Going was rough outside of the area cleared of mist and even Randidly proceeded cautiously But once he found a group he quickly mopped them up and dragged the bodies back to WendyÆs lab
With the grimacing face of someone who realized that they had been hoodwinked Wendy accepted the bodies and asked Randidly what his requests for the new plans were
Ah you are certainly a genius Randidly thought smugly as he was much more specific about what he wanted this time But itÆs a question of perspective You likely hadnÆt seen a monster above Level 10 before to you Level 15 seemed like an unavoidable disaster But to me well thatÆs just childÆs play
After explaining Randidly shook her head with a bright expression on his face Pleasure doing business with you Wendy
Wendy grunted sourly
Chapter 875
Randidly watched the emerald flames dance across the fingers of his one remaining good hand entranced by their vivid hue It was a lively and demanding shade of emerald one that grabbed the attention of the viewer and pulled it into the flame’s depths Partially it was the color but there was another variable at play the power of flame was simply that compelling to humanity
This fire was special of course It was RandidlyÆs own Ignition of the Emerald Essence Of all his images it was his newest and perhaps the portion of himself that Randidly understood the least
A fire of inspiration A fire that jump started humanity With fire food could be cooked Work could be done after dark It attracted the attention of beasts in the surrounding area but those creatures of the wild had always implicitly feared that light which they didnÆt understand Perhaps the first human that would harness fire had feared its strange secrets too
Yet she approached and the whole world changed
Randidly clenched his hands into a fist and snuffed the fire out Although he would love to continue refining his images he had told himself that he would accomplish something rather unpleasant today he was going to go speak with Lyra
He had let this particular wound fester for long enough already
Even if it wasnÆt something he wanted to do he needed to do it For all that Lyra had betrayed him on several levels she was the Village Spirit of Donnyton And due to that she was connected with the larger System She had somehow usurped control of the Village from Nul almost two years ago and installed herself in an unassailable position Even now the consequences of that action were still difficult to name
At the time Randidly had been somewhat shocked and impressed But those reactions had been largely eclipsed by his fury for how foolishly Lyra had endangered her life in order to achieve her goals She had shown exactly zero concern for her own survival when she had recklessly allowed the Tribulation into their Village
More than that she had brazenly allowed such a dangerous individual into the Village where it could have harmed so many of the people who lived in Donnyton All because she was confidentÆ Because she was sure of herself
The reality was she was a fool But for all that she was likely the human who understood the System the best Even more than Randidly Especially because she was a part of that System architecture and had been for several years
Sighing Randidly stood and stretched It was the middle of the night and Randidly began to walk East from Donnyton When he had mentioned it casually to Donny the younger man had commented that Lyra was largely absent from Donnyton these days All the facilities still worked but they didnÆt interact with her directly very often
Especially since Randidly had arrived in Donnyton Lyra had been invisible She hadnÆt made a peep Which Randidly supposed was out of concern for him But he had already resolved himself to speak with her There was no point in delaying it
Of course Randidly knew that although her absence was true the reasoning Donny provided was not Lyra was without a doubt preparing for something Randidly could feel the swirls of Aether from the location of her abode swirling in the sky in strange patterns It wasnÆt a dangerous working from what he could tell but it was slightly obnoxious to note that Randidly couldnÆt quite parse apart what Lyra was doing
Which was perhaps a reason not to go talk to her It could be a trap
By the same token that was a reason he absolutely needed to talk to her He couldnÆt let such a caldron bubble so close to Donnyton without knowing what it contained
Randidly didnÆt think it was something that would actually pose a threat to Donnyton however Lyra had been within his Soulskill and had pushed Alta toward violence but while she had been within himself Randidly was able to sense a portion of her motivations for acting the way she did
It was of course another on a long list of violations of his trust Lyra was sorta predictable in that manner she was rather self absorbed in what she believed was important and seemed to assume you shared her opinions But her transgressions were also not malicious moves It was motivated by genuine curiosity and a powerful fascination with Randidly
Which didnÆt exactly make him feel better But it did mean that he would risk talking to her in order to find out more information about the System and her strange construct of Aether
After all when Octavius spoke about the society that ran the System that had given Randidly pause It was one thing to be fighting against the general System and also the strange overlay System that provided the information regarding Skills and Classes to the people governed by the System It was quite another to have managers periodically checking in on what was occurring
The latter was much harder to fool
Which was basically the warning that Octavius gave Randidly Most people wouldnÆt notice his deviant activities as long as he no longer interfered directly with his own Class Skills Soulskill etc What Randidly sought from Lyra was a little context so he could figure out the danger associated with this society
If they brought their resources to bear what sort of threat would they present
After all Randidly had no doubt he would be forced to alter his own Aether makeup once more in the future He just wanted some guidance as to the cost he would incur from doing that
And moreover
The Creature had been conspicuously absent since their last confrontation There were supposedly thousands of iterations across the universe in Cohort 7 seeking to accomplish its aims Yet there had been no real moves to threaten Randidly who had forcefully escaped the control of the Creature He had been prepared to find sinister happenings across the Earth when he returned yet there was nothing
It was almost worse than if he had found his home planet burning His formidable determination was losing its guiding focus of resisting the influence of the Creature
Was it as Randidly continuously feared that his current path was exactly what the Creature desired Or was it as Lyra had suggested previously that the Creature was seeking to make itself RandidlyÆs greatest fear so it could make use of the Second Calamity Would it simply bide its time until then
Yet the Creature was not a being that Randidly would suspect to be willing to wait patiently If it could be active and prepare it would
Frustrated Randidly scratched his head Then he grimaced Hair was getting longer He would need to get it cut soon
It was exactly for this internal struggle that Randidly moved to see Lyra even though he couldnÆt trust her even though she represented an unpredictable element even though she would betray him in a heartbeat if she thought it was for the best of the Earth
There was that at least Randidly implicitly understood that all that Lyra did was for the sake of the Earth And perhaps that was the reason that he was willing to risk approaching her for information
Lyra had set herself up in a flat grassland that was wide and filled with lush grass rustling in the wind In the middle of the grassland there was a tall oak tree with gnarled and crooked branches its reach spreading over a rather large area Calmly Randidly walked into the shade of the tree and took a few seconds to inspect the irregular waves of Aether radiating off of it more directly