Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Avoidance (L) has grown to Level 219!

Randidly’s quick step backward carried him out of the orbit of Zauna’s wild swing. But she followed up with a surprisingly agile stride that brought her follow-up blow back on a rumbling path toward Randidly’s side. Truly, although her image wasn’t particularly complex, the exceeding level of detail meant that Zauna was quite capable.

Randidly’s eyes flashed. I could directly suppress her with Stats now that I have a body… but that misses the point. I’m her superior. It’s time I demonstrate that.

The Chimera Weeps, but Man Mourns.

Using his AOE ability, Randidly lashed out with a dozen quick strikes with Acri. The air hummed with the speed and intensity of the viper quick strikes. The blows cut shallow gashes in Zauna’s arm and torso, but the real damage it did was to bleed momentum away from her own heavy swipe. Randidly could see from the tightening of her eyes that she understood what was happening, but she had already committed too much of her power to the strike; she couldn’t quickly adjust her position to cope with his concentrated thrusts.

Randidly’s metallic left arm came up and physically caught the attack. Even with the loss of power from his flurry of strikes, Zauna’s punch still carried with it enough moxy that the metal of his limb groaned from the strain of stopping it. That had Randidly’s eyebrows up, but he supposed it was only a matter of time before the metal he had managed to create on Earth would begin to show wear.

The foes on the frontline were simply much more difficult to handle than those he had in mind when he made the limb. So far Randidly hadn’t needed to really address the issue when he fought from afar, but soon...

It was why he had kept the limb as far away as possible from Nether. Mostly, it was just the fact that his images had been a much more adolescent stage when he was on Earth. After the struggles of handling the frontlines here and the Great Rift, they had a sort of weight and depth to them that dwarfed what he had previously.

As the images he used to make the metal was much more shallow, any sort of image you could find on the front line could damage them. Even Zauna’s, who didn’t possess a body, was a threat.

Not like I could make any sort of changes here though… Randidly’s eyes flashed as he flexed his metallic arm and threw Zauna two steps backward. He lowered Acri’s tip toward Zauna’s chest. I suppose I could visit the Alpha Cosmos and see how feasible it would be to create a passable foundry there… Besides, I wanted to visit to see about creating something akin to a Nether Prince for myself from that world…

Man is Proud, but the Chimera Takes.

Congratulations! Your Skill Man is Proud, but the Chimera Takes (L) has grown to Level 185!

Even as Randidly began to explode forward with a level of acceleration that was likely only possible with Chimeric Avoidance suppressing wind resistance, he could see that Zauna’s eyes flashed as she understood what was about to happen. Her image flowed down around her, condensing into a tight ball of power in the exact spot in her chest that Randidly was aiming for.

Admirable reaction time, Randidly admitted. Still...

In this case, Randidly knew that it was possible to use his Control to adjust the angle of his thrust and impact another location on Zauna’s torso. It would be a less vital spot, but he could bypass the strength of her image entirely and do significant damage. Due to the short split second that would pass between the adjustment and the impact, as they were so close, Zauna wouldn’t be able to adjust no matter her sharp reactions.

Yet this was just a spar. Randidly didn’t truly want to kill her.

Just demonstrate why he was the one in charge. His thrust shot forward toward Zauna’s condensed image.

BOOOOM!

Zauna was blown backward like she was a baseball hit by a major leaguer’s swing. She zipped and bounced across the ground until she crashed and blew apart a large stone that had jutted out of the ground its entire existence just for this moment. And it was a blessing that she hit into that, because afterward-

BOOM!

...she crashed into the tall wooden fence that had been erected around Commander Terith’s camp. With the additional deceleration of hitting the stone, she simply cracked open the timbers and rolled a short distance further into the camp. Several soldiers rapidly rushed out of their tents, fearing another Nether attack, but when they found Zauna’s form struggling to stand, they could relax and shake their heads at these foolish fellow soldiers.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Chuckling, Randidly walked over and helped Zauna to her feet. “You took that well.”

“Pah…” Zauna spat with obvious bitterness. It was clear that she was deeply agitated by how easily Randidly had suppressed her over the course of their ten-minute spar, but it wasn’t like they both didn’t know the main reason for that.

A body meant a lot.

