More than anything else Randidly knew that it was time to center himself which he had prepared to do since becoming conscious after the strange mutation of his Grim Chimera image Without finding his inner balance he wouldnÆt be able to improve He couldnÆt make the decisions that needed to be made in regards to the future So Randidly closed his eyes and let himself slip into his Soulspace
Once there he looked up at the deep cracks and gaps left in his Class Although the worst of the damage was slowly being nourished by his Soulskill it still left a rather uneven and haphazard Class that remained in the pressureÆs wake The immaculate pattern that Randidly had been able to weave was largely demolished The five legs were crooked and patched together
Well these were things he had made before He could make them again Shaking his head Randidly turned and walked away from his Class into the deep darkness of his Soulspace
After traveling for a few minutes the Skills and Class and Soulskill were all left far behind Because it was only once he was alone that the images slowly rose to the surface in the darkness
To RandidlyÆs left was a vast tree that stretched upward toward a night sky populated by millions of stars the tree illuminated from within by a crown made of fire and light In front of his feet the thick roots off the world tree stretched down to the infinite depths of the dream ground The soft sound of rustling leaves filled his ears as a small breeze played its way through the canopy
To his right a dark and twisted figure sat alone in the darkness The ground around it was soaked in blood and smelled like charcoal As a creature born of resentment and unwillingness the Grim Chimera did not respond at all to RandidlyÆs presence Instead it remained perfectly inert a killing machine that was keeping energy expenditures low until necessity urged it into motion
Surrounding both of these images small balls of emerald fire flickered and danced in the air It was this emerald fire that added dimension to this realm of images Because of that Ignition Essence it was possible to distinguish between the two images It became the border between the influence of these two images
In that road on the boundary between two worlds Randidly first proceeded to the left He departed from the boundary word and was soon standing on a field of grass leading to the enormous trunk of the world tree As he walked Randidly saw several small roots poking out of the ground and glittering with golden light
Very soon Randidly crossed the distance to the tree and was able to lay his hands against the glimmering bark His first impression was how warm the substance was After he closed his eyes that warmth felt like a physical force radiating outward toward him with an energy that was filled with kindness and understanding
The World Tree was ultimately a being that supported the world Of all things it understood the misery of resistance more than any other image Undoubtedly RandidlyÆs struggles seemed very familiar to it
We arenÆt strong enough not yet You can grow even taller at this Your history can grow longer And if we donÆt manage that Randidly said softly Above him the rustling of the leaves slowly ceased Then in the silence the ancient branches of the tree moved slightly creaking its assent to his statement
Then the warmth underneath his hands grew even more intense Randidly smiled wryly and shook his head You are too much But thank you Your support makes this easier
Then he dragged his finger across the pitted bark feeling the rough and jagged natural runes that covered the bark Nodding to himself Randidly turned and walked away heading back toward the road of emerald flame that let him arrive here
As he had suspected the easiest factor to address was the runes themselves They were increasingly becoming a part of the World Tree image but they were still shallow and rough if he wanted to create a Skill that was part of the World Tree Skillset he would need to address that deficiency
After reaching the road once more Randidly continued to the right There he found darkness and the Grim Chimera
As he approached the monster that was born of loneliness and frigid hatred and resent stood tall It spread its arms wide The screened blacked of its mouth opened wide seemingly to question why Randidly had come after restraining it for the past days
If you want me take all of me the black figure of the Grim Chimera seemed to say I am struggle I am strife I am war I am truth
You are arrogant Randidly said lightly You are strong but you arenÆt that strong You need balance For without it you will rush toward the enemyÆs bared blade and handle the task of slaying yourself
The Grim Chimera just looked at Randidly To those weaker fight To those stronger live and evolve Eventually all things will become weaker
Randidly nodded sagely in return Strangely he was thrown backward in time Before him he saw in the Grim Chimera but with his own innocent figure imposed upon it A figure adrift in a world without perspective drunk on its own improvement A figure doomed to die if left to continue upon this Path
Ah I see I too required quite a lot of time to learn this lesson He held out a hand and his spear condensed within it born of his pure and focused image
Randidly leveled his spear at the Grim Chimera If you refuse to cooperate well that certainly makes things simpler LetÆs make a deal Beat me now and you can take control of my body whenever you want That potency of your image will become permanence
The Grim Chimera took an aggressive step forward but then it paused It looked uneasily over his shoulder toward the road of emerald fire and the towering tree behind it
Randidly chuckled Do you really think I need to rely on another image to fight You were born of my will beast I know you
The Chimera growled lowering itself into an aggressive stance For several seconds Randidly waited watching it But the Chimera settled like it was planning on becoming a status Its blank gaze was fixed upon Randidly waiting for his move
Randidly sighed We cannot and should not run from ourselves Now that we finally have time to grow we cannot cloud it by losing sight of who we are and what we should be doing You are not an image of destruction but of survival You need to remember your core essence
Then Randidly launched his first attack and was over the course of an hour able to finally relax as he relayed to his Grim Chimera those same lessons about Strength that he learned from Shal all those years ago Truly physical exertion carried with it the ultimate sort of release
Chapter 964
Randidly came back to himself slowly fully reveling in the sense of peace that was now radiating outward from his Soulspace Although the damage to his Class was still painful the harmony amongst his images following his previous actions was palpable It muted the pain and hastened the recovery
Now that balance had returned Randidly could move forward
It wasnÆt so much that the image of the Grim Chimera itself was in any danger of taking over his body as he had implied to the Grim Chimera when interacting with it Although images were powerful Randidly was not under any sort of delusion that his images were currently so powerful that they were tangible enough to actually exist outside of him That simply was a problem that was thankfully still in his future
No the issue was that images relied very heavily on certain perspectives and traits to gather their potency While Randidly used those images those traits were magnified in order to strengthen the image Constantly magnifying those sorts of traits in this case the feeling of anger and isolation that Randidly carried with him every moment had consequences for his psyche As these negative emotions were indulged it became almost habit to rely upon these traits in real life situations where they were more dangerous than helpful
And as Randidly had come to Erickson Steel to act as a leader the Grim Chimera definitely needed to be massaged back to only a small portion of his personality Although that darkness existed inside of him that was not all he was