LoRG 3

And of course the more Randidly reflected on it the more ominous LyraÆs first statement seemed Apologies I appear to have lost track of time looking forward Sometimes when you step through certain thresholds what you find on the other side isnÆt what you expected

At the time Randidly had just thought that Lyra was speaking about the gulf that had formed between the two of them compared to their early relationship despite the cooperation they had to create her Class but now

A baited trap that Lyra never spoke about likely because she couldnÆt Or because she was being watched during our discussion As RandidlyÆs fury built some of the tight reins that Yggdrasil and the Grim Chimera had kept on the Stillborn Phoenix were loosened Both understood what was happening and allowed it to occur this state of affairs raised their hackles as well The muscles on RandidlyÆs arms bulged as his entire body flexed but he kept himself entirely still in his sitting position The root structure around him began to shudder and warp as a fist sized orb of blackness appeared in front of Randidly

The Stillborn Phoenix released a long breath into the surrounding air

Because the fact that the Swacc Family put the Earth in its sights proves this isnÆt just about me this is about teaching a lesson to all who are involved with the ignominies of the Swacc Family Really IÆm leverage to get at Lady Iellaya at whose feet most of the suspicions likely fall IÆm just the chosen sacrifice They didnÆt send someone to kill me likely if that had been the plan I would have already been struck No with the sort of family that Ileot belonged to they likely want to break me

They want me to feel powerless and frustrated What better way than forcing me to take a certain Path in order to become powerful enough to matter and find out later that the choice I made doomed me

Randidly wasnÆt precisely sure how Dungeons worked but there was clearly a construct of Aether that tethered the real world to the world within the Dungeon And a portion of that construct was involved in the disparate density of Aether and the strange relativity of time Certainly Randidly could use the Philosopher’s Key to escape most physical traps but what if they sent him to a world where a minute on that world was a day on Earth

Before I even notice whatÆs happening itÆs too late Randidly ground his teeth together His short black hair was ruffled by the spreading influence of his image I receive messages but by the time I can react in the slowed time more people are dead

The root construct underneath him groaned With a loud snap a paper thin crack appeared in the base Light began to bend around the black orb in front of Randidly as its influence reached toward the surrounding area The greedy devouring of the surrounding air released a thin keening cry

It was difficult to know whether the attack that Lyra had spoken about would even be carried out she might have been ordered to tell him just to force him to react Because truly what would attacking the elites of one of EarthÆs four task forces really do Even losing two of the groups would still leave Earth with several capable individuals The System was all about one person developing a dominant image and Randidly was pleased with how many individuals with potential he had seen at his birthday party They were nowhere near ready but Randidly at least had hope for the future

But the Swacc Family knew about Randidly’s actions on the frontlines They probably knew that one of the best ways to get him to move was to attack innocents Just like Randidly had gone out to fight the first Nether Gatekeepers in that horrible final attack of the Nether King

Which meant that the timeline might be even shorter than Randidly had believed This was a plot to target him then he would be targeted when he went to a Dungeon

The energy in his hand hummed with certainty that this was correct This was the subconscious fear that had earlier pushed aside the decision to go to a Dungeon

RandidlyÆs first instinct was to rush to a Dungeon now to confirm that it could be hijacked like that but he rapidly controlled that impulse Gritting his teeth Randidly had to admit that was exactly what this person probably wanted

The fist of pure blackness in front of Randidly had swollen to the size of a mediumÆs crystal ball A breeze rustled the surrounding grass pulling stray leaves and twigs across the ground to float up and be devoured by the singularity Light bent around the circumference spinning and melting inward as it was completely captured by the Stillborn PhoenixÆs pull

It was fortunate that the dark emotions of Illym now had a vehicle within Randidly to exist but now he was dealing with the problem of his own emotions being drawn into the dark cycle of those impulses His fury was a physical thing shaking the surrounding air The deceptively still black hole that Randidly conjured demanded that everything be broken as it sought its inevitable fulfillment

