But the real problem was how to accomplish his second goal Breaking back into the prison and freeing Shal giving him a teacher once more These desperate fights against the wandering spear users was useful but it wasn’t what would give him the most power
Although this confusion tortured him for a long time Randidly stumbled across an answer almost on accident During some downtime Randidly had finally managed to create the Tier V Shadow Rune and it referenced some very interesting text
Quality Leather Bracer Lvl 30 A piece of leather armor worked by a talented individual End +2 Health +25
Engraving of Shadow V 31% Shadows seem to gather around the wearer of this armor concealing him from the eyes of others Effectiveness of surprise attacks increased Reaction +1
Randidly sat back on his heels It had been an exhausting process to create this piece of armor The fact that the percentage was already above 20 was a surprise to him but a pleasant one But it seemed that there was more possible here It did not create shadows around it yet but it might if the quality increased
And in that increased quality there seemed to be a possibility for secrecy perhaps at the level that it could allow Randidly to sneak back into the prison and free Shal But with all of his effort only resulting in this
Shaking his head Randidly settled into the long haul This wouldn’t be as simple a process as he thought
Dart yawned bored at his post Although the position within the prison paid well it was extremely boring Tomkat’s criminals those that possessed the requisite power that the First Spear chose not to just execute them basically escaped within the first few weeks or died and then fought each other to alleviate their boredom rather than trying to fight through and gain their freedom back Afterall while the prisoners by and large didn’t trust each other the guards lived and trained as a unit They were not forces that could be compared
Suddenly Dart’s eyes sharpened and he looked very closely at the badlands below In the twilight after dusk he had sworn that he had seen a strange movement A shadow that detached itself from its position and approached the base of the prison But as he continued to scan the ground he could not find the culprit
Sighing Dart just shook his head The boredom here was even getting to him causing him to see things He couldn’t wait until it was time for him to depart and return to the real time He had a rather serious girlfriend and had been dubious about spending these 6 months away from her But although it was 6 months from his perspective he would seem only to take a 1 week vacation to her
Dart’s face turned ugly Which would be fine if it wasn’t for Calln Calln was a childhood friend of hers that always seemed to hang on her arm and point out Dart’s weak points and flaws Not a talented Spear User himself Calln worked in the administration of Tomkat in an important if without honor position
In fact it was only due to Calln’s prodding that he had came here for the stint Now that he was here Dart wondered if that wasn’t exactly what Calln intended It was just a week but
Feeling slightly dizzy Dart leaned against a rock for support and took several deep breaths It was hard this guard duty He found himself dwelling and brooding more and more He couldn’t escape his disgust for Calln and his fear that that sleazy man would use this opportunity to drive a further wedge between him and his girlfriend
He must have been more upset than he realized because Dart leaned forward and vomited As he straightened slightly concerned the rations for the prison were bad but not that bad Dart found himself face to face with a shadow A shadow with piercing green eyes and a cruel smile
The shadow’s spear was silent and as it entered Dart’s body everything slowly began to fade to blackness As he fell forward Dart recognized that this
This was the end But to his surprise his last thought wasn’t a curse on his killer After all Dart was a spear user himself This was the life they lived That shadow bore him no ill will their paths simply crossed and Dart’s destiny turned out to be the lesser of the two
No what filled Dart’s heart was a burning fist of resentment for Calln for the weakling that dared to whisper in his girlfriend’s ear He hoped that fucker died a torturous death due to illness slowly wasting away
To die by the spear It was the greatest honor But to die weak and a burden on your loved ones
Such a man would never appeal to a woman Not in a thousand years
Chapter 155
After killing the guard Randidly evened out his breathing and removed another bracer from his ring He had been able to successfully engrave 3 bracers with 60% efficacy of Shadow V He had originally assumed only managing it once would be fine but the elemental rune was not a Skill Rune after all it was just an elemental one and using it as a tool to hide came at a high cost
Engraving of Shadow V 60% Shadows seem to gather around the wearer of this armor actively concealing him from the eyes of others Surprise attacks are more effective and the wearer as a small of amount of precognition in regards to incoming attacks Reaction +5 May consume the energy of the Engraving to double the efficacy of the concealment for 10 minutes
At its base the 60% efficacy did make it seem as though people viewed Randidly as though he was in deep shadow They needed to squint and focus on him in order to make out the details of his person This was profoundly useful in a fight where vision became quite important but a watchful guard was still able to spot out Randidly with just wearing the bracer especially while he moved
But he had spent the last week slowly edging closer only at night spending the day meditating and fine tuning his ability to use roots through Root Control even further But ultimately there was a danger zone the area right around the guard’s position was patrolled rather often So he needed to cross that very quickly
There had been a moment when Randidly had tripped losing some of the easy grace with which he had loped across the outward perimeter making a small noise and some unnecessary movement and the guard seemed to notice Randidly had frozen wondering if activating Phantom Half Step a few times would be necessary to rapidly approach Even then it was difficult to say if he would make it in time Perhaps the Spear Advances But the noise and explosion would likely reveal his position anyway
Luckily the guard seemed to have his own concerns and very quickly looked away from the position where Randidly was standing as still as he could Which was good because there was a time limit on the bracer’s shadows and it was swiftly approaching During that time Randidly snuck up the rest of the way and killed the man without letting him make a sound
But perhaps the most disturbing part of the attack had been the intense way that the man had stared at Randidly as he was dying as if he was trying to send a message That man had unfinished business Randidly could tell but now died unsatisfied and angry
It was chilling The regrets and desires that the man died with seemed to hang in the air The man had somehow wanted Randidly to carry them forward but he couldn’t even communicate them So they could only hang in the air and eventually dissipate Although it did certainly seem that some of those desires settled on Randidly’s shoulders weighing him down The same way he could feel the life of the guard he had killed to make it here curling around him
Closing his eyes Randidly promised himself he would not die like that He would pay his debt back to Shal and then return to Donnyton Even if he had to kill to make it so There he would seek out the people that created the system and make them pay for driving so many people to an early grave And for what
It was frustrating that the system prevented him from learning more from Shal what was to come The Calamity loomed and Randidly could do nothing to prepare To help Donnyton prepare
Which wasn’t exactly true Randidly supposed He had largely ignored the messages from those in Donnyton most out of disinterest Lyra’s out of increasing unease at the inane things she talked about but he had sent Sam the runes he obtained from the Willow Tree Spear Style