Chapter 953 (1/2)
When Randidly awoke, he felt an abrupt sensation of deja vu seize him. Time seemed to stutter and skip, leaving him stranded on the lush layer of grass. The soft bubbling of the creek was so familiar and poignant to him that he felt outside of himself. The memory was so vivid that Randidly believed that he was watching a movie of his past, peering through time to rewatch his own genesis.
How similar. How different.
Very quickly, the sensation passed and left Randidly alone with the feeling of dappled sunlight caressing his skin through the surrounding tree canopies. As fall finally came to New Earth, the colors of the leaves were beginning to shift from green to orange and yellow. When he looked at the color, Randidly couldn’t help but think over the repercussions of the past day.
Things are changing… Randidly thought, not without a healthy scoop of sadness. But not even the eternal present has the power to destroy the past. Even if my relationship with Donnyton has become warped, it won’t diminish what we have been for each other…
Shaking his head, Randidly sat up. Around him, the familiar scene of the natural spring where he had encountered Simon was as pristine as ever. For him, it was a place of healing. In the wake of his first visit to Tellus, he was forced to recover her for several weeks before the pain of his broken Skill subsided. Even remember the pain now was difficult. It was almost too fresh to bare.
Releasing a sigh, Randidly leaned back once more and let his eyes unfocus.
Just a few hours ago, after overcoming the last rung Donnyton had tested him with, Randidly had very nearly lost himself in the violence of the Grim Chimera. He had submerged himself for power, but it was not a simple thing to surface. It was only due to Helen’s timely intervention that he had recalled where he was and what he was supposed to be doing in the arena.
Even as his head throbbed from a long day of creating something from nothing, Randidly was able to pull himself out of the spiraling images and disperse his marshaled strength.
Honestly, it was a bit like his injury that Simon had treated. He was very close to losing himself in the pain. But this time, a reminder was all he required to save himself.
With Helen’s help, Randidly had moved himself a few kilometers away from Donnyton to recover as much as possible in a short span of time. More than any physical damage, the strain of maintaining a physical form for his images for so long really had depleted his Willpower to the point that another rung was an intimidating prospect. That, combined with that extended physical manifestation of his image in that last duel, meant that his tank was empty.
At the time, Randidly had resolved himself to the fact that he would likely need to use Neveah’s Mana pool or Inspiration in order to handle all of the groups at once. To challenge them with just his body and his weakened images would be beyond foolish.
Luckily, Helen had informed him that Donnyton was delaying, likely permanently. Helen had been extremely disgruntled by this fact, but she had clearly understood that this answer was exactly what Randidly wanted to hear. Even if Helen was relishing the change to test her limits, Randidly tired of striking at the best and brightest of Donnyton.
Rather than remaining near the Village, Randidly had immediately moved North, eventually finding and resting at this spring.
Some part of Randidly whispered that if he didn’t face the final rung now, the lesson he spent so much time beating into Donnyton might not take. Still, Randidly was exhausted, more so than he had ever been in the past. Emotionally, mentally, and physically, he had pushed himself to his limits in the battle against Donnyton.
He needed a break. He deserved it.
And he had shown them the power of images. Even now, from so far away, he could feel the stirrings along the channels of Aether that orbited the world. As images formed, they would insidiously spread their influence by competing with each other. Randidly had started the process early, but this was all in preparation to handle the Second Calamity.
Initial signs indicated that the goal that had motivated the whole initiation of the challenge had been accomplished. There would be many times that Donnyton could stray from that Path or squander the chance he gave them, but that was a problem for later.
A light touch of Randidly’s fingers against the ground was enough to throw himself a meter into the air and settle gracefully into a standing position. Without much sense of propriety, Randidly scampered over to the pool underneath the gurgling spring and used his hands to bring several ice cold gulps to his mouth.
Immediately, Randidly felt himself slowly relaxing. Some of the numbness that filled Randidly’s heart began to twitch and revive, finally giving life to the emotions he had felt as Stan encouraged Eli Iron to attack before the round had started. Some of his own horror at being isolated and therefore striking without any reservation at Alana made itself known.
The Grim Chimera was power. But it was powerful because of the weight it carried.
But I’ve never been a light traveler, have I? Randidly thought with a sigh. His mind drifted back to those guards he had killed in the Tellus prison. Not just blood, but expectations and dreams, too.
Unwilling to let any ball of tension or loneliness or betrayal escape this cleansing, Randidly followed up his gulps by dunking his head underneath the glassy surface of the water. Even though Randidly’s Stats were monstrously high, the cold stung when he opened his eyes and peered around at the pool’s inner workings.
Several finger-sized Level 20 Crayfish waved their claws menacingly at each other and began to duel below Randidly’s head, oblivious to the calamitous individual who peered intently down at them. Fish swam around algae coated pebbles, moving abruptly for several seconds and then not at all. Light danced across the bottom of the pool, warped by the uneven surface.
Underneath the water, the sound of the creek was much deeper. Rather than tinkling bells, it sounded like a mother humming as she cooked a child’s favorite meal. It was another world, one of lightness and chill clarity.
That thought made Randidly close his eyes. He released a long stream of bubbles, attracting the ire of the crayfish. What is without, within. What is within, without.
The roiling bitterness in Randidly’s chest that had been spinning at half speed, even after a full night’s sleep, finally settled down. Perhaps Randidly could have moved on without addressing it, but he still didn’t fully understand what he had done to become the image in those moments of isolation. It had something to do with that vicious resentment and rage that had been spinning. Before he understood how that manifestation occurred, he planned on carefully monitoring his internal situation.
Right now, Randidly aimed for a total reset. Only after that could he begin to move forward.
After seeing the might of both, Randidly didn’t dare try and let the Grim Chimera and the Yggdrasil images bleed into one another. He had already counted on his luck for too much in the last week.
With a soft splash, Randidly pulled his head back above the water. After shaking his skull to dislodge any loose liquid, Randidly moved to the small clearing immediately adjacent to the spring itself. It was in this area that Randidly and Simon had spent several weeks as Simon attempted to nurse him back to health.
So easy to forget his guileless kindness, after he seized the role of Champion for himself, Randidly thought distantly. But he has a good heart. That’s why he felt compelled to act, even then. Foolish beyond belief… but a good heart.
Still… A wave of Randidly’s hand created a whip of vines that gathered logs for a fire. A point of his finger ignited the wood, the flames fading quickly from emerald to the more mundane variety. Am I any different? The edge of experience with the System I have is a small thing, in the scale of years. It will eventually become meaningless. Plus… the image of this world will not be mine. Just like Simon, others will lead Earth to the future. I’m now… just a watcher.
So it’s time to focus on what I want to do.