The eye of the Stillborn Phoenix fluttered lightly deep within RandidlyÆs image

But Randidly relented The egg of depression winked out of existence Leaves and twigs that were about to be devoured fell around RandidlyÆs feet And Randidly had to take a step up and outward as the groaning shell of the root structure he had built collapsed down from the strain of being so close to his image

The rain still fell but it was a milder touch When the infinitesimally small drops landed on RandidlyÆs right arm and shoulder the cooled him

Well at least I now have a better idea of what is about to happen RandidlyÆs eyes were flinty as he started toward the horizon More and more of the maybe black maybe purple revelation covered his body Now I just need to figure out how to punish this fuck for trying to trick me

Chapter 1347

Blanketed by the darkness of a completely silent night in the countryside Melanie lay on her back and looked up at the peaked roof of her tent Her fingers tightened on the thin fabric of her blanket She had killed the giant fox from which the blanket was made herself but now she was gripping the rich skin so tightly it might rip There was only a slight chill on Earth right now even at night but she was drenched in freezing sweat

The image that had startled her awake was vanishing but that made it even more disconcerting The silence of the camp around her was almost oppressive

She had meant to get some sleep before the cooperative training of the taskforce began tomorrow at dawn but she had been awoken in the middle of the night And now no matter what she did she couldnÆt force herself to relax Cold fingers of fear gripped her so tightly that Melanie wondered if she would ever thaw

Melanie Fenn had been at WarlordÆs side from the beginning of Zone 11Æs journey Together they founded a Village endured the early tides of monsters overcame the sudden Tribulation and finally overcame the Raid Dungeon in order to become part of New Earth Unfortunately the situation waiting on the other side was slightly more chaotic than they had expected an epic Dungeon was spewing out high Level monsters that were a threat to the ZoneÆs survival

It was such a situation that Zone 11 had to rely on DonnytonÆs experience in order to stabilize themselves But even then Melanie hadnÆt felt fear In fact she had even been a little bit excited to escape from their isolation and find a bigger wider world waiting for them They were powerful and capable although people had died Melanie always had a hard time not blaming the dead for making some mistake that had doomed them She was part of WarlordÆs party and they had always been the winners

They would not make those same mistakes With time effort and cooperation their party could overcome any trial the world could throw in front of them

What the hell is that Melanie whispered in the darkness of her tent No one answered her as though the now faded reverberations had lingered long enough to steal away her words after they had left her mouth Likely no one would be able to answer her at least with a more detailed explanation than what she already knew

Because Melanie was one of the most powerful individuals that could utilize images that existed in Zone 11 So she definitely knew that what she had felt was an image Yet that power

It echoed across the storm clouded sky For a full ten seconds it felt like Melanie couldnÆt breathe It was a sphere of darkness shiny and round It was an egg hatching the end of the world The power of the image was such that it covered vast distances Although she couldnÆt tell where it originated from it was clearly far to North and West And the source was just as obvious this was an image of Randidly Ghosthound One that he hadnÆt displayed in the past but his touch was unmistakable

That egg had sat on her chest for ten long seconds and eviscerated every ounce of optimism and hope in MelanieÆs body

This time the GhosthoundÆs image was an open mouth that seemed capable of sucking in the entire world It was a hunger that was so pure and primal that it didnÆt seem like it could belong to a human An egg that would only hatch when everything else bright and lively had collapsed around it

Then the image slowly faded its echoes gradually dissipating Melanie shivered and did her best to fall back to sleep

The problem with post System combat Mrs Hamilton thought idly Is we have had generations of history telling us that an individual cannot accomplish much on the grand stage of battle That what we need are massed and well trained numbers Of course more powerful guns also made numbers less important but they didnÆt incite the same sort of chaos that this does

