Still Randidly had never minded being anonymous before He would just need to find a way to make enough of a splash to be chosen as a citizen but not enough that the Ghost that ran everything was interested in him
It would be a hard thing to balance Randidly reflected
The other reason that the conversation with his father became strained was that neither of them really knew what to say to the other FOr so long they had barely talked The only contact they had was generally forced or coincidental It seemed both of them were extremely reassured when Randidly had turned 18 and had been old enough that Ezekiel didn’t need to be a constant part of his life
Not that he had prior anyway
There was a heady relief that they both shared upon seeing each other at a place where neither had expected but as that faded away the emotion they now shared was uncertainty
What were they to one another How should they behave
Once Hank had begrudgingly checked Katie and discovered that he was in fact a woman he came back over to Randidly and Ezekiel For a split second Randidly was worried that the other man had somehow sensed what he was doing and knew that Randidly was the cause of this but that wasn’t the case Hank had come over for Ezekiel
“Did you know ” Hank demanded his eyes bright
Ezekiel hesitated then said ” yes but it is not how you think My Class gives me some insight into the location of people I had no such sense of humanity from her “
After giving Ezekiel a long look Hank departed muttering something about hunting Dinesh offered to accompany him but was denied The woman named Laurel came over and thanked Dinesh but assured him that Hank was not the type to get angry and throw himself in harm’s way If anything he would hole up somewhere and train furiously to work off his energy and our best bet was to leave him to it
IT was Affina that remembered Randidly’s previous statement ” Randidly correct You said you brewed potions “
“Oh yea ” Randidly said his expression brightening The discussion with Ezekiel had stalled out again because both men had secrets and neither had any idea what to ask that wouldn’t touch on those secrets “Follow me “
Mostly out of curiosity the group from Zone 1 followed him Everyone who was a part of Randidly’s Squad left them to it focused on their own training
Around the side of the thorn cottage there was a strange little cart that Randidly led the group to If he was being honest he was quite proud of himself because creating the cart was no easy feat But when he wasn’t fighting he needed something to fill his time that wasn’t just spamming a spell over and over again SO he had used his PLant Dominance to control wood in unique ways eventually learning to create a kind of furniture with it
It was however a balancing act because Randidly could only control the plant while it was alive and it was only truly useful once it had died If it died prior to him finishing there would be left an incomplete product If it died after there was a high chance that the plant would absorb some of Randidly’s ambient energy and produce strange growths Some of the growths were useful and turned into peculiar blooms filled with energy These Randidly harvested Most were just wart looking bumps on the surface of his furniture
This took him a week but it was a flawless mahogany cart lacquered and polished It was only so large that it had to be pulled around by hand like one of those tiny kiosks that sometimes had at malls but it was more than enough to hold Randidly’s new potions
“Voila ” Randidly said feeling very self conscious There were 12 shelves each with about 10 tiny bottles on them Picking up the Strength Elixir he handed it to Ezekiel
Ezekiel’s eyes immediately widened “This “
“They take quite a bit of work to make as they require the blood of a powerful monster I found ” Randidly said not really willing to admit that it was his own blood that made the effects so spectacular “I expect as I acquire more of that blood I can refine the process and make something even more impressive “
Elixir of Strength (Un) 100% Success Rate Consumption permanently increases Strength by 10 Every Time one is consumed the success rate of the next consumption is cut in half
“Amazing ” Affina breathed her fingers tracing the tiny bottles Apparently lack of sight didn’t prevent her from being able to sense the System’s messages Not unsurprising perhaps but curious How would it communicate with her
“How much are you charging for them ” Laurel asked eyeing both the Intelligence and Wisdom bottles The fact that the Elixir basically guaranteed that you would gain 10 stats instantly was impressive enough but even after that there were a lot of people who would want enough to try for the 50 25 and 12 5 percent chances to gain up to 40 free stats If such an elixir were infinitely available no doubt people would continue to attempt it gaining power without limit
But of course creating the Ezliirs wasn’t easy Besides his own Blood Randidly had to grind up and Refine the hearts of monsters above Level 55 and the success rate of the Ezilir was still pretty low unless the monster was above 60 Besides that it was a long process that required careful observation It was difficult to practice any other Skills while the potions were being made which was why he only made about 100 or so in the past 6 months
Of course most of that work was done when he was bored experimenting with the effect of his own blood But still the result was very satisfying In a world without the Creature maybe Randidly would just stay somewhere and research different potion recipes
The world however was not so kind as that
“Well honestly it’s hard to say ” Randidly said slowly “I’ve only tried one the Control one and it worked perfectly I suspect the rest are the same But the problem is I don’t think there are any real prices for stuff like these Money means very little in the post System World More than money I’m looking to batter for precious treasures or the bodies of monsters over the Level 55 which are most of the ingredients for the Elixirs “
Affina nodded and promptly curtsied “Then I will be off I would not like to miss this chance to improve myself “
“Let me come with you ” Ezekiel said his gaze passionate He gave Randidly a long glance But ultimately he said nothing and departed with Affina to wander in the borderlands
With most of the Zone 1 ers gone or otherwise occupied Randidly went back over to his own dwelling which was over the rocky hill in an area that he hadn’t cleared to be safe But that mattered little as he demonstrated when a rock crab leaped out at him
Within half a second dozens of roots and vines shot upward twining around the monster’s limbs and binding it Effortlessly Randidly put a dozen Incinerating Bolts through it and it collapsed in a heap
Randidly wrinkled his nose Level 53 not worth his time at all for harvesting ingredients For those he didn’t use himself he dismantled and packed up giving the metallic bits to Tykes and keeping the rest in a ring he vaguely planned to take back to Donnyton to sell By this point the ring was filled to bursting and Randidly was forced to start removing weaker monsters so there was more room He was almost helpless before the sheer volume of monsters that he had killed in the past 6 months and yet more were constantly appearing in front of him
The 5 minute walk from the spot of his first kill to his little hut involved killing seven more monsters one that was Lvl 61 This 6 legged goat was in fact a pretty good piece of material and Randidly happily cut out its heart and stored its body away
Randidly fervently believed that the ambient energy of the uncontrolled Fate Crystals was the cause of all fo the spawns in the borderlands even if he didn’t have any proof Which was why he had exhausted himself here trying to capture a Fate Cyrstal as quickly as possible But even with his Skills it was just beyond him And that was the surface Level The Level 70 Ogre undoubtedly had hidden Skills that it would release if it was truly threatened