Chapter 1010 (2/2)

Had she manipulated him or had she somehow moved the Dungeon?

Scratching the back of his neck, Randidly shook his head. He had certainly learned a lot from the Dungeon. It had given him perspective on a lot of things. How under the System, people were forced to devour each other to grow in strength or accept their doom at the hands of the System. He had seen the truth of the System’s eternal pragmatism in how Chulroon’s world was treated after he had been wounded.

But could Randidly trust that it hadn’t all been arranged?

Perhaps not, but Randidly had immersed himself in the aura of timelessness for quite a long time. It was an image that had been created by Chulroon and wasn’t something that could be easily faked. And there was no dishonesty in that image; Chulroon sincerely believed his own story was real.

The deal with Lyra was simple: she would provide information about Shal’s result and in exchange, Randidly would arrange for her to receive a Class. He would receive more information about the System and about Shal while he gave her another lever of influence that she could use to affect Earth.

To even affect Earth’s image.

It was a worrisome possibility, but Randidly’s sharp nose sniffed out that something was very different about Lyra’s and the Creature’s goals.

Previously, their main goal was simply to find a way to hide from the System. Escape from the constant pursuit… but now I’m learning that the System’s main goal is a war with Nether. If it’s truly putting all of its efforts into fighting this war, does the System really have the time and attention to search for a single person…? Were the memories I obtained from that clone of the Creature lies…? What am I missing…?

Randidly looked down at his right hand. Despite the System’s healing, there was a patch of skin at the center of his hand that was discolored to look as grey as slate. It was the spot where his newly evolved Nether’s Caress manifested.

What changed…? As I recall, the Creature was grooming my Soulskill to be a bomb. And now… I’ve been handed a knife? Is it just a distraction? There’s too much that I don’t know.

And it wasn’t like there were many avenues that Randidly had to gain more information. But he suspected he would learn a lot soon from his final Judgement, but having more information prior to that obvious exposure to danger had quite a bit of value. Randidly’s Crown of Upheaval and Gloom buzzed in his chest. For the first time, Randidly felt his loyalties split.

Creating a Class for Lyra might endanger the Earth… but it might also give him enough ammo to protect his Alpha Cosmos. It would allow him to guard those that followed him. Erickson Steel would benefit from that protection.

A fraction of tension fell from Randidly’s shoulders. Some decisions would echo for quite some time after the fact, and every time they needed to be made over and over again or everything you had gained would be lost. “...fine. I agree to your terms. In two weeks, come find me and I’ll make you a Class. Make sure you bring a strong image, or I’ll just overwhelm your will and make your Class something like, ‘Servant of Randidly’.”

“HA!” Lyra bellowed out a laugh, then regarded Randidly with obvious affection. “I would love that, you know. Not because of the stupid titles and associated benefits that would come with that role… but because it would be a joke. Like between… between what we used to be to each other.”

Randidly looked at Lyra. Then he turned away. “We haven’t walked that Path for a long time, Lyra. And I hope, for your sake, that the information you give me is worth it. Because otherwise…”

Lyra disappeared without waiting for him to finish with a sigh. For several seconds, Randidly remained still and waited for anything else to emerge from the surrounding air. After five minutes, he swept the area with a thick curtain of Aether. Truly, she was gone. Randidly tapped his lips and wondered whether he should do something to address that Aether construct that would observe her after the Class was made.

Probably not. If she had to deal with her own Judgement, that would at least keep her distracted.

Sighing, Randidly turned back to his own issues. Unlike most things under the System, image training was a return to a pre-System world. You continued to work at something, barely able to feel the small changes you made every day. Sometimes it felt like for every step forward you took, you inadvertently took a step back in another area. It was like building a sandcastle on a beach with frequent waves, where you are too busy frantically digging ditches to view how high you’ve managed to get your towers.

Still, Randidly enjoyed the daily struggle of savoring his images. As he realized the vast space for images inside of himself, they had spread slowly out to fill a larger area, which in turn let him improve further on the individual details.

In addition to images… Randidly flexed his hands. Need to keep working on the plans and Engraving. It’s time to get to work.