The rationale was that the Death School broadly already had many ways to kill someone that worked well enough They didnÆt need someone who had been well trained Lucretia continued But what they were searching for was someone born to kill someone It became a numbers game As more children died they uncovered more killers
And I have to say Lucretia added Oftentimes those of the cohort that already knew well enough how to use the spear and mimicked remembered images would die early Because it was never about learning a Style it was about killing
Those imitators simply werenÆt powerful enough They became a reflection of what wasnÆt theirs and their images suffered for it Although the victor of these battles would often by somewhat limited in their strength the clarity and density of their image of killing was beyond reproach
Randidly considered that so rather than guiding us forward we are treated more like monkeys at typewriters seeking Shakespeare huh
Shakespeare Lucretia asked
Randidly shook his head A reference from my world But I wonder are you saying that images arenÆt the goal That there is a specific task and the System is looking for the appropriate image for the job
Lucretia shrugged Very quickly she was becoming absorbed in the small runic experiment that she was tinkering with on the table
There Randidly paused One thing that the System wanted to avoid was contamination from the previous CohortÆs Skills Which was why likely the motivation for setting up the System so that people from the upper cohorts cannot descend In addition the System was assisted by an overlay System which provided numerical representations of the Stats that they were given
It was one thing to feel yourself growing more powerful as you train It was quite another to be shown the satisfying numerical progression of your own Stats It was very easy to fall into the trap of pursuing that growth as a goal If one did that it would be easy to get drawn in by the temptation of tripling your own Stats
Which was why it was so confusing for the System to emphasize Stats like this If the SystemÆs goal was what Randidly thought it was the System was shooting itself in the foot
Because that was a purposeful trap that the System seemed to set with Stats Early Stat growth was refreshing and rewarding Yet as the Levels of the foes you face grew stats became harder and harder to rely on in order to triumph The same went for Skill Levels although Randidly suspected that this was a relatively weaker association Because after all Skill Levels essentially just gave you a way of adding extra Stats to certain specific actions
Thinking very reductively giving Stats and drawing attention to them was akin to teaching everyone how to punch very hard and telling people how hard they could punch Some would learn different ways of punching but ultimately everything was still a boxing match
Over time the System would provide increasingly competent boxers as hurdles for these individuals swept up in its influence To the point that it was impossible for someone who relied on boxing to win If they didnÆt cheat that is
And it was clear that this happened in Cohort 5 as well Aemont had fought against the Propagators to no avail They were a hurdle that couldnÆt be cleared with Stats and Skill Levels He had done as much as said so during the strange dream Randidly had experienced after finishing the Ashes Path associated with Aemont
So he had been faced with the ultimate choice that the System presents those whose lives it seizes evolve or die
Then is that moment of clarity what the System is after To guide you down a Path with a dead end to force you to jump ship while your life was on the line
Because the scaffolding for evolving beyond yourself was always in place The System just never told people about it It lectures on Stats Skills and finally Classes but those are all just ways to convince the people under the System that they are in a box
They are crutches you rely on so that the System can rip them away and you can be overwhelmed with fear
But no one is in a box Because the System also gives people space to create images And with those images itÆs possible to warp the entire world around you Randidly could clearly feel it in the fight against the Nemesai Without images they had to accept his vision of the world Ash Emerald Fire the World Tree and the lustful Phantom became the truths of that battlefield
Images had the capability of becoming truths They ruled the surroundings In effect RandidlyÆs ease of fighting opponents thus far could be explained by him cheating he didnÆt fight the way everyone else did
It was like the world had agreed beforehand to a series of rules that were extremely favorable to Randidly before the fight had even begun And no one would say anything as Randidly brought increasingly elaborate weapons to the boxing matches Until the boar head sacrificed his life to display comparable power
However Randidly felt very little lingering pleasure from the battle against the Nemesai It was clear to him that his advantage was so absolute that he should have been able to prevent Thea the Serpent and the Obsidian man from escaping But he just hadnÆt understood exactly how much of an advantage he had for most of the battle
Until the strange boar head man countered Randidly with his own images With that sense of restriction Randidly had another realization When there were two images that fought for dominance over a space the way to spread your imageÆs influence was by relying on the Skills that evidenced them
But when the opponent had no images that meant you could use that image to do anything Skills no longer bound it
As long as it was within the purview of the image there were no bounds to what could be accomplished with an image
Suddenly Randidly was very much looking forward to the Donnyton challenge
Chapter 906
Before Randidly departed LucretiaÆs lab he had one more question to ask Do you know how large each Cohort in the System is
Lucretia shook her head No But I can follow your train of thought Undoubtedly it is much larger than each of us would ever suspect After all the System has the ability to create a mirror world for the Second Calamity for each of us That speaks to a large background And a vast array of energy and images at its disposal
Humming Randidly considered that for several seconds sometimes I wish I could have spoken with the Creature Truly spoken as equals It knew so much and all it did was torment and manipulate us If I had that knowledge
I wonder think about this then Lucretia said That knowledge made the Creature take those terrible actions the truth about the System just how terrible a weight must that knowledge have
Randidly glared at Lucretia who simply shrugged
He didnÆt like that sort of perspective but he couldn’tÆ deny it might be true Each locked in their private thoughts the two did a few experiments with Mana Engraving before parting and returning to their respective responsibilities
Helen rammed the harpoon deeply into the skull of the sea beast in front of her The skull cracked and split as her viciously sharp weapon bit deeply into its flesh She brought the palm of her other hand up and slammed it into the but of the weapon driving it even deeper
Just die you fucker
The roar that the monster released caused the water in the surrounding area to vibrate and bubble With two strong kicks Helen swam upward allowing the long chain attached to the end of the harpoon to stretch and give some distance between them while keeping the weapon inserted in the body of the sea beast
Somehow even as the bubbles frothed upward and obscured her vision Helen knew that this long test was drawing to an end
As though it had been waiting for Helen to create some space the seabeastÆs long tentacles slashed outward toward her like whips cutting through the water They moved so quickly that they left long trails of bubbles in their wake
But Helen simply twisted her body to present as small a surface area as possible and seized the chain With a huge pull she rapidly dived back toward the beastÆs skull cutting those meters into nothing In her left hand she twirled a wickedly curved dagger that was almost as long as her forearm A chain was attached to the base of this too forming the counterweight to her harpoon