The explanations for the first 4 skills were useless just text about blessing a worthy subordinate and granting them power but Inspiration was a bit more interesting
Inspiration ® The next spell you cast will be inspired You will be able to accomplish feats far beyond the limits of your normal mana pool All mana will be consumed You will not regenerate mana for any reason for 24 hours after completion of the spell That spell cannot be used in conjunction with Inspiration for 30 days
So one big spell at the expense of the next day’s worth of spells The cost was extremely high but
Well Randidly supposed it depended on the effectiveness of the spell Making a mental checklist of the two things he still had to do before the caravan headed back South in an hour he walked outside of his cabin and winced
Make that three things
Jeez don’t look so excited to see me Lyra said sarcastically petting a trembling Thorn She had eventually bullied the plant into letting her treat it like a pet although Randidly had no idea how Things had been strange between them In a rare moment of weakness Randidly had asked Daniel who she was or had been before the system and Daniel had gone on a rant about cult classics’ and horror legend’ and a bunch of other pre system fanboying
But Randidly did gather some relevant information from their talk Lyra really was 17 no matter how mature she looked
On the other hand Randidly was 23 Or he was if the time in the dungeon counted Based on the calendar it was still two more months until his birthday But still The difference in age made him uncomfortable and so he was in a weird space where he wanted to see her but dared not seek her out
No it is good to see you Randidly said after a moment of hesitation but Lyra just snorted
Well
Well what Randidly asked frowning
Lyra gave him a withering glance Aren’t you going to ask me anything
Uh
Her eyes narrowed Aren’t you leaving for for a while to go to the south
Well yea
Doesn’t it seem like I want you to ask me something about going to the south Her teeth made grinding noises
Randidly winced Lyra if you want to come fine
I don’t give a shit about coming or not I want you to ask So Ask Me To Come The air around her vibrated dangerously strange mana reverberations spreading in all directions
If you want to come just come Randidly shouted raising his arms
The air stilled Lyra nodded curtly her expression a pleasant smile Sure
Then she turned and walked passed him Not knowing what else to do Randidly reached out and grasped her arm She turned and gave him an evaluative look
Do you have some business with me sir Her tone was low and surprisingly devoid of sarcasm even though the phrase itself seemed designed for it Not knowing what else to do Randidly just looked at her
Then he had an idea and used one of his new skills
At times like these perhaps a gift would help smooth things over
To his surprise Lyra’s puzzled frown turned into a vicious glare Ripping her arm away she spat on his bare feet Do you think I want a fucking blessing from you Is that what you want Another subordinate
She turned and walked away head held high As she passed the gate around his cabin she called over her shoulder Just to clarify I won’t be coming south with you
Randidly scratched his head as he watched her go
But there were more things to focus on In an attempt to distract himself he brought up his Path menu
Watcher 0/ Heretic III 0/ Oathbreaker 0/25 Apprentice Path 0/50
His options had decreased but he already had made a decision It was time to head down the Apprentice Path More skills meant faster gathering PP which was his way of gaining strength
Finally Randidly turned to the final item on his agenda and removed a small seed from his pocket He had created another soul seed after the cooldown wore off and had been nurturing it these past two weeks
Soul Seed 100% Nurtured Strongest Influences 1 Fireball 2 Meditation 3 Potion Making 4 Refine 5 Calculated Blow 6 Root Manipulation
The influences were a bit strange especially for a plant Let alone Fireball how could a plant use Meditation Potion Making Refine and Calculated Blow It was because all he had done was focus on discovering potion recipes and mopping up random creeps in the area with Thorn
Ultimately he was also very pissed off that he hadn’t been able to make any headway on Mana Manipulation Even after Randidly stopped meeting with Lyra still he practiced struggling to find ways to make it work Unfortunately reality wasn’t kind it seemed that his thoughts so much earlier in regards to the way he viewed the system shaping his abilities were true
He could perform skills and he had different pools of resources to fund those skills But he wasn’t able to control those pools directly
Perhaps what Randidly needed was a skill to make these things manifest Like whatever strange skill Lyra refused to name that allowed her to see mana She seemed to think that was a pointless step and maybe it was for her the strange combination of frustration and inexplicable talent that she was but Randidly needed to see it he figured to get a handle on using it
Thinking about Lyra made Randidly oddly morose and he turned and gazed at the bear sized hole in the fence around his house that Randidly had quietly requested remain there marring his wall It had been strangely lonely as most everyone stayed out of his way allowing him to train constantly
The stress had sapped the last tiny bit of effectiveness from an already almost useless few weeks and Randidly wanted to keep this as a reminder Of what he currently wasn’t sure because Lyra and her lessons and her feelings for him were all jumbled up into a ball that Randidly wasn’t sure he even wanted to touch
But he knew he didn’t want to be left alone to slowly wind himself up in his house until he snapped For that Randidly knew he valued Lyra She attacked him verbally which was reassuring in a way The rest of the town basically took everything he said as law and showered him with veneration and compliments
Other people might like that attention but to Randidly it just came off as creepy
The abuse while perhaps offensive to some grounded Randidly by putting him in a situation that he understood and was used too When the three of them Sydney Ace and himself had hung out they weren’t being They were vulgar and caustic constantly engaged in a cold war of banter and and ploys
Ace and Sydney
Randidly’s gaze turned South Which was why he had to go no matter how strangely Lyra was acting And why he refused to think any more deeply on his own feelings no matter how lovely she was when she smiled Randidly clenched his fists and looked down having forgotten he was still holding the small strangely nurtured seed
Still he supposed looking at the tiny seed in his hand it would work out somehow Even if he wasn’t around to see it
As Randidly walked out to the slope between the NCC village and the Classer compound up on the hill he was surprised to find two small children crawling through the fields picking weeds He recognized them too Nathan and Kiersty They were twins and the youngest members of Donnyton at 8
The system hadn’t been kind to children Although from what Regina had said it was less that they were killed and more that the parents of these surviving children weren’t willing to travel with their kids and turtled up in their homes
Ultimately foolish but Randidly supposed he could understand the sentiment
Struck by a sudden notion Randidly walked over to the children When they saw him approach the two straightened uncertainly The girl wiped her nose on her sleeve Randidly crouched before them
I need a favor
Chapter 63
They made good time heading south mostly because everyone other than Randidly sat in the tractor trailer and drove while he roamed through the forest slaughtering anything he came across The monsters were relatively strong for a while in the teens as they traveled through the area where the Newbie Zone had fallen During that time Randidly had mostly worked on his Fireball and Summon Pestilence gaining 1 Level in the former and 2 in the latter