Mrs Hamilton was looking casually out the window at the hastily assembled parade grounds outside DonnytonÆs and Zone 11Æs elite forces filled the air with magical flames sonic booms and loud yells as they energetically sparred to get familiar with each otherÆs abilities Skills and weapons flew back and forth as the armored soldiers participated in 1 v 1 5 v 5 and 20 v 20 battles Each side had only brought around fifty people so in total the task force had 103 individuals taking part The fights had started with a little bit of extra tension as the two groups postured but very quickly that was stamped out by those in charge

They were here to protect the Earth after all They didnÆt have time for pride And when that didnÆt quite stamp out the spark of competition Paolo Kayle and WarlordÆs second who was named Melanie had stepped forward to beat the unwillingness to work out of their respective sides By this the second hour of the groupÆs training everyone was focusing on the enemy in front of them the mysterious Corrupted Invaders

Both groups had been able to arrive last night and were given time off to rest but that wasnÆt the reason that everyone was training so desperately The idea had been that everyone could rest and then get a fresh start but Mrs Hamilton didnÆt think anyone got much sleep last night Not after Randidly seemingly had a breakthrough in his third image that shook all of New Earth

At least it was an honest display of his current strength But to have it happen so far away with such wide reaching reverberations there will be consequences for this People will learn to fear Mrs Hamilton sighed inwardly Is this the Path you wanted Randidly Or did you feel like there was no other choice You were a legend for so long and now I donÆt doubt that people like Theodora and Phirun will start painting you as a monster

Even she powerful as she was felt small as that image had rippled overhead The far reaching pressure it had released made it difficult to even move although Mrs Hamilton could tell it was only due to her own extreme sensitivity to images that the effect was so egregious It was different than standing in front of Randidly when he had manifested his three images It was even different from feeling the power that the Overseer of their Cohort had unleashed That had been a polished weapon that Octavius had simply lifted to demonstrate EarthÆs inferiority

This felt more akin to a natural force that had the capacity to destroy the world It was an angel of death being born It was

Doom It felt like an impending doom Mrs HamiltonÆs hand tightened on a book with which she had been toying

While the soldiers continued to drill outside seven people stood around inside the central building Mrs Hamilton stood by the far wall of the tent between the window and a bookshelf drawing her fingers across the spines of books in an absentminded manner while her gaze focused at the training forces Across the interior of the building Warlord and his two aides Melanie and Kirk were engaged in a heated discussion that they were only making cursory efforts to keep quiet

From her tone and expression Melanie was deeply aggravated by something

Meanwhile Kirk adjusted his glasses and kept shooting nervous glances over toward the space where Donny and the Cortez siblings were leaning over a map of the Danger Zone they were about to enter the Broken Caverns When their leader replied in a curt tone Melanie threw her fiery red hair over her shoulder and began to argue quietly back with Warlord For a few more lines they struggled back and forth before Melanie huffed in irritation and lowered her shoulders

Mrs Hamilton was happy to see that everyone from Donnyton pretended not to notice the discussion tacitly agreeing to let the matter go It was good to see that both of the Cortez siblings were developing the maturity to be a more public face of Donnyton

Not that Mrs Hamilton even needed to listen in to their conversation in order to know what the argument was about Melanie had some concerns about the disposition of the troops After some discussion control of the expedition was placed completely within DonnyÆs hands Which meant that the Zone 11 forces were underneath the authority of a single Village and were largely expected to join into the existing framework of a Squad and cooperate fully

Obviously Melanie had suppressed Zone 11Æs troops when they tried to posture but that didnÆt mean she wanted their people to be so oppressed

Melanie was likely pointed out that putting everyone into squads effectively limited the strength of the Zone 11 individuals and she was right They were used to fighting independently and the more team focused method of Donnyton hampered them And in the grand scheme of things Mrs Hamilton privately believed that the young woman had a good point But what they needed was power now And the squad format would hopefully provide that

Mrs Hamilton was much more interested in how completely WarlordÆs rebuke seemed to shut Melanie down but she let her mind wander away from the disagreement it wasnÆt polite to look too closely at your coworkers after all

