Chapter 553

A couple of quick notes. I don't know how I missed it, but this chapter was part of the batch I meant to release here with the others on monday. It also makes a lot of your reactions make more sense to me.

Second, apologies for the lack of posting for two days. Part of it is that I don't get warm weather often. The second part is that my body isn't prepared for the sun. I am a lobster person right now.

For those of you who are tired of the slow pace (shoutout to Prinny for the OG complaints...) this is almost over. Everything is here, and we are about to accelerate into some more battles.

Finally, the competition is delayed for a week because I can't get discord to work on my laptop. But I'll post it when I get back from vacation.

I might write a bit more today, and I'll definitely write tomorrow to catch up. Goal is another 3-4 before Saturday.

Randidly understood what Neveah was saying: what does it matter that their relationship was doomed? People made bad decisions about relationships all the time. Should Neveah being a monster stop her from the privilege of doing the same?

After begrudgingly agreeing that Neveah’s actions in his name were likely the best option, this new argument was infuriating in a whole different manner. Not only that but for Neveah to say that Randidly was just as scatterbrained and childish as TIa…

Randidly needed a break. So he went to a place where he could let loose.

With his eyes burning golden in the darkness, Randidly walked into the danger zone that housed the Three-Headed Ogre. Sulfur hissed in pleasure as it settled around his body. Acri whistled as it wound its way up his leg and presented itself to be grabbed.

Just like last time, the first ogres in the Danger Zone did not bother to use any sort of trickery; they charged out of the brush with clubs held high. The fury inside of Randidly numbed him somewhat, so he didn’t even move, even as the ogres approached him. Their wild blows crashed downwards and Randidly did not dodge.

They smashed into Sulfur’s plates and the strange carbon plant lifeform did its best to disperse the force of the blow. But still, Randidly staggered somewhat. After all, these monsters were in the low 60s, and their build was focused on strength. It was no surprise that they could deal damage if their blows actually landed.

There was a spark in Randidly’s chest and he grunted, but it was not enough to disperse the slowly building fury. When he swung Acri, it was a clumsy thing. All raw force and the vicious desire to kill. But still, the ogres fell back with severed limbs and mortal wounds.

Randidly staggered forward, his eyes brilliant emerald stars. As he continued through the walk more and more ogres came for him. No longer would Randidly give them a chance to strike him first, but instead he would swing Acri with all the force he could muster and trade blows with these two and a half meter tall ogres.

Sizable chunks of Randidly’s health were ripped off, but immediately his huge Health Regeneration began activating at full capacity to restore him. After a time, Randidly found himself panting alone in a clearing. Around him 40 silent ogres lay, their bodies hacked to shreds.

For several long breaths, Randidly lay still as he allowed his Health to restore itself. Then he moved on.

It took Randidly only four hours this time to reach the inner sanctum of the Three-Headed Ogre. Partially this was due to his knowledge of the layout of the Danger Zone, but the other big detail was that every battle he fought was over in a single strike. His attacks cut through opposing party’s weapons and sheared into their body. It was only a matter of how quickly could Randidly throw attacks.

When he reached the ridge of the Three-Headed Ogre, the creature roared and climbed up out of its warren to see who dare disturb it. When it saw Randidly, it immediately blanched. But then the leftmost head began whispering in the center head’s ears, and the two other heads gritted their teeth but nodded. Obviously, the thing remembered the limit on Randidly’s power.

But Randidly wasn’t here to actually finish it off. He simply wanted to blow off some steam. And he didn’t want to gain another Level, so he couldn’t use spells against the other monsters. He needed an opponent who was strong enough to be a challenge but wouldn’t die and also wouldn’t pose any threat to Randidly. Although this thing could cast three spells at once, so could Randidly. And his were better.

During his free time in his workshop, he had gathered enough materials to remake his rings with his increased Potion Making Skill. As such, he now had 10 rings which had between a 500 and 600 Mana storage. Combined with his actual manner, Randidly had just above 9000 Mana to play with.

