Chapter 559 (2/2)

Randidly pulled in a breath and let it out. “You don’t know what you are asking. Associating yourself with me… is dangerous.”

“Maybe. But this is the world with the System. Everything is dangerous.” Tatiana said simply.

Shaking his head, Randidly tried to figure out how to explain easily. It wasn’t an easy thing. But he tried to at least be honest. “That’s true, but… we are talking about another kind of danger altogether. If you cannot grow strong quickly, you will die around me. Think about it, if not for yourself, for everyone who follows you. Can they keep up? If they do not, they will be ground to dust by weight of what I mean to do.”

Although he had initially meant to just explain how dangerous it was around him, halfway through speaking Randidly felt a tremor in his chest. Suddenly, his mouth began to move and speak grandly of what he was and will become. Midway through, he wanted to stop. But at the same time, Randidly sensed it was true.

It was his new Skill at work again.

And due to that same impulse, Randidly extended his hand towards Tatiana, even as he wanted to say she should run away. But fate insisted there be an offer.

Tatiana didn’t even hesitate. She took his hand. A thread of karma formed between them while their hands were clasped. “Don’t be an ass. No one works harder than my girls. So can you tell me, what exactly are you trying to do? Why are you spending so much time working on steel and now making drones?”

Chuckling, Randidly lowered his arms. “I’m looking for whatever is rotten here in Zone 1. It… isn’t going as well as I hoped. The steel working and drones were originally to gather information, but now I think I’m doing it to create weapons to keep people safe. At some point, I won’t have time for this, so I want to try and equip people now.”

“What, are you going to go on vacation?” Tatiana asked, squinting at Randidly.

Randidly grinned and looked up at the sky. “Something like that. Alright fine, if you want to be a part of my… organization, we are going to need to do a few things. You have a Class, yea? How good is it?”

Tatiana just looked at Randidly, then shrugged her shoulders. “What do you mean, how good is it? It’s a Class. It’s not the best, but-”

“We will get you a better one,” Randidly said, enjoying slightly how Tatiana’s eyes narrowed. “What about Skill Levels? Not just for you, but for the other women working here. We will talk to Dinesh, and he will set up training programs. Your Skill Levels need to go up. What’s your highest Skill Level?”

“74,” Tatiana said through gritted teeth.

“Oh, that’s not as bad as I hoped,” Randidly said with a nod. “But I doubt that all of the rest of the people are as well developed. Within a few months, I’m sure we can get you up to standards. In the meantime, I’ll plant some more vegetables and fruits and build up some tree cover. That will hide the true size of your base while we expand. Next-”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Tatiana said, raising her hands. “This is all… this is all great. And I have no idea how you think you are going to accomplish this. But… let’s be realistic. Getting my Skill Levels? At this Level, it’s hard. Tree cover? Guiding the growth like that will take a long time, even with the System’s help. And getting a new Class? Are you insane-”

“No,” Randidly said simply, but he let a fraction of his Indomitable Will of Yggdrasil show out. There was a small flicker from his illusion, but Bruya’s work held admirably well underneath the strain. “Well, maybe I am. But I still keep finding myself able to move forward. So I’m not just gonna stop because no one else is doing what I am doing.”

Randidly once more raised his hand and offered it, palm up, to Tatiana. This was a second offer, the real one. “The System is bigger and more dangerous than you think. That’s what I’m trying to accomplish; I want to insulate the average person from the parts of the System you can’t see coming. So, Tatiana, are you in?”

Her face split into a smile so bright and rich that Randidly trembled to see it. There was so much vulnerability and blooming trust in it that it almost broke his heart. The threads of karma tied themselves slowly tighter. “You sure have a roundabout way of asking a girl out on a date, Viking. I already said yes, didn’t I?”

Randidly rolled his eyes. But he didn’t say anything to correct her.