Seeing the smoking remnants of the Skill that was clearly another attempt to control him brought Randidly quite a bit of pleasure. But he didn’t miss the way that the Path altered itself halfway through to incorporate aspects of his Nether notes, sothing that Randidly hadn’t possessed when he originally gained the Path.
Was this a special case then? Or had Randidly underestimated the overlay System?
Although Randidly still had a little less than 400 PP remaining to be spent, he was altogether tired of all of the antics that Paths had tried to spring on him in this round of Soulskill tithe. It was sothing that he would be much more careful about moving forward.
Instead, Randidly once more checked the ti. Seeing there was still four and a half hours, Randidly looked at his Status screen.
Randidly Ghosthound
Class: Lord of the Baleful Wood ( x5)
Level: 49 (99%)
Health(/R per hour): 9738/9738 (4574)
Mana(/R per hour): 9086/9086 (2537)
Stam(/R per min): 6899/6994 (1655)
Vit: 1045
End: 895
Str: 742
Agi: 1135
Grim Intuition (L): 1070
Reaction: 847
Resistance: 972
Willpower: 1112
Intelligence: 868
Wisdom: 645
Control: 1201
Focus: 759
Skills (Soul Skill): Figure of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 22200
Combat: Spear Mastery Lvl 209, Heavy Blow Lvl 124, Iron Skin Lvl 47, Dodge Lvl 121, Fighting Experience (Un) Lvl 165, Block Lvl 77, Calculated Blow Lvl 117, Roundhouse Kick Lvl 87, Idiosyncratic Cut (Un) Lvl 126, Stalemate Breaker Lvl 86, Talon Strike Lvl 90, Counter Lvl 94, Ruinous Drive (Ru) Lvl 35
LoBW Class Skills: Spray Holy Sap (Un) Lvl 27, Sharpness Lvl 145, Earthquake (Un) Lvl 48, Invigorating Call (Humanity)(Un) Lvl 14, Reach of the Jade Slag (Ru) Lvl 121, Erode Image (L) Lvl 71, Spriggit’s Tinkering ® Lvl 151, Aether Understanding (A) Lvl 133, Aether Infusion Lvl 47, Volatile Ash (A) Lvl 44, Visualization ® Lvl 240, Fruit of the Planting of Enmity (L) Lvl 49, Absolute Timing (Ru) Lvl 108, Cycle of the Gloomy Wood ® Lvl 45, Riders of the Baleful Court (A) Lvl 127, Lantern of Harsh Truths ® Lvl 46, Sigil of an Approaching Fate (A) Lvl 32
Descent of the Grim Chira (M): Chiric Avoidance (L) Lvl 222, Cursed Appetite of a Wraith (L) Lvl 264, Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality (A) Lvl 238, Reaper’s Mantle of Catastrophe (L) Lvl 101, Molten Fang of the Pariah (L) Lvl 199, Man is Proud, but the Chira Takes (L) Lvl 185, The Chira Weeps as Man Mourns (L) Lvl 157, All Else Succombs, Yet Ti Whirls the Earth (M) Lvl 150
Aether Skills: Aether Detection Lvl 171, Aether Manipulation Lvl 201, Living Aether ® Lvl 154, System Interference Lvl 88, Aether Surgeon (Ru) Lvl 69
Spells: Yggdrasil Soul Seed ®, Inspiration ®, Ignition Bolt ® Lvl 126, Verdant Nova (Un) Lvl 85, Burning Footsteps Lvl 23, Nether’s Caress (M) Lvl 114, Influence of the Molten Core ® Lvl 103, Eruption of the Blazing Leyline (Ru) Lvl 111, Ignition of the Erald Essence (L) Lvl 151, Mana Physique (Un) Lvl 19
Crafting: Potion Making Lvl 73, Farming Lvl 34, Analyze Lvl 29, Refine Lvl 106, Extract Lvl 92, Brushstroke Record (Ru) Lvl 245, Experienced Creator’s Ingenuity (A) Lvl 68, Touch of the Ghosthound (U)
Yggdrasil, the Universe that was First a Tree (P): Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 178, The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 213, the Erald Sap of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 195, the Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 240, the Inscrutable Mien of Genesis (L) Lvl 250, the Implacable Price of Exodus (L) Lvl 202, Reign of the Eidolon Crucible (L) Lvl 195, Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) Lvl 275
Auxiliary: Sneak Lvl 56, Acid Resistance Lvl 22, Poison Resistance Lvl 21, Pain Resistance Lvl 153, Fire Resistance Lvl 189, Sewing Lvl 11, Digging Lvl 9, Cooking Lvl 101, Clockwork Mastery Lvl 30, Aether Connection (A) Lvl 21, Soul Bond Lvl 135, Chef’s Palette Lvl 36, Nether Modification (U), Child of the Rain (Un) Lvl 59, Chosen of Ash (A) Lvl 141, Engineering Savvy ® Lvl 154, From Darkness, Genesis ® Lvl 17, (Domain) Crossroads of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 178, Connection to the Alpha Cosmos (U), Catalyst of Agony (A) Lvl 38, Nether Sensation (L) Lvl 62, Nether Rituals (A) Lvl 115
Randidly released a deep breath. In terms of Stats, just from the huge amount of Paths that he finished, he had grown quite a bit. More than Stats though, Randidly had earned an addition 15 Stat points per Level, which put his Stat gains per Level to: 8 Stats distributed between Vitality, Perception, Resist, Intelligence, and Control, 35 Free Stats, 1 Stat to a ntal Stat, 1 to a Physical Defense Stat, 1 to a ntal Support Stat, 2 Control, 36 Health, 45 Mana, 40 Stamina, 3.5 to all Regenerations, 1 to Health and Stamina Regeneration, and an additional 4 Agility and 2 Bonus Stats due to Guidance of the Wraith Adder from Shal.
