Chapter 1177 (2/2)

It was quite unlike the problem that Randidly experienced, where the concentrated power of his prepared foundation overwhelmed the process. No, Lady Iellaya’s current problem was much more like trying to use sand as a foundation to build a home. Certainly she had a lot of it present, and it could easily raise her goal. Yet it was extremely difficult to create a base that would remain steady with sand.

With his emerald eyes glowing, Randidly rapidly began to repurpose the arrays that he had drawn for Lady Iellaya, even as his Philosopher’s Key remained poised and inert outside of the core of her. Instead of coolant, the veins of Nether became structure. The containment fields of Aether functioned more like a bowl that would control the potential Lady Iellaya had taken from her followers and would gather it in one place.

Although the original drawing took quite a while, the repurposing was actually quick and relatively painless. Using an extremely useful application of Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil, Randidly rapidly carved out a whole slew of changes to the sigils with plants in a matter of minutes. Of course, the only reason he could do so was because of the time he took to make the original array by hand, but that didn’t mean Randidly wasn’t glad to have a shortcut.

See? I can use the short path too...

Lady Iellaya would likely be similarly pleased that he had made the adjustments relatively quickly. She seemed profoundly uncomfortable, with Randidly’s Fate hanging in her chest like that. She continually glanced down at it, then over toward Randidly himself with a grimace.

It’s only going to get worse from here.

The Philosopher’s Key finally slid forward, making contact with the karma that ran through all of Lady Iellaya’s Class, Fate, Great Path, and the resulting Great Fate that she had created. All of it shivered as Randidly’s Fate began to thrum with power. Lady Iellaya’s face went white.

Randidly looked down at the key in his hand in wonder. Perhaps its a little niche. And not combat-oriented. But I can see it now. See how this was my dream. A key to open up all of the System. A key to allow my world to escape the dominance of the System… and the key to unlocking the secrets that are waiting within. So I can take everything apart and rebuild it.

Congratulations! The Level of your Fate the Philosopher's Key has grown to Level 41!

Congratulations! The Level of your Fate the Philosopher's Key has grown to Level 42!

Congratulations! The Level of your Fate the Philosopher's Key has grown to Level 43!

Congratulations! The Level of your Fate the Philosopher's Key has grown to Level 44!

The understanding of its role blossomed in Randidly’s chest and he could feel the power that he held in his hand grow more influential. The image within the golden key became more dense, coiled like a spring. But it also felt like it slowly spread outward into a recognizable shape as he understood it, becoming less inscrutable. It was a tool that was a part of him, and an important method for achieving the impossible.

“Unlock,” Randidly said lightly. His hand turned the key he held, but that wasn’t the important part. It was the weight of his Willpower and that dense image shifting, sending shivers up and down through all that formed the base of Lady Iellaya’s power. Her mouth opened and her eyes widened, but she didn’t make a sound.

The key slowly turned.

Congratulations! The Level of your Fate the Philosopher's Key has grown to Level 45!

Congratulations! The Level of your Fate the Philosopher's Key has grown to Level 46!

…

Congratulations! The Level of your Fate the Philosopher's Key has grown to Level 56!

Crack.

As all that Lady Iellaya built was rapidly disassembled into the hopes and dreams and images she had created on her own, The component parts hung lazily for a second, then began to tumble downward. Randidly’s grand array surged to life. With a whirling roar, it gathered up all of the spread-out potential and began to rapidly condense it into a much smaller area. All the while, Randidly’s Grim Intuition surged through the tumbling pieces of Lady Iellaya, identifying and sorting them for the reconstruction.

There were no plants present, but an image of Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil was enough to catch the falling component parts and keep them safe.

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) has grown to Level 276!

The potential was pulled forward into a tiny spot and another array surged upward, hemming it in now that it had been gathered. Then a smaller array activated and stirred it up further, spinning it around and around until it could be gathered into an extremely tight disc and compressed further. Randidly began to sweat as he rapidly refined that sea of potential further and further, bringing it down to a solid-state.

Not that he needed to hurry, but Randidly wasn’t sure about the long term consequences of leaving Lady Iellaya without anything. So he pushed himself. His fingers danced as he reshaped the arrays to their new purpose. The Nether veins became the internal structure and the refined and condensed potential was the concrete that Randidly poured down over it. And as it began to rapidly harden into something solid, Randidly’s eyes went to the glimmering pieces of karma that had fallen from the unlocked System creations.

“Time to build a tower,” Randidly whispered. Then he got to work.