Chapter 235 (2/2)

Bertarn fell silent. Randidly chuckled. Truly, bullies would be bullies, no matter where it was.

“What of you? You’ve already given plenty warnings, what more do I have to be worried about?” Randidly asked sarcastically. After all, they were in a tournament. He was well aware of the dangers associated with the fighting, and retribution from other sources in the wake of the results.

Bertarn was silent for several seconds, but then said slowly. “It is… strange. Almost as if it was a dream. But immediately after I accepted it and lost… I thought I could hear a whisper. Telling me to reach out and take the strength I needed to win. To… steal it. To…. become a Devourer.”

Shivering, Bertarn shook his head and looked at Randidly. “Even now, I half believe that I imagined this voice. But at the moment, I felt it. A wild and vicious strength I could have if I traded away my honor, just beyond my fingertips…”

Sighing, Bertarn fell silent. Randidly scratched his head.

“If you didn’t take it, why are you telling me this?”

“So you will take care with your next opponent.” Bertarn said, snapping out of his reverie. “She is the disciple of the Devourer. It would make sense if she had the ability to bring others to her path. I am satisfied with my own abilities, but others in the tournament, especially when the finish line is so close… Even if you win, I suspect she will continue to try and intervene against you, holding that grudge for as long as she lives.”

Bertarn gave Randidly a serious look. “Perhaps it would be for the best if you kill her in your match.”

After Bertarn left, Randidly sat and meditated. Too many forces were moving in too many directions. It was hard to keep track of which ones were worth following. In addition, forces were now trying to act on even his free time, keeping him from advancing. He had a few thoughts about avoiding their detection, but…

It would be slightly time consuming. There was a break between this match in the next, two free days, where he could work. But work on avoiding detection was time he wasn’t working on actually increasing his ability to succeed in a fight. Gritting his teeth, Randidly cursed his own weakness.

In a way, he cursed himself for being drawn out to this Cohort, and his stubborn honor for demanding he throw himself into this impossible task. It ended up vastly increasing his strength across the board, but it had taken more than two years of his life. Although he had some suspicions that Vitality would keep him from aging outwardly, that wasn’t the point.

It wasn’t vanity that made Randidly slightly bitter, it was homesickness. For a place he had spent only a few scant months. But he had spent that time building something. He wasn’t likely to quickly forget that time. From their perspective, Randidly had spent as much time there as he had away, as several months had passed. Not that he thought they would forget about him, or had the strength to ignore the new him, if he wished to, but….

Sighing, Randidly leaned back. With the rest of tonight, and the two days tomorrow, there were several things he needed to do. The first was investigate how to return to his Cohort, and the second was work on his basic physical passive skills, Physical Fitness, Flexibility of the White Hunters, and Grace. These skills would give him more variety and smooth transitions in his fighting style.

In the fight with Bertarn, it became very clear that while Bertarn faired very well against a single spell, when Randidly started switching among them very quickly, Bertarn soon faltered. If he could leverage that strength… It was likely due to his high Control, and it made Randidly make a mental note to do the Path of Control next.

As for whether he should pursue the way to hide himself from detection and continue to have interactions with Azriel… Her training was extremely valuable, due to her great strength, and after only a single time of interaction, he had gained a dozen or so skill levels. That was even before she had a comprehensive idea about his skills. Randidly had no doubt that she had carefully watched his match against Bertarn and would use it to refine a training regimen to make him more versatile and surprising.

After all, the goal was for him to make Drak Wyrd serious, even if just for a moment, so Azriel’s eyes could analyze him.

Plus… she was really pretty. It was dumb for him to think of now, but…

Randidly sighed. He had always done dumb things around pretty women. Although in the past, before Tessa, the dumb things he had done mainly involved being super standoffish and weird, making them avoid him, but still…

So Randidly resolved himself immediately to working on his ability to escape detection. He got out several sheets of paper, a pen, and then the Encyclopedias given to him by the Willow Tree Spear Style. It was time to study, and attack that Shadow IV Engraving.