The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound

The difference in perspective was stark.

Randidly paused on a tumbling pyramid, crouching so both his hands and feet could grip upon the edges. With continued delicacy, the shade flicked her wrist and sent her massive wind whip howling toward Randidly’s position. He knew he should dodge, but his attention was captured by the endless sea of energy flows covering the entire platform. He was transfixed by the scope of what he witnessed.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 251!

The mysterious flows swirled around Randidly to the point he was completely submerged within their tight folds. Although his heart continued its frantic beat, his breath caught and settled in the hollow of his throat. Infinite layers and constructs of ripples buried him, pushing his awareness deeper and deeper within them.

Its not just one layer. It keeps going down, Randidly’s eyes glittered. That’s what I missed before. Ripples hit ripples and to breed into more ripples, but each of these stacked layers is constructed from several more folded energy frontiers.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 252!

Depth beyond all else. Seeing down through to the truth of existence. Just like the shade chose to make her patterns concrete for power, I took my own perspective. Darkness crept outward from Randidly’s left eye. His entire face sank beneath that oblivion, except for his right eye. It burned hot and emerald, like an aberrant star at the edge of a black hole that refused to have its light devoured. But where she chose to push her patterns closer to images, I accepted its true form- Ripples.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 253!

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 254!

It wasn’t a Skill like Breath of the Cosmos, which allowed Randidly to perceive all the different flows of energy in the surroundings. Instead, it somehow framed the ripples that bounced and rebounded off of every surface and each other. The Skill caught the subtle interplay that he had previously missed. The chaos around him remained quite difficult to parse apart, but all his subconscious insight into the arrangement were crystalized into the Skill.

Despite the dangerous situation, Randidly opened up the Skill explanation to confirm his intuition.

Motif of the Hungry Deep (P): A method of understanding the vast universe. The foundation of this Skill is a perfect awareness of the passage of time and a massive amount of experience observing patterns. By combining such elements together in the special environment, several mutations have resulted. The user has learned two truths to generate this Skill. First, energy fuels the base of all substance. Time will not destroy energy, only see it change into different forms. Second, Desire lurks below all actions. The hunger that never ceases stirs the vast sea, originating from an impossible depth within the hearts of individuals. The more the user fights opponents, the more he can understand their core desire and predict energy output. Gains a small amount of influence on nearby patterns per Skill Level. Insight into energy increases with Skill Level. Ability to form connections between incompatible energies greatly increases with Skill Level.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 255!

Exactly. There are two constants that do their best to resist the pull of time, energy and desire. Randidly raised his gaze and frowned; the wind whip churned through the air, only a meter away from his face. He raised his hand and grassed at the ripples within the attack. His new Skill hummed to life to give him some extra capability. Once I understand that, once I can see both of those things, everything else-

His hand tightened into a fist. Along the edge of the wind whip that was about to impact Randidly, the wind briefly slowed. With his improved understanding, and with the ability to weave together incompatible energies, he could grasp more of the shade’s patterns and combat the vicious rotation directly. Unfortunately, although the edge of the wind whip in front of him slowed, more patterns whipped around and obliterated his resistance. Cursing quietly, Randidly hopped sideways to avoid the attack. Patterns flowed around him to create a buffer, so only a soft wind ruffled his clothes.

Congratulations! Your Skill Unexpected Eddy (L) has grown to Level 427!

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 256!

A little unreasonable to immediately jump from helpless to dominant, right? Randidly gently teased himself at his disappointment. The wind whip hissed and spat as it impacted the ground. Its tip curled around behind him and aimed at his back. By creating another buffer pocket of patterns, Randidly glided sideways out of harms way.

“Oh?” The shade noticed the difference immediately. “You really aren’t just suffering, but improving! Well, I shouldn’t let this continue.”

With a flick of the wrist, the massive wind whip vanished. She jumped down off of her perch on a pyramid and began to walk slowly forward. Randidly’s expression became serious; all of the smaller ripples in the surroundings were ironed out by several massive ripples that the shade released with each step. The patterns she used became even more overbearing.

For a second, Randidly couldn’t figure out what to say. He huffed out a breath. “You know, usually, an opponent waits until I accumulate enough capability to rival them before they shift their own mode of engagement. It’s just chivalrous behavior.”

“Do I rescue maidens from voracious bog monsters? Does it look like I pulled a cursed ring off the finger of a puppet king? Am I supposed to be the Red Knight of Mid-morning?” The shade clicked her tongue. Energy swirled around both of her hands as she continued to walk forward. “No, I am simply a lingering specter of determination. Since you cannot help me climb to the summit, I will end you as quickly as possible.”

