Yet for his Ashen Phantom it was fighting that gave it strength As DonnytonÆs overwhelming sense of superiority began to fracture underneath his constant assault his Ashen Phantom devoured the broken pieces of that image and became more condensed So much so that the image itself seemed to be developing rapidly
letÆs both go Randidly said finally HelenÆs grin widened for a second and then she composed herself and nodded seriously
The group of Squads they would now face were those that numbered from Forty to Twenty one They had already arrayed themselves into one large group standing bolding in front of Randidly That made him raise his eyebrows It seemed like they wanted to challenge him directly
IÆll hit from the front you pick off the sides Randidly said quietly Helen nodded
As everyone made their preparations for the beginning of the next rung Randidly scanned them quickly with his Aether detection What he found made his eyebrows quickly shoot upward There were two very unexpected presences on the other side
The two of them stood at the front the woman clearly issuing orders to the surrounding group At her side was a slender Hispanic man testing the point of his rapier Both were under Level 50 The woman was Level 47 while the man was Level 49
RandidlyÆs eyes slid to the VIP box where Alana had sat back down He had noticed these two were with Alana Glendel Hank and Mrs Hamilton but hadnÆt really thought anything of it But looking back it was clear that these two were being groomed for something more than just being a Squad Leader
LetÆs see what the best talents of Donnyton can do Randidly thought with a wide smile Somehow he sensed that this battle would be different Although there was no one amongst the Squads that he knew personally there were many that he recognized These Squads were filled with people who had been in Donnyton since the beginning
If the previous group of Squads protected the sensibilities of the masses these Squads were the gatekeepers of DonnytonÆs elite Now that Randidly had leveled his spear at their pride they grimly rode forth to put him down
How fun
The thought was unbidden and completely honest Randidly laughed aloud
This will be fun
When the referee signaled that the next rung had begun Randidly wasted no time in charging forward The arrival of the Ashen Phantom above was increasingly brutal The sky trembled as a typhoon descended And riding it was the Ashen Phantom its terrible fingers wreathed in ash and hunger
Shoot The woman shouted quickly producing two long shields that she wore along her forearms extending an extra meter beyond the elbow With a step that cracked the arena she rushed to meet Randidly At her back her brother clung to her like a shadow
Randidly was slightly surprised to find that the Skills were arcing upward toward the Ashen Phantom rather than being aimed toward him As the Skills smashed into the Phantom it roared and the wide area influence it exerted over the arena waned
RandidlyÆs eyes narrowed Tsk too much to expect that you would miss that fact right
Helen the mages
Already there With a rushing noise the backside of the arena was blasted in a wave of crimson Currents of energy began to whistle widely about as Helen rushed toward the individuals who threw the spells Although this quickly put them on their back foot they had been instructed how to respond
Another volley of spells ripped outward this time targeting the substance of HelenÆs Domain But that just made Randidly smile
Small tears emerged in the Tides of Blood but the rushing currents quickly repaired those flaws even before the Classers could escape As they saw their efforts come to nothing they quickly paled and stumbled backward Helen rushed forward even as the ranks of melee fighters closed in around her
HelenÆs Domain is the real deal You have no idea how hard I worked to train resilience into it Randidly thought with amusement
Unfortunately it seemed that the opposing side knew that ultimately images were rather fragile things If they were uncontested they could exert extremely dangerous power But there was an extreme way to break an image even if you had no real images to use
That is you could use Skills
Every Skill had an implicit image in it That was where Skills drew their power In fact Skills could be viewed as tutorial images given to people by the System Which meant that the Squads could brute force something akin to an image by relying on the number of Skills but the difference in Attribute expenditure would mean that Randidly didnÆt mind the trade
Still it was a relatively unsatisfying way to win a fight
You need to The woman bellowed as she looked at HelenÆs rapid advance but then she was forced to direct her attention back to the front Due to her wild charge Randidly had already arrived in front of her The combination of the Inevitable Phantom Arrives and Spear Advances Ash Trails broke the sound barrier as it rushed toward her
She raised both of her arms and took the blow on directly
The force blew her body back almost a meter but she absorbed most of the impact with her legs Randidly blinked in shock and then twisted to the side avoiding a sharp thrust from the rapier wielding man Before Randidly could counter attack the man had withdrawn and once more hidden behind the woman
The woman grinned at him If you think
A scream cut her off It seemed that Helen had reached the long range Classers That was good Instantly Randidly resummoned the towering form of the Ashen Phantom Its empty eye sockets stared downward at the two individuals under Level 50 that dared challenge Randidly
Ash filled the air as Randidly prepared his next attack
The womanÆs gaze snapped back to Randidly forcing herself to allow the battle at the other end of the arena to sort itself out If itÆs just power IÆll handle it One day IÆll be DonnytonÆs impenetrable shield Today IÆll show you how light the name of Randidly Ghosthound truly is
how light my name is
Fury burst in his chest rushing toward the core of his being Instantly another image began to activate a terrible visage of a tree so old that it had achieved apotheosis But at the last moment Randidly gritted his teeth and suppressed the righteous fury of his Crown of Upheaval and Gloom
Not yet That image should be saved for later Spear Advances Ash Trails As the Sun Stills
Randidly spear became a blur spiraling forward in a thrust that strained the limits of even his own Perception The woman flinched and raised her shields but that moment stretched Somehow RandidlyÆs spear was still rushing toward her too fast to see But time slowly ticked past even as more and more weight gathered behind the spear
They were frozen each in their own space Nervousness condensed around the woman while Randidly slowly felt the dying heat of a sun shift to weight at the tip of his spear And in that great weight a gravity that could even warp time emerged
The Ashen Phantom shrunk until it was only about double the size of a man Standing behind Randidly it reached its hands toward the woman like a beggar pleading for coin The sadness and longing twisted in on itself as that desperate need turned to hatred
Isabella you need to But the brotherÆs warning came too late RandidlyÆs spear finally arrived even as the woman Isabella twisted her shield to the side
Her left shield shattered into pieces but Randidly rather bitterly realized that she had managed to disperse most of his attack The shoulder was probably dislocated but the damage wouldnÆt be serious
Still the force of the attack blew her backward into her own lines knocking several people over Randidly stepped sharply back to avoid a rapier that stabbed toward his throat Such was the speed of his step backward that his ash continued forward allowing him to activate All is Ash and fling himself a short distance forward
Randidly condensed behind the man surprised to see another rapier heading toward his current position It was a little off but the man rapidly adjusted his attack