Chapter 178 (2/2)

Randidly smiled at the compliment, and even Teliph seemed to lightly flush at the praise. Unfortunately, the male spear attendant didn’t seem to understand what Divveltian had said to him, and his face twisted in horror, and panic could be seen at the edges of his eyes. But Randidly shrugged inwardly. The man would either realize the truth of Divvit’s words, or he wouldn’t.

The seven climbed regally onto the boat, glaring around. Behind Jacktat, there was a large man with extremely thick arms, a pudgy man, a wispy looking fellow, two women whose similar features marked them as family, perhaps twins, and a grim faced man who carried at least 6 spears on his back.

Jacktat leveled his spear at Divveltian. “Now, old man prepare to eat your fucking words. I’ll make sure you fucking repay every cent that you owe Uncle Izzie-”

“Ah, you are confused. I get it, your rampaging teenage hormones.” Divveltian said breezily, shooing Jacktat away. “But I won’t be bothering with you. Perhaps you should fight one of the younger generation, so it’s more fair.”

Randidly stepped forward, summoning the huge obsidian spear that he now knew had belonged to Haelthing. Glancing at it, he admired how regal and imposing it was, but he couldn’t wrap his mind around the image the story had given him of Haelthing, in comparison with the spear. Sure, it was dark and dangerous looking, but it was the danger of a mountain path sunk in shadow. It was not an evil thing, just a brutal one.

Randidly’s reverie was interrupted by vicious laughter. “What- ahahahahah! Fine, I’ll crush this bug and then drag you out old man. You know what? Let’s crush them all. Gang up on them and make them all pay, boys.”

The disciples spread slowly, their smiles thin and evil. With a lecherous grin, the huge man and the pudgy one walked towards Helen. The wispy guy and the man with 6 spears walked towards Teliph. The male spear attendant supressed a dumb little smile as the two female twins slunk towards him.

“Don’t die quickly,” Jacktat hissed. “I want them to see every second of your pain, and regret letting me break you, Randidly of the emerald. There is a modest bounty on your Tassle too, in the right circles, so I’ll enjoy this.”

But Randidly wasn’t really listening to his words though. It would just distract him. Instead, he just focused on his breathing, reaching inside himself and touching on the Aether that waited there. Slowly, as Randidly pressed with his will, it began to slowly flow, like the deepest part of a frozen stream in winter. The movement was small, but it would make upping the ante in battle easier.

His heart rate increased.

It was strange, but Randidly was nervous. He had fought many people in his 2 years in prison, but that felt different somehow. Isolated from the world. And it was a wild and informal thing, those brawls. Done more for survival than anything else.

Here, however, there were rites and rituals, different ways of speaking. This was a battle for honor and respect. And as soon as Randidly thought that, he smiled, his nerves broken. He fell into a fighting stance. That was why this felt strange. Even from Jacktat’s words, although he wanted to crush Randidly, there was never any hint of killing intent. The purpose was to humiliate him, and strip him of his Tassle.

When the stakes were so low, it was hard to get serious. Like Divvit said, this was a man who had been bought, and long ago lost his edge. But that was just in the way he acted and fought. Skill Levels didn’t decay, as far as Randidly knew, so there would be within him still a hint of the man who seized the title of Artisan.

Randidly was pleased by the surprise in the man’s face when Randidly attacked first, activating Haste, Empower, and Mana Strengthening to leap forward and use Sweep, smashing into Jacktat’s defense. All around, Randidly’s move seemed to serve as the signal to attack, and his three spear attendant’s rushed forward in unison with him.

Jacktat grunted lightly, and took a step back, but it seemed more from surprise than anything else. His powerful thrust that he launched in reply proved that. It smashed Randidly backwards and ripped a chunk of flesh off of his shoulder. Randidly’s eyes narrowed. He had been far too careless, attacking him directly. It was an old, bad habit left over from his earliest fights when the system arrived.

But he had spent two years learning how to fight in different ways, and it was time to show the world how much he had changed. And not just the world, but himself too. To prove that he had the strength to stand up against the powerful youth he would be forced to fight in the regional tournament. That he had the strength to crush them.

So as Jacktat rushed forward, his blows heavy, not Shal level of heavy, but still clearly powerful, Randidly began to use Spear Phantom’s Footwork and moved around the attacks, getting in shots where he could. This seemed to annoy Jacktat, but he just growled and attacked more wildly.

Which of course, was exactly the wrong sort of thing to do. Jacktat might be powerful, but he was not as powerful as those Randidly had trained with, and that was all he had, power. He had none of the grace and speed of Shal, and none of the impossibly perfect attacks that Marco Polo used, combinations based on years of experience.

Randidly’s eyes began to glow as the Aether flowed more freely in his chest.

He could do this. He could defeat an Artisan.