Chapter 972 (1/2)

After leaving the dungeon, Randidly was grinning from ear to ear. So, the timer for the Judgement is specifically out of Dungeon time. Which gives me plenty of time to prepare…

Then Randidly’s excitement switched into a wry acceptance. I suppose it would have been too much to hope the one month time period for the Growth of Yggdrasil Path would have been affected when the Judgement timer wasn’t… so that Path will need to wait until after the Judgement… Does that mean I should take another Path in the meantime…?

Randidly glanced around. He was standing on the beach of Lake Apollo, next to a Level 40 Dungeon that Tatiana had told him about. The lake’s water was gently lapping onto the shore. As far as Randidly could sense, there was no one around for miles. This was far from Zone One’s military base on the East shore of Lake Apollo.

Farther to the South and West was a new Zone that Randidly didn’t know much about. It had apparently connected only a week or two ago, and was still struggling with its own monster problems now that the wild areas had been exposed. As long as he didn’t seek civilization out, he would likely have free reign in this area.

Randidly clicked his teeth and considered his next move. Ideally, he would be able to hole up in a Dungeon and spend quite a bit of time refining his images and working on Engraving. But the Level 40 Dungeon here on the shore of Lake Apollo was quite a bit less than he would want. There were likely a few higher Level Dungeons to the South in the new areas, but they would be difficult to find on short notice.

Randidly could sense the Aether fluctuations of a Dungeon if he was near, but they were purposefully disguised so that wasn’t possible from a far distance. This protection became more intricate for the higher Level Dungeons. About Level 60, which was exactly the type that Randidly wanted, he was only able to feel the distinct energy from a distance of less than one hundred meters.

In addition, he had to consider the type of Dungeon he was going into. The Dungeon here was mostly in a cave system environment. While the constant water dripping, it wasn’t exactly ideal for an extended stay.

Because aside from Engraving, Randidly also wanted to work on metal creation. He had checked with Tatiana, and they still hadn’t been able to train anyone to the Level that they were proficient enough to create Ghost’s body. So that was a favor that he still owed. And he would need high quality metal for that.

Plus… Randidly still had some ideas about how to make Erickson Steel mobile. That would require a staggering amount of metal, to the point that it was less about the ability of people to refine metal of a sufficient quality, but simply how long would it take to create enough metal to make a city mobile. Setting aside the costs of future repairs…

Sighing, Randidly just shrugged. “Well fuck it.”

Immediately, he set off to the South at a fast speed. While he was moving, his attention returned to the issue of Paths.

He had 1359 PP remaining, so Randidly was immediately tempted to either take Physique of the Grim Chimera or Ashes of Ulaat. They were the two Paths that Randidly had considered before ultimately choosing the Perfect Soulbond Path. Whether or not it had been the right decision, his reasons for not taking those Paths still was the same… just the ultimate result-

At the thought of how that Path finished, Randidly shook his head. ...let’s hope the consequences of that action will take a while to manifest. In the meantime… I need to improve as fast as possible. I don’t have time to play cautiously against opponent’s like that.

But Randidly was also now tempted by the Experimenter IV Path. Although nothing amazing had happened since he had gotten the Skills, he had noticed that his five ingots he had made in the demonstration were of a higher quality than he would have expected otherwise. It wasn’t such a change that it would make much of a difference, but it was tangible.

Although perhaps that was a manifestation of Touch of the Ghosthound...

Still, considering the fact that most of his training would likely involve the production tasks… Randidly was sorely tempted by the Experimenter Path. The higher quality his results in the Dungeon, the more Skill Levels he would gain. Which would lead to more PP. So of the Paths, Experimenter would upgrade his growth engine the most.

It’s a gamble… but the faster I handle these annoying political and economic issues, the more quickly Erickson Steel and the Order Ducis become self-sufficient without my constant assistance and I can focus all of my energy on improving myself. Then we can work on making Erickson Steel indispensable to Earth...

But then again, Randidly wasn’t sure that this was the fastest Path for creating a stable future. Honestly, was it worth it to spend so much time developing Erickson Steel…? Providing a supply of high quality materials would certainly assist the other Zones without interfering with their images. But it definitely required quite a bit of his attention now, which would be better spent preparing for either the Judgement or the Calamities…

However, if Randidly focused all of his attention on his own growth, he didn’t doubt that he could make great strides. Perhaps only in the finer details of working with metal did Randidly have things to learn from the people at Erickson Steel. As a loner, he would have quite a bit fewer annoying curve balls thrown at him.

But this feels right. Randidly thought as he calmly drew Acri and approached a group of Level 57 Stone Golems. I am the Lord of the Baleful Wood. Although I am powerful alone, I am more than that. I am a leader.