Chapter 1605 (2/2)
Randidly closed his eyes. As he read the Path completion notification, he truly felt the things that it described. He felt the cold snow on his bare feet, with the chill rocks beneath the snow. He could feel a light wind brush his cheek and ruffle his hair. Above him towered mountains. His hands ached from carrying the spear for so long. Blood dripped off of the head of the weapon, which had been modified by his subconscious to resemble Acri.
Why I wield a spear, huh… Randidly reached up and scratched his cheek in that strange, projected dream. The best answer is that it is a coincidence. It was the weapon my teacher used and so I adopted it. But if you want to know why I keep a hold of this weapon even after all this time…
“There are some things you cannot protect without violence,” Randidly said aloud to the destroyed remnants of the Nether Herald and its Nether Beasts in the real world. He opened his eyes and blinked. But almost immediately, the mental visions surged forward once more.
Randidly could see himself descending down into the river valley with his spear raised. He watched himself in third person, fascinated by the experience. As he looked at this projection of himself, he could feel the poignant determination in his own eyes. This place would not hold him; he would proceed further and grow stronger, no matter the cost.
But Randidly shook his head to dismiss the vision. “...you misunderstand what I meant. At this juncture…”
By expressing his desire, his consciousness returned to that projected image. Randidly first tried to activate Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil within the vision, but of course, this Path was related to spear mastery. He couldn’t manifest any Skills besides that one.
Randidly’s projected mouth curled upward. Spear Mastery… or this new Fabled Spear Mastery hasn’t been my emphasis for a while… The Skill Level is at 333. But This entire time, I’ve never ceased practicing…
Truly, these hands feel most at rest wrapped around a spear...
He raised his gaze from the river valley to the snow-topped mountains that towered over him. Then he raised his gaze even further, looking up to the wide blue sky above.
When Randidly raised his spear, he settled into a very familiar stance. Then he released a breath and thrust his spear quickly forward. A thin blade of concentrated air pressure zipped into the sky. But just as quickly as the wind blade proceeded, Randidly was even quicker. After unleashing the attack, he crouched quickly and exploded into motion. He jumped forward and rapidly caught up with that wind blade until he could lightly tap his foot against it.
As he did so, Randidly’s spear flashed and he unleashed another wind blade that shot along the sky and reached the edges of the cloud level. At the same time, the muscles of his foot flexed and threw Randidly forward.
Like he was climbing a staircase, Randidly gradually ascended through the clouds toward the peaks of that massive, distant mountain range that resembled the lower jaw of a beast. And as he continued to rise, higher and higher, he spoke to the air. “I cannot deny that I enjoy the challenge of fighting… but I won’t seek it, if I don’t need to. There are plenty of forces in the Nexus willing to force me to rely on violence. And especially when the horizon is so wide… why always carve a path through bodies with a spear?”
The wind around him grew chillier, but Randidly didn’t stop his strange spear-hopping. He continued to ascend upward until he could land on the top of the tallest and most ominous of the ‘jaws’. The clouds around him rumbled and began to darken. A storm descended upon the surrounding area as a welcome party.
With the coming storm, the temperature sharply dropped. But Randidly didn’t mind. After glancing around, he trudged through the snow while ignoring the chill. After a few minutes, he spotted his goal. He clamored over the last rock outcropping and looking down at what lay beyond this high mountain in his Split Path.
And what he saw made him laugh. Randidly scratched his head and chuckled. “Jeez, of course. An even higher mountain range…” But just as quickly as he spoke, a new notification popped up in front of him.
Congratulations! Despite the long and bloody Path you have taken to get here, your Path of the Spear remains strangely pure. The difficulty of this Path lies in the freedom you now possess; after your feet have left the ground, you walk without any guide within the depths of the wilderness. But your confidence and capability will be enough to ensure your safety.
Congratulations! Your Skill Fabled Spear Mastery (L) has evolved into Ripple of Amenonuhoko (M)! Skill Level will be maintained! Effect of Skill Levels slightly increased! User’s ability to affect terrain with a spear has greatly increased! Willpower +50, Free Stats +50!
With a grin, Randidly flexed his fingers. After obtaining the latest batch of the free Stats, he didn’t dwell much on the unfamiliar name to his Skill. Instead, he took those free Stats and threw them into Focus. The moment that Randidly reached 1000 in all of his Stats, he felt the change come over him.
He groaned and staggered backward as strange energy reverberations ran through his limbs. At first, he feared some other trap laid by the System, or that the warning he had heard from Velio Dunn was correct; that there was some hidden danger lurking for those who broke past the System limitation.
But in the next moment, Randidly managed to release a sudden gasp as his muscles seized and that energy within his body began to rapidly build. The energy was neither Nether nor Aether, but something less profound and more personal. It was, quite literally, his physical life energy.
After all of his Stats were pushed above 1000, the essence of his being began to change.
Even while he continued to shift and twitch as he grew used to this sudden energy bubbling up from his depths, Randidly followed another impulse. He opened up the Path screen and looked at the bottom. And his expectations weren’t disappointed. He had unlocked a new Path.
Stat Evolution I 0/10,000