Chapter 1345 (1/2)

Of course, Randidly reflected sourly as he examined the notifications that awaited him when he exited his cocoon of Nether and returned to the real world. Isolating myself like that also keeps me away from the prying eyes of the overlay System. And without that, it can’t notice and reward me for making a Pinnacle Tier Skillset… or another Transcendent Skill… which is a wasted opportunity...

But that was less important for the moment than successfully achieving the evolution with Ignition Essence that he had been waiting for. Or, Randidly supposed, he should be thinking of it as revelation energy now.

As soon as Randidly found himself back in that muddy hole on the rain-slicked hill, he glanced around with a strange sort of intensity. Apparently unnerved by what they had seen, the undead badgers had fled from the area. It seemed that what they had seen made them consider their old warren a lost cause. That earned a smirk from Randidly, but that thought disappeared as quickly as it had come, almost as though it had been washed away by the rain.

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) has grown to Level 287!

Within a second, Randidly once more had a root shelter from which to work in relative dryness. Making himself comfortable, his attention shifted inward and he carefully felt out his new Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold. He called and his energy responded.

To Randidly’s relief, he still felt the sense of Inspiration that was the portion of the image that he wasn’t willing to lose. It was the whole reason that he had forced all these disparate parts together. It was however, worth noting that the inspiration that Randidly felt from this new incarnation was slightly different from the illuminating experience of the past. As was suggested by the name, it was almost… religious. There was a mysticism associated with it that spoke to how little Randidly truly understood about black holes.

Ignition Essence was a bright light that showed Randidly a Path. This… just seemed to confirm that such a Path existed and that it was worth pursuing.

Hopefully there is some literature from before the System hit that can give me more of a solid base in understanding the science of this… or would it be possible for me to physically look for a black hole in the universe…? The Philosopher's Key could probably get me there, but after that… Although my Stats have made me more powerful, based on what I know about black holes, I would still just be devoured…

Floating now in the same Soulspace as his other images, Randidly approached the new arrival: the fist-sized, pitch-black sphere. Suppressed by the other images, the sphere behaved rather amicably even as Randidly focused on it in depth. Slowly, his sense of self began to overlap with the image. First there was a tug, and then Randidly could brush against the absolute torrent of emotions that was swirling in the dense core of that darkness.

First there was a horrible, all-consuming guilt. Beyond that was a howling rage that ripped through the suppressed space with every iota of its ferocity. And then the other emotions came so quickly that even Randidly could barely parse them apart. Fear, self-loathing, hatred, yearning, a small flash of hope… then everything swirled away, pulled in more tightly by the hunger that drove the black hole Randidly now housed.

Randidly released an uneasy breath as he extricated himself from the image. On the one hand, Randidly now had a much better control of the negative emotions he had inherited from Illym. They worked for him, rather than against him. The problem was that the emotions seemed to be transforming into something even more dangerous and wild while being so tightly pressed together.

An emotional diamond, Randidly thought sourly.

But certainly, in the short term Randidly’s power had grown.

Content with the state of his image for the moment, Randidly opened his eyes and experimented with his new Skills. The first that he tried was Piercing Gaze of the Egg. Randidly narrowed his emerald eyes and looked across at the low ridge that the Undead Badgers had hid behind as he activated the Skill. Rather than seeing anything, Randidly could feel the bolt of near-invisible energy that shot outward at his target. It was almost completely transparent, but moved at a quick clip.

BOOOOM!

Congratulations! Your Skill Piercing Gaze of the Egg (L) has grown to Level 202!

When the invisible energy hit the stone ground, it exploded in a nova of white light. After the smoke and dust had cleared, Randidly was rather impressed to see that a five-meter chunk of the ridge had been obliterated in the initial blast, with the bolt then proceeding forward and cutting through the stone ground for a good distance.

Having some impact and piercing power means it should be pretty useful, Randidly reflected. Then he tried another Skill: Tide of the Void.

Directly behind the tree that Randidly targeted a smoking and ominous bone talon appeared. Flesh once had covered the talon, but that had all been ripped and torn away. Now it was just a pale imitation of the life it once held. The horrible anger of the Stillborn Phoenix imbued ever pale and malevolent inch of it.

Just as quickly as it manifested, it rushed toward the tree and tore it to shreds. It’s appearance, movement, and assault was so quick that even Randidly blinked at the sight of it. In terms of shock value, it was the highest of any Skill Randidly had ever possessed. Further experiments, however, revealed that this Skill had a rather glaring caveat with its use.

It could only move which such ruthless speed when it was heading toward Randidly. So Randidly needed to create the talon behind the target to get the full effect. When it moved in other directions, it seemed to be even a little weaker than the Talon of the Restless Immortal that it had replaced. It was an annoying restriction, but Randidly supposed that was mostly due to his own image; a black hole really just pulled things toward itself.

Satisfied, Randidly moved on to the next Skill. But Cosmic Necessity turned out to be a much more complicated Skill to practice.