Seeing the smoking remnants of the Skill that was clearly another attempt to control him brought Randidly quite a bit of pleasure. But he didn’t miss the way that the Path altered itself halfway through to incorporate aspects of his Nether notes, something that Randidly hadn’t possessed when he originally gained the Path.

Was this a special case then? Or had Randidly underestimated the overlay System?

Although Randidly still had a little less than 400 PP remaining to be spent, he was altogether tired of all of the antics that Paths had tried to spring on him in this round of Soulskill tithe. It was something that he would be much more careful about moving forward.

Instead, Randidly once more checked the time. Seeing there was still four and a half hours, Randidly looked at his Status screen.

Randidly Ghosthound

Class: Lord of the Baleful Wood (+x5)

Level: 49 (99%)

Health(/R per hour): 9738/9738 (4574)

Mana(/R per hour): 9086/9086 (2537)

Stam(/R per min): 6899/6994 (1655)

Vit: 1045

End: 895

Str: 742

Agi: 1135

Grim Intuition (L): 1070

Reaction: 847

Resistance: 972

Willpower: 1112

Intelligence: 868

Wisdom: 645

Control: 1201

Focus: 759

Skills (Soul Skill): Figure of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 22200

Combat: Spear Mastery Lvl 209, Heavy Blow Lvl 124, Iron Skin Lvl 47, Dodge Lvl 121, Fighting Experience (Un) Lvl 165, Block Lvl 77, Calculated Blow Lvl 117, Roundhouse Kick Lvl 87, Idiosyncratic Cut (Un) Lvl 126, Stalemate Breaker Lvl 86, Talon Strike Lvl 90, Counter Lvl 94, Ruinous Drive (Ru) Lvl 35

LoBW Class Skills: Spray Holy Sap (Un) Lvl 27, Sharpness Lvl 145, Earthquake (Un) Lvl 48, Invigorating Call (Humanity)(Un) Lvl 14, Reach of the Jade Slag (Ru) Lvl 121, Erode Image (L) Lvl 71, Spriggit’s Tinkering ® Lvl 151, Aether Understanding (A) Lvl 133, Aether Infusion Lvl 47, Volatile Ash (A) Lvl 44, Visualization ® Lvl 240, Fruit of the Planting of Enmity (L) Lvl 49, Absolute Timing (Ru) Lvl 108, Cycle of the Gloomy Wood ® Lvl 45, Riders of the Baleful Court (A) Lvl 127, Lantern of Harsh Truths ® Lvl 46, Sigil of an Approaching Fate (A) Lvl 32

Descent of the Grim Chimera (M): Chimeric Avoidance (L) Lvl 222, Cursed Appetite of a Wraith (L) Lvl 264, Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality (A) Lvl 238, Reaper’s Mantle of Catastrophe (L) Lvl 101, Molten Fang of the Pariah (L) Lvl 199, Man is Proud, but the Chimera Takes (L) Lvl 185, The Chimera Weeps as Man Mourns (L) Lvl 157, All Else Succombs, Yet Time Whirls the Earth (M) Lvl 150

Aether Skills: Aether Detection Lvl 171, Aether Manipulation Lvl 201, Living Aether ® Lvl 154, System Interference Lvl 88, Aether Surgeon (Ru) Lvl 69

Spells: Yggdrasil Soul Seed ®, Inspiration ®, Ignition Bolt ® Lvl 126, Verdant Nova (Un) Lvl 85, Burning Footsteps Lvl 23, Nether’s Caress (M) Lvl 114, Influence of the Molten Core ® Lvl 103, Eruption of the Blazing Leyline (Ru) Lvl 111, Ignition of the Emerald Essence (L) Lvl 151, Mana Physique (Un) Lvl 19

Crafting: Potion Making Lvl 73, Farming Lvl 34, Analyze Lvl 29, Refine Lvl 106, Extract Lvl 92, Brushstroke Record (Ru) Lvl 245, Experienced Creator’s Ingenuity (A) Lvl 68, Touch of the Ghosthound (U)

Yggdrasil, the Universe that was First a Tree (P): Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 178, The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 213, the Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 195, the Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 240, the Inscrutable Mien of Genesis (L) Lvl 250, the Implacable Price of Exodus (L) Lvl 202, Reign of the Eidolon Crucible (L) Lvl 195, Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) Lvl 275

Auxiliary: Sneak Lvl 56, Acid Resistance Lvl 22, Poison Resistance Lvl 21, Pain Resistance Lvl 153, Fire Resistance Lvl 189, Sewing Lvl 11, Digging Lvl 9, Cooking Lvl 101, Clockwork Mastery Lvl 30, Aether Connection (A) Lvl 21, Soul Bond Lvl 135, Chef’s Palette Lvl 36, Nether Modification (U), Child of the Rain (Un) Lvl 59, Chosen of Ash (A) Lvl 141, Engineering Savvy ® Lvl 154, From Darkness, Genesis ® Lvl 17, (Domain) Crossroads of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 178, Connection to the Alpha Cosmos (U), Catalyst of Agony (A) Lvl 38, Nether Sensation (L) Lvl 62, Nether Rituals (A) Lvl 115

Randidly released a deep breath. In terms of Stats, just from the huge amount of Paths that he finished, he had grown quite a bit. More than Stats though, Randidly had earned an addition 15 Stat points per Level, which put his Stat gains per Level to: +8 Stats distributed between Vitality, Perception, Resist, Intelligence, and Control, +35 Free Stats, +1 Stat to a Mental Stat, +1 to a Physical Defense Stat, +1 to a Mental Support Stat, +2 Control, +36 Health, +45 Mana, +40 Stamina, +3.5 to all Regenerations, +1 to Health and Stamina Regeneration, and an additional +4 Agility and +2 Bonus Stats due to Guidance of the Wraith Adder from Shal.

