Chapter 428 (1/2)
In the aftermath of Randidly assisting Alana, he had to take a pause before he dealt with his own notifications; the images were flooding through his actions. Every movement reminded him of something else, from a life that wasn’t his. Every second he was struck by a sense that he didn’t know himself, and he had to close his eyes and breathe very slowly to calm down.
Neveah, again, would have been super useful for this part, Randidly reflected, wincing at the headache-inducing mass of images that rushed to the forefront. But in a way, Randidly understood that this wasn’t a permanent thing. These images were just acting according to their nature. They had been suppressed for so long that they were seeking a use, an outlet.
If they were people, Randidly would have slapped them over the head, but for now, he could only wait.
Still, as his instincts indicated, they slowly faded away, filling him in a very unobtrusive way, fading into his Grasp of Lava, Circle of Flame, and Incendiary Bolt Skills. Some other images floated towards his spear Skills. For the remainder, they drifted downwards in Randidly’s chest, eventually finding and settling in the Aether Crossroads in his chest, forming a very light rune floating in his chest.
Little motes of light continued to flow through their connection, strengthening the rune, but for now, it was so dim that it was illegible. But Randidly could already feel Lucretia’s burning desire to take it apart and figure out what was going on.
Ruefully, Randidly sighed. Although it was nice to have some… tentative measure of confidence that Lucretia wasn’t currently trying to screw him over, there were some drawbacks. The main one was that she had turned from a fate manipulating witch to a scientist on the autism spectrum who couldn’t help her compulsion to experiment on things that shouldn’t be messed with. There were worse things, however.
With his headache slowly fading away as the images filtered through his body, Randidly turned his attention to the notification waiting unobtrusively in the corner of his vision.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 10! +5 Stats distributed between Vitality, Perception, Resist, Intelligence, and Control, +3 Free Stats! +1 Stat to a Mental Stat. +1 to a Physical Defense Stat. +1 to a Mental Support Stat. +1 Control. +20 Health, +24 Mana, +23 Stamina, +.5 to all Regenerations! +1 to Health and Stamina Regeneration! +20 Progenitor’s Influence. You have gained the Skill Vengeful Bloom (Un) Lvl 1. You have gained the Skill Galant Intervention (Human) Lvl 1. You have gained the Skill Spriggit’s Tinkering ® Lvl 1.
Vengeful Bloom (Un): In your body resides the baleful unwillingness of the Forest of Enmity. When struck by physical attacks, a very small amount of damaging energy is released, proportional to the opposing strike. Your resistance to cutting and bludgeoning slightly increases. Effects increase with Skill Level.
Galant Intervention (Human): By the grace of your power, move at a speed beyond your capabilities to throw yourself in the way of an oncoming blow. Only works on human victims. Effect of speed boost and maximum distance from the target increase with Skill Level.
Spriggit’s Tinkering ®: Through your inner world, you have gained a portion of the Spriggit’s knack for creating technologies and systems. Your speed and success rate creating various systems and apparati has increased. Your ability to understand complex processes is slightly boosted. Effect increases with Skill Level.
Randidly made a tsk’ing sound with his mouth. A small physical damage reflect boost, an increased ability to save people nearby, and increased… engineering proficiency? Fine, but definitely not quite as exciting as the previous batch of Skills that he earned.
Still, it was another source of PP for him. And speaking of PP…
During his time in the Raid Dungeon Randidly had earned 7 Levels in Wall of Thorns, 3 in Aether Detection and Child of Rain, 8 in Aether Manipulation and Grasp of Lava, 5 in Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil and Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil, 4 Levels in the Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil and the Golden Roots of Yggdrasil, 2 in the Indomitable Spirit of Yggdrasil and Circle of Fire, 4 in Invigorating Shout and Sharpness, 1 in Incinerating Bolt and Nether Resistance, and 6 in Touch from Beyond, and 3 in Spearing Roots and Spear Mastery.
That ended up at just over 70 PP. More than enough to pour into Path of Control, finishing off the Path very quickly.
Congratulations! You have completed the Path of Control! This was perhaps not the Path that you ended up choosing, and it has taken you a long time to run its gamut, but it was a familiar and safe path, and at the end of it, you turn back and look how far you’ve come, and wonder why it took you so long to embark in this direction. But the Path leads ever onward, don’t stop now. Gain an additional +1 Control per Level. +10 Wisdom. You have gained the Skill Gravity Affinity Lvl 1.
Gravity Affinity: You have a small affinity for gravity. It is possible to make minor variations to the gravitational forces on your body, lessening the gravity to increase speed, and increasing gravity to deal increased damage. Effect is weak. Effect weakens drastically outside of your body. Effects increase with Skill Level.
This was more of what Randidly was talking about, even if the Path was getting a little sassy about him taking a while to finish it. Although it wasn’t… strong at all right now, in the future, if he could increase its effects… changing gravity's effects on himself would enable him to do a lot of cool, movie style things…