Then Randidly froze because he felt something very distinct and very strange He felt hands inside of him They were soft and the fingers were long reaching slowly inside of him and gathering up the strands of wild Aether moving them and weaving them Each finger acted with the utmost dexterity holding various strands in place while the hands moved Their was a grace to its actions that made Randidly shake his head in wonder
Or at least he would have had the Aether allowed him to move
As this process was going on the hairs on Randidly’s body stood straight up but he couldn’t turn his attention away as the hands continued to work on the Aether within him Although it wasn’t something Randidly currently understood it made him wonder
What were these hands doing And obviously more importantly where had they come from
Chapter 138
Randidly could still sense how this was somewhat similar to Engraving But they were so far apart from each other It was like comparing the act of writing a novel to a child learning to write letters There were flows and twists eddies and splits The most important difference was that it felt whole and organic in a strange way The thing that these mysterious hands were creating inside of Randidly was something that was living and could change and evolve It was weaving potential into every line and curve
It was he assumed a path The path that failed to be created previously Which perhaps meant this was some entity related to the system And if someone was going to all this trouble to make it it was undoubtedly a very special one Or at least he hoped so
Randidly’s instincts continued to scream at him because the hands moving inside of him shaping the Aether was an extremely invasive and uncomfortable feeling But he didn’t dare move This being appeared able to interfere with notifications Although the potion Randidly had obtained had been able to do that it was just making them invisible to him That didn’t change the effects of them
This was on the level of adjusting the notifications Randidly was suddenly struck by the strange feeling that whoever this was understood in a very sophisticated way how the system worked And if this person could learn
Randidly resolved himself to try too as those hands moved more and more quickly So he focused inward ignoring the urge to vomit and watched the motions The continued to twist and tie Aether together and then deftly compress it into smaller parts moving onto other things Like so an infinitely complex arrangement made of thousands of runes of the type Randidly had made was pressed into a tight shape
Then the shape glowed
But before the hands departed they moved deeper within him He felt those invisible fingertips on each of his skills lingering especially long on the Runic rarity skillset Then they moved forward and gently landed on his Soul Skill swirling at his core For a long time those fingers stayed there carefully feeling the shape of it tracing its contours almost pulling and stretching it slightly as if to see more
Then after the hands seemed satisfied with his soul skill the hands reached back to the strange shape it had made inside of Randidly and twisted and pulled deftly seemingly tying a knot Then the Aether seemed to click into place
Randidly gasped the hands were gone and his body began to burn
Congratulations Your path (&832h089Ll has transformed into the Lonesome Spear Path 0/100
Randidly collapsed backwards breathing heavily For several long minutes he stared intently at the most recent notification The Lonesome Spear huh
Cautiously he put his remaining PP into it 1 at a time At 25 PP he received the first notification
Congratulations You have earned +50 Health
He received another at 50 PP giving him +50 mana before he settled at 73 Likely 75 would be +50 Stamina but Randidly wondered what the completion bonus would be Because honestly the rewards so far were much less than he expected for something that required the interference of strange mystical hands
Randidly considered broaching the topic of those hands with Shal but he was worried After all it was hard to tell how widespread the knowledge of Judgement would be It is possible that the system would somehow encourage people like him to be hunted
But then Randidly shook his head Shal wouldn’t be like that But still it was a dangerous topic Best to broach the topic carefully
After checking the time Randidly once more returned to meditating trying to restore himself to a better condition in the remaining 10 minutes until he needed to meet Shal Undoubtedly considering his master’s methods it was going to be a long night
Claptrap sat bolt upright scared out of his mind He obviously wasn’t at a high level of skill or physical prowess he had still put quite a few points into perception in order to more effectively examine the quality of armor But now in the dead of night there was a figure standing in the dark over his bed looming like the shadow of death
But then the figure produced a lamp from somewhere and produced a soft light illuminating most of his features revealing an easy smile Claptrap’s heart initially eased because he recognized this man as the smiling man who had been with the Crashing Wave Style but then began to pound because the fact that he had come here in the night
Hello The man said simply You may refer to me as Artisan Dwei We have some business to discuss Nod if you understand
Claptrap nodded woodenly his fear withdrawing somewhat and his merchant mind coming to the fore at the mention of business But that moniker hung in the air between them Artisan Although it was the least of the titled recognition provided by the Spearman School it was still a level that only 1 in 10 000 reached In a city like Qtal very few would go against an Artisan Although there were Adepts present in the city there were only 20 or so of them and they mostly kept to themselves concerned with affairs far above the average citizen
To be visited in the dead of night by an Artisan was an implicit threat But it was also an opportunity because Claptrap still breathed And though panic made him want to hide his face he could also see Ciel’s gentle smile And for her he would do anything He would seize any opportunity he had to
Artisan Dwei chuckled It’s good to see you have some spine I’ll be short As many of those engraved armors you have the Crashing Wave Style will buy them In bulk 10 silver per piece of armor above the usual price for that armor provided the quality of the base armor is satisfactory If the efficiency is about 60% an additional 30 silver 100 bonus silver pieces for any piece of armor that reaches 80% If you can obtain better than that we can talk prices further but I doubt that is possible based upon your previous wares
Claptrap blinked slowly A leather bracer of high quality could be obtained for 15 silvers a few less if he bought in bulk However the sale price was usually around 20 So that meant that he could sell these for 30 silvers each That was a doubling of his initial investment Of course some would go to the Ghosthound but
If the Ghosthound could reach 60% that upcharge of 30 silver
Claptrap could only see golden goins for several seconds Then he shook his head
A problem Artisan Dwei asked his tone casual we believe our offer is very generous And let’s be clear Adept Ivkka was bluffing The Engraving guilds do no such training things precisely to prevent mid tier Styles from obtaining armor with minor engravings and obtaining an advantage
So when the guild does find you Artisan Dwei continued You will want to have some friends to help alleviate the pressure Your Engraver will join the Guilds or die You might be extorted for some of your profits But that won’t be such a loss especially if you have a large amount of goodwill to fall back on with your loyal customers
As Dwei continued to talk Claptrap’s face sank and he abruptly realized how fucked a situation this might turn out to be But his mind stayed sharp considering the offer As it was it truly was fair And he needed more money now to start the engine