Chapter 335 (1/2)

Congratulations! You have received the Blessing of Devouring Ash! Strength +8, Willpower +9, Focus +5. Your body temperature increases. Your immune system grows more robust, resistance to all status ailments and debuffs increases by 1%. Free stats +6.

The world of your Soul Skill turns! The denizens of your inner world evolve. As the more pressing concerns of state rise to the forefront, the religious infighting withdraws to the shadows, growing more vicious and cruel. At its heart lies the existence of the mysterious woman and the personality of the Progenitor who sent her to this world. In the darkness, more extreme views begin to brew...

The Monster King has returned, riding a great tortoise and bearing great power. He has launched a crusade against the other races, pushing far into the Spriggit Territory. The solitary Earth Golems have joined the struggle, and even the Weavers begin to move against him, binding his power. They worry that he will be the next coming of the previous emperor, who conquered the world.

The Spriggit Thief ultimately cannot resist the urge to take up the request to steal the spear, and has performed the greatest heist in history, stealing the holy relic. Tragically, she was unable to make it away unscathed, as the Weaver defenses are not to be trifled with. Her lifeblood bleeding out, she trembles and looks at the stars, wondering what the point has been...

It has been six cycles since this world’s creation. Would you like to add anything to the world? (Warning, the added qualities will be taken from a skill. A single skill level will be consumed in the taking. Other side-effects are unknown).

The religious infighting and the death of the thief was something that Randidly knew might be trouble going forward, especially if the spear was simply left there, on the ground where the Thief had crawled off to, but it was nowhere near the surface of his thoughts right now. Instead, his senses instantly spread out, as well as he could over his inner world, and very quickly, he found what he was looking for.

To his surprise, Lucretia was rather still, standing over the dying Thief. Randidly concentrated bringing the entirety of his being into a concentrated spot near them. It was still a flimsy thing, without much substance, but instantly Lucretia smiled, not looking up from the Thief.

“Good morning, Mr. Ghosthound. You seem ill at ease. Is something wrong?”

Randidly frowned, looking at her. But as she seemed content to sit in the silence, he followed her gaze and looked at the Thief. The girl was young, far younger than Randidly would have expected, perhaps only 15 or 16, wrapped in the powerful cloak that he had made with his Grace Skill. Her breathing was uneven, and her eyelids fluttered as her blood poured out, staining the cloak and spear.

The stars really were brilliant here, Randidly thought.

“Let’s not beat around the bush. I’m not comfortable with you being here.” Randidly said bluntly. “Leave of your own volition, or I will eject you.”

Lucretia smiled a little bit wider, but shrugged. “...I cannot, at present. You bringing me here has… effectively weakened me a great deal. Unless I recover for a time, I will be unable to survive in my own Cohort, let alone here.”

Randidly snorted. “With the level of strength here, I hardly-”

“You forget,” Lucretia whispered. “The cardinal rule of the System. One may climb towards the source, but you may never allow the current to carry you downstream. The System will devour you. If I wasn’t isolated like this, inside of you… the very Aether around would poison me slowly.”

After opening his mouth to respond, Randidly slowly closed it. Although he wasn’t exactly sure of the methods of such things, Shal seemed to imply something similar. So in this case, he would have to believe her. He really wasn’t sure of Lucretia’s motives, but he could be sure that if he tried to kill her, she would respond with similar deadly force. As he mulled this over, Lucretia spoke again.

“You shouldn’t worry too much, you know. Just like the Village Spirits and Champions that have come down to your Cohort from higher places need to be within a ‘Cage’ of rules in order to have the toxic Aether filtered, it’s the same for me. You are just an incredibly interesting filter, with your own private world. Harming you would be harming myself. Rest at ease.”

Of course, Randidly would not rest at ease, especially after he was told by Lucretia to relax, but there was little he could do about it. For now, he simply said. “...Then what do you want.”

“A transaction, of course.” She said with fake cheer. “Because we both know that gifts are dangerous…”

Randidly’s face stayed impassive, but he acknowledged this. In addition, gifts were unpredictable. His trap of three gifts had been effective at removing Lucretia from the picture, giving him time during his fight with Drak to focus on other things, but there were still consequences, from his perspective. After all, she was now living inside of him. In addition…