Chapter 1381 (1/2)

Randidly’s heart began to pound heavily as the three images stirred in the air around him. As one, the images were pulled inward, sinking through Randidly’s skin. The pounding of his heart accelerated. The moonlight spirits swirled excitedly, following the chaotic flows of his energy. Each image began to vibrate as the intensity of the movements rose upward. Now that Randidly had addressed each of the images directly, he could feel their flavors and depth all the more clearly.

These were the building blocks of who he, Randidly Ghosthound, was. They had always been a part of him. It was just a matter of reminding them of how that connection could be a physical thing.

His heart darkened and warped, turning brown and rutted like tree bark. His veins slowly began to glow pure gold as energy pumped through his entire body. His black hair gradually lightened, turning into a green color.

He was Yggdrasil, the World Tree, a source of constant growth and protection for the world.

Randidly’s left eye lost its emerald shine, darkening to pitch blackness. The surrounding light turned almost liquid, flowing around his eye socket like it was a location where a plug in the world had been removed and now drained everything away. His gaze became baleful and chill.

He was the Stillborn Phoenix, the Egg of Depression, carrying the emotions of many who cursed Fate.

The skin of Randidly’s right hand and his bare feet darkened to a corroded grey. Around his torso, the skin turned translucent, revealing the shimmering golden veins within him. More than that, two tails flicked back and forth, testing the air. One at Randidly’s waist and another coming from the base of his neck.

He was the Grim Chimera, he who persisted and endured, seeking to find his own path in the universe.

Growth. Revenge. Survival. Randidly whispered to himself. His three images manifested further, spreading their potent aura into the surrounding air. His island hummed with the presence of Randidly Ghosthound. His energy sunk into the ground beneath him. The surrounding moonlight spirits swirled faster and faster, a great whirlwind below with a sea of stars shining above.

Slowly, Randidly moved. The step was a somewhat awkward one because one of the great advantages of manifesting the image outside of oneself was the ability to manipulate the image freely. Even with one image and his body to manage, Randidly would have been relatively confident in his movements. But to keep three images straight, separate, and balanced, while also manipulating his physical body pushed even Randidly’s prodigious amount of Control.

He took a step. Then he took another. He raised his hands, one metal and one flesh, both swimming in his images. But Randidly frowned as he looked down at his hands; the lines of light on his metallic left hand flickered, another manifestation of the weakness it had developed fighting against the Nether Gatekeeper.

Still holding out for now, but I’ll need to take care of it soon… Randidly breathed out through his nose and raised his gaze from his left hand. Then he shook his head and began to move slowly through some basic fighting forms.

Congratulations! Your Skill Visualization (R) has grown to Level 290!

Other struggles aside, this new method of blending the images directly with Randidly’s body had seen a jumpstart in his Visualization Skill Level. In addition, having the three images brush up against each other had pointed out the relative strengths and weaknesses of each. After every practice session, Randidly would spend some time focusing on improving small imperfections in his images that he had identified. Most of them had been within the Stillborn Phoenix, but Randidly was rather pleased to have been inspired in a few small ways to improve his other two images.

It was night and Randidly continued for almost an hour to smoothly move while maintaining the balance between the three images. As he grew more proficient with basic movements, he began to activate his various Skills.

THIS was where the problems began. Because when Randidly activated Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil, his Yggdrasil image that he held within himself naturally grew more powerful. Which quickly began to destabilize the carefully maintained balance, requiring a split second of concentration in order to rectify.

In battle, that would be a split second that Randidly couldn’t afford.

But Randidly didn’t worry about it too much, at least for the short term. Even without being able to see the tangible benefits of the power Randidly could wield with the three images united in his body, because he essentially was just casually moving as he developed his ‘balance’, the constant refinement of his images was incredibly valuable. And each time he activated a Skill while practicing, he activated it much more purposefully than he had in the past. He had to; otherwise everything he was trying to juggle would just collapse into a burst of wasted mental energy.

Congratulations! Your Skill Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 269!

After only twenty minutes, the effort of practicing caused drops of sweat to form on his brow. Sighing, Randidly released his three images. The changes to his body faded, but Randidly didn’t miss how they lingered for a few seconds after he released his images. Just dissipating vestiges for now, but if he did this for long enough…

Randidly looked again down at his hands. “Definitely a useful Path. But if I slowly transform into something that doesn’t resemble a human… am I fine with that…?”

Eventually, Randidly nodded with certainty. If the cost of power was that his physical form truly began to change, that was something that he could live with. But even if things proceed to that point, Randidly supposed he could develop an image that was of what it meant to be a human. Or, if he was even more lazy, he could just ask Neveah for some tips regarding illusions. If she managed to hide her identity as a Bone Wyrm behind a veil, Randidly figured his mostly aesthetic changes could be easily masked.

Mentally exhausted from the exercise, Randidly lay on the ground and looked up at the stars. His moonlight spirits around him ceased their rotation and began to flood down around Randidly. They were careful not to block his view of the sky, but their sheer number made the radiance they released blinding. It was like a veritable swarm of fireflies trying to sneak up on you. Maybe one or two could have done it, but this many…