Chapter 1356 (1/2)

Randidly released a long breath as he looked at the precisely mapped out scenario that Vye had included in her report. The neat lines of movement and patrols that the map laid out completely captured the large convoy of people that was trooping across the grasslands. A few paragraphs described succinctly the size and rather cohesive organization of the grouping, which Vye indicated to be the most impressive fact about the whole thing.

This new threat from bubble cities, the Special Investigator, the Epic Danger Zone the Special Investigator is protecting, the missing memories of Yystrix, whatever crazy plan that Ace is preparing… Seems like my time on Earth is going to be hectic for a while...

“I’ll think about both issues,” Randidly eventually said, pushing himself back from the table. Tatiana made a small note on the paper in front of her and nodded.

Then she took another delicate sip of her tea. “Hopefully, we will receive more information about the convoy in the next few hours as Vye approaches the groups more directly.”

That gave Randidly pause as he was about to head toward the door. “Vye’s going to establish contact? Is she… safe contacting the people from the bubble cities? When they are so obviously aggressive?”

“I also was somewhat doubtful whether such a move was necessary, but you should be very familiar with how stubborn she…” Abruptly, she paused in her speech. Then Tatiana tapped her finger on the desk and then chuckled. “...then again, you also possess that same sort of stubbornness, so perhaps you cannot as easily recognize it in others… well anyway, she should be safe. From our observation, this Blighted Paragon doesn’t appear to have any inkling of the power of images. With the Order Ducis training, Vye will be fine.”

Randidly’s mouth twisted and Tatiana laughed again. “I think the real problem, Randidly, is that you have no concept of the strength of the average person on Earth. You’ve fought too many people from the Nexus. Sure, Vye’s pretty weak in the Order Ducis, but they really are the cream of the crop right now. That amount of strength should be enough.”

Shaking his head but accepting Tatiana’s judgment, Randidly left and proceeded to the warehouse that was housing all the gifts brought by the various factions of Earth for his birthday. The first thing that he noticed when he walked into the room was how crowded it was; there were huge piles of gifts in the dim interior of the warehouse.

Many people included gifts within interspatial rings, but to make the sorting easier, Tatiana had already removed most of such goods and set them out on display. The warehouse was about the size of a football field but it was half-filled by the valuable items that the people of Earth gave to him.

Randidly was about to release a pulse of Nether to thoroughly scan the area when he remembered to keep his Nether activities to a minimum. So, therefore, he simply just concentrated and used Grim Intuition to check out the interiors of most of the gifts that were in boxes. Very quickly, he sorted the gifts into three types and hummed to himself. The ground trembled and several small shoots of vines carefully wound their way up through the floor.

Not that he couldn’t repair it, but it was easier to just avoid damaging the foundation in the first place.

When the roots and vines had bypassed the ground, they began rapidly to swell. Then the vines stretched and split and steadily began to move the gaudy and festive packages. Randidly noted with amusement as he did the sorting that Tatiana had left most of them covered in wrapping paper and bows. So he shook his head and had a series of roots come forward to rip off and collect the trash.

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) has grown to Level 288!

Scratching his chin, Randidly approached the first pile. This was where he put items that appeared to be things he would either use or sell for other valuables. Just by coincidence, the first long package that the roots hefted up in front of Randidly was from the Order Valorem. Already knowing what was inside the package, Randidly rolled his eyes and pulled off the lid.

Slayer’s Darksteel Spear Lvl 76: A weapon of incredible power, the darksteel spear was famously wielded by a slayer to defeat an opponent that was said to be invincible. But before the domineering weight of the Slayer’s spear, none could live long. The blood of an invincible being stains the blade of the spear to this day. +1000 Stamina, +100 Strength. Slayer’s Ferocity IV. Penetrating Blows II. Darksteel Suppression V.

The stats were certainly impressive, and Randidly wondered for a short time where the Order Valorem had been able to obtain a weapon forged at Level 76 with an attribute that reached V, but Randidly didn’t even bother to read the details of the spear. Because it was made of darksteel, it was anathema for the type of image-based power that was prevalent in the System.

Still… Randidly picked up the spear and held it above his head. Even from just touching it and allowing his Yggdrasil image to flow around him, he could feel the way the edges of his images were damaged as it came in contact with the inert darksteel. There was a suppressive effect that made Randidly wonder if the material somehow incorporated Nether principles. Might be worth it to keep it around and test it against the Special Investigator to see how he deals with it…

Thinking that, Randidly put the darksteel spear into his interspatial ring and brought more gifts to himself. He felt like a birthday octopus, dragging more packages toward himself with his many roots even as he finished opening the one in front of him. Within five minutes, he had seen dozens of strange gifts, including a watch that was warm to the touch and would show the time at any location he focused on, a very translucent pair of pajama pants that were so soft that even Randidly gasped, another spear that was even less useful than the darksteel one, and a crystal mirror.

All these Randidly tossed into the ‘sell’ pile. He had a second of hesitation as he rubbed the incredibly soft pants between his fingers but ultimately decided to part with them. It was not like he had many chances to wear them anyways. And if he wore them in his usual daily routine, they would be ripped to shreds within a week.

Maybe even only a day… Even as Randidly cursed his rough lifestyle, his root arms brought him more gifts to open.

There was a pair of poisonous daggers, a strange set of candles that contained an oppressive power within them that was obvious even while they were not lit, a fur-lined cloak filled with pockets, almost a dozen interspatial rings filled with various currencies, a well-made iron pan lined with engravings to keep the handle cool, powders and perfumes to increase his charm, and a rather plain iron sword that had a sharp enough edge that Randidly spent a minute or two toying with it.

Then he tested it against Acri and promptly rendered the gift garbage.

Most of those things were also tossed into the sell pile, with a few exceptions. The daggers and the candles Randidly planned on giving to the Order Ducis to see if anyone would want them. And the iron pan Randidly pocketed, thinking that he hadn’t spent the time pan-frying food over a fire in quite some time. Such a meal would be a welcome end to a strange day of chores.