He felt strange Randidly’s lessons with Lyra had given him an intimate familiarity with the feel of activating skills The warm rush of Stamina the cool flow of Mana What Randidly currently felt was neither of those It was a stranger more foreign feeling within himself An icy seizing within his chest slowly spreading out But the longer he felt it the more he doubted his own body because the chill began to burn with a fiery heat
Although it didn’t exactly hurt it wasn’t comfortable either So despite the fact he could continue Randidly returned to a spot to give himself a respite and check his notifications
And what Randidly saw made his scalp tingle He skipped over all the skill level notifications and just examined the strange ones
Congratulations Due to your actions you are developing your own personal skill Skill is 10% complete
Due to synchronicity with merging power time until full absorption of the Blessing of Ash decreased 100 minutes until full absorption
Warning you have long walked upon the path of the Heretic but you are rapidly approaching a crossroads That path lies through a Judgement
Due to synchronicity with merging power time until full absorption of the Blessing of Ash decreased 200 minutes until full absorption
Congratulations Due to your actions you are developing your own personal skill Skill is 25% complete
Congratulations Due to a moment of heightened synchronicity with merging power time until full absorption of the Blessing of Ash decreased 500 minutes until full absorption
Congratulations Due to your actions you are developing your own personal skill Skill is 50% complete
Randidly regarded the notifications curiously There were three types ranging from great to good to foreboding
The great was the creation of the skill that was currently sitting at at somewhere over 50% That strange focused state that Randidly had been in had apparently been tapping into something within the system allowing him to create his own skill Based on the situation it was likely a fighting skill rather than a spell
Randidly frowned struck by a sudden thought Could that be the source of the deathly cold followed by the burning heat Was that what it was the feeling of his body changing as he developed this skill If so then he would suffer through it in silence A skill that took that he developed in this manner couldn’t be simple
The good notifications were the minutes falling away from the absorption of the Blessing of Ash he had obtained/ stolen After a quick check of his menu he realized that he had only 1200 more minutes before he absorbed it That would be something like 20 hours
So still some time but if he continued to display enough synchronicity it would continue to rise
The final type of notification was the one about the Path of the Heretic He had noticed the Heretic Path slowly growing despite the fact he had never put any PP into it It seemed that it was growing in response to some of his actions but what could it be
He had never heard of anyone else with access to this path but Randidly supposed he had never really asked The most likely if disturbing explanation that Randidly could think of was that it was related to his lack of class As he grew stronger without a class his Heretic path would grow higher and eventually he would encounter a Judgement
It seemed like the system itself seemed to take personal offense to his continued independence Was this perhaps how everyone was slowly pushed into a class
But this line of thought still left Randidly confused What then would the Path itself provide What rewards would he receive for taking it And would he lose his ability to use the Heretic paths the future Would the path itself address whatever was so heretical about the situation
If he could survive the judgement would it be better to drive the Heretic path higher before using it Was it worth the risk
Shaking his head Randidly made a mental note to ask Alana whether she had access to the Heretic Path She was relatively strong and hadn’t yet chosen a class so if his suspicions were correct she should have also earned the systems ire
Chapter 90
Setting aside his concerns about the notifications for now Randidly allowed himself a small smile as he tallied the skill level gains Truly fighting under the pressure of the Agony skill provided some bonus to the speed with which he leveled There was no other explanation for why he had gained so much Although perhaps it was also the strange vicious fighting trance Randidly had fallen into for a time
Randidly had gained 2 Lvls of Spear Mastery 1 in Phantom Thrust 3 in Spear Phantom’s Footwork and Eyes of the Spear Phantom 2 in Phantom Half Step 3 in Heavy Blow 5 in Dodge 2 in Fighting Proficiency 3 in Haste 6 in Sweep 1 in Phantom Onslaught 2 in Empower 3 in Calculated Blow and Roundhouse Kick 4 in Edge of Decay 2 in Physical Fitness 3 in Pain Resistance 5 in Grace and finally 9 in Agony
A pretty good haul for however long he had been fighting It all started to blur together into a giant block of blood and bone Still it couldn’t have been any shorter than 2 hours And definitely no longer than 5
Randidly looked dubiously at the still numerous horde of monsters slowly pressing up against the Thorn Ramparts Although the bodies were piling up in some places allowing the monsters to slowly trickle in nonstandard entrances this much should still be possible to handle
Hopefully there was also enough for Randidly to rejoin the fray without any of the defenders from taking note of him too
Randidly poured his PP into the Spear Mastery II Path using 57 PP to finish it off
Congratulations You have completed the the Spear Mastery II Path Walk long on the battlefield and strength will naturally develop For before absolute martial strength what are tactics preparation and knowledge But this cannot be the place you come to rest for ahead of you the path stretches ever onward You have learned the skill Fearsome Cut Lvl 1 You have learned the skill Pierce the Skies Shatter the Earth Lvl 1 All Physical stats +3 +20 Health +30 Stamina
Congratulations due to the influence of your other skills Fearsome Cut has become Ghastly Slash Lvl 1
Ghastly Slash Slash out with such oppressive speed and strength that the very air wails as you cut through it Effectiveness of the skill increases with skill level
Pierce the Skies Shatter the Earth Such is the mastery of the spear that it allows you to bend the laws of reality with its fearsome power Two part move first leaping up into the air piercing the skies Then fall to the ground creating a large shockwave that spreads outward from the point of impact Effectiveness of the skill increases with skill level
After he had finished allocating the points he was quite pleased with himself and Randidly even had 5 more pp remaining But a notification popped up making his eyes narrow
Warning you have long walked upon the path of the Heretic but now the cusp of the crossroads lay before you Proceed directly to the nearest Newbie Village for assistance Should you proceed you shall face Judgement
Randidly examined his status page
Health(/R per hour) 390/479 (+8) (227 (+12
Mana(/R per hour) 0(unusable)/799 (90 75)
Stam(/R per min) 401/613 (82 (+4
Vit 68 (+4)
End 42
Str 53 (+2)
Agi 73 (+10)
Perception 46
Reaction 62
Resistance 25
Intelligence 96
Control 82
PP 5
Paths Newbie 7/7 P Def 10/10 M Supp 10/10 Risk Taker 15/15 Basic Physical Fitness 20/20 Trainee 15/15 Wandering Survivor 20/20 Pathless I 5/5 Pathless II 5/5 Pathless III 10/10 Pathfinder 15/15 Disciple of Shal 37/37 Pathless IV 10/10 Pathless V 15/15 Pathless VI 15/15 Pathless VII 20/20 Pathless VIII 20/20 Pathless IX 25/25 Pathless X 50/50 Pathless 100/100 Mana Bolt 25/25 Phys Fitness 25/25 Evasion 35/35 Phantom Thrust Path 40/40 Spear Mastery I 50/50 Monster Slayer I 1/1 Monster Slayer II 3/3 Heavy Blow Path 20/20 Monster Slayer III 6/6 Monster Slayer IV 12/12 Monster Slayer V 25/25 Potion Making I 25/25 The Monster Slayer 100/100 Entangling Roots 40/40 Meditation 35/35 Frontrunner 100/100 Apprentice Path 50/50 Fireball I Path 50/50 Potion Making II 35/35 Spear Mastery II 75/75