Not interested and I don’t have time Shal rolled away ending the discussion
Jade turned back to Randidly Please Mr Ghosthound At least come see my mistress We can offer significant help with your studies She glanced meaningfully at the bracer in his hand
Randidly thought it weird that she would ask about engraving so directly and now was playing coy but he also knew something strange was going on He glanced at Shal When Randidly had asked Claptrap about the Phantom Spear Style he hadn’t known anything but promised to investigate It really seemed that Shal’s father was quite the notable figure
We require nothing right now Jade quickly said as she saw his glance But in the future if you acquire the strength to assist my Willow Tree Spear Style Simply a promise
Randidly kept his gaze on Shal who hadn’t moved but was breathing normally again Honestly he was quite tempted by the offer especially if it would help his Engraving Not really because he desired the money from selling them but because Engraving was undoubtedly a powerful skill As he developed it the effects grew increasingly powerful Someday he would need to work on his own equipment and it would be extremely useful then
Also if he returned to Donnyton with this knowledge It would become a powerful weapon and source of trade If he really would embark on this path of blood in order to obtain power it would be good to help build something with that power
Well I suppose hearing her out wouldn’t hurt Randidly said slowly Shal didn’t move So he turned and followed Jade back towards the main tent of the Willow Style
Dehark’s glee for a good haul was wiped away as he watched the newcomer approach the tent of the Willow Tree Spear Style An insidious and acidic jealousy filled his heart He had ignored it when the newcomers demonstrated their power but perhaps he had been too merciful
But then again if this gave him a lever to use to get into that tent
Gritting his teeth Dehark forced himself to do nothing as that young man proceeded into the tent that he had fantasized so often about over the last few weeks He forced himself to remain cool and calm
His mind began to tick as he turned to look at the horizon This
This would not go unpunished Dehark smiled showing all of his crooked and yellow teeth
Chapter 151
Randidly left the tent 15 minutes later feeling elated but strangely sad
The old woman who sat in the tent carefully tended by several women due to her enchanted wounds that wouldn’t heal spun a very sad tale A year ago they had been one of the two most powerful Styles of the Engraving Guilds in the Spearman School Domain But they had been betrayed and attacked by those who wanted their engraving symbols
For their Willow Style did not have many of the basic animal runes nor many of the elemental symbols that would add magical power to a weapon’s attacks But they did have a very particular and powerful method that very few other Engraving Styles had they knew how to Engrave a skill into a weapon or armor
At its most basic it was like a gun with limited bullets It had a certain number of charges which once used would deplete it and cause the Engraving to disappear At higher levels these charges recharged slowly and used indefinitely
At the highest level the skill would grow like a normal skill slowly growing stronger But this was only when the Engraving was made by a master
The old woman sorrowfully explained that they had escaped with their lives and these methods burning all other records to ash as they fled Although they could hide here living as bandits it was extremely difficult
For they had broken and their power scattered they had nothing They needed hope So even though it was only for a promise of assistance and support they had given Randidly two things the first was a very large set of volumes that detailed the very complicated and formulaic way that basic runes worked and how they were discovered Theoretically the woman stated one could use these basic principles contained in the book set to create your own runes
The second object was a short list of runes that they had discovered This included the Oxen Rune which increased Vitality and Resistance the Dolphin Rune which increased Intelligence and Control and the Preying Mantis which increased Perception and Willpower But the most valuable rune was the Shadow Rune which was divided into 5 grades each version even more simplified But even the basic Grade V Shadow Rune made Randidly’s eyebrows rise rapidly The mana required for it was about double his mana pool
For obvious reasons they weren’t willing to give Randidly any of their more complicated runes or their Skill rune method It almost seemed foolish to him that they even told him about it But when he looked at the old woman and the rest of the skinny women desperately slurping at the tasty food he had provided he realized that his was just flailing desperation
They needed something some hope to hold onto That old woman didn’t know if Randidly could become that but offering this small information was better than doing nothing at all even though helping Randidly along on his Engraving path might lead the investigations from the Engraving Guilds back to them
So Randidly returned to the fire inwardly torn It was just a promise but He took promises very seriously He didn’t want to feel like he owed anything to others Sitting down he took out one of the books given to him by the old woman and looked at it for a long time Then he simply sighed
His eyes hardened He had already resolved himself to take the path to strength He couldn’t afford to waffle back and forth while the system continued to throw curveballs his way If he wanted Donnyton and in a larger sense Earth to survive
Following this train of thought Randidly turned to Shal What is the Calamity
Shal didn’t even open his eyes There is no meaning in speaking of it
Randidly frowned I’ll go back to my own world eventually and I will want to prepare If I knew something about it
As always you rush to judgement Shal straightened looking over towards the road I wish I could tell you but you cannot understand it Here look The Calamity
As Shal began to speak the words shifted and suddenly Shal was saying something in a trill and clicking language He talked for a minute while Randidly’s eyebrows rose and then shrugged at him
as I say no point in speaking of it The system will prevent you from learning information before your time Just know that it is powerful The only individual in the history of our world who can rival it was the Spearman That alone should give you an idea of the power it possesses
Shaking his head Randidly settled back to his thoughts What he really grew to fear was the System itself It somehow detected the content of the speech and reversed the translation function however it worked in real time That made him wonder about what it meant for him refusing to get a class and the Heretic distinction Clearly if it really wanted to prevent him from doing something it had no qualms about doing it
Then why was he allowed to continue without a class Or rather it wasn’t that the system wanted him to take a class but he was just walking a path that would be dangerous but with a high payoff
Although this wasn’t a normal situation very few individuals could rival what he was doing just for lack of Aether But the Judgement system was in place for a reason If they didn’t expect this to happen why would it have been created Or rather exist Randidly wasn’t so sure he wanted to think about the beings that were capable of creating something like the system Besides it seemed strangely without a purpose It had come to Earth but Randidly still didn’t know why
Suddenly he remembered his conversation a few weeks ago in Franksburg with the professor where he flippantly responded they were giving up control
Of what ’ The professor had responded
Now as Randidly thought about his decisions to sacrifice the lives of others in order to find power he could do nothing but clench fists But surely the system wasn’t here to drive individuals to moral bankruptcy Likely that was just a side effect of another goal the true goal This wasn’t even close to the core of the system There were 4 more groups of planets beyond this cohort And perhaps it extends even further than that