Just like there were similar mindsets which indicated that Randidly could have gone down the same path of foolish resistance that Ki Kunot there were reasons that it hadnÆt happened And all of these reasons were not things of his own doing Rewards that he had fought and earned but nothing that made Randidly believe he could have done any better in Ki KunotÆs shoes
There was even a grudging admittance in RandidlyÆs chest that he owed a deep debt to the Creature In seeking to shape his environment he had been indelibly shaped to be a monster Just like he had learned a deep determination from the Spearman Mercy had been beaten out of him by the cruel hand of reality Perhaps if the lessons hadnÆt been so harsh Randidly wouldnÆt have felt only small qualms at the thought of allowing the monster resistance to run itself through on the blade of RandidlyÆs Riders
So many other Paths So many choices I could have made that would have made it almost impossible for me to survive
but I did survive Randidly tossed the head into the hole and began to fill it in with dirt Several shadows crawled out of the grave and joined the thousands of others that rejoiced in the sea of shadow that Randidly cast behind them
With great care he watched those shadows join him Although they appeared like shadows they were truly threads of karma But what I canÆt tell is if these are chains that will behind me or a Path I will use to walk forward
Chapter 990
The smell of smoke dragged Vye out of her sweet dream about growing wings and flying away It was with that fresh loss that VyeÆs eyelids fluttered open
Wrinkling her nose she tried to sit upwards and find out what dumb thing Tatiana did this time to light something on fire in the office Maybe she brought a half finished piece of metal into the board room and left it on the table If she had to make one more call to that holier than thou carpenter to repair the board room table
Vye couldnÆt sit up And this made her puzzle Then she remembered that she had left Erickson Steel behind to finally try to find her own place in the world Her first step toward seizing the capability to control her own destiny The wide sky seemed to spread out before her in every direction
Which was probably why in her dream
Then a powerful throb of pain from her left hand jerked Vye back to the present and left her wincing No I was in the Lottery I had the duel against Roland and then he
As her eyes grew used to activity after so long resting the details of the room swam into focus Her thoughts stumbled to a halt as she finally looked down at the blackened flesh of her left hand Her fingers twitched outward like the legs of an electrocuted spider But after some movements the muscles eased back into their familiar serviceability
On the one hand Vye comforted herself that it was only painful not crippling in any way As she carefully flexed her fingers the muscles continued to move smoothly as they always had Her creation of rituals wouldnÆt be encumbered by this injury which was VyeÆs initial fear
Yet the wizened and burned skin of her hand looked like she had smashed her digits with a well greased waffle iron The ambient energy wafted up out of the ritual markings she had made directly onto the surface layer of her hand The whole reason that Vye needed to spend so much extra time making the paper for the Rituals was exactly due to the danger involved in inscribing them There were high demands on the paper to prevent some of the energy from escaping
What Vye did during her rituals was carefully balancing the ambient energies within the paper Only when they were precisely released with the correct timing would they display their true ability During that intervening period the energies had to be completely contained by the paper Leaks generally led to more leaks which would see the paper light up like a match
Or like my fucking hand Vye thought with a grimace
Unlike the paper VyeÆs skin hadnÆt been reinforced to be a medium for the energies Skin was incredibly poorly suited to being able to contain the complex interactions of a ritual So she could only grit her teeth in chagrin as she looked at the wretched state her skin had been reduced to from only a split second of containing those energies
If she had done anything other than draw out the ritual and then unleash it immediately the possibilities made Vye shiver It was likely that the strain of containing it would have spread the strange variance through her own body As it was Vye quickly used her right hand to feel around her body
She was sprawled on a bed with covers twisted around her which was likely the real reason she hadnÆt been able to sit up It seemed like dream Vye had been highly mobile The burned skin stopped at the wrist it seemed like the damage was localized to the ritual she had drawn on the back of her hand
Because based on the bandages and the fact that Vye felt completely fine other than her hand it seemed that she had been healing for several hours already Her Health had returned to full After the hit Roland put on her Vye had no delusions about the state she had been reduced to
Yet her hand remained injured even though the Systems usual healing could have addressed it And the answer to why seemed to be staring her in the face
Reject Vye thought sadly cradling her left hand in her right and raising it to examine the inflamed red skin at the site of the ritual The warped remnants of the ritual she had very quickly added on to her hand stood out from the blackened skin like a raised brand Looking at it now it was clear that there were many slight flaws in the ritual that had led to energy leaking out before she had unleashed it
And perhaps due to the leaking the shieldÆ that the ritual should have been morphed into something similar but not quite the same Not just a rejection but also a firm refusal of any sort of concession Although it had been transformed by the process that Reject still remained firmly planted on VyeÆs hand continuing to somehow persist even though she wasnÆt feeding it Mana any longer
Vye carefully moved her hand It hurts but it definitely also possesses power If I figure out what happened here If I can use it in the future
There was a sudden jolt in her surroundings and Vye winced in pain Finally distracted from her hand Vye looked around to see that her bed was in a train compartment Out the nearby window Vye could see rolling farmlands and soft hills as far as the eye could see blurring at the edges as the train cruised across the countryside
There was a soft knock at the door and Vye twisted around to see Naffur Suite looking quite a bit more like the teenager that he was smiling at her He ruffled his own hair as he looked in at her Feeling better
yea Vye carefully lowered her marred hand to her side Even when she moved it just a little thorns of agony would spread outward from the still buzzing Ritual she had carved onto her hand But the fact that it hurt so much meant that there was power in it If Vye could figure that power out maybe this was the Path she needed to take to find her own independence
Good because there is something we need to talk about and the sooner the better Naffur stepped into the room and peered around as if he was looking for something Eventually he frowned but he turned and focused his gaze back on Vye Your performance at the Lottery was exemplary You managed to disperse a strike from someone who had condensed a Fate and live through it
Barely Vye smirked But even she couldnÆt suppress the thrill of excitement at the words She was definitely correct If she could learn to freely utilize that power and perhaps also slightly reduce the pain that resulted from it Goddamnit if this continues IÆm gonna just cut this thing off
Do you know how many things IÆve barely accomplished in my life Naffur sighed I learned that from Randidly Ghosthound No one else ever remembers to put barely in front of your successes once they start to pile up But after taking the blow you were unconscious We brought you along with us but that was a little bit forward So I want to officially ask you now would you like to join one of ten finalists to join the Order Ducis Because otherwise we will need to let you off at the next stop