Chapter 951 (2/2)

But Han shook his head. “The woman he fought alongside, Helen, went to speak with Donnyton’s leadership. But from all of our spies in Donnyton, there has been no sighting of Randidly himself. After the… final attack he unleashed, it is like he vanished off the face of the Earth.”

Xia rapidly tapped her fingers against her leather belt. “If that is the case… I suppose there is no more reason for us to remain here. We must return as quickly as possible and begin research on images. Were you able to capture the essence of this technique?”

Han’s expression became aggrieved. Capture the essence of this technique…? The people who executed it are barely capable of being described as human. How could understanding it be so easy…?

Even now, air rushed out of the sinkhole and filled the air with a faint moaning. Han gritted his teeth. “I have witnessed this technique, and I’m sure our brightest minds will be able to do something with the knowledge we obtained.”

Xia gave him a sidelong glance but said nothing to that. She likely understood that this was the best he could do.

*****

After being healed by Regina, Alana sat alone in a dark tent with her gaze fixed upon her hand.

The feeling… was something like this…

Her gaze on her hand intensified. She gritted her teeth. The thin muscles of her jaw stood out in the dim light of the tent. The air around her hand began to ripple. Faint swirls of orange air gathered around her fingertips before vanishing almost immediately. Alana’s gaze sharpened and she pressed harder.

The air around her hand shook a little. Then there was nothing. Like a broken down car engine revving, but unable to start.

With a sigh, Alana sat back in her canvas chair.

I didn’t realize how much of what I had managed to achieve was due to circumstance, Alana thought bitterly as she regarded the wisps of an image that she was able to manifest. If I use a Skill, I can easily empower the effect by wrapping my image around it. But to actually have the image without a Skill…

That was what still floored Alana, even hours later. Had Randidly been using Skills in that last portion of the fight? Those final three strikes… they weren’t like the ways he had attacked earlier. The image of the Grim Chimera, as Helen had informed them it was named, had completely replaced his body. When it struck…

...he had to have used a Skill, right? Those weren’t just strikes of pure image?

Alana stretched and stood. Helen had informed them that Randidly was isolating himself to recover before the next rung, which was a fine bit of irony after the Skill Beryl had used against him, and would be ready whenever they wanted to finish the Hound’s Ladder. Mrs. Hamilton had the good sense to play dumb in the face of the threat and say that it would be entirely impossible to continue at the moment.

Not just because no one would have the heart to try that again… Alana thought. Without the surprise, most of what we can do became moot. And my ability to use images...

As the final rung needed to include all the previous rungs together, Mrs. Hamilton had insisted that they needed a suitable space for the battle to occur. Helen asked them to name the time and the place. Donny begged Helen’s understanding in this instance, because they needed to devote time and resources to addressing the structural stability of the town in the wake of the challenge.

For now, the final rung was indefinitely postponed.

Alana knew it was rather pointless to attempt again while she was completely exhausted and shocked from the events of the challenge, but she couldn’t get her attention to shift away from the details of that fight. Once more she focused on the feeling of that bitter wind, blowing the iron-rich dust in waves across the wasteland.

If she wanted to follow Randidly up to the next tier of strength, she needed to build her image. One detail at a time.

A glimmer of orange wrapped around her fingers, illuminating the tent. Narrowing her eyes, Alana pushed harder. The light brightened, shifting from a firefly to a candle.

In the final three strikes, Randidly had moved and the sky had darkened. His entire body had become that of the Grim Chimera. And yet now, without the support of Donnyton, her image had to struggle to produce a bit of light…!

Not that Randidly’s attacks had been perfect, but they had shown… fulfillment. They were from a point on this path that was immensely more advanced than Alana’s own. Their charm had been obvious.

He had left Donnyton a Path. And a sinkhole to remind them of the cost of straying from it.