LoRG 2

If I kill Thea Chrysanthemum will

Yes A spear only advances

Father Foster was scrambling backwards splashing as she tried to open up distance The strange man who was covered in the black tar like material was lumbering towards Randidly Chrysanthemum was barreling towards him The moment stretched Randidly blinked once slowly They all seemed so slow

He had the ability he was just refusing to squeeze the last bit of effort into moving against them It was one thing to fight and kill the Creature or the monsters that the System had arrayed against him Or even people who were the in the midst of acts of violence But now he was considering that Thea was a tool of the Creature and what that meant And to Randidly it meant that leaving her alive was a threat to the whole of the Zone The World

Then Randidly realized why he was hesitating In his thoughts of Sydney in the past his words closely mirrored that of another individual Someone that he deeply despised albeit briefly who used his powerful Class to dominate an entire Village before Randidly intervened

A king has three burdens and three tools

The tar guy arrived and Randidly met him with an Inevitable Phantom Arrives Weak blows didnÆt do much to displace his strange armor fluid but this thrust ripped a deep hole in the armor Chrysanthemum was hard on his heels but Randidly just leaped up and jumped off the bear to cross the distance to Father Foster

With predictable timing Thea leaped in the way of Randidly with her hammer raised He remembered how cool her eyes were when she was faced with the truth that Father Foster would probably kill even more That weight on his chest grew stronger This decision affected someone elseÆs life And it was final He couldnÆt take it back

And what he was worried about was becoming a twisted man like the King of Turtletown As he slowly came closer to using something like those tools Randidly felt the burden growing increasingly cumbersome to handle

Something loosened in him Randidly raised his spear The Spear Advances Ash Trails

In a blazing line Randidly rushed forward He kept his spear aloft so instead of impaling Thea he physically smashed her backwards with his body She grunted softly and there was the brief realization of how small her body truly was and then RandidlyÆs momentum carried him forward and he rammed his spear into Father FosterÆs chest

To his surprise Father FosterÆs chest was extremely durable and cracked only after extreme pressure Although Randidly had been able to pierce into her chest briefly the momentum then threw her further away where she splashed and choked in the water

Thea staggered to the side clearly stunned from the collision and Randidly looked down at her Again she was open for a strike Randidly didnÆt take it

It was one thing to live your own life by your codes It was another entirely to enforce your codes of living upon the world or force the world to change to you That was the line Randidly was now considering crossing

But his vines were soaked in the blood of bodies of things that had been deemed human by the System based on the small amount of experience he gained for killing them His fists tightened on the shaft of his spear The weight on his chest was unbearable

That couldnÆt be allowed to continue They made this choice that was clear Then they wouldnÆt leave this lake alive

Chapter 584

Chrysanthemum roared as Randidly turned to attack Thea once more She still hadnÆt recovered from being struck by his previous move However now he was out for blood Strike after strike rained down on her The whole while Randidly didnÆt breath He couldnÆt It was an existential dread that was squeezing him The fear that he would get in the habit of killing people who got in the way of his vision in the world And yet

To him it seemed that a world where these people could be tortured like this is a much darker place than one where he could possibly abuse his power He could not simply set aside his ability to accomplish so much because by accomplishing so much he became a monster Instead he needed to face those possibilities directly

Even with the burden crushing him

Like a freight train Chrysanthemum was barreling down on him The weight might be entirely psychological but it was so heavy it felt like he could barely move Yet his hand inexorably moved forward Because the weight

Randidly blinked Then he smiled with his teeth as he pressed all the weight together tightening and tightening it This is what he needed Not the weight but instead that feeling of stepping beyond a line Because as a sun slowly grew hotter it was a gradual process But that moment that the weight of the sun grew too powerful at once and it collapsed it happened instantly

The heat collapsed into something more It stopped being simply heat and became weight and then the weight became nothing Randidly felt himself flowing along with his image in the process seeing the sun abruptly start to collapse inward into a point And that point settled into the tip of his spear

A line was crossed and the fragile trellises that were hitherto sufficient became kindling

Congratulations You have gained access to the Skill As the Sun Stills Due to your successful repair and powerful image the Skill has become an Ancient Rarity Skill

The point of his spear that met ChrysanthemumÆs wrathful charge There was a moment where the world stilled along with them as Randidly activated his Skill to its fullest effect He felt its usage draining him rapidly but he pushed even harder Stamina flew away from him as he condensed more and more weight into the strike

His spear slowed to the point it wasnÆt moving and Chrysanthemum smashed into the spear tip There was a rumbling The bones of her shoulder and arm cracked and splintered She was thrown backward by a superior mass There was a crack and a wave of force spread outwards Water in the nearby area splashed outwards in a wide circle

While she was thrown backward Chrysanthemum whined Randidly himself staggered feeling abruptly lightheaded Her strike wasnÆt enough to shake him but in fact the combination of the Stamina usage and feeling so heavy followed by an impossible lightness Randidly stared at his spear in wonder The weight was gone He carried it with him now but he controlled it It was a line he could cross whenever he needed to

Using that move had taken over a thousand Stamina That combined with RandidlyÆs strange wonder towards how light he felt gave the strange obsidian man time to strike several times with his battle ax Randidly didnÆt even bother to dodge it was nothing Sulfur couldnÆt handle And as the blows hit Randidly he had regained enough Mana to unleash an Incendiary Bolt to his chest

That staggered him and Randidly could strike three more times before surveying the area The fight had lasted almost 30 seconds and now Father Foster was handless and the obsidian man staggered away Chrysanthemum had collapsed and was struggling to stand Now was the time to end this

Thea had Father Foster over her shoulder and was running through the knee deep water As Chrysanthemum saw Randidly move she struggled to her feet shifting unhappily as she glared back at him Although he didnÆt have as much Stamina as he would have liked he started dashing after Thea He didnÆt have time to spare

He gained ground rapidly on her the heaviness of the moment coming back to him At his call it would rise to become an irresistible force He didnÆt have enough Stamina for the Skill but with his and NeveahÆs Stamina Regeneration filling both of their pools he would have it soon

It was only about 10 meters from his root wall that Thea stopped and whirled to face him Father Foster was struggling in her arms but to RandidlyÆs surprise she was smiling

Too late Thea said simply And that was when something ripped a huge hole in the wall that Randidly was maintaining Without even looking he could feel the surge of water above him about to crush them and separate their bodies from each other Thea would get away

No

The weight settled around his shoulders once more Deific Mien of Yggdrasil and Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil sang inside him With his aura smashing outwards Randidly became acutely aware of his heart hammering in his chest His hands tightened further on the shaft of his spear Although he felt the dreadful irony in using this Skill to try and kill her Randidly whispered Gallant Intervention

For a very small Stamina Cost his speed abruptly quintupled in those last few feet towards Thea There was a small part of Randidly that registered with shock that it was actually Father Foster who triggered the Skill but he couldnÆt parse that apart right now He drained his rings and Neveah dry of Stamina and used As the Sun Stills

The weight was like cloth sliding down to settle around his spear It seemed to move glacially slow but TheaÆs eyes widened with horror Above him two figures were shooting down likely to stop him

They didnÆt make it in time His strike hit Thea and crushed her skull and shattered most of the bones in her chest and shoulders It was like watching a car rip through a paper wall Father Foster was over her shoulder and simply hit with the resulting shock wave but was still had her torso crushed into a paste by that same strike Strangely as he looked at both of the bodies Randidly felt nothing No satisfaction no guilt not anything special It was an unmemorable day

There was a strange wrongness to them that Randidly couldnÆt put his finger on But he had no time to think about it more

Afterward he looked up at the two people who had arrived One was clearly a monster of some sort with tentacles rather than arms But the second

Randidly frowned It was a man who he didnÆt recognize but RandidlyÆs eyes could see that he possessed a wrongness as well And as his eyes pressed Randidly could suddenly see he was wearing an image to look like a human And below that was only a skeleton

The tentacle creature shot its limbs outwards to gather up the remnants of the bodies and Randidly spun his spear to block it But then the skeleton man struck

Heroic Charge The skeleton man smashed downwards with a raised bastard sword To RandidlyÆs surprise the manÆs blow was heavy so much so that Randidly was knocked backward He was almost comically easily knocked back It was a mental mistake really after using As the Sun Stills he felt strangely frail and light It would take some getting used to before he could compensate for it

Their eyes met right before the water hit and Randidly felt himself being carefully judged Then there was only the press of water and most of RandidlyÆs other senses were knocked away by the concussive force He reached out with his Aether Perception and gripped at them but as he felt them moving farther away they just became slippery

It was strange but their energy signature it somehow seemed difficult to grasp It only took Randidly around 5 seconds to gather himself but at that point they were gone

For several long seconds he stood at the bottom of the lake furious But then he slowly relaxed and released a sigh Even the bulky body of Chrysanthemum was gone beyond the limits of his senses But perhaps she had died when Thea had

Either way it wasnÆt necessary to chase them Randidly had accomplished his two goals Father Foster at least the experiment leading version was dead Thea was also

It was a quiet swim to the surface Even though he wanted to he couldnÆt take it easy yet There was still much more to accomplish

Hank looked around the room wary It looked like the domain of a feral child One who enjoyed geometric mazes Drawings of different varieties of mazes covered the walls They were simple and complex and the filled the room with a strange sense of vertigo The room was small in a hidden area behind a brick wall in the cellar of the school The man was hooked to life support systems which Hank deactivated

One by one he and Thaddeus pulled the different plugs The man in the bed was asleep but as they worked his brow began to tense

Truly the man looked familiar He looked like the pictures of Dr Thomas Karman that Hank had seen yet different somehow Like this was a version made out of a different color of paper mache

Even though this man was unconscious until only a minute ago Hank still kept his pistol trained on him Thaddeus followed his lead

Right when he opened his eyes the man seemed puzzled but after he looked at Hank and Thaddeus and their distraught states he seemed to realize something The man smiled up at them and Hank was taken aback by how much genuine warmth was in the expression

So The man said his voice high pitched and weak You are my executioners Well get on with it then This is what I deserve

Tell me where my brother is first Hank said sharply

The man seemed to sigh Then he closed his eyes For a brief moment Hank was worried the man decided to ignore him but then the manÆs eyes fluttered open There was an expression of deep sadness on his face Your brother There is a small hospital near Bradford one of the Northern Villages Your brother is there And as of yet unharmed It appears my Faust was killed before the operation could begin

Hank just looked at the man unsure whether to believe him His feet hadnÆt yet told him to leave So

Was all this worth it Hank asked as he aimed at the manÆs forehead He was so thin that Hank wondered what fluids the tubes had been putting into the man But he was going to shoot with the revolver Better safe than sorry

The man chuckled of all things Heh If thatÆs your question youÆll never understand what I managed to accomplish I am more than human I am I am a tool of god To me to change the fate of humanity for the better makes me deserve

To die Thaddeus added looking in disgust at the old man

That stopped the man When he did his best to shrug from his lying position I am now simply a symbol boy The human who I originated as is long dead

After the bullet ripped through the manÆs brain Hank felt the tugging on his feet It was time to move on

Chapter 585

The Drowned Man gurgled unpleasantly tossing the mush that was Father FosterÆs body and TheaÆs remnants on the ground The Obsidian Duke and the Undying Hero gathered around peering down at the remains Although he wasnÆt a Nemesis like the rest of them Thea believed that the Undying Hero deserved the moniker from all he had heard about his antics

Dispel the illusion Thea said She hated how thin and weak her voice sounded but she had truly brushed death today Randidly he had been aiming to kill her And if it wasnÆt for the last minute intercession of the Undying Hero she might really have perished

The remains shimmered for a second and then TheaÆs broken body became a pile of flesh that was all that remained from Father Foster As for Thea herself her left arm had been obliterated by the force of the strike Her internal organs were largely ruptured Even with her Endurance vastly improved as a Nemesis the shockwave of RandidlyÆs blow had brought her to the brink of death

She attempted to stand and toppled over Chrysanthemum who had taken a blow directly wasnÆt much better She had collapsed by a large rock and leaned against it with a groan

Well Thea finally said to break the silence This will certainly set our schedule back It will take some time to recover But IÆll talk to Yystrix and IÆm sure we can

Ah yes the Foreigner The Drowned Man interrupted His voice was strangely vibrational perhaps due to the tentacles from his mouth I must make this clear I agreed to assist as you are a fellow Nemesis But if you insist on working under such a thing I will not work with you

Thea blinked What

She was in my Zone for a short time and did little but cause minor mischief The Drowned Man said dismissively Her goals are not my own You might not understand as I am led to believe you were originally from this Zone But for the rest of us we must cause constant damage It is the only way to gather Aether for our Homeworlds

The Obsidian Duke rumbled his agreement crossing his arms Thea blinked up at them both

But with YystrixÆs information

With her information we almost got killed The Obsidian Duke growled Who the fuck was that Spectral Rider He handled all of us while holding back a fucking lake I agree with the Drowned Man We would be most effective if we were alone

The very strength of the Nemesai stems from the fact we can group up in any Zone If we toss that aside TheaÆs lips worked soundlessly for several seconds They wanted to leave It wasnÆt particularly important to her but Yystrix had some concrete goals that she expected to accomplish On her own Thea wasnÆt sure if she could accomplish them Her growth now was much more strange and difficult than it had been before Doing everything while injured it was impossible

Again you donÆt understand us The Drowned Man said with a shake of his head Then he turned and walked away

The Obsidian Duke sighed looking at her awkwardly Look you are right but we donÆt have to win Spectral Rider We come down in pairs yes The Jade Prince is my opposite but he is from the same homeworld as I Although we do not like each other no matter which triumphs my world will receive the Aether There is no reasons to take risks not when not when that man is out there

And so they walked away leaving Thea standing with the strange creature they called the Undying Hero His name was Roy Thea believed and he was smiling widely at her despite what just occurred

Is something funny Thea snapped glaring at him

Roy only chuckled No no I was just lost in thought It was shocking right That man Just wow Reminds me of a younger less handsome version of myself eh Well anyways donÆt sweat this too much it always happens to a hero You split the party to accomplish smaller tasks Only at the last moment do we all come back together ItÆs honestly hack

Thea just stared at him This set Roy chuckling harder Ah sorry You are probably a bit young to have gotten into Dungeons and Dragons Anyways IÆll stick with you in the meantime And my Class is Hero so youÆll get an experience buff while we are together YouÆll be right as a barbie at a 7 year oldÆs birthday in no time

Really Thea said bitterly Already she could feel YystrixÆs call She would expect an explanation And what could she say If you are truly so capable why have you been locked up in the Refuge for 6 months

Ah well Roy seemed sheepish now With growing alarm Thea watched as he took his hand and plunged it into his stomach The flesh stretched and then ripped Blood and bile spurted out covering his hands and dribbling down his pants He began pulling out intestines and looking at them curiously I had to power Level It was embarrassing but the hero was far behind in terms of power After meeting your friend Randidly there I almost feel like I left my training arc too quickly But the montage had already lasted for a while

He trailed off his hand gripped on a ropey pink intestine Then he frowned and put his hands on both sides of the thing and began to pull It stretched and stretched and stretched

His body flickered and he was back to a whole and healthy man the illusion restored He was beaming at Thea But this just means IÆm an underdog Which is great Because if the Skeleton Man was a higher Level wouldnÆt that just make him a demon king Hahaha What a joke Can you imagine how broken a demon king with the Hero Class would be In all Creation only those well behaving hells would remain at my suffrage All those things whole and uncooperative would pass from this nightmare to blissful oblivion

Thea shivered But abruptly the vicious darkness of the Undying Hero was replaced by RoyÆs smiling face and some of the dread passed away

He has a charm Skill Æ Thea mused She did truly fear him but it was hard to think about that too deeply while he was smiling And the fact he had a Skill at the Level that could affect her proved he was strong Hell when he had attacked Randidly was forced to defend Perhaps perhaps Thea really did want to be a part of his party

There was a strange buzzing in the air as RoyÆs smile widened Excellent itÆs decided Now why donÆt you introduce me to Yystrix I have heard so many different things IÆm excited to meet the vilified CreatureÆ I expect to get along swimmingly with her After all I do believe we have both been unjustly blacklisted by the director

Randidly just walked in the front door which was open when he arrived He expected that the other would know he was coming but it was still rather convenient that all of the doors opened as he approached He supposed that was just the convenience of being in the good graces of an AI that controlled most of the Zone

Not that he believed he was truly in GhostÆs good graces but he didnÆt care at this point RandidlyÆs inaction had allowed widespread war crimes to occur That was over But he also needed to see how culpable Ghost truly was in the whole ordeal Based on the information that Randidly had gathered Ghost wasnÆt nearly as powerful as he would like people to believe outside of the cities But it would still be best to confirm before he decided what to do about the AI

It couldnÆt be denied that Ghost had the potential to accomplish great things for the Zone His observational capabilities had helped the Zone fight against much stronger monsters than they normally would be able to by identifying weaknesses In addition Ghost controlled the drones in real time to eliminate threats Without Ghost they would need to rely on pre programming which was a hassle on so many levels

And yet RandidlyÆs eyes were grim when he walked into West Providence Because the evidence weighed very heavily against Ghost

Eventually he reached a large antechamber and a hologram of a teenage boy appeared there For all that Randidly knew he was throwing off murderous vibes the boyÆs expression was placid But Randidly supposed he should remember that he wasnÆt truly dealing with a human

If he wanted to kill him he would likely need to burn down the whole city Then his mouth twisted sardonically Well not literally Killing everyone in the city was a little bit overkill But he certainly would search very diligently for GhostÆs actual body

For the first time in my existence I am jealous Randidly Ghosthound And truly surprised Ghost said finally Your talent I donÆt know how to classify it Not only are you a powerful warrior but you are also the genius drone creator IÆve been admiring lately Let us not even discuss what you accomplished at the lake What you did with plants required Control at least 500 What are you

Randidly grimaced IÆm just a man And thatÆs all IÆll ever be for all my strength But itÆs never been about what you are itÆs all about what you do And what have you been doing recently Ghost

Chapter 586

Ghost folded his incorporeal hands Defending the Zone as best I can Although I must admit that I let myself be swayed by baser emotions Jealousy for instance I am ah it is still hard to say I am incredibly jealous of you Randidly Ghosthound You

Ghost trailed off looking down at his hands He fidgeted and picked at an invisible fingernail that was marginally out of place He looked so real to Randidly so human It was hard for him to stay focused on the danger that this entity posed to him The influence Ghost had over the whole of the Zone was dangerous even to Randidly Although he need not really fear people attacking him smear campaigns propaganda

