Immediately as the audience seethed and chattered excitedly below him Randidly returned to the task of weaving Nether The energy spun quickly into the desired thin strands and then wove themselves together to the Nether equivalent of linen After making sure the thickness was exactingly uniform Randidly spread the Nether out into the surrounding space and began to weave
Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 300
Congratulations Your Skill Experienced CreatorÆs Ingenuity has grown to Level 145
His movements were smooth and even as he spread his Nether out to fill the surrounding area When Randidly closed his eyes he could still sense the immense amount of memory and historic weight that had existed here due to the tournament Of course it was slowly being broken down and stolen away by the high pressure of the System Aether
Randidly rolled his shoulders and then sighed
Even compared to watching that weight be stolen it was somewhat vexing to weave for an hour and to suddenly realize that the thickness had been gradually increasing to the point where it would warp surrounding space So he needed to banish his earlier work and start again Randidly could only throw his hands up in the air and make attempt after attempt the time between matches
Before the fourth and final match of today began Randidly had time to start and scrap his woven Nether nine times
As he did so he was careful to control his Nether Nebula very purposefully When he was weaving it spun clockwise and generated energy outward When he needed to destroy and start anew it spun counterclockwise and devoured all the Nether in the vicinity He was somewhat bitter to see that light grey color steadily decreasing at the core of his Nether Nebula but Randidly supposed it was worth it to increase his control
He could always refine the density later But for now he simply couldnÆt weave Nether that dense effectively He needed it in a relatively less cumbersome state to keep the movements as precise as was required for the weave And now he was faced with the rather disheartening thought that perhaps he needed to decrease the density even further so flaws wouldnÆt emerge so consistently as he extended the scale
But ultimately Randidly wasnÆt willing to abandon his current method quite yet His Nether Sensation steadily rose in Level providing him with marginal improvements And with his almost ridiculously high Control RandidlyÆs base proficiency with utilizing his Skill was growing just as quickly He was definitely improving at a ridiculous pace But part of that improvement just ended up demonstrating how little he had understood about Nether when he had begun this side project
Sighing Randidly once again rolled his shoulders and ripped his failed weave to pieces The final match was about to begin BreakÆ time was over
Lyra and Stan came out first and Randidly allowed his emerald gaze to focus on Stan Since he had helped adjust the manÆs Soulskill and the result had been so negative he couldnÆt help but be curious about him Perhaps more directly some old portion of RandidlyÆs paranoia dedicated to Lyra raised his hackles at this unexpected arrival
A sudden and complete recovery to randomly participate in the tournament didnÆt seem likely
Yet when Randidly peered down at the man he could detect almost nothing from him It was like his image didnÆt exist Rather than being concerned RandidlyÆs mouth slowly curved into a smile To test a theory he eased his tight control over his image and allowed the horrible hunger of the Stillborn Phoenix to radiate in a tightly controlled beam downward
Below Stan stiffened Then he raised his vacant gaze toward RandidlyÆs island As Randidly watched the manÆs expression twisted and his face darkened His two innocuous brown eyes became portals to the abyss that widened and deepened as the exposure continued With a short nod Randidly pulled back his image and suddenly Stan was just an ordinary person once more He blinked and then resumed his walk
A pure copycat type huh Randidly tapped his jaw Then he looked at the other end of the arena Just what are you planning Lyra Do you really think thatÆs enough to beak your opponent
Hank Howard rode his horse Ancho out of the long hallway and was met by the howls of approval Perhaps it was because he was from Zone 1 and now fought essentially alone but he appealed to the crowd even more than Paolo and Kayle did Yet between this duo RandidlyÆs focus turned toward the horse It cantered calmly forward not even batting an eyelid at the chaotic mess of noise around it Compared to skittish horses that Randidly had seen in the past it was a suspicious response Despite the strange environment it was calm and almost haughty
yet no matter how I look at it that is just a normal horse Randidly awkwardly scratched his cheek
With great gravity Hank hopped down from AnchoÆs saddle and handed the reins to the referee Then he strolled across the arena to his side his leather cowboy boots very prominently on display The referee frowned down at the horse next to him but then shook his head helplessly Are both sides prepared
While the two teams nodded Randidly finally turned his gaze to Lyra Even now some part of his heart froze when he looked at her It wasnÆt that his feelings for her both for good or bad were still present within him Through time and reflection he had moved past them But somehow she had changed the anatomy of his heart That brief stutter was simply a part of his psychology now when he saw her golden hair and violet eyes
Her leather armor was almost stylish across her slender form as she toyed with a long knife and waited for the match to begin Her image was self contained and controlled As far as Randidly could tell there was nothing suspicious about her involvement in the tournament she simply wanted to see how far she could go as a human
but you arenÆt just a human anymore Lyra Still if it makes you feel better neither really am I But that means we need to be very careful with our actions
Immediately RandidlyÆs mouth curled upward with the irony of that thought heh I suppose I have no right to say that to you considering I boldly challenged Yystrix with no rationale basis for overcoming her
Let the final match of the quarter finals begin The referee announced
A violet moon condensed in the air above Lyra as she dashed forward Hank Howard drew his repeater and laid down several crisp shots each bullet heavy with his image And that image was so sharp that when Lyra deflected the first bullet to reach her her face immediately twisted into a grimace She activated some Skill to boost her speed and shot forward trying to bring the match into close quarters as she wove between shots
Stan watched the entire thing placidly his image slowly morphing
Unfortunately for Lyra Hank Howard wasnÆt a man that was only proficient with distant battles When she came close he changed his grip on his pistol and readily moved in for a round of fisticuffs He strikes were sharp and powerful and if Lyra ever attempted to open up some distance and attempt a Skill Hank could simply level his pistol at her
Lyra spun and slash and Hank calmly stepped forward He endured blows with his arms and struck to crush Lyra where she was weakest Her fighting style well it wasnÆt that it was rusty but it clearly was specced more toward assassinations Confronting him directly LyraÆs tricks fell flat
As Randidly watched his respect for Hank Howard slowly growing His image wasnÆt as destructive as even the defeated Huang LiÆs but it was pervasive Rather than being a weapon it became the setting the more Lyra fought against Hank Howard the more she waded into the deep river of his image At the corner of RandidlyÆs gaze he saw a rolling tumbleweed that vanished when he looked at it more directly The noise from the crowd warped to become the lonesome howl of a coyote
The arena transformed in HankÆs hands become the platonic ideal fo the Wild West It was a land where gritty loners wandered from town to town searching through the dust and spent bullet casings for their dreams Although criminals might make a few quick bucks the course of history was inevitably pulled back toward righteousness