At that moment his feet seemed to sink into the ground and he swayed blinking away shards of bone even as his eyes teared up from tiny pieces that dug their jagged edges into the membranes near his eye At that moment Drake realized that if he did not hold he would die and he had to ask himself whether retreating to death was really an option that he wanted to entertain
So partially blinded he had stepped back forward and used hearing to locate the enemies generally just putting the tip of his sword between him and them until he had blinked away enough of the bone to understand what was going on
It occurred to Drake that some people hadn’t had moments like that in their lives even with the System’s arrival and they felt perfectly comfortable calling “time out” Or perhaps more disturbing they could have had those moments and failed those tests finding no answer in their hearts to that overwhelming fear they experienced when the possibility of death confronted them
In the present a man near Drake moaned At first Drake just shook his head but then he realized with a start that maybe he was being too harsh on these people After all the Vitality and Endurance of the group he had just spent the last month with was miles above these average Classers
“Was it really only a month ” Drake asked aloud feeling a strange sense of deja vu as he did so But it was only a month It was just a month at a tier higher of living than he was used to
After calling for healers to head down Drake wandered up through the mall until he stood before Sydney’s castle on the roof There he did not knock feeling rather content to wait for her to wake up It would do her well to dream now
Instead Drake considered the difficult prospect of finding a way to make East End relevant in the current economy If they didn’t figure out effective methods they might just find themselves consumed by the shadow cast by Donnyton and Franksburg
To Randidly’s surprise a figure stepped into his path as he headed towards the warehouse that housed their store of Potions and also Mrs Hamilton’s office
Nathan folded his arms looking more disapproving than Randidly would have expected that an 11 year old could look When Randidly just seemed content to regard him with a frown Nathan cleared his throat
“Do you understand now ” Nathan asked quietly “How hard it is to be powerless while I watch Kiersty “
He trailed off as if he was unsure what to say Randidly’s mouth tightened but he couldn’t help having empathy for the boy Due to everything Randidly had on his plate he wasn’t able to closely watch what was going on with Kiersty but based on her strange cult following and now the inclusion of the spiderlings in that area it made a lot of sense that it was a subject worth carefully monitoring It was hard enough to know what effects the System had on people who had lives before its arrival for children they could pretty easily graft onto the new way of life quickly forgetting the realities of the old world What that would mean for Classes and Skills and Paths remained to be seen but it was worrying enough that it held Randidly’s attention
When Nathan had approached Randidly previously it had been almost as though fate had offered Nathan to Randidly as a guinea pig for his Class creation so he didn’t have to bear the risk himself And now it seemed like fate
Randidly’s eyes flashed Perhaps he couldn’t give Nathan the power he wanted but he might be able to give him a Class that could help him there
“Give me a week to think ” Randidly said simply small wheels in his brain turning rapidly “At the end of that week I expect I’ll be able to help you “
Nathan’s face bloomed with a bright smile catching Randidly by surprise Wryly he smiled back and then patted the boy’s shoulder as he walked past him As he did so his eyes hardened
One more thing to think about but that could wait For now
The first of three trials that Randidly had to go through before he was confident in what he would do next
When he walked into the room he found a surprisingly non mundane office Mrs Hamilton had lined her walls with tubes filled with different brightly colored liquids These tubes grew increasingly slender until they became droppers near the ground which led to small trays Spiderlings moved to and fro between the dishes dragging lines of their silk
However the longer Randidly looked at the silk the more he frowned Because this was clearly not the silk of the spiderlings the silk he had seen from them was as fine as gossamer a beautiful net that worked based on sheer quantity of threads dropped on top of them This thread there was a strange dull quality to it that made it rather unobtrusive in a very dangerous way Although you wouldn’t notice this silk it had enough tensile strength to rip through a man’s bones if he wasn’t specced towards Endurance
It was Marrow Silk likely extracted from the farm of Bone Wyrms that Neveah had brought with her when she had been given that body
After being dipped in the brightly colored liquids the Marrow Silk quickly shifted to muted colors of that shade The Spiderlings moved quickly and their half of the room was a flurry of activity slowly throwing together a long dress made from the dyed silk It was somehow magical to watch the garment form before his very eyes But even when he let the impressive nature of the feat stir him Randidly still watched with still eyes
As someone with extremely high Control likely the highest human in terms of that Stat Randidly could understand what it would take to manipulate so many spiderlings He had always known that the creatures had a strange mental connection that allowed them to act in concert but this
Penny for your thoughts I find it oddly soothing myself Mrs Hamilton asked looking up from the drab desk that constituted the other half of the office But I understand that not all people can be comfortable to see so many tiny creatures moving together for one purpose
Randidly allowed himself a smile No it’s fine I wonder why people would let something like that get to them especially now A two headed troll that could level a building but walking into it seems a lot more fearsome than bugs But now we have quite a few individuals that would gladly throw themselves before the greater foe
Chuckling Mrs Hamilton said I think it has to do with humans seeing their own strength in another form and recognizing the threat After all millions of insignificant humans were doing a pretty bang up job beating the entire Earth into submission prior to the System’s arrival Perhaps bugs remind people that against some small threats the big man truly has no recourse and if enough of those small threats pile up
She fell silent Randidly who wasn’t inclined to dwell overlong on that point let the silence remain Not after he was being brought face to face with his own shortcomings in so many small areas And no amount of strength would allow him to clear away those problems only with time and attention could he hope to make a dent in them
Eventually Randidly cleared his throat and looked at Mrs Hamilton with a heavy gaze Do you have anything to say or should I make my accusation first
Chapter 472
After a moment of intense scrutiny Mrs Hamilton bowed her head I apologize What I did was out of line I took advantage of the fact you had less information than I did to intervene directly in the process of your Class’ creation The details I was given were vague but it was clear that I would be able to exert an influence on you one far beyond the usual clout I have in our discussions
Randidly remained silent watching her
Without needing to be pressed Mrs Hamilton continued I had also begun to somewhat suspect the Creature’s motives weren’t entirely hostile and that it was rather pushing you to see how far it would be until you break Not entirety concerned with your safety but also not really out to put you in harm’s way with the express goal of ending you However I made the executive decision to keep these suspicions to myself lest it dull your edge against her