Luckily it passed relatively quickly but still it made Randidly annoyed This wasn’t something that Randidly wanted to deal with right now He would be participating in the tournament soon and if it happened in the middle of a match
This level was nothing But Aether activity seemed to exacerbate the issue In a tough match there was a very real chance of the Soul Skill escalating beyond the point that Randidly could control Based on this pain
If the Soul Skill spun so fast it ripped itself apart
Randidly wasn’t really sure about the physical consequences of the Aether backlash but if it was just ripped out of his body
Shuddering Randidly meditated until the pain had passed
Chapter 177
Shal hoped his disciple hadn’t seen how his hand had trembled when he grasped his father’s diary It had been all he could do to make it into the hallway at a normal gait before he had collapsed the strength leaving his body
Slamming into the wall Shal leaned there for several seconds not daring to make a sound Luckily it seemed his disciple hadn’t heard he was too occupied with his own activities So Shal limped and dragged himself to his own quarters where he collapsed in a heap The diary was dropped on the ground like the trash that Shal thought it was but in that moment it wasn’t so sweet revenge it was an infuriating reminder of his own weakness
Shal breathed heavily for an hour just laying there but the weakness just grew worse snaking its way up from his extremities towards his chest There had never been a case of Aether poisoning killing someone but there had been well documented instances where someone who was within a dungeon for a few years had gone into a coma to conserve energy while the connection to the Village Spirit was reestablished
This was one of the main ways that the First Spear maintained control When you came out he controlled access to some dungeons with lesser time dilation than the prison which you could go in and manage half of your symptoms before you came back to normal time You could also complete those dungeons and be rewarded with dungeon boss Aether which could be used as a patch to cover your Aether needs until the village connection restored itself
Without these stop gaps the body’s Aether would be quickly devoured Especially considering Shal’s level He had considered going into a dungeon while Randidly participated in the earlier rounds of the Regional Tournament which were designed to root out the weak But he hadn’t done it seriously Now Shal wondered whether he could make do without it to keep him going
But then he would be forced to leave Randidly alone because Divvit would need to escort Shal to the dungeon That alone would probably wound Shal’s pride more than he could handle right now so it was a distant possibility
As his vision began to swim however Shal didn’t really see any other way
He resisted the urge to grit his teeth as it was a waste of energy It would be a gamble Thus far the people who had come to the boat to challenge them for their Tassles had mostly been targeting Shal The actions of his father and himself rightly were suspected by anyone who knew the story
Why had Aemont allowed The Devourer to continue to exist when he had the care of his son He even had taken advantage of the isolation formation to develop his own Skill Set Was it possible that
The war hero Aemont the Phantom had sold his son to a monster in order to gain power This is how most of the people seemed to think It made Shal want to laugh but at the moment he controlled that urge
Selling his son for power No Aemont was a much more calculating and sinister man than that Shal wanted to tell them Aemont had sold his entire life for power and didn’t even have the human decency to apologize to Shal after all the lies and evil that he grew up breathing like it was second nature Even Shal’s name was nothing but a lie
Shal grunted shutting that thought process down very quickly Now was not the time to worry about truth Now was just part of the journey In the darkness Shal’s eyes opened very slowly It would be a gamble But this wasn’t about making it out of the casino with enough money to cover his costs
This was about burning the place to the ground
As Shal laid on the ground he began to consider likely locations The level would have to be low and the distance short If it were on the way to Deardun
Shal smiled wanly The first place that popped into his head was the most likely answer although Shal detested the coincidence of it It was an extremely low level dungeon only built for people at the high teens level And it was the place Aemont had taken him that week before he went with Pronto to see Haelthing
The male spear attendant had furiously challenged Teliph the first time in the wake of the mocking due to the material dumping
He woke up several minutes later wondering what was happening Under Divveltian’s amused guidance he trained for 3 hours and promptly challenged Teliph again The man had simply snorted
This duel lasted slightly longer and at least was saved in the male spear attendant’s memory banks Mostly due to the fact it was more torture session than duel Eventually Helen grew tired of his whimpers as he lay slowly bleeding out on the deck and came over to lovingly feed him a health potion
She of course did this by putting the open end of the bottle in his mouth and then smashing the rest into his mouth with her heel but the male spear attendant wasn’t offended by the cuts in his mouth from the broken glass Instead he was touched that she took the time to look after him
The training session that followed that duel was longer and lasted until the dawn as the male spear attendant struggled to get the wild Aether in his chest to flow in the image he wanted Tirelessly he attempted again and again
Divveltian in a rare show of rest was lounging on a futon looking mat As Divveltian watched the male spear attendant he could only sigh and shake his head Fool you are better off spending your time working on your form not your image The image will follow
But the male spear attendant ignored him attempting again and again to refine the image for his Bulwark of Iron that he had created It was still a fuzzy thing and he struggled incessantly with it
Midway through his training the male spear attendant stopped frowning at the deck Some very strange almost ripples were coming up from below disturbing his image They were very very weak and that was why they were difficult to ignore He didn’t sense them coming and then pressed lightly up and around him like ocean waves on toes But they demanded attention in a strange fashion
What is that The male spear attendant asked his expression twisted into annoyance What was even more annoying was that Teliph and Helen continued to train stoically frantically perfecting their own technique Helen’s sensual movements continued without pause her curvaceous body possessing more and more hidden power to the male spear attendant’s eyes
Teliph continued to be a mystery His strikes were direct and short but the air seemed incredibly turbulent in the area around him
Divveltian just snorted at the question and rolled over For a long time they just stood there the male spear attendant growing increasingly annoyed that no one was answering him Finally he received an answer but it was from the new spear attendant with the cloth tied around his eyes
He the Ghosthound is at the door of the Artisan level Those ripples those are his image beginning to be visible to those not on the receiving end of the skill
The male spear attendant’s mouth formed into an O but Divveltian was rolling over and snorting While technically true don’t get ahead of yourself Like I said to this spear idiot it’s better to focus on skill level than the image He like you is working on the image too early Just he’s good at it In terms of power
Divveltian’s face became thoughtful perhaps he could pass the Artisan test if he kept working on it But It would be mostly in name not in fact He does not yet possess the skill in his movement and basic spear ability to equal any who are legitimate Artisans Probably