The woman in front of him felt like an ancient Amazonian warrior with a strong jaw and a long spear that radiated the possibility of a sudden strike She was beautiful too but in an abstract way that Gary found fascinating Although very little time was done with her face the more Gary looked the more he could see that there were places where the artist had slowed down to capture the right feeling The hands for one with the lines of tendons so clear that Gary brushed his own knuckles across them The feet too and the knees
It was in the physicality that the artist concentrated their focus and it made for a raw awe inspiring sculpture
So the owner of this new castle wasnÆt just wealthy but also appreciated fine art An individual of class then
Gary Firefly continued farther until he came upon the entrance to the keep Like the outer wall there were no doors in any of the entranceways and the windows were also wide and bare Gary shivered it felt as though he was walking through the bones of a castle rather than a castle proper Why had the owner done this when she or he showed such an eye for detail in the sculptures
Because physicality was important Gary realized with a chill From afar none would know the gaping entrances of the place they would only see the castle This then was a message
At the entrance to the keep Gary stopped and cleared his throat once more Again there was no response He grimaced This was what he was worried about If no one was here what was he to do He could obviously destroy the castle but
Do me a favor
Gary Firefly half turned and saw a young man with short black hair that was coming around the side of the keep His eyes were fierce but there was a powerful curiosity in that face The young man spoke again
DonÆt move
Then without waiting for an answer the young man stopped stared fixedly at Gary for several seconds and then raised his hands and flexed his fingers The ground trembled and then rose Stone seemed to flow like liquid upwards resisting the power of gravity
GaryÆs eyes widened immediately This man was using a Skill to sculpt And not something like Sculpting but in fact he had a Skill that would allow him to control stone Gary was privy to some of the most top secret disclosures that Ghost provided to the government so he understood conceptually that Skills could accomplish almost anything if they were trained
But he had also cast his vote to focus the Zone towards technology rather than developing the magic of the System Humans had been on top of the food chain for thousands of years and Gary Firefly had firmly believed that if they continued relying on the technology they possessed they would continue to be so Initial results before the borderlands opened up seemed to prove Gary right
But now watching this artist work
It took all of 10 minutes with Gary standing transfixed as he watched the man work First the shape then the face and posture and then the details A very long minute spent elaborating GaryÆs right hand and the spatial watch he had there held at the ready for any ambushes Also a long time on GaryÆs tie and collar accentuating his distinguished state of dress
When the man finished he didnÆt say anything but his face brightened Then he grinned at Gary Randidly Ghosthound I just moved here
I Gary blinked gazing at RandidlyÆs outstretched hand Ghosthound That name sounded familiar But then the reality of the situation and the memory of the destroyed orchard came back with a vengeance Gary took the manÆs hand but coughed lightly when the manÆs shake was almost limp
It was like he had never shaken a hand before Gary made sure to make his own grip vigorous From what he understood those who focused on magic would oftentimes leave their physical Stats low Any edge now would be useful
Indeed My name is Gary Firefly as IÆm sure you know I own this land I am just wondering who put you up to this stunt of destroying my orchard GaryÆs tone was dry
I didnÆt know You grew apples Sad The young man said shaking his head
Forcing to keep his rising blood pressure even Gary said Those orchards meant a lot to me Do you have any idea who I am
No IÆm from the other Zone The young man said matter of factly
This stalled GaryÆs next comment leaving him somewhat confused This was not how he had expected the conversation to go But before he could gather his reaction the young man continued speaking
But taking something is bad I owe you a favor What would you like me to do
Again not what Gary had expected He had expected to walk into a strange political meeting of some sort where someone got his attention with the orchard but had a larger plot backing them up so that Senator Firefly would be kept from seeking vengeance Instead he found a young man that claimed to have no knowledge of who he was and offered him a very open favor
Was it possible the young man was telling the truth He definitely had some capabilities based on how quickly he had made the statue But crossing over from the other Zone So quickly Not only would one need to be strong but they would also need to be strong enough to travel quickly
But if this strange character was truly that strong
Gary Firefly wasnÆt usually a person who went off of gut feelings or went out on a limb but the combination of the strange castle the sculptures and this manÆs attitude had put him on his back foot So he smiled and said
If you replant my orchards and bring me the body of a Level 60 monster we can call it even
What he did not expect was for the man to smile and ask Maybe we can be friends as well
Chapter 522
It turned out that becoming friends with Randidly Ghosthound was one of the best decisions that Gary Firefly had ever made Everything he touched seemed to go well He had inquired about RandÆs Stats and Skills and had been refused with a bright smile Still Gary didnÆt really care about the details It was enough that this young man produced results
Within the past three weeks since Gary had met Rand the young man had given him enough high Level carcasses that West Providence had paid Senator FireflyÆs personal military company ten million dollars in order to acquire more materials to experiment on As they pushed the bounds of weapons they needed to be sure that their results were enough to overcome the rising Endurance of these high Level monsters
One time Rand had actually asked what Gary did with the bodies the young man had been thoughtful Then he had informed Gary in his strange abridged speech not to put too much stock in such tests because they didnÆt account for the monsterÆs Skill
This was a revelation to Gary Luckily only Rand was there to see it and the socially awkward kid just grinned about it It was with great pleasure that Gary Firefly met with the representatives of West Providence
Your research is going well Gary asked knowing how these idiots would answer
This particular representative was a young woman with her blonde hair up in a ponytail She beamed at him Yes excellent With these examples we believe we have a prototype that will revolutionize the military sciences Very soon we expect the borderlands to be open to us
Of course of course ThatÆs good to hear Gary said Perhaps I was being foolish I abruptly had a queer fear last night you didnÆt account for the monstersÆ Skills when you performed the experiments but undoubtedly my fears are unfounded I cannot wait for the good news I hope you donÆt mind if I inform Congress of the projections of your
Wait wait She was shaken now but in the bright eyed optimistic way of youth Account for the Skills Of course when the monster died they stopped Senator where are you going If you donÆt mind IÆm sure my supervisor would love to hear
IÆm terribly sorry IÆm sure you understand I have another meeting Gary said smoothing his shirt down
His meeting was a visit to his newly planted orchards Rand wasnÆt exceptionally talented at planting but the System made up for a lot of deficiencies Within a week of the castleÆs arrival there was now an orchard on the hill beneath it After these three weeks Gary felt no choice but to believe that this Randidly Ghosthound was from another Zone Ghost himself had agents watching RandÆs every move corroborating the strangerÆs story implicitly