Chapter 282 (2/2)

Aether sung as he channeled it through every corner of his body, then through his body and into the spear, which began to shake, not designed to handle so much Aether at once. But as Randidly shot upwards with the skill, he raised the spear, aiming it higher, thrusting it upwards into the sun above the arena.

Then he sucked inwards, using the natural power of the spear to draw in meaning.

The sky above trembled, Drak seemed to falter, his stance shifting into something more surprised than dangerous.

Again, as Randidly reached the apex of the jump, he drew in everything he could, pressing with his will, feeding more and more Aether into the spear. The spear was humming now, the runes on it glowing brighter and brighter, the machinations of it furiously activating.

In spurts, then in larger chunks, Randidly began to feel subtle things about the world, a hint of the images. The feel of a breeze, the superheated air, the desolation that a world beneath such a sun would experience… but then he began to feel the eternal fires of the sun. Then the superhot chemical reaction that would fuel that, and the dwindling supplies of that supernova, the expiration date that would mean the end of this power.

Fire, explosive and dangerous, a draining, supreme fire, that did not burn, but simply incinerated everything.

Still Randidly drew the meaning inward, as he began to fall towards the ground. Now the spear was screaming, almost in agony.

Then it all clicked. He found an image, practically fully formed, floating in small pieces inside of him.

The sun above, Drak’s great image, shuddered and died, leaving the battlefield abruptly free of its influence. Randidly crashed to the ground, some distance away from Drak, and turned to face the man, who was totally shocked.

Maybe now they would finally have time to-

An inarticulate roar erupted from Drak’s lips, and he rushed forward towards Randidly, who could only sigh. No rest for the wicked. But now, he could do something dangerous, to meet this opponent head on. With the infinite seeming Aether swirling within him, he began to shape the image he wanted. Notifications popped up, but he ignored them, eyeing Drak.

Spearing Roots ripped forward again, smashing into Drak, but Randidly’s opponent ignored them, too furious to even stop and block them like he usually did. Grinning Randidly continued to split his attention, half on the image, the other half on his Spearing Roots. Instead of attacking Drak’s vital points, Randidly aimed elsewhere, hoping…

And his faith was rewarded when a Spearing Root ripped into Drak’s side, sinking into his body, staggering him. Instantly, every Spearing Root rushed forward to the spot, ripping the wound wider. Randidly had repeatedly hit the same spot, using his high Control stat to focus his attacks on the same points. And after wave after wave of that, he had finally punctured that strangely thick skin of Drak’s.

Drak howled, and instantly used his spear to decimate the roots. But it was not before Randidly had created more Spearing Roots from the tip of the root that had punctured his skin, using that small opening, doing an insane amount of internal damage.

There was no hesitation to it either, no fear of killing his opponent. Perhaps it was a result of all the time spent preparing for just this with Azriel, but Randidly almost felt that if his opponent couldn’t survive this, it wouldn’t be an opponent that had hung over him for so long.

Drak staggered, then advanced, even faster, barely inconvenienced by Randidly’s blows. Which was exactly what Randidly wanted.

Congratulations! You have created the Second Kata of the Ashen Spear. As this was created on a higher Cohort world than your own, all benefits have been forfeited. Please name the skill.

“As the Sun Stills.”

As the Sun Stills ® Lvl 1 has been created!