Chapter 1332 (2/2)

Tatiana tapped her finger rhythmically against the wooden bench beneath her. “Probably only a few more days, although the business owners have already made it VERY clear how convenient it is for them when they can set up permanent supply chains. But on this issue, I don’t think Randidly will back down; Kharon is the Wandering City. That’s what it is. As for the direction… toward the Wildlands. They are expanding faster than ever. We have a few Order Ducis agents out there, but we want to try and make contact with as many bubble cities as possible to avoid… accidents.”

Alana finished her current breakfast pastry and looked in askance at Tatiana. After she received the nod of permission, Alana picked up another and rapidly devoured it. Then she licked her fingers and sighed again. From her tight expression, Tatiana gleaned that they were finally getting to the real reason for this talk. “If possible, I’d like Kharon to head towards the settlement of the Frost Dragons. They would… appreciate seeing Randidly.”

When Tatiana quirked an eyebrow, Alana sighed and continued. “I’ve been trying to keep this mostly a secret, but… the way I established a relationship with Wivanya… was by convincing her of Randidly’s exploits. I told the dragons stories about him, using my Soulskill. And essentially-”

“Oh, my,” Tatiana covered her mouth with her hands, her mind whirring to life. “Did you… no the look on your face confirms it. You established a religion based on him, didn’t you? Bahahah! Oh! I need to be there when you tell him… his expression… hahaha…”

*****

Congratulations! Your Skill Reign of the Eidolon Crucible (L) has grown to Level 226!

When Randidly awoke, it was to grogginess and swirling silver mist. It took some time for him to slowly settle from a fuzzy consciousness down into clarity, but that made a certain amount of sense. He had proceeded directly from his exhausting bouts with Illym into an image fistfight with the people of Kharon, requiring Randidly to dig very deeply in order to overcome the images he had helped sharpen.

Still, it put Randidly in a good mood; after all, the people of Kharon were growing stronger. And it seemed that the party for his birthday hadn’t injected any desire to slack off in regards to training. They were ready to fight at any time.

As he stood and stretched and looked at the light of early morning that was filtering through the silvery mist of his island, Randidly’s first thought was to return to training. Like the people of Kharon, he could not slack off right now. The Earth was quickly approaching a series of very difficult challenges. The test from the Xyrt Brigade, then whatever the Nemesai still had left up their sleeve, and beyond that loomed the First Calamity…

They were rapidly running out of time to prepare. What came next would be the actual fight to preserve Earth’s existence.

In terms of his own involvement, Randidly figured that he wouldn’t need to move against the special investigator until the Epic Danger Zone had revealed itself. Depending on how long the individual Zones would take to clear, Randidly believed he had at least a week of intensive training.

A part of him was tempted to use a Dungeon in order to extend that time. But another part of him still believed that the best encouragement toward progress was necessity. Especially when he was so productive in the few hours of practice last night, he didn’t want to think too deeply about avoiding the looming time commitment in case his resolve wavered as a result.

It was an option, but one he would consider later when he understood where he stood more fully.

After glancing around, Randidly spread his arms and allowed the surging black flames of Nether to cover his body. He could feel the thick energy swirling around him, slowly seeping into the surrounding air and ground. It was dense and heavy. It contained within it all of the meaning he carried with him, built up from memories stored in his chest. Luckily, his island had already been completely soaked in the Nether energies; a little more wouldn’t hurt anything.

Growling, Randidly maintained a tight leash on his Nether and cast a glance around. Practically hearing Tatiana whispering in his ear, Randidly chuckled dryly and communicated with the moonlight spirits on the island to carry him a little distance away from Kharon. In his entire time returning to Earth and experiencing such huge growth in his Nether due to various meaningful encounters, he had never completely let loose and tested his limits.

It was about time he figured out exactly what he could accomplish with Nether.

In addition, Randidly considered this a roundabout way to improve Ignition Essence. After all, the large amounts of Nether he produced resembled flames when he allowed the energies to seep out of his body. What was really happening was that a lighter than air, semi-liquid substance was produced in the brief contact between Nether and air. This substance clung to Randidly’s body but fluttered in a convincing imitation of flames.

But in terms of image… it certainly LOOKED like flames. And perhaps seeming the upper limit of Randidly’s Nether power would provide some sort of inspiration that he could then use to adjust Ignition Essence’s visual effect.

To be entirely sure he wouldn’t cause any lasting damage in an important location, Randidly moved deep into the mountains North of where Kharon was stationed. Then he took care to avoid the growing ogre settlement that filled the Nordawn range. Eventually, Randidly found an empty ridge in the Northeast periphery of the range, filled with Level 70 Razor Eagles.

They watched him apprehensively, but Randidly didn't bother with them. If they wanted to be here for this, that was their decision.

He released a breath. And then the Nether Wells in his chest began channeling vast amounts of energy. His Nether nebula spun, faster and faster. The shadowy flames rapidly grew and darkened, staining the very air around him.

Randidly could feel the System Aether in the air shiver and sizzle, shying away from him. He grinned wildly and continued to accelerate the production of Nether in his body.