Randidly pursed his lips as he studied the ripples around the shade. You say you don’t have a name or a culture, but those references were a bit too specific for them not to have a genuine origin.

However, he quickly left that issue to the side. Because the shade clearly was no longer playing around. Or rather, the sort of play she wanted to engage in became a lot more violent. The tremors she released made Randidly’s hair stand on end.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 257!

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 258!

In the shade’s left hand, a smaller version of her whip formed. But from the way the air distorted and it steamrolled through all ripples that came near it, Randidly knew that she hadn’t sacrificed power when she condensed it to a smaller size. And in her right hand a gleaming purple saber condensed, possessing a vivid color that expanded beyond the realm of her strange shade existence. As the color grew, so too did the pull of Nether from Randidly’s body.

He watched the saber form in consternation, but he didn’t stop the flow of energy that supported it. He felt a genuine sense of threat from that saber; its presence would definitely force him to improve more quickly.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 259!

Or it will kill me, Randidly grinned.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 260!

“Your attitude is infectious,” The shade announced as she leaned into a fighting stance. The ripples buzzed around her new saber. “Would you believe me if I said I’m glad I’ve met you? Although we’ve only fought for a short time, I feel… well, considering the lack of options on the mountain, perhaps I’m falling in love with you.”

Randidly blinked. Then he swore and hastily gathered ripples in the surroundings to help him dodge.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 261!

Congratulations! Your Skill Unexpected Eddy (L) has grown to Level 428!

The shade had flickered forward with an incredible amount of speed. Her purple saber lashed out, ripping directly through the patterns Randidly created. Seeing its annihilating power, Randidly have no doubt she had created the saber just to counter the thick weave of patterns. Her weapon cut deeply into his shoulder and once more sprayed glittering drops of blood across the ground. He scrambled backward, scowling.

“Ha! You really let yourself be distracted by that little charade?” The shade chuckled in good cheer, but her movements contained unbridled aggression. As Randidly tried to open up some distance, she took several bounds forward, keeping the space between them at only a meter. She raised the saber again, but this time it was the whip slithering forward next to his feet that posed the real threat.

Gritting his teeth, Randidly flexed his muscles and closed the wound on his torso. The blood he released already sizzled again the platform, but he didn’t let himself get distracted from the shade’s very real threat. It isn’t just my ability to dodge that improved with forming this Skillset…!

He still wasn’t quite ready to reveal the final form, that involved using Cutting Tides of Amenonuhoko and his three images acting in concert. But he did use all the insight he had with Motif of the Hungry Deep to fuse all the pattern potency he could control into his body. Leaning forward, he unleashed another Tempest Drill. Once more, he pushed the technique to new heights in terms of destructive power and penetrative force.

SHHHHHHHH!

Congratulations! Your Skill Tempest Drill (A) has grown to Level 496!

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 262!

His arm wrapped in a storm slammed against the tightly rotating whip. The two patterns both attempted to wear the other down and leave the remnants shredded on the floor of the platform. Randidly narrowed his eyes.

Ultimately, the two forces rebounded, both full of unwillingness. However, that gave Randidly the chance to close the distance between them, his Reaction still as dominant as ever. And even suppressed, Dreadful Alacrity ensured that his acceleration was second to none.

The shade’s lips twitched as suddenly they were only an arm’s length apart. Then her mouth O’d in mock horror. “Oh my, could it be you are tossing your hat into the romantic ring? Aiming to sneak a kiss?”

This time, Randidly ignored her playful tone. He made minute adjustments to his form and unleashed another streamlined palm attack. As he did so, he felt Aether and Nether both combining to strengthen the strike. The patterns around him resonated and pushed his muscles into a near perfect unity.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 263!

Congratulations! Your Skill Tempest Drill (A) is evolving!

It’s not just my opponent’s desires, Randidly realized as he pivoted and transferred the force through his knees, waist, and shoulders. The resonance of the patterns strengthened. The more I fight, the larger my reach, the more I cannot avoid sensing my own inner ripples. And fueling them, is my intense desire to be so strong that nothing can stop me. I cannot lose.

No matter what, I cannot stop.

Congratulations! Your Skill Tempest Drill (A) has evolved into Dragon Queen’s Sinister Tongue (T)! Skill Level’s will be maintained.

Congratulations! Your Skill Dragon Queen’s Sinister Tongue (T) has grown to Level 497!

The destructive force of Randidly’s attack shifted. Sudden a grey core formed within the strike, bearing a horrifying aura of decay and suffering. Within it, Randidly felt the essence of all three of his images, creating something truly horrific. The shape of Nidhogg who slept under the World Tree, the persistence of the Grey Creature, the inevitable peril of the Stillborn Phoenix. A piece of all three images and none settled within the new Skillset.

