Chapter 975 (1/2)

It seemed that luck was with Randidly today. Which honestly wasn’t a phrase that Randidly thought very often. After only three hours of scouring the countryside, he was able to find a Dungeon that satisfied most of his requirements in a low valley surrounded by constant mist.

Luck might have been less of a factor than the System’s foolishness, however. If not for the constant mist, Randidly probably wouldn’t have given the area a second glance.

The Dungeon Level was 67 so Randidly wouldn’t have any problems Leveling or gathering monster bones of sufficient structural integrity for his forging experiments. Rather briefly, Randidly glanced around at the mist filled valley. Hopefully, visibility won’t be this poor within the Dungeon…

Then he stepped through into his new training ground. After blinking for several seconds, Randidly raised a hand and shaded his eyes from the intense sun that hung low and fat above him. The drone of insects and the harsh calls of birds filled his ears. In front of him, a low slow covered with lush ferns led downward to a field of bright flowers.

Beyond that lay heavy jungle, thick with vines and humidity.

Aether exploded outward from his position, giving him a general feel for the surrounding area. Although the location wasn’t particularly mountainous, within the Dungeon were several cracked and ancient hills that Randidly could spot. As there was one nearby, Randidly began to dash through the thick ferns, grinning evilly at the rather loud noises the ferns made when shifted.

Already the surrounding jungle was beginning to quiet down. It seemed some predators had finally noticed his presence.

From just a casual exploration when he arrived at the mound, Randidly again wondered if his luck was finally coming through for him. The mounds were strangely uniform, but they were also oddly corroded, as though there were monsters with acidic properties in the surrounding area. Randidly tucked that tidbit of knowledge away as he inspected the corrosion. Against all odds, within those areas of corrosion… there was copper.

Not just copper. A copper that was unnaturally hard to the point that Randidly would be confident using it as a substitute for iron. Scratching his head, Randidly looked around. Somehow, this jungle… there was a feeling...

...that this Dungeon seemed very familiar.

Randidly’s attention was dragged to a nearby tree when a Level 67 howler monkey pounded its chest in fury, calling its fellow monkeys from the depths of the surrounding jungle. Randidly unleashed another casual pulse of Aether. Although there were dozens gathering from the surrounding trees, there weren’t so many that they would be able to swarm him.

But what cemented the feeling was that Randidly detected several acidic toads perched on a boulder some distance away. Although they lazily raised their heads at the monkey’s calls, they ultimately settled back into their respective holes to doze.

...I suppose this isn’t impossible, but… Randidly reflected as he reached up and snatched the howler monkey from the tree with a Reach of the Jade Slag. This seems to just be a higher Level version of the same Dungeon where I started this strange journey underneath the System. Too much to be a coincidence, but I can feel my karma with this place. By the time I returned to Earth from there, I was ready to tackle all the changes that had occurred when the System arrived. When I return this time, I wonder how I will have changed…?

As more Howler monkeys gathered, Randidly used Acri to scythe through them without difficulty. He was nearing Level 48, but he was a little leery of gaining the final two Levels he was willing to gain in the Dungeon quite yet. Although he had been previously distracted by the ore golems into killing them himself, Randidly knew it would be better to feed all of the experience to Acri until he had the chance to give his Class a thorough checkup.

Based on his estimates of the flow of Aether out of the Dungeon, the time dilation between here and Earth would be extraordinarily high. So much so that Randidly’s possible one month before the Judgement would descend could be stretched out to a dozen or so years.

And that was on the conservative end of the estimation. The problem of Aether Sickness generally kept people from abusing that function, but Randidly didn’t have any such qualms. Unfortunately, Randidly didn’t intend to use the entire month for training.

Lyra would come seek him out in six days. Naffur and the Order Ducis would hopefully arrive at Erickson Steel headquarters around that same time, bringing Nathan. Randidly hadn’t yet decided if he would try and condense his Fate before the fight against the Judgment, but he certainly wanted to understand the details of a Fate as soon as possible. Then he would be much better equipped to make that judgment call.

Randidly sighed. Strangely, he missed the days where Lucretia was looking over his shoulder, rolling her eyes at his occasional bad puns.

Still, Randidly’s understanding of Aether wasn’t so exact that he could tell the exact difference in time. And as his Absolute Time couldn’t be extended to a different place, it would only be able to tell how much time he experienced. Therefore it would be rather cumbersome to determine the exact difference in time. It was much easier to estimate and then make an educated guess on when to return.

So Randidly set himself a time limit that made his mouth twist: one year. One year within this jungle based Dungeon would be all the time that Randidly allowed to refine himself and to build the foundation for his imagined version of Erickson Steel. Less time than that wouldn’t give him enough of an opportunity to truly grow familiar with his evolving images. In addition, that time would be plenty to thoroughly strip this Dungeon of all of its natural resources.

More time than a year would be wasteful; not only would Randidly eventually reach limits in terms in how he could refine his images without new outside inputs, but also the threat of the Calamities cast a long shadow over him. They could happen at any time.

Randidly wanted to be on Earth and ready for when the new threats arrived. Plus, he wanted to have the chance to push Erickson Steel to the next level before that time. In order to accomplish this, Randidly would likely need to work tirelessly on Earth for quite some time. There was only so much he could do for Erickson Steel from within the Dungeon. To make them the wandering supplier that he imagined, their forging abilities needed to shoot sharply upward.

Still, all of that was for later. For now, he needed to grow familiar with his new home.

Randidly spread his arms wide, savoring the feeling of the thick humidity that filled this place. His fingers rubbed against his sweaty palms. As he did so, Randidly released thin pulses of Aether that mapped out the surrounding area in his mind. His first goal would be to establish a base somewhere while he figured out his specific game plan for improving himself.

Very soon, he found an appropriate location next to the largest of the nearby mounds. In addition to the mound, a tall stone monolith with vague facial features stood directly in front of the mound like a guardian. The ground around the mound was completely clear of grass. There were about five meters of space between it and the thick greenery of the surrounding jungle. The howls and squawks of the surrounding area were surprisingly muted here. It was a place that seemed isolated from the surrounding chaos and strife.