Chapter 794 (2/2)
Randidly even felt slightly impressed by how quickly her body adapted to the Emerald Essence Aether that he released. Even now, he could feel small Aether reverberations from the woman’s body as she absorbed the ambient Aether he gave off. It was almost intimidating.
“I thought something similar. Perhaps more direct intervention on my part to reshape the boats…” Randidly murmured. The group was standing at the rickety docks that housed the boats they would use. With a sharp movement, he gestured behind to the group of milling spear users who were wondering what they were doing. “Io, can you see that they are split into enough groups to man the boats?”
“It will be done, Sir Spellspear,” Io said with a bow. Then the woman turned sharply and stomped back toward the group.
Platton gave Randidly a sidelong glance. “You truly intend to bring this group with us? They are untested, untrained, and perhaps worst of all, unknown elements. The instruction you provide will bring some kind of loyalty, but I fear it will not be enough. When we are out in the open water and the Wights attack…”
“I think you will be surprised,” Randidly said with a grin. “Loyalty? Perhaps not. But I think what I’m doing is closer to a bribe. Well, we shall see.”
After rolling his eyes, Platton walked up to one of the longboats they had been given. Rather dubiously, he kicked the vessel. It bobbed up and down in the water. “The numbers might be a problem. Could you have made your bribe a little less effective?”
Randidly remained silent at that. Truly, he hadn’t understood both the number of people that would attempt the tests he provided and also how many would pass. The tests were mostly a test of fortitude and will, but there was also a very particular requirement that Randidly had for passage.
That, of course, was the ability to easily absorb his specific forms of Aether.
And contrary to what Randidly had expected, when exposed to mostly his Aether, people very quickly adapted to his Aether. At the same time, there was a subtle shift in the way his Aether Detection Skill felt people. Randidly didn't doubt that there would be subtle shifts in the type of images these people had, even after a taste.
The process of the test was relatively strenuous for Randidly. Because he was looking mostly at how people processed Aether, he wanted to not simply steamroll everyone with a powerful image. Instead, he tailored the difficulty to each person based upon how their body could respond to his Aether.
Basically, he kept increasing the density of his Aether relative to what an individual could endure so it constantly remained quite uncomfortable. It wasn’t too difficult, but when stretched over twelve hours…
Honestly, Randidly expected that some of the individuals could have finished in under an hour. That was how surprisingly quick their bodies adapted. Had they simply pushed forward, they could simply have rushed through the area. But setting the time limit at twelve hours made a lot of the test takers believe that they should take their time.
And of course, no matter how light the weight was being carried, extra weight will drag even the strongest individual down eventually.
“I didn’t mean to gather so many,” Randidly finally said. “But… they deserved it. They passed the test I had set.”
Well, not all had. There had been a few individuals, including the woman who had always been hanging around Darrune, for which he had purposely made the test difficult. Impossibly difficult. Yet, right before dawn, when Randidly had checked on her…
The branding of the Tree of Life was already upon her. Randidly was looking for support, for confirmation that his Skills were powerful enough to carry him forward. With the looming threat of his Soulskill imploding… strengthening his base seemed natural. So despite his personal feelings, Randidly looked with unbiased eyes toward the woman’s attempts.
And she was marked. The Aether had changed her. Aside from Io, the woman Yonna was one of the most impressive adapters. So Randidly would accept a woman who so desperately walked down the path of Yggdrasil.
“Fine then,” Platton said. Then he turned and showed Randidly a rare smile. “I’m just glad that I won’t be in charge any longer; I hate being the head honcho. Leaving the decisions to you will be such a relief. Besides… if you were under me I would be forced to try and keep you from doing something stupid.”
In spite of himself, Randidly laughed. “Platton, you already said it; this entire mission is stupid. Now it’s just a matter of punishing the Wights for forcing us to this point.”