Chapter 1572 (2/2)

Randidly released a breath. The emotional radiation from the arm continued to give him an extremely detailed look at the curves of the limb. But as he sensed those emotions now, a thought occurred to Randidly. Actually, if the arm throws off this much emotion constantly… haaaah….

Accepting the unknown attribute was a risk, but Randidly reached out and seized the armored wrist in front of him. He brought the arm around and blew another breath out through his nose. His right hand went to the heavy shoulder of the limb. His blind eyes narrowed. His hand tightened on the joint, which ended in a short spike to grip onto the flesh of Randidly’s body while the Engraving bonded with him.

He shook his head slightly as his acute senses traced the edges of that spike. If only this process was a bit more comfortable…

Without any further hesitation, he shoved the joint against the remnant flesh of his shoulder. The spike broke through his skin, drawing a silent hiss from Randidly. Then his Aether stirred as he activated the Engravings present. To Randidly’s senses, emotion began to move with the Mana, creating an even brighter illumination within the Nether Ritual. Those violent emotions rapidly drove the heat of the metal upward.

Randidly grimaced as the energized metal began to sizzle against the skin of his shoulder. Then his chest rumbled as he felt the lines of energy digging their way outward from his equipment into his body. The already scarred flesh of his shoulder once more was invaded by Engravings and Randidly had to force himself to relax to allow the bonding to occur. All the previous markings on his shoulder had to be seared away to make room for the new ones.

But, as expected, the experience wasn’t a pleasant one.

Congratulations! Your Skill Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix (L) has grown to Level 306!

The cleansing and marking didn’t take long, however. Soon, the pain rapidly began to fade. And in that vacated stretch of sensation, the tingling feedback from his new limb began to arrive. With a ghost of the smile on his face, Randidly raised his armored left arm. His new knuckles were thick and angular, while the fingertips tapered down to the normal human size.

It was a hand that could carve an Engraving, punch through a stone wall… or wring the life out of the throat of an enemy.

Someday, Velio Dunn. Randidly glanced upward at the emotions that swam upward. When I’ve had my decade… don’t you fucking worry. I’ll come back for my revenge. You’ll get your duel.

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Timing (Ru) has grown to Level 172!

Currently, Randidly had experienced three months within the depths of the Nexus. He wondered how much time had passed in the outside world.

After shaking his head to rid himself of distractions, Randidly raised his hand and swiped it through the air. The Nether Ritual parted, allowing the thick Nether in the surroundings to come flooding back. He planned to study the marks he left on this location’s Nether by this forging, but as his aura spread out, he could only grimace.

Three violent blasts of emotions that were heading up on the other side of the shaft curved around and headed to his position, as though they were curious about the radiation his arm released.

His worst fears were confirmed; the ambient emotions of his arm acted as a draw, pulling everything toward him. With a long face, Randidly prepared to blast away these offending emotions.

As he did so, Randidly wondered if there would be a way to tone down his arm a little.

*****

For a while, Helen was silent as she looked at Vualla sitting on the rock, rubbing her cheek. Finally, she opened her mouth. “Should we punish them for this? It might not have been conscious, but he definitely mobilized an image against you.”

“No… this much is alright,” Vualla said with a sigh. She slapped her cheek lightly. The spot still stung slightly from where she had been so thoroughly smashed. Training these two recruits certainly wasn’t resulting in the sort of growth she had experienced while in the Xyrt Brigade training facility, but it broadened her horizons. Vualla hopped up to her feet and shook herself. “Besides, isn’t this exactly what we wanted? Guiding him to this Path. Heh. I guess that fox is finally desperate.”

Truly, that punch that Raymund had used had been sublime, if Vualla did say so herself. But she was somewhat biased because that punch was originally hers.

And that Vulpine had somehow stolen it and used it against her.

“But…” Helen pursed her lips but didn’t push it further.

Vualla waved a hand. “Believe me, I’m mad. But it’s not that important in the grand scheme of things. I’ll have my revenge on that bastard… because this time, I won’t be surprised by his abilities. And when I finally capture them… hehehe… being without images might be shit otherwise, but nothing replaces the feeling of beating someone to a pulp with just your own fists, am I right?”