Chapter 162 (1/2)

His idea was a simple one, and both Shal and Marco were intrigued by the prospect. And, because they really didn’t have any other choice, they decided to run with it; to use the descent of the Judgement as a distraction to escape.

Marco seemed to want to ask a lot of questions about what a Judgement was, but some very direct looks from Shal silenced him before he could even open his mouth. Randidly admitted he wasn’t entirely sure how powerful it would be, but it would surely be some sort of distraction.

So while Shal upped the intensity of the training with Randidly, Marco left, heading into the Western area, to see if he could find any fish who would bite at the possibility of an escape plan. They didn’t have much hope, but with the number of guards they needed to force their way through, it would be better with more powerful individuals on their side. And as some of the people in the Western area were approaching the Adept level, it was well worth their time to recruit.

But months dragged on, and although Randidly had received many more Skill Levels, increasing and spending his PP, there was no change in the Heretic Path. Randidly held out hope that it would tick forward when he finished the Grace I path; it did not, although he received an interesting move for his completion bonus for the path.

Congratulations! You have completed the Grace I Path! Your steps are light and even, and although the path is slowly falling away around you, you maintain your pace. You have your goals, and although the trials may be difficult, you will not halt. Willpower +5, Stamina per level +2. You have gained the skill Body Control: Freeze Lvl 1.

Body Control: Freeze: Stop your current movement, becoming completely still. Time it takes to completion decreases with skill level. Stamina consumption decrease with skill level. Small health penalties may apply, that decrease with skill level.

The move sounded interesting, and after he finished it, he was able to experiment a little with it during fights. The first time he used it, even Marco was slightly taken aback, and Randidly was able to actually land an attack on him. He was swiftly defeated, however, and each subsequent use was less and less effective.

But still, it proved the viability of it as a move in high level fights.

After that, Randidly poured his PP into Fighting Proficiency II 0/100, which he unlocked by getting Fighting Proficiency up to Lvl 80. The constant battles were certainly dealing dividends in a lot of ways. He slowly pushed his way into the Northeast region, where there were a huge amount of spear users at his level, who used very different fighting styles. Some of them were even members of respected Styles of the Spearman School, and Shal encouraged (basically forced) Randidly to challenge them all, testing his limits.

The real problem was that there didn’t seem to be any change in the Heretic Path. But after thinking about it, it did indeed make sense. Usually, the Heretic didn’t really notice his quantitative increases. It was qualitative that was the issue. That last time, what brought down the Judgement was not the PP, but the evolution of his Soul Skill, and the creation of his unique skill.

Randidly was also aware that he was not training his self taught skill currently, and wondered whether that was a good thing. He consulted with Shal, who just shook his head in disgust.

“One thing at a time, my idiot disciple. You are not a genius. You simply have good teachers.”

So Randidly let it lie for now. Besides, Shal was right. The entire reason he had grown this strong was due to Shal. Which was why he would put himself through such hell in order to help him. They had been in the Prison for so long that Donnyton had faded from his mind mostly. Lyra was just a pretty face he had difficulty picturing. Meanwhile, his life as a normal person, before the system, began to fade into the shadows, at least partially.

As his life faded away, some parts of it began to stick out. His relationship with his parents. Sydney and Ace. His loneliness and frustration.

For much to Randidly’s surprise, that loneliness was beginning to come back. They had been in this prison for too long, with a lifestyle that was too austere. He had radically changed his situation, but his body and soul weren’t so easily swayed. During his brief breaks, he reminisced fondly of those days when porn was readily available. It would be nice, to have some sort of relief from the constant training.

But although he allowed small indulgences, Randidly never swayed from his path forward. Strength was always moving further away. Everyone else was reaching for the same survival you were. There wasn’t time to waste.

So he worked towards having the Judgement descend in a controlled fashion. He slowly began practicing the moves taught to him by Bert. He was a little rusty at first, but he swiftly regained the tempo for those exhausting moves. He focused on the powerful images of roots inside of him, even going so far as to create huge roots to look at and feel, adding detail. Slowly and surely, he felt the Aether within him beginning to pulse.

In order to see the changes, he stopped taking the black potion for a week, working tirelessly on the move. It was coalescing in his chest, and just as he received a notification that the self-made move was 99% finished, a notification popped up.