Chapter 1052 (1/2)

Yggdrasil’s extremely vivid leaves rustled as his branches continued to sway over the frowning form of Randidly. It was, at least, an extremely soothing sound. Pressing his eyes closed, Randidly did his best to not think about the horrendous headache that was only now being soothed away by Yggdrasil’s Skills.

The specter of the experience he just endured still hung over Randidly.

That was close. If Abiodun had taken only a little longer to arrive… If the main body hadn’t been able to provide Aether to me while I was lost in the Great Rift… If those batbeasts had arrived a little sooner… Even with Nether Resistance, I’m still not strong enough to stay out there alone without a body.

But there isn’t much I can do about that right now, is there?

Eventually, Yggdrasil pulled his branches back. “Huuuu, I apologize, but I have reached the end of my strength. If I am to continue assisting Ignition Essence today, you will have to recover on your own from here.”

“This is plenty,” Randidly said as he used his claw to leverage himself up into a sitting position. He spared a glance to the flickering form of Ignition Essence, which continued to remain dormant and dim in the corner of the tent. “Save your strength for Ignition Essence. I have a feeling that our recovery will become immensely easier if we manage to bring him back around to wakefulness.”

Inclining his canopy, Yggdrasil turned and used his roots to pull his body across the interior of the tent to huddle over Ignition Essence. Randidly shook his head, probing the dull ache that remained behind his eyes with not a little bitterness. It wasn’t a complete recovery that Yggdrasil had powered, but it certainly had restored a lot of Randidly’s capabilities. Enough that he should be unencumbered for normal activities.

Enough that he had some time to reflect on the aid given to him by the main body. Although he had felt the distinct sensation of having that large amount of Aether being given directly to him, there needed to be some Aether flowing between them. Otherwise, it would have been near impossible for Randidly to recover so abruptly.

And in addition…

Randidly closed his eyes again. While he was being healed, there had been strange flickers of images that he could see on the interior of his eyelids. When he focused on it, it would immediately disappear. But if Randidly remained relaxed, he could see a version of the Grim Chimera projected there. Instantly, Randidly had a deep impression that this too was a gift sent to him by the main body.

It was an older version of the Grim Chimera, likely the one that had originally come to the land of Nether before being knocked out and separated. But it possessed certain characteristics had since been burned away by the acidic touch of Nether. For example, Randidly had lost both of the tails that extended out from his waist and the base of his neck, as well as a lot of the texture of his skin and body.

Not that Randidly could really be blamed for losing these details as his focus was locked onto surviving in the Great Rift, but Randidly knew that the very fact he lost these details was proof that he wasn’t powerful enough. If he knew his image more intimately, surviving while submerged in Nether would be much easier.

So after Yggdrasil healed Randidly as best as he could, Randidly spent some time refining his image once more with this new information. He brought back the detail and texture, while also allowing some of the lingering damage from Nether to remain. After all, the Grim Chimera had never flinched from obtaining scares. In its eyes, the only thing that was really important was survival.

And Randidly had survived.

Cracking his neck, Randidly straightened and looked at Yggdrasil. After realizing that there was likely Aether flowing between the main body and him, Randidly was slightly worried. They had been cut off from System Aether, which meant that it would be difficult to explain where the Aether originated.

Then Randidly glanced slowly around; He couldn’t detect any other movement in the nearby area. Turning to Yggdrasil, Randidly said, “There is something else I need to tell you. While I was in the Great Rift… I received a great deal of Aether. I believe it was directly from the main body. But I cannot tell if was done purposefully due to my need or the main body was simply sending random aid. It has not happened since.”

Yggdrasil, who had been bent over the flickering emerald flames of Ignition Essence, straightened. The golden characters that were scrawled across his bark shimmered as his body shifted. “Hum. Indeed? Then it seems that our actions weren’t in vain. You possess the deepest connection to the main body of us all. For now, there is no need to be impatient. It has been less than a week since we were severed from the main body.

“If the sympathy between you grows as you grow in strength, or as you and the main body recover… I expect that we will soon find a way to escape this hellish situation.”

“I agree,” Randidly grunted. The right side of his face itched, but it was rather difficult to reach across his back to touch that spot with his claw of a left hand. In addition, his right arm was too blunt an instrument to handle a delicate operation like a scratch. “But I also had another thought; it was clear from Abiodun’s reaction that he was quite surprised to find I had survived, likely due to the fact that I’m an image without a body.”

“...you think they will begin to question how you managed it?” Yggdrasil’s roots curled into tight knots.

Randidly did his best to manipulate the recently recreated small tail from his neck to curl around and try and scratch the side of his face. The tail swept back and forth awkwardly, unfamiliar with the motion he was attempting. Scratching turned out to be an extremely difficult task. “Perhaps, but I think they will accept my survival as true. But… It is hard to explain what I am thinking without you having been in the Aether and seeing how it damages images that have no body to act as a shield. I believe it they will be incredibly suspicious at how quickly I recovered, rather than my survival.

“In the Nether, I realized that these image bodies we possess are our images. When they are damaged, the image is damaged as well. Therefore, any damage is incredibly difficult to recover from for images. Due to the main body’s presence, I’ve been able to… sense flaws that were created in the Grim Chimera image. But I suspect that I shouldn’t have that sense. That a typical connection wouldn’t allow such an experience.”