Chapter 1015 (2/2)

But in the Dungeon, his mentality had broadened. For both good and ill. Although Randidly had accomplished more than every human had managed so far… that felt so distant as he thought about facing future challenges.

Housing an entire town’s image within himself? That wasn’t something he had managed to before. And Randidly wasn’t optimistic about the damage that would be done to the image if he were to fail partway through the process.

Sighing, Randidly closed his eyes and lied down on the gravelly roof. Slowly, he isolated his senses, letting his sense of touch and smell drift away. With his eyes closed, what was left was hearing and those vibrating capillaries that extended in branching forks through every nook and cranny of his body.

Randidly could hear laughter and the sound of food sizzling and the low hum of the engines of the drones and footsteps and the excited swearing of a teenager and the sound of a tarp flapping in the breeze and the sound of a glass bottle shattering and the low crackle of open flame and the pure ting of a tuning hammer being struck and the labored breathing of a man heaving a crate up onto his stall and the sounds of grass rustling and the small taps of his Legion of the Unavoidable Pivots patrolling the area around Erickson Steel in precise loops.

And when Randidly breathed in, all of those small noises were drops of water becoming a river, sucked in from the tips of his Crown’s weird image network and funneling steadily into the center, where the gleaming Crown of baleful metal sat in his chest. Those drops that became rivers became a sea at his core, pooling and shifting, the different sounds and the images present were spliced onto those sounds surging together through Randidly.

Again and again, they were blended, becoming a perfectly distributed mixture.

Then Randidly breathed out.

Those refined images rushed up away from him like dandelion seeds snatched up by the wind. They drifted and settled amongst all of the people, disappearing just as a single snowflake landing on bare skin would. The resonance in Randidly’s chest increased. He whose body was a world acted as a filter and as a guide, slowly raising the quality of images in and around Erickson Steel.

Randidly’s attention narrowed even further. It wasn’t complete yet, but Randidly felt something growing in that sea of images that seethed within him. If things continued like this, it seemed like-

Tap.

A new noise in the surrounding area brought Randidly back to himself. Shaking his head, he stood slowly and painfully, feeling strangely numb after his time on the roof. To his shock, Randidly discovered from his Absolute Timing Skill that he had laid on the ground for almost fifty minutes.

Only a little bit more and he would have been late to give his speech. Which, while rather predictable for garden variety speech-givers, was something that would have annoyed Randidly to no end.

...and it only felt like a single breath, Randidly reflected with a frown. That’s… dangerous. It definitely has the effect of aligning the surrounding images with myself, or vice versa, but going that deeply means it's easy to lose track of time. With only two weeks left before the Judgment… it might be good to avoid doing this too often…

Tap, Tap, Tap.

The sounds of footsteps came again, cutting cleanly through Randidly’s thoughts. And when he sent out a questing pulse of Aether, he sat bolt upright; he recognized one of the individuals. The irony of it set Randidly chuckling. After a split second of hesitation, Randidly hopped over the wall and landed in the two figure’s path. Slowly, he straightened and considered him.

They both started in shock from the sudden arrival, and the tall, gaunt-looking man raised his hand and unleashed a Frost Bolt that cut through the air toward Randidly. Immediately, the man’s eyes widened in horror at what he had instinctively done.

“Ah, fuck, I didn’t mean-” The man bellowed, but he fell silent as Randidly simply reached out and dispersed the Skill with a single tap of his finger.

To be honest, Randidly used his left arm for this. Therefore, most of the power came from the Chisel of Chulroon. But still, he appreciated the sudden and dramatic effect. The alley went quiet, illuminated only by the slanted light from the moon hitting the tin walls above.

“You…” The man looked at Randidly with an extremely strange expression. Something close to worship… but also near to hatred at the same time. “You are Randidly Ghosthound. I’m Garrett Tysfen, applicant to the Order Ducis. The… the pleasure is all mine.”

Randidly nodded, an easy smile slipping across his face. “I think it’s fair to excuse the sudden attack then. You are part of the group that Naffur brought in? Seems like he’s certainly keeping you on your toes… Have you enjoyed the Image Stones I provided? I’m busy with other things at the moment… but I hope you don’t think I’ve forgotten the importance of developing the Order Ducis.”

Which isn’t exactly true… Randidly thought guiltily behind his smile. He had been rather focused on Erickson Steel for the last few weeks and only ordered Naffur to come on a whim. But now that they were here, Randidly made a mental note to spend more time checking in on their training.

If Erickson Steel became the base of the image, the Order Ducis would, therefore, be the peak of it. It was those individuals who would take up the task of advancing the image. They would be the ones who would possess the most power… and from whom Randidly would need to ensure no image emerged that would threaten another’s Great Path for Earth.

A delicate balance to strike… but I suppose that’s a problem for later… Randidly turned to the second figure. His smile widened. “And you… we meet again. Weren’t you previously Tatiana’s assistant…?”

“I was, in a sense. I’ve done a lot around your company. My name is Vye Riversen. I’m honestly a bit surprised you… remember me.” Vye said with a small bow.