Chapter 1163 (1/2)

Randidly raised his hand slowly as he considered the notifications he received from finishing his Path. He had received a fair amount of Endurance and Resistance as he put PP into it, but the ultimate reward was a little underwhelming on its face. In total, Randidly had spent 1000 PP for only 10 to each of his physical Stats?

However, one phrase caught his eye…

Skills have notes of Nether, huh… how much is a note? If I want to test it, then… Molten Fang of the Pariah.

Randidly didn’t even bother with equipment and he also purposefully didn’t use his significant Willpower in order to bring down the power of the Grim Chimera as he activated the Skill. It was simply Randidly moving mechanically, following the rather prearranged images that the System provided for him in the form of the Skill. It was a simple thrusting attack aimed at the ground.

There was no real forward explosiveness in the Skill Molten Fang of the Pariah; it was only the heat that made it extraordinary. Without any sort of amazing accelerating, it was not the Skill that had the highest fatality amongst the Grim Chimera Skills. Nor the highest damage to a single target or a group. No, the Grim Chimera’s Skill Molten Fang of the Pariah didn’t need to be as flashy as some of the other Skills were. Because it was a fang. And the fang was the oldest and most reliable weapon a predator had.

With his right pointer finger glowing red, Randidly thrust the strike down toward the ground without much expectation. But immediately, he could feel the change as the Skill activated. It had been a while since Randidly had needed to use his Aether Detection to understand the working of the frame that the System created for each individual, but he could still do it with a small shift in mindset.

His senses remembered the familiar paths amongst his Aether to see to the heart of things. So he paid very close attention to the strange changes as soon as the Skill sigil activated. In the real world, the air hissed and buzzed as Randidly’s finger slid forward. As the Skill activated further, it quickly cut a jagged rip in the space in front of him. In its wake, a cloud of sulfur-smelling exhaust wafted upward that made Randidly’s eyes widen a fraction.

But the attack still slid forward and Randidly still studied the Skill. The energies within began to move more violently.

It really is notes of Nether in the Skill. And also I see why it would be so dangerous if the Nether and Aether weren’t tied together… the result of it would be a bit... The pupils in Randidly’s eyes tightened.

The Skill sigil in Randidly’s inner world activated as normal, but within that Skill sigil, running counter to its activation… there was a spiral that was formed of notes of Nether that was present in the interior of the Skill. It wasn’t exactly running counter to the Aether’s movements… more like it was running perpendicular.

The Aether portion of the Skill activated from the bottom, rotating to the right as it rose upward. And now it had a tight spiral of Nether within it activating from the bottom, rotating to the left. They didn’t impede each other, but as the two energies rotated around in different directions there were moments of friction between that energy that produced palpable power.

Had the Aether and Nether not been aligned, that friction might have destroyed both energy streams. As it was, it provided a qualitative increase in power for basically no cost to Randidly.

Randidly’s burning finger stopped a few inches from the ground, allowing the force that he had built up to this point with the Skill to glide forward within his finger supporting it. Very quickly the ground was charred and melted, creating a small crater at the spot where Randidly had been pointing his finger.

Rubbing his chin with his metal hand, Randidly studied his finger for any lingering effects from the Nether. Afterward, he scanned the air where there had previously been a distortion. Then he switched tacks and breathed slowly in until his lungs were filled with air. That breath he calmly released. His second breath was activated in tandem with Eternal Cravings of Wraith, the Skill that was the evolved form of Breath of the Spear Phantom.

When Randidly breathed, he pulled.

Once more the Aether and Nether spun opposite each other, moving toward the same goal. The power source of the Skill was kickstarted by both energies working in tandem. And it was clear that the energy of Aether was markedly more prevalent; Nether truly was only a few motes of power in the situation. Yet even so, the combination made it so that the Skill-

The surrounding area shuddered as Randidly’s Skill, empowered by the fusion of the two energies, yanked at the surrounding ambient energy. And when that was not enough, it began to siphon some away from other nearby sources. Rapidly, he devoured energy from the surrounding individuals.

Randidly was immensely pleased with the magnitude of the result until he looked up and noticed that the fabric of the tent around him was being corroded by the Nether present in his Skill. Just as Randidly was beginning to panic at what that might mean for the surrounding area, the calm image of Abiodun descended like a divine revelation, quickly squashing all the subtle damage that Randidly had done to the surrounding area. Contained in that image was also a heavy note of disapproval that had Randidly chuckling wryly.

How was he supposed to know that the effect would be so noticeable…? Experimentation now would save him a lot of trouble later.

Still, after the experiment, Randidly felt much better about the reward that he had received from the Path. More than even that reward, what he had seen was how the two energies could be used to empower each other and work together. Which, considering some of the ambiguous messages that Randidly had received from the System in the past, was somewhat confusing.

Did the Nexus have the ability to use both energies, or didn’t it…?

Still, that mechanism gave Randidly quite a few things that he could experiment with when he had free time.