Chapter 620 (1/2)

Maybe he was spoiled from acting solely within the theater of a Zone for the past several years, but Randidly found himself somewhat stunned by the sheer size of Tellus. Once again, the powers that be in the Central Domain didn’t see fit to assist their team with transportation, and they were left largely to their own devices.

This point at least, Randidly understood. It seemed that the teleportation locations acted off of an Aether variant and that it was much more difficult to gather such energy than it had been in the past. Although not irreplaceable, the energy was theoretically finite, especially if they weren’t able to regain the Spear-source relatively quickly. Perhaps if they had more money to their name…

Randidly wondered idly why neither Azriel or Helen seemed to possess any money. Of course, he didn’t expect a single thing from Silo; the bastard probably gave his last few coins to a three-legged dog.

To the guy’s credit though, he was capable enough in those few times they encountered monsters while traveling. His moves all seemed to be related to the image of a bright light and powerful flashes. It didn't’ seem particularly… impressive in all honesty, but there was a strange wariness that Randidly felt when he watched the other man move. Something was lurking in that image.

Well, it was somewhat hard to tell. No matter how close those levels may be, Randidly knew that there was some distance between them. One benefit of the training with Azriel and Helen was that he was much more nuanced in his understanding of spear techniques. Helen repeatedly drilled those lessons into his head.

If he misread her approach…

And he had, over and over again. Until finally, something clicked.

Strangely, he had immediately gained several Levels in Visualization afterward. It made him look forward to how the passive Skill could help him as he gained more Levels in it.

To Randidly’s surprise, they weren’t really ambushed all that often by monsters on their travel. On his initial walk to Niergem, he hadn’t thought much of it, but the trek to the capital and then South from there really hammered the lack of monsters home in his mind. When he asked about it, Azriel gave him a weird look.

“The energy is leaving, so monsters no longer spawn. The only way they can reproduce is the old-fashioned way. There are areas where monster populations are expanding due to this reason, but in most places… they weren’t designed to live here.”

After two days of travel, the group arrived at the Southern Coast of the Central Domain. It took some doing to locate the particular military base, and waiting there was only more disappointment; their Sergeant, Flail Platton, was currently across the sea and performing insurgency operations.

Randidly was trying to figure out how to convince the group to just go across anyway when Silo spoke.

“Perhaps… waiting is definitely not the best option. Although it is difficult… I believe was should cross to the Southern Domain and search for Sergeant Platton there.”

“The seas are infested with monsters, are they not?” Skarch asked curiously.

Silo nodded.

To everyone’s surprise, Skarch smiled widely. “How exciting.”

****

Silo Rune leaned back against the frame of the small wooden vessel. With good weather, they would make landfall on the other side of the sea in five days. It was slow going, but it gave Silo more chances to finally check the treasure he had been given by his uncles. Time and time again he had been disciplined until he understood how precious it was, so he was loathe to use it.

But this was the time. Everything they had learned pointed to this. They would not get another chance. With the Spear-source captured, the higher-ups would not pay much attention to the strength of spear users until it was too late. And by then…

Well, Silo hoped to finally break that impossible barrier. But that was a long ways away now.

So at the moment, he took his turn resting in the small dark cabin in the boat and laid down on the hammock. The room was barely larger than a closet, but it was the only place with an privacy on the boat. Although the military sympathized with their plight, Silo could tell that both Sergeant Platton’s absence and the lack of forthcoming assistance weren’t entirely natural.

Althumber appeared to have extended his reach even here.

Pressing his eyes shut, Silo tried to wipe his mind clear of any thoughts of his adversary. The other man was weak. Before absolute power… nothing mattered. For the people that he needed to protect, Silo would do anything. Even traveling down this road towards becoming a monster.