The resonance continued to grow. And although Randidly could not manifest his images directly, the emotional force in his image crept through that combination.

The strike closed the distance to the shade’s chest, but she just tossed her purple saber sideways. Then a strange pattern suffused her body and she dissipated. A split second later, she reformed with her hand on the purple blade. Randidly’s attack pierced out through the air that she had just vacated. All the patterns in front of him seemed to degrade before the grey light that the palm strike unleashed. It ripped forward like a baleful laser, hungry for resistance.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 264!

Eventually, it smashed against the barrier around the ladder to the summit, releasing visible ripples through the energy pattern that prevented the tenth guardian from climbing upward. Then the barrier reformed itself. Randidly was somewhat disappointed that this strike couldn’t defeat the defenses of the summit. But he ignored that and twisted after the shade.

Even as he was turning, she cut with the saber toward his side. He stepped back and brought a layered wave of ripples between them, but that purple saber simply severed his newly evolved Unexpected Eddy. Still, Randidly’s speed meant that he swayed around the strike and ducked under the follow up cut.

He stepped sharply forward, leaving only a few inches between them. The shade decisively threw her saber up in the air, toward the pyramid layers. His mind rapidly calculated the best reaction, while his left arm released three fangs to keep the wind whip at bay. Once she’s among the pyramids, I can-

BOOOOM!

The shade didn’t teleport and her wind whip bulldozed straight through Randidly’s three fangs. Even their force neutralization couldn’t buy him enough time to react. The impact sent him sprawling, leaving his ability to read ripples as messy and useless.

Randidly slapped his palms against the ground with enough force to toss his body several meters into the air, avoiding a powerful follow-up sweep of the wind whip. His eyes were narrowed. This monstrous power of yours…!

He gripped the edge of a pyramid and swung his body forward, moving toward the shade. The purple saber reached the apex of its arc and fell down, eventually landing back in the shade’s hand on the ground. She clicked her tongue, even while she wrapped herself in a complex arrangement of the wind whip. Her smile up at him was sly. “Were you trying to cheat? How boring. You deserve to get slapped around a bit for that.”

Randidly remained silent. His blood hummed through his veins, adding a peculiar frequency of ripple to the surrounding space. Those ripples marched to become part of the complex patterns that surrounded his body as Randidly accelerated forward again.

The shade cackled. “Good! If you can’t take that first step forward, nothing will ever change. But if you encounter a wall you cannot pass, what will you do?”

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 265!

OHMMMM

This sensation… Randidly’s eyes narrowed as he ducked underneath the lashing whip. Her desire… I can’t really tell the details, but this isn’t just about reaching the summit. I can barely feel its edge.

Underneath all the other ripples, something immense stirred. Suddenly all the other details fell away and the shade’s body became larger and larger in Randidly’s vision. He peered within the limits of her frame and saw millions of ripples, layered upon each other. Strange, metaphysical bubbles fluttered up through the ripples of her being; at the base of the powerful tenth guardian, her purest desire flexed.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 266!

Randidly’s palm strike lashed up and the shade jerked her head back. Instead of throwing her weapon to the side, she slashed decisively downward at Randidly. He just grinned as he pivoted his legs and unleashed another palm strike. A vicious grey core formed even as the purple saber cut.

BOOOM!

Congratulations! Your Skill Dragon Queen’s Sinister Tongue (T) has grown to Level 498!

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 267!

Randidly’s palm slammed into the shade’s chest and sent her skidding back. His expression warped; some rigid pattern armor around her person dispersed much of the force. And he didn’t dare follow-up on the strike because her purple saber cut a deep divot into Sulfur and part of Randidly’s side.

The shade tilted her head to the side. Small bits of steam wafted up from the location where the grey core impacted her patterns, but she seemed unharmed. However, her eyes were growing increasingly bright and hungry. Nether continued to rush out from Randidly and strengthen her significance. “In the face of an impassable wall, you would charge forward? Throw yourself against it again and again?”

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 268!

The bubbles erupting from the base of the shade’s existence became larger and more violent through her ripples. Randidly’s gaze flickered and became clouded. He saw a strange scene of the woman with a burning gaze looking at the sky, her cries strangled to silence by grief. Yet the next moment the vision was gone.

Since the shade waited for his answer without attacking, Randidly considered. Then he shrugged. “It sounds like madness, doesn’t it? But it’s the choice I’ve made, time and time again. As long as it keeps working, I won’t stop.”

“Not so mad after all,” The shade’s eyes crinkled at the edges. But that baleful intensity continued to grow. Drops of neon purple slid off her saber and pattered onto the ground. Then she blurred into motion, the sharp purple edge of her blade leading the attack.

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