When the curtain of night had been drawn over the world, Randidly walked out to the area that had been decimated by the Redemption Arena. Even he couldn’t help but be impressed by the wild exuberance of humanity that had demolished the surroundings. The forest had been blasted and smashed to pieces until the charred debris formed piles that resembled ashen snowdrifts. The ground was pitted and cracked throughout the entirety of the area from concussive force. Weapons of all sorts had left deep scars on the ground that still possessed wisps of the user’s images. The hissed and rippled as Randidly walked past.

This place had been indelibly marked by what happened here.

After marathoning through the first two rounds of the tournament, taking three and two days respectively to finish them, Randidly declared that the fifth day of the tournament would be a break. In addition, the Order Ducis now set out the entire bracket for everyone to see. So all the various factions were pleased to have an entire day to prepare for their next round opponents.

Which left Randidly with some time to address some other responsibilities. Unfortunately, most of that was paperwork regarding the change in governance for Kharon. But at night, he slipped away to accomplish a task he believed he would enjoy.

I can regrow the forest, but those image remnants might make this place rather strange… Randidly mused. He considered using Erode Image to clear the images out of the area, but Randidly could detect no trace of his images or images relating to him in the area; apparently Helen and Ajax had been more reserved than he had expected. As such, he thought it would be a shame to bulldoze the first time that other members of humanity had marked the surface of the planet with their image.

Plus, it would be a waste; as destroyed as this was, this was a testament to the growing image powers of Earth. The small remnants in the soil were relatively weak, but they would slowly blend together with each other and any living beings in the area to create something truly unique. Encouraging that growth was difficult, but Randidly was very confident that he was one of the individuals who could manage it.

“Compared to the Grim Chimera and the Stillborn Phoenix…” Randidly spoke to the darkness, raising one mental arm and one fleshy one with his palms facing upward. Specters of golden Engraving swam up and down the surface of both his arms and the air in the surrounding area began to naturally swirl about his figure. There was a shuddering pressure on the air and then the towering image of Yggdrasil appeared behind him. “These little image remnants are quite well-behaved.”

An invisible wind rustled the emerald leaves. Then a veritable river of ambient energy gushed outward from Randidly’s body and soaked the surrounding ground.

Randidly couldn’t use Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil to actually manipulate the plant life, otherwise, his carefully constructed forest would ignite and turn to ash only a few minutes later. But he still could use his roots as the most efficient series of plows in the world. Within only a minute of activating the Skill, he had thoroughly leveled the ground that had been destroyed and mixed it with the burnt trees to enrich the soil. All the while, he supplied energy to those image remnants so they wouldn’t be lost in the chaos.

With great care, Randidly then began to add some elevation changes to the flat land. Not that he would have minded if the ground here was entirely flat, but the scars that held the remnant images were often at different elevations due to the chaotic fighting. So he sculpted the land so those areas would be prominently featured.

Then Randidly sat down and pressed his Willpower against the manifestation of the World Tree. The color of its leaves turned more vibrant and the brown of its massive trunk darkened. At the same time, Yggdrasil’s golden script began to release a soft, nurturing light over the surrounding area.

Congratulations! Your Skill the Inscrutable Mien of Genesis (M) has grown to Level 261!

Randidly smiled softly for the Skill Level, but didn’t do anything about it quite yet. Instead, he focused himself and continued to gently channel out that genesis energy. After only five minutes, thin sprouts poked their tips out of the rich dirt in the surrounding area.

As though the success of those first plants was a flare exploding in the night sky, the entirety of the area began to burst with thin green tendrils that thirstily drank from the energy that Yggdrasil provided. Growths became saplings, saplings became modest trees, and those modest trees then rocketed upward, spreading out dense layers of foliage next to each other as if some sort of cold-war canopy race was occurring between the various trees.

While most trees raced upward, other plants picked their spots with more care. Thick bushes and vines grew along the base of the higher trees, thickening the ground cover. Flowers bloomed and withered like exploding kernels of popcorn along the ground, a testament to the sheer amount of vital energy that Randidly could provide.

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Gradually, Randidly eased off. He couldn’t afford to taint this area with his image, he had to gradually extract himself, pulling the touch of Yggdrasil with him and leaving the energy. A low headache had developed from pushing the area too far only on the potency of his image, but he didn’t regret it. Plus, he could already feel some of the images nibbling on the ambient energy in the air, preparing to grow into something more potent.

Content, Randidly turned away from the restored forest and opened a portal with his Philosopher's Key. When he was back on his island, he poured the final PP into place and finished the Monstrosity’s Growth Path.

Congratulations! You have finished the Monstrosity’s Growth Path! The higher you climb, the harsher the environment becomes. But despite the inclement elements, your body has continued to evolve to suit this place. You have been marked. Your skin thickens. Your blood heats. Your teeth sharpen. Your determination grows.

