Chapter 624 (2/2)

As the group settled, Silo spoke gravely. “We were lucky again to escape with so few wounds. Everyone, great job. But don’t lower your guard from just this. These have been small scouting forces; soon our operations will be noticed.”

Randidly sighed inwardly; none of them were wounded. If anything, they had done more damage to the islands beneath them than any of them had taken. Truly, the wights were as unsettled by the constant rain as Azriel was. It plastered their diaphanous cloaks to their bodies, revealing their unhealthily thin torsos. It was simply a matter of finding where they were holed up and then ripping them to shreds.

And with Randidly’s Aether Detection, it was child’s play. But he allowed others to use their own methods most of the time and only intervened if they would miss a cluster of them.

“Hmmm, it is unfortunate that this rain is so pressing… but I believe I will go out and scout around for a bit.” Silo said while scratching his jaw. “Just to check if we missed something. Please remain here to avoid suspicion. If there are any problems-”

“Yes, yes,” Skarch said shortly, waving her hand. “By all means, if you need some private time just say it. We will not judge you for your… needs.”

Randidly bit back a laugh as Silo went pink, but he didn’t say anything when he left. As his gaze pierced through the wall of the dome to follow his figure, Randidly’s smile slowly slipped away. Based on what he had seen earlier, Randidly knew what Silo truly was going to do. It likely wasn’t Randidly’s place to say anything about it, but... it didn't’ quite sit right with him either.

That chunk of Aether-esque substance Silo possessed… it was filled with a sickening darkness. It was definitely related to System Aether, but… something very strange had worked it over. It was greedy and possessive, and devoured the old Aether in Silo’s body, bit by bit. It was actually somewhat fascinating to watch, as Silo fought against it. Randidly considered intervening, but it didn’t seem like the invasion would hurt him per se, just… destroy his old images.

Shaking his head, Randidly turned his attention to the small opaque Soulstone that he held in his hand. Now that there were some glimmers of light within the Stone it was somewhat easier to see the runes that line the thing. But of course, it looked like the makers had placed a strange shifting illusion over the orb. The light refracted in unpredictable ways as Randidly watched.

With his high Intelligence, he could slowly work around it, but it was frustrating work. And what was more frustrating was that Randidly didn’t truly care about how it was made. What the Soulstone gathered wasn’t Aether, per se, but it was an echo of Aether. It consisted of something that might be considered an ego in psychological terms. It was the weak core of a life as the body failed.

Randidly shuddered to think what being captured like that was like, but his investigations seemed to indicate that there was no consciousness to the gathered energy. And it was a sort of energy. He had no doubt that the money grubbing owners of the tournament would take these stones and use them to power their teleports in the future.

Azriel seemed to be meditating on some image of hers and Skarch was polishing her spear. Randidly sensed the explosion of twisted Aether beginning and pulled his awareness inward. If that idiot got killed glutting himself on Aether, it wouldn’t be his problem. Right before he pulled away, Randidly wondered if the guy knew he was effectively getting himself addicted to that either. Because based on how it was behaving… that Aether was not the sort to play nice with other varieties.

Besides, Randidly had his own issues. In his Soul Space, there was a low and constant thrumming.

At first, Randidly was concerned that something was wrong with his Soul Skill. But the noise was coming from his Skills. His next thought was that his reconstructed Skill was starting to break apart again. But no, As the Sun Stills was perfectly fine. No, the noise was coming from several Skills at once. All together, they seemed to be singing.

One of the Skills involved was Scarlet Burst, which was quickly becoming a favorite of Randidly’s. The speed boost was small, but it was unidirectional and could be used consecutively, for a higher Stamina cost. If you used it within two seconds of a prior use, the Cost doubled. But still, it granted a lot of utility with just the first burst it provided.

During the past few hours clearing islands, Randidly had gained 8 Levels in the Skill and had already gained enough experience to reach Level 29. The only reason he hadn’t was that Acri grew sulky when he wasn’t fed experience for a long stretch.

The other Skill that was vibrating in time with Scarlet Burst was a surprise: Ashes to Ashes. True, Randidly had used it briefly today several times. Although Aether Detection was good at detecting Aether, it didn’t provide any further information. He couldn’t discern numbers, simply the mass of Aether from a distance.

There was a possibility that they were walking into either a duel with one very powerful individual, or 100 common ones, and Randidly wouldn’t know the difference. That was where Ashes to Ashes came in. The more he used the Skill, the more he sensed that thin edge that the Skill took up.

It was a path along the razor-sharp edge between the world of Aether where Randidly lived, and the world that Randidly could use with Touch from Beyond. But while Randidly was in that state, all living beings were outlined in sharp relief. Their Aether turned into a visible distinguisher that allowed Randidly to view them more directly. Although it was costly, Randidly’s recovery made it a useful tool in his arsenal.