Chapter 1188 (1/2)

At Randidly’s echoing words, Acri trilled happily. With its elastic body, Acri quickly coiled into a spring and launched itself up through the chest of a surprised Nether Beast before the unfortunate thing could react. Within a second of speaking, Randidly looked up and saw Acri sailing rather gracefully through the air back toward its master. But the point that held Randidly’s attention was the fact that Acri began to change midair.

When Randidly had led his Riders out against some of the early Nether Beast attacks after he had recovered his body, he had already sensed that Acri was getting so much experience that a transformation would be forthcoming. Ever since his Soulseeds had taken responsibility for their own growth, Randidly hadn’t been too clear on how or why they would evolve. But he still retained an accurate sense for when such changes would occur.

Perhaps it’s karma, still tying us together… Randidly thought as he considered his spear.

A tremor ran through Acri’s rather slender and sparsely leafed shaft. As Randidly watched, the wooden core of Acri began to rapidly swell outward. The sapling rapidly expanded as the smooth bark of the shaft became thick and rugged. The increase in size was the greatest at the butt of the spear; the shaft thickened there to almost three times its previous size, clearly to a width that would be difficult to grip with only a single hand. As if that wasn’t enough, several small growths stretched and twisted a small distance outward, giving the impression of a rather stubby root system poking off of the edge.

The rest of the shaft also grew, lengthening to almost five meters and slowly thickening from the sharp point down do the middle portion of the shaft were wide and dark leaves stretched outward in a small halo. Then Randidly’s eyes caught on the area largely hidden by those wide leaves, where there was a half-meter long portion that did not thicken at all and maintained its previous width.

The changes occurred over the course of only a few seconds as Acri shot through the air. As Acri arrived in front of Randidly, the weapon twisted itself, destroying its deadly forward momentum and drifting midair for a second. Randidly reached out and snatched that familiar portion with his right hand, appreciating the familiar heat and smoothness of the grip. Then Randidly raised Acri and shook it slightly, familiarizing himself with the weight..

Rather than a spear, it was more accurate to describe the new Acri as a lance. There was a sharp point that widened out into a leafy guard before the portion that Randidly could grip. And beyond the spot where Randidly could grip was the heavy butt with the spreading roots.

Crack.

Just as Randidly believed the changes had stopped at the shift in size, Acri’s huge spearhead began slowly ripping itself apart. Then it cracked again as it split once more. Very quickly, three dancing spearheads about the same size as the old Acri were weaving amongst each other like playful serpents. Plus, the added length gave them a much larger amount of mobility in their independent movements. And when Randidly shook the long lance-Acri lightly, those three spearheads twined back together and formed the three sides of a pyramid-shaped drill.

Randidly hefted Acri and studied the tapering point. Not a spearhead any longer. This isn’t designed for sweeps or slashes. The only thing this weapon can do is pierce.Powerfully enough that nothing can stop it. Is this the choice you made after being by my side so long, Acri…?

As if sensing Randidly’s thoughts, Acri cooed softly. Randidly couldn’t help but laugh and lift Acri once more to admire the way light reflected off the glossy leaves or the rich brown of the expended shaft. The new lance’s weight was probably ten times what it had been previously, but even if Randidly’s Strength was one of his lower Stats, it wasn’t so low that weight like this would be a problem. Honestly, Randidly believed he must look strange, to now have such an oversized weapon.

Even describing it as a lance was somewhat generous. If anything, it most closely resembled a leafy nail that would be used in a house for giants. Which made it a much more difficult tool to utilize, but Randidly just had to feel the warm concern from the spear to intuit Acri’s logic.

Randidly already had so interchangeable Skills that made him a nightmare to predict even for foes who knew him well. Yet while flexibility had always been his strength, what he lacked was an overwhelming power that could destroy an opponent’s defense even when they were prepared. His Skills were all about whittling an opponent down, enduring, and then using timing and momentum to strike deeply at an opponent’s weakness.

Since Acri had been at Randidly’s side so long, how could it not understand that Randidly didn’t need it in order to take advantage of such opportunities? So it had chosen a different path. Rather than being one of many similar tools Randidly possessed, Acri had evolved into a unique, if blunt, instrument for him.

“Thanks buddy,” Randidly said lightly. The huge lance wiggled in pleasure at the praise.

In the ditch, Randidly’s few moments of inspection had given the three almost-Nether Gatekeepers enough time to gather themselves. The six-armed foe Randidly had been fighting the entire time was still panting in agony from the strikes Randidly had landed on its core, but it had at least managed to stand on its own after a few seconds of recuperation. The dog raised its head and released an ominous howl. The Nether Gatekeeper that ran on its arms began to lope rapidly toward Randidly.

Little did they know, I needed this break too… Randidly winced internally as his Vitality rapidly knitted together the half-dozen micro-fractures that enduring the Nether Gatekeeper’s blows during that frantic attempt to kill it had earned him. Even with a new and improved Acri, there was no getting around the fact that Randidly’s body was being pushed beyond its comfort zone.

Better finish this as quickly as possible… I cannot afford just to stall any longer.

Obviously that difficult was exactly why he earned so many Skill Levels so quickly. But it also meant that Randidly had been toeing a dangerous line as he didn’t attempt to finish the fighting quickly. Nothing he had endured was so destructive that Randidly hadn’t been able to recover from it yet, but all it would take was one shard from a broken rib going into one of his internal organs and he would have a serious problem. As he concentrated, energy flowed up from the ground into Randidly’s body, accelerating the healing process.

Congratulations! Your Skill Golden Roots of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 225!

“Better heal now, because otherwise…” Randidly glanced around with pursed lips as he surveyed the surrounding areas. Aether soldiers were slowly reforming their ranks behind him, but they were rapidly falling under assault by the Nether Beasts across the whole of the front. The only reason why they had any breathing room at all was because the area where the claw had descended had pushed back both forces.

Yet now Randidly had to rapidly make a decision. He could rush forward and meet the three foes in the ditch, but the ‘cost’ of his earlier trap was still present. LIkely it would linger there forever, a bit of the world indelibly scarred with the jaws of that strange thing that wandered the boughs of Yggdrasil. Once Randidly moved into the ditch, all the assistance he could provide with Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil would need to cease or he would risk injuring his own image in the process.

On the other hand, if Randidly allowed his foes to come to him he could help the Aether soldiers. But he would also need to defend this larger bulge of a foothold again, once he allowed the Nether Beasts once more out of the ditch.