Randidly grimaced It would make the changes he had in mind for the Zone difficult Having Ghost on his side was the desired outcome Yet if Ghost insisted on refusing

Let me ask a different question then Randidly said slowly Did you choose to have me kidnapped so you could take my body

This was Randidly stabbing in the dark But his instincts were telling him that Ghost was guilty of something although Randidly wasnÆt sure what that was He had wondered while being captured why the Unity Church had moved against him in the first place His shocked thoughts while they were taking him notwithstanding he was just a rising name to them Although he would have valuable Skills they might want to transfer his disappearance would be noticed

Especially by Ghost who was a fan of his drones That meant that either the Unity Church was powerful enough to ignore Ghost or Ghost knew about it GhostÆs delicate silence gave Randidly all the information that he needed The AI simply continued to stare down at his hands

Randidly relaxed slightly If Ghost was going to be honest this talk would become much easier than the alternative I suppose that was a bit personal Instead how aware were you of the actions of the Unity Church specifically in regards to the proliferation of the Raid Bosses

You know Ghost said after a pause Randidly was somewhat disconcerted how decentralized GhostÆs voice was it seemed to come from all around him I had thought that this talk would be a turning point in my existence You are a genius and can do so much that I cannot It would be enlightening I believed And yet I find myself incredibly bitter For all that you have power I find it hard to believe you can damage me in a meaningful way Then let us

He froze Randidly folded his arms over his chest his eyes burning emerald Deep beneath them in the Earth there was an aluminum canister It was large about as big as a shipping container Within it lay six bodies connected by life support systems and a powerful computer

As Ghost was speaking a root pulled open the latch on the outside of the container and crawled into the door

How Now the AI looked speechlessly up at Randidly Randidly looked back without changing his expression his eyes tearing into GhostÆs form It was much easier than Randidly had thought it would be although that was likely due to his high Stats It had taken some scouring but since Randidly had walked into the room he had been seeking the Aether signature of Ghost

It wasnÆt distinctive in the way the SystemÆs the CreatureÆs or RandidlyÆs own was It was clearly Aether obtained through the System But as his Aether Detection Skill increased to above 100 the fineness with which he could distinguish different Aether became ridiculous Perhaps even then it would be impossible for Randidly to locate Ghost because he had never truly interacted with the other and especially not interacted with Ghost while he was taking a long look at his Aether signature

But what other entity would be 100 meters below the surface of the Earth It was a pretty safe bet that Randidly hadnÆt discovered a lonely dwarf

Let me ask again Randidly said with a smile How much did you know about the Raid Bosses released by the Unity Church

Not as much as you would think Ghost said His body disintegrated and reformed in front of Randidly It was all a show but the hologram was inspecting him closely I was aware of their existence as it was only through their research that I could sustain Ezekiel without an unavoidable social cost Oh at first I didnÆt understand what they had done to the monsters to make them act as substitutes for the human portion Ezekiel consumes It was only when the Zones connected to the New Earth when they upped their activity that I was able to deduce what they had accomplished

Here Ghost paused frowning up at Randidly This was a difficult prospect for my processors to judge I have circuits devoted to empathy within me but my primary function was to push the efficiency in the Zone to a point where people could survive And the empathy circuits carried with them no imperative I have done numerous simulations but I am unable to determine how Dr Karman would have preferred I resolve this moral quandary So I have left the issues unaddressed It is true this has resulted in gargantuan amounts of lost life But I

Randidly pitied this strange being before him It was a lost AI But that didnÆt mean it hadnÆt allowed thousands of people to die You should have saved them You might think that the benefits provided by the transplants are high but it sacrifices human lives Those are our ultimate resource Think how much your precious Doctor struggled to create you a single life Did you never consider this

Randidly specifically didnÆt mention that Father Foster had implied that Dr Karman had been an early spawn of the Raid Boss Ghost froze looking up at Randidly with glassy eyes I never considered this My value is

LetÆs leave that aside for now Randidly interrupted Perhaps Ghost already knew about Dr Karman but better to leave it alone for now Instead I have a question that I would like answered how did the Unity Church control monster populations so much And how did they so easily capture so many Raid Bosses

Ah this is rather elementary Ghost said the placid and confident look returning to it At first I didnÆt have proof but It is obvious that they have located what are essentially spawn pointsÆ for the monsters What is strange is that this should be impossible it is likely some outside force assisted them Perhaps the same force that gave them the technology for the power plant Ah you are the assailant too yes The locations you attacked were all under the purview of the Unity Church As a gesture of peace I will publically clear your name

That will likely just add confusion Just let that identity fade away Randidly said shaking his head It was certainly possible that if the Creature saw meaning to it it would use its Skill to manipulate the places Raid Bosses spawned Useful but it would certainly have the effect of transforming the populous into groups that have Levels and those that donÆt based on who would choose to head to the limits of the Zone for Levels

Randidly felt a powerful headache building Arranging this Zone seemed to be much more difficult than Zone 32 This place it just seemed that people and cities from the 21st century had been given Mana and moved to another world Whereas life seemed to restart from zero in his home Zone

I have the locations of the different spots I believe to be spawning monsters on a regular basis Ghost said straightening One of them was Lake Apollo of course But I will provide you the others It is the least I could do

Randidly looked at Ghost Ghost looked back Down below one of the six bodies began to slowly turn in the suspension fluid The root crept closer examining the insides of the container In addition Randidly was very aware that Ghost had made no moves to bring any drones or support closer Randidly wasnÆt sure what that meant If he was under siege and outgunned would he be able to sit placidly and allow the other to tighten their hold on his neck

It had been a while since Randidly had felt powerless It was not a feeling he missed For that reason Randidly was somewhat leery of returning to ShalÆs world There were quite a few people there who he had pissed off during his time there Although he had grown in power that was only in terms of his own world In ShalÆs world

Well Randidly didnÆt believe he was anything close to weak But he would only be at Level 25 There would be people more powerful than he in ShalÆs world Remembering the attack that had shattered his As the Sun Stills Skill the first time

Randidly returned his focus to Ghost Because he sat still waiting He was a computer One that was trying its hardest to be a person One that was succeeding in a way because it was making mistakes Closing his eyes Randidly sighed This would mean more work but

Fine LetÆs work together This Zone needs you Randidly said quietly

Ghost blinked Then he nodded Ah your tone indicates there is more It is likely that you will want some proof of goodwill between us Please believe me I am all for a cooperative endeavor

Oh shut up Randidly said rolling his eyes You just tried to send me away You donÆt like me IÆm everything you donÆt have and you probably wonÆt be able to get over that You have the mentality of a child

I am the most advanced machine ever created the only true artificial intelligence Ghost grumbled but Randidly ignored him

Which is why well itÆs true that IÆm going to require a guarantee of your good behavior but it will come in a package that I think you will appreciate I want to build you a body

Chapter 587

among the precious and universal endowments of humanity there are two which persist even in the face of social economic and metaphysical Systems which so routinely insist otherwise that all of Humanity was created equal and that the architecture and growth of vocations and talents remains solely with the purview of the individual no matter how benign and knowledgable any other influence may seem

It is an unavoidable eventuality that the realities of our so pressing human conditions and our high minded reflections upon our living morality feel the insidious creep of influence from our growing reliance on power as a necessary tool of survival But let it be known thusly throughout the land Power without legal mandate is villainy and the seizure of systemic power without the considered affirmation of the populace is tyranny Although indispensable to the reality of enacting the virtuous rule of law power alone is a naked threat that will inevitably find victims amongst our most vulnerable To believe otherwise is an exercise in deliberate foolishness

But slow moves the shield held by many hands As such a scaffolding of tiered influences and mutual oversight is not only necessary but an organic presence within our nation state To that end towards the fruitful pursuit of justice we the citizens of Rawlands assent to the founding of the Great Orders which

Congratulations Your Skill Graceful Calligraphy has gained a Level

Congratulations Your Skill Authoritative Writing has gained a Level

Congratulations The Path Ideological Planter is available to you

With a sigh Tessa sat back She took several seconds to rub her eyes then she peered out the tiny window in the corner of her office Although the window was largely old world glass it had still grown dirty over the past few years The people in the City Hall of Franksburg hadnÆt thought to hire someone to clean it as had been done in the old days As a recently elected councilwoman in Franksburg Tessa had the ability to push for funds to be put towards hiring staff for City Hall but

Blinking away any lingering weariness Tessa turned back to the paper in front of her There were more important things than cleaning right now

The resolution in front of her which was the crystallization of the platform that Tessa had run on had already been passed by Franksburg generally She was currently rereading and altering the operative language in the introduction to be submitted to Rawlands generally It was her first task on the City Council and it was exactly what Tessa wanted to be doing

But it was just so exhausting

Besides there was a chance that it wouldnÆt be accepted broadly and Tessa wanted to do everything she could to ensure that wouldnÆt happen Although it would likely become contentious down the line not enough time had passed since the arrival of the System for people to disagree with the all humans created equal portion

But if the System stayed 30 years down the line NCCers tried to push that through the government Tessa had no doubt a powerful and selfish individual would simply destroy the government She shivered feeling the vestiges of an old fear

A face appeared in her mind with black hair and piercing emerald eyes The very air around him seemed to warp He was so powerful that simply being angry made everything rip and tear around him Tessa dreaded finding out what that did to a personÆs personality having that power

It wasnÆt that she hated Randidly for what he did He was young and foolish And this world had given him more power than he could ever understand

Almost a year and a half ago after returning to the employ of the biggest crime boss in the city Tessa swore that she would find her own power her own voice And she wouldnÆt rely on the System to do it

Thinking back Tessa laughed Well with only some help from the System She had worked hard and taken courses at the Franksburg Academy that had opened up Due to the size of the city and out of habit Franksburg still needed professionals So Tessa had spent a year in a crash course as to how to be a lawyer Afterward she clerked for a judge for several months

When the influx of refugees from the borderlands meant a new council seat was opening up Tessa tossed aside her steady position and campaigned relentlessly for a month And she had won

A part of her wanted to finally take a chance to relax but another refused Even now rumors of the things Randidly was accomplishing reached her ears If she wanted to someday become an influence that could restrain him she needed to rise up a lot more in politics Inwardly there were some days that Tessa regretted running for city councilwoman rather than the more influential Senator position that would attend the Assembly of Rawlands but in her heart Tessa knew the only reason she had won her position was that a lot of capable candidates had gone for the three Senator positions

Well no reason to be bitter about it Tessa reminded herself looking at her resolution

After becoming a councilwoman she had finally obtained a Class Radical Scholar She was conflicted about the Class On the one hand she had obtained Skills like Innovative Thinking and Powerful Memory that helped her accomplish the things he wanted Utilizing them along with her Calligraphy and Writing Skills Tessa had obtained power without ever resorting to violence The pen is mightier than the sword and all that

On the other hand Tessa felt oddly disappointed She wasnÆt a Hero she wasnÆt a leader she was just a scholar

Well no reason to be bitter about it Tessa thought again while rolling her eyes

She was about to go through line by line on the portion of the resolution that addressed the Chivalric Orders when there was a knock at her door

Jeremy an elderly man who functioned as the District Attorney in Franksburg stuck his head into her office Councilwoman the army is leaving

Her eyebrows climbed upwards She bit back a curse as she scrambled to her feet although it was a sexist belief Jeremy was always aghast when she swore and there was no reason to offend him over something so pointless So soon But LuciferÆs injury

Healed Jeremy said shaking his head

Tessa burst from her room loose papers fluttering with her passage Jeremy blinked at her in shock and made to comment but Tessa rushed away Although she was wearing a skirt it was a relatively loose number that flowed down to just below her knees Even if she sprinted as fast as she could Tessa doubted that anything more untoward than the act of running would show

And she needed to make it in time to this She hadnÆt worked so hard on her careful delineation of basic human rights for the military to ignore the well researched and considered definitions And she knew that was exactly what they were about to do

Heads turned when she rushed out of City Hall into a busy road and Tessa was forced to slow down But only a quick pause to listen to the surroundings allowed her to clearly identify shouting in the distance to the East Immediately she started power walking in that direction nodding politely to a trio of police officers who greeted her on her way

It was strange the conscious part of TessaÆs mind reflected how Perception not only increased your base hearing but also your ability to distinguish between noises Things werenÆt just louder You could also select what you wanted to listen to more easily Perception was where most of TessaÆs points had gone to that and Wisdom and she found it to be exceedingly helpful Although she really wanted to make a more concerted effort to improve her Focus and see if that prevented some of her crippling headaches that resulted from long writing sessions

Without pausing to check if any of the clunky looking Mana based cars were moving back and forth Tessa streaked across Main Street and took the steps two at a time to head up into the upper level walkways above downtown Partially these had been made to allow for military and defense forces to move conveniently between the wide expanses of FranksburgÆs borders in times of trouble but they were currently mostly used as the equivalent of a highway for walking downtown

If you were moving close you stuck to the ground level The walkways allowed you to skip a lot of the local traffic

There were currently plans in the works to use some of the technology from Zone 1 to make a trolley system in Franksburg but the City Council was still barely able to figure out how much it should be taxing A huge expenditure like that made them gulp

Tessa reached the eastmost rallying point in time Lucifer was there the Hero of Franksburg looking that weird combination of bored and surly that he always did He made her twitch somewhat because it reminded her of meeting him with Randidly but Tessa did her best to ignore it And to ignore the fact that Lucifer was cut from the cloth as Randidly in that they could act without bothering with laws

But next to him was Commander Kimmen a German born individual who was in charge of FranksburgÆs second army Rumor had it that he had recently reached Level 45 His Class Determined Soldier made him a popular and effective leader The two men were talking as the rest of the army almost 1000 men and women began to march

Tessa bit her lips It was hard not to remember that she was only Level 19 at times like this After taking a deep breath she walked forward to interrupt these two powerful individuals

Chapter 588

Commander Kimmen noticed her first and his gaze was sharp as he reviewed her It was difficult to keep walking forward when his displeasure at noticing her presence was palpable enough to thicken the air into molasses But in a strange way it also gave her a jolt of motivation it was clear that Commander Kimmen understood who she was and what her presence meant

Councilwoman DiCatto What a surprise But I must say we do not have time to negotiate the relative value of torture as you can see the survivors of the poorly chosen attack on Franksburg remain whole Commander Kimmen gestured with a grimace to a group of people off to the side Tessa tried not to wince Although he seemed to believe they hadnÆt been tortured the group was clearly beaten and bruised with a contingent of mages around them in case they misbehaved Their hands were bound with manacles forged by the Dawn Smith himself and to this day no one had managed to shatter the metal that made them

Lucifer just stood there with folded arms and looked at Tessa with a puzzled expression If anything his reaction to her was even more off putting

Ah Commander Kimmen IÆm glad that you are so well acquainted with the Articles of War adopted by Franksburg But to clarify I did not draft those they were put out by representatives from Star Crossing and approved by Donnyton I was only the individual who brought them to

Commander Kimmen interrupted her Let me be frank I know who you are and what you do And you have put the army in a very difficult position Our training programmes are the most efficient path to receiving the Class which will most enable them to assist their country on the battlefield Before your Referendum it was understood that a soldier would be required to choose the Class that was the fruit of the armyÆs very focused efforts And yet now young people who are essentially balls of hormones feel justified and ignoring their true calling and selection something pointless like Artist

The disgust in his voice was clear So much so that Tessa badly wanted to take a step back from him He definitely had an Aura Skill and it was rumbling outwards pressuring her to back down Before she even said what she came here to say he was pushing her away Tessa felt the part of herself that she had inherited from her mother rear its stubborn head She bit her lip and stood her ground

Ultimately you are simply an employer A Class is not something that can be prescribed to you The most up to date research out of Donnyton indicates Tessa began but again Commander Kimmen interrupted her

What person knows what they want People make foolish decisions all the time A guiding force is necessary and desirable So many people will waste their potential due to you I do not think that it is an exaggeration to say that you have altered the course of history for the worst Good day Councilwoman

Commander Kimmen turned to go but Tessa took another step forward Are you taking the prisoners with you This is actually why IÆm here If you plan on moving POWs into the field of operations you need to bring a doctor and a representative from a civilian authority Whether that be a designated Classer or a high ranking member of the police force or

or a Council person Commander Kimmen said with a small smile We already have numerous medics so they can surely stand in for the required doctor To think I was angry when you arrived thank you for volunteering Councilwoman DiCatto We will be departing shortly right this way Commander Kimmen took a step towards her He did not touch her but the sheer physicality of him was more threat than a hand on her arm would have been before the advent of the System

This was exactly why they needed laws to govern the use of power This man this smug smile on his face this amount of force that most people who had not chosen to specialize in Strength were unable to resist

I I didnÆt come here for that I Speaking was difficult but Tessa tried to form words around her rising fear Commander Kimmen ignored her

His hand landed on her shoulder It was light but the threat behind it was not LetÆs not dwell on the past After this we can consider it even March soldier

Tessa took a step forward Then she gasped and a hot flash of embarrassment and indignation washed over her He used a Skill on her A Councilwoman Well in her next resolutions that would be punishable by 1000 years of getting fucked by

Looking at her hand Tessa wondered why it was being held by Lucifer He palm had cushioned her hand as it had rushed at Commander Kimmen She had thrown a punch at him Immediately Tessa went pale Shit if she had actually hit him all of the work on abuses of power that she had done

Lucifer let go of her hand and turned to Commander Kimmen We will wait A few hours makes no difference Contact the police force

Then he turned back to her Was there anything else

This was the truth of it Absolute power corrupts absolutely She knew this But it was still bitter to be faced with the proof of her own faults Randidly Randidly wasnÆt a monster He was just the first of many to ascend to a level that was beyond that of a human by a significant margin Lucifer was the same way They defied convention and moved freely between different roles Which was exactly why the Chivalric Orders were necessary With the proper definition of what they were to the state

Uh Tessa came abruptly back to herself and flushed Honestly Lucifer had spared her a great deal of shame Her punch was definitely not enough to make someone like Commander Kimmen even flinch No I was only here to make sure the POWs were treated fairly

Then let me escort you back Lucifer said quietly Tessa felt her hackles rise to the implicit acknowledgment of her weakness but there was nothing she could say This was how it was She nodded and hated herself for it

Many people had suggested that she hire a bodyguard but to Tessa this seemed like surrendering to the other side The point wasnÆt to gather enough physical power around herself that she was a true threat to some of these powerful individuals but to show that a high level of accomplishments in the System was not all that humans could seek

