Perhaps Shal said slowly feeling a very real sadness in his heart But then he closed his eyes and shifted something inside of himself letting go of the Spear with the Poisonous Fangs Style Slowly at first but then more quickly a figure appeared behind Shal walking slowly forward The image was blurry but his skin was blue and he wore a long cloak covering his features His spear was perhaps a little shorter than average but straight and clean a very unadorned weapon
But what caught the eyes was the smile even through the shadows of the cloak’s hood That smile was all cruelty and the promise of violence As Shal slowly opened his eyes his third eye the one on his forehead slowly trembled and twitched open
I wonder then if you can handle the strength of my Father The cloaked man behind Shal laughed spinning his spear A beam of bright blue light crashed down from the clouds hitting the top of the tower where the portal was located A wave of cold spread outward frost creeping slowly down the top of the tower The warden’s expression turned grim
Chapter 164
Randidly stood in the shadows at the edge of the villa area with the mustached man He had asked his name earlier but the man had been completely silent In fact now that Randidly thought about it he didn’t think he had ever heard the man speak So they stood silently waiting
Then the man nodded Marco and Teliph made their move and the gazes from the people on the watch towers turned away from them They both activated the shadow engraving burning its energy but giving them the benefit of a shroud of shadow which would make it very difficult for people to spot them especially while they were distracted by other things
However they would need to move quickly because as soon as someone realized there was a challenge to the warden and a distraction at the watchtowers at the same time they would likely shift to a more defensive and on edge focus So while they were distracted in that small window of time they rushed up to the main tower
Although the mustached man was smaller than Randidly Randidly put his feet into these strange stirrups they had fashioned from leather and gripped the man’s shoulders They began to rapidly ascend with Randidly slightly numb as the man managed to keep a grip in the very small ledges between blocks of that strange almost impossible to destroy material It was not even something that could be done with stats there was definitely some sort of grip skill involved here
Although he wanted to peer around at the watchtowers Randidly stayed as still as possible just holding onto the man’s back They ascended quickly rushing up towards the top of the tower The man’s movements were swift and sure They passed the 2nd floor the 3rd the 4th Randidly inwardly breathed out one worry that he had they would certainly make it to the top before the shadow engraving ran out of energy
And it even as they passed the 6th and then the 7th floors there was no cry of alarm No one appeared to notice them as they scaled up the side of the tower As they approached their goal Randidly turned his attention inward focusing on the Aether that swirled within him Those powerful moves that lowered center of gravity that image of verdant golden roots glowing with life the powerful roots that supported the World Tree Yggdrasil
But there was something missing Something vitally important He could create a skill and it would be powerful but it wouldn’t be quite what he wanted right now His heart and Aether began to thump growing in strength and he felt a few drops of sweat trickle down the back of his neck He didn’t have time for perfection right now but at the same time
Inwardly his stubbornness rose forcefully to combat that He DID have time for perfection That was what he was striving for Not enough strength but to be truly strong Anything else would be an endless disappointment He wanted to dismiss this feeling out of hand but
There was something about this moment that the dissonance in his move was extra apparent climbing the tower It felt off somehow like he was missing something But what was it
They rushed up past the 9th floor with still no problems No outward problems anyway The watch towers were silent their gazes elsewhere
Those life giving roots those powerful support beams What was he missing
They leapt over the 10th floor entirely landing on the top level where the portal sat A squad sat off to the side chatting while two women stood right next to the portal looking bored Several other guards milled around going about their daily duties peering over at the disturbances It appeared that no one had made the connection that they were coming
And the shadow engraving was still in effect so the few people who spotted their arrival seemed to squint and frown as if they couldn’t decide what they were seeing The mustached man took advantage of this and threw two spears like javelins the first woman near the portal being hit in the gut and knocked backward the second actually beheaded by the well thrown spear Then the mustached man rushed forward heading to block off the portal
Randidly threw up Walls of Thorns everywhere to confuse and block the sight of the guards making a rather sudden maze then focused inward a small smile on his face Because as soon as they landed on the roof and Randidly had gotten off the man’s back and stood on the ground he had realized it what he was missing The critical part of the image
He wiggled his bare toes against the stone savoring the contact Aether began to roar in his chest as it began to swirl A huge wave surged up from within him rising to create this new skill With his eyes closed he could see it from his feet through the tower stretching downward those golden roots continued growing thinner and thinner branching and spreading soon covering the entire area The ground around him was filled with those roots with which he was connected He was just one part of the network
Then the strength began to flow upward from the very core of the world up the golden roots flowing into his body
Because the roots did not simply begin with him The World Tree Yggdrasil might hold up the sky but it sat on the earth and drew its power from the core of the planet It was a piece of something much much larger than itself And that was why it was strong
Randidly smiled and clicked yes More notifications popped up But the one at the top was what he was waiting for The guards were now hacking through the Walls of Thorns and the mustached man continued to fight attacking them while they were distracted trying to keep them away from the portal He was strong but so were they and they had numbers More guards rushed up from below
But the distraction was coming
Warning you have tread too long on the Path of the Heretic Although you endured through the previous Judgement no longer will it be so simple Heretic X is now open to you For this you must face Judgement Due to your affiliation with the Patron of Ash the Judgement of the Patron of Frostbite descends Know that even if you endure through the Judgement more will follow Proceed directly to the nearest Village and speak with the Spirit to repent
Due to this being your second infraction the Judgement’s power shall be greatly increased closer to its power on its home world The minions of Judgement will spawn endlessly When you die a high level dungeon will be created from your corpse Rejoice
Randidly frowned and spit on the ground When he died huh The clouds above started to darken and swirl and there was an immediate drop in temperature Fucking Patron of Frostbite
But Randidly’s eyes went on to the other notifications
Congratulations Your own personal skill has been created You have created the skill The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil Lvl 1 Due to proceeding to a different Cohort than your home planet to create the skill all bonuses associated with the record of creating an Ancient skill are lost
The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil Lvl 1 Your legs are the roots that connect you to the fires of the world Passive Effects Knockback and stun resistance greatly increased per skill level Mana Regeneration increased while touching the ground Effect increases with skill level The effectiveness of each point of Vitality towards Health Regeneration increases while touching the ground Effect increases with skill level Active Effects Costs 50 Stamina per second The passive effects are doubled Offensive and defensive physical skills are slightly more powerful Effect increases with skill level