Chapter 366 (2/2)
Randidly’s mouth twisted. Well, he needed to reframe the issue as best he could before Thea used her Stone of Fate and Randidly needed to observe the process, doing his best to extrapolate some truth about the construction of the System. Since realizing what was ahead of him, he had done his best to observe the world better, but…
It really would come down to a roll of the dice. But he also had access to his Stone of Genesis…
Several things clicked into place in Randidly’s head. The Stone of Genesis would serve as a good 2nd experiment in regards to Aether construction, but he had been stuck on how to choose who should get it. He had received a relatively long list of names from Donny in regards to talented people, perhaps 25 in total, but Randidly didn’t believe that he would ever gift the item away without meeting the person.
In addition, the work he had done with Mrs. Hamilton, in regards to shifting the social emphasis…
A tournament…multiple tournaments...
Randidly’s eyes glittered. He would need prizes for each of the different tournaments, for the different social strata. The Stone of Genesis worked for one, but as for the rest…
Well, issues for later. Something that Randidly could consider slowly, because these probably wouldn’t be announced until the weekend, when Annie and Dozer announced their baby’s name. The tests themselves would take a bit more time to implement…
Grimacing, Randidly began to move faster across the hills, eventually arriving at the spot where Neveah was playing with the people of Squads 2 and 3. After shooing the people away, Randidly hopped on Neveah’s back and road North and East, away towards the edge of the Zone and away from human habitation.
After traveling for about half an hour, Randidly believed they were far enough away from people, and had Neveah stop. They were in an area that was just more and more low hills, covered in scrubby trees, and relatively lousy with a strange crimson haired monkey creature.
Frowning, Randidly considered hunting down the Raid Boss that was probably producing these creatures, but ultimately decided against it. As the soul who had inhabited Neveah’s body had said, they had room to grow, but it was not infinite, and above 30 it became extremely difficult for the monsters to improve, much like it seemed that people had hit a similar wall above 45, their leveling speed slowing to a crawl.
“So much to do…” Randidly muttered, closing his eyes. Neveah pressed her body up against him, causing him to smile. Well, at least he had support.
Don’t act like I’m constantly trying to sabotage you, no matter how much you wish I would. Lucretia’s sour voice floated up in his subconscious.
Randidly’s mouth twitched, but he said nothing.
Laying on the ground, Neveah curled up around him, covering his body in several rings of bones. Part for protection, but also because she liked the proximity to him. Eyes burning golden, Randidly used most of his Mana and thousands of small root tendrils exploded out of the ground, filling the air, writhing back and forth.
Most of what Randidly would be doing was discussion with Neveah and Lucretia, who would be doing the heavy lifting in terms of Aether manipulation, although both of them relied on his Skill to interact directly with it. But that would mean a portion of his consciousness would be free, and there was no point in wasting that extra time.
Slowly, dozens of Root Avatars began to form, picking up their root spears, getting in line, and they began to practice and polish their spear arts, lightly sparring against one another. At the same time, Randidly activated Anguish, and then closed his eyes, floating downwards towards his Soulscape.
Lucretia was waiting there, as well as a foggy figure that was part human, and part wurm. Randidly squinted at it, and it wiggled back and forth, distressed.
Difficult. Want better. Eventually. Neveah sounded reproachful, depressed and sad.
Randidly could only shake his head, and did his best to console her strange amalgamation. Then he turned his head to Lucretia. Her smile was small, and for once, not designed to rip and tear.
“I have good news, and I have bad news,” She announced. After Randidly cocked an eyebrow, she continued. “The good news is that this will definitely work. Watching the portions of Aether we-”
We. Neveah thought darkly, in a way that was exceptionally clear to Randidly did NOT include Lucretia. Randidly hid his grin.
“-absorbed from the Creature disintegrate, I think I have a pretty good idea of how to make the actual… substance of the Class. As for the shape….” She paused. “...we need examples. Preferably multiple. Preferably live. Preferably… getting a Class for the first time.”