Chapter 1391 (1/2)

Randidly returned from the Alpha Cosmos feeling quite a bit lighter, having left the lion’s share of the sketches he had made for Kharon Academy. Honestly, the amount of weight paper could reach always surprised him. Partially the trip had been a way to make sure he didn’t let the Kharon Academy project distract him for the next few days, partially it was a baited hook to pull Wendy into assisting with the plans, but it was also an expression of how important education was. This was a huge undertaking that would shape the future of Kharon.

Randidly was confident of a lot of things, but figuring out how to guide and encourage growth was not one of them. So he unashamedly asked for help, contacting Wendy, Lucretia, and also the various members of his pantheon.

When he returned to his island, Neveah quickly joined him and immediately noticed the second thing that he had left within the Alpha Cosmos. “What happened to your arm? Finally break down on you?”

Randidly glanced rather helplessly at the stump of his left arm. Seeing the empty void was still oddly unsettling. Because just recently, he had felt the presence of an arm.

It looked pretty bad, too. The flesh of his shoulder was scarred from the powerful energies, and shoddy workmanship, of the previous Aether Engraving he had used to bond the metallic limb to his body in the past. “Wendy pointed out that it might be helpful to take a look at the way the arm failed. Where the wear and tear appeared, and all that. That way we can protect against it in the future.”

“Is there any point? Won’t the strain keep rising with your capabilities anyway?” Neveah asked. “You grow strong very quickly.”

Randidly tilted his head to the side as he looked at Neveah, but then he sighed. “You are right, but it won’t take much time for Wendy to examine the limb and figure out which areas need to be reinforced. In the meantime, I’ll make the metal.”

“With one arm,” Neveah pursed her lips.

Rolling his eyes, Randidly focused. After a split second, a spectral human limb appeared connected to his body. For a few seconds, it wavered as Randidly rapidly zeroed in on the image that he wanted. Details gradually came into focus as he strengthened the image: this was the true ghost of his arm.

As if to demonstrate its capabilities to Neveah, Randidly waved the limb wildly then crouched down so that he could raise the spectral fist up and smash it against the ground. His knuckles slammed into the dirt. Nothing happened.

Because Randidly wasn’t very practiced with that image, it was also hard to interpret the sensory information that his fake limb was sending him. The effect was a bit less dramatic than he had imagined it. Should have just used the Grim Chimera’s arm… but the point was to demonstrate my mastery of images… also, Neveah knows I’ll be utilizing Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart...

Neveah didn’t even comment on his imagined arm or the ghostly punch. Instead, she focused on business, which Randidly appreciated. ”What’s our timeline look like?”

“Ideally? Let’s aim for four days from today,” Randidly said, thinking of the planned betrayal Theodora Greyman had ordered against King Phirun. “But honestly, the attack could come any minute. Even if I don’t like to admit it, having only one arm does weaken me. Kaan Swacc might see that weakness and attack.”

“Are you saying that now to bait him into attacking?” Neveah teased.

Randidly grinned in response. “It’s worth a shot.”

Mentally, neither shared the sense of jovial bravado that they displayed. There was simply too much they didn’t know about the way Kaan Swacc operated, even if he had been cut off from support from the Xyrt Brigade. Plus, he formerly had enough clout to be named Special Investigator. He was not a foe who would go down easily, even if he was operating alone.

Still, the two were bonded implicitly. They understood the danger of their current situation. A moment of eye contact contained a complex array of emotions and desires. They both then turned away, intent on their own business.

Randidly had also made some quiet inquiries and it seemed that Lyra hadn’t been seen in Donnyton for the past several weeks. Which was just one more piece of his past that made up the fragmenting tapestry that was Earth.

Before Randidly focused on the forging, he went and checked the report that Tatiana had dutifully left on the edge of his island. Randidly’s mouth twisted into a smirk when he went to retrieve the report and found it waiting inside of a small mailbox that Tatiana must have installed today. It was just a painted emerald can on top of a wooden base, but at some point, she had ordered an artisan to carve that base in the likeness of a tree. The detail was rough, but Randidly appreciated the gesture.

Shaking his head, Randidly began to peruse the report. As he read through the paper, his expression became increasingly clouded.

With the emergence of the Runic Tablet, relations in New Earth were predictably becoming strained. Tatiana went on to describe the controversies in detail, but Randidly mostly skimmed through it. In fact, Tatiana was slightly optimistic about the current state of affairs. Mostly because Zone 1 was locked in the impeachment controversy.

But President Greyman is going to do her best to screw the pooch on that… Randidly’s eyes sharpened. Still, one task a time.

While Kharon continued its slow trot into the New Earth Zones, Randidly’s island landed in the relatively tame area of the borderlands. His island rested against the side of dusty mountain in the highlands. Aside from monsters, there was nothing but scrub trees and stone in every direction. In order to avoid damaging his island, Randidly hopped down as he prepared to smelt the metal for his arm. He brought with him a table, an anvil, and two small, empty barrels.

Randidly looked around at his tools. Then he looked at the raw materials. Taking the bones out of his interspatial ring, Randidly dumped probably one thousand pounds of bones onto the ground. But what was most impressive was that all of the bones truly were from monsters over Level 75. Acri certainly had expensive taste. Throwing them all onto the ground created a towering mound that would make any elephant graveyard proud.