Chapter 1064 (1/2)

Time was grey and rattling like a snake. The light from Randidly’s mind slowly dimmed so it was barely lit. All that was left was the continual struggle.

At some point, Randidly tightened and immediately something was different. Then, while his face slowly shifted into a frown, he tried tightening again. He blinked owlishly as the sensation once more informed him that something was wrong.

His remaining thoughts buzzed around him like heavy bees in the height of summer. Those individual thoughts were definitely making noise, but it was hard to understand them through the constant drone he was hearing. Sensations were such complicated things that Randidly remained perplexed for quite some time by their strangeness. So instead, Randidly did his best to ignore the pesky thoughts and returned to what he knew; he tightened.

Nothing happened.

Ah. Randidly blinked again. I’m… done? But…

His awareness blearily wandered down to the Nether Well that now sat docilely in his chest. Just like his thoughts had been, his whole image body was buzzing. Which, even a distinctly out of it Randidly knew, was not a good sign. But Randidly remained focused and quickly arrived before the Nether Well.

One problem at a time...

The reason that he didn’t think he was done was because there was still a thin flow of Nether that was trickling out of the Nether Well. But despite that, no matter how much Randidly strained against the Nether Well, it wouldn’t shut all the way. The flow remained.

Randidly’s bleary mind tried to remember if the Aether Crossroads had either been completely closed and concluded rather quickly that it really hadn’t; perhaps it was impossible to close such things. As such, his long trial was finally completed. Or at least, the first portion of the trial was completed.

Let’s see if it behaves.

Settling down on his mental haunches, Randidly closely watched the Nether Well for any changes after he had finished tightening it. The worst case scenario was that it would slowly force itself open while he wasn’t paying attention, reducing him to a bomb. Considering the fact that Randidly’s current watching abilities essentially amounted to blinking and hoping that too much time didn’t pass between blinks, such a result would be catastrophic for him.

Randidly blinked. Darkness was a timeless place that Randidly dived into and from which he then emerged.

Nothing seemed to have changed. Randidly did his best to suppress the urge to yawn. He was supremely drowsy, and not in the Eidolon Crucible was about to arrive kind of way. He was exhausted because he had pushed too hard for too long. His image was in shambles, and some of that damage ran to the very core of the Grim Chimera.

The kind of drowsy that means I’m near my end… That send a spike of vivifying energy into Randidly. He shook himself. Nothing brought the Grim Chimera’s focus to a point than the looming threat of death.

Time trickled past. His heart rate was erratic. Randidly abruptly realized he had stopped paying attention to the Nether Well and shifted his attention back.

Nothing had changed.

Well, if its opening, it’s very slow… Randidly tried to tighten the Nether Well again, and it still wouldn’t budge. And since he trusted the sensation of tightening more than he trusted his current vision on the thin flow of Nether, Randidly assumed that perhaps he would be okay to turn his attention elsewhere. Perhaps to the deep wounds to his image he had received while trying to control the flow of Nether. Where it was drastically fucking needed.

But before Randidly completely turned away to focus on other things, he created a tight spiral of Nether in his chest where it would continue to flow. He still remembered some of the problems that resulted from the tepid Aether the main body had encountered. Although he had no proof, he suspected that Nether would behave similarly if allowed to gather and pool. Better to have it swirling in his chest than pouring out into the outside world, anyway.

Then Randidly began the exhausting process of repairing his image. Due to the extent of the damage, he started with broad strokes.

Survival, violence, loneliness, talon claw, spear arm, two tails, pale skin, raptor legs…

All things... check. Time to take a quick break… Randidly dozed off, allowing his consciousness to shift into another place to heal.

This time, when Randidly snapped back to himself, Randidly opened his eyes and actually considered the real world. Thin blue veins flitted away from his face as if surprised by his sudden movements.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 14!