Hello Sam IÆm glad to see you are in a good mood Mrs Hamilton said dryly Below them the rest of the expedition slowly gathered chatting and stretching But as she studied the group Mrs Hamilton frowned DidnÆt you add someone last minute Who is it
SamÆs frown actually twitched into something resembling a smile for a split second Some girl of EdÆs Apparently she has made herself so indispensable to him that Bekany is getting jealous of all the time that they spend together Otherwise he wouldnÆt have let her go
Her name Mrs Hamilton sharply asked Although this isnÆt exactly a secret mission I would prefer to know who she is
You donÆt think we can handle ourselves Alana asked sourly But Mrs Hamilton just gave her a suspicious look that left Alana speechless
I may be struggling with images but I can still lift a spear
Sam thought about it for a second Then he pointed to a slender figuring hurrying to join the casual crowd below Out of everyone who had gathered this teenage girl was the only one who didnÆt store everything in her interspatial ring she was wearing a rather large backpack I believe her name is Mareen Ed recruited her out of the Orchard
Chuckling Mrs Hamilton nodded as she looked down at the young woman Ah interesting Very interesting
Then she turned to Alana and smiled Well well Miss Spear of Donnyton Are you ready to depart
Chapter 972
After leaving the dungeon Randidly was grinning from ear to ear So the timer for the Judgement is specifically out of Dungeon time Which gives me plenty of time to prepare
Then RandidlyÆs excitement switched into a wry acceptance I suppose it would have been too much to hope the one month time period for the Growth of Yggdrasil Path would have been affected when the Judgement timer wasnÆt so that Path will need to wait until after the Judgement Does that mean I should take another Path in the meantime
Randidly glanced around He was standing on the beach of Lake Apollo next to a Level 40 Dungeon that Tatiana had told him about The lakeÆs water was gently lapping onto the shore As far as Randidly could sense there was no one around for miles This was far from Zone OneÆs military base on the East shore of Lake Apollo
Farther to the South and West was a new Zone that Randidly didnÆt know much about It had apparently connected only a week or two ago and was still struggling with its own monster problems now that the wild areas had been exposed As long as he didnÆt seek civilization out he would likely have free reign in this area
Randidly clicked his teeth and considered his next move Ideally he would be able to hole up in a Dungeon and spend quite a bit of time refining his images and working on Engraving But the Level 40 Dungeon here on the shore of Lake Apollo was quite a bit less than he would want There were likely a few higher Level Dungeons to the South in the new areas but they would be difficult to find on short notice
Randidly could sense the Aether fluctuations of a Dungeon if he was near but they were purposefully disguised so that wasnÆt possible from a far distance This protection became more intricate for the higher Level Dungeons About Level 60 which was exactly the type that Randidly wanted he was only able to feel the distinct energy from a distance of less than one hundred meters
In addition he had to consider the type of Dungeon he was going into The Dungeon here was mostly in a cave system environment While the constant water dripping it wasnÆt exactly ideal for an extended stay
Because aside from Engraving Randidly also wanted to work on metal creation He had checked with Tatiana and they still hadnÆt been able to train anyone to the Level that they were proficient enough to create GhostÆs body So that was a favor that he still owed And he would need high quality metal for that
Plus Randidly still had some ideas about how to make Erickson Steel mobile That would require a staggering amount of metal to the point that it was less about the ability of people to refine metal of a sufficient quality but simply how long would it take to create enough metal to make a city mobile Setting aside the costs of future repairs
Sighing Randidly just shrugged Well fuck it
Immediately he set off to the South at a fast speed While he was moving his attention returned to the issue of Paths
He had 1359 PP remaining so Randidly was immediately tempted to either take Physique of the Grim Chimera or Ashes of Ulaat They were the two Paths that Randidly had considered before ultimately choosing the Perfect Soulbond Path Whether or not it had been the right decision his reasons for not taking those Paths still was the same just the ultimate result
At the thought of how that Path finished Randidly shook his head letÆs hope the consequences of that action will take a while to manifest In the meantime I need to improve as fast as possible I donÆt have time to play cautiously against opponentÆs like that
But Randidly was also now tempted by the Experimenter IV Path Although nothing amazing had happened since he had gotten the Skills he had noticed that his five ingots he had made in the demonstration were of a higher quality than he would have expected otherwise It wasnÆt such a change that it would make much of a difference but it was tangible
Although perhaps that was a manifestation of Touch of the Ghosthound
Still considering the fact that most of his training would likely involve the production tasks Randidly was sorely tempted by the Experimenter Path The higher quality his results in the Dungeon the more Skill Levels he would gain Which would lead to more PP So of the Paths Experimenter would upgrade his growth engine the most
ItÆs a gamble but the faster I handle these annoying political and economic issues the more quickly Erickson Steel and the Order Ducis become self sufficient without my constant assistance and I can focus all of my energy on improving myself Then we can work on making Erickson Steel indispensable to Earth
But then again Randidly wasnÆt sure that this was the fastest Path for creating a stable future Honestly was it worth it to spend so much time developing Erickson Steel Providing a supply of high quality materials would certainly assist the other Zones without interfering with their images But it definitely required quite a bit of his attention now which would be better spent preparing for either the Judgement or the Calamities
However if Randidly focused all of his attention on his own growth he didnÆt doubt that he could make great strides Perhaps only in the finer details of working with metal did Randidly have things to learn from the people at Erickson Steel As a loner he would have quite a bit fewer annoying curve balls thrown at him
But this feels right Randidly thought as he calmly drew Acri and approached a group of Level 57 Stone Golems I am the Lord of the Baleful Wood Although I am powerful alone I am more than that I am a leader
Acri flashed outward and diced a nearby golem to pieces in a flash but the sensation from the cuts was enough to give Randidly pause It was faint but there was a slight resistance in the golems bodies While he was pausing to examine the corpses a few more golems noticed RandidlyÆs calamitous arrival in rumbled in fury
Casually Randidly reached down and touched the monsterÆs remains heedless of the dozen or so golems charging toward him Huh they arenÆt just stone There is quite a bit of metal content in here killing these will be much faster than just finding some random mine to harvest while IÆm in the Dungeon
Huhuhu is this the world telling me that forging is the right Path Well I suppose that it wonÆt matter either way if I help myself to these corpses
Randidly looked up sharply Roots ripped upward with enough of an edge to pierce through the firm bodies of the golems As the monster struggled to crush Randidly with their heavy fists Randidly simply buried them underneath waves of thorny vines
As monsters fell they screamed calling out to more of the kindred Soon hundreds of golems were rumbling out of the nearby mountainside caves to attack Randidly As they poured toward him and were killed by his Skills and not Acri Randidly got his first long overdue Level