Chapter 626 (1/2)

Immediately, Randidly opened up his menu and looked at the details of his new Skill. Although his vision was spinning somewhat from the shifts in Aether, Randidly’s recovery ability was roaring back to the forefront. In a few seconds, he felt the last of the strange tingles departing and he could focus on the notifications in front of himself.

When a Shadow Departs, Fireflies Dance (Un): Move a short distance in any direction. At the initial point of the movement, create a burst of ash and several ember fireflies. The ember fireflies will seek out nearby enemies and deal minor damage. Damaged enemies will be marked with ash. Utilizing this Skill towards an enemy marked with ash will double the effects of the Skill but will consume the mark. Distance covered and amount of ember fireflies increases with Level. Effect on use towards marked enemies increases with Level.

All in all, Randidly was quite pleased with how the Skill shifted. He was relatively low Level in it now, but the additional damage from ember fireflies would be at least relevant against these wights. More than that, it was a Skill that worked best when it was done in a large crowd. When there was a bunch of enemies marked with ash around him, his ability to move would be unmatched.

It also seemed like the ember firefly effect would also be doubled, spreading his ability around even further. Randidly grimaced at the ceiling of the moss dome. Now he would like to see how he would fare against a Witch King. With all these assorted Skills-

“Oh no… I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

Randidly looked up sharply at the voice, conscious about how he was trembling very slightly from the remnants of the aftershocks from… whatever he had just experienced through Ashes to Ashes. Silo was standing in the dome, looking down at Randidly. It was a testament to how much the experience had interfered with Randidly that he hadn’t noticed Silo’s approach.

The air around him was roiling with that negative Aether. With a great effort, Randidly stood up and looked at Silo. “Yes? Is something-”

“I never took into consideration your abilities,” Silo said with a sad shake of his head. He glanced over at Skarch and Azriel, who were both sitting down. “The pace I set is too demanding for your bodies… Just look at yourself Randidly, your attempts to keep up with me have left you trembling with exertion.”

“...”

Randidly opened his mouth, but couldn’t think of anything to say. He was technically trembling.

“From now on,” Silo announced, putting his hand on Randidly’s shoulder. “When you are unable to keep up, say something. We are just lucky you collapsed here, and not while in battle. Otherwise… well obviously I would attempt to assist you, but-”

“Are you really going to let this farce happen?” Azriel said, looking at Randidly.

Silo took her to be addressing him and said. “No, you are correct, although I would like to move on quickly, we cannot until we are sure that everyone is fully recovered from today’s battles. To have accomplished all we did in such a short time, it is already impressive.”

“I’m fine,” Randidly said bluntly, frowning over at Azriel. She was hiding a smile behind her hand.

After shaking his head, Silo looked at Randidly with soulful eyes. His hand was still on Randidly’s shoulder. “Ah… to think our relationship had deepened to this extent… look Randidly, there is no need to sacrifice your wellbeing. Together, we can-”

“Ah shit,” Skarch said cheerfully. “It looks like we have guests.”

The attacks came from three wights who seemed to materialize above the moss dome. They smashed downwards, perhaps expecting to rip right through the strange material, but Randidly pumped the remnants of his Mana into the stuff so it thickened and hardened. It wasn’t enough to completely stop their advance, but the claws of the wights became stuck, as though they were trying to cut a thick cloth with scissors.