Chapter 317 (2/2)
Something more than human.
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With a sigh, Randidly released the Breath of the Spear Phantom. Unfortunately, that many people was hard to suppress at once, and he couldn’t control the skill with any fineness. It seemed to hit with an area of effect, rather indiscriminately. And he was forcefully keeping the lungs of those around him closed with his will. Thinking back, Randidly recalled the notifications after he had seen Aemont kill the Golden Armored man with this move.
Congratulations! You have completed the test of Aemont! Path complete! It was long, but at the end you received something that few others have received; a chance to know the Spear Phantom. Stamina +100. You have learned the final sign of the Spear Phantom, Breath of the Spear Phantom ® Lvl 1.
Breath of the Spear Phantom ®: Forcefully suppress the breathing of those in an area around you. You must experience the same effects. Intensity of suppression increases with skill level. Stamina cost decreases with skill level. Area of effect increases with skill level.
Truly, although it wasn’t a skill that had anything to do with the spear, it was the ultimate weapon of Aemont. After watching the battle against the golden armored man, Randidly understood that even Aemont was far from having the stats to equal him. But he could use this move, and his ability to dodge and control fights, to simply starve the other man out, letting him suffocate.
It obviously wasn’t true ‘suffocation’ but rather Stamina suffocation. At that level of stats, air mattered very little, if at all. But if you could destroy the other’s Stamina...
Randidly shivered, remembering how weak he himself had felt towards the end. Perhaps what was more memorable, however, was after that Aemont had slain the man, he had turned to Randidly and looked at him, and simply said. “Do you see it? Good luck.” And then disintegrated into ash.
From what Randidly understood, that was a true and final death for Aemont. And yet…
And yet he walked into it without fear, leaving Randidly a tool he had spent his life creating, as if it was the most casual thing in the world. It was a moving message, even though Randidly couldn’t quite parse apart what it meant.
But Randidly put those thoughts aside, focusing on the present. The ground rumbled, and a tunnel opened up, a creature the size of a tree trunk crawling up out of the darkness and into the sun, staying far enough away from Randidly to dodge back into the hole, if necessary.
“You…” Randidly said slowly, looking at the notification above the creature's head. “Are a Tier II Raid Boss?”
It was a Lvl 28 Bone Wurm, regarding him with inky black eyes set into a thick carapace of bone.
“Tier I. I have just… hid in the earth, slowly growing.” The wurm said, crawling a bit farther forward.
“Why are you giving it all up then, to become my companion…” Randidly asked with forced casualness. There was certainly quite a bit of Aether billowing off this thing. If there were also hooks of the System associated with it… or even the influence of the Creature... “You understand I have this being inside of me, that you will host, yes?”
The wurm nodded. “But still I choose this path. For my children. If you swear to protect them, my body will be yours. We as a species can produce invaluable marrow silk. I suspect that you humans will be very interested in using it.”
Randidly pondered for a second, then shook his head slowly. “That isn’t enough. To trust you… I must truly know why.”
“Because there is no other way to survive.” The weariness was clear in the Raid Bosses voice. “We were given the ability to grow here, in a lower Cohort, yes. But it is a reduced thing, carefully controlled. I am a Tier I Raid Boss. On my own, I am nearing my limit. It is already a miracle I have made it this far… And you do not know how this world will change, as the System progresses. My people… will be ground to dust. Would you not take any desperate chance, if you could take it? Would you not risk it all?”
“You would be giving up your will…” Randidly said, but his eyes were bright as he looked at the Bone Wurm. Although they were very different… for a moment, Randidly was reminded of the eyes of those shades in Aemont’s example battle. That fervor, that madness. The power of having everything to lose, should you fail. The power to gamble your life for something greater than yourself.
“My will, my life…” The wurm whispered. “Is that not a cheap price, for my people’s peace?”
Randidly closed his eyes. Then stepped forward, reaching out, the being in him curious, pressing forward to the tip of his finger. After a brief feeling of his finger touching bone, and a weird give, as the being inside of him broke free and swam into the other being, there was only a small crack, and then the Aether began to surge around them.