Chapter 336 (2/2)

“There is a precedent, and almost intuitively Ten’Malla can sense it.” Lucretia continued. “What she wants is to assume someone else’s role… a cage that wasn’t designed to hold her powers. Like you have been creating your entire time in the System. Even just by looking at the structures here, I can sense it, the world is waiting with bated breath, Randidly… what will you change next?”

There was a long moment of silence. The Thief’s breathing became even now, her eyelids pressed thankfully closed. Inwardly, Randidly began to examine all of the past events, fitting them together, figuring out where his influence had shifted things, and what that could mean for the future. But very quickly, he became helpless. He didn’t have the sort of methodical and categorical mind to carry out such an analysis.

So he simply filed it away for another time. There were others that would be able to do more with this information. For his part… he considered one last fact. Should he inform Lucretia of the existence of the Creature…?

Because ultimately, while Randidly was the tool by which these shifts were made, they were really engineered by the Creature. Without her influence, none of this would have occured. Although he had no proof, the more Randidly experienced the System, and heard other people’s stories, it was very strange that he had spawned in a Dungeon to start. No one else claimed such a genesis.

Of course, that might be because everyone who did had died. But more than that… it was a Dungeon where Shal was present. At first, Randidly had attributed this to Shal himself, and wondered how he had gotten into a Dungeon on Earth. But when released from the Dungeon, Randidly had spawned in a strange spot with no Dungeons around it.

If it wasn’t Shal that had moved… perhaps Randidly himself was in a Dungeon in another world. Of course, there were perhaps flaws in the System, but it was a stretch to believe that such a huge, convenient flaw that had given him such an advantage was present, and hadn’t been addressed. But if it was the actions of someone else…

The downside of telling Lucretia about the Creature was obviously the chance that she would betray Randidly and receive assistance from the Creature. But the more Randidly thought about it, the more this worry faded. Of all of her flaws, Lucretia was not dishonest. That was what was so shudder inducing about her. She would tell you very directly how she would fuck you, and you would let it happen, and not realize how your life was collapsing until the last moment.

“...There is something I need to tell you.” Randidly said slowly. “True, I am the agent of such change… but there is something monstrous pushing the pieces on the board around. I call it the Creature. It can assume anyone’s shape, and can create using Aether. The reason I grew strong… was due to its prodding.”

Lucretia just watched him, her eyes glittering, a small smile growing on her mouth. And Randidly felt it too, a strange reversal of their previous interaction. He was being dragged forward by her dark karma, pulled into speaking.

And really, he didn’t care, because the depth of his resentment and fury towards the Creature overpowered all else. “The core of this world you want to help me understand… it was a weapon, designed by the Creature. I am willing to allow you to stay here, but I don’t just want understanding… I want your assistance to kill her. Or at least remove her influence. In exchange...I’ll remove the limiters on our Aether connection, in addition to letting you stay here. Deal?”

Hopefully, the additional bait of the connection would be enough to get Lucretia more actively interested in giving assistance. In addition, although it made Randidly vulnerable to her in some ways that he didn’t really understand fully, that was swiftly changing as his Aether related skills grew. And Lucretia received those same vulnerabilities, and she didn’t have the benefit of skills.

If it came down to a direct confrontation, Randidly was confident that he could overcome her, given enough time. Although it did scare him a bit that she always seemed to choose the right moment to strike. He could only suspect that there was a part of her skill that gave her near perfect timing to accomplish her goals, which was a disturbing thought.

Her light purple hair fluttered around her as she smiled. “It is a deal, Randidly Ghosthound. May we be bound until both our goals have come true.”

Something shifted, Randidly felt, between them. Like suddenly two puzzle pieces clicked into place, their individually powerful wills coming together. The fact that the shift was felt though, was a little unexpected, and it made Randidly profoundly wary, even as he could feel his instincts no longer recognizing her as a threat.

Something to watch out for.

“I’ll begin investigating the mechanisms of this world,” Lucretia said, turning away “Try not to jostle me around too much. You can feel it here, you know, when you start drawing too much Aether.

“Oh, and one more thing.” She said, “You shouldn’t fear betrayal so much, especially from me… it will make you miss the detail we bargained for… that will benefit me so much more than you. And that wouldn’t be very much fun, now would it?”