At first he tried to handle one at a time but then when he tried to move them together they crashed and collapsed probably like his Soul Skill would have if he let them encounter each other No if he was going to get the right image he needed to handle them all together
In his mind’s eye Randidly could see a small rocky prairie What was rot What was ash
He watched as grass grew in the prairie and then the rot came eating slowly away at the grasses forming a strange blobby mass as the rot consumed and grew Then the burning came devouring even more completely than the rot could devour burning away all of the biomass leaving only the earth For a short time there was nothing but then grasses began to poke out of the soil and grow and the cycle started again
Grass grew
When there was enough grass the rot swiftly spread growing large and fat and destructive
Then when the prairie was almost entirely rot the fire would come burning it all away leaving the prairie clean Only then could the grass grow again
The energies circled and circled even and steady never growing closer stead in the orbit Randidly watched entranced
Chapter 115
Sam swore and slammed his fist down denting the metal of the work table Tossing the failed engraving to the side he looked broodingly at his hands It was just too difficult to Engrave with his mana pool He couldn’t persist for the entirety of the process and when he ran out of mana the engraving suffered for it Sam hadn’t even finished this version and he knew it would be inferior to his previous attempt which was poor at best
What was most annoying was that most of his morning had been spent putting the fear of god into the new crafting recruits They didn’t take the system seriously enough They basically thought that the world had monsters now but all was mostly the same other than that Just put the effort in and create the equipment
But it wasn’t For whatever reason there were certain actions that the system recognized You had to observe those and learn to use them to your advantage
For example Sam had discovered early on that hammering in sets would increase the quality of a produced item If you hammered 11 times took a break then hammered 11 more times the entire forging process the item might be an extra stat point higher at the end If you just hammered normally you wouldn’t receive this benefit
Similarly putting a freshly made weapon into clean spring water would improve its quality over a weapon that was plunged in dirty water and then cleaned later
There was no scientific reason for these actions to have actual quantifiable effects on the forging process But they were symbolic gestures which the system recognized Whereas prior to the system people who were superstitious were looked down upon But now in the crafting corps at least such little rituals were regarded reverently as a point of pride Only with them carefully observed would the best quality product be created
Regina had wondered long term what sort of effect that would have on the mentality of the crafters but Sam just shrugged That was a lot less important than making quality weapons and armor Sam was much more concerned with what these rituals would become They were simple small things now but as they became more elaborate it was possible that they would manifest themselves as a skill
Of course this was only a pet theory of Sam’s and he didn’t have enough time to test it But a brief discussion with Clarissa had given him some hope She seemed to think it perfectly obvious that such things should happen and then she had hurried off to practice using certain hand motions or incantations along with her spells
In order to make sure the day wasn’t a complete waste Sam briefly considered practicing more Bone Shaping but discarded it His mood was too volatile right now What he really needed was
Then he blinked then frowned then smiled He might not go for it but if he did
If Randidly could take the time to learn Engraving
Gleefully rubbing his hands together Sam ran out of the forge and off north of Donnyton looking for his newest unknowing student
Time flowed quickly past Randidly was numb to it only following the constant cycle of rot and ash The more he watched the more Randidly grew to suspect something was missing The cycle continued unabated but Randidly had a strange feeling in his chest If he could find the source and push towards it
It could have been a minute it could have been a year Time melded and stretched Grass grew rot came ash burnt it all away Then there was nothing for a time
Then the grass grew
In his chest the feeling of wrongness grew stronger and stronger until
Randidly blinked looking up at the sky Something had pushed him down onto his back knocking him out of his trance He straightened but then fell back down surprised by the weakness in his limbs Wincing he struggled to his feet Lyra standing with her arms folded in front of him her mouth in a thin line
Don’t do that again She said coolly If you leave Agony on while you are in that state Your regeneration is monstrous but it isn’t that monstrous Do you know how dumb it would be if you died because you forgot that you had left the skill that burns your health on Fucking dumbass
Randidly opened his mouth to say something then closed it He could see the worry in Lyra’s eyes and he felt rather dumb for forgetting about his skill Even now he could feel his strength flowing back into his limbs It was almost a nostalgic weakness one he had not felt in a very very long time
He hadn’t felt like this since that first day when the world changed and he was casually brushed to the side by a ram reducing his health to nothing instantly
But he had gained two skills from that situation Iron Skin and Meditation which had been invaluable for his survival early on in this system world For that he would be forever grateful to that ram’s ass Randidly chuckled in spite of himself as he raised a health potion to his lips
Lyra scowled furiously Funny is it Well fuck you Go find Mrs Hamilton she has your training schedule We will see how much you laugh then
Several minutes later Randidly frowned down at the training schedule given to him by Mrs Hamilton
Is there a problem She inquired sweetly
Randidly slowly shook his head No I suppose not The first two days were continuations of what they had been doing thus far It would be difficult but manageable After that there was a bump in difficulty each day culminating at the end of two weeks with what Mrs Hamilton believed was his full potential
The difficulty was that Randidly would not be looking at notifications or using PP in that time Therefore the increases would come purely from his skill gains and from mental endurance Perhaps the first increase would be manageable but the 2nd and then the 3rd increase in difficulty all the way to the 12th
No Randidly said again this time much more confident He would walk the path before him to see where it led him There was no point in worrying about it now There’s no problem
Ahem
Both Randidly and Mrs Hamilton turned to find a dusty Sam standing in front of them Without waiting for any real response he plucked the paper from Randidly’s hands and then studied it for a while scratching his chin
Hmm A lot of physical and mental strain Sam muttered to himself eyes flicking up to Randidly This this might not be possible well If you had a hobby
Sam handed the paper back and then nodded seriously You’ve come to the right person I think I know how to help
No one came to you Mrs Hamilton said her expression bright Sam didn’t appear to hear
It’s a bit of a rough time for it but we go back a ways You can come work in my shop a little clear some of the cobwebs out of your head No need to thank me But we might as well start right now
With that Sam started dragging Randidly away leaving a chuckling Mrs Hamilton
I’ll see you tomorrow morning She said waving softly at the rapidly departing figures