Chapter 139 (1/2)

Randidly frowned, but said nothing. Previously, he had the strange impression that Shal’s skill level was closer to his current skill level, but perhaps he was mistaken. He didn’t like what he was hearing, but if Shal was correct…. If all of their skill levels were over 100… It was a sobering thought. And considering how much difficulty Randidly had at overcoming those vibrating spears of Tartet, even though he used Haste, Empower, and Mana Strengthening, in addition to the actual skill.

If what Shal was saying was correct, and his stats were also slightly above his opposition, here, and would only be on par with those in the regional tournament…

Randidly shivered. That kind of difference in skill was intimidating. He supposed the only reason that he had a shot was due to the varied nature of his magics, and he suspected that many were like him, and left Resistance as a stat that did not receive very much attention.

Shal appeared to be brooding in silence, so Randidly asked, “...is there any hope then? Couldn’t a Classer just… train in a dungeon for an extremely long time before the tournament? Years even, while still staying below Lvl 25?”

“In theory it is possible. But in practice, few do. To suppress one’s strength overmuch is wasteful, and rather pointless. These requirements do not come into force very often, only 5 years. That is enough time for only 5 generations of the best and brightest to become the youngest of the style. As for those who are aware they must compete at a certain level due to timing... most fear Dungeon Poisoning, and would not risk it overmuch. It is not safe to rely on the time dilution for too much.”

“Dungeon poisoning?”

Shal gestured dismissively. “A word for a body grown fat on Aether. The concentration of Aether is naturally higher in a dungeon. Almost 5 times as so. While in a dungeon, the time dilution causes your connection to your village’s Aether to be tenuous, but you suffer no backlash as you absorb more from the air, increasing your growth anyway. Then, as you require it less, the Aether connection to your village wanes further. It will never be destroyed completely, but if your body is too reliant on ambient Aether, and you leave the dungeon, you can expect to be bedridden for months, until Aether connection to your village grows strong enough to support you once more.”

Shal frowned at Randidly. “In fact, I feared you would suffer just such a fate, but that it would continue indefinitely, for you have no class. But I believed that the Aether reward would sustain you long enough for you to find and gain a Class, and develop a healthy source. The fact that you have continued this far… with such strength… is….confusing.”

Then he shook his head. “But I do not begrudge you your secrets. Go, you may do what you will until lunch. At that time, we will train again until dusk. I must… do some investigations. We cannot rely on ordinary means, if we expect to turn…. you into a passable disciple.”

Randidly ignored the insult and asked. “Before I go… is there any information available on Patrons…?”

Shal paused, then turned and looked him up and down. “...I had not thought of this. Yes. Divveltian tells me you have a merchant friend, yes? Consult him, there are some widely accepted Patrons that have… passable trials for their Initiates.”

Then Shal left, and almost inexplicably, Randidly bowed at his departing back. Shal truly was an impressive spear-user, and had a knack for pointing out the flaws in Randidly’s form that was surprising, considering his blunt communication style. Well, perhaps that was exactly why he was so talented at it.

Although the training he had done with Mrs. Hamilton had been effective, it was hard to say whether it was the training style or the shift in perspective that had enabled that sudden growth. And that growth likely wouldn’t have been sustainable; the first levels were always the easiest to get, in any skill.

Meanwhile, Shal was a well honed machine. If anyone could give Randidly a chance in this tournament, it would be him.

But it was good that he would be able to obtain more information about Patrons. If he ever returned to Donnyton- well, when he returned to Donnyton, it would be incredibly useful for the people who reached the Apprentice path. Randidly wasn’t really in the need of advice on which Patrons were good to choose, obviously, but rather he wanted to know the way the path progressed. If the path he had was normal, that would be fine, but if it was one that resulted in him being teleported to that strange world again…

Randidly blinked. Speaking of Donnyton…

He still took a sip of the black potion daily, being increasingly confused by its seemingly endless nature, and it eliminated notifications, but…

Randidly opened up his friends tab, and sure enough, due to the communications array towers in Qtal, his box was filled with friend requests and messages, asking if he was okay. Seemingly endless. There were at least 100, all from different people. There were different styles too. Raina appeared to write a small diary and send it to him. Mrs. Hamilton reported the results from the training exercises she developed while watching him.

Donny just sent small reports on threats that they had dealt with that day. There was even one from Bert the aged turtle, that was simply: “Don’t slack off.” But perhaps the most adorable were the messages from Kiersty, who, with frequent misspellings, excitedly described how Arbor was expanding, and how much his plants missed him.

After typing out a quick message to Donny on a strange keyboard that sprang into existence in front of him, letting him know generally that he was fine, and dealing with problems elsewhere, he closed out his friends tab. He wasn’t close enough to Donnyton to affect the outcomes anyway, so there was no point in reading up on things only to worry about them. Better to focus on the present, where there were several issues that he needed to address.

When Randidly walked out of the boat and onto the deck, intending to go visit Claptrap, what he found gave him pause. The two female spear users who had tested him in the belly of the Tassle shop were now on the deck as well, meditating. Around the boats, most of the other boats had unhooked their moorings and were drifting away, and there was a path of choppy orange water, towards which their boat slowly floated.