puddles4263

Chapter 205

His legs were numb and useless; at the moment, it seemed that anything other than his eyesight and right arm didn’t exist. He was trapped, bobbing up and down in a sea of darkness. So he frowned upward and prepared himself.

Randidly would not flinch.

The wheel continued to descend, slowly spinning. But a small distance above Randidly, the wheel stopped descending, simply floating there. Now that it was closer, he could see that the wheel itself was the size of a building, ...

Chapter 204

The creature looked at him with its luminous eyes, slowly taking in his wide smile. It seemed she had realized the conclusion that he had come to. “So you choose this path. But as I have stated, it is useless. You are an accident I never expected; did you really think that I would simply let you go?”

Sounds of ringing filled Randidly’s inward world, and golden chains and locks fell from the sky, covered in tiny tinkling bells. Those chains swirled around and slowly settled d...

Check-in!

Hey guys, just wanted to address a few things.

One, having a friend stay with me has sorta cut back on my writing time, so I'm a little behind. I owe you 3 bonus chapters on here, as well as the 3 side stories from last month. I'll hopefully get caught up and get all of those out this week.

Second, this month's contest will be a little different. We will be doing a Skill Creation Contest! So start thinking about it. I'll probably have it during the time I'm on vacation!

Third and r...

Chapter 203

Randidly’s breathing had risen, and his mind was spinning. This strange female seeming creature was feeding him a lot of information, about Aether, about himself, hints about how he had come this far… but he still had a question burning in his heart, one that he had previously asked and she had refused to answer.

“Why…. are you telling me this?” 

“Because, we can help each other. Like I said, I’ve been waiting a long time for someone like you; someone with...

Chapter 202

First, Randidly settled himself and focused on recovering his Health, Mana, and Stamina to their ideal state. He even considered going outside, to have Weeping Cloud’s rain fall on him, increasing his mental recovery even further, but somehow Randidly was profoundly worried about being discovered at the moment.

If perhaps Shal was here….

But Randidly quickly crushed that train of thought. He would be fine. His mind was already sharper than it had ever been before with th...

Chapter 201

The 24 hour period ended with only a single Tassle remaining; the Ghosthound’s. Helen shed a single tear, then blushed furiously, even though basically no one was paying attention to her.

The strange part was that just when her tension was highest, the Tassle on the 19th Pole fell, drifting slowly down. Then, a few minutes later, the orange Tassle on the Ghosthound’s pole dropped too, leaving only a single survivor.

The emerald and gold colors were eye catching, and not ...

Chapter 200

After a moment of trembling focus, Randidly forced himself out of that ideal suspended state, following the thin warning of enemy that came from his soul skill. Immediately, his return threw off his focus, and he faltered, switching from one skill to the other. The weight pressed downward, and his shoulders dropped two inches.

Growling, Randidly switched to the active version of Golden Roots of Yggdrasil, strength flooding through his limbs. He had gained quite a few skil...

Chapter 199

It was more a trance than anything, else, Randidly reflected, as the time trickled past. The weight grew to a dull pounding, but was possible to support, as Randidly quickly managed to find an equilibrium with Meditation, Mana Strengthening, Empower, and Rejection in the face of the weight.

That almost dreaded PP came and went, and Randidly was sorely tempted to just finish the path, but he knew that his wild anger he had within him, due to the long nature of the challenge, was ju...

Chapter 198

Slowly but surely, Randidly found himself achieving an equilibrium with the weight. It wasn't something that he could handle for long, but for now-

Again, the weight increased. Then it increased again. Growling, Randidly opened his eyes, looking around

Of the beginning 40 or so participants, only about 24 remained. The others were gone, and as Randidly opened his eyes, he saw one particularly unwilling individual struggle furiously against two attendants, swearing. But of co...

Chapter 197

Time slowly drifted past. More and more Tassles fell away, until only 30% of the contestants remained. Helen wasn’t sure whether it was a good or a bad thing, but the Ghosthound’s group was relatively resilient: around 40% of their group remained. The food stand was set up, and Claptrap even provided some standing tables, so people could cluster and chat while enjoying their food.

It had been the Ghosthound’s idea, and Claptrap had been dubious, but the Ghosthound had just s...

