Chapter 885 (2/2)

Quick as a flash, Kerrar crossed the deck and peered over the side. When he saw the eviscerated corpse, he blinked several times. It seemed that Kerrar had a lot of these, moments when faced with new information where he simply stayed completely still and allowed himself to process this sort of information.

Sometimes such breaks could be dangerous, but Randidly also knew that the small window of weakness compensated for itself by providing a large benefit. Because those moments of stillness meant that Kerrar could shift instantly.

Such was the life of seafarer, Randidly supposed. Always ready to be drawn out of harm’s way by a strong current.

“You did this? And brought it up here… on purpose?” Kerrar said slowly as he turned to look at Randidly.

Because there was no point in hiding it, Randidly nodded.

Kerrar shook his head helplessly, then turned to Mack. “Hey, bring up a fishing line. A strong one. Pulling up this body…” He turned back to Randidly. “Will defray some of the cost of your passage. Hell, if you could bring enough of these, your trip would almost pay for itself…”

Kerrar trailed off as a bright smile bloomed on Randidly’s face. From his tone, Kerrar had been joking about such a possibility. But to Randidly...

Besides, Randidly justified to himself as a pale-faced Kerrar and Mack hauled the body aboard and expertly extracted the usable parts. The experience it gave wasn’t terrible. About three hundred at this Level and I’ll hit Forty-Three.

Plus, Randidly was pleased to note, Kerrar pulled a few of the ropes of the rigging and adjusted the sail of their boat. Instantly, they surged into motion, heading toward Neveah as if drawn by a magnet. Their speed was incomparable to before.

When Randidly gave him an amused glance, the man coughed into his hand. “Errr… I was taking a cautious track. But if your power truly can guard us… I see no reason why we can’t proceed more expediently…”

Randidly would likely have continued to tease the man, but he received a message. When he opened up his menu, his frown deepened as he saw the sender: Lyra.

Heya, I got some juicy info for you, which I’m willing to give to you as long as you answer a question of mine honestly.

Instantly, Randidly was wary. On the one hand, Lyra had very rarely sent him a message. That she did so now, so soon after their previous discussion, meant that the information was probably sudden.

Or perhaps because of the rather amicable parting, she was now advancing a plan to manipulate him in some other way…?

Randidly grimaced. But she did have a line on information through the System framework that he could not get access to any other way. Even if it was ultimately aimed to be a manipulation, there were quite a few possible benefits that Randidly could obtain from hearing her out. And all she wanted was his answer to a question?

What’s the question? Randidly replied.

Could you give me a Class?

That caught Randidly’s attention. Because instantly his mind started racing as he considered the implications of that statement. He had scanned Lyra briefly with his Aether Detection and idly inspected her System structured Aether form, but largely there were portions of that architecture that kept him from being able to view the important sections.

Therefore, he had satisfied himself that she simply wasn’t an incarnation of the Creature at the moment; her Aether was pure. Without wanting to dig any deeper and risk setting off any sort of warnings, Randidly hadn’t pressed the issue at the time.

But whether he could build a Class around that, without fucking up the System stuff and pissing off Octavius Shrike… That was a more difficult question.

Still, Randidly’s expression cooled to a frown quickly. Kerrar, at whose back he had inadvertently been glaring, jumped and looked around wildly.

Slightly embarrassed, Randidly turned away and thought about the question more generally. It was not will you, it was can you, likely to encourage Randidly to think about it and normalize such an option in his mind. It was a pretty straightforward framing to get a positive response. Some part of Randidly was annoyed by that, but he didn’t let that emotion take root.

...Maybe. I would have to do a lot more thorough examinations of you. It is theoretically possible. But I was already warned by Octavius about interfering overmuch with the System. So extinguish your hopes; I will not be giving you a Class.

There was no response for a while, so Randidly stood and looked at the squid’s blood being sluiced off of the damp boards of the deck by an efficient Mack. There was something oddly… detached about the whole thing. It made Randidly realize that in a lot of ways, boats are an omen of death for creatures of the sea.

Finally, the answer came.

Interesting. Anyway, the information: someone above is moving to find out more about you. And very proactively; they’ve interfered with your Judgement. Be careful.

Randidly slowly released a breath. One thing at a time.

So his Judgement would be even harder? His Heretic Path had slowly been evolving toward Fifty. That just made the coming Judgement that much more imposing. It was a looming shadow that was slowly stretching above Randidly.

But also… another question swam around in the front of Randidly’s mind.

Why does Lyra want a Class?