Still, Randidly didn’t bother to say that. It was an excuse that Zauna cleared didn’t want; she had her pride. He gestured shortly back toward Lady Iellaya’s camp. “That’s probably enough for now. Thanks for the help. I was… a bit in a funk. But after that exercise… I’m feeling much better. But I do have some image training to do, so…”

When Randidly said that she had helped, he couldn’t help but notice that a lot of Zauna’s unwillingness to quit was softened away by a spark of happiness. Although it wasn’t meek, Zauna nodded shortly and began walking back toward the base without raising an objection. Leaving a slightly sweating and warmed up Randidly to finally put some attention back toward the issue of his Fate.

Randidly moved some distance away from the broken portion of the fence, heading back toward the supply caravan path. Not that he thought anyone would punish him for breaking it now that Commander Terith was apparently recuperating in the Headquarters, there was no point in attracting undue attention to his actions.

Beyond the supply track was the badlands, and it was there that Randidly finally settled into a cross-legged seated position and prepared to meditate. But before his focus turned toward his Alpha Cosmos, Randidly checked in on his Status again.

He currently had 133 PP sitting around because he hadn’t yet chosen what Path he wanted to do next. However, it was largely a moot point, because he would soon be receiving a huge chunk of PP after he had spent 300 additional PP and unlocked the next round of reward from his Soulskill.

Which meant that he only needed to gather 167 more PP… which wasn’t a small number, but it was certainly doable in a month or two. What Randidly wasn’t sure about was whether he would be able to gather that amount of PP before he needed to condense a Fate. Which likely wasn’t relevant, but as he tried to plan what Path he should take next, it felt like an issue he needed to solve.

Not because of new Skills he might obtain from his Paths, but because of the benefits from Paths like Growth of Yggdrasil III. It seemed as though finishing that path would cause his Skills to evolve to a higher rarity. Not that evolving the Skill itself would have a profound effect on Randidly’s image, but the power of image was admittedly based upon specificity. The way that the Nexus saw his image growing would give him additional bricks to create the foundation of something phenomenal.

Of course, that perspective made Randidly slightly bitter. Relying on the Nexus to predict his own growth seemed dangerous in so many ways, considering his self-stated goal of over throwing it. But… could he grow by ignoring the Nexus? And honestly, the Nexus appeared rather agnostic about its treatment of individuals; it benefits those who grew strong, no matter their goals.

Shaking his head, Randidly’s attention turned to some of the other Paths available to him. Because in addition to the Growth of Yggdrasil III Path, there were two other new arrivals that held his attention.

Search for the Akashic I 0/200, Ashes of Illym, the Above-Average Child 0/5000

In the same vein as relying on the Nexus for growth was a bad idea, Randidly knew it was foolish to be pleased that his growth was reflected by the System in his Paths. Yet as he looked at the first of the two Paths, he couldn’t help but feel slightly proud. Although he hadn’t even begun to make concrete steps toward adjusting Yggdrasil, the fact that the shifts in his image were enough to trigger this was a good sign.

As for the second Path…

Randidly’s eyes flashed. Interesting… but no reason to start down that Path before I understand more from Ignition Essence. It is a gamble I don’t need to take, for a benefit I don’t yet understand.

With at least his understanding of his Status taken care of for the short term, Randidly sat in a small shady alcove he found a short distance into the badlands and steadied his breathing. The sensation of dust on his feet, the howling cry of the wind, the warm of the daylight… they all fell away. Then he proceeded into his Soulskill.

Once more, Randidly found himself standing outside of the capital of the Armgrast Empire, right in the spot where he had parted with Azriel as she had proceeded with her dress toward whatever ruin that had been recently uncovered. Recalling that moment brought a smile to Randidly’s face.

Remembering Azriel’s determination, Randidly felt an impulse to seek her out immediately and see what she was up to. To see whether the journey she had taken ended up being worth it. Of all the people in Randidly’s life, Azriel was the one who seemed to be the steadiest sort of friend. Perhaps most embarrassing of all his thoughts, although Randidly had never done something like it before, he had not a little desire to find someone to share his newly discovered relationship with Vualla with.

And aside from Azriel… very few people would have the nerve to give Randidly their honest reaction about it. Well, Mrs. Hamilton probably would… but-

Then Randidly shook his head. His budding connection with Vualla should probably be given some time to grow before being picked incisively apart by the extremely logical Azriel. Instead, it was better by far to proceed to find Wendy immediately, so he could investigate smelting some high-quality metal with the additional boon of his empowered images. After that, he could check the fabric of this place for powerful enough memories to make something similar to a Nether Prince-

As Randidly’s Perception spread outward, he immediately froze. Slowly, he raised his gaze to the sky. Which was filled with drifting blue veins.

And the distinct tang of Nether.