Then those 4 as well as the other groups of 4 from the other Spearman School regions would travel to the All School Tournament Which was being hosted by the Death School
Top 4 huh It seemed impossible to Shal but his disciple had an almost infectious optimism about him Besides their current goal was top 8 anyways Just one more win
Shal would risk anything for that win Even the lives of himself and his weak disciple
Lucrecia you cannot run from me forever
Time dragged on and everything began to blur for Randidly Everything began to revolve around the spear He saw it even with his eyes closed It grew and it grew distant like the way your limbs felt when you sat alone in a dark room with your eyes closed
It was strange and weird but Randidly didn’t let that perturb him he simply held the spear and thrusted forward Aether writhing through his body as he moved
The thrust was inevitable it was instant time
Randidly paused hesitating Time huh
His mind moving rapidly in spite of the vicious pain in his forehead Randidly could picture his spear moving so fast that it seemed to move slow somehow bending the laws of time Or using time to simply speed up the time it took for his spear to arrive before his target
But after a few seconds he shook his head banishing that image That wasn’t his spear It was inevitable It wasn’t that his spear used time to its advantage
But that the attack was inevitable and irresistible like time It was coming it was just a matter of time There was a countdown
Randidly thrust out again his spear speed much slower than it was previously The Aether inside of him quivered strangely as if confused
In fact it was possible that his spear actually hurt him with its image of time Trading off the unpredictability and speed for power Randidly thrust again the spear seeming to slow even further
But as he did so he felt instinctively that the attack seemed more like a phantom Drifting and slow sure but when it arrived
As the thrust was fully extended the air seemed to hum with the violent power of the thrust Randidly drew the spear back and thrust again
It was almost if the time power even let the enemy know far in advance that it was coming
The air hummed
But it was an unstoppable force when it arrived
The air crackled and hissed
Again and again Randidly thrust and the Aether inside of him began to move Where before it was icy needles now it was like there was an inexhaustible furnace within his chest belching out smog and heat his body beginning to feel hot and strange his head fuzzy
But he forced himself to continue thrusting again and again Only through repetition of this feeling would he find his answer Randidly wasn’t sure how much time remaining in here he had and wasn’t sure whether it was having an effect on gaining skill levels but it certainly was doing something to his Aether And that something was narrowing his focus to a razor edge
Even as his insides began to feel bone dry and as inhospitable as a desert Randidly thrust his spear now making strange crackling noises as it exploded with force
His eyes glowing emerald Randidly felt the image The inevitable nature of time It approaches sweeping us all away it affects us all it is the the strongest weapon The sharpest spear
For some further amount of time Randidly continued to thrust His chest was a burning volcano The Aether bubbled within him mixing and swirling in strange shapes It was almost unbearable the pain approaching the level of having Shal dump acid inside his body
Then Randidly slowed thoughtful It seemed at present that he had reached the limit of what he could do with this image And it was probably a bad idea to continue to refine this without first checking with Shal Randidly didn’t want to proceed too far down an incorrect path And while he was still within the focused state
Before anything else Randidly sat for a few minutes and let the thundering in his head subside a bit The Aether continued to roil around in him unpleasantly but without him focusing strongly on something it just seemed to flail almost listless
After a suitable amount of time Randidly stood and then began to move through the strange stances taught to him by that old turtle At this point Randidly could persist through one complete circuit of the first exercise and almost all the way through the second The third was still far beyond him
Still Aether swirled lazily down into his legs feeling like a cool refreshing stream driving away the exhaustion Randidly could see what he wanted the image he had since the turtle had done this It was one of the first things he had gained from the system roots
Randidly pictured his legs as ineffable roots thick and durable and sturdy glowing golden with life so strong that it seemed like they would never be shaken Roots so large and strong that they supported a tree strong enough to hold up the sky That was the strength he wanted Privately in his mind he said the word that described what the tree would be
Yggdrasil His legs his base would be the roots that could hold up Yggdrasil the World Tree
That was what he was seeking that strength With it even if his spear skills were below his opponents he would not falter He would not struggle His base was endless His roots stretched so deeply into the earth beneath him that he could not be shaken Energy and life flowed upwards giving him substance He would be eternal
Randidly smoothly moved from the first movement to the second one his legs beginning to tremble Aether surged downward an ice cold river that would grab you and pull you under The kind parents warned their children away from
As he focused on these huge golden roots Randidly moved through the second movement the shaking getting worse But although his chest heaved and large drops of sweat dripped down his face he didn’t cease as he moved his body strangely skittering and scuttling working every part of his thighs and hips
Like a crashing wave he finished the second movement and began the third He struggled onward for several seconds The ice cold Aether sloshed around his legs swirling and probing drawing sigils
But then the wave ran out of momentum and sloshed backwards
Randidly collapsed but he was laughing
Just a bit more He muttered Just a bit longer
Chapter 144
Shal opened his eyes putting his thoughts to the side It was nearly time It was impossible to see what was happening through the thick formations that choked off all outward sources of Aether so it was possible that the disciple had foolishly spent his Aether early on and had since died His body would be perfectly preserved but the spark of his life
It would be a disappointment now as Shal had spent this time gathering his thoughts for how they could manage to pull this off And how he could convince Divveltian to lend them his aid With his help it was possible to pull it off
For the first time in a long time Shal felt a pang of regret that so many bridges had been built and then burnt by his father Very few of their older allies remained well disposed towards them They would effectively be on their own without the aid of any local powers
Sensing time was up Shal prepared to lower the formation
Thank you senior The male spear attendant said bowing It was truly helpful to see your strength
Divvit snorted No need to flatter But fine I suppose I could give you some pointers from time to time Assume a stance
Excited the male spear attendant did so Very carefully and slowly Divvit explained what he knew of the Iron Spear Style its strengths and weaknesses and what he saw in the male spear attendant Honestly the amount of information and insight that he so casually displayed was incredible
Then even more incredible Divvit began describing an image and movement that could possibly turn into a great skill if he had a spare skill for it