As a child Tessa had loved to read speeches from the great political leaders of the past 200 years Even when she learned that they had been written by average people and only read by the leaders this hadnÆt shaken her enthusiasm If anything it intensified it Because then these speeches really were something that came from regular people And their power was not just in the mouthpiece they used but also the persuasive allure of well wrought language

That was TessaÆs goal To create something that would stand the test of time and define the philosophy of their city maybe even all of Rawland But right now

As they made their way back to the city Tessa furiously chewing on her lip the entire time they passed another military camp Waving calmly Lucifer strolled past the group But they made TessaÆs heart heavy as she looked at them It was SydneyÆs group

This was the other path the path that Tessa had not taken This was a woman who had pulled herself up through power to stand equal to all comers Not only was she strong enough to assist Lucifer himself but the people of Franksburg respected her Even Tessa respected her for all that it was surreal to hear the name of someone she had known before the System spoken of in such considered tones

Randidly Ghosthound

Sighing deeply Tessa looked away And then a voice called her name

Tessa Is that you

Tessa looked up to find Sydney was there looking somewhat taken aback Tessa mustered up her best smile Sydney I had heard that you were living in East End but I didnÆt know

Relax I donÆt mind you havenÆt called Sydney said rolling her eyes Lucifer had stopped and was considering the two women Eventually he turned and walked back towards them Sydney walked up to join the group and then hugged Tessa The huge was tight and sweaty due to the sun overhead But Tessa didnÆt really mind It was nice to be on the receiving end of a physical touch where kindness was the goal That didnÆt happen often for Tessa anymore

And I heard you are a Councilwoman now I bet thatÆs strange If we were still living in the old world would we even be old enough to run for Councilwoman The world is a strange place Sydney shook her head Sometimes the magic seems like the easy part

ThatÆs easy for you to say you have your own VIllage And a pretty hot one these days too Everyone wants to go and find an elemental that they can use Where did you get the idea for that anyway Tessa asked

A loyal subordinate that encouraged me to take gambles Then Sydney nodded towards Lucifer It was Drake After going into the Raid Dungeon he became rather pessimistic about the future of East End if we didnÆt adapt That was how much of an impression the people from Donnyton made on him

It was strange to acknowledge the influence Donnyton had on them all and everyone fell silent Donnyton was always moving forward and refining their treatment of Skills Classes and Paths When it came to raw knowledge few matched Daniel and Clarissa Their equipment production industry was so effective that they were reaching the point that the equipment you could buy from them was just as powerful as those you could buy through the System created shops Their squads were relatively small but when they moved they ripped through monsters like they were below Level 10 They made everything look so easy

Even Tessa who very rarely was near actual fighting had been impressed the few times she had seen DonnytonÆs Squads in action Tessa opened her mouth to say something but her wristlet began to ring It was Jeremy

Ah excuse me I need to take this Tessa said and she stepped away from the other two

Immediately she heard Lucifer say to Sydney Thank you She didnÆt hear SydneyÆs reply as she answered the phone

Councilwoman you need to get back here now Something big is happening in Zone 1 Something that is gonna really light your fire

Chapter 589

Hank and Thaddeus found themselves standing outside of an old junkyard with rusted cars standing piled on top of each other in tall columns Large heaps of scrap metal and trash formed small hills that gave the area something like a skyline It seemed to have been a relatively big place before the System arrived a hub of industrial trash and the rotting remnants of technology

Jesus you take me to the weirdest places Thaddeus said fiddling with his plasma pistol Fighting in urban environments in the worst At least in the forest all you need to worry about is poison ivy Here getting knocked into something is a good shot of impaling yourself on twisted rebar I donÆt fancy getting a tetanus shot with my Endurance this high

If yur Endurance is really that high the rebar wonÆt pierce ya either Hank drawled pulling his repeater out of its holster His legs gave him no further information This was the place where his brother Alan was It did not seem to bode well for his current health

There was an even and low pounding in HankÆs head Something was coming he was sure of it But he also agreed with Thaddeus If they had to fight this would be a poor location for it There were too many places for an ambush among the bones and vomit of the old world

But still they were here for a reason As one they walked forward looking around carefully at the scrapped paint and rustling plastic bags In the early days of the Zone this would have been exactly the sort of spot that Raid Bosses would love to hide to develop their armies for a time before they attacked nearby human settlements But now it was as silent as a grave

They moved through the towering piles of garbage to row after row of broken down cars There werenÆt even any small animals living here to brighten up the place The low beat in HankÆs head slowly increased in tempo They were moving closer but it was slow Still Hank wasnÆt willing to toss aside everything he knew to follow the speed of the tempo He didnÆt trust it that much

Finally Thaddeus looked up and frowned They were passing a trash compactor Do you hear that beat

Hank blinked Of course he did but the fact that Thaddeus heard it

They shared a glance and hurried forward through the junkyard Very quickly the very audible beat grew louder They found a bend where they believed that the noise was around the corner and Hank signaled the other man They climbed up the trash doing their best to remain silent It was difficult but the beat was full enough of clatters and thumps that the noise they created blended right into the cacophony that had seized the whole area

When they looked over a dirty washing machine at the top of the pile of trash both froze

Below there was a wide bowl in the hills of trash probably enough room for a good number of people to gather At that moment there was about double the amount of beings there should be in that area pressed together and dancing They stomped their feet and roared their emotions to the sky while a strange glowing body moved above them on a small stage

And they were all monsters They all seemed different with scales extra limbs or fur but they were clearly monsters HankÆs grip on his repeater tightened

Holy fuck Thaddeus breathed If all of the monsters gathered into an army this big

Let it go Hank growled his eyes scanning around the edges of the trash bowl Towards one side there were several lean tos made of aluminum sheeting and stacked household appliances Hank pointed We have a goal to find Alan Let the fucks party report this and the army will take care of it later

Will they Thaddeus seemed skeptical Do you see how many are down there Just the weight of bodies would push through plasma fire If we set up with all of them sitting down in this bowl we could handle them But if a group of them broke out

If we can isolate one and kill it we can check its Level That will give us a better idea of the magnitude of the threat But Alan comes first Hank hissed The other man nodded

They began to move around the outside of the bowl doing their best to stay quiet It seemed as though they need not have bothered as the noise from beneath them was deafening Whatever the monsters were doing it was weird HankÆs initial impression was that it was massing before charging out as a horde and killing people but the longer he listened the more incorrect that seemed But there were some strange almost ritualistic elements to what was occurring

Was there such a thing as a summoning ritual Hank wondered then he chided himself Based on how the System worked if a person believed in it of course there was But was that what was happening here Or

It took almost forty minutes to get around to the buildings they had spotted across the bowl The noise was definitely louder now and driving upward toward something specific But Hank did his best to ignore that They found that the buildings they spotted were even rougher and broken down than they had appeared from across the bowl It was surprising enough that the monsters had been able to build small dwellings but shouldnÆt they have made them more hospitable

Walking quietly they began to explore the different dwellings They were labyrinthine and claustrophobic but Thaddeus and Hank made good time as they moved through them The houses seemed to merge seamlessly to each other and as Hank continued his considered movement through them he realized that it wasnÆt a matter of making the hospitable it was a matter of making them There simply wasnÆt enough room for all of the monsters here

Pausing briefly Hank climbed up onto the roof of one of the houses and looked around It was clear that several of the nearby hills had been converted into tiny dwellings as well THere were thousands of monsters here He felt a chill in his heart If there were truly that many it wasnÆt a matter of sending a division of the army to handle it They would need to send the entire army in order to deal with a threat of this caliber

It was only due to a coincidence that they finally found what they were looking for ThaddeusÆ ears were able to catch a hint of a conversation even over the dull thump of the noise from the trash bowl With even more care they crept forward Finally they arrived at a door where through the cracks of the rusted door light was shining out And there were voices within

Hank narrowed his eyes If this was another place where the government or the church or whatever had its fucking facilities

Thaddeus nodded at him Hank reached out and pushed the door slowly open Only right before he did so the noise from the trash bowl abruptly ceased That rusty door swinging open was the loudest thing in the world at that moment

But both of the men knew their business As soon as it became clear that they wouldnÆt be able to maintain secrecy both burst through the door with their weapons drawn There were four monsters in the room one that seemed to look like a werewolf another that had four small black wings on his back and the twisted face of a vampire and two that seemed to be a pig goblin looking breed They all spun around at the noise

HankÆs eyes moved from them to the table where Alan lay his face pale His breath was short and quiet but in that abruptly silent place the weakness of it was deafening He leveled his repeater at the monsters

Before he had even finished rapidly firing his bullets there was a pop and another monster appeared in the room with them But this time the monster seemed to tug at something in Hank reminding him of something else It was a treant probably two meters tall so tall in the small house that several twisted branches rising from its head brushed the ceiling But what was strange about this treant was that its bark was ashy and its eyes burned red There were also several spots on its body where the bark was flaking away and molten redwood was glowing within

It was like the thing was slowly burning from the inside out And that was when a name clicked in his head

Arbor

Bulletstorm rushed forward the bullets smashing into each other and shattering into a wave of shrapnel The strange treant thing simply waved its hand The hands were large and blunt with only four fingers as though its thumb had been cut off But when that hand hit the skill the bullets melted and dispersed into a puff of ash

Then it reached up and held a gnarled and blunt finger to where its mouth should be Without another care towards Hank and Thaddeus it turned away Thaddeus looked at Hank in askance But Hank couldnÆt move his eyes were locked on Alan whose labored breathing had stopped

With another wave of the hand the treant produced a small flame that was pure white Very carefully it approached AlanÆs body The other monsters shuffled to the side None of them would look at Hank and Thaddeus but stared at the ground likely in fear It was gentle in its movements as it lowered the flame and pressed it into AlanÆs chest

There was nothing for several seconds and then Alan gasped sitting up He coughed up a wade of dark phlegm then reached up to touch his chest Ah fuck me this hurts

Then he seemed to notice Hank Alan blinked Hank What are you

We donÆt have time Alan Hank said his eyes on the four monsters and the treant The treant placidly turned and waved at him There is well there is a fuckload of monsters around here More than a wild boar has fleas So move over to me slowly and we can

There are twelve thousand of us

Hank blinked The vampire looking monster rubbed its hands together nervously It glanced up at him then back at the ground Its voice was much weaker the second time twelve thousand of us And we arenÆt monsters We are just

fRIenDS The treant said its voice squeaking at some parts of the word Then the damn thing began to dance

Chapter 590

The Headquarters of the Unity Church was in the Northwest quarter of Zone 1 which was by far the least populated location in the Zone Or at least it had been Over the past several months thousands of people had been moved into the multiple refugee shelters the Unity Church had sponsored in the areas which had been a boom to the population numbers If they had wanted to they could likely successfully petition Congress to increase the amount of Senators that area received

But they didnÆt want that Randidly whispered to himself as he looked up at the relatively imposing cathedral that rose above him They would prefer to experiment

With clenched fists Randidly walked into the cathedral They were waiting for him in the pews faces towards the altar as he entered Calmly he waited as they finished their prayer

Lord give us the strength to resist the temptation of the flesh and the System of choosing fickle pursuits in this life so we might taste eternity in the next The priest at the head of the congregation noticed Randidly but said nothing The individual leading the prayer contniued with his prayer for some time decrying the villains that embraced the System At the end the priest bowed his head Amen

Amen Rumbled the response

Then people began to stand and slowly file out The cathedral was large and had multiple tiered sets of pews that enabled more people to see the stage Randidly estimated almost a thousand people could all fit inside the cathedral It wasnÆt filled to bursting but Randidly hadnÆt seen very many open spaces either So he stood and waited calmly by the door as the people left Waiting a bit wasnÆt an issue

But his calm reflection was interrupted before it even started

Ah Rand You also attend services here Excellent Kulwort Shaw his grandfather appeared at RandidlyÆs side with a warm smile I had worried due to your fatherÆs godlessness and well your mother was also not ideal In addition some of the comments you have made on the television

As Randidly blinked at him Kulwort shook his head Well anyways Use your platform to promote Unity Church people need it

Actually Randidly said IÆm here because IÆm starting to believe that this church is more trouble than itÆs worth

Kulwort just gave Randidly a quizzical look Do you think so If we didnÆt believe in this people would just believe in something else Probably something worse Sure only the dullest of individuals would miss the signs that the Unity Church was poaching some of the weirdos from the crowd and doing things that the rest of us would rather not know about But isnÆt that the way of things

Randidly made to reply then paused He had known People are dying Mr Shaw I believe someone here is at fault I will see those who caused death brought to justice

Oh thatÆs fine The people donÆt matter the ideas do Kulwort spread his arms wide at the people casting curious glances at Randidly and Kulwort as they shuffled past Recycle as many as possible Sacrifice as many as possible Their deaths have meaning because they equip us with the knowledge and power to face the future There is no such thing as a free lunch To progress there must be sacrifices Is it so strange that people have traded away the knowledge and responsibility of these occurrences in order to possess peace of mind and be buoyed forward by the flow of progress

If this is an organization that thinks sacrifice on the scale they have committed is necessary I will crush the Unity Church Randidly said The conversation was slipping away from him somewhat but that was his grandfather He was a man that could only be described as peculiar in a dangerous way But he was redeemed somewhat by his frankness despite his seeming acceptance of people dying

Ha then you are a fool To destroy a place where ideas settle is to spread them all to the winds the bad ones might gather up a head of steam in a small corner of the world and destroy the more delicate well meaning ones ItÆs much safer to pool them all together like this KulwortÆs gaze was intense But Randidly held his gaze pressuring the older man into flinching and looking away

Then Randidly blinked and sighed He had been waiting for more information out of Kulwort But his grandfather was just strange His ideas were entrenched and he would go off into a meaningless lecture at the drop of a hat He would leave a child alone at a mall to prove a point to a third party Nothing was valued more than principle to Kulwort

As Randidly left the fidgeting man Kulwort called after him

If I know anything Rand itÆs that people are beings who believe Faith is the ultimate defense of the fearful something more capable is watching out for me If you take away that thing people worship well you donÆt want to find out what humans are capable of doing when left to their own devices in the face of fear

The phrase beings who believeÆ stuck with Randidly as he walked back to the front of the now deserted church Standing there as if waiting for him were four people sitting in the front pew and three standing before the altar with their eyes on him All four of the kneeling individuals in the pews were male but two of the three standers were female The woman in the middle cleared her throat

Mr Ghosthound A pleasure Should I take this as a sign that you have decided to throw your support behind our modest parish

Randidly raised an eyebrow as he looked around no that is not the case MaÆam what is your name

Artemis Llewyllan A bishop in the service of God I am slightly surprised that a political figure such as yourself would come here so privately it has me wondering about your motives Your accomplishments have proceeded you I do hope you can forgive me for taking precautions

Randidly spared a dismissive glance for the four kneeling men but as he looked at them he realized with a pang that their common appearance belied their Level When he focused on them he could feel their thick air of violence These were not normal guards they were the few in the church that took advantage of the System Fighting them would be troublesome if only because Randidly wouldnÆt be able to neutralize them without making a permanent enemy of the Unity Church Likely a portion of this fine cathedral would be destroyed

Randidly had resolved himself to moving publicly but the publicity that would result from such a destruction would likely be a headache If convenient he would avoid it

I hadnÆt even noticed Randidly said drily turning back to Bishop Artemis LetÆs get right to business then As you might have noticed Father Foster is no more I would like a lot of her policies and programs to die with her The Unity Church is splicing monster parts into human bodies and vice versa I will no longer accept this

The bishop considered him We have had our suspicions on the wellbeing of Father Foster As for her programs some of them were extreme and it shouldnÆt be difficult to let them fall by the wayside I personally found her to be rather insufferable but she originally was a leader of some of our darker branches

You knew and yet you did nothing You knew what she was up to Randidly said his voice dangerously low

The bishop snorted Would you prefer that I act the fool Of course I knew I have even benefited from her work It was one thing to hate the act it was another to say no to the benefits she offered

RandidlyÆs hands clenched into fists Perhaps Kulwort Shaw was wrong then If people were beings who believed all those he encountered were those that believed in power That was not a beneath he minded destroying and even if it grew like a mold in the dark places of the Zone he would find it and eradicate it again and again So you supported it

I did the best I could and I didnÆt refuse the benefits Artemis said softly a frown on her face as she looked at Randidly What could I have done If you know Father Foster is dead then you likely would know about the strange army she was developing Before that what could I do

You could have left the church Randidly began but Artemis was already shaking her head

To Father Foster the human life was a fungible commodity any was as good as another Perhaps I could have initiated a schism in the church I would have saved those who followed me but she would have simply taken those lives from other places Believe me I did as much as I could

Randidly knew she was lying But he had no way of forcing her to acknowledge that fact And it wasnÆt worth his time

Fine then Randidly said while breathing out through his teeth Then tell me where are the monster spawn points

Artemis blinked You truly know everything donÆt you Perhaps even we underestimated you I suppose that is why Father Foster is no longer with us Of course we have them but

After a pause she said I hesitate to hand them over to someone who is so familiar with violence We are moderating the number of monsters loosed into the Zone providing just enough to push the Level of the populace upwards Even though we choose to encourage our people to abstain from Leveling we understand well in addition you grew up in a different Zone A wilder one You wouldnÆt understand

MaÆam that question was a courtesy Randidly said slowly The priest who gave the service was glaring at him so he turned his gaze to the man until he was sweating I will leave here with the information that I want No matter what I have to do

You seem confident Are we truly a clam so easily pried open Artemis said with a wry smile

Yes And you know it too or you wouldnÆt have that thing waiting in the basement What is it by the way The way its gathering energy Ah you made a Heretic didnÆt you

Artemis froze Then slowly she deflated Finally she sighed Fine you win

Chapter 591

It is a citizenÆs duty to view those who hold their lives as high walls before the ferocity and chaos of nature as commendable and virtuous It follows then that those who may more triumphantly innoculate humanity from any and all savage Systems deserve further praise The organic conclusion we come to is that heroism of any one person due to history and circumstances shines thusly because it must be so But that oh so desirable light occasionally ascends to a degree that it becomes so eye catching that the viewers find their eyes blinded Without outside assistance these figures become naught but form and vehemence to the populous without the structure and shape of a true and flawed human a category to which we all must admit our own belonging

The Founding of the Chivalric Orders (the proposed initial five being the Order Valorem the Order Ferocitas the Order Sapientia the Order Fide and the Order Ducis) attempts to rectify the shapeless blindness

Law grips firm edges Without definition the application of law will only damage and restrict And it is anathema to our considered vision of law that any figure no matter how influential or unique can justifiably claim to be immune to the lawÆs effects or operate beyond the reach of this nationÆs honorable people

