Chapter 1367 (2/2)

Human skin served a lot of function, but it was ultimately more of a wall than a garrison; it couldn’t do much in response to external threats. It could send signals to other parts of the body to receive the right sort of help, but that wasn't useful for Randidly's purposes. With the non-newtonian fluid around him hardening, a lot of the polarity was bouncing back and forth across his skin. He needed to cut off the avenue of escape for that energy. Still, even if his skin couldn't tighten and become more rigid to resist the energy on its own, Randidly had some ways of cheating.

Congratulations! Your Skill Hallucination of the Bloodless Phoenix (T) has grown to Level 220!

A wave of gravity spread outward, focusing on Randidly’s skin. The dark edge of the egg of depression appeared above Randidly’s head. In the darkness at the bottom of the mixture, there was no light to bend, but Randidly could feel the corn starch and water shiver around him. But he ignored the influence of his image and focused on his skin.

Although it was painful in its own right, Randidly used gravity to press his skin into a tighter, denser form. Gradually, the polarity stopped radiating outward from his skin into the mixture. The mixture stopped hardening and began to ooze closer to his body. Growling, Randidly increased the pressure with gravity. His skin needed to be so dense that the polarity couldn't find purchase within it.

Congratulations! Your Skill Hallucination of the Bloodless Phoenix (T) has grown to Level 221!

...

Congratulations! Your Skill Hallucination of the Bloodless Phoenix (T) has grown to Level 233!

As Randidly increased the pressure, his skin began to shift to form a cage around the energy of the painful vibrations of the Aether Mines. Unfortunately, the solution appeared to be far more damaging than the problem. His skin began to tremble and tear beneath the powerful forces of gravity. The egg of depression pulsed gleefully, sucking in the spurts of blood that escape through the tears. But just as his skin was about to be ripped to shreds, the warm and reassuring golden light of Yggdrasil spread out to cover his body.

Congratulations! Your Skill Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 244!

It was like rain over a land that had been wracked by famine for far too long; the restorative energy simply vanished into his skin at first. For a while, there were no grand effects. But gradually, the Vitality and Endurance Randidly possessed began to show their value. The small tears in his skin were repaired, forming an even more powerful seal. The compression absorbed the vital energy, strengthening the skin.

Congratulations! Your Skill Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 245!

Eventually, Randidly's grin was fully formed; he had completely sealed the polarity within his body. The waves of force bounced back and forth, ravaging his muscles and causing pretty consistent twitches. Then his attention could turn inward to the real work.

Because, as Randidly had theorized before he started, he was effectively giving the Aether Mines a smaller space to work with by keeping the polarity from seeping out of his body. It had increased the pain until it was nearing Randidly's limits. But he couldn't stop here; his real goal was to gain control of his muscles, in spite of the surges of polarity from the Aether Mines. This was just some extra training pressure.

He couldn't stop now. Randidly’s monstrous Control reached out and imposed his will across his body.

Every space within Randidly’s body was a battlefield. First, it was surface muscles, then the large muscle groups, then across the veins and tendons of his body until finally, Randidly arrived at his inner organs. Each area had to be carefully and evenly controlled, pushing the painful vibrations out. Each success meant that the road ahead was that much harder. Each portion of his body that he reclaimed also needed to be carefully defended to neutralize the increased pressure for the trapped polarity to expand.

Two things kept Randidly fighting, even as the pain began to feel like a white-hot knife of pain being driven into the base of his skull.

First, his physical Skills rapidly began to earn more and more Skill Levels. Yyrwood Flesh had already grown to Level 257. Meanwhile, as Randidly had moved through his muscles, Monstrosity's Appalling Physicality had started growing and now reached Level 290.

Second, his heart rate began to slowly increase. And with each beat, it seemed to grow more powerful.

BA-DUM........BA-DUM........

Within the sea of seething polarity, it was a steady pulse that was gradually ascending toward dominance.