Chapter 856 (1/2)

Randidly was very annoyed. Because he couldn’t find this Naffur and had spent a few hours summoning riders and sending them against monsters of various Levels. At Skill Level 1, his Rider had about as much strength as something who possessed a Level in the low 30s. At Skill Level 20, he gained the ability to summon a second one, which made them at least capable of harassing these above Level 50 monsters, if that monster was alone.

For a while, at least. Ultimately, the Level 50 monster could absorb the wounds to break out of the encirclement, likely crushing one of the riders in the process. Having them capable of fighting Level 30 monsters was already a good start, but Randidly suspected that was due to the Skill absorbing other Skills.

If it hadn’t, he might have a little baby summon on his hands.

But he couldn’t just grind this new Skill all day; he finally asked Neveah more directly how to find Naffur. Her response was why the main reason Randidly was annoyed.

Just follow the Aether connection. I gave him one.

Which, of course, made Randidly check his Aether connections. It was immediately clear that two were very near to his position. One must have been Naffur, while the other was Arbor.

Part of the reason Randidly was pissed was that Neveah hadn’t told him to check the connection, but he was also annoyed at himself for not thinking to use his Aether Detection. He had just assumed that it wouldn’t be very helpful because he was looking for an individual and not one like the Creature that would have an easily identifiable energy signature. Turned out that was wrong.

So Randidly immediately made a beeline for Naffur. During that time, Randidly looked at his Skill Levels.

Overall, he had another large haul. But most of the gains were from a few concentrated Skills: Erode Image, Crossroads of the Alpha Cosmos, Riders of the Baleful Court, and Cycle of the Gloomy Wood. The last two were due to the few hours Randidly had spent farming monsters for likely looking materials, in case Sam needed them.

It ended up being 136 PP. Which, unfortunately, didn’t finish off the Ashen Aura Path that Randidly hastily had chosen during the fight against Aegiant. Even more damning, there still wasn’t any benefit from pouring PP into the Path. Still, Randidly enjoyed his new rider Skill. His two new companions had some independent thought but seemed very content to ride behind him on their strangely rocking spider-rhino-camels.

In spite of himself, it was amusing for Randidly to watch. So Randidly allowed them to slow him down, and continued to dash forward. As he did so, he took one glance at his current Status screen.

Randidly Ghosthound

Class: Lord of the Baleful Wood (+x5)

Level: 40 (46%)

Health(/R per hour): 5046/5087 (2513)

Mana(/R per hour): 3986/5492 (1967)

Stam(/R per min): 4713/4900 (802)

Vit: 522

End: 281

Str: 542

Agi: 588

Perception: 546

Reaction: 592

Resistance: 458

Willpower: 685

Intelligence: 621

Wisdom: 419

Control: 839

Focus: 410

Skills (Soul Skill): Figure of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 872

Combat: Spear Mastery Lvl 200, White Phantom’s Half-Step (Un) Lvl 93, Heavy Blow Lvl 113, Iron Skin Lvl 47, Dodge Lvl 111, Fighting Experience (Un) Lvl 156, Block Lvl 77, Phantom Onslaught Lvl 42, Calculated Blow Lvl 102, Roundhouse Kick Lvl 76, Idiosyncratic Cut (Un) Lvl 120, Stalemate Breaker Lvl 66, Talon Strike Lvl 90, Counter Lvl 86, Flowing Momentum Lvl 5

LoBW Class Skills: Grasp of the World Seed (L) Lvl 222, Spray Holy Sap (Un) Lvl 25, Sharpness Lvl 110, Earthquake (Un) Lvl 47, Invigorating Call (Humanity)(Un) Lvl 14, Reach of the Jade Slag (Ru) Lvl 104, Erode Image (L) Lvl 29, Spriggit’s Tinkering ® Lvl 94, Aether Understanding (A) Lvl 65, Aether Infusion Lvl 47, Volatile Ash (A) Lvl 36, Visualization ® Lvl 183, Fruit of the Planting of Enmity (L) Lvl 25, Absolute Timing (Ru) Lvl 56, Cycle of the Gloomy Wood ® Lvl 27, Riders of the Baleful Court (A) Lvl 24, Lantern of Harsh Truths ® Lvl 3

The 7 Kata of the Ashen Spear (L): The Spear Advances, Ash Trails Lvl 106, As the Sun Stills (A) Lvl 79, When a Shadow Departs, Fireflies Dance (Un) Lvl 64, All is Ash (L) Lvl 100, Frigid Ash, Extinguishing Storm (Ru) Lvl 53

The 6 Signs of the Spear Phantom ®: The First Sign- The Inevitable Phantom Arrives Lvl 117 (Un), The Fifth Sign- The Wild Phantom’s Embrace (A) Lvl 196, The Sixth Sign- The Breath of the Spear Phantom ® Lvl 82

Aether Skills: Aether Detection Lvl 122, Aether Manipulation Lvl 121, Living Aether ® Lvl 111, System Interference Lvl 40

Spells: Yggdrasil Soul Seed ®, Inspiration ®, Ignition Bolt ® Lvl 108, Verdant Nova (Un) Lvl 79, Burning Footsteps Lvl 23, Touch from Beyond ® Lvl 37, Influence of the Molten Core ® Lvl 85, Eruption of the Blazing Leyline (Ru) Lvl 76, Ignition of the Emerald Essence (L) Lvl 60

Crafting: Potion Making Lvl 73, Farming Lvl 34, Analyze Lvl 29, Refine Lvl 72, Extract Lvl 58, Mana Engraving Lvl 174

Yggdrasil, the Tree of Upheaval: Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 132, The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 161, the Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 152, the Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 174, the Deific Mien of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 146, the Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 141, Crown of Yggdrasil: Cataclysm and Gloom (L) Lvl 100

Auxiliary: Sneak Lvl 56, Acid Resistance Lvl 22, Poison Resistance Lvl 21, Pain Resistance Lvl 91, Fire Resistance Lvl 107, Sewing Lvl 11, Digging Lvl 5, Cooking Lvl 77, Clockwork Mastery Lvl 25, Aether Connection (A) Lvl 21, Soul Bond Lvl 112, Chef’s Palette Lvl 33, Nether Resistance Lvl 20, Child of the Rain (Un) Lvl 45, Chosen of Ash (A) Lvl 133, Engineering Savvy ® Lvl 113, From Darkness, Genesis ® Lvl 13, (Domain) Crossroads of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 31, Connection to the Alpha Cosmos (U)