Chapter 306 (2/2)

But it was her eyes that held Randidly’s gaze. They were a glittering, metallic gold. She smiled at him. “Greetings. I am Ten’malla Teyit, but I have come to this world of yours as the Wild Rider. I figured meeting you here without my… Regalia would help move this along. You should feel proud to see my face, it is a great honor amongst my people.”

Randidly just looked at her, frowning slightly. This… was the Wild Rider…?

Well that explained somewhat how they ended up here. Could everyone related to the System do things like this…? That certainly made them very dangerous enemies…

Seeing Randidly’s expression, the Wild Rider’s smile swiftly withered. She coughed into her hand. “…Sorry… that was a bad joke. Um, but we need to act quickly. You are destroying yourself.”

This certainly made Randidly focus. He abruptly became aware that he could no longer sense his skills or soul; there was some sort of force blocking him, isolating him from it. This did have the bonus of lowering the pain to manageable levels, but…

The Wild Rider raised her hands. “Don’t struggle, please. It’s hard enough to do this as it is. Believe me, I mean you no harm. If I did, I would have simply left you to die.”

“What’s going on?” Randidly asked, his tone more stern than he had intended.

The Wild Rider’s smile withered further, taking a step back, all of her previous joy and playfulness gone. “Um, your shattered skill, the Aether fragments. They have been forced to vibrate by the activations of other skills so much that they are resonating. Resonating so much that they are beginning to activate other skills, with enough fragments in them, which in turn-“

“-makes it 100 times worse.” Randidly said, imagining just that scene. Then he turned to the Wild Rider, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. “If we can get some of the Mending Fluid from my companion Simon.”

“No, it’s far too late for that, for two reasons,” The Wild Rider said, shaking her head. “One, his liquid doesn’t have the potency you need, even after all these weeks. And also… there is no way to bring it to you safely. The skill activations…”

She trailed off. Randidly tried to imagine what it would be like to walk towards him, when he would intermittently release something like Anguish, Circle of Flame, or the Spear Advances, Ash Trails. Basically any of his offensive spells would inflict huge amounts of damage and pain. Sure, it might be in a different direction, but as you got closer….

“Then…?” Randidly said, feeling abruptly very tired. This fucking injury….

Spreading her arms wide, the Wild Rider said. “… you are in luck. In a way, we share the same fate. If we do not find our Ala, we will die. Individually, we are weak. Together, strong.”

“…So you want me to pledge to you, so I can get a bonded animal.” Randidly said, his mind abruptly clicking together for several reasons. Was it possible then that the Wild Rider was exaggerating…? But no, what she said made a lot of sense. Now that he was aware of it, he could sense a terrible rumbling from outside the bubble the Wild Rider had wrapped them in, keeping them safe.

That was not a good sign. At all.

She laughed, and it was high and bright, reminding Randidly that she was just a preteen. “No! Haha, you don’t need to pledge to me. I’d honestly prefer you didn’t, it just means I have to give you missions or something. Sometimes the *(($*#)(#$ of the System is…”

She trailed off, then tilted her head to the side. “Ah, from your expression, you couldn’t understand that. This world is truly very early on in its growth. Well, no, you don’t need to pledge to me to learn my skill. And also, you do not need this?”

“Then what?” Randidly asked, feeling exasperated now. Was she able to help, or wasn’t she…?

In an even more childish display, the Wild Rider stomped her foot. “How can you not get it? What could I even teach you? You already have your Ala, and even my bond with Traefalgr is not so strong. How did you do it?”

Randidly frowned. “What?”

“Why do you think I brought you here, away from the distractions of your impending death?” The Wild Rider asked, her head flopping back and forth, her short hair swishing marginally. “Because this is where your Ala sits, waiting for you, asleep. Only they keep you alive now, bearing the worst of the Aether backlash. And only with their help will you heal this wound in time to save yourself.

“Ah,” She added, as she turned away. “You have about 5 minutes before your Anguish skill drains you of Health. That should occur before permanent brain damage, but that is the hard time limit, currently. Goodluck.”

Then she vanished.