forge metal This time he didnÆt use the weak materials

The steel was refined and refined again Then the impurities were extracted and extracted again Only then did Randidly grind up a significant amount of Raid Boss bones to mix into the metal In addition a drop of RandidlyÆs own blood went into the metal

He took his time during the forging process Part of it was proof of concept but the other part was to work out the details of how much bone metal and blood should be a part of the finished product to make it as strong as possible To this end Randidly made as many as ten iterations which he compared against each other He was rather perplexed and pleased that there were three that he simply couldnÆt test under normal conditions

They were all so strong he couldnÆt affect them easily and he had left Acri at the farming compound to help deal with any wandering Raid Bosses Randidly shook his head sorrowfully It was obnoxious that a piece of metal could make him feel weak but at least the person who made that metal was him

With that accomplished Randidly made himself about a hundred ingots of something he considered mid tier That is stronger than Erickson Steel but nowhere near the stuff he had made for his own uses Then he returned to the drone making facility

Apparently Foreman Davey wasnÆt lying about giving him everything Henrik had pulled some strings and now Randidly had access to every single blueprint that Ghost had in its database Immediately Randidly immersed himself in it As a show of good faith Randidly also produced five more Pterodactyls which was more than enough for Henrik to hop with glee

With the demands on him satisfied Randidly turned to another goal to make the drones that others could use to protect the various cities in Zone 1 To that end Randidly carefully began designs for three drones One to locate and identify threats one to take care of small scale problems and another that could be used to stamp out locations that were filled to the brim with Raid Bosses

They were called Hunter Seeker Stalker Reaper and Reaver Crusher

Chapter 561

Levels were strange Randidly decided during one of his breaks in the labor of preparing these drones for launch As he worked he would get slowly better at something That was simply the accumulation of experience Accumulating experience also meant that he would receive Skill Levels

Individually these Skill Levels were small things but when Randidly received two or three in both SpriggitÆs Tinkering and Engineering Savvy there was a noticeable difference The System sped up the process of learning by a great deal Which was convenient but disturbing

Ultimately Randidly shook his head and put the thought aside After all there was much work to be done But he couldnÆt escape the nagging feeling that he was very quickly reaching a point where his advantages were accumulating far beyond what was possible for normal people to equal After all without his high Intelligence this task would be far more difficult

Because he had higher Stats he could Level Skills more quickly Because he had a Soul Skill and a lot of Skills Leveling he could quickly earn more Stats There was a hard limit on Skills he would reach eventually but until then he was accelerating towards something A flaw in the System

An event horizon where his growth grew self propagating

Well in theory At the moment Randidly was nowhere near there But it was strange that the System should function that way Perhaps that was what the Calamity was in practice Randidly reflected as he began adjusting a runic engraving An entity that had gathered so much power that it ceased to function by the normal rules that bound the rest of them

Randidly recalled the dream state where he had followed ShalÆs father through the battlefield and fought against enemies there He remembered the final opponent one who was so physically superior it seemed hopeless to fight against Although now Randidly knew that the monster at the time was only a Level 70 caliber creature Randidly knew that there would be further monsters beyond that

That was what he faced That was what his goal was To grow to become strong enough to wound that

Randidly looked down at the engraving pen and the warm metal he was working with To grow he needed to push boundaries Making these blueprints and then struggling to create working prototypes from them had done a lot to fuel his growth He had earned 43 Skill Levels in the past week that he had spent locked up slaving away over his babies

Time and time again he had reached a snag in the design In retrospect his original plans were breathtakingly optimistic Even with RandidlyÆs runes there were numerous heat problems The energy conversion runes were powerful but couldnÆt be in the same spot as other runes So the layout of each of his original three needed to be altered

But not by much

SpriggitÆs Tinkering and Engineering Savvy had been the engine for that growth and as they grew more pronounced slowly Mana Engraving began to tick upwards as his plans grew more sophisticated Even Clockwork Mastery grew a bit likely due to the intricate pieces How long would it take another to reach the requisite Level of Skill to be able to construct similar drones Perhaps a year

Perhaps less The ambient Aether in the air was thickening Part of it was himself slowly leaking the excess that flowed through his body But that was a gradual process No this was happening quickly Aether was pouring with increasing density out of the Danger Zones Which meant that the monsters within Danger Zones were being enriched

That made Randidly frown So many plates to juggle The growth he had achieved here was great for pushing his PP upwards and moving down different Paths but it hadnÆt ultimately achieved the goal of finishing his Skill That was stuck at a little above 90% Randidly could sense But it was no use rushing

Still Randidly had spent a lot of time over the past two months doing activities other than training He didnÆt regret it but now he felt the pressure building After all Randidly had no doubt that the System was willing to push the strength of its Danger Zones up to the point that people couldnÆt overcome them No doubt the monsters would begin coming out in waves then

Randidly sighed as his thinking caused another board to overheat and melt He tossed the metal aside casually At the level he was hoping the drones would be operated he could not make the runic boards thick As such mistakes were common even as his Mana Engraving Skill reached Level 119 It was by far his highest non combat Skill Well the Yggdrasil Skills were close but he didnÆt count those

