Randidly recognized the figure Or at least most of the features It was Drake SydneyÆs right hand man the main pillar of East End Yet his eye sockets were scraped and bare with a jagged series of maroon spikes surrounded by the popped and rotten remnants of the eyeballs that had been housed within From his mouth a spike of that same maroon crystal parted his lips just a little like a facsimile of a tongue
His ears were completely covered with the crystal giving him a strange resemblance to a science fiction villain from an 80Æs television show Other than that Drake looked exactly the same
Except for the dried blood across his face and hands that made it seem as though he had been crying and wiping away crimson tears Except for the deep circles under his eyes Except for his hunched shoulders and ripped clothes
What happened Randidly thought dazedly Almost as an afterthought Randidly reached out with his Aether Perception to feel him He had been so focused on locating Roy and EarthÆs Aether that he hadnÆt peered too closely at what he was looking at Now he regretted that decision
When he looked at Drake now he still couldnÆt get quite a clear view of what was going on because he was once more obstructed in the same way that his scan of the boar had failed And this time Randidly had a very good idea of what he was sensing
He was being screened by a Fate A Fate that had taken root deeply inside Drake and somehow warped him
What did you do Randidly hissed But Roy only laughed harder even as his body was tussled up and bound into the ground Because it was clear now that Roy hadnÆt been the one to clear the Danger Zone and achieve the triple stats
It had been Drake
After taking an unsteady step forward Drake paused Then his queer gaze drifted upward and locked onto Randidly The boar arrived its roars fading into a soft keening even as the maroon arm continued to smash the ground in vicious glee Those maroon forks that stuck up through DrakeÆs eye sockets remained fixed upon him
In his chest Randidly felt a slight tingle His instincts warned of the presence of danger In spite of himself his face split into a grin Oh
I Roy inclined his head dramatically even as he was surrounded by thick roots that prevented any real movement I simply served as a veil with my body surrounding him it confused poor Drake enough that his more violent impulses were suppressed Yet now that he has his gaze locked upon you
When Randidly squeezed with his roots RoyÆs illusion faded and all that was left was a bony grin despite the increasing pressure He will serve his purpose as a blade that slays the foes in front of him Ah but it is ironic isnÆt it to have gained such power but have lost the ability to discern friend from foe Tragic is it not A lesson perhaps for those who arenÆt so permanently afflicted
Growling Drake ripped forward toward Randidly conjured a bastard sword of bone With a short side step Randidly avoided the vicious blow But there was still enough strength from the attack to cut into the marshy ground and leave a deep scar
The tripled stats were the real deal The air pressure from the sword
After rolling his neck Randidly put both of his hands on Acri About damn time LetÆs test how well this arm works
Chapter 901
A Fate
What was it Why did the System intervene then and only then Directly into the lives of its users It gave Classes but that was a choice And as far as the System was concerned it didnÆt care whether you took a Class or not Because as the System slowly upped its game those without Classes would die
That was just how the System worked
It didnÆt interfere in your Skills your Paths or your Soulskills But at Level Fifty based upon your actions and your Class the System gave you a Fate Capital F You were forced to capitulate and then a decree was handed down to you Generally
When Randidly was involved there were always exceptions
Yet even at Level One Hundred from what Randidly understood of what happened to Shal you could choose your own Great Fate that would be used to overcome the Second Calamity The System did not force the issue It allowed you once more to fulfill its criteria or die But it would not directly kill you The circumstances around would just slowly grind you to mush and remorse
So this strange uniqueness of Fates didnÆt make sense to Randidly His main experience with Fates came from assisting Alana in breaking through to Level Fifty She had rejected the System and for that it had attempted to crush her Randidly had seized that energy and flooded her Class with it giving her a Fate in the form of the helmet that she now always wore in battle
According to her it gave her a slight boost in Level up gains In addition it could Level up which in turn would further increase the Level up gains At the time Randidly had been curious but not curious enough to really grill her on the details of it In addition at the time he didnÆt have the ability he did now to examine the structures of Aether
When he had seen Alana in Donnyton it was too late to ask about it
And now with this cruel and twisted Fate consuming DrakeÆs senses it was too late to ask
I wonder which came first the Fate or the stat boost Randidly thought idly But then he shook his head Time enough to find answers later After he beat this wild dog back into submission YouÆll have to thank me later Sydney
Once more the bastard sword sliced sideways to bisect Randidly The air hummed in rumbled But Randidly hopped lightly back and continued to evaluate Drake without any aggressive moves To RandidlyÆs surprise this time Drake followed up the dodge with a nasty riposte that clipped his shoulder
Hissing softly Randidly lowered his stance Then he used Wild PhantomÆs Embrace and followed the momentum of the next strike to dance around to DrakeÆs back and slash with AcriÆs long and sharp tip
It was a near thing too Randidly wasnÆt sure at first but now he was positive DrakeÆs strikes were getting faster But Randidly managed to ride the extremely sharp edge of DrakeÆs slash and return that force back at him The blow struck deeply into DrakeÆs back but stopped dead as it ran into the bones of DrakeÆs ribs
You had high Endurance didnÆt you Drake Randidly thought with a smirk even as another of DrakeÆs blows sent him spinning away to strike at another weak point
Again Drake stoically endured the blow and struck back at Randidly this time aiming for his waist His sword seemed to hum the swift passage through the air making a piece of strange music
As he dodged Randidly eyes narrowed in expectation And just as Randidly had been predicting Hank blurred into motion raising his hand even as a bone dagger appeared there and thrust it toward the spot where Randidly was about to dodge
If you want to learn from fighting you are nowhere near as horrifying as Azriel Wiggling around the blow Randidly raised his metallic left arm and pressed his fingers together Raucous PhantomÆs Finale
Randidly fist smashed into DrakeÆs face with a satisfying crunch He could clearly feel DrakeÆs nose give way beneath the unrelenting metal of his fist But Drake only took a single step back and Randidly became abruptly aware of a wall of bone growing from the ground to surround him
Oh
Huge thorn whips as thick as a thigh smashed the bone prison to pieces even as Randidly backed away to open up some distance DrakeÆs strange bloody visage continued to remain fixed upon him Perhaps what Roy said was partially true Without his senses Drake only had the focus to lock onto one speck of life and then would do his best to eliminate it But Randidly would need a little bit more proof before putting any stock in what Roy had to say
Randidly glanced sideways at the boar The maroon arm was flailing about but the boar had used its bone spurs to wrap up the arm and keep it from striking it urging it into battle Instead the boar just stared intently at Randidly It was waiting for something some answer
This strange creature was DrakeÆs elemental then It was the first of two unpredictable elements that Randidly was afraid would make this fight more difficult At the very least it seemed like this Elemental was on his side