“Is this strength…?” Randidly asked lightly. He looked down at his hands, one scarred and tal, the other calloused and tanned. Beyond that, with but a brush of his will, Yggdrasil, the Grim Chira, and Ignition Essence visions flickered to life in the tent around him. Just as quickly, Randidly let those go.
This had definitely been an attempt by the System to control him. But at this point, Randidly had so many tools in his arsenal that he dealt it with it almost imdiately. Without relying on a blunt instrunt, either.
Well, maybe a blunt instrunt. Randidly admitted to himself. But one that won’t reveal my involvent.
Then his mind turned back to the question of strength. Although Randidly had definitely improved, his goals were still further forward down this path. Based on his reckoning, Randidly was still a bit short of being able to rival a Nether Gatekeeper in a one on one duel. Perhaps more than a little short.
However, hopefully that distance would be bridged as Randidly condensed himself a Fate. Because the foundations for his power were firr than ever. With this, he could finally begin to cash in on all of the preparations he had made.
“...bah. Which ans I really need to work on these Foci…” Randidly grimaced and rolled his shoulders to loosen up his back. Then he sat down in a ditative position and pulled all of his focus inward. With great difficulty, he slowly closed down all of the superfluous Grim Intuition sensors so he wouldn’t notice anything that happened in the outside world unless it actually physically damaged him. Unless Randidly was bleeding, he didn’t want to be disturbed.
Sowhat of a risk, but Randidly figured that if sothing managed to pierce Lady Iellaya’s defenses to the point of reaching his tent, he would have a problem of an entirely different magnitude.
With his focus narrowed, Randidly floated to his inner world where the erald and burnt orange fla of Ignition Essence continued to steadily simr away at the few remaining mories that Randidly hadn’t yet accepted into himself. Of all the foci, Randidly believed that the Ignition Essence one would be the most risk to use. So he wanted to work on it first and figure out how long it would take.
There was a mont of hesitation and then Randidly reached out and touched the mories. The terrible ones that waited for the last to reveal themselves. They blood like a flower before him, the petals falling away from the burning bulb and spiraling around him. Slowly, Randidly beca soone else once more.
He beca Illym, the above-average child, a daughter who possessed half of a soul.
He beca the brown-haired, brown-eyed sister who looked at her beautiful, blonde sister Radiance as she announced that she would be married. The other half of her soul who had found love, despite the circumstances. She t the soon-to-be husband, rough and capable, and clearly head over heels in love with Radiance.
As everyone was.
Hours later, Randidly sat in a mory of Illym staring at her own bony knees on a porch swing and wondering whether she had ever been in love. She had felt love, for her parents, for his sister Radiance.
There were no mories of being in love. Of being loved. Of being truly valued, for herself.
Illym spent so ti pouring through her own mories in that mory, searching for proof that she had existed, had mattered to soone. Had lived. Had mattered to soone else. All she found was the cold and repeated walls of her parent’s ho and the monts of excitent when Radiance woke up from her comas.
Because her sister mattered more to her life than she did. It wasn’t Illym that could bring herself aning. It had always been Radiance, the other half of the whole.
What followed was the biggest choice of Illym’s life, and she made it with all the thought of a blink; in the one year ti period before her sister Radiance was to be married, Illym was going to learn what it was like to live.
So she ran away from ho, telling not a soul about her plans. Not even the other half of her own soul, Radiance. She left a note assuring everyone that she would be back for the wedding and then she was off, out in the world to discover herself.
Although Illym might only be an above-average child compared to Radiance, her parents were two of the most powerful individuals in their corner of the Nexus and Illym had learned from them well. As long as the problems that the twenty-year-old Illym encountered weren’t extraordinary, she could deal with them. So she flitted between the planets, experiencing everything that she could.
Randidly experienced mories of trying sizzling hot street at of when Illym wasn’t sure of the at’s origin. He watched her slling wildflowers. Watched her stealing because she had run out of money.
There were difficulties aplenty after Illym’s inexperience wasted away her resources. Doubly so because of who she was. Although Illym and Radiance were parted, the truth of their existence didn’t change. So like the seasons, the shakes ca for Illym.
But now, Illym had no protection to rely on to endure the shakes. She could not simply curl up in her wide bed and smother herself in silk sheets. Illym was left all on her own, and she had to grit her teeth and find the best way she could to hide her weakness. However, it was only a matter of ti until she was discovered.
There was an ugly mory with jagged edges where Illym was tortured by three n as they laughed at her inability to control her body. They put her in shallow water and watched as she thrashed so uncontrollably that she almost drowned herself ti and ti again. They found it unbelievably funny, they couldn’t even stand it.
Illym rembered hating for the first ti in her life. Although it wasn’t the bright living of Radiance, she felt an atypical rush of warmth as she looked up at the three n and wished they would die. It was an iron sort of desire that she could give herself over to completely. She said to them, “When this is over-”
The leader of the n shushed her with a finger, almost gently, while Illym’s body continued to jitter back and forth. “Love, this only ever ends one way. Let’s enjoy this fun while we still have it, shall we?”
Illym rembered the cold certainty of the fact that she would die. And in the next mont, her entire being began screaming that she wanted to live. For the first ti in her life, Illym reached into herself to that strange wound that she had always been afflicted with and told it no. She could not afford to allow it to take her today.
Illym rembered the warmth of blood running down her hands. The first kill was the hardest, and then the rest was easy.
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