Chapter 1356 (2/2)

After another ten minutes, Randidly pushed his way through the remaining gifts. Most he planned on selling, but he did find two other items that he had special plans for. The first was a set of six whistles that could pinpoint each other’s location at all times. These Randidly also planned on passing to the Order Ducis for special operations. This way, even if the individual who held the whistle was killed, they could still find the corpse.

As for the other item… he would keep it. It was a personal gift from Alana and her Frost Dragon partner.

Frostscale Glove Lvl 89: A glove made by dragons for their god by carefully selecting the purest and most sensitive scales from the bodies of deceased dragons. While the gloves don’t possess much in terms of defensive resilience, the dragon scales chosen have near-perfect conductivity of energy. In addition, the souls of the deceased dragons who became the materials stay with the gloves, protecting the owner. Mana +500, Control and Focus +40. Frostsoul Revenants IV. Glacial Field IV. Energy Dynamism V.

Frostsoul Revenants IV: Wearer of the glove is capable of infusing his Mana into the souls of the Frost Dragons that were used to create the piece of equipment and summon their specters to assist in combat. The potency of the souls depends on the amount of supplied Mana. In addition, the effect will be greater if the god of the dragons is the one utilizing the ability.

Glacial Field IV: All those other than the wearer of the glove will slowly be affected by the aura of cold that the glove radiates in response to the wearer’s emotions. After prolonged exposure, it is highly likely that those below Level 50 will die.

Energy Dynamism V: Due to the craftsmanship and materials, the wearer of the glove will receive a boost when examining and parsing apart ambient energies in the air. In addition, the wearer can more easily affect the surrounding space with his own energies. The glove will act as a conduit to connect the dragon’s god to the surrounding world.

It was a deep-sapphire dragon scale glove. Just from touching the glove, it felt refreshingly cool on Randidly’s hand. Flipping it over, he slid his right hand into the glove, savoring the almost silk-like feeling of the delicate dragon scales over his fingers. In the dim light of the warehouse, it looked rather unassuming. But Randidly suspected that in any sort of light, his right hand would glimmer and gleam wildly.

Doesn’t really match the rest of my aesthetic, but this third ability… if the effect is really that grand... Randidly flexed his fingers.

None of the abilities granted any sort of Stats, but Randidly was rather contented with the effects that they had. Since he was performing miscellaneous tasks anyway, tonight he could go through and try out the different effects of the glove.

Besides, he didn’t miss the numerous references in the text to the god of the dragons. Randidly wondered what Alana had been telling them. It felt like it was some sort of betrayal to not at least examine their offering, all things considered.

With the first pile dealt with, Randidly turned to the second pile of gifts. These were primarily raw materials and rare items given from the various smaller villages and organizations across the six Zones. Tatiana had made it clear that no gifts were required to attend the birthday, but if the guests insisted, regional curiosities would be more than enough. Which meant that several villages shipped out literal metric tons of valuable materials like Lightning Soul Cedar planks or Deep Jade Limestone when they couldn’t come up with anything creative..

In addition to the building materials, there were also elemental sources, body parts from rare or interesting monsters, and carefully prepared specialty exports from the various regions. And as Randidly looked at this second pile… the image of the home that he would build on his floating island began to gradually fit itself together.

However, Randidly turned away abruptly before his mind wandered too far. While diverting, this was a task that would need to wait until Earth’s current crisis was resolved. He would mention the project to Tatiana, but do his best not to let too much of his free time get sucked into the planning.

But even as he thought about keeping his response casual for now, Randidly also knew that his floating island manse needed to be something of a symbol to the people of Kharon. His image, and by extension the image of the rest of Kharon, would change based on the form his home would take. And on a more personal note… Randidly had never really built his own home in his entire life.

During his stay on Earth, he basically made do with whatever was convenient. On Tellus, he followed Shal around. On the frontlines, he had a tent with a special color to designate his status. But none of them were homes he personally shaped. This would be the first time he had that power and influence.

Taping his cheek idly, Randidly turned to the third pile. It wasn’t so much a pile, as a single sloppily wrapped gift. The gift that Ezekiel had delivered.

Randidly opened the box and looked down. As he laid eyes on what was within, the rope on his right wrist shivered. A long memory chimed from within the Fatepiece, but Randidly didn’t need any assistance remembering what this was. “Are you fucking serious…?”

With trembling hands, Randidly began to reach for the comic book within, but hurriedly stopped and removed the glove from his right hand when ice began to form around him on the box. With his emotions in turmoil, his new glove had enthusiastically responded with wave after wave of frigid energy. But right now, Randidly didn’t want that sort of reaction at all.

Reverently, Randidly lifted the book and sighed. It was Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing Volume 1, exactly what Randidly Ghosthound had asked to receive on his 12th birthday. His mother hadn’t batted an eye at the time, but Ezekiel Ghosthound knew a little more about the gift and promised Randidly that he would get it for him when he was older. For now, it was hard no.

Randidly had planned on giving his father the cold shoulder during his birthday party in punishment for the refusal, but his father hadn’t come to his birthday party. Or home at all. It had taken a few days, but both Randidly and his mother realized that this was not one of Ezekiel’s usual moods. That was the year that Ezekiel Ghosthound walked out on the family. In the broader trauma of that incident, Randidly had completely forgotten about his father’s promise.

“How did you even…?” Randidly asked the comic book, as though it would answer him. The warehouse around him was completely silent. In the dark, he pressed his forehead against the cover. After its exposure to his new glove, it was pleasantly cool.

After a long sigh, Randidly sat down and began to read the comic book. He had waited years for this gift from his father. So he was determined to enjoy it.