The Wild PhantomÆs Embrace was RandidlyÆs highest ranked Skill in that subset and might exert some influence over the result But as long as that interference could be prevented well even if it turned out that way it would just mean that he would need to shelve that Engraving and work on a different tack
Which would mean he would need to start over to develop a pattern that was more aggressive But Randidly believed that as long as he concentrated on the Inevitable Phantom Arrives he should be able to create something that would focus on offense As to the time that would take
Randidly grimaced So many things to do
After checking the time a powerful anger gathered in RandidlyÆs chest Twenty four hours have elapsed since I sent those most recent five out to retrieve their predecessors and nothing Well then Just you wait Riders
With that malicious glee as a weapon Randidly began to prepare his engraving pattern for his armor If the basis was the Spear Phantom then he would need something amorphous
Randidly blankly looked at the dirt ground waiting for the genius idea he was going to use to create the overwhelming offensive Skill Then he groaned
Of course it wouldnÆt be this easy every time but Randidly really wished it would have been
Guess he should take some time and lay out some iterations
Chapter 880
After another sixteen hours alternating between working on his Engraving and training his other Skills Randidly finally had a Skill worthy of scaling up
PhantomÆs Finisher Lvl 41 (Skill Level limited by Item Level) Strike out with a vicious blow that partially ignores the targetÆs defenses User develops a slight sense of when an opponent is off balance and that the sharp move will be most powerful The strike is explosively powerful but consumes a large amount of Stamina Amount of defense ignored increases with Skill Level Power increases with Skill Level Speed slightly increases with Skill Level
Randidly bared his teeth Perfect All that was next is to scale the engraving up and cover his entire arm with it And in the process engrave the control runes across the arm so that the two engraving work in tandem
For ten minutes Randidly simply breathed and considered the problem before him Especially for extended periods of concentration sometimes the preparation was just as important as the act
Then he nodded sharply to himself and exerted a bit of Mana to extend tall interlocking walls of roots up over as hut It was already night so Randidly didnÆt feel like it was very noticeable to completely surround his dwelling with a dome of powerful roots Then Randidly casually engraved a few runes for strength into the dwelling
This was not the sort of thing that Randidly would like to be pulled out of for anything but a dire emergency
Without the dim starlight it was pitch dark within RandidlyÆs small forge But that just made Randidly smile fondly Although it was almost like a nostalgic blast from his time in the underground prison there were so many ways that he had taken definite steps forward that would ensure that would never happen to him again
Perhaps for that reason Randidly felt extremely comfortable in the darkness Especially as he imagined a new form for himself
Randidly began by clearing a wide area and then setting out the assembled metal pieces of his arm one at a time He took care to place them and mark that physical spot in his mind so he would not forget how they were laid out As he did so he began the arduous process of mentally connecting those individual pieces to where they would be laid out on the arm
Slowly Randidly developed a mental picture of what the arm would look like
Breathe in breath out
Then Randidly began to imagine the lines of engraving skittering across the arm tracing the lines of power and meaning that would cement it as a powerful tool There were stops and starts as Randidly encountered problems he didnÆt expect and slowly accounted for them but the mental inventory process turned out to be much shorter than the physical preparations
Finally Randidly settled on the style he wanted to go for to add both the Aether controls and the PhantomÆs Finisher Skill he wanted to the arm RandidlyÆs eyes cracked open as torches of Ignition of the Emerald Essence illuminated the space
Emerald within emerald without And in that world he would create
Carefully Randidly studied all the physical pieces and made sure they matched his mental image exactly Piece by piece he pored of them rubbing his hands against the glossy metal to understand the feel of them He raised them and measured their weight Then with great care he laid them back down on the ground
He continued until he had touched every single piece of the arm And although it was just a touch it gave Randidly a sense of what each one was for the arm he was making
Then with a nod Randidly picked up the first piece and began to Engrave
It was funny to Randidly that he had once had extreme difficulty with even the simplest runes Mostly that was due to his smaller Mana pool and lack of Control and both of those two factors experienced an insane amount of growth since Randidly had started engraving As it was Randidly calmly moved through each of the strokes of Mana shaping how the equipment would be able to interact with the world without pause
The first piece was extremely simple It was much more difficult to set down the first piece and smoothly begin to Engrave the second piece The jump from material to material was difficult Even with a powerful Intelligence Randidly paused before each piece and wracked his brain to consider all the ways these different lines would touch and interact with each other
It wasnÆt as dangerous as the growing Skill Engraving but it would still be a colossal waste of resources if this didnÆt work out
Well not colossal Randidly corrected mentally Probably only about a dayÆs worth of work all told And the second time will be much easier than the first Which is probably the only reason why I didnÆt make a prototype out of a weaker metal
Which at the moment Randidly dearly wished he would have Yet another part of Randidly was amused at that suggestion It was far too late to back out now He could only pick up the next piece of metal and begin the engraving
In the dimly lit dome of roots RandidlyÆs focus became the vicious edge of a razor He carefully scraped through every challenge checking all the edges for consistency His mind was constantly at full alert considering the complex interactions of the two engraving patterns and the numerous pieces sliding against each other
Time moved quickly past
Honestly Randidly was having fun
He worked tirelessly in the emerald light engraving piece after piece Very quickly he entered something of a trance Instead of watching with his eyes RandidlyÆs hands traced the metal hoops to understand their shape With his senses Randidly created the looping strokes of Mana Engraving upon the equipment
His eyes simply looked to the far wall unfocused In his mind he was picturing the floating phantom of his mother the cold distance the flesh stripped away to reveal the stark white of her bones beneath The spooky and distorted noises that haunted his nights as a child
His heart slowed the speed of its beats Still RandidlyÆs gaze remained fixed in the middle distance his eyes unfocused
The skeleton wrapped in shadow was a small figure One that wasnÆt going to intimidate another physically Instead its strength stemmed from the fact that it was unavoidable Inescapable All things would eventually arrive before the skeleton It was a phantom of judgment Of time and of death It was a wild and fickle creature by human understanding Its schedule erratic and its arrival unpredictable It took and took and offered no solace to those that remained
But all Paths would lead to its Inevitable Arrival
Randidly released a breath he hadnÆt realized he had been holding His hands were trembling Immediately his gaze snapped back into focus
Even though his Mana pool was fine his Willpower was growing strained and blunt That came as quite the shock Did I really tire out so quickly