Chapter 145 (1/2)

Randidly stirred, then sat bolt upright. What…?

“So you finally wake. Hmph, well it is good you didn’t perish, but you also did not make things any easier for us. The formation… will be of no more use. It will take more time to repair.”

Randidly opened his mouth, then hesitated, paling. He had damaged the formation…? That was honestly terrible, because although the feeling of Aether that he experienced in there was painful, it had been oddly invigorating.

Thinking about it, Randidly turned his attention inward. It seemed that although Aether had definitely spread throughout him, with more spindly branches extending into his arms, and especially his legs, it had fallen back into a dormant state. It moved, but extremely slowly, pulsing only intermittently.

Turning his attention to Shal, Randidly noticed that he didn’t seem to be that upset that the formation was damaged. In fact… he almost seemed cheery.

Standing, Shal gestured, and Randidly followed him out of the room with the inheritances. “For tonight, rest and train your other… skills.”

Randidly was slightly amused that he seemed unwilling to refer directly to the usefulness of his spells, but he let it slide.

Shal continued. “Tomorrow we will continue with training. In the evenings, instead of the formation, you shall make use of the 2nd of the tools left behind by my father; his journal. During the night, you will be free to continue your other pursuits. Within a week, we will leave, to train at a more… advantageous location. Settle your affairs; you will return strong or in a coffin.”

And with that, Shal left him alone.

After a nervous chuckle at the foreboding things Shal had said, Randidly sat down and addressed his notifications. It seemed the creation of his skill based on the movements had reached 80%, which meant it might be possible to push towards creating the move within the week, before Shal whisked him off to whatever dangerous location he had in mind for the training.

The second notification caught and held Randidly’s attention.

Due to your strong image, the skill Phantom Thrust can be changed. Do you wish to merge the image into the skill? Warning, based on the quality of the components, efficacy of the skill or the image may decrease. Do you still wish to continue?

Perhaps it would be smart to wait, but…

Randidly stood, and thrust forward. The spear was slow and steady, but when it finished, a wave of force spread outward in every direction, buzzing like a deep bass note. Even Randidly’s bones vibrated slightly through the force.

He also had Sweep and Ghastly Slash. Sacrificing some of the speed for a move powerful enough to finish fights, and force others to back off, appealed to Randidly after being on the losing end of his conflict with Tertet. He selected yes.

Congratulations! Your skill Phantom Thrust Lvl 70 has changed to The Inevitable Phantom Arrives Lvl 35 (Un). Half of the benefits of skill levels retained. Skill levels will be slightly easier to gain until the level of the new skill rivals that of the old skill.

Congratulations! Your skill has become a skill with an Uncommon Rarity. Continue to explore further. You will find that uncommon starting places generate uncommon paths!

Randidly hefted his spear and looked at the sharp obsidian tip. The Inevitable Phantom Arrives, huh…? Perhaps that really was the image that he had. Always advancing, always approaching. This Phantom could not be avoided.

Also, the notification from the system was cute, that it encouraged him to create more skills of different rarities, and then use their paths. But he already had a Runic rarity move. It was just far more difficult than he had expected to level it, resulting in not really having access to that path yet. But it was good to know that path would probably be worth it.

Then Randidly turned to the skill notifications.He had gained 2 Lvls in Spear Mastery and Spear Phantom’s Footwork, 3 in Iron Skin and Dodge (likely from Shal’s earlier beatings), 1 in Haste, 2 in Empower, 2 in Battle Intent, 4 in Struggle, 1 in Root Control and Plantomancy, 1 in Potion Making, 3 in Mana Engraving, 3 in Physical Fitness, 4 in Meditation, 1 in Pain Resistance (It was good to see that the Aether really did cause actual pain), 4 in Bacterial Regeneration and Mental Fortitude, and finally 5 in Second Wind.