To that end let the Chivalric Orders be an encouraged reformation of roles that no figure of heroism will be found lacking in the possession of legitimate levers of influence with which to grasp

What are humans Jeremy asked

Tessa looked up from a letter she was working up the nerve to send to Mrs Hamilton She blinked and then decided that this question annoyed her What do you mean

Well thatÆs the crux of the issue isnÆt it Jeremy said scratching his head What constitutes a human Are these people

Humans Well humans are people I guess I guess the best way to check if something is Well shit Maybe itÆs to see The best check is if it can recognize other humans The indelible quality of man is a distinct and desirable flavor of considered intelligence and restrained savagery Most notably each possesses an intellect of such power that none may pass near to each other without feeling the warm radiation of wit from the eyes of even a stranger Humans are those who have the capacity to recognize the humanity in another

Jeremy rolled his eyes DonÆt talk hipfire flowery language with me Humans are beings that recognize other humans What a bunch of theoretical shit You realize that such a definition would indicate that the monster people are more human than the unhappy populous around them who steadfastly refuse to treat them as anything but a threat

Shaking her head Tessa ignored Jeremy and turned back to her letter She needed to send this today before they got off the Manatech railway and hoofed it the rest of the way North Even though this was her first time being outside of the Zone she didnÆt have time to enjoy the sights

She had a grand plan and she knew that Randidly would not sit around and wait for her ideas to catch up with him If she was going to pull off what she intended her ideas needed to spread and quickly There was no time to waste

RandidlyÆs second visit of the day went a lot better than the first The Jade Prince seemed similarly prepared for his arrival but answered all of RandidlyÆs questions in a satisfactory manner In fact Randidly quiet liked the young man it truly seemed that the guy simply wanted to be left alone to pursue the pinnacle of martial arts His impression was not one of someone who would struggle politically

Now with the outside influences dealt with and in possession of the spawning apparatus for monsters Randidly considered his next move At some point he would need to reunite with Neveah They no longer really needed to operate separately although he expected that she would choose to Randidly also wanted time to digest his new Skill and the Skill Levels he had gained in the last week or so but even thinking about doing it right now drove a knife of hot anxiety into his gut There just seemed to be so many more things he needed to address

Randidly pressed his eyes closed and let most of the sensations of the world fade away Thunder crawled slowly overhead grinding with loud groans at the clouds A soft rain was falling leaving tiny pinpricks of light against his skin Randidly stayed that way for almost ten minutes savoring the peace of nature

Then his eyes snapped open He would need to disperse these monster spawners at some point but Lucretia was already trying to figure out a way to unlock them from a fixed destination It would be much easier if he could just return the Zone to normal But that wasnÆt something he could do much about now Instead he needed to deal with the last half of a dangling loose end

He needed to construct a body for Ghost that had some insurance that he would remain focused on the best interests of the people here

For that he needed to return to his steel shanty town

The journey wasnÆt a long one however especially now that Randidly no longer bothered to try and keep his movements hidden He simply ran directly through the country at a speed approaching that of the railway When he arrived there he found that his house had been emptied of MaudeÆs tea supplies which left him thrown for a second It was only after seeing the broken window that he remembered the fight they had and sending her away for her insistence of using his house to promote the foolishness of the Unity Church

As he left the shantytown now a true town Randidly supposed he sent a message to Dinesh Tykes and Tatiana All three were waiting when he arrived at the farming complex TatianaÆs girls had been busy and as this long summer they had been experiencing slowly shifted to fall they began decorating the location with the warm and dark colors the world would soon switch too

All were stunned when Randidly announced his plan I want to start a company Erickson Steel IÆm thinking We will set up a factory here and become the high end supplier of metals and drones

Very quickly Dinesh nodded as his mind followed RandidlyÆs through the processes and Tykes just shrugged As long as he could stay here with that silent girlfriend of his he wouldnÆt care

Tatiana was really the one that Randidly was unsure about It was technically her property although she agreed to follow him only a few weeks ago When she looked at him there was still that caution in her eyes It was something that Randidly couldnÆt blame her for Abruptly he revealed his past form to be a lie and gave only a cursory explanation It would be strange if she had no reaction to that sort of change

Why Tatiana asked quietly

Opening his mouth Randidly thought about several answers Then he slowly smiled Honestly Because I like working with metal And by and large this place earns no money right This way we will have the cash flow we need to stabilize and support the people who want to live here I also think training people I trust to make drones as I do is the smart choice going forward It will be slow going but at least we can get it started

Tatiana watched him carefully Then in a very deliberate manner she offered him her hand I accept that ItÆs nice to meet you Mr Randidly Ghosthound My name is Tatiana ItÆs my pleasure to work with you

There was a profound sadness in RandidlyÆs chest as he took her hand Her skin was cool Something was lost Randidly knew in this gesture This was TatianaÆs way of forgiving him But it was a forgiveness at the cost of the strange heady glee they had shared before The carcass of their friendship was used to bridge between them and create a working relationship

Perhaps it was for the best

Immediately the two of them proceeded to draw up plans for the facility Which were largely unnecessary as Randidly had already carved out quite a cave system beneath the compound Still it would be better to provide above air facilities in some portions so the people who would work at Erickson Steel wouldnÆt be solely cave people

Afterward Randidly proceeded to talk to Foreman Davey It was somewhat awkward but Randidly offered the man a job He was met with roaring laughter but when Randidly explained that he was Baloo Erickson Foreman Davey considered it

no no I cannot IÆm here for a reason and IÆm going to fulfill that duty He said while shaking his head Then he elbowed Randidly in the side But I know your offer isnÆt just for me You want to poach some talent eh How quickly youÆve moved on from our working relationship really makes me feel somewhat used ah to be old and nearing retirement

Randidly rolled his eyes but accepted the other manÆs gentle ribbing After all he needed his help Randidly had basically spent very little time socializing Of course he would approach Gregory and Sonya and Randidly believed they were pretty likely to say yes and jump shift from contracting to working under him Beyond them Randidly didnÆt remember a single name of a steelmaker in the building

In addition he couldnÆt compare to the experience Foreman Davey had in the area of the steel market While they spoke Foreman Davey mentioned dozens of small tips and tricks that the different buyers used to squeeze extra value out of a seller and how to avoid them It wasnÆt something that Randidly asked but he noticed and appreciated the favor

And afterward rather than question Randidly on the details of his plan or offering any warnings they talked about steel It was a simple conversation and Randidly was pleased and embarrassed to find that their knowledge of the substance extended in completely different ways In that short half hour they stood before the factory and watched smoke churn upwards while talking Randidly came up with a half dozen ideas to refine the process for Erickson Steel and push it towards the next level It was incredibly relaxing

He would not forget this small kindness no matter how large Erickson Steel grew

Chapter 592

The first thing Randidly did after talking with everyone and setting things up was take a nap It had been quite a while since he had slept His Vitality made it completely voluntary And even afterward as he opened his eyes he didnÆt feel truly rested

But he did feel clear A lot of the build up of frustrations and tension drained out of him leaving him ready for the day Not so ready that he wanted to accompany Tatiana to meet with a lawyer and an accountant to handle the gritty details of starting his own company but enough that he agreed to meet with some of the more inexperienced steelworkers that had been swayed to his side and provide a demonstration

What IÆm about to do should not be copied No doubt some of you have received Fire Resistance already but this is more than that

Barefoot surrounded by twelve wide eyed men and women Randidly walked forward and began to work metal He didnÆt hold back at all and began by directly using Incendiary Eruption to spew superheated gas and liquid up towards his metals He Refined and Extracted the ore as he worked with the heat source trying to get a feel for it It wasnÆt difficult to control the flow of Mana into the Skill but it was much harder to keep the heat even That wasnÆt so difficult during this portion as long as the heat passed a certain level but it would become more important later

Slowly the ore was reduced to its pure version beginning to melt in the crucible Randidly moved quickly to the table all the while maintaining the Incendiary Eruption Wincing he drew some Mana from his rings This was more demanding than he had thought it would be

Very quickly he cut up a bone and ground it to dust Then he pricked his finger and let three drops of blood fall onto the mixture With Gravity Affinity he began to stir everything together It still wasnÆt strong enough to be very useful in battle but it could handle basic household tasks at this point

Randidly mixed the molten metal with the monster and blood mixture His method of mixing had reached something near perfection and he quickly got to work The only issue was that Gravity Affinity also required metal which left him somewhat drained rather quickly Still he pushed through the operation as the eyes of his soon to be employees watched

Working with metal was a heady experience and Randidly quickly lost himself in the experience of it The searing heat and the strange viscosity of the molten metal were endlessly fascinating to him Again and again Randidly stared intently at the molten metal for several seconds before raising the heat coming up from the eruption He needed a little more for the metal to settle with the bone and harden how he wanted it

With his Perception deeply sunk into the metal Randidly sensed the moment he had reached the point that he wasnÆt skilled enough to make the metal anymore well done He began to cool it gratefully allowing Golden Roots of Yggdrasil to draw Mana into himself as he waited

Then Randidly began to pound the metal shaping it into something more interesting than an ingot In his mind it was supposed to become a small dagger but the metal he had made was harder than he had anticipated The hammers he had prepared barely dented the warm metal even with RandidlyÆs own prodigious Strength

Narrowing his eyes Randidly tried something else He used As the Sun Stills

His hammer became the core of a dying sun hanging above the metal Then it snapped and the density swelled violently upwards It was difficult to swing the hammer but with his muscles bulging the hammer slowly fell and hit the metal

Bom

There was a strange reverberation through the room and Randidly felt the floor shiver from the force A crack had formed in the side of the anvil that he was working on top of The people around him werenÆt moving Randidly raised the hammer once more once more tricked by how strangely light the hammer felt immediately afterward This was a nice method with growing used to the shift so Randidly could handle it during a battle

As the Sun Stills

This time part of the anvil chipped off and the hammer itself shattered into pieces Randidly grimaced Well there were costs to this method of practice but hammers werenÆt that hard to purchase

Honestly he should probably make his own so they would be better equipped to withstand the force of his usage

Note to self sell hammers In fact there was probably a lot of industrial equipment that Randidly could begin to sell that operated at specifications higher than the current stuff on the market Incendiary Eruption was good practice but his workers needed high quality furnaces in order to operate It was worth looking into

Randidly selected another hammer and began to shape the rest of the metal His two powerful blows had flattened what would be the blade and all that remained was to shape the rest It took almost two hours of pounding but Randidly managed it He was just grateful no one else offered to take over for him it would have been difficult for that person to even make an impression

Perhaps it shoulder be surprising to him but as Randidly looked at the dagger he had made without even a true hilt and an overly long blade it possessed stats

Nameless Dagger « Lvl 49 A dagger produce by a savant who loves metal It is rough but the shape of the process gives the dagger great strength But due to the strength the weight is beyond that of a normal weapon of its size Agility +4 Strength +30 Stamina +100 Bone Totem II Heat of the Earth I

Bone Totem II Made with the bones and blood of living things Grants a small amount of power to the dagger As this dagger absorbs blood there is a small chance this effect may grow Warning there may be dangerous side effects if the absorbed blood is from a creature much stronger than what was used in the daggerÆs making All Stats +2

Heat of the Earth I The dagger remains warm in hand +5 Agility +5 Reaction Fire Skills will be more effective if used in conjunction with the dagger

Randidly smiled lightly and showed them the dagger People looked at it almost uncomprehendingly but studied it closely as they passed it amongst themselves

Randidly shrugged almost embarrassed Obviously we arenÆt becoming blacksmiths but sometimes itÆs nice to know what your metal can become What we are chasing is to make a perfect metal But what is the point of having that if we canÆt work it at all That dagger is the goal Someday I want all of the metal we make to be of that level

When he said it Randidly didnÆt truly mean it After all the metal included his own blood That wouldnÆt be a commercial product But the people didnÆt understand that and nodded seriously Some of them produced bits of metal they had collected from their work and tested RandidlyÆs dagger against it Except for a few bits of high quality metal that the group had collected it passed through the other metals without resistance

Then Randidly remembered that Tatiana was working to become more acclimated with her new Class and could use a weapon like that and retrieved the dagger He dismissed the workers and regarded it critically

It really seemed like raising the heat during the mixture process had done wonders for the evenness of the bone dispersion in the metal However he had cooled it too rapidly afterward Or rather too much oxygen was let into the edges of the metal as it cooled Grimacing Randidly looked around at what they were working with Keeping oxygen out of the forge couldnÆt truly be done with heat

Then Randidly paused Perhaps could he use Breath of the Spear Phantom to keep air out around the metal He had always targeted people but

It was something worth pursuing but he had an agreement to meet with Tatiana for some sparring She wanted to Level up as fast as possible and Randidly agreed it was important Basically all the fighters he had was Tykes and Dinesh right now Neveah too but she was largely busy with goings on in the Orchard Karlito could hold his own in a fight and BruyaÆs illusions were impossibly real but Randidly intended to attempt to clear the Ogre Danger Zone before he left for ShalÆs world in two monthÆs time

Therefore a bit more was needed

Chapter 593

Regina Northwind sat in the chair staring up at the ceiling

there are times where the function of the individual is anecdotal to the current eventualities in a way that encourages others to imitate Other times the very presence of the individual at the pinnacle of the known world will act as a dampening agent that prevents the likely and necessary progress that so happily results from humans left to their own devices

It is a matter of availability Or rather of foundational qualities When one looks at those paragons of heroism and asks How did she/he do that Æ this reflection may serve as an impetus for further action It will become the beacon of motivation that drives a determined individual forward even in the darkest of nights At some point those precious few individuals affected by such an ambitious muse will lose their sense of motivations in the motions of productions they simply become a necessary detail of a greater act of chasing a goal

Those are the humans who move us forward

However in some heroes we find qualities that become more oppressive and bewildering than aiding Those heroes are seen and the populace acts with apparent disbelief How did these actions lead to this Æ They ponder The summit lies so far ahead that the mountain consumes oneÆs mind and vision there are no perceived Paths forward HumanityÆs feet still as they crane their necks upwards to catch a glimpse of the long sunbeams that slant down from the top

Mrs Hamilton stopped reading and looked up at Regina with a half smile on her face She certainly must be applauded for her audacity if only for her work and weaving System elements into these declarations What do you think

About the Chivalric Orders Regina paused considering it She rubbed her stomach idly It was somewhat unbelievable to her even now that she could have a baby She wondered what complications she was aware of from her past life to late life children would be applicable ItÆs somewhat of a masterstroke for Franksburg if it passes No longer will it constantly live in the shadow of Donnyton

Mrs HamiltonÆs smile widened Well I donÆt think it is that simple for equity to come to pass but I believe the girl was aware of that possible eventuality when she wrote this

IÆm just surprised she chose to lay the foundation for an Oligarchy Franksburg is already establishing itself as a vocal supporter of Democracy or at least a classic Republic How did she manage to have the council pass this Regina asked scratching her chin

Perhaps with the truth That it is aimed at Donnyton If our best and brightest leave to join a Chivalric Order thatÆs basically what is happening to everyone else so why not try and make us bite the same bullet

Regina frowned at the other woman So we will refuse to acknowledge the Orders But then

Of course not Mrs Hamilton hummed as she wrapped her knuckles against her wooden chair The two of them sat at ReginaÆs dining room table as a pot of bear ish stew boiled in the other room IÆm going to recommend that we affirm this Becoming knights and things seems like fun Did you read the details I appreciate her flair Cadets Knight Errants Gallants Chevaliers Paladins Abbots and finally Prelates at the top Those are fine labels Fine Paths

ReginaÆs face turned more serious the reason you are doing this is for System related reasons

Yes Well and because she extended a peace offering by sending this to us first Mrs Hamilton looked down at the neatly written letter She stared intently at the paper for several seconds then shook her head I have no doubt that she sent this with the full knowledge that if we agreed we would immediately move to found at least two of these orders likely Valorem and Sapientia Valor and Wisdom Then

Mrs HamiltonÆs gaze turned to the window and her eyes were blank and grey Regina said nothing waiting for the other woman to speak It took a minute but finally Mrs Hamilton smiled

Ah smart No doubt Franksburg will found an order themselves East End will soon follow And I am told that Ms Tessa is currently in Zone 1 Likely to encourage other to found Orders It will involve politics in both Zones if slowly

Why Based on the proposal this Council of the Orders can only make decrees about other Orders it really has no political power outside of themselves Regina said Even if power shifts to the Orders thatÆs a slow game and she running very quickly to finish things

As they generally did Mrs HamiltonÆs eyes turned West Regina knew the other woman was feeling for the Ghosthound

Mrs Hamilton chuckled to herself shaking her head I have a few ideas This might be about dispersing some of DonnytonÆs power by drawing people away towards orders that attract them but it is also aimed directly at Randidly in a very personal way

and you still want to approve it Regina asked hesitating slightly

How closely have you been reading what the girl has been saying Mrs Hamilton shook her head slightly Listen to this Humanity has now been inexorably bonded to the concept of Paths which are afflicted with a great conceit The conceit is thus Paths are not individual There is a multitude of examples of Paths being had by multiple individuals All people have access to the same Paths

With that in mind the most likely explanation for a baffling summit hanging above the collective head of humanity is the emergence of a different sort of Path Indeed this explanation is preferable to the alternative that an inordinate amount of hard work and timing are all that can move your fate forward in this world That is a crushing truth that should only be borne by those standing at the summit

The Chivalric Orders serve as another conceit this is a path upwards It seems likely that such a belief will in fact lead to a Path But even without proof these illusions of perspective will provide the bridge that allows the wheels of determination to grip a Path forward Although they cannot see the shape of their journey even arbitrary road signs reassure restless hearts as they chase the back of those that came before

It cannot be said that we do not owe a deep debt to those that stand at the pinnacle But those intrepid adventures they have thus far engaged in were solely as individuals and bereft of a theoretic and narrative underpinning Without this shape they are truly power without law unpredictable and dangerous in the eyes of the governing establishments

Let the Chivalric Orders be the sharp blade and gleaming armor that prevents such entities from running rampant under the influence of their own wild and mundane aims

Mrs Hamilton looked up at Regina expectantly

After several seconds Regina could only shake her head Yes the more I read of what she says the more it seems like she is trying to retain Randidly By giving basically anyone more superiority over him

That is certainly how most people will read it at first Mrs Hamilton said slowly But humans are strange creatures who knows what might happen

Ghost sat in his small van deep within the Earth pondering

It was an intimidating and exciting possibility that he might soon be able to roam throughout the land Only after delighting in the simulated scenarios did it occur to Ghost that he would no longer be able to display his preferred hologram avatar He would likely need a new version to convey how he was aging and growing

