Soon there wouldnÆt be much more point in him constantly refining them they had reached a hard to break through level of saturation That accumulation would only come with practice And the practice of a lifetime not of an intensive year
So I suppose letÆs not dance around the issue any longer Time to go
All Else Succumbs Yet Time Whirls the Earth
As he activated the Skill RandidlyÆs mind focused through the familiar route of finishing the Path then added the craving that he then create a successful Engraving that could Level He felt his skin burn and tingle as the Skill activated The Grim Chimera condensed behind him as silent and intense as it had been since he had forced it to bear the weight of his Crown
It released a long breath
Its claws danced across his shoulders Its spear gleamed dully in the illumination from the Ignition Essence that hung in the air around Randidly in the workroom Then the Grim Chimera split into two then four then sixty four and then
When Randidly woke up his Absolute Timing Skill told him helpfully that almost five days had passed Groaning Randidly sat up Or at least tried to Randidly collapsed to his left when he tried to leverage himself into a sitting position
Blinking away a pounding headache Randidly looked down at his left arm The metal had been warped and destroyed Rather than an arm it was more accurate to describe the arm as a series of rust based jigsaw puzzle pieces that hadnÆt been put together very well Everything lower than RandidlyÆs wrist had snapped off as he had tried to straighten into a sitting position
ItÆs not like I wasnÆt going to make another This just accelerates the timeline
Randidly coughed and spat out dirt and dust from his parched mouth Leaning back Randidly accepted his fate as a person who lays and produced a water bottle from his interspatial ring After sucking the bottle dry and giving a few minutes for the liquid to spread through his body Randidly was prepared for another attempt
When Randidly was finally back on his feet there was another surprise waiting for him Rather than the usual ceiling there were only glittering stars above It seemed that he had destroyed his rather fragile dome while using the Skill
Well itÆs not like it was disguise enough to fool anyone who was looking anyway Randidly rubbed his neck and limped out to the surface He wasnÆt injured really His physical body had healed with the assistance of the System while he was sleeping His muscles were simply sore and stiff from so long without moving
Luckily RandidlyÆs Vitality now brought tingling capability back to his extremities at record speed
But when Randidly left his base he was forced to pause With a furrowed brow Randidly regarded the huge tube of copper that was standing next to the timeless stone monolith It was almost three meters long and was one meter in diameter
At first Randidly was confused But after a few seconds of considering it a grin crept out across his face
Heh I can see why this hurt like a bitch Randidly shook his head If I still canÆt control the uniformity of the images in the tiny Engravings why not just size them up to make the control less delicate
A Crown of pale metal condensed above his head RandidlyÆs grin turned sharp as his eyes light up like fresh grass in summer Just make a really big Engraving huh
Chapter 993
One unfortunate side effect of Randidly’s experiment with making a working Engraving that could Level was that the mollusk mayor asked for a private meeting after Randidly had destroyed half of the secret base Not that the little guy could really be blamed Whatever had occurred when Randidly used All Else Succumbs Yet Time Whirls the Earth had caused a general junk slide to crash into the side of the mollusksÆ town
As Randidly walked toward the pools he had made for the mollusks his expression was quite serious ItÆs unfortunate that I still don’t understand how the Skill works I thought I had an idea but based on the destruction caused when I used it Did some of the physical damage I had to endure get shunted off onto the surroundings because I couldn’t handle it
that feels way too convenient for it to be true
Randidly wasn’t sure if yes or no was the more worrisome answer
When Randidly entered into the room with the pools he was relieved to see that the collapse of the dome hadn’t meant the sky had fallen on the mollusks That would have been a little difficult to explain and Randidly felt quite tired of bringing calamities upon strange other populations But one of the more recent piles of chopped up failed experiments had been smashed and shattered by falling stone Still these past eight months had seen the mollusks become increasingly enterprising Their clockwork automatons dutifully marched out to gather the materials that the mollusks required
Honestly Randidly was impressed by their quick technological development Basically he had given them a clockwork rosetta stone but it was still impressive that they had managed to achieve so much just based on the watch that he had given them The mollusks town had become a little shell and clockwork steampunk dystopia Mollusks had shells made of shiny brass and whirling gears as they moved about their daily business And for the difficult work they had created some basic robots which had largely freed up the population from survival concerns Which in turn had led to something that Randidly supposed was most closely related to an opera
Of course the mollusks turn toward self indulgence is a little bit too predictable to be funny Do they need some sort of external threat Randidly thought rather sourly
The mayor was waiting for Randidly on top of a mound of clockwork that they had built for Randidly as a ‘gift’ Despite the fact that they had used the materials that he had provided and shaped for them it was still a somewhat touching gesture To Randidly’s surprise the mayor had brought one of the clockwork automatons
“Oh great bringer of thunder I have a favor to ask of you ” The mayor said with an elaborate bow of its flexible body When it straightened it spoke in a quite serious tone “Due to the recent thunder I would hope that you would grant me my one true wish “
“What’s your wish ” Randidly asked in a rather deep voice he affected for the mollusks
The mayor gestured to the automaton And then before he spoke the mayor stared at the automaton with its small beady eyes “After much thought I wonder if we are not inferior creatures to the race that we created These beings they are perfect themselves They never deviate from their routines They never “
Sighing the mayor didn’t speak for several seconds Then it said “I suppose there is no use hiding it from you Our town while perhaps it is peaceful on the surface there have been recent changes Individuals have gone missing Parts have been stolen Factions have emerged and I I believe they are secretly stockpiling an army of automatons for a sinister purpose “
Furtively the mayor looked up at Randidly they wish to slay god And I led them to this Not purposefully But If I had taken a firmer hand early on I just thought
What’s with the beings around me and guilt these days Randidly thought through gritted teeth But he simply asked “The wish “
” please as you did with us give the automatons self awareness Create create a peaceful place filled with beings that won’t fall to temptation They deserve this world much more than we do “
If this situation didn’t give someone a god complex I’m not sure what would Randidly shook his head and forced his shoulders to relax He sat down cross legged bringing his head almost level with the mollusk mayor
” I suppose I have two things to say before I agree to anything ” Randidly said lightly “The first is that for all my capability some things are beyond me I did not purposefully grace you creatures with intelligence I provided the energy but that final transformation is the result of your own determination Be proud of that there are certain Paths I can open but only you control your own two feet to walk forward As for the second thing “