Chapter 1631 (2/2)

Barely after Randidly had recognized the shape of the objects, Shal tossed them both toward him. Then his master turned and rushed after his fellow members of the Engraving Guild, not giving Randidly any further attention.

Randidly’s eyes flashed. “Even now, you run? What happened to you Shal? Why won’t you show me your spear?!?”

Shal didn’t even pause in his retreat. It almost seemed like Shal hadn’t heard Randidly. Randidly’s metal left arm flicked out and caught both the items. He dearly wished to charge directly after Shal and force his master to answer, but at the moment, Randidly had another concern.

For a second he teetered on ignoring this rare opportunity and chasing down Shal anyway, but Randidly pressed his lips together and lowered his head. As long as Shal remains in these isolated spatial islands, I’ll at least know where he is. I have time. Meanwhile, this issue of being constantly observed and tracked…

While he touched the Fatepiece, Randidly rapidly adjusted his Aether apparatus again so he could see the resulting notification.

Congratulations! You have obtained the fourth piece of your Fateset, the Hierarchy of Burden Lvl 1! The Hierarchy of Burden is an ancient implement that can elevate one’s very soul toward the realm of a deity. Under its influence, you may finally perceive the complete truth of your own existence. While the utilization remains a mystery to you now, the journey to discover that information will bring you ever closer to the truth of the Alchemist!

In addition, due to possessing the Hierarchy of Burden, +5 Endurance, Reaction, and Willpower per Level of your Class!

At the same time as the notification was displayed in front of him, Randidly’s focus was entirely on the substance surrounding his Soulspace. The Fatepiece had arrived, and as he was told by Nathaz Eloise, there was a brief moment where the seemingly invulnerable ‘lock’ of Aether constructs placed upon him by the System opened of its own volition to allow the Fatepiece to seep into his person. As his Fatepiece flowed forward into that opening, Randidly’s Willpower became a harpoon that shot forward and pierced through that shitty construct of Aether that allowed the Engraving Guild to track him.

Congratulations! Your Skill Aether Detection has grown to Level 249!

Congratulations! Your Skill Aether Detection has grown to Level 250!

For a brief moment, Randidly was completely immersed in the complicated machinery of his Class, Soulspace, Skills, and the ambiguous connections all those pieces held to the strange pseudo-intelligence that provided him with new Paths. Because that was the final question that he held regarding the System. He was dearly tempted to spend a half-second memorizing the Aether he could perceive here, but already the lock was once more closing.

Nathaz Eloise hadn’t lied about this either: one would need to be quite capable with Aether to manage this operation.

Grimacing, even as he remained stiffly standing on the edge of the battlefield, Randidly used every ounce of ferocity he could manage to tear that offending bit of Aether away and then withdrew his consciousness from those secret machines of the System. The other Aether constructs closed like jaws around him, with enough brute force to crush his will.

Congratulations! Your Skill Aether Manipulation has grown to Level 253!

The confines of Randidly’s Soulspace smoothly slid back together, suddenly seeming like they had never parted in the first place. Clicking his tongue at how much he still had to learn about Aether Constructs, Randidly opened his eyes and glanced around at the changes in the surroundings.

As the orthodox factions of the Nexus retreated, they gathered together in a tighter and tighter group. From three small battlefields, only one extremely tiny one was left. But the clashes there were extraordinarily intense. The immense yellow skeleton had returned and now released blasts of blue-green beams every second to buy time for the troops to retreat. Those beams scythed across the slope and left waves of fire in their wake.

This time Seeker Thunder Wing didn’t move, so the yellow skeleton had an advantage in terms of raw power. Yet the combined forces of the grey cloud with black raindrops, the weaker iteration of the Crimson Thunder Eagle, and the Thousand-Armed Alabaster Titan were significantly pressuring it.

By the time Randidly had finished with his internal Aether adjustments, Shal had vanished; he must have made it to the spatial wall and escaped to the next area. In the next ten seconds, more and more members of Military High Command and the Nexus Labor Council escaped. But at some point, too many Pinnacle Seeker had gathered their images together to contest the enormous yellow skeleton. After taking a deep wound from the grey cloud, that skeleton image user forcefully smashed the images away and escaped himself. After he left, the dark patterns on the spatial wall flared to life and began to release waves of pressure that destabilized the area.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so individuals that hadn’t managed to escape in time were slaughtered by the Pinnacle Seekers.

Seeing that things were wrapping up, Randidly released a long sigh. The fight hadn’t taken very long or required him to expend much Willpower at all, but the constant state of emotional tension he had maintained left him feeling drained. And he didn’t even reach a satisfying conclusion. Although that last strike had cut perfectly along the stitched on additions to Shal’s image, Randidly just didn’t know enough.

He didn’t understand why Shal had changed his attitude. And that wasn’t his only reason for disappointment.

With a bitter expression, Randidly looked down at his Fatepiece. Worst of all, I’m left with more questions than answers. I might have received the Fatepiece, but the notification seems to hint that I need to research its usage on my own…

Hah… what a hassle.