And he was growing and learning from his interactions At the moment Ghost was balanced on the edge of a difficult decision

Far away in the North Hank was arguing with Alan trying to convince his brother to return to his seat as President of the UHF Largely a figurehead role Alan was still depressed and unwilling to return After all Father Foster had taken from Alan his heart to try and capture the Skill Stronghearted Charisma Unfortunately for her Randidly Ghosthound killed her before she could put it to use Ghost had looked but had been unable to locate it

At the moment some strange tribal magic from the Treant being appeared to be serving as AlanÆs heart It was difficult to examine too closely because Ghost had a distinct impression that the thing knew when he was watching it As it made Ghost uncomfortable he avoided it as much as possible

But Alan and Hank were just smaller figures They were not the problem It was the group beyond them that was the problem Thousands of monsters who possessed the minds of human They were often scarred and traumatized not entirely mentally sound For this reason Ghost didnÆt trust them It was difficult to predict the actions of the erratic

Several companies were surrounding the group awaiting orders Tensions were high at the front on both sides as both feared the other GhostÆs drones had a stabilizing effect but soon that wouldnÆt be enough

They were a liability They were unpredictable and dangerous They currently worshipped a tree Ghost knew they should go But he also knew they were human and therefore Randidly Ghosthound would not want them harmed meaninglessly

Was this meaningless It was difficult for Ghost to tell But he needed to make a decision

Chapter 594

Alumuran sat in the basement feeling the sweat gather underneath his short shaven hair and trickle downwards across his nose This room was far too hot but Alumuran didnÆt have any will to complain this was his lot in life Although he was chosen to be given great power that power was a curse He had lost his individuality to the power and become solely a tool

That was what it meant to be the Heretic of the Unity Church

But today was a relatively good day because the voices above werenÆt the usual dull mumble of prayers and confessions Alumuran felt some small twinge of guilt when he admitted his strong dislike of those as they were the gracious and correct statements of a pious populace However Alumuran had largely given up his free will he was unable to act on his sinful thoughts Therefore he comforted himself that they were relatively harmless

It was not as good as yesterday where Alumuran was seen by the other like him Well perhaps the other was not like him Alumuran had developed a small ability to sense the flow of the poisonous energy that the System propagated and the other was soaked in it But it was like seeing bloated tuna your whole life and then encountering a shark It was a being designed for this for all that it was a fish all the same It filled Alumuran with a profound fear and wonder

Unfortunately the other departed quickly But this current guest seemed intent on staying With his Holy Domicile Skill there was very little that Alumuran could not sense within the cathedral of the Unity Church As such listening in on their conversation above was simple

It is about fulfilling our implicit promise The young woman in front of the Bishop argued She was shapely and opinionated Alumuran had no further opinions worth even thinking about her Her name was Tessa As an organization you have made numerous representations by your outward actions and from what I understand you have betrayed these peopleÆs trust on numerous accounts

You certainly are direct arenÆt you The bishop said with pursed lips Some would say that what you are doing steps over a line it isnÆt polite to waltz in here ask for a favor and then criticize our methods

Then you shouldnÆt have murdered hundreds of people Is it only hundreds Tessa countered As a public and influential organization you have a responsibility to behave in accordance with a certain set of moral rules

I would say that we largely do It is only the actions of individuals that lead us astray The bishop said dryly but most of her ire had evaporated as she considered Tessa I will speak plainly my main issue with your proposal of Knightly Orders is how it seems to boil down to a popularity contest If the only way to advance is through the votes of your peers

IsnÆt everything a popularity contest I find it hard to believe that even the most sanctified institution would escape the grasping reach of politics and platitudes And you are not the most sanctified I believe

Oh You seem to be premising much on a single mistake in the history of the Unity Church Now the chilliness returned to the bishopÆs voice

I was in fact speaking of the fact you are a powerful religious organization that rose to power in the immediate aftermath of the largest catastrophe in the living memory of humanity But if you wish to talk about how the loss of life your organization allowed and used to your benefit is simply a single mistakeÆ

Now you are simply being argumentative The bishop said exasperation clear in her voice Is winning a single verbal spar worth losing my support for your idea I get what you are saying you are recommending we rebrand This would primarily be a PR move For all that the tragedy of Father Foster will continue to stain us word has not trickled out very quickly I believe the man who knows the most doesnÆt think much of public opinion That means that this might be an unnecessary preventative measure

And the favor you are requesting would undoubtedly spread the word The rise of the intelligent monsters will lead to questions that implicate us very directly It is not something that we will be able to plead ignorance over So please describe for me the benefits of what you are suggesting

TessaÆs face was incredibly serious as she held the gaze of the bishop As though waiting for the response she was about to give the entire cathedral was silent around them Alumuran watched his eyes blazing in the dark room Another trail of sweat wound its way down his nose across his lips and gathered at his chin with a few other such drops before it fell and hit the floor

I do not think it is as horrible a thing as many others that you encourage your congregation to refuse the benefits the System True they are inherently vulnerable to the attacks of monsters But the power of the System is closely shaped by belief and not just the beliefs of the individual Society also has a powerful effect upon the images and Classes and Skills we possess And if people believe it is nothing to use the power of the System it is simply nothing But with the wide base of your congregation if they believe that possessing the power is a gift and a curse those dark thoughts will shape those few that are users of the SystemÆs power into something greater than they were Do you see

The bishop considered there is no proof that what you are saying is true

Then consult your faith Pray What does your heart tell you Tessa said

The two were silent for almost a minute when Tessa spoke once more

There is another angle that might be of interest to you It is regarding Randidly Ghosthound

The other Alumuran almost jolted into a standing position remembering the manÆs piercing emerald gaze looking downward through several layers of plaster metal and wood to see him To truly see him like none others ever had And at that moment he had named him truly Heretic

Alumuran was a man who had taken the cursed power and couldnÆt now escape it Heretic His only saving grace was that he could be the sword and shield that the righteous people of the Unity Church congregation needed

Oh It truly appears that he is as famous as they say I have in fact met with Mr Ghosthound He seems somewhat domineering With the strength to back it up You also mean to use the Orders as a method to bind him

I mean to use the Orders as a method to explain him to people Tessa said as she leaned forward over the table

After the younger woman had left the Bishop sat at her desk for a long time looking at the proposal that had been left by Tessa The younger womanÆs handwriting was looping and elegant It was impressive in a way that Alumuran didnÆt have words for that she had handwritten and signed the proposal she had left with the bishop Wondering if she did that for every document Alumuran closed his eyes and prepared to go into deep meditation to refine the almost toxic energy roiling within him

There were donations from so many strange sources that it all mixed together in a viscous muck Almumuran slowly extracted threads of it purified them and then added it to his main total but the process was so slow and the donations were coming in so fast that he was quickly falling behind The polluted energy within him weighed on his chest like a death sentence But he had learned the Skill Aether Purification which would speed up the process gradually Hopefully it would be enough

But to AlumuranÆs surprise he was interrupted by a voice

Chosen one what do you think of this idea The bishop said

Blinking slowly AlumuranÆs thoughts moved like molasses in response to the question He was being asked for his opinion But he He was a Heretic It was his role to discard his individuality and be simply a tool for those whose minds werenÆt polluted as strongly by the influence of the System Of course it would be foolish to keep the leader completely without a Class or Level otherwise they could easily be targeted But only Alumuran received the energy from the congregation

Well there had been others but the influence of thoughts had left them broken They had strayed from their mission Father Foster for all her flaws had herself decisively killed any of the Heretics that began to behave overly erratically After she had died the experiments into finding new Heretics had largely stopped No one had the nerve a small part of Alumuran suspected

The bishop was still pondering and it hit Alumuran once more that she had asked him a question He licked his lips along in a dark room three floors below her His lips were dry

I dreamed of being a knight when I was a child Alumuran found himself saying In my fantasies they were the ones that would slay the monsters that haunted me

The Bishop nodded almost absent minded Then she nodded again more decisively Hmm Well maybe that foolish girl knows more than her brash exterior would indicate Oh and Alumuran I know the purification of the faith power is important but you must not lose touch with your humanity Please occasionally take a walk in the gardens to remember normalcy

Alumuran noded Then he realized with a flash of guilt that the bishop couldnÆt see him and said I accept

I accept What sort of response was that But the bishop seemed satisfied and left her office heading over towards her private quarters

Chapter 595

Senator Firefly that it is very important to choose the location of a discussion If you do so you win the discussion Neveah said matter of factly as they walked calmly through the apple orchard that sat on the hill of the bustling city that the Orchard was becoming

Randidly smiled wryly as he used Plant Dominance to detach an apple directly above his hand It fell quickly and he snatched it out of the air After a bite Randidly grimaced and pushed some Aether into the apple Before his eyes it swelled to the size of a melon and Randidly took a tentative bite This time he spat it out and shook his head

Neveah clicked her teeth together She was wearing another skin now one that reminded Randidly distantly of Mrs Hamilton It is like giving money to a child If you want it to be better give it to the tree

Does that mean itÆs the application Have you tried to get better at sweetening apples Randidly asked Honestly he wasnÆt sure how it would be broadly applicable but he generally wanted to improve his knowledge of how Aether worked This large and impeccably tended orchard would be an ideal place to experiment with prolonged exposure to Aether

Neveah just looked at him like he was an idiot Why when you can just push Aether into the trees No need to do the hard thing when there is an easy way

Randidly kept himself from rolling his eyes but made a mental note to set aside some of the lands they would buy as Erickson Steel to farm Besides it might be possible to grow some interesting crops that would have industrial properties

He shook his head dispelling those thoughts Well this is certainly an interesting place for a discussion LetÆs get down to it in two months I am going to head to ShalÆs world Will you come with me

Neveah turned and regarded him Now she truly looked like Mrs Hamilton with her lips pursed and her brow furrowed With a start Randidly realized that she must be interacting with Mrs Hamilton pretty frequently if she had chosen this form He had never thought to ask but Neveah must have a friendÆs list similar to his own or even had access to it through their shared bond It was difficult to label what they had Perhaps he should consider its implications more directly

But as far as he could tell if they chose to separate there would be no side effects Their connection wasnÆt affected by the twist in time and Cohort jumping was likely just a spatial journey A huge one but the energy would likely travel across it without any difficulty

Is that you asking me to come with you or asking whether I want to come Neveah asked

Yea she had been talking to Mrs Hamilton Randidly sighed and looked up at the sky Honestly I donÆt know Thinking how much IÆve improved I almost think itÆs not worth my time to go back to ShalÆs world But I have friends there and a few debts to pay It might be rather boring And youÆve proven that there is a lot that you can accomplish by staying here Maybe even more than me

Neveah shook her head chuckling strangely Hurr hurr no I donÆt think more than you You always look forward You just donÆt see all the people following after you

I want to come I remember a little I wasnÆt wasnÆt yet me But also there are people here I have a relationship I think I do not understand But I am excited about it Neveah clicked her teeth again That makes me remember Did you hear that one of your old relationships sent a letter to Senator Firefly

Huh Randidly took the words and rearranged them a few times and still couldnÆt make sense of what she was saying Lyra and I were never

No Tessa DiCatto She is trying to create Something Senator Firefly tried to explain Knights and Chivalry Extra governmental armies I do not know You had a relationship with her what does it mean

Randidly opened his mouth and then paused she wants to found Chivalric Orders Like the knights of the round table

Neveah gave him a withering look that said she had no idea which was exactly why she asked him Her face twisted up made Randidly chuckle Then as they continued to stroll through the orchard he considered her words

Tessa Randidly still had a lot of guilt in his heart over what he had done But he was much younger then and didnÆt yet understand how to use his powers Thinking about it now he could see how that interaction with her had powerfully shaped him towards what he is today If he had not lost his temper and hurt her would he have poured so many points into Control At this point it was pretty to simple to fight at all but the highest of levels and keep from inflicting unnecessary collateral damage

But making knightly orders Tessa was one who always was a stickler for fairness and rules It made a certain amount of sense that she would try and create organizations that would attempt to police the world It also followed closely with another fact about Tessa that Randidly remembered she almost hyperbolically distrusted people in positions of power She strongly believed that corruption was inevitable

So she wouldnÆt just be creating a single order but multiple ones Randidly almost winced That would be chaotic if implemented incorrectly Likely to the point of disturbing the peace of the land And it would also create a scenario where it would be easier for seeds of twisted ideas to take root as had happened in the case of the Unity Church

That gave Randidly pause because he wondered whether the church would make a knightly order At that point Neveah spoke again

So

Thinking about Tessa Randidly said slowly It truly was difficult to remember her aside from brief bright moments of her laughter Their time together truly seemed to brief and naive in retrospect Neither of them was likely to be the same person that they had been She wants to create ways for people to work to improve their own lives She always talked about the governmentÆs primary directive was to convince people to wait for the government to help them and that was a disastrous choice This is her giving people the tools to solve their own problems

Randidly paused and then continued slowly to speak in addition she was always smart in a considered way Like if you told her a joke she wouldnÆt get it But that night she would look up the background and spend several hours researching it By the following day she would be intimately familiar with whatever was the subject of the joke and understand why it was ironic or shocking So I think she also gets the System implications If people believe they can improve they can improve On that front I think I would support them

Strangely Randidly remembered Kulwort Shaw and his words People needed something to believe in If they lost whatever they were giving their belief to they would just find something else

you know maybe itÆs a really good idea Randidly said thinking about how it might draw more people away from the Unity Church

Neveah hummed I will tell Senator Firefly Mrs Hamilton also says that it will keep us in flux for another year or so politically So people donÆt stagnate before the Calamity arrives

mm Randidly said as he gave Neveah a surreptitious glance How much did she truly understand Randidly admitted to himself how limited his own knowledge was in certain ways and she was likely similar in that regard They were focused people He considered asking if she knew anything about the new Zone but decided against it From everything he heard Franksburg had repelled a light attack and was now moving to speak with the leadership to resolve the issue It wasnÆt something he needed to be involved in

Mrs Hamilton also says that the orders are about you ThatÆs why I ask Neveah said abruptly

Randidly blinked and then smiled ruefully Of course he was something of a fool for not seeing that He was walking around and impressing his will upon other organizations If Tessa was even aware of half of what he had been up to she would be pissed enough to spit Randidly didnÆt hold that against her however She was right in an important way

It would be very easy for a person in his position to abuse his power for his own benefit And he likely did that in ways he considered harmless Like streamlining the process for Erickson Steel to become a force in the business world of Zone 1 by talking to Ghost

But things were never simple Just as he supported a style that might lead to abuses Tessa allowed oversight and checks that would prefer innocent people to die from inaction than risk a dictator rising into power It was a choice And Randidly had already made his choice

Perhaps But donÆt let that stop you from supporting it The world needs different types of people to function Randidly shook his head slightly Well anyway does that mean you do not wish to come to ShalÆs world

I wish to come But I believe it is better I donÆt Neveah said with a shrug

Randidly nodded Alright IÆll contact you when we are going back for that ogre

Whistling Neveah nodded Good I feel bored and irritable if I stay in the city too long I miss the violence

They parted and Randidly took a deep breath while running backward Then he reached out and sent a gentle mental inquiry Lucretia responded almost immediately

I was wondering when we would have this discussion

Chapter 596

They settled in a small tea house in the largest border town in the Spriggit branch Around them Spriggits talked quietly with White Hunters and a strange lizardman style creature that seemed to be some descendant of the monster race that was rather populous in the area The server didnÆt bat an eye at either of their appearances although there werenÆt any real humans in the area They were too large to be spriggit and too harmless looking to be descended from the monster race

It was with some chagrin that Randidly realized they likely looked most like some of the smooth skinned Aether Thralls that the Creature had used to invade As was the usual occurrence Randidly had grown caught up in other things and had lost touch with a lot of what went on within his Soul Skill But it seemed that it was largely peaceful aside from the usual power struggles over land

ItÆs been about 250 years in here although I slept for most of it Lucretia said quietly watching him with some amusement They wouldnÆt recognize us really you know in the religious sect the Progenitor and the Great Mother are now just distant figures behind the savior that let them weather the great Reckoning where the land split and the World Tree Yggdrasil grew to protect the people from the Deepness There is quite a bit of disagreement over the SaviorÆs race

Randidly raised his eyebrows Are they talking about Tziech

Shrugging Lucretia said Well in part But there is also a good case that they are speaking of the Thief They talk of how the savior fought his way to the Architect on the Deepness and slew them Then the savior returned and lead the people into an era of prosperity in the midst of great adversity Oh and the Rock Golems still believe their own version where their emperor descended and gave his two weapons to a prophetÆ and that is why the war was won

Thinking of something Randidly looked at Lucretia Is the Thief

She died She fell in love and hung up her cloak and dagger She worked on a farm for 40 years after she left the seat of power of the SpriggitÆs She lived to see her great grandchildren Actually thatÆs why I brought you here Our server is one His name is Zeke Spelled differently but

As if on cue the young man showed up at their table a smile on his face Welcome Are you ready to order

But when Randidly looked at him even with his special vision he could only see a sliver of this boyÆs namesake and great grandmother All people are shaped by context This Zeke had never struggled To think the blood of those who had sacrificed themselves for Randidly would turn out like this

It was hard to handle the strange dissatisfaction that he felt looking at him but Randidly was as polite as possible After they had tea both sat a little straighter It was time for business

We have been connected for several months of real time but it feels much much longer than that Lucretia seemed to admit while wincing But if my understanding of our situation is correct I am able to leave when you return to Cohort 5 I will leave at that time

Randidly looked at Lucretia She looked back strands of her lilac hair falling around her face

That was that he supposed

They discussed the details and parted with an understanding that she would bear no ill will towards him for what he had done To RandidlyÆs surprise he believed her Or perhaps he simply wanted to Either way he didnÆt want to consider the fact they might need to fight It would be difficult on multiple levels not the least of which was that Lucretia knew basically every trick he had

When he arrived back at the farming compound de facto Erickson Steel headquarters there were documents to sign and decisions to make Tatiana and Dinesh were still out training her up to fighting shape so Randidly promoted both of them without waiting for their consent Then he went down to talk to Gregory and Sonya who reported on the progress of the dozen steelworkers that were starting to work in the furnaces in the caverns he had hollowed out Most seemed to prefer the open air above while the forged It made them feel less like they were warping into dwarves

These were built mostly by accident when Randidly underestimated how much the tract of land weighed And because he overestimated the structural integrity of the walls He didnÆt have any real training in construction but thought that the amount of ground he had destroyed with Earthquake gave him enough knowledge to eyeball it It hadnÆt worked out and a portion had caved in

