Chapter 1531 (1/2)

Unfortunately, the increased Rarity of his Skillset was where the good news for the day ended.

Randidly stared at Helen with a helpless expression on his face. “What do you mean, he likely won’t challenge me in time? That was the whole point of allowing him to witness the transformation.”

“Even I was stunned by his stupidity,” Helen said with the shake of her head. She gestured to the slumped form of DiOrtho Vant on the ground. His skin had gradually healed from the terrible burn marks that covered his body, but he still remained unconscious. “He came so close that I couldn’t afford to protect him; I needed to keep myself from ending up like that. And I’m pretty sure his image was impacted pretty directly. It burned away partway through and he stayed through sheer Willpower. He will need some actual time to recover from that.”

After rubbing the back of his neck, Randidly could only sigh. “Well, too late to do anything about it now. Did you give out any other Darkstar Coins?”

“The other recruits had the fucking common sense to leave the training area when it was clear your physical suppression was beginning to bleed outward into the surrounding space,” Helen said with a pointed glare at Randidly.

He raised his hands in an admittance of guilt. “It was a new array that I’d never tried before. Obviously the result was great, but it did bleed into the surrounding space… The array needed enough power to forge a connection and that seemed to warp the surrounding limiters. How bad was it?”

“Bad for me. Near-fatal for him, two meters back.” Helen grunted. She folded her arms and then unfolded them. Then she threw her hands up into the air. “Sorry, I’m not trying to lay the blame at your feet. Just unfortunate that our best recruit might be wounded by this. And honestly… he fucking reminds me of me. So much misplaced violence… peh.” Helen spat off to the side. “Let’s be positive though. Hopefully, he wakes up a bit less of a dumbass.”

Randidly faked a smile, but his chest still felt heavy. Not that he would lose sleep over it, but he still regretted hurting the recruit like this. Especially when it was clear the young man had Helen's attention. He rolled his shoulders lightly just to feel the sensation of moving his body. “For the next few hours, I’m going to experiment with my new image. Let me know if his condition changes.”

Helen nodded and Randidly left. Part of what he wanted to do was experiment with his changed image, but that was only part of his motivation for wanting some alone time. Helen might not be aware of it, but whatever had transpired with DiOrtho Vant’s image had attracted the attention of the surrounding Nether. Randidly both wanted to monitor the process to ensure the recruit’s safety… but he also meant to observe it.

Every bit of data was important. And from the behavior of Nether, the process wouldn’t harm DiOrtho. Or at least, not physically. It might spell trouble for him down the road, as the accumulated Nether in his body proceeded past a certain point, but it could also be an opportunity. The Nether was quickly repairing the impact that Randidly’s image had made against the recruits.

Although its a disappointing irony that I might need to become someone’s Nether teacher before I am even close to understanding the energy…

Randidly shook his head. He could wait until later to sharpen his own humor on himself. For now, he needed to take advantage of these Nether reverberations.

*****

Raymund almost felt like he was floating as soon as the suppression array was deactivated. He looked down at his long claws in wonder; sometimes, it was very easy to forget that even existing in their camp was some of the most brutal exercise that he had ever experienced. Around him, most of the rest of the recruits had similar expressions of pure bliss as they waved their liberated limbs around.

The quickly arriving impression of power was intoxicating.

“Is this a celebration you should attend looking so joyous, recruits?” Overseer Helen's voice cut across all of their relief like a knife made of ice thrust into the ribs. “We are going to the funeral of a Commandant. A being who died in the very location to which you will be soon deployed, murdered a foe who is more likely to kill you accidentally than to even notice your existence. Now is anyone going to explain the joke of this situation to me, or are you going to behave as soldiers?”

Raymund and the other squad leaders whispered a few words to their particular squads, helping the ground stabilize their expressions and emotions. The two hundred recruits were standing near the central training area in tight groups, preparing to head to the Rally Station Teleporter. Even DiOrtho Vant, who looked like he had just woken up from a nap, remained silent. Overseer Helen scrutinized them for several seconds, her mouth in a thin line.

Just as she was opening her mouth to say something else, the air next to her opened and Head Drill Sergeant Ghosthound walked out into the area in front of the recruits. With what was probably the original version of the look that Overseer Helen imitated and used on the recruits, the Ghosthound’s gaze razed its way through the ranks, leaving the unfortunate recruits who met his eyes paralyzed for several agonizing seconds by the force of his person.

He seems… different. Raymund vaguely sensed.

After studying the recruits, the Ghosthound nodded slowly. “I’ll keep this short. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, recruits. You’ll choke to death.”

He turned away without saying anything further and Overseers Helen, Heiffal, and Muareth formed the various squads up into a tight column behind him. They marched quickly toward the central portion of the Rally Station, where the other recruits were waiting en mass in their polished armor. The other groups stood as still as statues and allowed the elite squad to pass.