Chapter 1473 (2/2)

When she held out her hand, Randidly released the images and the book fell into her palm. She returned it to the shelf and slid the book into place. Perhaps sensing the mood with that Skill of hers, she was quiet for some time.

Then she turned back to him and put her hands behind her back. ”Honestly, that book is a quite self-important text which comes to common-sense conclusions. But it gathered quite a lot of data to support those conclusions, so there are many tools within it that allow you to identify how long a Raid Boss has been active based upon various signs in the area. Certainly worth a read for anyone planning. But anyway, I can sense you have another reason for remaining on Earth. One that seems... quite unpredictable. I can sense its shape, but not it’s origin. Can you tell me… what I’m sensing?”

Randidly rubbed the back of his neck. ”Honestly, your Skill is somewhat uncomfortable. But you are technically right. I'm... waiting for something else to happen before I leave Earth...”

He paused, considering how to explain. Because ever since the tournament had finished, and he had almost unwillingly watched all the significance Paolo, Kayle, Alana, and Wivanya generated be siphoned away, he had sensed that something was coming for Earth through the thin film of Nether that the System allowed; some force had been constantly producing significance ever since.

It wasn’t near the level of the tournament, but it was at least double the previous Nether density that flowed through this area of the System. Randidly dearly wished he would have been paying more attention to the time before Kaan arrived, to see if it was that type of event that was approaching.

At first, Randidly had assumed the change was just related to the impending First Calamity, that had been announced to be more difficult than usual. But that didn't feel right. As Randidly carefully monitored the significance, he could tell that the event in question was much closer than the announced Calamity. It would happen quite soon, as far as Randidly could tell.

Randidly wondered if the extra difficulty was the fact that the Calamity would be arriving early.

”Something... will happen soon on Earth.” Randidly eventually said to Tatiana. ”I really don't know more than that. But it should be only a few days or weeks away. I just want to make sure... the consequences aren't too drastic before I go.”

Tatiana walked back over to Randidly and nodded. Then she reached out, hesitated, then put her hand on Randidly's shoulder. With emerald eyes, he looked up at her. Tatiana released a breath and then spoke with urgency. ”Alright. I'll keep an eye out for anything strange. But I want to say one more thing. You are going to want to disappear without saying anything- don't give me that look. You know it's true. I'm telling you, don't you dare. Unless you want to come back to Earth to find that I've created an entire action figure line based on your likeness.”

Randidly blinked. Tatiana smirked. ”I'll give it very embarrassing catchphrases, like ”The Spear Always Advances!” or something like that. Alright, go away. I have a lot of work to do.”

Randidly forced out a chuckle, but he didn't get up quite yet. He reached up and put his hand on Tatiana's that was still on his shoulder and squeezed. ”Please, never do that. And I promise I'll let you know before I leave.”

After the meeting with Tatiana, Randidly returned to his floating island and returned to his peaceful area of greenery on the Western side. He sat down, meditated for about fifteen minutes, and then carefully wove together a Nether RItual. Randidly was rather pleased to notice that his practice weaving Nether to take significance made the process of making a ritual much easier. In fact, Randidly was rather confident that his new Nether Ritual was much more powerful than any he had been able to make in the past.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 175!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 305!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 176!

With an almost intoxicating sense of intimacy, Randidly reached across the distance between them and touched Vualla. But he took extra care to keep his touch light; he would feel like an idiot if he lost himself in his more efficient Nether Ritual and revealed the connection between them to the Xyrt Brigade.

As per Randidly's usual luck, he could immediately sense the sense of strained fraying from Vualla's images; she was in the middle of an absolutely brutal spree of training. Almost unconsciously, because Vualla couldn't spare much attention from her task, Randidly felt her mind reveal that the training should end in about six and a half hours. Randidly licked his lips in dissatisfaction and quietly shut down the Nether Ritual. He had wanted to show off his recent improvements due to the Nether significance he absorbed, but he didn't mind waiting.