And yes as she hoped Jacktat dodged to the side clumsily grimacing It seemed he was more wounded than she realized Which was good because even with her newfound confidence in her skill set To fight an Artisan while barely able to stand
Heh hehehe to think that
The root spears ripped up from the planks and through Jacktat’s legs and torso silencing him He spat out a gulp of blood and swayed He swung his spear but it just sunk halfway into a root not managing to sever it
Why I feel so weak Jacktat mumbled looking at the ground He dropped his spear
It’s because you already decay Just give in and rot I do not like to take your life but The Ghosthound stood his face strangely pained Then he shook his head and his resolution returned It is necessary
Jacktat opened his mouth then closed it Several more roots ripped upwards riddling him with holes With a sigh the rest of his life passed from him leaving a body slowly draining of blood standing on the deck like a grotesque scarecrow
Chapter 181
For a long time Randidly looked at the body hanging there It was frustrating in a way Shal claimed to be able to differentiate when or when not it was necessary to kill And in his heart he admitted that this was possible to an extent and perhaps Shal was even more skilled at it than he Most likely more skilled even Randidly admitted to himself
But now This man would make trouble for them Randidly knew that the man this Jacktat worked for had a deep feud with Claptrap He was also arrogant and petty and the reason that he had allowed Randidly to inflict so many wounds on him utilizing Edge of Decay to slowly weaken him was that Jacktat couldn’t see past the fact that he was not an Artisan
He was just a young disciple And perhaps Jacktat hadn’t even bothered to learn that This was just another mission for Jacktat A routine job of intimidation and retribution
This brought up another reason Jacktat was not a good person It was perhaps a flimsy reason but it was a reason still
He would make trouble in the future he threatened their lives and livelihoods he was not a good person
Was this enough
Was this motivation enough to take a life
Shal remained silent below remaining stuck in training of some sort Or as Randidly actually suspected dealing with the Aether Starvation that he had mentioned earlier If even Shal was reduced to this sort of state by this perhaps it was more troublesome than Randidly had feared
Divvet glanced at the long sleeved woman across from him who winked and flounced away leaving them in peace Then he sighed and turned to Randidly
Congratulations It was a well fought match That is the level of those I expect to be the contenders in the regional tournament Although this man was beyond level 25 that is the type of opponent you will face Are you prepared
Randidly nodded trying his best not to stare at the corpse that remained on the boat bleeding out Divvit followed his gaze and sighed sorrowfully Then he walked over to Randidly and clapped him on the back
Shal will be training for the next few days We will need to leave in a week if we are to arrive in Deardun in time You have already trained long hours in the Prison why not take a break Find your center The Regional Tournament is long Prepare yourself
Then Divvet turned away and glared at the male spear attendant who was struggling to his feet Oy foolish training dummy clean up this mess And stop making such an aggrieved face you may have outlasted your opponents in perversion but that does not make your performance satisfactory in my mind Not at all
Randidly glanced around Both Teliph and Helen were sitting with their spears beside them breathing slowly After a moment of hesitation Randidly walked to the far end of the ship and took all the extra mana from his rings so he could summon a Weeping Cloud
It was nice for a while To just enjoy the cool feeling of rain Relieving too after all of the pointless drama of the past half hour This was just a random flailing of the merchant that had tried to take over their boat Randidly’s mouth tightened at the thought of a serious organization moving against them while Shal was occupied like this Divvet was strong but it was clear that one person alone was enough to deal with him
That or that mysterious woman was very very strong
But Randidly supposed that Divvet already knew about Shal’s condition and wasn’t willing to risk a full on confrontation while Shal was recuperating Randidly grimaced It just demonstrated how weak he was that his fight didn’t matter There were much larger fish to fry than him
On the other hand he had done it Held his own against an Artisan Although washed up and idiotic as he was it was an accomplishment What chilled Randidly’s heart was that Divvet seemed to think that level was what the Regional Tournament would be at If Jacktat had been a little more intelligent with his moves or responsive to Randidly’s strategy
But no it wouldn’t do to think overmuch on it What happened had happened Randidly had taken the man’s life
Something inside of Randidly was on fire consuming his emotions and creating a surging heat that acted like an emotional smog blinding him to the consequences But for now Randidly wasn’t willing to take the time to parse it apart It was enough that he was somehow invigorated furious and numb
Randidly looked up surprised to find the male spear attendant had approached him
Here His Tassle was with him so
Randidly blinked It was a soft yellow Like honey mustard Randidly took it in his hands and felt the rich material He smiled bitterly perhaps the better comparison for the color would be the gold of merchants But it was a much cheaper and shallow color than that
You rip off a strip The male spear attendant said helpfully his bruised and swollen face turning into a dreamy smile You can tie them to the pole that holds your Tassle Someday it will be like a rising sun or a rainbow or
Randidly ripped off a strip and silently handed it all back to the man then turned away his mood somehow turning even more sour As the male spear attendant drifted away Randidly brought up his status screen It was still blurry because it had been less than 24 hours since he had taken the potion but as he focused and concentrated it slowly slid back into a more legible form
This part was sort of disturbing about the potion Why did it also influence his status screen and why did focusing on it help alleviate the effects
Either way Randidly had gained 1 Skill Level in Spear Mastery 3 in Spear Phantom’s Footwork 2 in Eyes of the Spear Phantom and Phantom Half Step 1 in Fighting Proficiency Block and Haste 2 in Empower 7 in Edge of Decay 2 in Idiosyncratic Cut 3 in Struggle 2 in Spearing Roots and Root Control 4 in Bacterial Regeneration 1 in Superiority and 3 in Second Wind
Randidly hesitated for a while but it was better to do it now than wait until he had more PP built up He put the PP into his Weeping Cloud path earning himself some more Resistance and Willpower and also some stats and chest pain from his Soulskill
The addition again caused the rotation speed to increase to a level that was physically painful and it took around 10 minutes for that to subside Then Randidly sighed and closed his eyes drifting closer to the Soul Skill seeking his visualization of it
There it was a barren plain now as the grass was devoured by the strange emerald crystals glowing with eerie power The rot and ash came and went but did nothing but strengthen and refine that strange substance further coating the ground and thin layer of crystal that was constantly growing The world inside of himself Randidly realized had died Why he wasn’t really sure but it was no longer the robust changing world it had been previously
Opening his eyes Randidly considered his next steps He had several days off Well that was nice but
He smiled sardonically He was very bad at taking a day off It wasn’t in his blood at least not anymore The question was just how to spend this time Some of it would be spent Engraving which was a mana consuming activity and therefore useful but that wouldn’t be all that he did Other than that