Chapter 1055 (1/2)

Randidly mulled over Iellaya’s words as she continued to talk about the various types of Nether beasts that could be encountered in the Great Rift.

An Aether tether to the main body is accurate, but… what is she fishing for?

Immediately when Iellaya casually mentioned Aether, Randidly’s Grim Intuition warned him that this question was a trap of some sort. Which was at least a nice confirmation that Randidly still had access to a portion of the main body’s capabilities. It wasn’t present in quantity, but he could now sense the qualitative change even to his image that resulted from the evolution of the stat.

However, its continued effect on him now might just be because of the word ‘Grim’. After all, Randidly couldn’t feel any particular benefit currently stemming from his very high Control. He didn’t have a body that had stats, after all. But perhaps the qualitative change had been preserved.

So Randidly could immediately tell that the soft-spoken Iellaya was trying to extract some information from him, likely something that Randidly didn’t want her to know. But simultaneously, Randidly didn’t want to deny that there was an Aether connection to the main body. Otherwise, there might be even more pressure on Yggdrasil to heal other images as they turned to that as the reason he could recover.

Yet even as he nodded, Randidly knew that he had likely given away more information than he wanted. Still, it didn’t feel like he had any other choice. Iellaya was standing easily before him, releasing not a hint of pressure. Which did little to alleviate Randidly’s fears.

I’ll need to talk about this with Yggdrasil later. All of this thinking feels like such a waste of time. I would much rather be fighting and growing.

And now Lady Iellaya was trying to bury her innocuous question beneath a flood of practically useless information about the Nether. Honestly, Randidly was rather relieved when she finished ten minutes later, allowing him to head out to the staging area. To Randidly’s surprise, Abiodun was together with Zagnal waiting for him to arrive. As he approached, the two ceased their discussion and turned to look at him.

Once more, Randidly’s Grim Intuition tingled. Seems like discovering Grim Intuition again means it's now comfortable flaring up whenever it wants. Truly aggravating.

It could also just be a sign of how much danger is lurking here.

“When did you two become friends?” Randidly asked with a vicious smirk. The two seemed rather casual, like there was a sudden intimacy between them. But it was clear from their stances that Abiodun was in the position of authority.

Abiodun only chuckled and, after a quick glance for confirmation, Zagnal stepped forward and spoke. “Good news. I have applied for a transfer to serve under Lady Iellaya and Abiodun here. That way I’ll be able to continue to assist you while you are acclimating to battles in the Great Rift.”

Lucky me. Inwardly, Randidly’s lip continued to curl upward until he showed teeth. But he kept his actual expression rather neutral. Recalling how freely Iellaya spoke about his body being locked away, Randidly took a gamble and said. “What about our deal then? Were you able to talk to Lord Miln about retrieving my body?”

Again, Zagnal’s eyes flicked sideways to Abiodun before he spoke.

How cheaply you have sold yourself, Zagnal. Randidly’s emerald eyes were as cold as slate-grey cloud about to dump snow out over the world. I will remember this.

Abiodun reached out and put a heavy hand on Zagnal’s shoulder. Some unspoken message passed between them before Abiodun turned to Randidly and spoke. “A hungry little piranha, aren’t you Randidly? But I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that we are about to go to battle? There will be time to settle personal matters later, but I can assure you that we have already brought the subject of your body to Lady Iellaya’s attention. And she is not a woman who takes no for an answer.”

But it seems she likes groveling, Randidly smirked at Zagnal but didn’t press the issue further. Already he could feel Zagnal’s hackles rising as he was so obviously dismissive, but some part of Randidly’s mind was hot and slick. Offending a man with a dragon head who did not keep his word felt good.

“How many will you kill today?” Abiodun asked casually to change the conversation.

Randidly tried not to smile, but it was a natural response to the discussion of brutality; he couldn’t even help it. “Can we truly say for sure whether beings of Nether die? Perhaps these beasts we fight are dead things. Our actions finally bring them life.”

Rumbling in amusement, Abiodun shook his head. “A convenient truth for us, if it is truly so.”

Very quickly, Randidly was brought away by the duo to another pillar-filled staging area. That same wild violence that pushed him to aggravate Zagnal wanted him to wander away and follow his Grim Intuition to choose his portal, but his better judgment kept him in line. In addition, Iellaya had mentioned that he would be sent to some of the least dense Nether fields around the edge of the Great Rift as consideration for him volunteering two nights ago.

As a final chip on the side of behaving, Abiodun stayed close to his side. His solid presence exuded a subtle weight of image that Randidly didn’t think he was prepared to face quite yet.

Randidly felt confident that his ability to handle Nether shot upward after his Skill evolved to Nether Acclimation, but he was too aware how close he had come to his limit on that night to risk it again. His growth would be slower in a safer area, but if Randidly wanted to figure out the secrets of this place he would need to be well enough that he wasn’t constantly struggling against a headache.

After he was teleported into the Great Rift, Randidly could immediately feel that his current location was nowhere near as dangerous as he had been sent two nights ago. Whereas his skin had almost immediately begun to bubble and spit previously, now it was just extremely painful. Slowly, a low sizzling could be heard.

In addition, Randidly could close his eyes and only distantly detect something similar to the dense mass of Nether that he had encountered previously, the Nether Well. Perhaps the most disappointing of the changes that were present, Randidly couldn’t sense any Nether beasts at all in the surrounding area.