So now Randidly had to talk with an architect or the young woman with bright pink hair that passed for one at TatianaÆs compound Luckily Randidly could have roots stick directly up from the spots that marked the edges of the underground caverns so they could see what areas were above the place they had planned to install the furnaces

It turned out quite a bit of the farm and furnace was above that area So Randidly had to decide whether to shift the furnaces which they had just finished bringing gas and air lines down to help with the lightning process and ventilation But then Randidly had a vision of his company being built in a large crater made up of slowly descending circles of stone And at the center

Remembering the first trip to the world of the Patron of Ash Randidly shivered At the center was death of a sort

Although Randidly was happy with his decision to pivot the plans into something more iconic it would cost money So with an aggrieved heart Randidly went to the borderlands near them to hunt high Level monsters to sell their carcasses like some two bit adventurer

The cameraman gave Tessa the thumbs up She kept her hands folded on the table in front of her although she had a strong temptation to fidget or check her hair Instead she began to speak

Hello Zone 1 My name is Tessa DiCatto and I am a Councilwoman from Franksburg the largest city in Rawland But I come to you today not as a politician but a fellow citizen of this new Earth Because right now there are people in offices making decisions that will change our world They seek to define what it is to be human by exclusion and today I hope to stop that

You likely have not heard but there are 12 000 people in the Northeast section of Zone 1 that live in a junkyard Their children have lived on rats and rainwater collected from sheets of tin for five weeks No one has helped them or asked them if they needed help Among them all were victims of physical and mental abuse They are not a well off people But they canÆt go for help for all that they need it Because they look like monsters

Undoubtedly you have noticed that Father Foster has disappeared from the public sphere That is because Father Foster was a megalomaniac that threatened and manipulated those true believers of the Unity Church for almost a year During that time she performed cruel experiments on people and monsters alike for a singular purpose she wanted to see why we could obtain Classes and the monsters could not

Eventually her unfettered power and twisted curiosity led her to perform a series of transplants where the organs and brains of humans and monsters would be examined Bit by vital bit this power hungry woman moved flesh between hundreds of people to see when human shifted to monster It is with great sadness that I admit that she was able to perform her experiments so many times that she succeeded She found the line that separates human from monster

Once she found the line she pushed past it Could monster bodies be used to strengthen people Always her mind obsessed over the collection and consolidation of individual power She became one of the most fearsome Classers the world had ever seen It was only due to the brave sacrifices of many heroic individuals that she was stopped If you require proof of her ills look to the massacre that happened along the shores of Lake Apollo a few weeks ago

And now I return to my first point in Zone 1 there are thousands of people scared and alone locked in the body of monsters They are the remnants of one mad individualÆs corruption and greed It would be simple for your politicians to decide to exclude them based on how they look without a drop of sympathy for their plight But truly you are the ones who will make that decision And I would like you to remember those first terrible days after the System arrived Remember how viciously you were pursued by changes you didnÆt understand and nightmares that were more real than you could have imagined

Would you have survived then without receiving the help from a stranger

We are a people that have endured an apocalypse Our backbones are straighter our gazes are more clear our hearts are stronger Although it will be difficult to empathize with these poor people due to their scars it is not impossible Just like it was not impossible for that stranger to reach out and take your hand when you needed it Because empathy and social connection are what it means to be human

We each hold more power in our hands than at any other point in history And that comes with great temptations The temptation to do nothing The temptation to support the status quo The temptation to abuse your power towards selfish ends as was done by Father Foster But we also have the power to work together to build great things To build a future

Which is why people of Zone 1 I have two pleas for you The first is to contact your Senators and demand that these tragic victims of cruel and disfiguring experiments be protected A societyÆs worth can be seen in the care that they give to the victims of the unimaginable We are at that point of unimaginable my friends Rise up and be the innumerable shields that the vulnerable need right now

And second I would like you to consider a proposal that has been accepted in my hometown of Franksburg To support the founding of a Chivalric Order Rather than holding onto the back of a powerful individual who will no doubt soon lose control what we instead need is to focus on building organizations with broad foundations and the rule of law

Chivalry is a word with some weight isn’t it It harkens back to when heroes road together in formation to fight the singular might of a dragon And I have no doubt that there are dozens of bright individuals out there who have felt frustrated as they failed to grasp how to use their own abilities to help others This could be that method With enough motivated and committed individuals living the virtues of chivalry things can change We can build a future in these orders by taking the best and brightest and giving them a scaffolding upon which to build a brighter future

Please if you understand the struggle of living in a world dominated by the System join me Join me in protecting your fellow man Join me in crying out against excluding suffering people simply because they were warped by an individual driven mad by power Join me in creating a world where those powerful individuals are no longer renegade disasters scaring the canvas of our world with their wild crimson actions Instead we need the infrastructure to ensure they are bounded and controlled by peers relegating them to puzzle pieces that snap into an orderly and prosperous world

Join me Take a breath and rise above yourself Become the knights this dark world needs

Chapter 597

With all of the people and positions of power talked to things settled into a nice rhythm for Randidly For over a month his days neatly fit into a schedule He worked on metal and forging in the morning trained new steelworkers after that then handled the affairs of Erickson Steel before lunch Afterward he did some combat sparring with Tatiana Tykes or Dinesh

As they werenÆt enough to press him Randidly often traveled East to visit Neveah and the two of them went to a deserted part of the Zone to duel To RandidlyÆs chagrin he was hard pressed to win against Neveah without using Acri and Sulfur Her Skill with illusions was reaching the point that it was extremely difficult for him to track which version was the real one This was complicated by the fact that her true physical body was not entirely human in nature

Eventually Randidly could overcome this disadvantage with the raw power of his spells but that brief amount of time allowed Neveah to close the distance and make things a purely physical fight Even with Physical Fitness and Spear Mastery Randidly was swiftly outmatched by her pure physical prowess

Part of that was most of his Levels were in Spear Mastery but Randidly focused his efforts on removing this weakness from himself before he returned to ShalÆs world in the evenings Mostly this involved viciously draining stamina training with the increasingly hard and dense metals that Randidly created Although traditional weight sets were almost useless to him with his As the Sun Stills pounding he was able to make the metals smaller harder and heavier

His experience with Breath of the Spear Phantom was much less fruitful It was hard Randidly realized to change the way a Skill you had inherited from someone else worked It was slow going and Randidly realized that part of the problem was that the image he was trying to replace it with was weaker and didnÆt fit with the Skill

So Randidly divided up his time further spending a few hours each day at the bottom of the Lake Apollo in the dark fissures at the bottom Without light and air Randidly sat While he was there he worked with his Grasp of Lava and Incendiary Eruption Skills further refining his ability to control the duration and heat

But he also felt the edge of deprivation down there in the darkness What he needed was to make that into an image Breath of the Spear Phantom was a target Skill but there was no real reason why it couldnÆt have an area of effect Well aside from the prohibitive cost The point was that it was a Skill to make up the difference in power between two opponents What Randidly was doing would largely eliminate that advantage

In the darkness he considered the pros and cons of this approach Ultimately he decided that another personÆs image would never be the tool he could use to defeat the opponents that he knew would be waiting for him in the future Neither the Creature nor the Calamity would be stopped by breathing So Randidly began to massage the Skill into the new shape

The one other Skill that saw a marked increase in use was Ashes to Ashes It was a Skill he had received from the Patron of Ash that let him dodge fatal damage and immediately reform some distance away In the final fight in ShalÆs world previously it had been the tool that let him fight on equal footing with his opponent regardless of the large disparity of training and stats

It was strange but he had thought of it during those moments of sensory deprivation at the bottom of the lake It was a small likeness but he could suddenly sense a depth to the experience of using the Skill that he hadnÆt noticed before There was a duality present in that instant that an attack destroyed his body and before he reformed

He sensed death

Well that was the wrong word He did not feel death He felt a stillness that could only be described as the absence of warmth or change It felt like in the instant of impact Randidly became a thin film that existed between two extremes And by dancing in the space between the endless power of existence and crushing absence he was able to move freely

Strangely that coldness reminded him of something Touch from Beyond the Skill that Randidly had obtained due to the CreatureÆs influence after one of the stock System Paths And from what the Creature had said and Lucretia could suss out from its memories there was a significance to these Skills That coldness meant something to the System

It was a powerful tool One of the most powerful and RandidlyÆs arsenal And even though these strange resemblances made him suspicious of the Patron of Ash Randidly ultimately chose to continue to train in Ashes to Ashes For whatever reason he couldnÆt take seriously the thought that the Patron of Ash was attempting to manipulate him in the same way the System was Honestly that strange being seemed to kill him

But it did make Randidly wonder what exactly the Patrons were and how they fit into the shape of the System Were they individuals from higher Cohorts like the Champions and Nemesai seemed to be Were they an offshoot of the strange occurrence of the Great Paths

Oh the one hand Randidly wanted to return and talk to the people of Donnyton for information Their network was the largest in the world right now and this was exactly the sort of tidbit that they would be closely monitoring But other than the time he had returned to Donnyton to create the Fate Circle which would hopefully remove a lot of the danger of condensing their Fate Randidly stubbornly refused to return And he knew it was his stubbornness that was stopping him But he saw no imperative reason to change his behavior

By the end of the month he had gained almost 300 PP over the past six weeks Most of his gains came from improvements to his crafting Skills as he continued to work on his method Specifically Spriggit Tinkering rose to 69 Gravity Affinity Rose to 62 Incendiary Eruption rose to 52 Chosen of Fire to 81 and Engineering Savvy to 68

In terms of combat Skills the big risers were Ashes to Ashes and As the Sun Stills which Randidly used almost daily for the month It did have the added benefit of giving Randidly much more experience in handling the strange weightlessness that resulted immediately after using As the Sun Stills It never truly went away but Randidly did develop the ability to largely ignore its effects

All put together the amount of PP was enough to finish off the Crown of Yggdrasil

Congratulations You have finished the Path Crown of Yggdrasil Long have you tarried letting yourself grow into the crown that you will bear for the rest of your life To hold a crown is not to select a crown but to find the crown always meant for you at the summit of your journey Know that your feet have long led you to this crown although you might not understand why Still tarry not long here For the road leads ever onward

Congratulations You have gained the Skill Crown of Yggdrasil Silence and Upheaval Lvl 1 Due to the nature of the Skill it is impossible to determine rarity

Crown of Yggdrasil Silence and Upheaval Lvl 1 An active Skill When activated your Crown condenses over your head and inflicts a low level silence on all nearby that dampens the effects of Skills Effect increases with Skill Level Also makes it difficult for individuals with low Willpower to speak In addition yours is a crown worn in times of strife and revolt When attacked results in each point in Perception and Reaction being worth slightly more It becomes much easier to resist binding deceit and persuasion Skills Effects increase with Skill Level

Randidly laughed to himself Due to the nature of the Skill it is impossible to determine rarity That was an unfortunate eventuality because he had been hoping to use it to break the final lock on humanity by raising the rarity past Legendary Still there were other options for that

In terms of Stat rewards there were none but the Skill would likely be something that he could use to affect NeveahÆs illusions Silence and Upheaval well that likely was the sort of King he was

Sighing Randidly looked up at the sky He was above his workshop in the forest and set off South towards Lake Apollo When he arrived the lake seemed more glass than water without a single ripple moving across the entire thing Randidly walked to the lake side and looked down at himself

Know that your feet have long led you to this crown although you might not understand why

Is this truly where I have been heading Randidly wondered aloud But he knew the answer to that Perhaps this wasnÆt the form that he wanted but for several months now he wanted the power and influence Fine then Let me see this crown

When he activated the Skill nothing happened for almost five seconds and Randidly at first wondered if something had gone wrong Maybe it was more than rarity that was difficult about it Adding to this sensation was the fact it had no cost

But then slowly thin tendrils of darkness rose up from his head and began to gather and circle around him Before his very eyes the crown condensed

It was not very large but it was black in color with some tinges of crimson in the edges of the blades of the crown And there were blades slender and vicious rising up out of the crown The largest was at the center of RandidlyÆs forehead sticking up almost as long as his hand It was thin and deadly with three sets of slowly smaller blades sticking off the sides until it reached the sides of RandidlyÆs head

The band of crown appeared to be woven of wood even though it was the same strange material But it seemed alive as one looked at it winding through the three strands over and over again like three snakes seeking eternity with each other

Suddenly the crown snapped into place and settling onto RandidlyÆs head A small ripple spread outward from his position spanning the entire lake There was a shiver in the air and a strange dimness spread outwards from the crown

RandidlyÆs lip quirked up as he considered himself with a crown on in the image on the water Something like Look on my Works ye Mighty and despair Æ huh

Chapter 598

Two weeks later about a week and a half before the time that Randidly planned to head back to ShalÆs world a group set out from the now bustling headquarters of Erickson Steel to head towards the Ogre Ridge It included Randidly Neveah Tykes Dinesh Tatiana and also Hank and Thaddeus

Hank had spent the last few weeks with his family after Alan was forced to retire as the president of the UHF after his heart was removed by Father Foster It was difficult Randidly surmised to live without a heart He was somewhat shocked to find out that Arbor had set up shop with the monster people in the Northeast of Zone 1 and had saved AlanÆs life with a strange ritual magic

It had intrigued him enough to visit which had sent Arbor into a flurry of dancing But even Nevaeh was stumped by the strange magic that the tree explained to them Ultimately Randidly simply wished Arbor good luck and departed After all the monster people and their presence was a source of constant tension for all that Tessa had included them in one of her speeches

In his spare time Randidly listened to all of TessaÆs speeches as she traveled around Zone 1 campaigning for the adoption of the Chivalric Orders And she was winning public opinion was slowly turning towards the orders as a way to restrain rogue elements within the world that possessed power with any legal justification

Randidly was well aware that these speeches purposefully or not were aimed at limiting the ability of a person to do exactly what he had been doing in Zone 1 Perhaps he should have felt threatened but the process of running a company and training employees even if it was only for two months had done a lot to get rid of RandidlyÆs jitteriness when it came to public interactions Where he was unsure of himself before he now had found confidence

Besides fighting against the idea would just drive it out of the open and into darker places Randidly was prepared to fulfill his responsibilities as king after claiming this area But now was not the time

The Crown of Silence and Upheaval

If we didnÆt believe this people would just believe in something else

Apparently Hank hadnÆt told Thaddeus exactly what they would be doing so the man literally jumped when he spotted Randidly Afterward he had explained that although he looked different Thaddeus would have recognized those emerald eyes anywhere They had left a lasting impression on him at the height of his arrogance which had driven him to work on the basics

Without fanfare as the factory was waking around them the group left and boarded a train The closest stop was also the stop near the monster area so they were immediately greeted with tired and tense eyes when they departed from the train At this point both Randidly and ThaddeusÆ clout helped move things along much more quickly than the average person

There are benefits to this Æ Randidly reflected watching the creeping flush in the young manÆs face as he realized he was in the face of some of the most powerful people in the Zone Like it or not people respond to power Æ

Before they left Dinesh touched RandidlyÆs shoulder You know that press conference is today It will be held in a few hours I believe that the bishop of the Unity Church will be here to participate in the founding of the orders Paolo and Kayle as well Should we not wait for this

I believe we will finish with time to spare Randidly said calmly and he truly believed it In the past it had taken him almost twelve hours to move through the Danger Zone and reach the boss But this time not only was he stronger but he was surrounded by capable people Randidly fully expected to make the trip in four or so hours And also

And also Randidly did not want to see this particular speech Not only because he expected the content of it to be disappointing to him who might need to act to prevent the Orders from causing damage to the Zone but also because Mrs Hamilton had tipped him off that she had heard the speeches would address him directly

It would be better for all involved that no one would be around to see what his reaction was So Randidly planned on attacking the Danger Zone in this window He would likely be down before the speech had actually begun but it would give him a palpable excuse as to why he didnÆt respond immediately

Not that Randidly really needed one

On foot the group made slightly less good time because neither Thaddeus nor Tatiana were quite up to speed when it came to physical fitness Their running speed burned too much of their Stamina and their trotting speed was insufficient for RandidlyÆs needs So the group kept shifting speeds to give those two the chance to recover Of the two Thaddeus honestly seemed the most out of breath

Two months of training with Dinesh and Tykes had really pushed Tatiana to another Level Literal ly that was true but she had also gained numerous Skill Levels as the two of them had almost tortured her with combat and training to push her to her limits

Randidly almost felt a stab of nostalgia as he remembered his own time in the prison on ShalÆs world It was a time of emotional barrenness in his life as that was the only way to make it through the ordeal but he had gained so much from that time

Then he frowned Marco Polo When Randidly returned that man would answer some questions of his

When they arrived they rested for 30 minutes outside of the Danger Zone Randidly had previously stored quite a lot of Mana and Stamina in his rings but he took this time to go over them all one last time A lot of the stats he had gained raising the Crown of Yggdrasil Path to completion had gone into Intelligence When he switched to his current Path Growth of Yggdrasil II he had switched his stats to Reaction and Agility Randidly expected that he would need it in ShalÆs world

Ready Randidly asked The group nodded As one they moved into the Danger Zone This time through Randidly mimicked his previous performance and charged forwards Instantly high Level ogres leaped out of their ambush spots to attack him Their clubs smashed against Sulfur who purred with something like happiness Acri blurred as the head of the spear ripped through their thick skin

Once Randidly had all of the attention the rest struck Dinesh rained spells that distracted and stunned some ogres These beasts were strong but Tykes demonstrated what happened when Strength was used to its fullest Hank and Thaddeus provided covering fire whittling down the monsters health while Tatiana snuck around and seized the killing blow

When nothing moved any longer they took a minute to rest and check themselves before moving on Of them all Tatiana was being force fed the lionÆs share of the experience on purpose to push her towards 50 Of them Tykes and Dinesh had made it past 50 with RandidlyÆs help the prior month Apparently whatever Nathan had done to Hank had allowed him to cleanly condense his Fate although he didnÆt receive very many stat benefits per Level But according to him the Fate had condensed on his rabbit Earth Elemental companion and now her powers were doubled

Thaddeus was nearing 50 but Randidly wasnÆt so concerned about him And Neveah well Randidly wasnÆt too sure how she truly grew more powerful It just kept happening Part of it was Skills and Levels but Randidly would swear that she was passively evolving constantly due to her partial status as a monster It wasnÆt fair

Whereas Randidly would passively take the strikes of the ogres sometimes to gain experience for Sulfur Neveah was rip off the ogreÆs arms for daring to strike her There was a ferocious hunger to her that gave no quarter to these foes Randidly admired that

