Chapter 1141 (1/2)

Randidly woke up hours later after he finally got the chance to rest, staring up at the blank ceiling of his new personal tent. With a great sigh of release, he sat upward and rubbed his eyes.

Nice change of pace when I’m not woken up by Abiodun demanding that I run somewhere and solve some problem… Randidly thought as he yawned widely. His fingers flexed as the small craving for some more of that tangy orange juice hit him. I wonder if Vualla has any more. From her expression, it didn’t seem like it, but maybe-

Then Randidly froze as his more well-rested brain abrupt reviewed the way Vualla’s face tightened as he had happily guzzled the orange juice in front of her. The slight strain at the edges of her smile as he had handed back the empty glass flask that had once been filled with her favorite orange juice floated in front of his vision.

Did she… wait for me to try some of the juice… and I drank all of it right in front of her…?

Randidly rolled over and pressed his face into the ground. Then he lifted his head and banged it several times against the orange stone. The effect was somewhat ruined by the fact that his Stats made him more damaging to the ground than it was to him.

When, several minutes later, Randidly was able to straighten again with a certain amount of resolve, he wondered how he should apologize. But some part of him knew that rushing over to see her immediately wasn’t the answer. Even he could sense that. Especially after the Nether Ritual between them burned with such fiery intensity immediately afterward.

So Randidly forced himself to relax as he lay on the ground of his dark tent. Ultimately it was… dumb of me to do it. But it’s a small thing in the grand scheme of the war. Better to focus on… other matters. But also, to make sure that it won’t happen again…

Randidly smashed his head against the ground one more time. The ground cracked with a very satisfying noise.

As some of the sear of the embarrassment faded, Randidly’s mind turned more… long term issues. Because although he had been somewhat insensible during the past several hours in order to recover from the mental strain of prolonged extreme exertion, some parts of him continued to tirelessly prepare for his opportunity to condense a Fate.

Specifically, Ignition Essence had slowly been absorbing an increasing amount of memories from the hiltless blade while the rest of Randidly was at rest. Now that he had recovered his capability, it was time to examine those.

And as Randidly looked at his Status screen, he grimaced. And it’s a good thing that Ignition Essence was preparing for the condensation of the Fate. I tried to avoid gathering experience in that battle, but it was one of the things I couldn’t quite spend attention on toward the end. So now I’m 81% of the way toward Level 50… if another big battle or two happens, I cannot delay Leveling up much longer…

Pressing his eyes closed, Randidly cleared his mind and prepared to receive the information that he had slowly absorbed. As the memories from the Fate blade came, a broader picture of the original owner of the Fate came into focus. It started with the memories of the arms of two loving parents, who even as a child the owner was able to see were awesomely powerful.

There was a name, Illym, the girl who would one day produce the hitless blade.

There was a reflection of Illym in a mirror, perfectly duplicating the image of a young girl with soft brown hair and softer brown eyes. She sat in the darkness of one of her parents' palaces and stared listlessly at her own reflection.

There were the memories of Illym, admitting to herself as she twisted side to side to view herself from different angles that she could definitely be considered pretty, but nothing more than that. Her talent with images and martial arts was above average, but as the daughter of two of the most powerful people in the area… how could Illym not be a disappointment to her parents?

There was the heavy weight of that anxiety. That constant fear of disappointing her parents.

Only made worse because Illym was only one half of a pair.

There were memories of a gleaming, sparkling sister. One with golden hair and golden eyes who laughed like wind chimes and the whole world seemed to orbit. Her name was Radiance, and Illym loved her more than anything else in the world.

But the world did not love the sisters equally. Or at all.

There were long memories of Illym being confined to her bed, unable to move due to the violent shakes that were wracking her body. Her grey bedsheets became covered with sweat and snot and Illym wished she could cry but she could do nothing but endure and shake.

But those were still somewhat manageable because at least Illym felt like she could survive that. What she couldn’t survive were those other weeks were Radiance would collapse into a deep sleep, and wouldn’t wake for days at a time. The lack of her sister’s bright laughter left their home empty and dim. When her parents visited Illym, they were always so kind and warm, encouraging her to try her best.

Yet when Radiance was sleeping, all that Illym saw in her parent’s eyes was a terrible loss.

There were the slumped shoulders of Illym and Radiance’s parents as an exceedingly old man from the Nexus walked up to the two girls, currently aged ten. Although the old man seemed incredibly frail and his gnarled wooden staff was his only pillar of support, he methodically lowered himself before the two girls. His eyes were brown just like Illym’s.