Chapter 196

As he watched their independent movements, their wild freedom and swiftly developing personalities, it was almost as if they were alive-

Randidly hesitated. Were they alive, he had assumed they were someone how part of himself, but if they were some of sort of life- or some form of sentient energy- Maybe they were Aether itself? The actual form of it? Was his Soul Skill creating Aether? That didn't make much sense, or Soul Skills would be even more in demand than they were already...

Chapter 195

Orangey glared around at the surrounding participants. "Don't let this delusional bitch sway you. The only way for us to make it out is to let someone win. Let me win, and then take turns."

"We could just embrace the challenge of Tarnak," Another participant near Randidly muttered under his breath. Randidly glanced at the frail man, whose arms were already trembling under the strain. Even Randidly was starting to feel it, really feel it, feel the limit of his strength. In a way, t...

Chapter 194

“Begin!”

“Ahooooo!”

“GRAAAAAA”

“For the Kindred Mountain Style!”

As Randidly expected, as soon as the challenge began, and the weight was slowly lowered down onto their shoulders, most of the individuals thrust upwards with all their strength, frantic to reach the 20%+ mark. When activated, the scales underneath them had a panel which displayed a strange symbol.

After Randidly looked at the symbol for a bit, it swirled and resolved itself in...

Chapter 193

The male spear attendant folded his arms across his chest, annoyed at this whole proposition. Sure, the Ghosthound had given him an occasional pointer. Sure, the Ghosthound had managed to get the better of him in their initial meeting. Sure, he was now the Ghosthound’s spear attendant.

That didn’t mean he appreciated being treated like a cheerleader. He was a powerful spear user, with burgeoning potential!

But Teliph was able to weasel his way out of sitting here in the ...

Chapter 192

“What is the level of your strength stat?”

Randidly looked up, frowning. One of the attendants was standing next to one of his competitors quite a distance away, but all the competitors were going about their preparations in silence, so the words carried.

The man in question, a rather bulky fellow with an orange tint to his skin, squinted at the attendant, who was a rather slender man, as if he couldn't’ figure out what to do. The attendant stood there calmly, looking ...

Chapter 191

Shal stood cautiously. After staying in the dungeon for a week, he was slowly absorbing the thicker Aether in the air, allowing him to move around like a real person, rather than an invalid. He nodded decisively; a spear user was truly only half a man if he was not in control of his capabilities. 

Then Shal frowned, as he thought of his disciple, wandering around, attempting to succeed in the Regional Tournament on his own. Gritting his teeth, Shal forced down his frustration...

Chapter 190

The start of the tournament was 3 days away, and after signing himself in and claiming a spot, Randidly didn’t really have anything that he needed to do in the city. So he continued to train.

Claptrap’s information about perseverance was somewhat useless to Randidly. Perhaps useless was the wrong world. It wasn’t something that could be focused on and improved in the short term, and also Randidly believed that of all his qualities, perseverance was the one in which he had th...

Chapter 189

“Ciel…” Claptrap’s former co worker frowned, thinking very deeply. “Well, she hasn’t been here recently. But that’s because she’s preparing for the Regional Tournament, isn’ it? She can’t take time to shop when she’s got the hopes of the sect riding on her. She didn’t really come back much after you left anyway.”

Claptrap’s stomach did flips as he cleanly disengaged himself from the conversation with a clerk at the former location Claptrap managed and h...

Chapter 188

Randidly’s hands tightened into fists. This fucking…!

But them something distracted Randidly that helped defuse some of the aggression he had in his chest. Even though his Soul Skill, or the strange image Randidly produced of it, was locked to his view, zooming around his inward world, stopping to examine all of his skills, was that strange wisp of green energy.

When Randidly re-entered his inward world, it noticed and flew over to him, to fly around him excitedly. It wa...

Chapter 187

The first thing Randidly noticed about Deardun was its size. Not only did the walls tower above them as he approached, but there were tents and lean to's lining the road to Deardun, where people had set up shop and were happily living. The whole thing had a very festival air to it, and Claptrap whispered that the people were here to witness the Regional Tournament.

Randidly felt a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew, academically, people would be watching this tourname...