Yet, driven by strange impulses, there are moments when you turn and look back across the sloping Path that led you to this point. You cannot help but wonder if you could truly return to where you started any longer.

Your very presence might well be enough to destroy that peaceful life you once held. All evolution comes with a price.

Congratulations! Nether Brawn +50, Health Regeneration +50! Congratulations, your Skill Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality (A) has evolved into Abomination’s Grim Vigor (M)! Skill Levels will be maintained.

For a second, Randidly stiffened in the darkness. With the silvery mist of his island around him, his muscle fibers tightened and flex in a very particular pattern. Then they seemed to spin together more tightly into a new form. They coiled beneath his skin like waking vipers. If someone were to see Randidly’s form at the moment, they would clearly see the thick cables of muscle moving across his body.

Randidly was forced to bite his lip to suppress the accelerating beat of his heart. At the moment, Mareen and her crew were hard at work constructing his house for him only a few dozen meters away. The sort satisfying physical test of his new Skill would likely be too disturbing to perform here.

So Randidly pulled out his Philosopher’s Key and opened another portal that took him ever further South of the Orchard, nearing the edge of Zone 1’s original lands. There he released a deep growl that seemed to emerge from his very core. The noise even resonated with the Nether Nebula that was spinning in his chest. Heartbeat, growl, and Nether Nebula hummed in harmony with each other. As his heart began to pound more quickly and blood rushed through his body, Randidly felt his shadow lengthening behind him, even though the only source of light was the soft touch of the stars.

Randidly’s joints popped pleasantly as his muscles flexed again and shifted to a new form. After breaking past the physical limitations of the System, he had always felt while moving that he was wielding something just slightly too large for him to manage. Despite all of the practice fights Randidly had engaged in against Helen in the Dungeon, he couldn’t shake that feeling of squandered power when he moved.

Only now, as his new Abomination’s Grim Vigor spread throughout his body did Randidly achieve a sense of comfort and capability that he had been reaching for. His fingers flexed. A satisfied smile spread across his face as he looked down at his hands. His long shadow stretching behind him moved independently of his body, raising its head and silently laughing. That silent laughter was a challenge to the universe, a gauntlet thrown down.

Do you dare try and kill me now?

Almost without any effort, Randidly’s heart began to pound more quickly and his body transformed. His black hair turned into a brilliant emerald color. His left eye faded to black and then was completely blotted out from the world as if an abyss had taken up residence in his eye socket. Light in the surrounding area bled into that sudden vacuum. Two segmented bone tails flicked back and forth, a long one at his waist and a shorter one from the base of his neck.

Inside of Randidly’s body, those new braided muscle fibers tightened around his bones to an almost painful degree. In a way, it was a naked threat to his skeletal system: continue to improve or you will be crushed to powder.

But as quickly as the domineering mood seized him, it was pushed away. Randidly released a breath and began to calm his heart. Not because he didn’t want to experiment further, but because someone was making a beeline toward his location. Mildly surprised that someone would head directly toward him when he was releasing such a dense image, Randidly prepared himself to receive a guest.

Rather casually, Randidly had teleported himself next to a small pond hidden below a ravine. Otherwise, it was rather devoid of vegetation or animal life. It was a very isolated location. So he stood in the shallow darkness of the area, watching as Thea Glasshammer stomped forward to face Randidly.

Despite the fact that Thea’s image was so unstable and slightly violent that Randidly knew he shouldn’t joke, the corners of Randidly’s mouth quirked up subconsciously as he saw her. “Is even a Nemesis coming to complain that their loss in the tournament was unfair?”

“I…” Thea's face went a blotchy red and Randidly’s expression softened. She really was so young. Perhaps just over twenty. And aside from the Path he had taken and Lyra’s own strange existence, he had to admit that Thea Glasshammer likely had one of the most difficult roads in order to get to this point.

“Just… just tell me the truth…” Thea eventually managed, stopping only a few meters away from Randidly. Her shoulders rose and fell with her erratic breathing. Her eyes couldn’t decide whether they wanted to stare at him or flit around the surroundings. “Why… why is it only around other people that Chrysanthemum seems alive? Does she… has what I have become truly made her hate me so…? I just can’t…. Everything was supposed to be…”

Then a Nemesis began to cry, fat, ugly sobs that shook her whole body. Randidly sighed and shook his head. Time slowly passed as the sobs softened into intermittent sniffles. Only when Thea had some control of herself did Randidly speak. “I… can only theorize. It’s hard to know for sure… but are you sure you want to hear my opinion? Even if it’s worse than your current situation?”

“What could be worse than this?” Thea asked with a gesture toward herself.