So he worked He practiced Skills pushing himself to his limits He wove smaller Nether Rituals almost skittish about being dragged along with the massive ritual that now wove itself into the fabric of Expira Despite the headaches that resulted he continued to try his hand at the Hierarchy of Burden Raymund and DiOrtho continued to toughen themselves up meaning that almost the entirety of the electromagnetic layer was handled when he made his attempts That decreased the difficulty but it wasnÆt enough
After a particularly dizzying bit of exposure to entropy Randidly woke up and shook his head Heh canÆt wait until the recruits get around to handling the light radiation
He arched his back enjoying the satisfying cracks Then he hopped to his feet and continued training
Days passed into weeks A month had flown by since the barbecue had occurred and then two Randidly lost himself in the familiar activities feeling the edges of his Nether perception sharpen his emotional affect strengthen and his body toughen
In the broader Expira a confrontation was brewing Yet Randidly sensed it without interfering Because at the same time he felt his supporters moving against those forces He had given them this whatever he had made of Nether Until they asked for further assistance it would have to be enough
In the end the breakthrough Randidly had been searching for came from an unexpected place after serving as the core conduit during those frantic moments of the Nether Ritual Yggdrasil had experienced a shift Gradually the energy pumping through the powerful tree began to change its composition
Perhaps under normal circumstances the energy pressure wouldnÆt have been enough After all Yggdrasil had already gone through a dozen refinements to reach this point The volume of energy it handled was stupendous Randidly had pressurized and pulled vast amounts of energy through that massive trunk in the past He had forcefully elevated a few of the Skills by searing them with power
Yet in the end it was the irrelevant act of the Nether Ritual that turned out to be the key Randidly had planted something into the core of Expira although he hadnÆt intended to do so at the time He simply needed support enough to ground the massive flows of force that had begun to run through his body
A small act but the planting became meaningful Now gradually the World Tree began to germinate A seed had been pressed into the soil and that changed everything He took a deep breath gathering energy through him and around him funneling into Yggdrasil to help it take that last step
Congratulations Your Skill the World Tree Sips from Every Realm has grown to Level 713
Randidly sat on the lip of the volcano with his eyes closed steam wicking off of his torso and pulled away by the tosseling wind In his image energy pulsed with his beating heart becoming incendiary to the point that the trunk of Yggdrasil seemed to shimmer and melt A core of plasma ran through the massive tree squirming and seeking the slightest weakness to break out of its shell
Randidly licked his dry lips A few more drops of energy managed to squeeze their way into the core of Yggdrasil and join that contorting core of plasma Small cracks formed across the bark yet still the tree remained firm
In a battle of stubbornness RandidlyÆs eyes danced Not even you can beat me Yggdrasil
Nether and Aether spun together constricting his Soulspace even further With the prospect of an evolution so close he refused to back down
Chapter 1912
As it turned out his images were just as stubborn as Randidly was
Three days of teeth grinding torture later Randidly felt himself nearing the moment of sublimation Thick beads of sweat dripped down his temples and ran along his jaw The dirt ground around the lip of the volcano around him began to smolder from the ambient heat produced by his body A muscle spasmed in his back from the period of prolonged tension but he couldnÆt spare even a moment to relax it away
But the worst of it was the soul wracking pain as he forced Yggdrasil beyond its comfort zone Far beyond to the point that the image itself began to sustain damage As the powerful bark of the World Tree ruptured the collapse of the image dug claws into the soft matter of his brain leaving him slightly trembling in a way that he hadnÆt felt in a long time His awareness became hazy and flickering at the edges Yet he gritted his teeth and continued to compress his energy he knew that growth required sacrifice He had spent his entire time under the NexusÆs thumb learning how little you could accomplish by taking things easily
If you donÆt move forward you will stay in place and regrets will catch up to you RandidlyÆs eyes were bloodshot A few more drops of superheated energy were forced within the trunk of Yggdrasil That near living conglomerate of energy shook itself doing its best to break out of the shell inflicting more agony on him in the process
Warning Your image
Within the sphere of his image Randidly felt a massive rift burst open along the sides of the World TreeÆs bark The swirling Engravings along that torn area began to flash crazily as energy and air forced themselves out through the divide and widened the hole Soon RandidlyÆs Soulspace was filled with a thunderous crackling roar reminiscent more of a wildfire devouring an entire forest than the transformation of a single tree
But in the face of YggdrasilÆs stability he had no choice To overcome the sturdy and reliable foundation he had built he needed force
Recalculating Please visit your nearest Village Spirit Failure to do so will result in weakness and death
Synchronicity detected Your Skillset Yggdrasil the Universe that was First a Tree is evolving
For a moment right as a dozen more fissures opened on the trunk and spewed out golden light and heat Randidly sobbed His head pitched forward and he couldnÆt help the gulp of hesitation The pain was existential making him simultaneously delirious and desperate The haziness crept into his thoughts That seething being of plasma within the World Tree forced its way outward leaving the image feeling vaguely hollow
Yggdrasil seemed to break fire out through a dozen holes the forces of stasis and change perfectly balanced
But Randidly raised his head again and squeezed with his Willpower one last time The plasma began howling out of the cracks in the bark the friction and force of its passage forever altering the World Tree And begrudgingly the Skillset evolved The sensation of release splashed across his face and left him blinking
Congratulations Your Skillset has evolved Partial evolution Skillset will retain the same name Incorporating elements of upheaval and magma into the Skillset The roots and branches of Yggdrasil dig out into the fabric of the universe weaving itself even more closely to the essence of existence Life and destruction sit within YggdrasilÆs seed
Congratulations Your Skill YggdrasilÆs Unruly Ichor has evolved into YggdrassilÆs Plasm Animus Beyond just carrying the nutrients and energy required for the World Tree the userÆs bodily fluids now carry a hint of the primordial spark that gave birth to life Healing significantly increased Damage inflicted on enemies who touch the blood is vastly increased for a few seconds after leaving the body Resistance to foreign influences slightly increased Blood has a small chance to try and flow back into the wound providing extra resilience for a short time
He waited The flames across the transformed hellscape gradually dimmed and went out The heat vanished leaving carbonized wood and animal carcasses that represented a frozen bleak version of the World Tree
Yet within the ground the heart of life beat with great force But no urgency This was the cycle of things for life to give way to death In time it would reverse Dawn would come and the sky would open
RandidlyÆs awareness briefly flicked to his Nether Core where his Nether Penance sat He was running low on the stored seconds but he resolutely turned back to the wreckage of his previous image He had no choice but to build up a debt to the Penance if his image would remain stubborn