Chapter 147 (2/2)

He made the body look human, with half of the face bone, and on an instinct, the other half feminine. As he examined the face, his chest tightened. Sitting in his inward world, looking at the image he had for that skill… Randidly looked into a very familiar, half face.

“Sydney.” He whispered. The ghastly spectre smiled. Randidly raised his hand and banished the image, deconstructing it. True, Sydney was likely dead, but that didn’t mean he wanted her image to haunt him. Instead, when Randidly created the image for the second time, he still stuck with a feminine face, but chose his mother.

And as he looked at the finished product, he felt the change. Where it hadn’t been there before, the inevitable dread the image caused in the viewer’s chest  had grown. The air was filled with helplessness. Just like Randidly was helpless to prevent his mother from drinking and pilling herself into the arms of men his entire childhood.

The more he brooded on it, the stronger the swirl of helplessness around his spear became. So although it infuriated him to no end, to see her and to be partially reliant on her, Randidly left the image of the spectre with his mother’s face. It was about time she did something for him.

The rest of the time during that week was the morning training sessions, and the evening magic and Engraving sessions. In addition, during what spare time he had, Randidly would watch Divvit dispatch more challengers or give Randidly’s two spear attendants pointers.

It really seemed that many people had problems with them, but as Randidly watched more and more, he realized that he really wasn’t the target; the entire Spear Phantom Style was. It seemed that Shal’s father had done something to piss off quite a lot of people, because more and more challenges were coming. Luckily these were still just probes, and no one at even the Artisan level had arrived. But to Randidly, it seemed like only a matter of time.

His Engraving continued to improve, but it was only Dragonfly that could get above 60%. The other two remained stubbornly at 59%, even as Dragonfly increased to 68%. All in all, Randidly had created 8 bracers with above 68%, and this earned him a bit of extra cash that he had Helen use to go and buy him some clockwork instruments. There were clocks and wind up toys and music boxes and all sorts of interesting little carefully delicate mechanisms.

Randidly listened to them while sitting under his Weeping Cloud, memorizing their sound. Then he would take them apart and put them back together. He even got the skill Clockwork Mastery, and leveled it to 7. It wasn’t something he wanted to dedicate a lot of time to, but if he wanted to have a powerful image, Randidly thought it would be worth it to immerse himself as a true hobby, unlike Engraving, which had become such a lucrative pursuit.

Shal’s brutal training, the grinding of the Engraving, the stress of being exposed to the diary of the Spear Phantom… such was the strain that Randidly was under that, in spite of his high vitality, he started sleeping for an hour or two every day, just to reset his body.

As the week went on, Shal’s training times extended, spreading to encompass strategy in battle, ruthlessness, and the proper use of the different techniques that Randidly inherited. Over and over Shal emphasized cutthroat actions. There were no perfect answers, just quick ones, that arrived at the perfect time.

Perhaps later Randidly could focus more on learning how to take advantage of certain actions on his enemies part, but for now, it was better to slowly just build up instinct for moving. At the level that Randidly was moving, Shal disdained, it was far better to move first.

Randidly only had limited interaction with his spear attendants, but the more he watched them, the more he realized that they were decidedly peculiar people. Helen, although she was one of the attractive women that Randidly had talked to for an extended amount of time, was clearly suppressing herself somehow. The other one… who Randidly still didn't know the name of, was actually surprisingly skilled with a spear. He just spent a lot of time practicing at the side of the boat, looking at his own reflection in the water.

By the end of the week, Randidly had gained 2 Levels of Spear Mastery, 4 in The Inevitable Phantom Arrives, 6 in Spear Phantom’s Footwork, 4 in Iron Skin and Dodge, 2 in Fighting Proficiency and Block, 1 in Empower, Calculated Blow, and Roundhouse Kick, 5 in Battle Intent, 2 in Root Control and Summon Pestilence, 6 in Incinerating Bolt, 2 in Plantomancy, and 9 in Weeping Cloud.

He also gained 1 in Potion Making and Refine, 4 in Mana Engraving, 1 in Physical Fitness, Running, and Meditation, 2 in Pain Resistance, 3 in First Aid, 3 in Grace and Bacterial Regeneration, 1 in Mental Fortitude, 6 in Second Wind, 4 in Weather Affinity, and of course the 7 in Clockwork Mastery.

Once more, in the predawn light, Randidly found himself with a sizable amount of PP after the week. At Shal’s request, he had waited to train in the strange turtle movement until they arrived at their destination which he was very closed mouthed about.

For now, Randidly decided to just continue as normal, and move through the Path of Carnage paths.

He used 5 PP and finished off the first path.