They pressed forward outpacing RandidlyÆs estimates by a good hour Only three hours later they stood above the ravine that led down towards the three headed ogre that had mocked Randidly so in the past The same ogre that had later been reduced to tears as Randidly stood in front of it completely bereft of Mana unable to take its life

This time would be different

Randidly glanced at Tatiana WhatÆs your Level

Forty Three now Tatiana said somewhat glassy eyed Although they had prepared her as best as they could it was hard to simulate the feeling in being so covered in blood that trying to wipe some gore away would only spread more of something else But she was standing steadily which was good enough for Randidly

He nodded turning forward No promises but we will try and get you the kill That will push you up pretty close to 45 I believe

Blinking Tatiana asked you donÆt want it

Not if I can help it Randidly said not bothering to explain Glancing around he saw everyone was ready He pointed LetÆs get to it then

Chapter 599

A considered look at history leads inevitably to one logical conclusion regarding changing legalities Tessa said staring out at the thousands of people standing in front of the podium Behind her in ornate chairs sat some of the founding members of the first Chivalric Orders as a show of support But even so her voice started with a quiver in it She had given speeches before but never to this many people But everything had led to this She couldnÆt back down now Resisting a political change based upon a shift in the underpinnings of society is a short term strategy

There are many justifications and biases that have led governments to err towards focusing upon the short term But we believe that there is no more tragic and damning sin than to sacrifice the wellbeing of our future heroes in order to grasp with desperate hands towards even a second longer’s firm grasp upon the reins of power To that end we a diverse group of future leaning individuals and decision makers from across our Zones who believe that the geographic limitations of our current political architecture may very well lead to dangerous tribal tendencies and a cascading momentum of borders and labels that will fail to address the present and real danger of the looming and continued evolution of the System do hereby consecrate and found the first of the Chivalric Order the Order Valorem

People politely applauded as Tessa turned and politely bowled to Paolo and Kayle who both gravely nodded back at her From the brief time they had spoken before the speech that had seemed incredibly silly But now something in the air pulled away from that Tessa was glad they felt the gravity of the situation but it was tight on her shoulders

Slowly she turned back to the crowd She looked down at her speech Strangely she felt a flash of panic Hopefully hopefully this wasnÆt a mistake

These Orders are designed to a be a democratic meritocracy where oneÆs only path to rising through the ranks rest in finding the support and affirmation of your peers The considered support being the virtuous and proper mode of assent these orders will foster loyalty and fidelity towards a higher vocation In this case we hope that unto time unending the Order Valorem will display its martial might defending our borders from the horde of System spawn by demonstrating boundless valor

Aside from the Founder who will remain in that role until her or his death there is not Path towards glory without the vote of your fellow members If one desires higher accomplishments it is only towards donations to the collective good that those may be gathered

Aside from the Order Valorem nine other Orders will be founded today These are the Order Ferocitas the Order Sapienta the Order Fide the Order Veritas the Order Infandus the Order Caelim the Order Ferrum the Order Umbra and finally the Order Ducis This means that there are 10 vocations that you may be drawn to For those of you who are not quite as familiar with the Latin these are Ferocity Wisdom Faith Truth Monstrous Sky Iron Illusion and Leadership

There were murmurs in the crowd now but these Tessa was prepared for This was a response she had expected The creeping sense of dread of what she was going to say later however For this next portion Tessa dropped her language to more colloquial English to convey her point more directly

You might wonder why an Order Monstrous was included Well IÆll be frank the altered refugees will be founding an Order for themselves to seek out their own way to contribute to our new world And believe me Tessa said her countenance darkening We need all the help we can get

We found these great Orders to address three great dangers that are inseparable from our current projected track of governance These are threats that are perhaps not endemic to the human condition but three that are exacerbated to an extraordinary degree by the contextual flaws in our culture and social Systems

The first is Consumption without Understanding This is a particularly invasive and seditious issue that stretches beyond simply the possible fate of our world falling to the brutish threats that might be posed by the monsters the System sends against us This relates to the fact that we are all now party to a strange metaphysical set of rules that didnÆt exist three years ago With sudden and drastic changes to existence we all have been presented with choices stretched out of context into a seemingly game like form It is impossible to accurately describe the series of events of the initial aftermath of the SystemÆs arrival due to the vast disparity in choices presented to us

For better or for worse many made selections that resulted in the System becoming an increasingly necessary presence in our lives Through these choices we were on the receiving in of the greatest and quickest evolution of the homo sapien in human history But what are the effects Even now we are studying the influence that the SystemÆs influence will have on humanityÆs ability to have children Even now we study the physiological response of the human body when being flooded with stats We are beyond the ken of our forefathers The Cycle of Earth has been broken and every day we wander father beyond the reach of our humble origins

That is not to say that we should refuse to advance within the System Nor are we suggesting that people should be told which of their varied options is the correct and necessary one In fact we vehemently believe just the opposite the final choice in matters of Skill and Class remain at the sole discretion of the individual But we make this call in order to spread the word that humans grew to our seat on top of the world using knowledge We must make use of that now more than ever

This is a call to gather all available information regarding the System to address the threat of our continued Consumption of its precepts without truly understanding the far reaching consequences of them This is a nudge toward patience and Wisdom The Order Sapientia will be spearheading this endeavor

Breathe in breathe out Then continue

The Second threat we would like to address with the Orders is Decisions without Counsel This is a functional result of the first threat we believe or we believe with a considered solution to the first we would be possessing of the natural inclination towards an organic resolution of this second issue But as these are congruent they must be addressed separately

There have been without a doubt scientific and knowledgeable groups that have been working towards understanding the System and its effects At the same time there are groups that have been making laws within which we now operate without truly considering the repercussions We are of the belief that some more attention will be fulfillingly spent thinking about the role of local governments and the System There will always be regional differences But these local governments need a well constructed template of laws to understand the spectrum on which they act The Chivalric Orders will give this invaluable context by their wide foundation of existence Through them the local governments may be counseled and given a lens with which to see their own role in the New Earth

Breathe in breathe out This is the easy part And the hard part

Finally the third threat is Power without Experience Due to the disparate circumstances of individuals and the fickle impact of the System there have been recent cases of individuals rising to such prominence and power that they seem to beyond the reach of justice or even beyond the scorn of reproach They are to misquote a previous regime too big to failÆ They exist beyond the walls of human society having climbed to the apex of what is possible within the System

The entire audience looked up at Tessa In their sparkling eyes they knew They knew exactly who she was talking about There were multiple people who would fit this description of course but most people in Zone 1 wouldnÆt know about the beehive of powerhouses that was Donnyton They would have only heard of one name the biggest name The name that took down the Unity Church and stopped them from experimenting seemingly on a whim

He was an irreplaceable fixture in the public consciousness But as of yet the rumors about him the stories that people told they were spoken with awe and barely concealed confusion He was a figure so powerful that he was scary His existence was paired with no reasonable explanation Slowly that fear in peopleÆs chests would take root

At some point Tessa knew that Randidly would have no choice but to choose to become a monster or a dictator He wouldnÆt want to but people were smarter and less than Randidly seemed to think Even if he pretended to be hands off instead devoting his time to running a business people understood that he would act if any forces were to endanger the world They sensed the implied threat of his existence even if he didnÆt vocalize it People were incredibly capable at sensing power dynamics

But whereas Randidly would do his best not to use that power people would so fear his eventual use that they would force his hand Because no human is smart enough to leave well enough alone Without Randidly giving himself a role that people could grasp others would simply choose it for him That was simply how fame worked It was lonely at the top especially when it was impossible to even know yourself

Some might believe that such individuals are an invaluable commodity to us Tessa continued We are not stating this is inaccurate Rather we are saying this Justice never stands alone on a dark night Justice exists in courtrooms and forums open to the powerful influence of the public It exists in debates and explanations and respect By its humble and elegant dress it may be recognized as well as by the company of transparency and integrity that it keeps This is not meant to deny the positive influence that some actions or actors may have upon the whole of humanity due to the context of their actions This is simply to underscore that these are often shortsighted behaviors and do not come without the cost of dispensing with some necessary and vital moral underpinning Justice is slow because it does not cut corners

Breathe in breathe out One more part

To that end we the representatives of 9 of the 10 Orders forming a quorum of the Chivalric Council do make the following Proclamation Randidly Ghosthound “

One last breath Finish it all at once ” you are named as Founder of the Order Ducis There is no one more capable or well suited towards enforcing the tenants of Chivalry among not only your own budding Order but amongst all To that end you are named Requarian that you might require what you will of the Orders to be found consistent with the tenants of chivalry and justice

Randidly Ghosthound you are the individual with the requisite set of Skills to enact the ultimate punishment upon the Orders that would betray the trust of the people for their own gain To that end you are named Requiessor so that you might ensure that all those who leave the Path of Chivalry will either be guided back to the flock or led towards an eternal slumber Go with honor

Chapter 600

Randidly moved his hand through the floating stone It was a floating heptadecagon Dinesh informed them but to Randidly it just looked like a cloudy light refracting crystal It was a soft grey color and it was clearly the Fate Stone

Randidly turned towards Tatiana Well it seemed that the person who struck the final blow is the only person who could take it Too bad we have no way of finding out what happens if you die

Tatiana gave him a sharp look He chuckled and gestured for her to go towards it

Even with their group the fight against the three headed Ogre had been more difficult than Randidly had expected It truly seemed that not only had it grown stronger but his act of striking it with all of those Skills the prior time had given it a resistance against fire based damage It was growing to respond to threats It was a disturbing fact but one Randidly would consider more directly later

Still with himself Neveah and Tykes asking as physical wrecking balls to distract it the others had not had much difficulty whittling its massive health down Three vicious fighters one for each spellcasting head was exactly what the doctor ordered

Although it was a little touch and go at the end as the thing regenerated they had even managed to give Tatiana the final hit which pushed her up to Level 46 And now it was time to see what the fate stone did

Tatiana reached out and touched it Her eyes went black as ink seemed to flood up and cover her eyeballs Oh oh

What is it Randidly asked doing his best to keep his voice casual There was something in her tone that seemed to set off alarms in his head Although it would have put him over the Level 25 limit if he had killed the Ogre perhaps being the one exposed to this was for the best If it did something like making someone a Champion or

I have options I can choose from three options Oh wow The first option is to triple all of my stats and double the rate at which I collect experience

Triple Randidly almost choked on his tongue Even if he was outlawed from gaining more experience killing another Danger Zone Boss would be worth it for that benefit Everyone else had a similarly slack jawed look and what are the other options

The second one is that everyone in my party gains 75 in every stat And also everyone from my Village will gain 50% more experience The third jesus all of my race will gain 5 in every stat and everyone will gain 25% increased experience And it also specifies at the bottom that an individual can only have their total experience gained to 200%

RandidlyÆs expression turned extremely grim But before he could say anything about his suspicions Tatiana said Oh and there is a strange line in gold at the bottom Only by a hero with a greater fate may the Second Calamity be overcome Æ What does that mean Do you think

Later Randidly said pressing his eyes closed He looked around in the group Are we in agreement the third option should be used

ThatÆs a lot of stats to toss aside Tykes grunted

Hank spat This is about total experience though ainÆt it And points We get 525 concentrated stat points or we give out 3 million or so

The benefits stack too up to the 200% Dinesh said quietly But it might be very hard for most people to resist the temptation of having your own stats triple Randidly what would that make your Agility

Like 1200 Randidly admitted

Looks like this is just another temptation the Unity Church and the Chivalric Orders will save us from praise God Tykes said with a scowl but Randidly chuckled He knew the other man would also choose to give the benefit to more people

And then Tatiana must have selected that third option because a notification popped up

Congratulations denizens of New Earth The Ogre Ravine has been cleared The party has elected to share the reward with the World Everyone receives +5 to all stats All children of your race are born with this benefit All experience gained is increased by an addition 25% The total bonus experience gained is now 25%

For clearing the Ogre Ravine the Danger Zone is now connected to the Ogre Ravine Realm There even more powerful armies of Ogres live Their attention will not be drawn to the new portal but they will be able to traverse the worlds just as well as you can Care because it will be difficult for a developing world to reach its full potential if it is at war

For clearing a Danger Zone the rate of growth in other Danger Zones will be slightly higher for the next month

Randidly swore quietly looking at the notification It would be good in one way but in another it would reveal the possibilities of obtaining a great reward in Danger Zones And Randidly wasnÆt sure what scared him more the possibility that people would just rush in and die or that someone would succeed and get a Fate Stone

Do you think there is a break even point Dinesh asked as the party seemed to be considering the announcement Where if you tripled your stats enough times focusing on one person would

Maybe but I think our concern should be focused on other things Randidly said thinking about the line included in the options

Only by a hero with a greater fate may the Second Calamity be overcome

Greater Fate

Would that be Level 100 Higher So what was required would really be experience not explicitly powerful stats

The next thing Randidly did was investigate the portal to the world of the Ogre Ravine Immediately after passing through the portal RandidlyÆs expression soured Luckily the portal was hidden under a deep waterfall It would be difficult for anyone on this side to locate But the first thing Randidly noticed when he arrived was that this world had extremely thin Aether And the portal they had made was blowing out Aether like a chimney belching smoke

Already he could sense that the vegetation nearby was swelling to almost double its previous size This world had been on an Aether fast for quite a long time and now it was ready to eat its fill Randidly attempted to gather the Aether but this was System Aether and difficult to work with effectively It was chalky and stiff and every time he thought he had a firm grasp on it it dissolved and flowed between his fingers

Likely it was possible to gather it if Randidly stayed her for a long time but Randidly didnÆt intend to do that And as he expanded his senses outward Randidly only saw small creatures under Level 10 When he looked even farther abroad he found a village of ogres Not a System Village but just a series of huts and farms The highest Level these people possessed was only 22 and based on the current expansion it would take two months before the Aether reached those people So the issue of the Ogre Ravine world would wait for a few months

His worries dealt with for now Randidly returned to the world Also luckily no time hijinks between the world That made him feel even better Gathering everyone up they returned to the headquarters of Erickson Steel by walking South and West passing just North of the Chivalric Order Press Conference in order to avoid the hubbub

RandidlyÆs timing was spot on they sat in the train car and watched the whole of the conference Everyone was quiet in the aftermath especially Randidly Although he wasnÆt nearly as skilled as Lucretia he still had a sense for the threads of karma forming And with this speech of TessaÆs he felt as peopleÆs belief bound him tighter and tighter to the fate of the Chivalric Orders and also the Earth

Requarian and Requiessor They were names and responsibilities

Randidly supposed he could refuse But would that make things better Tessa had essentially made Randidly the disciplinary arm of the Chivalric Order He had been named as the founder of an entire order which he supposed was something he should consider The Order Ducis

She always did like making everyone happy Randidly said closing his eyes and shutting off the world Now he could act as he pleased but it would be said he acted to police the Orders Tessa could continue to decry the irresponsible use of power and Randidly wouldnÆt be a counterexample because he was an established and recognized part of the Orders

They were using him to add legitimacy to the Orders But they were also allowing him to use them to do what he pleased with an official mandate It was a pointless game

But Randidly supposed part of becoming an adult was realizing that it is selfish to insist other play solely your games or refuse to play at all That was just a part of life You accepted some games that others thrust upon you

Slowly Randidly opened up a message and replied an affirmative to Helen despite these things he would still go to ShalÆs world in a week After sending the message Randidly grinned at the floor

Your Requarian and Requiessor will start his tenure by going on vacation But when he gets back you can bet that IÆll rip anything that threatens Humanity to shreds

Chapter 601

Helen absently rubbed the scar that she had left on the corner of her jaw from the day she had killed her first Wight At the time it had served as a reminder of the vicious cost of the ongoing war with the opposition Now though it simply ended up being a nervous tick that she couldnÆt seem to shake Every time she stopped paying attention to her hard it crept upwards toward her jaw

Does it have to be here Helen asked with obvious displeasure

Leyalta her lieutenant since her first promotion had landed her on the front lines shrugged There is no reason that other portals can be used But as you know travel across realms is extremely expensive The individual must be keyed in very exactly to the portal in order for them to come through without any mishaps Some hasty teleportations have resulted in particularly acute versions of Aether Sickness

Helen waved her hand irritably The portal operator was standing there chewing a piece of jerky taking his time to open his mouth wide enough for Helen to see the gory details of the mastication between every chew It was driving her up a wall If this had been on the front lines she would have knocked his teeth out As it was Helen had no desire to get tied up by some municipal authority in the Northern Province when they had to leave very quickly in order to make it to the Central Domain in time for the explanation of what was to come

But here was the only place where it would be affordable to teleport Randidly How did Shal manage it on the first teleport

Smiling slightly Helen handed over the payment for Randidly GhosthoundÆs passage to the world called Tellus As she did so Leyalta scowled so powerfully that his whole body trembled Leyalta was a very overweight man but in a way that made him simply large to the point of being oppressive Helen never did understand how he managed to keep on all of that fat while fighting in the meat grinder that was the front lines She certainly never gave him any downtime

I hope this man will provide you suitable repayment for this sacrifice Leyalta said frostily If I am not mistaken that refined ore was the sum total of the reward youÆve been given for your significant accomplishments with no small amount of assistance from myself I would hate if this individual failed to properly respect

DonÆt worry about it He wonÆt be paying me back anyway Because he wonÆt know how much it cost to bring him here After all I wonÆt tell him Helen gave Leyalta a look She smiled And neither will you

Leyalta continued to scowl but fell silent There was a reason such a capable man never moved past the position of lieutenant

Would you like to send a message to the recipient before I begin The attendant drawled around a mouth full of beef jerky

In one of the hardest moments of self control that Helen had ever experienced she didnÆt gut the worthless man where he stood She even had the iron clad control to calmly nod her assent to his question and ignore the glaring provocation of his shitty bitch attitude

Teleporting now

K

Helen looked at the reply message furrowing her brows All he responded with was K And what world exactly was he coming from that his teleport was almost impossibly expensive Leyalta was right to say that it had almost beggared her to bring Randidly here but she couldnÆt explain to Leyalta that even with this it was probably she that owed him

In her chest the flow of energy flowed forward without pause

Ready The infuriating man asked It was even more annoying that he seemed to be mirroring her impressions so exactly

yes Helen said before turning to Leyalta We should

Bam

There was a flash of light and a loud noise There was no sort of concussive force from the teleport but Helen stepped back as though there was one due to the light and noise Leyalta perhaps predictably reeled backward while shouting His arms wiggles like independent entities grabbing at his fleshy body in an ineffectual attempt to grab at his spear

