Chapter 143 (2/2)

Randidly thrust out again, his spear speed much slower than it was previously. The Aether inside of him quivered strangely, as if confused.

In fact… it was possible that his spear actually hurt him with its image of time. Trading off the unpredictability and speed for power. Randidly thrust again, the spear seeming to slow even further.

But as he did so, he felt instinctively that the attack seemed more like a phantom. Drifting and slow, sure, but when it arrived…

As the thrust was fully extended, the air seemed to hum with the violent power of the thrust. Randidly drew the spear back and thrust again.

It was almost if… the time power even let the enemy know far in advance that it was coming.

The air hummed.

But it was an unstoppable force, when it arrived…

The air crackled and hissed.

Again and again Randidly thrust, and the Aether inside of him began to move. Where before it was icy needles, now it was like there was an inexhaustible furnace within his chest, belching out smog and heat, his body beginning to feel hot and strange, his head fuzzy.

But he forced himself to continue, thrusting again and again. Only through repetition of this feeling would he find his answer. Randidly wasn’t sure how much time remaining in here he had, and wasn’t sure whether it was having an effect on gaining skill levels, but it certainly was doing something to his Aether. And that something was narrowing his focus to a razor edge.

Even as his insides began to feel bone dry and as inhospitable as a desert, Randidly thrust, his spear now making strange crackling noises as it exploded with force.

His eyes glowing emerald, Randidly felt the image. The inevitable nature of time… It approaches, sweeping us all away… it affects us all… it is the the strongest weapon. The sharpest spear.

For some further amount of time, Randidly continued to thrust. His chest was a burning volcano. The Aether bubbled within him, mixing and swirling in strange shapes. It was almost unbearable, the pain approaching the level of having Shal dump acid inside his body.

Then Randidly slowed, thoughtful. It seemed at present that he had reached the limit of what he could do with this image. And it was probably a bad idea to continue to refine this without first checking with Shal. Randidly didn’t want to proceed too far down an incorrect path. And while he was still within the focused state…

Before anything else, Randidly sat for a few minutes and let the thundering in his head subside a bit. The Aether continued to roil around in him unpleasantly, but without him focusing strongly on something, it just seemed to flail, almost listless.

After a suitable amount of time, Randidly stood, and then began to move through the strange stances taught to him by that old turtle. At this point, Randidly could persist through one complete circuit of the first exercise, and almost all the way through the second. The third was still far beyond him.

Still, Aether swirled lazily down into his legs, feeling like a cool, refreshing stream, driving away the exhaustion. Randidly could see what he wanted, the image he had since the turtle had done this. It was one of the first things he had gained from the system: roots.

Randidly pictured his legs as ineffable roots, thick and durable and sturdy, glowing golden with life, so strong that it seemed like they would never be shaken. Roots so large and strong that they supported a tree strong enough to hold up the sky. That was the strength he wanted. Privately, in his mind, he said the word that described what the tree would be.

Yggdrasil. His legs, his base, would be the roots that could hold up Yggdrasil, the World Tree.

That was what he was seeking, that strength. With it, even if his spear skills were below his opponents, he would not falter. He would not struggle. His base was endless. His roots stretched so deeply into the earth beneath him that he could not be shaken. Energy and life flowed upwards, giving him substance. He would be eternal.

Randidly smoothly moved from the first movement to the second one, his legs beginning to tremble. Aether surged downward, an ice cold river that would grab you and pull you under. The kind parents warned their children away from.

As he focused on these huge, golden roots, Randidly moved through the second movement, the shaking getting worse. But although his chest heaved, and large drops of sweat dripped down his face, he didn’t cease as he moved his body strangely, skittering and scuttling, working every part of his thighs and hips.

Like a crashing wave, he finished the second movement and began the third. He struggled onward for several seconds. The ice cold Aether sloshed around his legs, swirling and probing, drawing sigils.

But then the wave ran out of momentum, and sloshed backwards.

Randidly collapsed, but he was laughing.

“Just a bit more…” He muttered, “Just a bit longer…”