At the edge of the circle Valor raised his chin The focus of all of the aspirants settled on the golden boy After a breath Valor stepped through the circle into the inner area
Huh Urgk
Immediately Valor grunted in pain His eyes widened and it was obvious even from this distance that his pupils dilated But the man gritted his teeth and took several steps forward Yet that just caused his eyes to widen further
I will not be stopped here My destiny Valor bellowed as he stretched his arms wide Then he took two more firm steps forward
After swaying for a second Valor crumpled to the side His face smashed into the ground with an audible noise It was only a few seconds later that his body slowly rolled to the side
He was foaming at the mouth and clearly unconscious There was no circle in the area he collapsed but from the few steps he had taken he probably hadnÆt even made it to the fifteen meter mark around that Image Stone
I suppose thatÆs what the ropes are there for
Vye turned to look at the speaker the barefooted and bushy eyebrowed Aldo stood next to her regarding the collapsed Valor At her gaze he shrugged and gestured toward the body He faced the full force of the GhosthoundÆs image Is this little bit of mental damage a surprise Just be glad he wasnÆt eviscerated by roots
The brightest star of the Order Ducis recruitment camp continued to lay on the ground foam studiously bubbling up out of his slack jawed mouth
Chapter 1012
TatianaÆs eyebrows rose That demonstration your images were strong before but now
Heh impressive right Randidly laced his fingers behind his head and grinned at her It was only at these moments that Tatiana could forget all of the things that he had accomplished and recall that he was at most in his late twenties I wasnÆt slacking off while I was away thatÆs for sure In terms of images I feel pretty good about where IÆve gotten IÆm a little short of being a Master still but thatÆs just a matter of time
Nodding slowly Tatiana regarded Randidly It had now been a week since he returned During that time the government had been relatively quiet seemingly content to watch as Randidly made almost a dozen sweeping changes to the structure of Erickson Steel They were confident that their inspection teams that would head over soon would be able to give them the run down that they wanted
Everyone was preparing for something
ItÆs just unfortunate that it seems like the government’s preparations are going to come to naught TatianaÆs lip curled up Then she focused on the issue at hand
Are you sure a party right now is the best idea She asked slowly After seeing your demonstration I think most of our workers will want to try their hand at using images again This might be the most valuable time for practice
But Randidly just shrugged and walked over to a sink to wash some of the soot and ash the remained on his hands after the demonstration You are probably right but people need breaks too To be mentally healthy even if we are physically fine Besides this party is partially a thank you to a certain individual So I want Erickson Steel to put its best foot forward The more technological wonders that will be present the better
Alright itÆs your company I just make sure it all works Also all of the applicants for the internships are here Whenever you are ready you can interview them
Perfect Might as well do it now while IÆm in a good mood Randidly cracked his neck Oh and let the government know about this party Call it a festival IÆm sure they will take the chance to come into the compound unofficially and inspect what weÆve been doing and I want the chance to examine them as well Figure out how discrete I should be during the stay of the true inspection team they send
Randidly how many goals are you aiming to accomplish at once with this party Tatiana asked with a shake of the head Randidly chuckled and produced a leather glove that he slipped over his metallic left hand It didnÆt completely fool a viewer into believing that the arm was still one of flesh and blood but it did seem to restrain the ominous feeling that seeped outward from his left fist
Well certainly several Randidly seemed to ponder the question But isnÆt complexity the spice of life And progress wonÆt happen unless all of the disparate images have an excuse to mix and compete
Complexity in this case is a result of haste Tatiana replied dryly Why are you in such a rush
Because I have nineteen days before I need to face a very dark truth about this world Randidly responded his voice filled with false cheer Besides You are right that this isnÆt the neatest way of doing things but I still believe it will be the best No matter what we do we canÆt escape our own images of ourselves Tatiana
RandidlyÆs gaze turned abruptly heavy For a split second TatianaÆs chest was frozen as though she was physically pressed down by his presence And unless we draw out those dangerous images with the proper sort of bait how will we know what sort of people truly believe in Erickson Steel
An emerald fire A Crown of pale metal A tree that was a book penned with bark and golden script A shadow that stared blindly down at its own hands and mourned what it had lost
Then the moment passed The man next to her was just a man and the turbulent waves of images calmed in the surrounding area
Tatiana kept her breath even YouÆve Become something of a gambler With throwing so many elements into this party I mean
A sad truth but these are admittedly small stakes in the grand scheme of things Randidly looked up at the sky Then he rubbed his short hair There are two ways to lose in our universe The more obvious one is to gamble and bust But the harder truth is that if the time comes and we donÆt have enough capital to our names we lose that way too And what a bitter loss it will be
So we have a party Tatiana said lightly Her hands were clasped behind her back to hide the trembling How dangerous were the foes that Randidly sensed if he was worried enough for her to sense it
Exactly His smile was easy and light
So for the next twelve hours Tatiana made arrangements for a party A party large enough to be a festival for the entire complex Although Randidly hadnÆt been specific enough for her to guess who the guest of honor was she took his word about a technological demonstration to heart So Tatiana announced abruptly a sudden competition with a short six hour time limit
Everyone who wanted to compete should make an original material drone machine or Engraving to submit to the different categories The winner would receive personal pointers from Randidly Ghosthound regarding their area of focus Although Randidly hadnÆt explicitly given her permission to make that promise Tatiana believed that he wouldnÆt be against the prospect At the moment Randidly was extremely concerned with the growth of Erickson Steel
So much so that he was actually willing to listen to progress reports including the recorded minute statistical improvements
Plus with the announcement of a contest so soon after RandidlyÆs second demonstration everyone threw themselves into the preparation for the resulting festival Honestly the vehemence of the peopleÆs reaction to having a festival surprised Tatiana The idea of taking an entire day to celebrate what Erickson Steel had accomplished caught on quickly
Perhaps it was the constant propaganda from the government or the extreme series of changes over the past few weeks or even the isolation of being so far from any other town but Erickson Steel had been secretly burning for any excuse to explode At some point the planning took on a life of its own All Tatiana had to do was watch
Standing in her office several hours later Tatiana poured three glasses of her last remaining Donnyton single barrel whiskey Which completely depleted her store Inwardly she was somewhat aggrieved but she also knew that this was a time of celebration If she didnÆt let loose now when would she