Inwardly Randidly made another mental note construct a bucket list This bucket list wasnÆt for before he died but what to do immediately should he ever be discovered by the Zone 1 government Item number one was to have an interaction with Ghost to determine his connection with the Creature
Snapping back to the present Randidly said So you will be in the area for a while
Tatiana gave him a wry smile Why do you plan on asking me out
Instinctively Randidly chuckled When was the last time he had time for flirting Helen likely and that had ended
Abruptly Randidly realized that TatianaÆs face had gone strange He felt a flash of panic Oh not that you arenÆt someone to ask out youÆre very striking ItÆs just
ItÆs my fault for making a poor joke Ha I canÆt remember the last time someone called me striking you are a strange mix of things Mr Baloo Erickson
Smiling Randidly said You can call me
Then he stopped Instantly his high Intelligence and Reaction both rose and started firing on all cylinders He was about to say Rand but that was too close to his real identity And it wasnÆt like his name was common enough for it to slip by in conversation So he went back to the original inspiration for his fake name with his Stats being so high that Tatiana likely didnÆt even notice the hitch in his speech
Viking Or V ItÆs a nickname Inwardly Randidly burned red with shame Did he really just ask an attractive woman to call him Viking
Viking She gave him a frank look You donÆt exactly uh
Randidly looked down at the belly conjured by the illusion He was about to say something when he realized that the corners of TatianaÆs eyes were crinkled up with humor He cleared his throat
Well itÆs not raiding season so I might have let myself go A bit Randidly said matter of factly
Tatiana burst out laughing
Afterward both agreed to keep in touch while they were in the area and went their separate ways To RandidlyÆs surprise Tatiana went farther West out past the edge of town Shrugging he went inside his little shed he supposed it didnÆt matter where he did his scans So he settled down and gathered Aether to himself
To start he repeated his previous huge expenditure spreading his reach over all of the Zone As his Mana burned out quickly Plant Dominance extended rapidly outwards It wasnÆt something that most people would detect He didnÆt use it to move the plants but Randidly couldnÆt discount the possibility that his use of the Skill would cause a ripple to spread outwards the moment the Skill touched the plants Still he believed it was worth it He needed information
Again the time after the scan was about two hours of sifting through information This time he ferreted out the CreatureÆs touch rather quickly Its particular brand of Aether stuck out among the others RandidlyÆs gaze sharpened It was even more widely dispersed now What did it mean
The rest of the night Randidly sent directed pulses of Aether to sense certain areas of Zone 1 He started with the military and political headquarters while staying away from the West Providence where Ghost was working out of To his surprise Randidly wasnÆt able to detect anything in any of the military or government locations that he checked
That was interesting So the Creature had no direct hand in the UHF for all that meant That was basically a puppet for Ghost anyway Randidly was tempted to move directly onto scanning GhostÆs area but he was still wary Best to wait another day when he had more Mana and wasnÆt already exhausted There was no real hurry as far as Randidly knew although it was difficult to remain comfortable when an enemy he had clashed with so many times was lurking around him
Sighing Randidly leaned back and looked up at the ceiling One thing at a time he could only do one thing at a time Focus on that task sharpen his mind to it Only with 100% of his will behind it would he get the best results
The spear can only move forward
Abruptly Randidly chuckled It had been a while since he had thought about Shal and his advice But reflecting upon it there was a lot that could be gained from using the principles he had learned from Shal and Aemont Especially now when he was attempting to formulate a Skill There was a particular resistance to it as if his Aether knew this had already occurred and it was unwilling to move in the same shape Forcing it didnÆt solve the issue so Randidly was interested in softer methods
So for the rest of the night Randidly produced the Diary of the Spear Phantom and read from it By the end of the night his eyes were glowing with a bright emerald light
Chapter 520
Alan softly rubbed JaneÆs hair The sleeping girl stirred but only a little and rolled over
This is all for you so you can be strong far stronger than me Alan whispered This is all for you
His wristlet buzzed and Alan withdrew his hand from rubbing his daughterÆs hair he didnÆt want her to wake His first reaction was annoyance but then he noticed it was Ezekiel calling him and his attention sharpened Ezekiel hadnÆt checked in with Ghost yesterday for whatever reason and Alan was very interested in knowing why
As Alan walked out of the room and answered the call he had a brief moment of wonderment why did Ghost feed him that bit of information about Ezekiel not checking in Recently Alan had become increasingly paranoid of GhostÆs motivations Part of the reason was the stress of dealing with constant setbacks in the borderlands and the Zone growth but another part was that the rest of the UHF government was insulated from those problems Therefore they began to grow more demanding and vindictive losing sight of the threat hanging above all their heads
Hello How goes the exploration
Instead of the manÆs usual snarky attitude Ezekiel seemed remarkably somber when he spoke WeÆve made contact with the people of Zone 32 and people who have access to the upper levels of government at the main Village here ItÆs hard to understand but it looks like we lucked into a high ranking military squad But there is more
After a hesitation Ezekiel continued when we encountered them I engaged in a rather friendly duel with one of the locals I believe that both sides were curious about the other sideÆs strength
Ezekiel didnÆt continue as if he didnÆt know what to say Alan breathed out through his nose No wonder the man hadnÆt checked in It was an emotional problem That also explained why Ghost put the task on Alan to solve That shitty little glorified toaster
You lost
Yes and badly But thatÆs not the worst of it Hank participated after me and with someone I would say Ezekiel seemed to struggle for several seconds before he said would say was much more powerful He fought him to a draw but I believe Hank was injured There was
WHAT Alan shouted Immediately he winced and hurried further down the hall from JaneÆs room If she awakened his wife would kill him He continued down the hall and out onto the veranda of the house
What happened It was almost unimaginable to Alan that his brother would ever lose The man was a shortsighted idiot but he had been carefully shaped and sculpted by their father who was a man who was nothing if not thorough
I was unconscious but from what the kid told me
Kid
Oh yea Now Ezekiel fell silent again but it wasnÆt shame that silenced him but another sort of embarrassment As if he were caught playing with matches by an adult Their uh their doctor was just a kid like 13 or 14 It was hard to tell he talks really strangely But he said that Hank developed a new Skill and was just suffering from a lack of ambient energy The kid supplied it somehow and helped him heal
Alan muted the call as he pondered this and wrapped twice on the wood of the railing As expected a bird landed next to him flashing with a metallic gleam As it opened its mouth it spoke with GhostÆs tinny voice It is possible More than possible I always expected that Hank had incredible potential so much so that him creating a Skill was only a matter of time Only