Chapter 598 (2/2)
Two months of training with Dinesh and Tykes had really pushed Tatiana to another Level. Literal,ly that was true, but she had also gained numerous Skill Levels as the two of them had almost tortured her with combat and training to push her to her limits.
Randidly almost felt a stab of nostalgia as he remembered his own time in the prison on Shal’s world. It was a time of emotional barrenness in his life, as that was the only way to make it through the ordeal, but he had gained so much from that time.
Then he frowned. Marco Polo. When Randidly returned, that man would answer some questions of his.
When they arrived, they rested for 30 minutes outside of the Danger Zone. Randidly had previously stored quite a lot of Mana and Stamina in his rings, but he took this time to go over them all one last time. A lot of the stats he had gained raising the Crown of Yggdrasil Path to completion had gone into Intelligence. When he switched to his current Path, Growth of Yggdrasil II, he had switched his stats to Reaction and Agility. Randidly expected that he would need it in Shal’s world.
“Ready?” Randidly asked. The group nodded. As one, they moved into the Danger Zone. This time through, Randidly mimicked his previous performance and charged forwards. Instantly, high-Level ogres leaped out of their ambush spots to attack him. Their clubs smashed against Sulfur, who purred with something like happiness. Acri blurred as the head of the spear ripped through their thick skin.
Once Randidly had all of the attention, the rest struck. Dinesh rained spells that distracted and stunned some ogres. These beasts were strong, but Tykes demonstrated what happened when Strength was used to its fullest. Hank and Thaddeus provided covering fire, whittling down the monsters health while Tatiana snuck around and seized the killing blow.
When nothing moved any longer, they took a minute to rest and check themselves before moving on. Of them all, Tatiana was being force-fed the lion’s share of the experience on purpose to push her towards 50. Of them, Tykes and Dinesh had made it past 50 with Randidly’s help the prior month. Apparently, whatever Nathan had done to Hank had allowed him to cleanly condense his Fate, although he didn’t receive very many stat benefits per Level. But according to him, the Fate had condensed on his rabbit Earth Elemental companion, and now her powers were doubled.
Thaddeus was nearing 50, but Randidly wasn’t so concerned about him. And Neveah… well, Randidly wasn’t too sure how she truly grew more powerful. It just kept happening. Part of it was Skills and Levels, but Randidly would swear that she was passively evolving constantly, due to her partial status as a monster. It wasn’t fair.
Whereas Randidly would passively take the strikes of the ogres sometimes to gain experience for Sulfur, Neveah was rip off the ogre’s arms for daring to strike her. There was a ferocious hunger to her that gave no quarter to these foes. Randidly admired that.
They pressed forward, outpacing Randidly’s estimates by a good hour. Only three hours later, they stood above the ravine that led down towards the three-headed ogre that had mocked Randidly so in the past. The same ogre that had later been reduced to tears as Randidly stood in front of it, completely bereft of Mana, unable to take its life.
This time would be different.
Randidly glanced at Tatiana. “What’s your Level?”
“Forty-Three, now,” Tatiana said, somewhat glassy-eyed. Although they had prepared her as best as they could, it was hard to simulate the feeling in being so covered in blood that trying to wipe some gore away would only spread more of something else. But she was standing steadily, which was good enough for Randidly.
He nodded, turning forward. “No promises, but we will try and get you the kill. That will push you up pretty close to 45, I believe.”
Blinking, Tatiana asked, “you don’t want it?”
“Not if I can help it,” Randidly said, not bothering to explain. Glancing around, he saw everyone was ready. He pointed. “Let’s get to it, then.”