HeÆs a dangerous enemy to have Alta said And from the thread of awe that Lucretia could hear in her voice she meant it as a compliment
Both looked up at the same time Lucretia with a wry smile and Alta with an aggrieved expression
How much PP is he going to spend at once There were deep shadows below AltaÆs eyes as she forced herself to her feet Lucretia I donÆt want to shirk but if we need to channel that much Aether again
That wonÆt be necessary Into the between zone two figures flashed One was an amorphous blob of plasma undulating slightly The other was a charming older man The Patron of the Void and Patron of Blades bowed to the two women The Patron of Blades straightened and pushed back his hair Ladies how can we call ourselves gentlemen if we stand by while you exhaust yourselves Please accept our assistance
While his Stillborn Phoenix rolled and crackled with its growing hunger in the wake of finishing that Path Randidly turned his attention elsewhere He wanted to give the image some time to settle before he tried the Weakness of the Stillborn Phoenix Path His eyes glowed emerald as he moved on to his next choice PP flowed away and he earned free Stats in response
Congratulations You have completed Violence Incarnate the StormÆs Descent Path In the middle of the wilderness your Path took you past a strange tunnel into the ground You looked over the broken stone steps leading into darkness and didnÆt hesitate even for a moment you allowed shadows to lap against your feet as you descended into the ground drawn by the intuition that what you would find waiting for you could benefit you on your Path to the Pinnacle
Randidly gave himself over to the Path dream scraping drying blood and dirt off his arms and tail before he walked down to the next area Again and again his hand punched through a chest plate the Stillborn Phoenix did its best imitation of entropy and sucked at a monster until it was a hollow puppet Synechdochence manifested a vicious spearhead that obliterated a massive titan of these underground guardians Faster and faster pushing his body and Nether Core and empowered emotion to the limits Flames of Nether Weight marched across his skin and his images burned in their physicalized forms gleaming with more substance than the horned goblins that stood in their way
Congratulations Your Skill Cosmic Necessity has grown to Level 671
Congratulations Your Skill Soulful Vigor has grown to Level 218
Plus earning back some of the PP I spent to get here Randidly grinned widely as he twisted around and slammed a dream version of Acri into the neck of an over muscled titan He yanked the serrated blade out spraying blood sideways into the eyes of a group of tall monster spear users Yggdrasil snorted dismissively and the monstersÆ veins came alive in their bodies wriggling up and strangling them before they could even strike at Randidly
Congratulations Your Skill the World Tree Suffers Only Fealty has grown to Level 870
Randidly descended He fought He began receiving small injuries but his new EggÆs Illusory Plume meant that none were more than flesh wounds Just enough sting to send a tingle through his nervous system The churning storm of kinetic force around him grew and grew winds howling in the enclosed space until they could suppress the defenders of this place all on their own But Randidly continued to sink into shadow submerging himself in ambushes and mindless responses with the defenders gradually growing some resistance to the crashing waves of Nether
The next cavern Randidly found was ringed in sharp blades and amorphous beings that flowed and shifted depending on the situation A few of these defenders began to display their own images Potent images that gave him pause
A brief pause Randidly started moving shortly And to his opponentÆs dismay that break empowered his Dreadful Alacrity
These more powerful variations multiplied as he continued to follow the dream Battles began to stretch New and unusual images arrived different flavors that felt familiar to his subconscious but nothing that he bothered to pull himself out of the haze of violence to investigate He was just glad to have more capable opponents
After a fight that felt like it lasted an entire day Randidly wiped blood from his forehead His grin seemed glued to his face his cheeks aching from holding the position for so long But when he went to the far side of the cavern no further staircase waited for him Sitting on a pile of broken weapons was a bone dagger that caught his eye with a large chunk of obsidian set in the hilt Gradually his fighting focused mind woke itself back up The churning currents of Nether that flowed around him began to still Following his instincts he picked up the weapon and clicked his tongue Ah too bad I was just starting to really let loose
From somewhere nearby he heard a womanÆs pained groan and a tired manÆs wry chuckle
Congratulations Like a storm you ripped through the perilous descent and scoured it clean finding the condensed origin of violence at the bottom Congratulations Stamina +1000 Grim Intuition +200 You have gained the Skill Origin of Violence
Congratulations Your Skills Origin of Violence and Cosmic Necessity have merged to form Wicked Waltz of Tartarus Skill Level will be maintained
Chapter 1931
Randidly came back to himself quickly the dream pouring him back into the confines of his body without much fanfare But he smiled widely as he discovered himself laying on the ground feeling the aches and strains in his body that meant while he had been inert finishing that test in the Path his muscles still had the chance to run wild
He sat up and checked his Penance Rolling his eyes Randidly laid himself back down and paid the dues he owed for his long and violent dream When he had built up some banked time in his Nether core he came back to himself and examined the details of his new Skill
Wicked Waltz of Tartarus An expression of deadly greetings and toils of the lost souls who remain bound in Tartarus fighting for all eternity Their bodies break down and their consciousness extinguishes but the next day they find themselves just as whole and empty They exist in an alternate dimension where consciousness has been replaced by instinct and brutal aggression User can tap into this alternate plane drawing out their baleful momentum of violence Small chance to drag an opponent into Tartarus reducing their comprehensive fighting ability and lowering their Stats Slight change to induce battle rage in an opponent Proficiency with violence greatly increases with Skill Level Chance to affect opponents increases with Skill Level
Randidly raised his left hand and looked at SulfurÆs dark fingers He felt the connection to Tartarus hovering just behind his brow a cast iron lockbox of destruction that shook from time to time As he activated the Skill the box didnÆt open But the metal surface began to glow cherry red lit from within by the horrifying hellscape that waited within
As that heat grew from warm to burning Randidly felt the impulses in his body sharpen He saw a thousand ways to break and rip and crush SulfurÆs fingers subconsciously curled into a fist An unhealthy rust colored glow surrounded his hand If he had an opponent waiting for him on top of the volcano he would have launched a brutal attack
Congratulations Your Skill Wicked Waltz of Tartarus has grown to Level 672
Randidly relaxed his hand and dropped the fist In his head the lockbox slowly cooled Powerful Insightful Surging with the sort of frightful violence that can break an opponentÆs spirit A natural font of fighting instincts more than even IÆve developed in my years but IÆll also need to make sure I donÆt get dragged too deep into the Skill The feeling of mental release is a bit intoxicating
His attention turned inward to the Stillborn Phoenix It rumbled strangely handling both the shift in its potential from the prior Path and the inclusion of an alternate dimension within its current form A small rust colored fist of energy appeared on the edge of the Egg of Depression a blip along the event horizon that led to Tartarus The Unborn flitted around it curiously touching it with their lumpy tongues and skittering backward when it burned them The two then complained loudly in their nonsense language demanding this new arrival be removed