Clearing his throat Warlord walked back over toward the table with a wry smile Apologies for the delay Well anyway if thatÆs all settled I believe itÆs time we start the discussions about going into the Broken Caverns Have we heard back from our scouts

Isabella Cortez nodded ItÆs like we expected Most of the enemies toward the front are a variation on metal golems but the Corrupted Invaders have a camp deeper within The scouts didnÆt push the issue because they have a perimeter set up pretty deep in the Caverns The invaders appear to rely mainly on mobility and ranged weaponry ItÆs definitely within our capabilities to take the Caverns

You want me to soak up all that ranged damage donÆt you Donny sighed

The corner of IsabellaÆs mouth quirked upward but she didnÆt fully smile Based on the abilities of everyone available that would be the most efficient path If you can protect the group long enough for us to close the distance we can let what our people do what they do best

Warlord looked at Donny with interest A defensive focused Class Quite useful

From the gleam in WarlordÆs eyes he had it in mind to try and recruit Donny to come work for him It made Mrs Hamilton want to roll her eyes

Chapter 1348

Lyra moved quickly through the hidden ways that the Nexus built around the planet The red violet energy of the SystemÆs Aether acted as a current that carried her through various branching pathways Now that Earth appeared to be approaching completionÆ in the eyes of the System those ways were starting to open up The veins of Aether around the planet flowed more quickly After all these ways would soon house an even more extensive monitoring network so the Nexus could accurately access the ability of Earth to pass the Calamities

Already Lyra could see the shape of it but her status as a Village Spirit prevented her from looking too closely Even for Village Spirits some secrets were too important to allow for witnesses

LyraÆs movements through the ways however were stiff She was practically sleepwalking her mind was elsewhere

Because of Randidly GhosthoundÆs actions several individuals knew of Earth A casual examination of the chatter on some of the Cohort wide communications that she had access to due to being a Village Spirit made that clear The communications functioned much like a message board from pre System Earth It was only because of the communications that she had obtained so many context clues to figure out the full extent of her abilities as a Village Spirit The communications network had a huge impact on her personal growth

And it couldnÆt be ignored that the sheer volume of other Village Spirits and planets present on the message board was part of the reason that Lyra had been so swayed by YystrixÆs arguments

did she think of me toward the end Lyra thought as she was carried like a bobbing piece of driftwood through the ways But then she shook her head Thinking like that helped no one Better to keep her mind disciplined especially now

Even Lyra was unsure about why exactly Randidly had drawn so much attention to him Every now and again there Lyra saw some of her fellow Village Spirits of Earth were drawn into conversations that were a little too specific to be coincidental But from what she could tell those that knew about the Earth being special were very careful not to appear too concerned about Earth

When Village Spirits from other planets asked about why people kept mentioning it the easy excuse was that someone powerful enough to survive on the frontlines had come through due to a Judgement Certainly an impressive feat but the phrasing hid the fact that Randidly did more than survive on the frontlines He survived as an image recovered his body and then was named a Commander

The military structure of the Nexus outside of the Xyrt Brigade was rather loose but becoming a Commander still was quite impressive So impressive that most people in the know didnÆt bring it up lest others covet whatever secret that the Earth was hiding

Randidly you are really nothing but trouble Lyra thought grumpily I really hope you understood my warning

A part of Lyra wished to tarry further in the icy hot grip of Aether but another part of her knew it wouldnÆt be worth it So when Lyra arrived at her destination threshold she proceeded through without slowing down at all The sensation of being submerged in energy disappeared and Lyra was suddenly standing in a stone room

On the other side of the threshold were four individuals arguing in the center of the room with a fifth man sitting in an unadorned wooden chair pressed up against the far wall Aside from the entrance Lyra just used there were no windows or other doors The place was illuminated by several floating balls of golden light orbiting the central point of the room

