Chapter 1429 (2/2)

That caused Gertrude to blink as she crossed the distance between them. She stopped short of actually touching him, but Gertrude could still feel the heat of his body. It wafted off of him like he was just as much a furnace as a human. “You… you were attacked?!”

“What? Oh, no,” The Ghosthound chuckled as the duo continued forward. His stride was deceptive; even if he took only a single step, Gertrude had to take several to keep up with him. “No, even these raccoons aren’t that stupid. But there is no reason not to take simple precautions, in these circumstances.”

Gertrude let her mind wander as they passed through the chime soundscape of the upper reaches of the mountain to reach the peak. Each one of her steps was slow and deliberate as Gertrude tried, again and again, to parse apart the message that Randidly had sent to her: ‘Ready for a surprise?’

I’m… I’m practically an employee, Gertrude scolded herself as they ascended to the peak. Why am I letting myself get whisked away by dumb fantasies- not that I’m fantasizing about it, it’s just a figure of speech-

It’s probably just… was it my birthday? How would he know my birthday, anyway?

The top area of the mountain was mostly flat, with a few rather austere buildings that the Ghosthound used when he wasn’t training. But at the moment, there was a large group of people milling about the center of the training area. And as Gertrude Collins began to take in more and more details about the crowd, her eyes widened.

“Wh…. who are all these people?”

Randidly gestured rather casually to the group, who now turned to face the rather petrified Gertrude. He had a self-satisfied smile on his face, like a child showing off a precious treasure to an adult. “Well, we keep talking about the problems, even with the housing plan, of recruiting enough teachers for the Kharon Academy to run… so I called in a few favors. These individuals are willing to work for at least five years to cover the initial slew of teachers that we will need.”

Gertrude looked out at the strange group of people. Most were clearly humanoid, but at least a hundred of them were… strange, chittering spiders that were approaching them excitedly with their forelegs raised. Beyond that, there were several shorter and slender people that reminded Gertrude of elves. They toyed with bronze contraptions while discussing quietly amongst themselves.

Of course, that wasn’t the end of the strangeness. A group of several dozen appeared to be entirely made of living stone. They smiled politely in Gertrude’s direction and gave a slight bow. Yet the largest contingent were comprised of various beast people, displaying the characteristic traits of their various animals while having humanoid arms and legs. Their leader appeared to be a long-necked giraffe woman who revealed dazzlingly white teeth when she smiled.

“How many…?” Gertrude whispered as the group converged around her.

“Almost three hundred. A good start, right?” Randidly replied.

*****

After six months of being in the Dungeon, Randidly stood along a chilly coast. Air rife with salt and moisture howled around him as he surveyed the surrounding area. Then he released a light pulse of image. When there was no reaction Randidly smiled slightly; that meant he was clear to make an actual attempt.

This coast was a coast in its most natural state. There was no sandy beaches, but only broken rock and sea shells that had been flung on the shore. Randidly stood above the rocks, but the body of water still managed to splash and spit up at him, almost three meters away. Even if the waves looked small, Randidly could sense the immense power that was contained within them. The unrelenting power of water shouldn’t be underestimated.

For the pleasant sensation, he was standing in a low tide pool. The cool water lapped against his feet, a rare cause of relaxation in this tense and busy Dungeon experience. But although it was nice, it was just a short distraction; Randidly was not here to relax.

His focus narrowed to only his inner space. The Grim Chimera, the Stillborn Phoenix, and Yggdrasil all began to rise within him. At this point, they were very familiar with each other. Even if he didn’t have outward pressure, Randidly was still capable of balancing his images. That was the accumulation of practice at work.

Unfortunately, Randidly didn’t really have the chance to practice the higher end of his capabilities on his peak. The activation still took too much time and the image reverberations were becoming too strong for some of the thirty-two children to handle, even with Ed Dugg and Helen passively shielding them. They would need to fully dedicate themselves to the task to manage it.

Besides, the work with Sam on keystones was intensifying and Gertrude wanted Randidly to be present for many of the teaching seminars she was holding with the people he had brought from his Alpha Cosmos… it was all becoming quite overwhelming. Of course, the result of all that effort was constant progress on all fronts. The pieces of Kharon Academy were slowly coming together before his very eyes.

But his training had been put on the back burner while he focused on other things. Which was a shame, because the effects were very good.

Randidly’s emerald eyes slowly opened. A wave crashed against the rocks below and sprayed saltwater high into the air. He raised his right hand. Then he brought that hand sharply down and tightened his fingers into a fist. Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality. Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart. Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil.

The wind went silent. The waves stopped, poised to smash against the shore. For a mile in every direction, the sea was under Randidly’s control. The glow of his eyes brightened as the strain increased. He had discovered that as he mixed three Skill and image activations at once, the effect became more… unpredictable and powerful. The various roles of the Skills could be substituted for each other, making them more figurative than literal.

Congratulations! Your Skill Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart (T) has grown to Level 274!

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) has grown to Level 313!

So although he used gravity instead of roots, the grasp of Yggdrasil was still absolute. So much so that he even needed to use Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality in order to withstand the physical backlash. Even now, in this strained moment seizing the surrounding sea, drops of sweat rapidly began to form on his forehead.

Randidly’s eyes picked out the individual flecks of water floating in front of him, in the midst of being spat out of the wild sea toward him. He could see a surge of cold water that had been about to flood forward and wash into his tidepool. But beneath his hand, all of that was delayed.

Congratulations! Your Skill Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality (A) has grown to Level 320!

Finally, Randidly sighed and released the Skills and images. The sea in front of him practically exploded from the pent up force he used to suppress it while the larger body of water had been pressing in from the outside. It was a geyser upward to the sky, evidence of Randidly’s success.

Drained but satisfied, Randidly closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the salty water landing on his skin. Reached the limits of the physical improvement already and I can manage three images at once most of the time… soon, we will be ready to leave this Dungeon…