Chapter 692 (1/2)

Slightly disappointed with Shal's response, Randidly returned to his room in the Hall of Stances. On his way back to his room, he asked one of the young initiates of the hall how busy the main part of the Hall was, and was disappointed to find that it was as popular as ever. It would take longer than a few days for the joy of being able to encounter some of the greatest images the world had ever seen to wain.

Mulling over what he had learned from Trentyon, Randidly returned to his room. However, as soon as he was alone, his eyes sharpened.

Even though the past was important in order to prepare for the future, Randidly's main focus right now was growing stronger. So he decided to focus his efforts over the course of the next week to polishing his Skills. Not particularly on raising the Skill Level, but Randidly believed the right course of action was to make sure using the Skills together was second nature.

As he began to develop a training plan for himself, Randidly was pleasantly surprised to receive a response from Shal.

Will be returning to Hastam. We shall speak. Be careful.

Shaking his head but slightly heartened, Randidly focused his attention one more inward on himself. Those strange Skills lost to ash remained in him, cluttering up space within his Soul. Much to Randidly's chagrin, he discovered that they really took up space inside of him. He would not have the same potential of learning Skills as he had previously due to the influence of Ash inside of him. Simultaneously though, many of Randidly's Skills had combined, so he still had a dozen or so slots inside of himself for Skills.

That was around the amount he had from his Class anyway, so there was no use becoming frustrated over the lost efficiency. Instead, Randidly considered what to train to the utmost in this week. But as he looked at his Skill List, his face was covered by a frown. He had gained quite a few Skills today, almost 20. But in Talon Strike, Mana Engraving, and Spriggit’s Tinkering. The nine in Spriggit’s Tinkering was especially confusing. There was no way that his careful consideration of history earned him points in engineering, right?

But what was the alternative? How ELSE could Randidly be gaining Skill Levels?

It was obviously beneficial at the moment because he had more PP to spend, but Randidly had a bad feeling in his chest. Gifts like this rarely came free. He had learned that from Lucretia.

To his surprise, Randidly realized that he missed the centuries-old woman. Both for her ability to use Aether and karma, and also because of the strong, steadying effect she exerted over both himself and his Soulskill. With her helping to administer Randidly’s insides, there was one less thing for Randidly to worry about.

Still, he understood that wasn’t a reasonable expectation. Lucretia would likely never return to be inside of him again, and that was alright. The life inside of him wasn’t a true life. Perhaps it was most akin to a clinical trial of some sort where a person was brought away from their real life to test some esoteric detail of life. Randidly had been blessed to have her as long as he had inside his Soulskill.

And speaking of his Soulskill...

Randidly sat on his bed and buried his head in his hands. His Soulskill was an area that Randidly always meant to give more focus toward, but he always ended up being distracted by something else. It was basically the equivalent of his Class for his Soul, and yet he completely let it fall by the wayside. Truthfully, Randidly guessed that if he really wanted to make a change to the overwhelming quality of ash that had suffused his Skills, even the plant ones, the Soulskill might be the place to start.

With a light sigh, Randidly leaned back on his bed. It was nowhere near the comfort of a bed from Earth, but it was still lightly cushioned for those rare times people from Tellus slept. And there was something profoundly soothing about staring at the ceiling. The sounds inside the room were practically nil, so slowly the sphere of hearing expanded to his whole wing of the strange dorms the warriors were placed.

As it was mostly empty, there were barely enough creaks to slow his Perception, and he stretched further. It was only when he reached the training ground and the kitchens of the Hall of Stances were his senses suitably engaged. And while his focus was stretched across half of the building he released his mind so that his eyes grew dull and he could give his consciousness a few seconds of rest where he thought about nothing.

The zen state was difficult to maintain, but Randidly forced himself to remain there for several seconds, letting his thoughts about the Ashen Image’s presence accumulate. It was a hard thing to address immediately, but Randidly had been putting it off long enough.

As he gathered himself back together after the refreshing break, Randidly’s mind went to one thing: Plant Dominance. All his ability to cultivate growth had basically been sacrificed for raw power. Not that he didn't value raw power, but...

Randidly silently grimaced. Here, in the dark room, while staring up at the ceiling, it hit him like a physical blow: his ability to grow things was gone. No longer could he be the same man he had been for so long leading up to now. His time here had Tellus had hardened his heart and burdened him with a deep sense of responsibility, and it also saw one of his most concrete ways of benefiting others disappear.