They were likely dead and he was chasing ghosts
How well could they really have survived if half of their building was ripped off in the middle of the night If they were teleported hundreds of miles away How could they not have
A notification popped up distracting him from his train of thought
Congratulations Your Thorn Lvl 5 is ready to level up After slurping many similar enemies Thorn wonders if it should be one of many or the One
Frowning Randidly selected the One There was only one path to a good life in this world now and it was through power With it you could take the things you crave Without it
Thorn is now Lvl 6 Survivability has increased by 5 Physicality has increased by 2 Particularity has increased by 3 Thorn has learned the skill Piercing Thorns
Randidly didn’t know what he was expecting but it was oddly disappointing Everything felt that way right now all of it He wished
Randidly’s sprear flicked out smashing apart a skeleton that had wandered too close to where he was fuming And like a keg of gunpowder that spark set Randidly off
Roaring he charged among the skeletons his huge bone spear sweeping back and forth reaping them cleanly In addition he activated Agony the grating vicious pain oddly soothing It narrowed his focus drove away the incessant negative thoughts that had sprung up for the first time today The guilt the helplessness the confusion the lack of direction They were wiped clean leaving only a growing rage and a constant pain
Maybe it was because he had for so long struggled to survive and then he came back on earth much more powerful the the local monsters Lost and unsure of what he should be doing he had latched onto the survivors slowly teaching them to become strong in the same way that he had learned to become strong by throwing them into the fire
At the very least Randidly informing them that they were about to be cast into the fire helped them and increased their survival chances far above what they would have been
For a while he had gone with that slowly establishing a base teaching them what he had known defeating any enemies too strong for them to handle
And then what And now what
What was he fucking doing
Randidly’s eyes glowed pale green in the darkness his spear smashing agonized monsters to pieces Although he couldn’t use mana for 24 hours due to the use of Inspiration that didn’t make him any less a death sentence for monsters of this level regardless of their number Unless he was deliberately trying to do so he would not run out of stamina He was just a constant blur of death
Even as a notification popped up indicating that his health had reached 20% Randidly’s smile didn’t waver He downed two health potions and continued barely slowly his vicious assault refusing to shut off Agony
Although it slowly wore his own health down it did worse things to those enemies around him
Especially now where a growing corner of his heart trembled with fear guilt anger confusion and frustration And that part of him wanted to hurt something
Heeding his will Agony rolled out in malicious waves larger and more powerful than it had ever been before Green eyes glowing Randidly continued ripping the enemies around him to pieces
The system was responding to his desire not just with levels but with effectiveness Agony even seemed stronger But Randidly supposed that it wasn’t really the system that had changed but himself Where before he wore Agony like a blanket dragging it around behind him now he actively reached out with it smothering those enemies unfortunate enough to surround him
But even the pain was only doing so much he couldn’t cover up the question that drove him insane What was he supposed to be doing
Grinding his teeth Randidly threw himself into the violence drowning out his helpless doubts
The sky darkened and a low drizzle began to fall Randidly ignored it as it made no difference to him where he once fought in puddles of blood now it was slightly watered down blood What did it matter
Tirelessly his spear swept back and forth bodies falling to pieces around him But as he did so Randidly noticed something extremely strange Rather than having a goal he was now just killing for the sake of killing He was protecting the town he supposed but that had fallen away lost in the revelry of blood
He simply cut and slashed feeling through the huge spear of bone the small tremors of a body breaking With an undivided attention Randidly experimented with where and how he could strike how he could cut how he could slaughter
Slowly all of his disparate spear moves began to flow moving cleanly from one to the other Previously he used each when he needed them Phantom Thrust for speed and accuracy Sweep for a large group Phantom Onslaught to overwhelm a single target
But now Randidly slowly started to see the use of swinging the butt of the spear around for a staggering blow intermixing Roundhouse Kicks to throw the opponent off Slowly at first but with greater surety Footwork of the Spear Phantom guided him easily from one enemy to the other the deaths continuing unabated
It was likely aided by Grace which almost inexplicably streamlined his movements just a hair but enough to notice during particularly complicated portions of his fighting style
That was Randidly realized what he was doing He was discovering his fighting style
Almost immediately he stopped using Agony although it was incredibly effective It left the monsters around him almost helpless barely a challenge at all But as he let the spell fall around him the monsters staggered then peered at him with hateful eyes
As rapidly as their low leveled bodies could manage they threw themselves at him hissing and spitting and clacking Randidly grinned his spear moving to meet them
It was Randidly realized a great weapon Before it the monsters were nothing He had never really gotten into Shal’s fanatical pursuit of the godhood that was becoming a true spearman but Randidly couldn’t help but marvel at the utility a spear provided to him Thus far he had relied on Shal’s moves but in his moment Randidly was starting to see
The spear was designed perfectly as a killing tool Oppressively powerful Quick and graceful Vicious and deadly The question was never whether the spear was enough but only whether the person wielding it could bring to bear its true oppressive power Seeking that goal of becoming an individual who could wield even but a fraction of the spear’s power Shal dedicated his life
Inexplicably a month after Shal had he had parted Randidly was beginning to see it that path As his spear blurred and gore coated him he saw it the point the motivation The path to strength The goal
The Spearman
Slowly but with increasing confidence Randidly began to use his skills more rapidly and efficiently becoming an absolute storm of deadly bone swirling around a man dancing in his hand Heedless to the Skill Levels he gained his eyes slowly unfocused until there was only action and reaction the spear and himself
The enemies fell away lost in the backdrop of other Into the spear Randidly’s focus turned towards the spear If he could wield it perfectly
Unbeknownst to him as he lost himself in the killing glowing lines began to form on his throat drawing out esoteric runes His eyes always brightly began to glow faintly lending a green cast to the slaughter
But all Randidly did was grin his spear splitting open the skull of a nearby skeleton and then ripping his spear out and spinning slashing several of its compatriots to pieces
This ’ Randidly thought Is fun ’
Lyra sourly gazed at their surroundings The area around Turtle Town was still deserted a silent rotting graveyard The piles and piles of bodies were a testament to the town’s continued ability to defend itself but it didn’t make it anymore cheery
Walking quickly Lyra led the way to one of the partially destroyed buildings that marked the edge of the inhabited zone of Turtle Town by blinking forward teleporting short distances Kim Lath still wearing the appearance of Randidly flowed behind her its body turning into a liquid and running up the wall only to reform next to Lyra up above