Chapter 186

So, with very little else to do, Randidly and his three spear attendants set out for Deardun, even though it would only take them two days to reach the other city at their normal pace. Or at least that was Claptrap assured them, who was also coming.

At first Randidly was slightly hesitant to allow Claptrap to join them, mostly out of worry that he would slow them down, but Claptrap seemed insistent, and honestly it was convenient because Claptrap was the only one who had traveled ...

Chapter 185

The man seemed confused by Daital’s request. “Errrr, this one has infinite understanding, but your request…. Look at this menu, what-”

“The best!” Daital repeated, relishing the woman’s gaze. Then the woman snorted in derision, and turned away, and Daital slumped to the side, wishing he could die. What had he done wrong…?

“Uh…. hey, little one, are you well? You have become slightly tilty…” The man said, still extremely confused.

With dull eyes,...

Chapter 184

Shal sat up slowly, carefully conserving as much energy as possible. As if sensing Shal’s movement, Divveltian appeared in the doorway, looking down at Shal with glowing eyes.

“I need a favor.” Shal’s voice was light and breathy, as he attempted to conserve energy anyway he can. 

Divveltian snorted. “Don’t you always? From the day your father dropped you off with the Endless Heat Style, to the day you came back to us bearing the spear of the one they called ...

Chapter 183

Randidly rolled his eyes. Of course there was another guild monopolizing something. Although this world was incredibly advanced in its martial arts, if a little backwards about insisting on using spears, they certainly weren’t very good at resisting monopolies. Not, Randidly supposed, that his own world was probably doing very well about that, since the system hit.

But of course, the “complicated process” was simply the use of the skill Extract on the beast meat that Randidl...

Chapter 182

Helen wanted to be sympathetic, but just couldn’t find it in herself to. So she just tilted her head to the side and asked. “Still sick?”

Teliph glared at her briefly, then suppressed the expression, keeping his face blank. “Unlike your exhaustion from earlier, Aether Poisoning doesn’t just go away after rest. Leave me in peace.”

Which of course, made Helen want very much to torture him, but she decided that she was in too good of a mood to bother with the stoic ...

Chapter 181

For a long time Randidly looked at the body hanging there. It was frustrating in a way. Shal claimed to be able to differentiate when or when not it was “necessary” to kill. And in his heart, he admitted that this was possible to an extent, and perhaps Shal was even more skilled at it than he. Most likely more skilled, even.

But now… This man would make trouble for them. Randidly knew that the man this Jacktat worked for had a deep feud with Claptrap. He was also arrogant an...

Chapter 180

Helen snorted, raising her blood covered spear. The large man, who was so lustily looking at her body minutes ago, had collapsed in a puddle of his own blood, the large wounds that Helen inflicted on him completely robbing him of his will to fight.

Unbeknownst to that man, Helen too was very close to her limit. She felt a creeping weakness in her limbs, likely an after affect from creating the new move for her Skillset. But even though standing without the support of her spear was...

Chapter 179

Helen felt her eyes drifting closed as she fought, even as the two men had their expressions change from lust to something much more serious.. Helen’s grin as wicked.

“Fucking perverts,” She said, laughing inwardly, as she swayed between their admittedly powerful, but rough attacks. Although they were both fine spear users, they had no concept of teamwork between them, so their overall utility was heavily inhibited by each other. Their skills and methods were not complimenta...

Chapter 178

Randidly frowned, confused. That had been way too easy. Why had the man not even blocked…? Well, it wasn’t that he hadn’t blocked, but the block had been rather…

Divveltian slapped his knee, laughing. “It’s not worth your time to practice against that idiot. He’s challenging you directly with images. And your Battle Intent is to the level that his can’t even touch you. You should-”

But then Divveltian stilled, and he looked out across the boats. “-well ne...

Chapter 177

Shal hoped his disciple hadn’t seen how his hand had trembled when he grasped his father’s diary. It had been all he could do to make it into the hallway at a normal gait before he had collapsed, the strength leaving his body. 

Slamming into the wall, Shal leaned there for several seconds, not daring to make a sound. Luckily it seemed his disciple hadn’t heard; he was too occupied with his own activities. So Shal limped and dragged himself to his own quarters where he c...