Randidly grimaced Another debt to repay But that would be for another day life was not so fair that everything would work out easily or even in a way that was palatable to us For now Randidly could not even help to stand against the powers that sought to eradicate that Style
Replacing the consumed bracer with another one with efficacy about 60% he continued deeper into the prison As he dodged past patrols and slipped around corners Randidly began to realize how little the guards actually seemed to care about people breaking into and out of the prison Just like the way his torturer had let him leave once he had broken out of the formation even dropping the key to remove his handcuffs the guards just seemed to want to keep of the facade of protecting the prison
There was only one area where the guards were actually thick and serious looking in the area where Randidly believed the portal out to the real world was Honestly the prison administration didn’t care so much what they did while in here The only reason they had been brought here was the thought that they were too valuable as spear users to simply kill It was the punishment of the monotony for 100 years coupled with the Aether Poisoning they would be subject to when they left returning to the thinner Aether density of the general world
Luckily the higher powered prisoners weren’t kept in that area They had their own private small cabins almost like villas where they were forced to sit wrapped in those chains of a material that Randidly could not even warp in the slightest
Unfortunately the area was more heavily patrolled and Randidly had to go to the windows of each cabin and peer in checking for Shal So he was forced to burn another one of his bracers to escape a rather sticky situation where two patrols had come from both directions forcing him into a corner
The cabins were seemingly endless and some were empty so it was a rather dull exercise of tension Still it did wonders for Randidly’s sneak skill so he couldn’t really complain
Finally after 3 hours of combing he located Shal His master’s eyes flicked open almost immediately as Randidly stood up against the bars
You I am surprised I had doubted whether you would ever have the means to make it here Come break open the door and retrieve the key from the wall then I will be free
Randidly shook his head His master was definitely going to give him a complex whether he meant to or not Shal was a master of the backhanded compliment But then Randidly turned his attention to the door regarding it dubiously It was made out of the same material as the handcuffs and probably far beyond his ability to physically damage But perhaps
Randidly raised a hand and shot an Incendiary Bolt into the lock It practically bounced off completely failing to damage the metal and burned a small hole in the ground before sizzling to a stop
Shal chuckled and Randidly gritted his teeth It really seemed that being trapped here for a few months had brought out Shal’s mean streak Randidly took a deep breath calming himself Then he created a root and tried to burrow upward into the ground beneath Shal’s hut prison
Unfortunately the whole structure appeared to be made of that strange material that resisted damage and he was unable to penetrate it In addition It seemed like ALL of the ground in this area was covered in a layer of the stuff preventing Randidly from being able to create roots at all Huffing in annoyance Randidly left Shal to his chuckles and began to walk around the small hut There were a few times over the next 10 minutes when Randidly had to stop his search in order to avoid patrols but all in all he had completely examined the house
He was forced to set aside all of his grand plans of breaking in by force He finally admitted to himself that it wouldn’t be feasible even with Inspiration to lift the entire little house up and rush out before he was mobbed by guards
Inevitably the quick and dirty answer was easiest Randidly created a Root Spider and used Root Control to warp one of its limbs stretching it and twisting it to reach through the small holes in the bars and move towards the key
But as it did so a small metal disk detached itself from the ceiling and swung down making a buzzing sound The metal disk cleanly sliced through root which began to immediately decay and wither unnaturally After 2 seconds the root had turned to dust and some of that decay followed back along to the Root Spider clinging to the small window Soon it too was just a pile of dust and Randidly was left blinking
Ah perhaps I forgot There are alarms and defenses to prevent such things Shal flicked his fingers at Randidly dismissively which was basically all the movement he could manage bound up as he was It is impossible for the current you Train for a few years and then return I have already calculated your deficiencies accept them and move on I have no choice but to wait
And with that Shal closed his eyes
After weeks of being tortured by Battle Intent chased down by spear users with more skill than him systematically dismembered for sport and finally arriving at a place at his correct skill level and feeling humiliated how close to the bottom he was Randidly was very tired of receiving attitude Shal’s most recent comment made him snap and he narrowed his eyes
Fine then so there are traps Let’s see how powerful they really are
Shal kept his eyes closed for several minutes then slowly opened them still sensing his student hiding on top of his small cell His mouth twisted upward the fool refused to admit when he was beaten It was a quality that could kill him any day now but would serve him well if he managed to live long enough for Willpower to matter
Honestly Shal preferred it this way Breaking down his student’s will and then building it back up from scratch would result in a more powerful resilience It would just take some brutal violence in the mean time to accomplish it effectively And at least the bare minimum in desire from his disciple to be strong but the boy had shown something at least close to that
As for the waiting it wasn’t much of a problem for Shal After all he finally had it after so long of wandering around lost He had been a shell of himself when he had first met Randidly barely able to withstand mental attacks from those orc shamans Acquiring a student had shaken him a bit and caused his memories of the Spear Phantom Style to turn away from his father and turn towards the fact he now had a student
And with that student here there was hope that he would find her Meet Lucrecia and cut her to pieces inches at a time until she died sobbing and
Shal blinked His student had dropped back down from the roof and was approaching the door The air seemed to still and as Shal watched the boy’s eyes changed from a deep forest green slowly glowing like a fire flickering into life and then spreading until his eyes were a brilliant emerald with flecks of violet
Then his student raised his hand
Chapter 156
Shal opened his mouth to say something but his student’s frown simply deepened Chuckling Shal shook his head but remained silent He supposed that everyone deserved the chance to fail Especially foolish students
Once more his disciple created one of those strange root creatures which skittered up the bars of the prison But as Shal watched his disciple created another And then another And then another Soon a dozen of those things were clinging to the wall
His disciple breathed in and then breathed out And then roots exploded almost a hundred of them rushing forward towards the key Instantly this time the small defensive disk flew down quickly splitting into 5 pieces to rip through the roots more effectively His disciple’s eyes narrowed but he did not lose his nerve and the roots split and spread branching and crisscrossing before Shal’s eyes moving in a strange mesmerizing pattern
Something clicked in Shal’s mind watching his disciple manipulate the roots He knew that his disciple had put points in his spell focused areas in order to increase his destructive power In a way Shal was disappointed but he knew that it was a shortcut to power Shal would eventually beat those bad habits out of him and he settle on the spear but it was just a disappointing fact of life for now