Due to the Aether Deprivation restriction people wonÆt have many Skills until after they have a reliable source of Aether Which is when this construct activates
Image density was a relatively inaccurate term but effectively the Aether constructed tasted the surrounding images to determine if they were at a certain threshold Randidly even watched some people in his Soulskill use a lighthouse to get a Class Depending on the outcome of the taste as someone activated the lighthouse a variation of a Class with a different Skill limit would be given
Perhaps the bitterest truth about the image meter serving as a base for Classes was that it evolved into a much more complicated mechanism after it was part of a Class At a much higher frequency it would continue to taste people From this and from the baffling esoteric series of runes that surrounded it Randidly made a logical leap to a very disturbing conclusion
That this image meter shifted to a more active role when you possessed a Class Specifically it monitored you more carefully and was the sensory organ of the System that gave birth to Paths
Therefore it was likely this fucker that tipped the System off that something was up with Randidly and slapped him with a Heretic distinction RandidlyÆs immediate reaction was a powerful urge to rip it out and leave the eviscerated shards of energy on the ground But at this point it seemed like a rather pointless thing to do RandidlyÆs secrets were already largely recorded by this device Even his Alpha Cosmos was discovered
Besides his Class was damaged enough at this point
Instead Randidly had continued to study the Aether construct to understand its functions Randidly had a vague notion of using it to give himself access to Paths he hadnÆt yet earned But RandidlyÆs next discovery finally gave him a hint about a problem Randidly had spent quite a lot of time considering why his Alpha Cosmos was treated like such an original occurrence
It was only when Randidly started fiddling with the mechanism of the Aether that he realized it To his surprise it circled right back around to the original question that pushed Randidly to ponder why did the System limit Skills
The recent readings of the construct seem to indicate that my images are relatively thin After all this training how is that possible Randidly had frowned at the realization Am I misinterpreting the construct Or was I wrong about Skills being suppressed to limit how many images one would possess
Again Randidly returned to his Alpha Cosmos And again he carefully studied the Aether of other individuals This time he was forced to engage in a much more focused and extended examination in order to find the reason
Because at first Randidly was frustrated Based on what he could infer about a personÆs images from their strength RandidlyÆs construct kept returning a reading of extremely low image density To make sure he had everything accounted for Randidly relentlessly looked for images among individualÆs Aether
It was hard but once Randidly had the knack it quickly became second nature And all the people he examined had their images in the same space the Skill area That same area that Randidly used to think about the core of himself
But now When Randidly went to his Soulspace he saw his Skills and his Class But then he could walk beyond it out into a vast darkness that seemed to have no end in sight That was where his images waited
Did my connection to the Alpha Cosmos expand my Soulspace
Chapter 997
Sighing Randidly stood up and stretched It seems like IÆm almost at my limit here The only thing left is
His eyes drifted across the reconstructed training area to the ancient arrow that pointed meaningfully to the East Randidly cracked his fingers and walked casually over toward it After staring at the stone for several seconds he straightened and began to walk out of his base His direction was due East
It was time to get to the bottom of this mystery
Already the signs of RandidlyÆs touch were waning here The immediate area surrounding RandidlyÆs base had been cleared out of basically everything but was now slowly filling with flowers and ferns Although a towering jungle had once stood here now it was just the faintest covering of flora As he walked Randidly idly wondered how long it would take for the Dungeon to rest to its previous state
As he moved Randidly couldnÆt help but smile Flowers bobbed their heads as the wind whispered amongst them Even though so much of what this place had been was robbed and plundered it was still a sight that could move RandidlyÆs heart
What Randidly liked most of all about the field was the lack of noises Whereas it had been a symphony of howls and squawks before now the horizon was simply filled with the soft rustling of leaves And even that was barely audible The muted soundscape was proof of the destruction that Randidly had wrought
Yet that small sound could barely begin to describe the rebirth that was occurring around him
Randidly walked among the silence easily it flowed around him like water The prolonged exposure to the image of timelessness he had shamelessly stolen from the monument wrapped around him like a cloak Because it was only when the demanding sounds of the surface level were stripped away could a deeper sound be heard
Although the surroundings around Randidly were mostly silent he knew that forces were furiously gathering to bring this environment back to its former glory In near silence the worldÆs slow justice was being unwound The heartbeat of the world pulled the land up from nothing
In a hundred years the damage done by Randidly and his Riders would likely be impossible to spot In a thousand years new tribes and societies will have risen to fill the void left from the massacre that occurred in the Dungeon The crimes Randidly committed were terrible but they were also so small in the grand scheme of things
Just as perspective could damn you or be used as a weapon it was also one form of healing as well
Randidly continued to quietly walk forward to say it was just absorbing the image of timelessness would be missing the point ItÆs everything thatÆs happened in the Dungeon ItÆs the space the silence the Riders meeting Ki Kunot the mollusks IÆm changing In a way I cannot really understand
With a disturbing alien quality a new noise cut through the quiet sound of rustling plants the sound of hooves
Riding in formation the Legion of the Unbreakable Bulwark stomped out of the North to fall into formation behind Randidly Almost at the same time the Legion of the Unavoidable Pivots delicately scuttled from the South to join the column Randidly also had no doubt that the Legion of the Marching Cadence would be scouting the way forward toward the plateau
Suddenly the noise around Randidly had transformed into a dull rumbling as the three hundred Riders moved toward their destination This too Randidly walked through calmly His footfalls soon matched the rhythm of the noise The Riders were his cape and he was their lord His Crown hummed in pleasure greedily devouring the various feelings and sensations of rule that Randidly embraced
Although Randidly was somewhat sad to leave behind the silence of growth he did not slow As he considered todayÆs mission his gaze grew strangely heavy RandidlyÆs instincts warned him that this would not be simple
It had been a long time since those instincts had steered him wrong
It was without any sort of fanfare that RandidlyÆs army marched up toward the plateau Like a flood of panicked rats the windswept highlands exploded with monsters when Randidly brought his Riders onto the raised land Monkeys toads birds and raptors all of the refugees from the other monster civilizations that they had destroyed had gathered here and were now risking their lives to kill the Riders
Honestly from the pale eyes of the monsters Randidly had a strong suspicion that these monsters welcomed the eventual attack It seemed very likely that they had been waiting for this day for a long time Some of them appeared to have been hiding in these caves for months Every day they wondered when the eventual blow would fall and this last bastion of peace would be destroyed by the Riders