Chapter 648 (1/2)

“Fucking 2000!??!” Randidly bellowed.

The surgeon patted his shoulder absently. “Worry not, the larger pieces are already removed. This would be easier if you could lower your natural toughness, eh? Just how high is your Endurance, anyway?”

Randidly didn’t bother to answer him as his monologue turned inward. 2000 PP was an almost impossible number. He had come a long way, of course, from the days where he had Paths for 25 or 50 PP. And Randidly’s ability to gather PP had vastly grown, so the difference wasn’t too intimidating. But to jump all the way up to 2000…?

That was only a little less than the amount of PP he had spent so far since gaining the Soul Skill, Seven Lands of the Spectral Tree. Theoretically, if he spent time learning meaningless Skills with his freed up slots and grinding them up to 50 or 60, he would have a lot of that filled up, but…

Randidly didn’t have time for that. Since the System arrived, it had largely been him turning his attention from one threat to the next. As such, it was extremely difficult to imagine that he would be able to gather enough free time to grind up less useful Skills.

Aside from the big Path, Randidly had a few other options to choose from, some of which he had available for a long time.

Heretic XXVIII 0/???, Nexus Traveler Cohort 5 0/50, Experimenter I 0/50, The Fighting Proficiency III 0/???, System Transgressor 0/1, Steps of the Godling II Path 0/200, Friend to Humanity 0/100, War Leader 0/200, Path of the Patron 0/500, Metallurgist 0/300, Advanced Mana Engraving 0/400, Aether Convergence II ???, Perfect Soul Bond 0/1000, the Bell of Doom Tolls 0/600, Chosen of Ash 0/200, Growth of Yggdrasil III 0/2000

But of them all, Randidly instantly chose Chosen of Ash. The strange accident that happened earlier during his time on Tellus as he investigated Ashes to Ashes made Randidly keen on figuring that out as soon as possible, lest it end up being an issue. That piercing headache he had in the wake of using that Skill still haunted him.

The first batch of 70 PP he dumped into the Skill, which he earned from the growth of the Yggdrasil Skills, earned Randidly nothing. His mood immediately turned depressed. So it was, with the Patron of Ash. No matter what Randidly sacrificed for him, what he received in return was somewhat underwhelming.

With a wince, Randidly straightened from the operating table. It was an effort of will to prevent the blood that Randidly had shed on the table and the surrounding area from hissing and eating through the material of the triage center. The damage would be significant, and some questions might be asked. So he did his best to gather his blood back on his skin as best he could as the doctor scribbled away on his notepad.

“That healing Skill of yours… it's very useful.” The surgeon announced, “Most of my patients these days die during procedures like this.”

Randidly didn’t say much as he thanked the man and fled from the hospital.

*****

Sergeant Platton clenched his hands into fists. The Lieutenant in front of him sighed dramatically and then waved his hand.

“Look Platton, you have been rumor mongering your entire career. What do you expect? That you somehow discovered a conspiracy to bring an actual Propagator, which some believe are simply myths, into Tellus? And you somehow fought it and escaped?”

“Yes,” Sergeant Platton growled, his eyes glowing red as he glared at the Lieutenant. But all the ill will that Platton managed to concentrate and shoot at the man seemed completely ineffective against his condescending smile.

“Well… perhaps I should defer to my peers. I am only a Lieutenant after all. What say you?”

Sergeant Platton was speaking before a tribunal of five. It had been difficult to get even this much, as all the activity going on at Southpoint Beach increased. But what was largely infuriating to Platton was that a Lieutenant was selected as head of the tribunal. The other members of the report committee were Captains.

Although this particular Lieutenant was adjunct to a Colonel, technically Sergeant Platton outranked him. The ranks when Sergeant, Captain, Colonel, Field Marshall, and Auroch. The highest in command at Southpoint Beach was Colonel Euthna, to which this Lieutenant was subordinate. It was due to that relationship that these Captains had the impulse to fawn over the man.