“Kekeke, foolish human, coming back to fail once more,” The left head began, “Need we remind you how limp your-”

“Spearing Roots,” Randidly said quietly, and the air around his body seemed to distort as he moved more Mana at once than he ever had in the past. He fueled this spell with fully 4000 Mana. The ground trembled first and then exploded upwards as thousands of roots covered in vines shot upwards to impale the 10 meter tall three headed ogre. Instantly the right head cast Wind Blades, but the blades lost their edge after cutting through only 20 of the roots.

It didn’t even make a dent in the wave of plant matter that shot up towards them.

“Physical Shield!” The middle head bellowed, and this spell was a bit more effective. The shimmering armor that formed around its body repelled about half of the Spearing Roots, but the other half burst through and curled around and through its limbs. It grunted in pain.

With burning eyes, the left head shouted, “Lightning Bolt.”

Randidly snorted; he had seen this trick before. As the energy took a second to build up in the sky above, he used Gravity Affinity to destabilize the point of formation. It fizzled, but the spell was completely dispersed. Seeming only to remember now that Randidly had developed a way to overcome this trick, the left head swore quietly under its breath.

Now it was Randidly’s turned.

“Incendiary Eruption.”

A crack opened in the ground beneath the ogre’s legs and superheated lava spewed upward, searing the flesh on its legs. It screeched in agony, and the center head began casting a healing spell while the right continued to cast Wind Blades to cut its way out. But Randidly wasn’t interested in giving them that chance.

“Incendiary Eruption. Incendiary Eruption. Incendiary Eruption. Incendiary Eruption.”

Again and again, Randidly cast the spell, slowly burning away all the flesh on the ogre’s legs, and the continuing the assault until its bones cracked and crumpled from the heat. This had the negative side effect of burning away a lot of the Spearing Roots, but Randidly was ready for that eventuality as well.

“Grasp of Lava, Grasp of Lava.”

Now that it had fallen to its knees, its feet having been burnt to nothing, Randidly could produce huge hands of lava from the ground to grip onto its body. This burnt away the rest of the root spears, but they were no longer necessary. They were just used to keep the ogre still enough that it could get to this point.

The ogre’s screams grew increasingly loud, so much so that the ridge shook with the force of its shouts. The right head appeared to have passed out, even as the center head was shedding tears while continuing to cast healing spells. The left head kept trying to use lightning bolts and cold snap, but both could be destabilized with the use of Gravity Affinity and proper timing.

Eventually, even the left head ceased casting spells and just looked at Randidly with pleading eyes. The burnt flesh had reached its waist, and the bones of its thighs had been revealed after everything else was burnt away. It was broken.

But it was not dead, and Randidly was out of Mana. Everything below its waist had been incinerated, but that wasn't enough to kill it. The physical power of a Level 70 monster wasn't to be underestimated. Even if he moved in on it now with his spear, he doubted he could inflict deadly wounds on it. He needed to finish off all three heads and that seemed a tall order at the moment.

His body was trembling as he felt a strange overexertion that he hadn’t encountered before. He supposed this was the result of using more Mana than his body could handle. He smiled bitterly as the rage departed from him, and just left him feeling slightly ill.

True, the being in front of him was something that would kill him if it could without thinking about it, but it was also an intelligent, living being. What he just did was torture.

What he did was lash out because he was upset about something. He took his anger out on an innocent party.

What he did was childish. And it probably proved Neveah right.

As Randidly turned away, there was a small ding and a notification popped up. Most notifications Randidly had learned to ignore, but his eyebrows rose when he saw this one because it had been a long time since he had obtained a notification for a Path.

Congratulations! You have unlocked the Great Path, Wrathful Dual-Mage (Plant and FIre) 0/1000. As the first person on your world to unlock a great Path, you have received the Skill Blessed Instincts (R) Lvl 1. Because you are the first person in your Cohort to unlock a Great Path, your Skill has been upgraded to Weaver with the Threads of Fate (L) Lvl 1.