Chapter 1570 (2/2)

As Revelation energy filled his body, Randidly peered at the metal ingots floating in the air around him. He could sense their delicate loosening of their bonds as the heat tugged at them, but Black Gold was an extremely robust metal; this heat wouldn’t be enough to melt the bars. So he cackled without producing any noise and pushed the heat of his body upward. His heart was thunderously silent, shaking every inch of him with every beat, without producing the slightest noise.

As the heat rose, the Black Gold began to soften at its edges. With a knowing smile on his face, Randidly raised his right hand and made a fist. Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart squeezed the super-heated air around the metal ingot, increasing the heat even further as the air molecules collided with each other in a much smaller space. Where his source of heat was relatively static, he could only apply more and more pressure.

So his fist tightened. His Willpower flared.

He couldn’t see it happen, but he could feel it. The metal began to ooze and bubble.

After that, the destabilization began to accelerate. The ingot completely lost its shape under the tight grasp of the Stillborn Phoenix’s Skills. Then Randidly began to spin the molten metal, whisking away any slight impurities that he found within its material. His heart continued to beat, raising the ambient temperature within the Nether Ritual.

With a steaming finger, he pointed to guide the entire process of smelting.

The sphere of metal was brought through the negative energy blood, drawing out its weaknesses. Then Randidly thoroughly beat and purified it with blasts of gravity. Afterward, it was dunked within the positive energy blood, which strengthened its structure and reinforced it. Randidly’s heart continued like a perfect metronome, marking his progress.

When he was satisfied with the first reforged ingot, Randidly released it to float toward the top of his work area and started on a second ingot. Soon he had created a second, third, and fourth, but then he was forced to pause in his work. He could feel the Nether Ritual slowly beginning to tear and allow some of his precious heat to radiate outward into the surrounding space. Due to that strange heat, some Nether Beasts were drifting closer.

His annoyance spiked. Randidly cursed quietly and wove a second, larger Nether Ritual.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 201

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 201!

Halfway through the weaving, Randidly went through the motions of clicking his tongue and didn’t produce the slightest noise. He shredded his Nether Ritual and began again. Each of his flows of Nether was suddenly very purposeful. As he returned to making more common Nether Rituals after utilizing Engraving to make a Nether Core, he realized he had made some rather foolish assumptions when he earned the Skill that he now carried. Banishing those assumptions, Randidly began weaving again, aiming to mimic significance, rather than organic lines.

Organic lines were a byproduct of existence. They aren’t the ultimate goal.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 201!

Since he was remaking the Nether Ritual anyway, Randidly made the final space about double its original size. It had occurred to him after melting a few ingots that it would be difficult to manage everything in his original zone. Soon, the second Nether Ritual snapped into place and once more sealed his activities from the outside space. The Nether Beasts who drifted closer could not find anything of note within the Ritual and steadily drifted away.

The Stillborn Phoenix seemed almost disappointed that it didn’t get to devour more Nether Beasts, for the moment.

Expanding the space obviously cooled the air, which meant Randidly had to spend a couple more minutes building up heat. And the previously melted metals hardened in that time, which filled Randidly with dissatisfaction. He gritted his teeth. But after concentrating on his heartbeat for a while, the temperature reached its previous levels. Yet Randidly suddenly thought this wasn’t enough; his Willpower flexed his muscles with such desperation his body began to shake.

I need… more heat…. As soon as sweat formed on his brow, it evaporated and was whisked away. His skin was red and inflamed. Yet he knew that even this-

Struck by sudden inspiration, Randidly released the tight reins he kept on his emotions. All his aggressive fury, his frustration with his own development, and that tingling madness that drove him into fights against Nether Beasts flooded out of his heart and filled his body. Images required both shape and emotion to achieve their strength. But even without shape, emotions had power. That was one of the lessons this experience had carved into his bones.

To his Nether Sensation, Randidly felt pink flames lick across his body. He let the aggressive emotions run wild, feeling the familiar, suffocating feelings of mental imbalance rising within him. Yet he didn’t slow down as he approached that barrier. He simply blasted past it, reducing it to splinters.

Randidly felt something within his Soulspace change, but he didn’t investigate the sensation closely. Under the influence of the wild emotions, he clenched his hand into a fist. The flames around his body grew in height. The isolated space became an inferno.

As the ingots floating in the air began to melt, Randidly began to laugh.