Chapter 1093 (1/2)

Turning his head slowly, Randidly looked up at the blade and then back to Kailm. Eventually, Randidly was unwilling to allow the silence to remain any longer. The raw look of loss in Kailm’s face made him uneasy.

“You are here to…?’ Randidly started to stay, but he held his tongue rather than accusing Kailm of coming to kill him. Even for someone as aggressive as the Grim Chimera, it was a little much to antagonize Kailm right now.

The old man sighed. His short grey hair seemed so thin and frail. “I will not help you claim this Fate, nor will I hinder you. But also…”

Kailm let his arms fall to his sides. “I would not have acted if you had simply passed this place by. But you walked into the room and looked upon the grave to my daughter. You have stood before her memory. I am not fool enough to think that this lingering fragment of her dreams is truly her, not in the way that I believe Nadia still hopes. But that does not mean that I like seeing the woman who shared with me that debilitating tragedy disappointed. Since you came into this place, you will leave with this Fate or die trying.”

Randidly turned his attention back to the grey blade hanging in the pillar of fire. His mouth quirked up in amusement. “Then I suppose there is no reason to delay.”

Walking slowly to recovery some of his will while he didn’t need to fight off the liquid Aether, Randidly approached the hanging Fate. Undoubtedly the liquid Aether had been pushed back by a towering aura of heat and fire, but these were old hat to the Grim Chimera. He had lived through the fires of calamity and then endured the chill of oblivion as the tragedies of his life were slowly forgotten. Even though Randidly didn’t currently have his related resistance Skills, he did not fear fire in the slightest.

Instead, he continued forward until he stood right before the blade. It seemed to react to his presence, spinning faster and faster in its column of lava. Before it spun so fast that Randidly’s eyes couldn’t follow it, Randidly raised his claw and seized the blade.

Immediately, he winced. Maybe it was a bit early to say that there was no reason to fear fire…

Randidly felt the skin of his palm blister and flake away as it was baked by the proximity to the blade. There was no discoloration to the blade itself, but it was clear that it was the source of the heat. The only comparable heat that Randidly had ever encountered was the core of Aegiant’s image. Which in retrospect, compared to the completely inert and faded Fate that Randidly now struggled to hold in his hand, did quite a bit to make Randidly realize the tier of opponents he had been matched with thus far.

But there was a positive side effect as the heat that blistered Randidly’s hand sent sharp daggers of pain and then proceeded to follow up with waves of agony. Randidly could feel the slight resonance in his chest as one of his Skills activated. That resonance grew and grew until-

“Having trouble?” Kailm chuckled. “Take your time, I have nowhere to be.”

Why the fuck are both of these guardians so chatty? Randidly thought with a frown as the distraction shattered the resonance. This time, Randidly closed his eyes and did his best to ignore the mounting pain in his hand as he waited for the resonance to build.

Time crawled past as sweat dripped down Randidly’s temples. It was a close thing. His arm was beginning to tremble as the notification that Randidly was finally waiting for arrived.

Congratulations! Your Skill Fire Resistance has grown to Level 114!

Congratulations! Your Skill Pain Resistance has grown to Level 112!

“Jesus fucking christ,” Randidly gasped. Instantly, the Skill whirred to life and did a lot to blunt the edge of the heat that was making the skin of his claw hiss and pop. Yet even if his Resistance Skill was active once more, it wouldn’t completely dull the damage done by the ambient heat. And it also wouldn’t get rid of constant pain that Randidly already possessed from allowing his hand to get burnt to its current state.

Randidly took a few steps backward, unsure of what to do next. Kailm laughed but otherwise didn’t offer any guidance. After sparing the old man a glance, Randidly focused back on the blade in his hand. Up close, Randidly could see intricate runic patterns covering the superheated blade. Again Randidly bitterly wished the main body was here. Likely then he would be able to learn much more from this weapon than he could currently manage.

But the main body has his own troubles. Randidly released his breath through his nose. This is my own task. But honestly… what do I do now?

Congratulations! Your Skill Fire Resistance has grown to Level 115!

Although it seems like simply waiting here isn’t entirely the worst decision… I stay here an hour and I bet I could get thirty Skill Levels.

“I can see you are confused,” Kailm said quietly. “Would you like a hint?”

Randidly glared at Kailm, extremely torn whether he wanted to hear the hint or whether he just wanted to rip Kailm’s throat out for suggesting that he needed it. Either way, Randidly definitely would need to be the one to make a decision soon. He felt his flesh crack on his claw as he continued to clutch the grey blade. Yet it seemed like a failure if he dropped it now.

Kailm continued to remain silent. Randidly grimaced and tightened his grip on the blade. Or at least, he thought he did. Unfortunately, most of the feeling was gone out of his hand so most of his grip was guesswork on his part. Furrowing his brows, Randidly continued to project disgust and distaste toward Kailm’s passive stance.

To Randidly’s vicious pleasure, Kailm scratched his cheek and sighed. “Ugh, I hate you patient types. Fine, the Fate is currently in a dormant state. Although you can never receive the same benefits from an external Fate, you can absorb a portion of its potency and… flavor, for lack of a better term. If you bring it in proximity to your image, the Fate will… intermingle with you. Considering the current state of your image, that will boost your strength quite a bit.”

Patient types? You barely lasted two minutes. Randidly was so abruptly amused that he almost dropped the grey blade. But then his thoughts focused on the last portion of what Kailm said. “If that’s true… why don’t more people absorb Fates? Does it happen more than I think? I’m not sure I’ve heard of it happening while I’ve been at the front lines.”