But after the third day they had entered the area where the Newbie Zone around Franksburg and the common level of enemies halved to something like 7 or 8 During that time Randidly started training Agony
It was a vicious brutal skill It drove him insane every time he used it If he didn’t see it ripping apart the will of his enemies by the same token he wouldn’t continue to rely on it In addition he didn’t have that big of a health pool to draw from But against these low level enemies especially in groups it was more than enough
By the end of three days they reached the spot on the highway where they would need to turn east and Randidly had gained 1 level in Roundhouse Kick 2 in Pollen of the Rafflesia 1 in Wall of Thorns 3 in Mapmaker 1 in Physical Fitness 3 in Running 4 in Sprinting 2 in Pain Resistance 1 in Equip 2 in Pathfinding and an impressive 8 in Agony
Randidly had a hunch that the pain you went through as you used the skill increased the effectiveness of the leveling by stressing the body Either way his growth was an impressive thing
As they camped Randidly poured his PP into the Apprentice Path At 10 and 20 he received 2 distributable stat points each but he received a strange notification at 25
Congratulations you have encountered a branching path Choose a patron from the following list and complete your apprenticeship
Randidly idly scrolled through the list but then his eyes widened as he examined the options
Patron of Silence Patron of Frostbite Patron of Nightmares Patron of Crystal Patron of Zephyr
Honestly this seemed like another instance where the system gave him no guidance and being the first one to reach this point came back to bite him Sighing Randidly simply went with his gut he chose Patron of Ash If he really was going to commit to fire as his damage dealing spells
The path you walk has become littered with ash The sky darkens The fire stands before you and you do not blink as you walk towards it Ash fills your lungs with every breath but you dare not falter
Other than the cryptic notification nothing seemed to change so Randidly shrugged setting it to the side He walked towards the group who were gathered around the back of the truck all 13 of them They stood as he approached the squad saluting him Clarissa Alana and Devan simply nodding
You should figure out what your plan is when you enter the area and who your leader is I will not accompany you I have other business
Although Alana seemed slightly unsettled she said nothing and the rest nodded calmly as if this was expected
Anything else Randidly asked feeling quite strange Although he supposed everyone at Donnyton had always listened to him to have them be so deferential to him now was a bit
Ah actually The leader of the squad spoke up adjusting his pendant numbering 16 his eyes bright and nervous We were wondering if perhaps you could give us some pointers On fighting
Alana was unwilling to join the rest in all coming at him at once but at Clarissa’s insistence she relented
You will understand after it starts Clarissa assured her Alana pressed her mouth into a thin line
In the meantime Randidly went and cut down a sapling whittling it into a good approximation of a spear The balance was a bit off but it would be better than cutting someone in half with his huge Spine Spear
Randidly used his Root Manipulation to clear cars out of a 20 meter circle and stood at the far side calmly drinking a mana potion After restoring himself to prime condition he added I won’t use skills to start If you touch me that will change Deal
Alana’s eyes were burning but Devan nodded seriously Randidly was slightly worried it would take a while for them to start but Clarissa was not a shy woman An icicle zipped towards his head
Grinning he spun his sapling and knocked it harmlessly away eyeing the rest They surged forward in neat lines the front with shields raised moving to encircle him As they neared him he simply stepped forward and delivered a non Roundhouse Kick kick to the one on the far right throwing him stumbling back several meters
In that opening Randidly strolled through his sapling lashing out keeping the rest at bay Another icicle rushed at his head which he again knocked away Then he lowered himself and rushed forward putting his significant agility to use Clarissa would make this fight annoying if they ever locked him down enough to use her powerful spells
Gotcha Alana growled lunging forward stabbing towards his side
Randidly only chuckled and spun the sapling to his left hand which he jabbed backward with expertly knocking the spearhead harmlessly to the side
As Randidly turned back to face forward he found a shield bash rushing toward his head He swayed his torso straightening and spinning avoiding it completely and twisting around Devan to have a straight shot to Clarissa who stood with her hands raised above her head a ball of glowing blue energy held at the ready
Frost No
But Clarissa had stuttered to a stop upon seeing her Randidly knew what spell she was casting and leapt back towards the 10 man squad who were hurrying back towards him out of formation desperate to assist
Three strikes had knocked three men to the ground with a 4th and 5th soon following At that point Alana arrived before him furious swinging her spear
Randidly calmly blocked it and watched as she tried to kick him in the chest Randidly sidestepped and then knocked her legs out from under her Before he could deliver a blow knocking her out a shout dragged his attention back to Devan
Grimacing Randidly rushed forward Challenging Shout was a bitch of a move He felt as if he could overpower the compulsion to attack the user directly with his high Willpower but there was also no harm in going along with it to demonstrate the difference in strength
He simply thrust his sapling sliding cleanly through the air towards Devan’s shield having no other choice but to attack directly The wooden imitation spear and the reinforced iron shield collided with a dull boom the force large enough to throw a shock wave outward Eyes wide Devan stumbled backwards his stance completely overpowered
Lightning Bolt The spell shot out catching Randidly in the chest He gritted his teeth slightly to withstand the weird tremors and then rushed towards Clarissa
Frost Nova
Randidly hopped off the ground using the moment of his earlier dash to carry him the rest of the distance towards her A wave of cold hit him creating a layer of frost over his skin but his strength was more than enough to easily overpower it
He landed and punched her shoulder casually then looked around nodding
That should be about it then right
Alana stared at their small campfire her gaze clouded
Devan sat down next to her You’ve never seen him fight before
She shook her head slowly No I’ve seen the monster he killed and brought back but I didn’t know
Ah that’s right You were out on patrol the day he fought against the Kill squad Devan nodded
The Kill squad was the nickname for Dozer’s personal squad It also could include Donny Ptolemy the healer and the Brawler depended on what they needed It wasn’t ranked both because it included people from multiple squads and because Dozer and Donny didn’t join the squad competition but its strength couldn’t be denied Who was there
Everyone Devan’s tone was bitter
How how did they do
Devan offered her a mug of coffee She took it Better than us They started out being brutalized but Donny was guarding Ptolemy full time and they managed to slowly box The Ghosthound in while getting healed and the Brawler was able to touch him After that he used one of his basic skills Phantom Thrust It was impossible to see You saw him raise his arm and then you woke up hours later with a headache This happened to everyone
They sat in silence for several minutes Clarissa drifting over and settling down next to them hearing what they were talking about She leaned forward conspiratorially He hasn’t told anyone but Daniel says that based on his talks with Nul the Ghosthound’s Spear Skills should be around 30 Maybe even higher than that