Chapter 204 (2/2)

“If you are there… help me.”

The silence and darkness pressed down on him. For several minutes, nothing happened. And for the 15 or so minutes following that.

Randidly sighed. He briefly amused himself with the possibility that this creature WAS the Being that spread the System, then set that to the side. Why would a creature with such power take the time to fuck with him like this if it wasn’t being chased by something bigger and more scary?

Although his body didn’t respond, he held up his hand and reached towards the sky. Well, the upper part of the endless darkness around him. But then he focused upwards, and forgot where his arm was, and he couldn’t really feel it, so Randidly just froze, extremely confused.

Then he began to laugh.

The only way for a spear is forward.

If you crave something, take it.

“It’s not so simple as that, unfortunately…” Randidly said, or at least thought he said, with the wide and deep darkness humming quietly around him.

“Just acquiesce…” The darkness hummed. Randidly snorted.

“I was planning on rejecting your proposal anyway, but now that you are being a bitch… I’ll burn it to the ground.”

“You will have to get out first…” The darkness whispered, and then the world went silent.

Randidly chuckled again, or tried to. And then he straightened, because he saw something, floating through the darkness. A group of somethings. His mouth, stretched into a smile. 7 or so emerald wisps of energy zipped through the void to float before him, spinning around him. Just by their presence, Randidly felt some small bit of his strength return. Perhaps it wasn’t really some of his actual strength, but their arrival lifted the isolation, letting him breath a little easier.

They came and spun around him, and Randidly chuckled. They had certainly been active since he had played with them last. It seemed that now that there was a certain number of them, they could interact with each other and grow without him, which was both interesting and scary. Unless he had simply lost his ability to count down here.

Randidly shifted his body, or attempted to, but the physical feedback was still extremely slight and ambiguous, so he couldn’t really know what he was doing. But then the largest, which was still a long and thin emerald streak, swirled, and settled down on his outstretched palm. Sucking in his breath, Randidly felt as though electric shocks were spreading out from the point that the wisp was touching him, slowly reviving his body.

Throwing his head back, Randidly smiled at the sky. The air was humming with the wisps as they rushed around him. These were… the refined form of “life” that he absorbed? The creature had made it seem like a very sinister thing, when she had said it. But they were just alive. They were simple creatures, and it seemed there were still further secrets to these strange creatures, but for now, it was enough that they came to him in this dark, isolated place.

Although they weren’t people, they had kindness, and when he called, they came. That was more than enough. And likely more than most people would do.

“This… do you think this is enough…? If you refuse to accept your isolation, I will have no choice but to punish you.”

Randidly snorted.

The darkness around him was still for a long time. Then he felt a strange chill come to the air, and even the flesh the wisps touched began to return to numbness. With great care, Randidly leaned backwards and looked upwards. A giant wheel slowly turned above, like the steering wheel of an antique ship, with rungs sticking out at even intervals.

And as he watched, it slowly began to descend towards him.