The four talking individuals froze when Lyra arrived then relaxed as they recognized her Very quickly they returned to ignoring Lyra as she walked across to stand by the man sitting in the chair It seemed that whatever had them so up in a lather wasnÆt something they were willing to drop

We should contact the Nemesai If the situation on this planet is unusual enough for us to be deployed in this strange scenario finding out more information is critical Guthur argued Of the four leaders of the Corrupted Invaders present on Earth Guthur was for lack of a better adjective the only timid one While the others had begun spreading their influence through the Danger Zones they occupied only GuthurÆs group hid in the depths

Hiding is useless against RandidlyÆs Perception but your plan is probably effective in normal situations Lyra thought as she took her place next to the man sitting in the chair

All four were of the same strange alien race something that resembled a meer kat built to the scale of a human but with blue chitinous armor that covered their bodies The largest of the four and the leader of the more aggressive faction amongst the Corrupted Invaders sneered at Guthur And yet are these humans not also slinking around your base Guthur It seems that your cowardice possesses a pungent odor that will lead them to your doorstep no matter how much you fear them

The other aliens clicked their jaws which was their way of showing amusement Guthur trembled whether in fear or fury Lyra didnÆt know but the confrontation was stopped just as soon as it started

Enough Return to your positions The Earthlings will come today for some of you Be prepared The sitting man said in an almost lyrical voice Every word seemed like it was poised to leap into song before the sounds smoothly flowed into the next sentence Honestly Lyra wouldnÆt be surprised if she opened up the manÆs chest and found a series of organ pipes stacked within

Although she kept her gaze straight ahead Lyra couldnÆt help but take in the details of the man sitting next to her one more time Humanoid and more so than the alien Corrupted Invaders but still decidedly other If anything Lyra associated him with the sharp chinned and eared descriptions of elves from Earth

But what was most striking about the man was his coloration He was completely hairless as far as Lyra could tell but his skin was a dull bronze color that reflected light in a most attractive manner In addition his eyes seemed to be two pools of reflective silver The combination made it easier for the man to catch the eye of the unwary as he moved

The largest of the alienÆs hesitated as he looked over toward the sitting man Despite its alien features its unwillingness to simply wait around in the Danger Zone assigned to it was clear This is a young planet There is no need to behave so strictly Compared to them we

This young planet is involved in the death of someone far beyond your paygrade Kaan Swacc said in a low voice His silver eyes were serene even when the strange musicality of his voice became ominous He spoke and it was the jarring sound of a piano falling from a ten story building I hope I donÆt need to repeat myself

After a series of hurried bows the four aliens departed through the same door that Lyra had used to arrive The golden lights continued their gradual rotation overhead Then Kaan looked over at her and offered her a lazy grin He possessed no teeth so the gaps in his lips simply revealed darkness How did it go

I informed Randidly Ghosthound of a plan to attack the people of Earth as you ordered Lyra said with a smile in reply

Kaan hummed at that It scampered musically up and down the scales like he was playing a harmonical rather than just thinking His bronze skin glimmered as he reached to a pouch at his belt and produced a slowly spinning Aether construct that hovered above his palm As soon as it appeared Lyra felt her traitorous Village Spirit scaffolding tremble and stiffen As long as Kaan Swacc held that symbol of authority from the System there was little Lyra the Village Spirit could do to resist him Especially because it gave him the ability to give orders that her Aether self would follow to the letter

Kaan nodded You arenÆt lying to me Good Do you think that he will take the bait and try and go into a Dungeon

Well considering his track record of stubbornly handling dangerous problems Yes he will head toward a Dungeon

Even if he realizes the hint he will still head there to draw you out

Tilting his head to the side Kaan Swacc eyed Lyra speculatively I can read your emotions you know Not even because of this He waved the sigil of authority around but just from experience I can tell you are worried about him but less worried than you were before you left What gave you this confidence

