Chapter 1030 (2/2)
Randidly chuckled with too much nervousness to assuage Vye’s worries. “Probably… not?”
*****
After Vye left, Randidly was still thinking about how she had obtained the Dual-Class.
That hand of hers functioned in a similar way to the architecture that the Creature had assembled in the Raid Dungeon, Randidly frowned down at his own hands. It isolated the energy somehow. Luckily, it didn’t completely bar the System’s gaze. In this case… it had stolen a portion of Vye’s Soulspace and place it in her hand…
The effect was extremely strange. Whatever Skill Vye had used had set up an independent space and tied it to her hand. As far as Randidly could tell, Soulspaces weren’t actually physically present anywhere in the body; they existed in another dimension altogether. So to see the Aether of the Soulspace actually spiraling around Vye’s hand…
Which was probably why the activation was painful. Those Skills had housed themselves in her physical hand, so her hand was enduring the rapid movement and resonance of Aether every time she used that Skill. Hopefully, she would develop a Skill related to the body that would make her physically capable of handling that flow of energy rather quickly.
Destroying the isolated space and restoring Vye’s Soulspace to its original appearance wouldn’t have been especially difficult, but it would have taken some time for Randidly to either figure out the reason the Skill shaped Aether in this manner or simply use brute force to crush the isolation. Without harming Vye, of course.
But that would have missed out on all the benefits that such a strange arrangement could provide. So Randidly had offered Vye his assistance. Originally, he wanted to remake her Class, but to make a smaller Class in the miniature Soulspace wasn’t difficult. Besides, Randidly had wanted to see what would happen if he stabilized the space.
...the only unfortunate thing is that the benefit she received from it was so small. 6 Attributes and 4 Stats… Honestly, my Class basically has five of those sub-Classes all rolled into one. Giving more to myself would be superfluous. Plus, the sorta Aether utilization methods that accomplished it are exactly the sort of thing that Octavius was warning me away from… screening the System’s view of me is a no-go.
But even if I can’t use it for myself, this might be exactly the sort of thing the Order Ducis needs in order to get an edge…
Humming softly to himself, Randidly sent a message to Naffur. He didn’t mention the Dual-Classing yet, but he did ask that Naffur bring all of the Order Ducis applicants to a nearby Dungeon at noon tomorrow to receive personal training from Randidly. Randidly figured they could stay in the Dungeon for two weeks or so pretty easily, which would be plenty of time for him to get a firm grip on their personalities and images.
It would also mean that the Order Ducis would have time to prepare for the departure of the city scheduled for tomorrow evening. Barring no setbacks during the Engraving process, today might be the last night spent here in Zone 1 for quite some time.
Plus, mindlessly thrashing the applicants would be a refreshing break after a night spent Engraving an entire city.
After that thought sprung up, Randidly couldn’t help but grin. Shal, it really seems like your teaching style has rubbed off on me… but no one can deny that it’s effective. I just wish it was a bit less intense sometimes...
Randidly looked sharply up at a noise from the front of the tent, but he quickly eased up. “Wow, I’m actually surprised that you managed to get this close without me noticing.”
“I can’t do it for long, but one of my new Skills lets me swim through the air,” Helen said as she pushed the tent flap aside. To demonstrate, she spun mid-air, seeming to drift into the center of the tent on capricious winds. “You rely too much on the plants for information. If I don’t touch the grass, you won’t find me.”
“...I’ll keep that in mind,” Randidly said drily. Although he knew that Helen took protecting him very seriously, sometimes she focused her attention in the wrong areas. But Randidly could admit easy enough that hubris was a problem even for him, so he made a note to think about refining his threat detection process. “So, what’s their standard like?”
Helen folded her arms. “Worse than Donnyton by a lot, but probably about as good or better than anywhere else I’ve seen. Plus, you can definitely fucking tell these are your followers; there a bunch of weirdos here. Someone is copying your habit of refusing to wear boots.”
“Weirdo followers includes you, you know,” Randidly said with a soft smile.
But Helen glared at him. “These are trainees, Randidly. I have no problem with raising them, of course. Often teaching is one of the best ways to learn the way of the spear. But what I do have a problem with is that I cannot come with you to face this next challenge. Especially when I see how nervous you are about the Judgment.”
“Do I look nervous?” Randidly asked in surprise.
Helen pressed her lips together. “Even if you are pretty good at keeping yourself under control, that ash monster image you have inside of you isn’t. I can feel flashes of it, sometimes. Leaking out of the edges of your body. All violence and frustration and darkness.”
Randidly could only shrug at that. Hopefully, Helen’s insight was only due to her experience with images. The last thing Randidly wanted was to shake the spirit of Erickson Steel or the Order Ducis before he left by having the Grim Chimera float gloomily behind him.
“I can help you,” Helen said in a low voice. “If you are going to the battlefield, there’s no one better to have at your side than I. Tellus was all the preparation I need.”
“And what happens if war comes to Earth while we are both away?” Randidly replied in a voice just as soft. “It’s my home planet, Helen. Based on what I heard… I’m unsure how long I’ll be gone. A month? Three? But that will definitively be a time where I cannot help the people of this world. I have the Riders, but they can only do so much. That’s why I need you here, pioneering the borderlands.”
“I don’t like it,” Helen grumbled.
Randidly smiled but didn’t respond out loud. Do you think I like it? But I don’t have any choice. It’s time to face the accusation of being a Heretic head on. Even if I’m not guilty of the crime of which I’m accused, it’s much better than the System finding out the truth of what I am.