Chapter 881 (2/2)

Ed spun around to face…

For several seconds, Ed’s mind struggled to comprehend the strange figure he was faced with. The hair was shorter…. But…

Wasn’t this clearly Mrs. Hamilton, guised with an illusion…?

But as he was given the chance to examine the figure further, Ed’s face went red with fury. Because in addition to shortening her hair, she had also added a mustache to her face. A very fine, extremely voluminous and well-maintained mustache that any true man would envy. Even now, she stroked it contemplatively as she smiled at Ed. Her expression was vicious and provocative.

It was, of course, Ed’s mustache. The real deal on Ed’s face twitched excessively in protest, even as it was hidden by the illusion.

“What the hell are you doing?!?” Ed hissed.

Mrs. Hamilton chuckled and spoke in an excessively deep voice. “Hohoho… there’s no need to shout. I simply wished to introduce myself. I am… Mr. Greene. A new arrival to the area, who simply loves commerce. And you-.”

Mrs. Hamilton paused as an attractive man dressed up as a maitre de came and whispered in her ear. Then Mrs. Hamilton gestured helplessly behind her to her very popular cafe. “So many customers, I’m sure you understand. I have not the time that the two you possess, having fewer individuals demanding service from you. Honestly, I’m quite jealous. Hohoho…”

Then she walked away, leaving Ed as red as a beat and as volatile as nitroglycerin.

*****

Randidly glared at Acri. “What did I tell you? Stop killing them all! I need to get the experience myself.”

Acri wriggled in dissatisfaction as if asking how it could grow it didn’t get experience too.

Randidly threw his hands up into the air. Yes, his hands. Because over the several hours of hard running down to the Southeast he had managed to reach a passable proficiency with his arm. While he wasn’t at the point that he could control it instinctively like a normal arm, but the process of adjusting to it was proceeding faster than he would have suspected.

It seemed that Aether being the medium did a lot to speed up the process.

Looking at the cooling bodies of the monsters, he understood Acri’s complaint. This was likely the largest break in using Acri Randidly had experienced since he had rescued his spear from the Death School. And that honestly wasn’t very long ago as well.

Plus, now that he had both of his hands back, Randidly desperately needed to spend some time practicing spear forms. He simply hadn’t had the chance for a few weeks, and he would need to be on his A game to fight against Donnyton. Yet he hadn’t.

Without two arms, Randidly had largely need to set aside Acri and focus on images and Engraving in order to improve. It made sense that Acri was slightly disgruntled. But after his experience of the insubordination of his Riders, Randidly wasn’t going to let this slide.

He leveled a glare at the spear even as the dozen or so remaining grizzly bears cowered nearby. “Look, these are mine, alright? I need to Level up. After I get used to the feeling, I promise I’ll go back to using a spear. But for now…”

Then Randidly shook his head. “Anyway, you’ve helped me a lot to get here. I would not have survived if not for you. But that doesn’t mean you can put your own concerns in front of mine. What would you do if I died down the line? Would you just wait for someone else capable of using you to show up? I know your feelings are hurt, but right now I need to become comfortable with this new body as soon as possible. Otherwise…”

Randidly trailed off. Acri wilted. It, too, remembered the fight against Aegaint. It remembered how powerless they had been before him. If it wasn’t for the help of outside sources, they likely would have slowly perished inside of that lava pool. And likely, that was exactly the reason that Acri was so determined. Because just like Randidly, it never wanted to experience that feeling ever again.

“Okay, good,” Randidly said with a kind nod. He raised his bulky left arm and turned back to the grizzly bears that remained. They were between Level 45 and 49, and therefore were pretty good experience for him right now. At least good enough that Randidly would stop and deal with them. “As for you…”

Instantly, the bears perked up. Randidly did feel some pity for them, but it wasn’t to the point that he would be merciful. Especially when he could sense human bones in their den some distance away.

They get pulled from their homeworld and taken to a place where they need to kill to survive… and then we kill them for killing, Randidly thought sadly. But even if the larger culprit is the System… They can’t escape their own Path.

He activated Wild Phantom’s Raucous Finale and blurred into motion. The Skill propelled him forward with unstoppable speed toward the largest of the bears.

Honestly, Randidly hadn’t truly succeeded in creating the finisher he wanted. What he received was similar to the Spear Advances, Ash Trails. With two important difference.

The first was that the motion of Raucous Finale was much more volatile. It wasn’t just a straight line charge that could be easily read. Of course, it was slightly slower, to give Randidly control of the movement.

And the second detail…

While the Spear Advances, Ash Trails was mainly focused upon the idea of piercing, the Raucous Finale smashed.

Randidly’s fist hit the bear in the chest and the monster’s fleshy torso disintegrated into flecks of blood and gore.