Chapter 348 (2/2)

Still, Randidly had a direction now, even if it was one where he felt dangerously out of his depth. But his Skills were rising to the occasion. Although the previous few weeks were an extremely slow period of growth for Randidly in terms of Skills, the combination of rushing over, fighting against the skeletons, his final duel with the Skeleton Knight, and now all the research into Aether, had jump started his Skill growth.

Randidly had gained 7 Lvls of SoulBond, 12 Lvls in Aether Detection and Meditation, 9 Lvls in Aether Manipulation, 5 Lvls in Battle Intent, the Weeping Cloud, and Calculated Blow, 6 Lvls in Struggle and Physical Fitness, 3 Lvls of Phantom’s Embrace and Spear Mastery, 4 Lvls in Empower, Haste, and Mana Strengthening, 2 Lvls in Grace and Flexibility of the White Hunters, 4 Lvls in Stalemate Breaker, 6 in Golden Roots of Yggdrasil and Spearing Roots, and 10 Lvls in Living Aether. All in all, it was a haul of 115 PP, which was enough to finish off his Basic Mana Engraving Path.

Congratulations! You have completed the test of Basic Mana Engraving Path! It is a path that not many tread, seeking to infuse the world around you with the strength of Mana, in the shape of Aether. But as time has gone on, you begin to see how even this path lays out before you, leading you onward. Mana +100. The efficiency and delicacy of your control while using Mana Engraving has greatly increased! A new host of runes are available to you, should you learn them.

Randidly grinned wryly. So he finally would be able to handle the Shadow IV rune, huh… Well, now that he finally had somewhat of a break, he would try and improve his equipment. Because he had to admit, although he was strong, even he could only be cautious when faced with the prospect of heading into a Lvl 49 Raid Dungeon. After all, the highest Levels he had faced in Shal’s world was only 25.

And Lvl 50… Randidly wasn’t sure, but it kept coming up, in different contexts. It seemed to him that there was something special about it. Another question, but not a pressing one, so he let it go for now.

Instead, he focused on his next options for a Path.

Heretic XIV 0/???, Nexus Traveler Cohort 5 0/50, Path of Control 0/200, Adept (+1) 0/250, Experimenter I 0/50, The Second Seedling 0/50, The Phantom’s Embrace 0/150, Fighting Proficiency III 0/???, System Transgressor 0/1, Steps of the Godling II Path 0/200, Meditation II 0/150, Greater Empower Path 0/100, Basic Soul Bond 0/75

The final 3 options were new ones, and Randidly was especially tempted by the final two, Greater Empower and Basic Soul Bond. But…

Everytime he had finished one of the “main” Paths, ie Newbie, Trainee, Apprentice, etc. he received a per level gain. Which, in his view, made the impending arrival of a Class for himself, which would let him gain levels, push for that option. 250 was high, but he already had a big chunk of it, and he would definitely be increasing the levels of at least his Aether Skills, in preparation for what would come after. Hopefully it would end up being enough.

Although in a way, it did drive Randidly slightly insane. After all… everything would be so useful…!

But he did his best to ignore those tempting Paths and poured his PP into the Adept(+1) Path, instantly putting 90 into it. It even had a nice benefit too, because every 10 PP he would receive 10 Health, Mana, and Stamina, which, all told, was a pretty sizable boost.

Satisfied, Randidly came back to himself and considered his next movements in the real world. While he, Neveah, and Lucretia were hammering out the details of creating a Class, he could still physically move around, and practice other Skills. During that time, there were several things he wanted to do. First was revisit Star Crossing, and drop off Simon, and perhaps Thea, but Randidly believed she would head to Donnyton, to investigate the Stone of Fate.

In fact, he was counting on it. Although it wasn’t exactly a Stone of Genesis, it seemed to be cut from a similar cloth. Seeing any of the weirder mechanics of the System in action would be useful, at this point, now that he was trying to decode the hyperdense Aether that seemed to permeate everything.

Which worked out in another way, because Star Crossing had apparently forged a portal between there and Donnyton, which would take them back home instantly. Aside from Randidly preparing himself to go into the Dungeon, the other factor to consider who would be the other 9 spots in the Raid Party.

Honestly, due to the high difficulty associated with a Lvl 49 Dungeon, he wanted the best. But to be honest… no longer did he know who that was, aside from himself. It was time to go home and take muster of their strength, because the System was rising.

It was time to crush it back.

There was another goal, but one that Randidly was slightly uneasy about. Although he had met Ace, he hadn’t seen Sydney. Perhaps it could wait until after the Dungeon was dealt with, but…

It weighed heavy on his mind. How would she react to seeing him…?