His new image is strange and powerful You might not have felt it here but it releases a somewhat ominous aura Lyra said truthfully Although she mostly hoped her message had gotten through to him the strength of his image had certainly been a surprise

Kaan hummed again at that No I did feel it And itÆs impressive certainly It wasnÆt for nothing that he survived on the frontlines But his image is complicated and unbalanced Based on what I can sense it will consume him within a year But until that happens I suppose he will possess a volatile efficiency at what he does

Lyra felt her heart flutter at that Because based on what Lyra had come to know of Kaan in the last week since he had main his presence known she had learned one thing about him he was a man too arrogant to lie If he truly thought RandidlyÆs image would consume him there was likely a grain of truth to it

Before Lyra could consider that issue further Kaan stood up abruptly flexing his hands IÆm curious of your thoughts on what the RashaiÆi were arguing about whether it would be worth it to involve the Nemesai Should we contact them

Before she could stop herself her mouth was moving Simple questions were almost reflex to answer honestly Probably

Why probably Kaan retorted

Lyra shrugged If you can keep Randidly Ghosthound from interfering yes If not then there really isnÆt any point As long as heÆs present heÆs already demonstrated he can rather simply suppress the entirety of the Nemesai with his presence In fact even with you there Randidly probably could split his attention up enough to dominate the entire battlefield

Believe me after reading the reports of the frontlines I more than respect his ability to affect a larger battlefield Kaan hummed musically again And what do you think the Nemesai would do if I contacted them

That caused Lyra to blink because she genuinely had to think about it for a short amount of time In terms of response They would likely be cautious after seeing RandidlyÆs power at his birthday but if you could convince them you had dealt with him they would gather up and attack one of the task forces while they assaulted the Corrupted InvadersÆ base Likely each task force has enough powerful individuals to weather a Nemesai attack without serious casualties but it would delay them With your assistance the people of Earth

I will not touch the average person on Earth For whatever reason the corner of KaanÆs mouth was stretching wider and wider It was a smile but it was a strange shapeless one Perhaps it was just because he had no teeth but his entirely gleaming face looked like a mask covering something hideous beneath However girl it turns out we are nowhere near as smart as we thought we were What if I told you I had already reached out to the Nemesai and they had refused me Apparently they need time to consider another offer of cooperation Any idea why they would say that to me

Randidly Ghosthound LyraÆs lips opened and closed to let the two words pass before she could even stop herself

Kaan Swacc nodded slowly His luminous silver eyes narrowed Which is extremely strange Because what can this Earthling offer Nemesai My offer to help them fail the Earth should be their ultimate goal which makes me worry that my secret theory is correct

Then Kaan turned to look at Lyra The worst part of the sigil of authorityÆs power was that it also be used to force Lyra to take an action Like bringing Randidly the message that Kaan would attack one of the task forces without revealing KaanÆs plan A complicated action required a very specific order in order for it to be effective But for a simpler action

Eventually LyraÆs face went pale and she began to cough When she had recovered her breath she asked the question that Kaan wanted the tilt of his chin had been enough to force her to ask it What is your secret theory

Kaan clapped his hands together in simple amusement When his two hands touched they chimed beautifully IÆm so glad you asked I believe Randidly Ghosthound is a Nether spy There is no other explanation for how he was able to survive so long as an image on the frontlines nor why he improved in power so quickly More than that

In the wake of the battle on the frontlines the wounded form of a Nether King remained near our territory My fellow members of the Xyrt Brigade traveled there immediately Because they acted quickly they were able to suppress the Nether King and prevent it from healing but then strangely some force unraveled their efforts Only three days ago the Nether King vanished

You think the Nether KingÆs disappearance was related to Randidly That conclusion makes me question the integrity of your logic Lyra said with great relish There were sometimes when she quite appreciated being forced to be completely honest

