Chapter 752 (2/2)

It certainly had exploded like a flashbang, but…

Well, expecting more would be ridiculous. This was the world. In the world, things took hard work. He had finally discovered the tool he had been looking for in order to bring balance back to himself. If his plants would turn to ash, he would have things burned by his fire explode in growth. It was reversed, but it would suffice.

Plus, with the spread of the image to several other Skills, Randidly had hopes that the people in his Soulskill would quickly feel the effects of the new image. Perhaps-

Randidly paused.

The ground was rumbling. The ground of his Soulspace-

Crack.

Randidly spun around, looking toward the middle of his Soulspace. There, one of the Skills consumed by the Ashen Image trembled briefly before disintegrating in a cloud of ash. In the few seconds after that, the rest of the Skills followed. Those hollow and consumed Skills shuddered and collapsed. The Soulspace filled with the billowing debris that had seemed calcified until now.

With a bit of will, Aether swept through the area and blew away the dust. And of course, revealed the tiny floating image shards that had been revealed in the wake of the ash. There were about a dozen, and so small that they were nowhere near forming a Skill, but from the middle portions of the Skills somehow survived the culling.

Now they were murky and slightly vague, but Randidly got a few feelings from them. Manual Labor, Wall of Thorns, Mana Shield…

Randidly smiled at the largest of the remnant bits. And unlike the others, which were various greens and blues, this one was bright golden. It was even double as large as the next largest remnant. Randidly floated over toward it and placed his hand on top of the image shard.

Spearing Roots, huh…

“Ha… ahahaha!” In the silence of his Soulspace, Randidly’s eyes blazed and he threw his head back and laughed. It shouldn’t mean anything. He had gained other Skills that possessed a great deal more power. But…

Grasping Roots was his first Skill. It fucking mattered that he got this back. This was the core of the Path Randidly had walked to get here. If Randidly was Yggdrasil, this little shard was a seed.

All those years ago, fighting against the Sphinx to obtain the beginning of his Aether Crossroads, he would have been barely able to scratch her without Spearing Roots. It was a small strength, but it had grown with Randidly over time. When he had lost it, it had been a devastating blow. Even now, Randidly could sense he couldn’t recover it, but he didn’t need the same thing.

No, what he needed was that surety that this was the right Path...

Grinning, Randidly reached out and squeezed the remnant image. As if sensing his intent, the other remnant images shot forward and gathered around Randidly’s fist. Very quickly, the slipped through his fingers and gathered together with the Spearing Roots image. Although they were all individual smaller, as all the remnants gathered they began to grow and warp.

The focus of Spearing Roots was lost, but that golden color just grew stronger and stronger, until an orb of liquid gold floated before Randidly. Within it, those images were shifting and merging in strange ways. Randidly glanced upward. Already, Aether was beginning to swirl above it.

He wasn’t sure what it would become, but…

Randidly took a step back. The flows of Aether spun down and surrounded the strange orb. Very quickly, energy began to penetrate the outer layer and nurture it. Content, Randidly returned to his body. His eyes flicked open.

Time to prepare for his escape.