Randidly asked then what is the system Why does it comes to worlds What is the point
Shal snorted Hmph fool I have had a small speck of respect for you because you did not immediately ask this That is gone The system is the system It comes like weather Perhaps someday it will pass It gave us tools we didn’t have before but our goal will always be the same perfecting the spear Even before the system came our world chased this ideal seeking previous Spearmen the individual who defeated the Calamity was not the first but likely the greatest Do not ask question you don’t have the power to understand Focus inward idiot disciple
Randidly opened his mouth then closed it Shal’s answer might not have been designed to answer the question but it did contain some information From the way Shal was speaking it seemed that they didn’t know It came and it changed their lives But ultimately it was secondary Then Randidly wondered how long the system had been in this world but decided against asking It seemed Shal was done with interaction for now
Perhaps after the shock of the switch passed Earth would be like that too Accepting the existence of the system finding a new normal It almost made Randidly sad in a way But he supposed that even he couldn’t deny that the system’s arrival had done much for him It gave people a path
But another part of him whispered that path came at the cost of millions of lives Sighing Randidly looked down at the book After a bit of hesitation he opened it and began to read
Time passed quickly as Randidly used Root Control to burn through his mana and studied the book The beginning chapters laid out very generally some theories about engraving and how it worked What Randidly was most interested in was when it described how Engraving was perhaps a simplified version of the way that Aether changed human bodies
However any attempts to Engrave on a living body resulted in horrible monstrous disastrous results As such the other half of the introductory chapter listed some things that you shouldn’t do with Engraving Aside from Engraving living creatures the rest was rather self explanatory But what it did seem to indicate was that the reason that Engraving didn’t work was the issue of image whereas objects couldn’t do anything but allow the image of the Engraver to be impressed upon them living creatures could have their own images
Because as the text seemed to indicate there didn’t appear to be any uniformity in what shapes and patterns created effects What was really important was what the Engraver thought it would do
This was complicated by a living recipient because the different images merged and changed which was combined with the apparently agonizing pains of having your body engraved upon This pain warped the image the recipient had even further moving it far away from the original goal
Randidly found it rather interesting but he didn’t think attempting it sounded anything like a good idea Better to focus on learning the background information in order to improve his regular engraving
But footsteps distracted Randidly causing him to look up A bald man who appeared to be the leader of the rust colored bandits was walking up to their campfire with a sinister smile
Welcome companions Are you new to the area The man said extending his hand towards Randidly I am Dehark We in this business must maintain relationships lest any accidents happen
Randidly distastefully took the man’s hand and some of his distaste must have shown on his face because Dehark’s face tightened After glancing at Shal and probably realizing that even getting one of these people to acknowledge him was a feat Dehark said Well I just came over to welcome you and to give you a bit of a gift a caravan is coming down the road and as the newbies you wouldn’t usually get the chance at an easy mark like this But I like the look of you two I think you will go far here So want to handle this one Stick it to those fat merchants
Dehark smiled manically at them but Randidly just looked at Shal Yawning Shal straightened and held a hand up to his eyes Then strangely he smiled Yes why don’t you let us handle this one Disciple you will go and you only need to make sure to do one thing
Randidly tilted his head to the side and Shal continued You simply need to kill one of them Do what you must to do so Hold nothing back Ah take out your spear and give me your ring
After he handed over the ring Randidly nodded and walked passed Dehark who seemed to have frozen the smile sliding off his face
K k kill one of them The man muttered to himself but Randidly ignored it As he walked forward he removed the large obsidian spear from his ring the one Shal had given for when he went into the formation He hefted it enjoying its weight which was greater than even the Spine Spear that Sam had forged for him
Just a single life
Just a single step on his path
But he must because a spear that stopped advancing would be destroyed
Breathing evenly Randidly advanced towards the caravan
Chapter 152
Dehark was sweating Watching the slender man walk forward down the hill towards the caravan he quickly turned to the lazing man with the blue skin You you don’t really think he can kill one of them right They They
The man grinned up at him Yes they are some soldiers of Tomkat Attacking them is akin to challenging the honor of the city An act of defiance the First Spear of Tomkat does not take kindly to
But Dehark was flabbergasted his knees trembling If he were to seriously harm any of them this whole camp
Would likely be hunted down and tortured for 1000 years The man said seemingly with relish Dehark stumbled backwards eyes wide Sure he had spent the last several years building up power here upon this spot in the road driving away most of his competition or absorbing them But if someone seriously challenged Tomkat’s soldiers it wasn’t just the perpetrators the whole group they were near would be hunted to stomp down any spark of resistance
The strength and forces he had built up thus far were not worth his life It would be best to flee
Then a thought struck him and Dehark turned back to the slender man running forward towards the caravan A lone defender after a brief hesitation came out to meet him seemingly shocked
Perhaps there was nothing to worry about If it was just some superficial wounds the soldiers would not pursue the matter After all it was understandable for a young and foolish man to throw himself at them to test himself Some a select few with talent might even impress some members of the soldiers and be invited to come apply for a foot soldier position which was the dream of many
This was originally why Dehark had maliciously encouraged them to go challenge them The soldiers would likely beat them into the dirt breaking their spears and ravaging their bodies It would be a good lesson and demonstrate why they needed someone like Dehark who was a good leader
But the blue skinned man had spoken with such confidence And watching that slender man’s back as he ran forward to meet the spear user on a horse
Dehark quickly beckoned some of his lieutenants over and made preparations to break camp immediately
Randidly ran forward his eyes narrowed A grizzled veteran of a man with grey hair was riding out to meet him a brutal frown clear on his face As they grew closer Randidly realized there was a very official seeming regalia hanging off of this man’s chest Not just typical merchants then or guards These were something more
But Shal had seemed confident that Randidly could handle it even if he had implicitly said it would require his spells to do so Either way there was no way that Randidly was going to let him down after they had come this far What would come later would be even worse
When they came within earshot the man began to speak