But mostly she stared at the ceiling The vivid emerald eyes of Randidly Ghosthound floated in front of her
Why why do I always lose to you
Madam Greyman We were never competing to begin with
It was such a strange contrast After her parents had died no one looked at her so directly like that
Soon Theodora couldnÆt bear it anymore and closed her eyes But that just made the strange visions worse She had been there on the arena her body filled with agonizing ice bitterness and resentment bubbling in her chest And when she threw it all in the GhosthoundÆs face his reaction said it all He looked at her directly She could tell that he was being honest In his eyes they had never been competing
He had been genuinely trying to help her the entire time Perhaps not her specifically but the Earth in general he wanted people to prosper Her pride had simply prevented her from seeing it in the past
After her parents died only a few feet in front of her in the car crash she was eventually placed with a cousin who worked as a news anchor Idly Theodora now wondered who would take her now that she was this weak
When she had been standing in the arena that realization that she had been pointlessly responsible for such suffering in Zone 1 had hit her with such force that she had lost consciousness Her grip on reality had slipped as some of her fundamental premises were challenged Yet she had awoken now crippled and injured as she was and felt a lot more at peace than she had in the past
Image huh Theodora said carefully lifting her right arm off of the bed Her fingers spasmed intermittently and the exercise seemed to light her right shoulder on fire but it was somehow satisfying to reach toward the ceiling She had been impeached she had used her body to the point that it seemed like even the System couldnÆt heal her wounds The only emotion her grand rivalÆ felt for her was pity
Yet she still lived She could still reach She still had things she wanted to accomplish
Weirdly she wanted a vanilla pudding She hadnÆt had a pudding cup in years
The door to her room opened And a rather large and strangely shaped man walked into the darkened interior For a few seconds Theodora couldnÆt tell if her vision was worse than she thought or whether the man was partially a crustacean It turned out that it was the latter
The man sat next to her bed President Greyman IÆm glad to see you have recovered your consciousness How are you feeling
Former president Just call me Theodora Theodora corrected almost absently Then her gaze sharpened somewhat This man didnÆt seem like he was associated with the Order Ducis or Zone 1 So why was she lying here But that wasnÆt her primary concern How is Richter
Recovering well down the hall His body acclimated to this Nether much more ably than yours The man said as he shifted his giant claw We believe itÆs because he could establish a closed system within his legs to contain the corrosion that results from this energy being allowed free reign Meanwhile
Meanwhile I acted with no regard to the consequences Theodora confirmed thinking about more than just the Nether in her body She could feel the truth of her culpability in the subtle wheezing of her breathing There was suddenly an inherent frailty to her body that she hadnÆt experienced since the System arrived But in away that frailty was reassuring It felt extremely real This was what it meant to be human
This was it meant to be an orphan
With a lot of effort Theodora turned her head to the side and looked at the strange figure more directly This man possessed the head and arm of a crab he must have been one of those affected by Thomas KarminÆs experiments Also who might you be To be blunt I donÆt quite understand why IÆm laying here in a dark room right now
The man seemed surprisingly hurt by her words Ah I apologize for not introducing myself sooner My name is Mr Syllo IÆm a Tier 2 Citizen of Zone 1 I simply believed well that your privacy was of the utmost importance Considering your political position
I donÆt have a political position any longer Theodora said frankly and then she began to laugh which soon turned to another bout of coughing Truly she didnÆt have anything She then felt Mr Syllo activate a Skill and several tendrils of warmth lightly touched her body Although it couldnÆt combat the damage done by Nether directly it could ease the negative symptoms Gradually her coughing settled down and she released a sigh of pleasure
Congratulations Your Skill Determined Tenacity has grown to Level 2
Congratulations Your Skill Determined Tenacity has grown to Level 3
I become crippled and all I get in exchange is an almost meaningless Skill She somehow found herself smiling
Thank you for your Skill Just to confirm this is the state of my body after all the available methods were used to attempt to reverse the damage done to my body by Nether Theodora asked
For a second Mr Syllo was silent all typical methods have been exhausted yes
TheodoraÆs mouth twitched For whatever reason she was having a very hard time resisting the urge to laugh even though every time she did so her body was wracked with agony And I suppose part of the reason you are here is to offer me an atypical method yes Let me guess it involves the research of Thomas Karmin moving my mind into a more robust body that might even be superior to my mortal coil
This time Mr Syllo was entirely silent as he considered her
So Theodora continued to speak around giggle fueled coughs IÆm probably angry right That ahem that I was so obviously defeated all of my methods blowing up in my face I probably want someone to blame I probably need to build a shrine to my rage and mount Randidly GhosthoundÆs head atop it But right now
A young girl sat in a chair too big for her and mechanically brought a spoonful of vanilla pudding to her lips She didnÆt eat it she just wiggled the spoon back and forth watching the pudding shake The adults in the other room raised their voices
Congratulations Your Skill Determined Tenacity has grown to Level 4
Congratulations Your Skill Determined Tenacity has grown to Level 5
right now I just want to find out what these hands of mine can do Theodora finished Then with a jerky gesture that set Theodora giggling again she shooed Mr Syllo away Her hand looked like the bastard child of a handshake and the frantic movement of someone trying to dislodge a snake Thank you for the offer but I wonÆt be needing your help Mr Syllo
After a few seconds of silence Mr Syllo stood Well of course the decision is yours IÆll let Richter know that you are feeling better
IÆll give him this Theodora thought as she watched the crab man leave He knows when to withdraw cleanly His pitch was completely without any glaring flaws Completely invulnerable to reproach But you know Mr Syllo
Theodora Greyman closed her eyes RandidlyÆs intense emerald gaze was suddenly there once more seeming to peer into her very soul Images are becoming dominant not because of the power that is associated with them although thatÆs important Rather they are becoming dominant because you can finally shape who you really are Images are vulnerable and genuine Building that truth for yourself thatÆs a powerful thing
And I want the chance to build who I want to become
Chapter 1466
Randidly finally felt the stiffness in his body was easing His Nether Nebula was finally stabilized Simultaneously he experienced a profound sense of satisfaction that was difficult to describe His Aether and Nether seeped gradually together through his body becoming the fabric of his being The process of physicalizing his images accelerated with both of the energies working together Something was settling into place within him It was as though the energies had been his invisible skeletal structure for the last several years and the new ambient level of Nether allowed his bones to finally becoming concrete
He sat cross legged his palms touching the ground with his fingers splayed out around his hand Originally this had been an expression of strain yet now the position was perfectly comfortable His muscles spasmed occasionally as they adapted to the changes occurring within Randidly’s body but otherwise he was completely still His breath was so soft coming in and out of his lips that it was possible to miss it even with System enhanced senses