If anything however Kaan shared her amusement His grin stretched wider Perhaps not him directly but a force that this Ghosthound of yours represents Like I said I can read your emotions girl You might believe that I am here because I hate this Randidly but that cannot be further from the truth IÆm actually quite delighted to have the chance to encounter this Randidly Ghosthound

Because killing him seems like it will be fun To actually find a true being of Nether on a planet It is rare I find an unusual foe even in the Xyrt Brigade

Lyra frowned If you want to kill him why encourage him to go into a Dungeon

Suddenly KaanÆs smile vanished He raised his gleaming bronze hand and swirled a finger around in the air and Lyra felt her body moving of its own accord After gasping she found herself facing the ground bent at the waist

It was an exact reflection of her posture from when she had been standing before Randidly

Orders girl There was no music in KaanÆs voice this time The man turned and left the room leaving Lyra trapped in that position until the order slowly faded away As he left he provided one last line into the frozen air In the Nexus everyone is puppeted by someone

Chapter 1349

Lyra stood at attention behind Kaan Swacc hiding in an amorphous bubble of noise that Kaan had created so that they could remain undetected There was a slight opaqueness to the bubble but it was all but invisible from the inside Based on what Lyra had gathered during its creation KaanÆs powerful image had generated such a disturbance along the edge of the bubble that it essentially destroyed the air in the surrounding area

Which meant that they could stand on the sandy slope above the entrance to the Dungeon without worrying about Randidly Ghosthound detecting them no matter how powerful his evolved Perception was The combination of illusion and spatial moat seemed to be enough for Kaan

LyraÆs heart trembled with nostalgia as she looked down toward the entrance to the Dungeon It was the same one that she had arranged for Randidly to enter all that time ago at YystrixÆs direction so he would run into the Fate left by Chulroon She wasnÆt sure that Randidly would choose this Dungeon to use as his training space especially because he had already largely stripped it bare of natural resources during his previous visit but it was the one that Lyra had suggested when Kaan asked if she had any ideas where he would go

Not that they needed to be there Kaan assured her He just wanted to be there to savor the moment So if she was wrong it wouldnÆt end up mattering

It was about five in the evening with the sun just starting to sink toward the horizon The light of the day shifted gradually from yellow to orange Kaan grimaced and squinted upward at the declining star His eyes reflected white light that made it difficult for Lyra to look directly at him Is this truly the location you think is the most likely Are you sure he wonÆt waste our time

Yes Lyra sighed As much as she wished he wouldnÆt she didnÆt doubt that Randidly would run toward this confrontation So the two settled down to wait Occasionally Lyra could feel people from Donnyton accessing her abilities as a Village Spirit in order to obtain a Class Even from this distance she could approve the decision while functioning remotely Although she wasnÆt there to offer any advice to the foolish youths or new arrivals her role as Village Spirit continued despite the fact that Kaan had all but kidnapped her

Another hour passed with nothing happening The sun sank closer to the horizon Red began to bleed into the color palette

During that time Lyra began to get worried Not that Kaan was a man who became agitated about being deceived or disappointed If anything Lyra was unnerved by how completely unaffected Kaan seemed to be during their dozen or so interactions over the past week Aside from that hint of coldness when Kaan spoke about all people being puppeted in the Nexus and leaving Lyra stuck there for a few hours he had been constantly amicable

To a disturbing degree

No what worried Lyra was that Kaan would begin to investigate Lyra a little too closely following her assurance that ended up being incorrect Lyra wasnÆt exactly sure what the man would see inside of her because she was both a Village Spirit and possessed a Class but wanted to keep that duality a secret for as long as possible Even she wasnÆt sure what it meant But she had known that if there was a possibility to escape from the confines of being a Village Spirit she needed to begin before the situation on Earth finalized itself

Kaan sighed Yet at that exact moment the air split open next to the entrance to the Dungeon Randidly Ghosthound stepped out of the abrupt space and it closed behind him without a sound

