Chapter 1429 (1/2)
As Randidly’s chest rose and fell, steam wafted up from his overheated body. His breath left his partially opened mouth in a whoosh, more akin to the activation of an industrial release valve on a steam engine than any sort of human noise. The whole area within Randidly’s reverse-engineered Xyrt Brigade’s reflection chamber was thick with steam, giving the place a strange sense of mysticism. The effect was somewhat hypnotizing. Outside of himself, there was only the steam and the soft light from the glowing Engravings as they were poised to activate at the slightest stray thought.
And within himself, Randidly’s three images raged. No other thoughts could exist at the moment, or else they would be weaponized and reflected back at him by the chamber around him. Randidly Ghosthound was totally focused solely on those images and keeping them only within his Soulspace. Not even his mind could brush against them before he was prepared. His emerald eyes were heavy and determined. Before he unleashed everything, he must be totally controlled.
After he released another steaming breath, Randidly raised his right hand. Two images and Skills moved together at once. “Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix. The Chimera Weeps, But Man Mourns.”
Randidly’s right hand was instantly covered with strange patterns as the painful stigma of the fake phoenix egg he held physically descended upon his flesh. The abrupt pain forced even the experienced Randidly to twitch slightly, but he did not flinch from the task. At the same time, his Grim Chimera Skill unleashed a lightning fast barrage of blows in the surrounding area.
The light from the reflection chamber grew brighter. In response to Randidly’s thoughts and images, the chamber produced a reflection of his disturbance and threw it back at him. Both sides unleashed a dozen blows in a split second.
Congratulations! Your Skill Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix (L) has grown to Level 274!
Congratulations! Your Skill The Chimera Weeps, But Man Mourns (L) has grown to Level 197!
Crack!
The blows smashed against one another and were equal in force; such was the effectiveness of the Xyrt Brigade’s Engraving. It could replicate this amount of power without difficulty. But almost immediately, the reflection from the sphere around him shuddered and then stopped all at once. A flaw had emerged when the chamber was placed under stress. The difference between the base materials between this imitation and the original was simply too great.
The stone sphere that Randidly had painstakingly carved with Engraving crumbled beneath his blow. Compared to Randidly’s physical body that had been slowly improved by his images over the last 70 days, even the stone that had been nurtured by dense Aether for a week simply couldn’t compare.
Still… Randidly looked down at his hand and grinned. That was two images at once. One step at a time, I’m getting there.
Pleased with himself, Randidly walked down from his peak to get some food. Perhaps he should encourage Ed to shake up the mess hall menu a bit.
*****
Sam rubbed his hands with glee. At this point, almost the entirety of Randidly’s peak was covered with those chime trees. They spread rapidly and eliminated any other foliage in the surrounding area, creating a qualitative change for those trees at the core of the mountain. The noise of their leaves became a constant companion in the valley. The size of the trees increased too, as the area they covered expanded so that the originally squat trees right next to the peak were now about ten meters tall.
With height came lengthened shadows. Toward those shadows, Sam also held quite a few expectations.
In order to test the depths of the chime trees’ abilities, Sam had some of the Riders gather monsters and herd them back toward their base. The Riders then pushed the unwitting sacrifices into the chime tree forest and left Sam to watch the result. And he was not disappointed.
Compared to the stronger humans who walked amongst the trees with their heads held high, the lurking, six-armed raccoons sensed much less of a threat from these confused monsters and struck decisively to maim and kill. Then they dragged the corpses back within the chiming branches. Although Sam couldn’t exactly see what was happening, he could clearly hear it.
A strange buzzing floated above the forest that had been spawned by the Ghosthound for several hours.
“Not just timber from the trees…” Sam muttered as he stared at the swaying forest. “The leaves almost seem metallic… perhaps a reagent after grinding them up…? And the bodies of the raccoons… heh, best to wait and just take them apart and experiment”
Sam turned away and walked back down to the workshop. Within the trees, one of the strongest raccoons looked up and glanced around warily. For a split second, it had felt an immense chill. It resolved itself to listen deeply to the great song, so it might sense what god had in store for it.
*****
Ed Dugg lifted his chin and blew his breath out through his nose. His hands were tightly clasped behind his back and quite sweaty. But he knew he needed to stand firm on this. “Madam, I am closed for business today. If you wish to have any more pastries, you will need to wait until tomorrow-”
Clarissa smiled casually but the wind in the valley rose to be a mournful moan around his bakery. Ed’s eyebrows shot upward. The speed of this wind was more than capable of picking up a small building and smashing it against the side of the nearby mountain. And from Clarissa’s expression…
She batted her eyelids at him. “Truly, your dedication to your advertised hours is very admirable. But I do believe… you owe me a favor. Now tell me Ed Dugg: are you the type of man who refuses to return a favor because of inconvenience.”
Tears formed in the corner of Ed’s eyes. “I thought the favor would be a one-time thing! But to ask for 50 muffins a day for the remainder of our stay in the Dungeon-”
“I asked you a question, Mr. Dugg.” Clarissa countered.
Ed Dugg could only slump his shoulders and allow Clarissa to walk into his bakery. Outside, thirty-two children watched the whole process from the safety of their own adobe homes and resolved themselves never to cross the Weather Witch.
*****
Gertrude cursed her own cheeks for flushing as Randidly Ghosthound led her forward up the winding path to the summit of his mountain. Jesus, girl, he’s just a normal man, just like everyone else. Even if he practically owns a city. Why can’t you behave like a normal person for just ONE minute?!?
As they entered into the area covered by the chime trees, the Ghosthound paused and glanced over his shoulder at Gertrude. “You should stay close. The wildlife around here has been getting a bit… uppity lately.”