Chapter 252 (1/2)

Groaning, Randidly sat up, checking the most recent hole in his thigh. He had managed to avoid Azriel’s original charge for the artery in his leg, but her follow-ups to his torso had distracted him enough for her pure speed and technique to overwhelm him, even with magic support.

“That new technique… is interesting. And the upgrade to Agony- Anguish you said? These need polished.” Azriel announced, tapping her lip as she stood over him. Randidly dutifully used Living Blood to guide his broken body back together. He felt Bacterial Regeneration kick in, quickly increasing his health back to its maximum value.

Of course, Anguish’s upgrade had been as impressive as expected. But more than that… Azriel was right. Ash to Ash was incredibly powerful. Randidly still wasn’t sure that he totally understood what Ash to Ash did. It definitely activated some energy at his core, and he felt that was insanely powerful, he just had no idea how to control it. What he did know, was if he was struck by a blow while he had “Ash” mode activated, his body would disintegrate into ash and reform at another position, very, very quickly.

The area where he reformed was currently random, and Randidly had been unable to control it even after several attempts at experimentation. Still, the randomness also punished Azriel, who would likely have been able to read and predict him, had Randidly had control.

Further complicating the training was the fact that to have that mode active, cost almost 4000 mana a second. Randidly had enough reaction to use it just for a split second, but it still usually took around 1000-1500 mana each time.

Randidly was filled with passives that could boost his regeneration, but even with all of these, it simply took too long; it was better to focus on training up other skills, and keep that back as a trump card. Because like Azriel said, it only worked once.

It became more complicated because Azriel claimed that his eyes seemed to glow with an inner flame when it was active, so she was able to use feints and pull back when she saw it to make it almost useless against her. But still, she insisted they practice.

While Randidly was gaining mana, he activated Anguish, and used his will to learn to shape it, concentrating it in an area and direction.

Through all of these spells, Azriel seemed largely unphased. It further cemented Randidly’s fear of the System, and also the looming threats of the Engraving Guild and the large Styles of Deardun. She might be extremely talented, but she was still under Lvl 25. Those monsters above that level filled Randidly with a dull sense of crisis. Especially with Shal still gone…

“Again.” Azriel announced, in that imperious way she had, and Randidly rose. He still didn’t quite get why her plot to use him made sense, but he was perfectly willing to take the opportunity to learn more skills. The sky was high and wide, and he wasn’t even fighting the monsters with the strength to endanger the entire world. If these people couldn’t handle the Calamity… how strong would it be?

The spar started with Azriel moving so fast his eyes blurred, but now Randidly had improved both in his Perception and Reaction, due to the large boost from being refined by the Trial of Ash. His spear moved to meet her, relying heavily on Idiosyncratic Cut to make up for the distance in natural speed.

But it wasn’t enough, Azriel always seemed to accelerate further.

Randidly split his attention, summoning roots that ripped upwards in a randomized pattern, which made her pause, and in that moment he hammered her with the most focused Anguish he could manage. By this point, she had been exposed to it quite a bit, and didn’t flinch, but Randidly still used the chance to move forward, slashing out with his spear.

By the time the strike arrived, Azriel was already gone, blurring to stand behind him, hissing through her teeth as her spear pierced his side. Randidly’s eyes glowed with an inner fire, a bright orange light that replaced his pupil, while his iris became even more brightly emerald.

Ash to Ash.

The world returned to monochrome that Randidly had experienced when he had come out of the final vision at the trial. Everything seemed flat and empty, the noises dull and muted, the colors sucked away. As her blow landed on him, Randidly’s world shifted, as he swirled away, and suddenly found himself standing behind Azriel.

Color and sound slapped back into sudden prominence, giving Randidly something of a headache, and a great weakness came over him as he quickly ran out of mana. He no longer had his spear, as it was still dropping to the ground where he had disappeared, but Randidly didn’t let that stop him, as he unleashed a Roundhouse Kick towards her back.

That leg was promptly filled with holes, and he was knocked to the ground.