“Is this strength…?” Randidly asked lightly. He looked down at his hands, one scarred and metal, the other calloused and tanned. Beyond that, with but a brush of his will, Yggdrasil, the Grim Chimera, and Ignition Essence visions flickered to life in the tent around him. Just as quickly, Randidly let those go.

This had definitely been an attempt by the System to control him. But at this point, Randidly had so many tools in his arsenal that he dealt it with it almost immediately. Without relying on a blunt instrument, either.

Well, maybe a blunt instrument. Randidly admitted to himself. But one that won’t reveal my involvement.

Then his mind turned back to the question of strength. Although Randidly had definitely improved, his goals were still further forward down this path. Based on his reckoning, Randidly was still a bit short of being able to rival a Nether Gatekeeper in a one on one duel. Perhaps more than a little short.

However, hopefully that distance would be bridged as Randidly condensed himself a Fate. Because the foundations for his power were firmer than ever. With this, he could finally begin to cash in on all of the preparations he had made.

“...bah. Which means I really need to work on these Foci…” Randidly grimaced and rolled his shoulders to loosen up his back. Then he sat down in a meditative position and pulled all of his focus inward. With great difficulty, he slowly closed down all of the superfluous Grim Intuition sensors so he wouldn’t notice anything that happened in the outside world unless it actually physically damaged him. Unless Randidly was bleeding, he didn’t want to be disturbed.

Somewhat of a risk, but Randidly figured that if something managed to pierce Lady Iellaya’s defenses to the point of reaching his tent, he would have a problem of an entirely different magnitude.

With his focus narrowed, Randidly floated to his inner world where the emerald and burnt orange flame of Ignition Essence continued to steadily simmer away at the few remaining memories that Randidly hadn’t yet accepted into himself. Of all the foci, Randidly believed that the Ignition Essence one would be the most risk to use. So he wanted to work on it first and figure out how long it would take.

There was a moment of hesitation and then Randidly reached out and touched the memories. The terrible ones that waited for the last to reveal themselves. They bloomed like a flower before him, the petals falling away from the burning bulb and spiraling around him. Slowly, Randidly became someone else once more.

He became Illym, the above-average child, a daughter who possessed half of a soul.

He became the brown-haired, brown-eyed sister who looked at her beautiful, blonde sister Radiance as she announced that she would be married. The other half of her soul who had found love, despite the circumstances. She met the soon-to-be husband, rough and capable, and clearly head over heels in love with Radiance.

As everyone was.

Hours later, Randidly sat in a memory of Illym staring at her own bony knees on a porch swing and wondering whether she had ever been in love. She had felt love, for her parents, for his sister Radiance.

There were no memories of being in love. Of being loved. Of being truly valued, for herself.

Illym spent some time pouring through her own memories in that memory, searching for proof that she had existed, had mattered to someone. Had lived. Had mattered to someone else. All she found was the cold and repeated walls of her parent’s home and the moments of excitement when Radiance woke up from her comas.

Because her sister mattered more to her life than she did. It wasn’t Illym that could bring herself meaning. It had always been Radiance, the other half of the whole.

What followed was the biggest choice of Illym’s life, and she made it with all the thought of a blink; in the one year time period before her sister Radiance was to be married, Illym was going to learn what it was like to live.

So she ran away from home, telling not a soul about her plans. Not even the other half of her own soul, Radiance. She left a note assuring everyone that she would be back for the wedding and then she was off, out in the world to discover herself.

Although Illym might only be an above-average child compared to Radiance, her parents were two of the most powerful individuals in their corner of the Nexus and Illym had learned from them well. As long as the problems that the twenty-year-old Illym encountered weren’t extraordinary, she could deal with them. So she flitted between the planets, experiencing everything that she could.

Randidly experienced memories of trying sizzling hot street meat of when Illym wasn’t sure of the meat’s origin. He watched her smelling wildflowers. Watched her stealing because she had run out of money.

There were difficulties aplenty after Illym’s inexperience wasted away her resources. Doubly so because of who she was. Although Illym and Radiance were parted, the truth of their existence didn’t change. So like the seasons, the shakes came for Illym.

But now, Illym had no protection to rely on to endure the shakes. She could not simply curl up in her wide bed and smother herself in silk sheets. Illym was left all on her own, and she had to grit her teeth and find the best way she could to hide her weakness. However, it was only a matter of time until she was discovered.

There was an ugly memory with jagged edges where Illym was tortured by three men as they laughed at her inability to control her body. They put her in shallow water and watched as she thrashed so uncontrollably that she almost drowned herself time and time again. They found it unbelievably funny, they couldn’t even stand it.

Illym remembered hating for the first time in her life. Although it wasn’t the bright living of Radiance, she felt an atypical rush of warmth as she looked up at the three men and wished they would die. It was an iron sort of desire that she could give herself over to completely. She said to them, “When this is over-”

The leader of the men shushed her with a finger, almost gently, while Illym’s body continued to jitter back and forth. “Love, this only ever ends one way. Let’s enjoy this fun while we still have it, shall we?”

Illym remembered the cold certainty of the fact that she would die. And in the next moment, her entire being began screaming that she wanted to live. For the first time in her life, Illym reached into herself to that strange wound that she had always been afflicted with and told it no. She could not afford to allow it to take her today.

Illym remembered the warmth of blood running down her hands. The first kill was the hardest, and then the rest was easy.