You might not understand this but these are my people Ki Kunot spread her arms wide We might not understand the wider world as you said but we know when to stand up for whatÆs right Your scourges are consuming our homes thatÆs not just No matter what boogie monster has you so frightened that you felt it necessary to hide here and recuperate it doesnÆt justify what you are doing So please IÆll ask one last time Surrender to me With your knowledge we can prepare for what is to come You might be right that we are recently evolved to this state but we sure as hell wonÆt stop until we control our own destiny Betting on us would be the best decision of your life
Randidly laughed
The bright light of determination and hope in Ki KunotÆs eyes settled down into grim resignation as she calmly listened to his laughter The two of them were still standing only an arm’s length apart although that distance seemed to stretch into a vast chasm
And in that chasm was RandidlyÆs long shadow It seeped out from him and filled the cracks and corners of the cavern dancing in those dimly lit locations that werenÆt protected by the light of the torches Randidly saw the hands of Ki KunotÆs guards tighten on their weapons as they regarded him with growing hostility
ThereÆs only so much you can do with idealism Randidly said quietly
Ki Kunot huffed out a deep breath And selling out your humanity can only earn you so much Randidly Ghosthound As a show of respect you can leave here peacefully But donÆt expect us to be so merciful again
How strange Randidly reflected Somehow I became the Creature and this valiant heron became the bold defender of humanity And yet now I firmly believe she is wrong even if I would have made the same decision faced with the same choices If I had been born to her Path I would likely have chosen to resist and make a stand here To them I am the ultimate villain
Still I am not the Creature I will not force them to choose to follow my lead
But neither will I let guilt cripple me because they wonÆt demonstrate even the slightest instincts in regard to self preservation
Of course Randidly acknowledged that he wasnÆt giving the monsters much choice in the matter But he didnÆt believe he had much wiggle room either Randidly turned around Fine A word of advice Ki Kunot War Priestess of the Silver Wings DonÆt let early victories go to your head You are deep within the food chain of this System Until you fight your own way out your people will suffer tragedy after tragedy
Oh and one more thing My Riders already know this location By this time tomorrow they will come in force to exterminate you I recommend you vacate this location by then
KI Kunot was silent She gestured sharply and two guards stepped away from the door to open a path for Randidly
As Randidly walked out of the room Ki Kunot spat out one more parting salvo It is the duty of those who wear a Crown to protect Mr Ghosthound I hope your desire to consume never eclipses your duty
Grinning Randidly looked back over his shoulder The almost liquid shadows that had dripped out of Randidly into that shadowy room flowed back into him If you donÆt carefully define who you owe a duty to Miss Ki Kunot the world will bleed you dry
Randidly moved quickly back to his dome and began to work on his forging process even though it was past midnight Strangely the talk with Ki Kunot made him realize a few things about his utilization of Grasp of the Molten Core
As he became more familiar with its ability to manipulate gravity Randidly became more adept at making the distribution of bones in the molten metal truly perfect As the uniformity and pattern in the metal became more exact the overall strength of his alloys improved With Ignition Essence Randidly could easily melt all of the materials down to liquid form But he had eventually hit a plateau in terms of material quality
But somehow this gave him the insight to understand why he had stopped improving recently
What he was quickly learning was that the longer he kept them as a liquid the weaker the final alloy would be The metal attempted to bond with the ground up bones during a drawn out process creating tiny inconsistencies Because Randidly was applying constant heat to keep the materials as a liquid during the process those attachments would be broken creating infinitesimal flaws
But the longer the metals stayed liquid the more of these piled up
Therefore it needed to be as perfect as it could be as quickly as possible
The work tables around him were covered with engraving bracers and ingots With a flick of the finger Randidly used Infinite Fingers of Yggdrasil to clear a space and got to work Faster and faster Randidly whirled around his molten metal to form his ingots Then while those ingots were cooling Randidly would form the next batch Then he would test the new ingots let the new ones harden and then begin the next batch
By morning Randidly had created almost a hundred ingots of the highest quality It wasnÆt a perfect process but he was learning how to use his Skills to their limits
It was during just that good mood probably around lunchtime of the next day that the Riders brought Randidly the severed head of Ki Kunot to prove that they had accomplished the task he had set to them
Contrary to his warning the rebels hadnÆt left that base They had simply spent the last twenty four hours of their lives turning that area into an approximation of a fortress Unfortunately for them the deaths amongst the Riders meant that the two Legions grudgingly worked together on the extermination mission When the Riders arrived they were forced to march into a cramped tunnel filled with enemies and traps
Which of course the Riders did so without hesitation They were Riders for the Baleful Court But more than that they had spent the last five months tinkering with traps and construction Nothing that the rebels could manage in this cave system in only twenty four hours had any chance in hell of being able to stop them
Never mistake the result of an ambush for a predictor of what would happen in a direct confrontation Randidly thought as he stared at the bloody head of Ki Kunot Her beak was cracked and oozed blood But still he delicately took it from the Riders who had made the report ThatÆs a lesson I had to learn early And still I often make that mistake I could have taught you that I wanted to teach you But I wouldnÆt force the issue Your life is your own
Randidly dismissed the Riders and promised them a special reward for this But Randidly kept the head in his hands It was so light that it was easy to forget it was there Some part of him regretted taking the head from the Riders but another knew it was the right decision
Strangely Randidly knew he had more to say to it Although lessons meant nothing to the dead that didnÆt mean it meant nothing for Randidly to try and impart those lessons
Perhaps it is a harder thing than I thought to steel myself for the lives we destroy as we reach for enough power that we in turn are not destroyed Randidly raised his hand and touched his chest Then he shook his head and hefted the skull of Ki Kunot
Is this what I looked like to the Creature Well is this how the Creature thought I would end Randidly said aloud
The dead head didnÆt answer Sighing Randidly shifted his grip to the beak and carried it outside into the warm glow of the sun A sliver of Mana created a root shaped like a shover piercing up out of the ground Randidly took it and considering the surrounding area Finally he settled on a spot near to the stone monolith and began to dig
What makes us different except luck Randidly asked the air He stuck his shovel in the dirt tossed the loosened soil to the side and then repeated the process In the face of his single minded determination the ground slowly gave way If the Creature had been less interested in seeing how I would grow if the Creature had conspired to put me in a Dungeon with someone less exemplary than Shal if I had made a single mistake in dozens of situations if Aegiant had just dived into the pool of lava to kill me
Randidly paused If I didnÆt meet Neveah