With a hand that trembled from accumulated mental strain Randidly reached out and touched the final square stone that had been a part of his tower experiment There was a poof of air and the stone disappeared brought to the assembly site within RandidlyÆs Soulskill where Wendy continued to diligently work herself to the bone in order to accomplish RandidlyÆs assigned tasks
Honestly Randidly was a bit worried about her In the beginning he had set a pretty brutal pace in order to tease her but she had stoically accomplished all of the tasks well within his very optimistic deadlines She was working herself with a zombie like fervor that even Randidly found somewhat intimidating
She must really enjoy the project Randidly thought as he sprawled out on the ground and looked up at the sky It was another cloudless day in the Dungeon Laying as he was directly below the edge of the plateau no wind came here The temperature was ideal when he closed his eyes Randidly couldnÆt tell where his body ended and the air around him began
For several seconds he simply savored the feeling of being intimately connected to the surrounding world
Although Randidly hadnÆt been able to improve his own images much he had still been slowly learning how to recognize lessor images present in the world His sensitivity was initially numbed by the constant exposure to the image of timelessness but as he learned to balance that force with his own images a strange sort of clarity came to him
Perhaps it was because he could use the image of timelessness to check his own images that Randidly had long subconsciously released into the surrounding area But Randidly felt shadows of old images that once ruled this land In quiet moments like these those shadows seemed to shiver and seep out to brush against RandidlyÆs skin
The bold and bright gallantry of the monkeys The modest determination of the Ki KunotÆs heron people The speculative patience held by the poisonous toads The geography that Randidly had steamrolled might have been erased but the spirits of the different people that once inhabited this land werenÆt so easy to eradicate
Randidly opened his eyes and looked down at the sparkling glove of Chulroon The energy flow Engravings on the metal gleamed with Mana as Randidly used them to manipulate his replacement limb The individual pieces of chainmail shimmered dully in the light of the sun Honestly the result of his arm remake was very satisfying
Everything is finished here the Riders have gathered everything they can Randidly reflected Then he checked his absolute timing
There were three minutes remaining in his self imposed year time limit
Has it really been a year already Randidly asked the sky Truly it would be too easy to hide away in a Dungeon and let the exterior problems fade away to a stretched out future Plus as RandidlyÆs experiments with Engravings grew more intense and intricate it seemed like the avenues he had to advance grew more diverse every day Even despite the diminishing returns to his other Skills Engraving was a wondrous wonderland of knowledge he was just now approaching
Yet the isolated genius was not the Path he had chosen The Crown of Upheaval and Gloom hummed in pleasure at the firm declaration he carried with him
After all Randidly was the Lord of the Baleful Wood And it was after a year here in the Dungeon that he finally felt comfortable bearing the full weight of that mantle It was not just an individual image that he carried Behind him was an entire court
With a light hop Randidly flung himself to his feet His gaze swung outward taking in the 860 Riders that waited patiently around him His mouth curled upward into a mocking grin Fine then itÆs time to ride LetÆs confine ourselves to just this Dungeon no longer
His RiderÆs didnÆt smile or rejoice After all they were beings that were born of Randidly Ghosthound they were cut from a stoic cloth But they rode after him with wide eyes like a murder of crows gliding toward a battlefield with their mouths open just slightly
Tatiana There is something that you need to see
Tatiana didnÆt bother to stifle her yawn in response to the barking terminal Although her sleep had been interrupted once again her assistant hadnÆt sounded too worried So she took her time stretching her arms up above her head until her shoulders released a satisfying pop Then she twisted her torso around savoring the series of spine tingling cracks she earned there
Only then did Tatiana rub her eyes and wander over to the terminal itself Bring it up on the screen
ScreenÆs way too small Came the slightly tinny response You should get dressed and head up to the outer wall
For a split second Tatiana didnÆt move It felt like someone had shoved a needle made of ice deep into her heart Too small Something that I need to see The tingling numbness woke her up immediately Tatiana drummed her fingers nervously against the edge of the keyboard below the terminal Understood Two minutes
Why the hell did I just assume that Helen would take care of the monster problem Tatiana thought furiously I should have at least told her to investigate But to just assume she had it handled when she was wandering around fuck And now
Of course Tatiana also hadnÆt bothered to ask what the specific problem was that made it necessary for her assistant to wake her up But when he wanted to bring her to the outer wall Tatiana immediately knew it was something large enough that a view on a monitor wouldnÆt convey the extent of it Which made Tatiana think of a fearsome term that she hadnÆt heard in a while to describe the current threat
Monster Horde
Now that Zone 1 had forces enough to pacify Dungeons they hadnÆt needed to deal with large scale attacks by rampaging monsters Still Randidly had insisted that Erickson Steel be built with walls high enough to resist in case those dangers would ever appear again So it had been done with TatianaÆs blessing Plus Erickson Steel had a fair amount of prototype drones from RandidlyÆs earlier days
Tatiana shimmed side to side as she slid her skirt up her legs Hopping on one foot she moved over to the mirror and checked how she looked The result had her growling in frustration and looking around fruitlessly for a hairbrush
But it wasnÆt like Erickson Steel was defenseless They had the walls some turrets and Tykes might be hanging around somewhere
In addition Helen would come rushing back as soon as she was contacted And as far as Tatiana could tell her arrival meant it would then only be a matter of time before the whole of the monster horde was executed But TatianaÆs real concern was what would happen in that intervening time
Tatiana threw up her hands in frustration If her hair was soon gonna be soaked in monster blood anyway it didnÆt matter how it looked now So she made sure all of her articles of clothing were properly buttoned and then hurried out Seeing no one around in the street Tatiana lengthened her stride and accelerated
With a few light steps she leapt up onto a low wall then up against the side of a three story building then across the road to reach the roof of a five story building Then she accelerated further becoming a blur that flowed easily along the rooftops
Generally Tatiana wanted to maintain a facade of calm and controlled CEO while she was moving around Erickson Steel It helped create an image that was easier for the people who worked for her to respect her But if there was a danger threatening the compound speed was of the utmost importance
Besides nothing builds internal pride than a dangerous external threat
With an easy grace Tatiana vaulted up across the last bit of distance from the factory rooftops to the outer wall that surrounded Erickson Steel Her assistant was already waiting there with a dozen other of the Erickson Steel guards They all looked seriously out down from the wall to the road leading down from the Northwest toward Erickson Steel
With a light cough to grab their attention Tatiana folded her arms behind her back and began to speak WhatÆs their average Level