Chapter 653 (1/2)

Shal was frustrated. Lying beside him was Razland, who was already asleep. His snores were so noisy that Shal almost believed that the Wights would leave their fortifications and launch an attack in the middle of the night in order to get Razland to cease with his incessant noise.

After Shal had drawn the two Witch Kings into a fight and killed them both with Razland and Verynica’s help. That had largely broken the force of Wights ravaging the Death School. They had pursued the final general in the area to the first location that they had taken, here at Deepmysh.

Stubbornly, the Wights had deployed to Hell Maw’s and repelled all assaults on the base. Shal could have ripped through it easily, but he was held back by Ophelia Vade’s warning to hide his main strength. At the time that he had received that encouragement from his superior, Shal had agreed it was smart. But now…

What was the point?

There was definitely something amiss in the whole battle on Tellus. The Wights were launching assaults and winning everywhere that Shal could see, and yet no one was doing anything about it. Everyone was guarding their cards too closely to play any hands before they had enough chips to force someone else out.

The problem was that Shal had no fucking idea who the players were. And also, he didn’t understand WHY he had to hide his true strength.

On Tellus, the four distinctions were Artisan, Adept, Pontiff, and Master. An Artisan had enough strength of image to cause a vision or auditory change to the world simply by using a Skill. An Adept could physically move something, only with a Skill’s image. These were the base two types of strength and could be reached with sufficient training and Willpower. That was especially true when an individual spent some time on the front lines.

That sharpened an image like nothing else. Standing near death paid dividends in this brutal world.

Between the lower two and upper two distinctions, there was a firm line. That was why it was so important that Randidly had been judged to have the potential to reach the Pontiff level all that time ago. His potential was to become a true mover and shaker on Tellus.

A Pontiff could do many things, but what truly set Pontiffs apart was that their Skills and images touched on something bigger than themselves. They possessed a hint of a greater image. When seeing those images, they fit into easy to understand, larger narratives. To say it simplest of all… these images seemed ‘true’.

Now, this was essentially useless without the Spearsource in their possession. The Spearsource had served as a bridge to becoming a Pontiff to many. Many of the images relating to the spear lost their power without the Spearsource installed.

But to others, it gave them a chance to reach the pinnacle of Tellus: the Masters. Those that could create their own images with such strength that they could become their avatars. They didn’t need to resemble the power of certain larger narratives or images; they could create those powerful images all on their own.

These individuals also could forcefully raise the strength of the people beneath them with their images serving as a boost. And Shal knew he wasn’t near the level of the old monsters, but he had fought and struggled until he had created his own Master-Class image. Yet Ophelia Vade insisted he hide it.

So Shal simply sat in the darkness, looking towards Deepmysh. His eyes glowed in the low light, and some part of him ripped apart the distance and the walls to see within. Even from here, he could feel the rapid heartbeat of the Witch King within. Shal’s mouth curled up in a small smile. Then he closed his eyes and began to meditate.

As long as his enemy knew he was coming… Shal supposed there was no harm in letting the rabbit tire itself out.

*****

Randidly felt the deep scratching at the back of his head that indicated Mana deprivation and grimaced; he simply couldn’t get away from the ridiculous Mana expenditures right now. It was simply too easy to gain experience that way.

Several of the Wights that he had knocked to the ground with Incendiary Eruption staggered to their feet, but Randidly was on them in that short moment. Acri scythed back and forth, ripping their frail bodies to shreds. One hissed in displeasure and condensed a large claw that loomed over Randidly.

As the attack came down, but Randidly was suddenly a breath of wind and the force of the attack blew up sideways. Within a split second, Randidly cut back and cut the offending Wright in half.