Chapter 1567 (2/2)

Of course, he couldn’t speak. So he only thought about that distinction and continued to frown.

There were obviously contextual reasons that he had chosen Yggdrasil. Randidly had learned the golden roots Skill from a turtle in Donnyton’s partner Village. Plus, his earliest Skill was Entangling Roots, which he had used to survive during his early System struggles. Plant-based Skills quickly became part of his core skill set, as he trained with Shal and then later returned to Expira.

But if there was a driving subconscious reason…

Dragging up such a motivation won’t be easy… the me of today… is very far from who I used to be.

Randidly twisted his mouth. Then he rolled his shoulder and procured the Visage of Obsession once more. The process of working toward making a Nether Core was new, and therefore boosted the speed of his Engraving growth quite a bit. Helen and Wendy had gathered him the materials he needed to begin forging, but he figured there was no harm in waiting a bit longer to work on his arm.

Besides, I’m a little worried about the effect the environment here will have on the limb… Randidly made a bitter expression. That anxiety delayed him somewhat, but it wasn’t like he would be able to wait forever. An escape from this place… still didn’t seem like it would happen anytime soon.

He would probably need to create a new arm here, as distasteful as that truth was.

Randidly finished unrolling the Visage of Obsession before him. His eyes sank once more into the colors. Randidly was rather shocked to discover that since he had last looked, the colors had reversed; suddenly the sky was flashing with warm oranges and bloody reds, while the ground was a dark blue.

In this strange point of view, Randidly glided forward.

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 11!

Soon, the ground darkened to black. From a hump, the ground flattened. Randidly seemed to be moving across a plain of absolute darkness. The only observable sign that he was traveling at all was the continued wheel between red, orange, and yellow above him. The way the lights glimmered hinted that his destination was close.

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 14!

Of course, Randidly was deeply suspicious of the Visage of Obsession when he pulled briefly back and sensed that almost two days had passed without him noticing. Inwardly, he was glad that he had proceeded more deeply into the depths of the Nexus. Hopefully, this would prevent any unexpected developments outside of this place why he continued to push himself.

This makes me wonder if using the Fatepiece is worth it… Randidly bit his lip. Also...

Unfortunately, Vualla, Helen, and the two recruits would need to keep themselves occupied for a time within his Alpha Cosmos… but as far as downsides went, this one wasn’t debilitating, just tiresome. And perhaps even giving Helen more time to solve their issues with images was probably for the better.

Then Randidly refocused his gaze on the Visage of Obsession. The colors seemed to seep forward out of the edges of the painting. He could feel himself being drawn inward into the painting, but Randidly didn't resist the sensation. His perception spun, like all that was ‘Randidly Ghosthound’ became a liquid that was swirling down a drain.

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 15!

...and then he came out the other side, purified.

His mind… felt sharp and powerful. Like he could slice apart the shallow world of colors in front of him.

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 17!

Creepy-ass painting. It’s like you heard me complaining about you… Even if the effect is just this mental cleansing, it’s very valuable. Randidly reflected. The acuity I’m feeling right now… is it an illusion? Or perhaps just an effect of steadily shedding away the redundant or distracting thoughts…

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 19!

There was no obvious arrival at the destination, as had happened the previous time. The darkness of the ground was absolute. Randidly almost didn’t think he existed on that plain; he was only a bump against the implacable darkness, a smudge below the brilliant, fiery sky. Yet at that place, the form of Yystrix formed once again in front of him.

She smiled slyly and tilted her head to the side, as though asking how he was managing with his current predicament. Despite the fact that this projection was grown out of his subconscious, Randidly smiled aggressively back at her. His expression was a challenge, asking this Fatepiece to do its worse.

Without any noise, standing on that pitch-black landscape, Yystrix laughed. Then she pointed upward at her own face. Her message was clear; this time, rip out my eyes. Randidly pressed his lips together, but this time he did not hesitate.

His only dissatisfaction was the fact he currently had a single arm. Which meant that he needed to do her eyes one at a time.