Immediately he pushed the thought away or tried to But that part of Simon that revelled in the pain just giggled somewhat and reached out and latched onto that thought Part of the path to power was the willingness to grab it
The Ghosthound taught him that
So without thinking about the consequences Simon created an Astral Projection next to Thea She didn’t even look up so he had time to work sculpting his body in exacting detail This new raw Simon took a sick pleasure in making sure every one of his flaws was displayed in plain view His thin arms his pudgy belly his crooked nose and his greasy hair
And when he was done he walked forward and patted Thea on the back I’m sorry for your loss I’m sorry for a lot of things But I have to do this don’t I So I don’t so we don’t
She didn’t even answer she simply continued to cry
Somewhat expecting this reaction Simon didn’t become emotional Something larger than emotions had taken over him So he simply sighed and said I promise I will protect you Thea
And then Simon reached down and grasped the discarded Regalias
Chapter 469
Randidly spun around right before he was going to crack a joke at Rose’s expense as the only individual here worthless in combat But before he could finish a flash of power pulled his attention back towards the Dungeon
There was a flash and swirl of Aether causing his eyes to widen Could the Creature
Definitely not based on the memories we recovered Lucretia cut in but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a sign of trouble
Memories Randidly blinked several times Then he did his best to put it out of his mind as he moved back over towards the front of the Dungeon where Thea still sat crying
Where he had left the two Regalia feeling rather awkward about walking over next to Thea and picking them up while she was so seized by grief Inwardly Randidly cursed himself for not just putting them into his spatial ring but he had felt
Everything had happened so fast the end of the fight Chrysanthemum using her body to protect him returning to the world Randidly was lost in some of his personal grief and had let things slip a bit He had even forgotten to lock down the Regalia and instead went off with the rest of the group trying to prep them for the emotional toll that strength would have on them
What the fuck sorta move was that
Randidly stopped up short somewhat stunned when he returned to Thea’s location She seemed to still be on the ground sobbing without any bit of attention spared to the tornado of Aether next to her The sword and the helmet were gone swirling until they were simply two motes of light rapidly rotating in a circle There was something at the center of that energy but it wasn’t anything that he could detect
Even his Aether Detection only managed to catch a sniff of it What was
Then Randidly realized what was going on and his shoulders slumped downwards The motes of light spun until they reached a speed at which they transformed into bands of light that then sunk into that being in the center of the tornado A notification popped up confirming Randidly’s worst fears
After trial and strife a Champion has emerged in your Zone the Eternal Dreamer You may pledge to the Eternal Dreamer in order to gain the Skill Lesser Illusion Skills gained from previous Champions may be retrained but will be lost upon pledging to the current Champion Abilities relating to Scrying Fortune Telling and Illusions will be easier to learn for those originally from Zone 32 While in the area of Zone 32 Skills relating to Scrying Fortune Telling and Illusions will Level more quickly Now that a Champion has been selected be on the lookout for special related quests
The Aether settled revealing a small bird floating in mid air Compared to the previous iterations this bird seemed to pulse with power its body possessing a level of detail that was not comparable to how it was before It fluttered its wings and hopped moving naturally and Randidly wasn’t able to tell that it was a fake aside from its sudden appearance
Still Randidly swore aloud Of all things a Champion related to illusions and scrying
You spoiled brat That wasn’t your decision to make
There was no reply from the bird but very quickly it hopped over to Thea and landed on her shoulder It raised its head and began to sing and instantly the sky darkened White petals fell from the sky in something akin to a blizzard Heedless Thea sobbed on her fingers tight on Chrysanthemum’s fur
It only occurred to Randidly now but if he had made Ptolemy the Champion or even Regina Northwind back in Donnyton perhaps
But no Chrysanthemum was nearing the end of her life Healing healing could only do so much
It was pretty this display but that was all it was Randidly fervently hoped that this prick would learn to use the Skill he had usurped to a much more efficient degree Without a word Randidly turned and walked away as Chrysanthemum’s chest fluttered one last time and then stilled while the petals continued to fall down around them
Very quickly the group arrived back at Star Crossing Some of them had given Randidly looks likely in response to the naming of Simon as a Champion but his visage apparently conveyed his opinion on the matter well enough that no one even Ace asked There the group parted Ace and Rose back to the Refuge Drake back to East End while Lucifer came with them to teleport back to Donnyton
Before he went Randidly gave a long look towards the source of a pulsating sphere of Aether on a nearby hill Likely Simon was there even now experimenting with his new power or performing minor parlor tricks for Thea in order to cheer her up
Randidly’s hands tightened into fists Was that was this really what they had struggled in the Dungeon to recover
A rational part of Randidly could understand the way these abilities could be useful but that part was just swept away by a vengeful rage Part of the reason he had departed so quickly even while Thea remained was that he couldn’t trust himself not to tear into Simon had he remained Randidly wasn’t sure how powerful Simon had become post transformation but he was likely at a similar level to the prior Champions
Which were a bit lower in power than Randidly prior to him entering the Raid Dungeon And Simon was primarily focused on Illusions
Randidly had no doubt that he could track him down and rip out the foolish kid’s throat but he wasn’t sure that he could assign the Champion status to someone else What if his act killed the Champion position permanently
There was also the fact that he was planning on murdering a kid who was just a teenager which made Randidly sullen and bitter more than anything No right now was not the time to make any decisions Better to head back to Donnyton as quickly as possible check in on Neveah inform Mrs Hamilton and Co what he had learned in the Raid Dungeon
Memories
It looked like Star Crossing was throwing together a celebration but Randidly blew past their council with only the barest excuses He wasn’t in the mood
When they returned to Donnyton he immediately launched himself at full speed in the air throwing himself out of the teleporter area and into the treeline Instantly he accelerated as fast as he possibly could not caring about how he physically tore through the terrain with the force of his passage Instead he simply made a beeline North and East shooting towards Neveah
As soon as he had arrived back on Earth he had felt the energy he had gained from growing in Levels coiling and growing then slamming into the strangely suspended form of Neveah’s soul Even now Aether flowed into her revitalizing her in some necessary way Whatever changes that Randidly had caused in Neveah due to gaining a Class this burst of energy catalyzed it and they continued at hyper speed
Fueled by the flood of energy he could feel her body reforming forcefully now rather than the gradual process it had been before
So many things had changed in the Raid Dungeon and Randidly hadn’t even dipped his toe in understanding everything he knew now Those memories would have to wait no matter how curious he was Without Neveah the Raid Dungeon had been a constant struggle Her presence at his side would make similar challenges appear like child’s play