Chapter 1735

Chapter 1735

Randidly floated alone in the darkness of the Shaft. He remained a little higher than usual, to avoid the eyes of the Nether Gatekeepers. Claudette was back in the Alpha Cosmos, preparing with Neveah for the image refinement process.

One portion of the work they still needed to do was generate a specific array to expand and magnify her image for Randidly to work, during which time Claudette would go into a sort of hibernation. Neveah was finalizing the details and refused his help, leaving Randidly to make his own preparations.

Neveah had taken a few breaks to send him a few increasingly pushy messages about taking some time to process the loss of Helen, but Randidly had ignored that.

Not because he didn’t think it might be helpful; he admitted that Neveah had been quite insightful about his mental health previously and was likely correct that he would need to cope with the loss before he could move forward.

But at the moment, Randidly didn’t want to move forward. And he had his own particular methods for coping.

Methods... that he believed Helen would have also engaged in, had he been the one who died.

Congratulations! Your Skill the Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 361!

Congratulations! Your Skill the Implacable Price of Exodus (M) has grown to Level 330!

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 472!

Randidly sat in the projection of his Yggdrasil image, methodically tightening his mental grip through the image. Waves of heat roiled off the thick and vibrant grass. The thick, natural architecture of the roots swimming out of the ground now released a blinding radiance of golden light as more and more energy was funneled toward the trunk of the world tree.

Those golden streams of energy flowed constantly inward, concentrating the force of this image.

The massive emerald canopy rustled, capturing and corralling the overwhelming heat released by a low-looming sun. Only due to the shade cast by the World Tree could this planet support life. From the high mountain tops nestled underneath the world tree, a mixture of water and frigid essence flowed downward, providing refuge from the unrelenting force of heat.

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 473!

Due to his efforts, the sun was dragged closer and closer. The environment intensified. More energy was absorbed by the planet and gathered into those golden flows.

Randidly’s grip tightened further, ignoring the growing headache. Helen’s passing... had broken some inherent mental stop that he had possessed. The intensity with which he approached his image training wasn’t exactly stronger... but more desperate. Perhaps for the last few months, as the threat of the Swacc Family eased, a part of him had relaxed.

Only when reality had thrown weakness in his face did Randidly realize how foolish he had been to ease off his training. The Nexus had always been a guillotine hanging above his head. If he ever lost sight of that again, someone else would needlessly die.

For a brief instant, Randidly wavered. Why the hell didn’t you reach out...? If you had maintained our Aether connection, even if you lost your body, your soul-

“Fuck,” Randidly said. Then his lips quirked up for a small smile; the tightness in his chest eased somewhat when he recalled how foulmouthed Helen had been when they had first met during an under Level 25 Tournament on Tellus. Although she had eased up somewhat in the subsequent years, she always viewed any developments sourly, prepared to be shafted and complain about it.

The tightness quickly returned to his chest. He chewed on his bottom lip. She might have complained, but she had never failed him.

Then Randidly shoved all those things away and focused on Yggdrasil. The heat was sweltering in the dense jungle environment. The air was thick and humid. He ignored the sweat running down his shoulders and back and simply focused on the details. The buzz of insects. The growls and stink of the furred animals. The flickering figure in the canopy, the horrifying specter of death that stalked Yggdrasil, with a thousand strands of hair that ended in hands, now carrying with her an elegant iron implement with a serrated edge-

Congratulations! Your Skill the Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 319!

That last notification earned Randidly’s attention. Yggdrasil continued to creak and groan between the crushing grip of his focus. The leaves rustled uncertainly, demanding a change. Randidly gradually returned back to his body, still slick with sweat. Perhaps... perhaps I do need to nudge myself in the right direction before Yggdrasil can grow to its next stage. Pressure alone isn’t enough.

His attention narrowed to the pitted bark of Yggdrasil, covered with glowing symbols that flitted and danced with all the stories in the universe. Then Randidly pressed himself deeper, digging through the history-filled exterior to sink into the core of the trunk. And there he found the life-giving Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil, flowing rapidly through the tree’s veins.

Randidly smiled grimly. Waves of heat and energy were concentrated on the trunk, rapidly altering the original environment of the Sap. With his Willpower, Randidly accelerated that process. His Nether Core hummed with the resonance between his shape, emotion, significance, and memory.

Of course Yggdrasil’s greatest aim to support and nurture: it is the World Tree. But... without tenacity, it wouldn’t have grown to be the dominant organism that it has become. Patience and foundation only get you so far...

The sea of Nether flames that covered the Yggdrasil environment began to rush along the roots, slurped toward the core of the image by the World Tree. Randidly raised his head and bellowed, his eyes unfocused. His head pounded as he pushed himself even further.

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 475!

An agent of change is needed. Randidly clenched his jaw. His shoulders shuddered. Even if the steps are small, when they accumulate...

Warning! Skill Deviation is occurring.

Error- Warning, please see your nearest Village Spirit-

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 476!

Randidly tried to breathe but his chest was tied together in knots. So instead, he forced himself to stand in that sweltering, humid environment. His body felt heavy and strange after focusing away from it so long. Once he was on his feet he wheeled around and then took lumbering steps toward the trunk of the World Tree. His bare feet sizzled on the ground. The vegetation in the surroundings was wilting and dying underneath the vicious heat. Even Yggdrasil couldn’t resist the rising pressure.

Randidly’s joyless laughter echoed out through the dying wilderness as he slogged forward. Animals hid in their burrows. The streams of ice water melt gradually evaporated. The previously thick grass began to yellow and wilt, all the moisture dragged out by the heat.

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 477!

The process was grueling, but Randidly dragged himself past larger and larger root archways and approached the pyre of seething Nether Flames that was the trunk of Yggdrasil. He had long sensed ceased sweating and now simply was baked dry by the heat. The surroundings were constantly rumbling, driven by image strain and the constant violence of emotions he released. As the grass died, the ground was revealed and began to crack.

To nurture the future... Randidly hissed as he sourly considered the last hundred meters to the central portion of his image. The selective reality of the image was a bit obnoxious, at the moment, but he did his best to put it out of his mind. One must resolve for the past to be destroyed.

In the memory, Helen smiled at him. Her lips trembled slightly. Her eyes were wet. Randidly’s heart folded inward on itself. He didn’t dare breathe, lest he shatter everything and be left with only broken pieces. His bare feet moved over dying grass and steaming ground.

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 478!

Randidly reached out through the Nether flames and touched thick and pitted bark that lined the trunk of Yggdrasil. At the brush of his fingers, the bark finally ruptured and spat out the boiling sap that it contained. When it hit the ground, that sizzled and bubbled.

Recalculating...

Congratulations! Your Skill Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil (L) has evolved into Yggdrasil’s Unruly Ichor (M)! Skill Level will be maintained.