When she recovered enough for it Helen shook her head sadly Perhaps this was why she hadnÆt been promoted past Sergeant

And Randidly was there standing in front of her His hair was shorn short but otherwise he looked the same Tall wiry powerful intense His face went pale He vomited onto the ground

ThatÆs gonna cost extra The attendant said gleefully Pressing her eyes closed Helen tried not to both kill the man or look down to see the vomit on her shoes It was something of a joke saying that line as about 99% of the people who passed through teleportation immediately vomit

guess there is no fucking point in moving back now is there Helen said glaring at Leyalta Randidly groaned

I canÆt remember the last time I threw up hell it was probably the last time I came here Randidly said pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers In the wake of the teleportation he was left with a throbbing headache that almost made him nostalgic for the hangovers he used to get after a night of drinking in college

HelenÆs face still remained stormy but she addressed him as if she wasnÆt ready to lash out and attack him for vomiting on his shoes According to the attendant high Levels and Stats just make it worse it affects you more the more powerful you are ThatÆs why so few of the truly accomplished Masters ever deign to use the portals

Feeling the roiling sense of nausea that plagued him even 15 minutes later Randidly believed her He spared Helen another short glance while she said something quietly to the large man behind her His time on Earth hadnÆt made Randidly forget how explosive HelenÆs temper was or even the strange electric tension that ran between the two of them But it had served to dull RandidlyÆs recollection of her beauty

She was all toned muscle and smooth curves with a cascading mane of mahogany hair that flashed almost golden in the light Although she was slender by Earth standards her high arched eyebrows and generous hips made her the type that would become a fitness blogger on Instagram in RandidlyÆs old world

But where those women were about positive messages and empowerment Helen was focused on capability and violence There were several small scars scattered across her body that Randidly didnÆt remember but seemed to fit her new presence Her gaze hovered around him without ever settling on him which was likely a testament to her anger Aside from these small scars she didnÆt appear much different

Somehow Randidly could sense that long gone were the days that she was his Spear Attendant This was not the type of person that would easily concede anything Their brief clash almost 9 months ago would not serve as an indication of their relative strength any longer

Still thatÆs what Randidly liked about Helen She would never make anything easy

How has your health been Helen asked her voice as smooth as a pitfall in a road

Randidly coughed lightly into his hand and then pounded his chest It hurt but it served to dispell most of the lingering nausea Very quickly he stretched and cracked his knuckles Then he grinned at Helen

LetÆs not beat around the bush then Want to spar

HelenÆs face lit up like a blooming flower The overweight man seemed to groan sagging beneath the weight of his own body

Perhaps that is not for the best the man said quietly speaking in an extremely reasonable tone Mr Ghosthound you are no doubt still tired from your teleportation It is best to save your strength for now and perhaps after a sufficient amount of time has passed you will have recovered enough to

Leyalta Helen broke in with a vicious smile on her face Are you volunteering to spar with me in the interim

The man called Leyalta didnÆt even bother to respond but instead stepped towards Randidly As he did so RandidlyÆs eyes narrowed Although this man was large he moved very quickly It was hard for RandidlyÆs relatively rusty Perception stat to follow the movement clearly And then strangest of all Leyalta extended his hands towards Randidly and engulfed RandidlyÆs hands in his

My condolences The man rumbled But then he paused Perhaps this isnÆt the best time to bring it up but have you ever heard of disability insurance

Chapter 602

Even now Helen found herself somewhat stumbling over how deep and green his eyes were And when he was staring down over the shaft of a spear at you the beauty of his eyes was insufficient to show through

This was a man who had grown accustomed to violence And Helen loved it

Ready She asked wondering how much he had improved since they had last fought Back then he was miles ahead of her in every category But during the war with the Wights Helen had matured to the point that she no longer recognized herself Even as the energy of the world fled and her Level stagnated she continued to improve her Skills at such a pace that she dare not share the limit of her improvements with her allies

Only those close to her like Leyalta had seen her let loose completely And that was only in the midst of the most pitched battles She dare not share that her Skill Levels were nearing two hundred a domain that few made it to without being able to use the abilities of a Master

But against Randidly Ghosthound

Yes He said while staring at her Whenever you are ready

Oh You believe that you have the advantage Fine then it was time that Helen showed Randidly exactly how capable she was How much fighting prowess she possessed how firm her resolve How capable she would be say of taking care of the homestead should there be so formidable a warrior that she would acquiesce to them defending her

Then fucking go for it Helen hissed as she rushed forward Although she wouldnÆt use the full force of the killing intent she had developed on the front lines against Randidly she would make use of the many Skill Levels she had earned Her Raging Torrent of the Yashwei Skill Set started humming at full bore She approached using the Deceptive First Bend which made her footwork blur in the eyes of her enemies It was enough that some Wights hadnÆt even had time to look up before she arrived in front of them

To her surprise or perhaps not really Randidly was already there waiting for her His moves were simple and blunt but when he thrust his spear her Battle Instincts Skill screamed that it was dangerous So she shifted fluidly into the Third Bend Great Falls So when he thrust at her Helen spun and ducked under the blow

The air vibrated with the force of his passage Helen grimaced This wasnÆt the Ghosthound that she remembered If she didnÆt know better Helen would think that she was facing a pure power spear user Although not a very fucking good one

Roasted balls Helen muttered as she thrust upwards with her spear

Randidly moved his head to the side those emerald eyes glowing If his spear use was somewhat lacking his body control was astounding Instantly she activated the Second Bend just as his left leg kicked out towards her Helen grunted as she was thrown backward by the force of the kick but looked up expectantly She immediately frowned

She had left a deep gash in the strange grey armor that Randidly wore but that was it The Second Bend was just a combat cantrip but it rarely failed to inflict a wound So that meant

The Fourth Bend Drowning Current

Helen always wondered what this Skill looked like from someone elseÆs perspective But in her eyes the world began to be covered with what she considered drag lines It seemed to be an amalgamation of momentum and weariness on their bodies With it a pretty decent passive boost to her Perception and Agility enabled Helen to slowly reduce her opponents to exhausted wrecks Perhaps it would be smarter to use the obvious difference in Skill Level to dominate him but she wanted to demonstrate how much finesse she now possessed

So she amped up the speed her spear stabbing to and fro to cut small gashes on his hands and forearms which were revealed by the armor

In terms of his ability to use the spear Helen found herself somewhat disappointed He was rusty It looked like he hadnÆt had any true fights in a while And he thought that he would be able to face her in this condition Well she would take great pleasure in teaching him this lesson

She cut at his shoulder and he turned slightly but then she swept her spear sideways and drew a gash across his armor He stepped forward but grunted as she spun the butt of her spear and slammed it into his midsection All the while draglines gathered around him

His attacks were more than powerful they were fast and deceptive As Helen spun away from her hit to his stomach she found a leaping thrust waiting for her She cleanly slid out of the way with a quick use of the First Bend but he saw through her move and landed a sharp kick on the shaft of her spear that sent her stumbling

So much so that she had to utilize the First Bend again to close the distance with him and harry him with a series of stabs to keep the drag lines from dispersing He cleanly knocked these blows away and HelenÆs brow knit together She was moving through her Stamina pool more quickly than she would like and

He was getting faster

She supposed it made sense as she had said he was rusty But it couldnÆt be so simple of catching back up in a single bout could it It had been about 20 seconds

So Helen upped the tempo Furious Assault increased her Agility even further and also added a small bit of range to her attacks that added a piercing surprise for her enemies But as she started attacking in earnest Randidly began moving more quickly Somehow the edges of him seemed to be blurry and grey making Helen want to swear and throw up her hands

This entire time he hadnÆt been using his Spear Phantom moves

But now Helen began to make use of her wide range of combat experience to cut corners He was statistically stronger and faster but she would NOT fucking roll over and lose to this schmuck who probably had barely trained in the past half year

Slash stab advance She pushed and pushed her spear skidding off RandidlyÆs armor with a reassuring regularity It was even better because the extra inch of force clearly was giving him some trouble He was frowning at her those emeralds all scrunched up as they considered her

What did he see She wondered

She swept his legs but he didnÆt fall like she had planned Instead thin vines came out of the ground the seized his legs and pulled them back to the ground She was caught so much by surprise that when he counter attacked she didnÆt dodge in time

The force of the blow dislocated her shoulder

Hissing Helen leaped backward and popped the shoulder back into place It was her right the non dominant hand so it wouldnÆt affect her overmuch But that power of his

Why arenÆt you using spells Helen asked sharply feeling the heat rising in her chest You are a Spell Spear arenÆt you Act like one

Randidly gave her a somewhat helpless look I this is a contest of spear

Fuck you Helen spat out and the heat was truly on her now Her BerserkerÆs Blood was beginning to activate which was not what she would have wanted five minutes ago when the fight started But it had become obvious that he was taking it easy on her as if this was a game The spear was a tool to live and die by When you fought you gave it your all

Those who didnÆt were a disgrace to the weapon and deserved what was coming to them

Sir I really think Leyalta began his jowls quivering but Helen had already moved This time when she used the First Bend to advance towards Randidly she didnÆt bother to conserve Stamina While her BerserkerÆs Blood was active her regeneration was almost tripled which would cover for any overuse

Plus with the Strength boost she obtained from that Skill she could fight against his superior Strength more directly She wouldnÆt ever meet his clashes directly but now she could deflect them while advancing

Two thrusts whistled past her torso She barely even swayed to avoid them and one of the attacks left a large gash The pain was a bright crimson encouragement and Helen let loose with every bit of pent up aggression she had held in her chest after he had left without even saying anything to her

Her spear blurred and bent under the force of her attacks She battered his defense forcing him to retreat to avoid her stabs When he prepared a counter attack she used the Third Bend to avoid it completely and appear in his blind spot Her attacks then were short and powerful Generally it left him off balance and frustrated which made the fury in HelenÆs chest gleeful

All the while more and more drag lines were emerging on his body holding him back slowing him down And yet

Yet he was getting faster

His counter attacks were much much sharper than they had been at the beginning of the spar Abruptly the part of HelenÆs brain that wasnÆt overcome with the heat of the BerserkerÆs Rage realized that it wasnÆt that he hadnÆt practiced with the spear in a long time it was just that he hadnÆt practiced fighting against other spear users much Even without relying on her sharpest images it was her method of attacking that had given him pause

His attacks werenÆt rusty his sense of tempo against a spear user was just nonexistent In a way Helen related A lot of fighters she had faced qualifying for this version of the under Level 25 tourney were fresh off the frontline and had similar handicaps They had simply fought so many Wights that they had lost touch with clashing against fellow spear users

And as she thought that the fight fell out of Helen Randidly sensed it almost immediately and his spear halted midair in its path to cut into her midsection

I missed you Helen said with a sigh

After a pause Randidly nodded I missed you too How was the war

Helen opened her mouth to say something smart but then paused She looked at him again She lowered her spear further you you really donÆt know

HelenÆs face collapsed into a grimace She made a sharp gesture and Leyalta began to break the camp they had made in the forest by the teleportation Village near Qtal WeÆve lost Our Spearsource was captured by the Wights through treachery If our heroes donÆt recapture it

She trailed off She didnÆt want to say it That they would lose their Paths and Classes They would become monsters without a true path forward even with a spear in hand

Randidly just blinked at her

Chapter 603

I thought you won your war Randidly said Honestly he remembered a message from Helen indicating that vividly You said

We should have won Leyalta said quietly Helen seemed to be grinding her teeth These wars they follow a certain power We are the current holder of the Spear Source and therefore our world is filled with energy We can Level and develop images On the other side of the rift there is a desolate world The world of the Wights They were perhaps similar to us once but without the Spearsource they became monsters

It costs these monsters a great deal of energy to open a large rift between the worlds although there are small passages that are constantly present The only reason that the Wights would open the portal is to make a mad assault on the Spear source And we repelled their elite The Spear source was ours They managed to keep hold of fortifications in our world but

But without them accomplishing the objective Helen whispered We saw no need to drive them out so soon after the war We knew they were consolidating their forces but we assumed it was for an attack It wasnÆt they were digging in Somehow one of their agents got into the Forest of Spears and took the Spear source When we pursued those footholds the Wights held were turned against us The initial response was to disregard planning in a mad attempt to capture the source back before it was brought to the world but those fucking

HelenÆs words ceased and the teeth grinding started Leyalta looked at her with some sympathy before turning to Randidly for various reasons those initial attempts to recapture were insufficient to put it lightly In terms of our fighting strength and moral they were disastrous Many of our best and brightest were lost in the worst of the fighting So now

Now they did their best Randidly surmised

Very quickly Helen recomposed herself and the group began to head South They would be skipping a stop at Qtal entirety and instead making quick time towards Niergem the capital of the Western Domain There they would meet up with Azriel Blanche as well as the representatives from the Western Domain and then head towards the Central Domain for the tournament

According to Helen the tournament would originally have been hosted by one of the other Schools but due to the war it was rearranged to occur in the capital of the Spearman School Hastam

The Spear School Domains were arrayed in something that looked like a lowercase c with a stretched out bottom The portion that was the Northern Domain the provincial land that raised Shal was the small curve at the top of the cÆ The Western Domain was the bottom part of the curve The Eastern Domain was the small end at the bottom of the cÆ Below the cÆ there was a chain of rather large islands the was the Southern Domain

Everything in between was the Central Domain In terms of size it was likely the equal of all of the rest of the Domains put together In terms of populations it was likely 80% of the Spearman School This was the seat of power for all the truly great Styles that moved to war under the banner of the Spearman School It was also a location of one of the four groves of the Hall of Stances the location that served as both a memorial and a home for the touring Spear source

Perhaps most notably for RandidlyÆs immediate concerns it was also the location where the Spear source was taken There was talk of a delay for the tournament due to the investigation but Helen assured Randidly that the tournament would occur although the location might change

Randidly was pleasantly surprised at the groupÆs speed Leyalta might grumble but the three of them were traveling at quite a clip It was almost a constant sprint through the heavy jungle which was rather exhilarating for the first four hours Randidly also believed that it would be good training for some of his Physical Fitness

But then the hours continued to run About 12 hours since Randidly had come to this world they finally arrived at Niergem By that time Randidly was winded Even his powerfully high Stamina and Regeneration were drained Helen seemed to be slightly amused by his shock but Leyalta was positively pompous

If you think that was bad wait until we head to the Central Domain It will take about five times as long he said with a sneer

Helen shoved him Which is why we will simply teleport there Alright letÆs head into the city

The first thing Randidly noticed about the city was the walls They were separated in portions The bottom was black stone and stood about 5 meters tall Above that wooden walls were erected that stretched up to 25 meters

Helen saw his gaze TheyÆve been recently retrofitted Although itÆs probably unnecessary the Sentinel of Niergem was adamant that they be ready for the Wight assault It might not accomplish much but it keeps the citizens happy Although they arenÆt Central Domain prisses they also arenÆt as gung ho about battle as the Northern Domain They would prefer to hide from their foes

What are the Wights Randidly asked as they walked up to the open gates Several guards milled around chatting as they watched the group approach I mean how do they fight

mm if I had to say it is honestly like you said Helen as she flashed him a dark smile They are pale with strangely colored hair Physically they are weaker than us but they use spells to empower themselves Spectral Claws Psychic Poison Haste things like that Even one on one they arenÆt much threat But when they field a full host

Let them come A voice interrupted One of the guards a young man with bright eyes stepped forward and grinned at Helen His eyes traced the finer details of her armor In Niergem we breed our warriors strong enough to wipe out a dozen hosts

Really cadet Leyalta snapped and Randidly felt a blast of mental force emanating from the heavy man He leaned forward and glared at the guard Then how many lives will you be personally taking How bloody will your spear be when the fighting ends

The air trembled as the force of whatever Skill Leyalta was using was enough to manifest visually for people other than the target Randidly grinned Ah it was good to be back on ShalÆs World Here people took their images seriously and it showed

Although the guard tried to rally his spirit and resist the Skill his resources proved insufficient He visibly deflated and the trio passed through the gates without any fanfare Once inside Randidly looked around with curious eyes This city certainly had a different feel than any of those he had seen in the Northern Domain Not everyone was carrying a spear which was an extremely strange thing to see

Suddenly Randidly felt rather dumb that he had kept Acri in full spear mode the entire run He had just felt like it was part of the authentic Tellus experience Not that it made much difference because Acri could bend and wrap itself around RandidlyÆs waist to stay out of sight But it was the principle of the thing

But still the people were fascinating Although some had dyed skin they looked oh so very human People yelled about wares there were street vendors selling meat on a stick and even dirty looking children play fighting with sticks down alleys The buildings were built tall and thin Randidly looked upwards and wondered whether there were similar gyms in Niergem that were present on the roofs of these buildings

Grabbing RandidlyÆs hand Helen dragged Randidly forward through the crowd ignoring his instinct to take in the new surroundings As she did so she shot a glance back at him Hurry up or someone will step on your toes

Randidly flexed his toes in mute rebellion but followed after Helen With a dramatic sigh Leyalta formed the end of their merry train As they cut through the city Randidly saw dozens of Tassles hanging proudly over shops Idly he wondered if he still had his somewhere He probably hadnÆt been able to gather it before he had fled the tournament the first time but maybe

Interrupting his thoughts was in fact his Tassle hanging over a tall building that Helen led him towards The bright emerald of the background was a sharp splash of color in the sea of orange red and yellows that Randidly had seen thus far Beside it was a pale red and white Tassle that Randidly recognized as AzrielÆs

As Helen stomped into the building Randidly followed and found Azriel herself there curled up at a table lit only by candlelight in the far corner of a rather classy looking inn However some of that ambiance of class was broken as Randidly saw a waiter serve what was clearly a gourmet cheeseburger to a rich couple at a nearby table

Azriel stood as they approached her table At her side Randidly noticed was the thin needle that she wielded as a spear Ah Randidly Ghosthound You look well

She wanted to ask him to spar Randidly sensed immediately Her body language was tense and of all of Randidly her gaze focused upon Acri more than any part of his physical body Not that the thought that she was attracted to him or anything but why would she hesitate to ask him to spar

Ahem Helen said with crossed arms She glared at Helen then turned and gave Randidly an even more acidic glare We three are all now officially grouped together to join the Spearman School group in the Inter School competition Therefore it would be downright foolish to spar with each other when we will soon compete No sparring

Helen glared once more at Azriel who didnÆt seem intimidated but simply resigned She shrugged at Helen Perhaps it is so But will not the format of the tournament be different considering the circumstances We will hardly be wasting our strength fighting each other when the entire world is in such dire straits We have lost our ability to Level Sergeant Surely a little sparring wonÆt hurt