Randidly took the spear and staggered The weight was ridiculous Based on how trivially Shal had held it his physical stats must be staggering It was no wonder that he didn’t even need to rely on skills to crush him
I will deactivate the formation in an hour There is one other tool here you may use but first you must know this peculiarity Good Luck
Pressing down with his hand Shal caused the runes of the glyph to slowly light up A fog rose and Shal seemed to fade away Randidly turned around curiously but everything faded to darkness All he could see was the glyph beneath him lighting up the thick fog that rose to his calves seeming to spread infinitely in every direction
Shrugging Randidly hefted the spear and got to work To his mind there was only one choice Phantom Thrust So in the strange half gloom he began to thrust again and again After a few minutes of this Randidly decided to summon a Root Spider so he didn’t disturb the formation underneath him and then created a Root Avatar with Root Control on top of it
Satisfied Randidly did this 3 more times Then he began to fall into a familiar rhythm of breathing striking breathing striking adjusting his form All the while he was pondering what Shal had said about Aether and images If the source of the Aether influenced the image wouldn’t that mean that his Aether if it really came from a spring inside of him would already be predisposed towards his images
Wondering whether the 4 individuals connected to him by the unique skill could also benefit from that Randidly continued to use Phantom Thrust Whereas Randidly had previously focused on speed and suddenness Shal’s use helped him realize that that would come with time The increased skill level would naturally add speed and weight What he needed to do with his image was not to address execution but flavor And then he had to want it powerfully desiring that image
But first while he was considering these things he needed to work through the ambient Aether in his body And Randidly felt slightly stupid doing so because for a long time nothing happened He just trained It wasn’t boring but it was frustrating because Randidly wasn’t sure what he was waiting for Was it perhaps impossible for him to receive the benefit of this
Still he persevered and after around 40 minutes he felt it A strange tightness in his chest like his lungs couldn’t inhale as much oxygen as they had previously But it wasn’t an oxygen problem His body started to tremble slightly as he continued to train His body urged him to hyperventilate but Randidly squashed that instinct After all it would do nothing to address this problem
Just when he started to feel woozy and began to wonder whether he had taken this too lightly the Aether in his chest began to pulse Softly at first then with increasing fierceness fighting back the weakness Waves of ice and fire pulsed outward making all of Randidly’s limbs tingle Every breath he took now was like plunging his chest into a frozen river and then hopping out onto a bed of coals
His body began to sweat unused to the strange feelings
Although it was extremely distracting Randidly tried to ignore the sensations of the Aether moving within him thrashing around through his body He raised his spear once more
The image the image
Forward Always forward Without relenting His path was his own and he needed to walk it
Randidly thrust and the Aether within him seemed to thrum The sensations intensified and there were pins and needles of ice sliding in and out of the muscles of his arms and shoulders The thrumming grew stronger and stronger and seemed to howl Forward Forward Forward
As his head began to pound Randidly let the root avatars fall away and just concentrated on his spear imbuing every inch of it with his will He felt that strange hazy green energy around it which he believed was his Battle Intent but ignored that for now focusing solely on the spear That image of advancing it was a little unrefined
So Randidly closed his eyes and saw Shal’s Phantom Thrust not the speed nor the power but how the spear in his hand always seemed to be thrusting How the thrust was inevitable How it would advance no matter the cost
The Aether continued to thrum and the pain in Randidly’s forehead continued to grow
Thrust
Sweat dripped down but Randidly didn’t even notice His eyes were closed and he slowly closed down all of his sensory information ignoring it all trying to avoid the chaotic Aether within him focusing on the feeling of that huge spear in his hands
Chapter 143
Shal did not tell his disciple this but he had lied to him he would not be within the formation for a single hour but for 6 hours For his disciple this would be 12 hours of hell Well if he chose that path If he was cautious 12 hours was about the amount of time it took to deplete the ambient Aether in your body if you were not exerting yourself
The point of this 12 hour period was twofold First was to force the boy to confront his own Aether and push him beyond the point his body could stand This would have tremendous positive benefits for his training if he could harness it Especially if what he said was true and that somehow he was a walking village in terms of Aether
What would that mean for his ability to use an image to shape Aether
Even Shal who had long assumed his heart had stiffened and died in a way felt some inkling of excitement If he was really carrying this blessing his disciple needed to get as strong as possible before others discovered it and it became a curse
Another wave of power exploded above but Shal ignored it Divveltian should have no trouble dealing with enemies who came this early He was one of the few spear users who hadn’t received any status designations from the school but Shal’s father had still been cautious around
But Shal knew in his heart that Divveltian was far above the level of the common Artisan Qtal was not a town that could easily push Divveltian around
The second reason that Shal put his disciple into the formation for a longer time was a more cold and calculating reason He had said it multiple times but his disciple did not seem to get it the enemies that would come would be far above his level His disciple had some tricks and a knack for survival but their strength would be at the level that he wouldn’t have that chance
What they needed was the disciple to find a powerful image of the spear and for the time to perfect it This 12 hour period would completely deplete the impure Aether in his body giving him the best chance to develop a powerful image Although there was also a high risk of death Shal was not one to worry overmuch
If his disciple was too weak it was better that he die now before Shal risked overmuch to help him For Shal knew of an answer to the time dilution problem But it would be difficult extremely so and pose extreme risk with Shal bearing most of the risk Even if it worked Shal might be completely out of commission for a long time In the larger city they would need to go to to perform this plan both the people who resented the Spear Phantom Style and Rainbow Hunters would be more common Without Shal’s strength
Even he who knew he was about the Adept level of strength felt some fear in his heart at the thought of such weakness
But Shal’s eyes burned as he stared into the formation He was unable to see his disciple but he wished very strongly for him to succeed
Not for the Style not for the health of his disciple but due to a name he had buried deep within his heart Lucrecia And thanks to Egger Shal now had a location
His father’s actions had earned Shal many things but part of the settlement with the other Schools was that the travel of the Spear Phantom Style be restricted to only the area controlled by the Spearman School who defended them So Shal needed a reasonable ticket to leave their area
Like a disciple who was traveling to enter a distant tournament
It was almost a pipe dream at this point His disciple had struggled at the Qualifier for the Regional Tournament After that was still the Regional Tournament where the true competitors who had been preparing will be waiting At that tournament the top 4 would get a ticket to the Spearman School Hall of Stances and then