Those were more like a part of himself than a Skill he actually used

Choices Broadly Randidly had the choice to do anything he wanted He also had enemies The flood of Raid Bosses the Creature the Calamity Danger Zones likely the Unity Church But he could only deal with one at a time and the solutions to facing these varied threats werenÆt clear Becoming more powerful would help but he needed more than that He needed to prepare

For that he needed information

Ah that party that Henrik talked about was tonight That was one way to gather information Randidly supposed Good thing he had spent the last week without talking to anyone That would help him stomach so much socialization Also he should see if he could find some more presentable clothes

But before all that Randidly had a decision As it was the easiest opponent Randidly had built these drones to deal with the flood of Raid Bosses Perhaps they too were a result of the rising thickness of Aether but that felt wrong to Randidly They werenÆt more powerful there were just more of them Specifically Raid Bosses were concentrated very strongly in populated areas

These would solve that They would rip through most Raid Bosses like a hot knife through butter But

These were powerful things They bore the workings of Randidly Ghosthound and were likely quite a few years ahead of what other humans could accomplish Sure with the technology and methods of production people would catch up more rapidly but that almost made it worse Ghost would figure out how to make lesser things based upon his methods

That was the real catch Randidly didnÆt trust Ghost But people were dying He couldnÆt be everywhere Although Ghost might use these weapons for evil Randidly sensed it likely that Raid Bosses would be the victims in the short term

Randidly reached out a hand and pet one of his Reaver Crushers He had based the frame on the physique of a gorilla If a gorilla was double its normal size could have shoulder spikes and plasma knives for fingers Randidly looked over at his other two creations

All had been built without projectiles But they were constructed with some of his highest quality mid tier steel that he made They would suffice

The Hunter Seeker model was built with the Death Cultists from the Raid Dungeon in mind Their destructive power wasnÆt high but they were mobile and durable However if they were able to work on a target the high frequency drills in their arms would rip through most physical barriers

Meanwhile the Stalker Reapers took the most work They were built a little like spiders but they had four short legs and four long ones The longer legs were thick and powerful enabling them to leap easily Or at least Randidly hoped There was a body at the meeting point of those four legs but the real valuable bits were underneath that torso There hanging dangerously were the four smaller limbs that were basically just butcher knives Those knives were the most difficult part They were filled with technology to make them vibrate until even a dulled edge would rip through metal and flesh

There was another reason why Randidly chose to push the technology in the direction of durable close range drones If Zone 1 ever went to war with Zone 32 he wanted no part in creating a weapon that would be difficult to defend against To the people of Zone 32 these were simply another form of monster

Even with that reassurance he looked at the 15 drones for a long time before he called Henrik He had made five of each He would present them all to the man then head to this party with him Hopefully he would downplay them at the time and not deal with anymore weeping

Was this too fast Would he stand out Undoubtedly But people were dying He had to throw a bit of the caution to the wind Besides Neveah was solidly in place as his old identity Even if Ghost suspected something was off it would likely be a local political thing due to his interactions with Tatiana

As Randidly considered his gleaming inventions what ultimately decided whether to give the people of Zone 1 these tools was a selfish reason Randidly had spent almost two months now working on the foundations for these drones And the whole time he had a blast For a drone that was so much fun to make

It would be a shame if no one saw it in action

Besides

Randidly flexed his hand If someone believed they could wield the knives he had created better than he could Let them try It would be a nice diversion from all of the actual threats he was facing

Chapter 562

Randidly was awkwardly pulling at the collar of his fitted suit when he received the message from Dinesh

Found another base ItÆs a big one About 5 times as large as the previous ones

Randidly froze He was sitting in the back of a car with Tatiana and Henrik Unfortunately Davey had to cancel to inspect RandidlyÆs new drones when they were given over to the administrators at the drone complex This left them with only Henrik to guide him Henrik was typing excitedly with his assistants who were examining the drones that Randidly had provided for them earlier Tatiana was coming as his date He had promised to ask her out to dinner after all

But in a second Randidly prepared to throw that all to the side How many people do they have

None right now Dinesh replied Randidly relaxed somewhat

continue to watch Although itÆs annoying tonight might yield useful information But at the slightest hint that someone is in there

Got it

Breathing out through his nose Randidly folded his arms Tatiana tsk ed at him

If you are uncomfortable you shouldnÆt have worn a suit It looks good but not if you are going to glare at everything all night

Randidly chuckled ItÆs not the suit

TatianaÆs eyes went to Henrik who was sitting in the front passenger seat Ah Is it these drones Is what you did that impressive

YouÆd be surprised Randidly said mildly He supposed he could try to explain but he would rather see her face when she witnessed what one of his drones could do Although that thought made him cringe somewhat He had tested them a little but not to the point of absolute confidence They worked in a laboratory setting but it remained to be seen how they would fare in the field