But that Randidly blinked when he saw Lyra standing there slender and sad looking with her hair hanging loose down to her shoulders Ever since becoming aware of the frigid and yet fiery energy that pulsed within him Randidly had been cognizant that there was something between him and Lyra He had always been drawn to her but now he was slowly realizing that it was related to that energy it was more than a simple human attraction
They were pushed towards one another from the very get go That energy was guiding them towards one another But now that she was well whatever she was the connection had grown more tenuous although it hadn’t yet frayed into oblivion Although slowly very slowly it was weakening
The whole situation was disturbing on so many levels At the very least once he recognized the connection as something he had been subconsciously feeling for a while Randidly finally put all doubt to rest about who this new Village Spirit was It was without a doubt Lyra
But as he looked at her he wondered if things would continue to change between them as the connection frayed Their interactions had been violent and mocking at least for Lyra’s part but it was fun
Randidly had never been one to care for respect from others and he rather enjoyed the passionate exchanges they had And now now that might be ending Had she been only drawn to him because of their connection formed through this strange energy this Aether
And why would the system draw them together
For almost 30 seconds their gazes locked
Suddenly they both laughed Lyra flickered out of existence and Randidly turned back to the raid party smiling
At that moment he had no doubt that Lyra’s thoughts had almost mirrored his own Even if they were no longer what they had been they were still similar
As time continued Randidly removed several rings that he had Sam made earlier in the day and slipped them on his fingers His talks with the potion makers here had gone well and they were now hard at work gathering the materials to create more potions 10 rings an all each with around 60 worth of storage 300 Stamina and 300 mana waiting for the moment where he needed it
HIs ace in the hole although Randidly suspected that this would swiftly become a battle of attrition Health Mana and Stamina would ultimately be the limiting factors on him But he made no effort to store health That was never his game His top end performance was undoubtedly what gave him the ability to battle while the numerosity of this opponents meant that once that ran out it would be much more difficult to continue
He would either crush them with skill or be worn down by numbers With a mild gaze Randidly looked at Donny Are you prepared
Donny nodded
Lyra felt the summons coming even as she maintained eye contact with Randidly Smiling softly to herself she turned away allowing her body to slowly disperse while her core was strangely teleported away off the planet Earth and to a place deep within the realms of the Nexus If the connection between Randidly and herself fell to pieces so be it Just because the system no longer pushed them together didn’t mean it couldn’t happen anyway
Her body recondensed and Lyra found herself standing on a dais Opposite her also on a dias was a grey blob that she recognized as Kimmy and a floating eye ball She winked at them both and was delighted to see the blob begin to roil and the eyeball scrunch itself up into a ball of annoyance
A higher dias completed their triangle and on it sat a creature with the head of a Rhinoceros The area around them was filled with waves of color like they were inside the aurora borealis but none of the other 3 seemed to pay it much attention Instead Lyra coolly glanced around demonstrating how unruffled she was by the whole ordeal
Sitting below them on a lower level were dozens of creatures who appeared to be typing and writing talking back and forth as if they were simply working in an office Lyra used her skill Eyes of Wonder and glanced around again
She was amused to find that the two individuals on the dias opposite her which were likely Nul and Kimmy barely had a thimble’s worth of Aether between them Meanwhile she had about 2 5 Aether Springs within her 1 for Donnyton 1 for beating a Trainee level tribulation and 5 from Turtletown being absorbed by Kimmy prior to her own subsequent absorption
But she was chilled to find that the Rhinoman burned with Aether in her vision on another level altogether
Ahem The Rhino spoke with a surprisingly soft voice I Octavias Shrike do hereby call this hearing to order The conduits are below bearing witness may the will of Aether be served Err Mr Nulmilima you may begin Please present your evidence
10 seconds crept past after the two sides both acknowledged they were ready with no motion on either side The tension was almost unbearable for the crowd who were locked in agonizing stillness not able to move lest they miss what happened when it happened
Ever the profane Annie loosed an arrow which shot through the lines screaming towards the Ghosthound As it whistled past several individuals sprang into motion following it in a low sprint led by Paolo and Kayle Decklan moved like a ghost among them not ready to attack but wanting to use this opportunity to close the distance between them
Dozer fell back setting himself in from of Annie club raised Donny began to march forward with his squad intent on surrounding the Ghosthound The mages prepped themselves waiting for the Ghosthound’s response ready to bombard him at the slightest sign of space
They did not have to wait long
Pierce the Skies Shatter the Earth the Ghosthound’s form blurred upward before falling down back behind Donny’s squad putting himself between the tanks and the healers His ascent was so rapid that he slipped past the arrow and the vanguard only had time to turn before he crashed to the ground leaving large cracks in the carefully constructed arena
The healers and mages were close and stunned by the blast of force and dust but most of Dozer’s squad was around him now and they were very quick to regain their footing leaping forward The Ghosthound’s eyes landed on the nearest person a young man with short hair and brown skin who wielded a heavy iron ball on the end of a chain
Agony
The wave of pain billowed outward afflicting them all The closest were the most powerfully affected and they seemed to be frozen unable to compute the mental strain they were abruptly placed under In the Ghosthound’s mind it was only an annoying buzzing at the edges of his nerves but he remembered how the whole world seemed to warp under that wave of pain the first time he experienced it
Of course these individuals might not have the stats that the Ghosthound did at the time but they surely had more levels than he had and the young man in front of him had gritted his teeth and forced his eyes to focus on the enemy in front of him But of course this was only the beginning
Circle of Flame
Fire crashed outward knocking most of Dozer’s squad on their asses already barely managing to handle the crushing pain Donny’s squad was hurrying around but the Ghosthound was much too quick and he streaked towards the heavy mages with the middle of the formation his agony crushing their ability to respond intelligently
A few were able to raise their hands to cast icicles and fireballs but they were easily dodged However a whistling cause the Ghosthound to still a arrow whizzing in front of his face Immediately he raised a hand and pointed
Incendiary Bolt
The burning projectile ripped forward burning Annie follow up arrow to a crisp Dozer stepped forward raising his club to block the magical attack To his surprise the spell bore a hole straight through the enchanted metal of the rare club he had obtained from a dungeon and ripped a huge hole in his bicep
The defense had saved Annie but it spelled doom for the heavy mages while Annie was prevented from firing the Ghosthound arrived among them breaking their legs knocking them out and then tossing them out of the arena
The Ghosthound turned slowly his eyes blazing emerald His message clear