RandidlyÆs brow furrowed as he glanced left and right across the sandy expanse Lyra felt herself straighten almost instinctively as RandidlyÆs gaze flicked in the direction where the two were standing Even from this distance his emerald eyes were distinct and bright

Behind her Kaan chuckled I told you This Ghosthound displays a lot of potential but heÆs still pretty fresh to his power And not used to enemies of this caliber This sort of trick is definitely something that he hasnÆt seen before Now tell me whatever you think is relevant about the current Randidly Ghosthound

Lyra grimaced at the order but took a few seconds to scan RandidlyÆs person He had trimmed his black hair so it was close to his head once more He wore a rather tight leather top with more loose fitting linen pants More than that what Lyra immediately noticed is that Randidly had come here unarmed

He doesnÆt have Acri or Sulfur on him Lyra said slowly Those are his living spear and armor respectively Both very powerful ItÆs honestly strange that he didnÆt bring them if he planned on spending a significant amount of time training

Why Kaan pressed in a perfectly on tune hum

Shrugging Lyra magnified her own worry and confusion that Randidly would come here so ill prepared after her warning IÆm not sure The only explanation that I can come up with is that he really plans on developing that image to fight you

Ha Does he think that he can buy some time by slowly feeding himself to that self destructive image Kaan shook his bronze gleaming head Well it matters not Since he came all the way here all we need to do is wait and watch to see

Kaan stopped speaking as Randidly walked up to the Dungeon and pressed his hand against the threshold After a split second Randidly was gone isolated from Earth by the strange constructs of the System The casual ease that Randidly walked up and entered into the Dungeon made LyraÆs stomach drop out of her chest Even after her warning he really just proceeded directly to the Dungeon

LyraÆs years of working as an actress kept it so none of her emotions showed on her face but her heart was twisting itself with worry is it possible that my status in his eyes is so low that he didnÆt take my warning seriously Or that he really didnÆt notice anything off about what I said If so and he just walked into a trap that I was the bait for

Heh to think it would be this easy wait dammit Kaan whispered He whistled and the barrier around them dissipated like it had never existed He took a step and seemed to pass directly through the distance to appear in front of the Dungeon entrance When he arrived he waved his hand and Lyra could feel the Special Investigator examining the Aether constructs around the Dungeon with his bright silver eyes

Lyra quickly proceeded to stand next to Kaan Swacc feeling slightly nonplussed IsnÆt this what you wanted To trap him within a Dungeon

Kaan cast Lyra an irritated glance but seeing the expression on her face forced a small smirk across his bronze features Where did you get that impression Am I the type to avoid a fight

And it was times like this that Lyra detested the influence that the authority sigil held over her You tricked me into believing you were bringing him here to trap him within a Dungeon But you are right you really arenÆt the type to avoid a fight you want to fight Randidly So then what you are trying to do here

is give yourself justification to act as a Special Investigator IsnÆt that right

Even Kaan was shocked when Randidly once again stepped out of a rip in the air and stood behind the duo His emerald eyes were bright and sharp And this time Lyra noticed he was holding the lance form of Acri and wore the slate grey Sulfur

Always one to respond quickly Kaan grinned at Randidly and made no attempt to hide the way that he scanned Randidly from head to toe He even released a fistful of concentrated Aether to cover Randidly although Randidly just as quickly conjured a flow of his own Aether that knocked the more in depth scan away Well well well so you are Randidly Ghosthound Was the other one a decoy An effective one if I fell for it But I really only have one question you need to answer Did you kill Ileot Swacc

The last question that was spoken in a completely different tone of the other KaanÆs musicality seemed to reverberate outward from his toothless mouth with a ringing harshness Resonance rippled outward and applied pressure to Randidly Just as easily as Randidly had dealt with the prod with Aether Randidly disposed of this sound by conjuring his new image into existence After a shuddering moment a black egg appeared above RandidlyÆs head

The surrounding space seemed to freeze

It was almost strange Lyra reflected that she immediately thought egg as she looked toward the image But the longer her eyes stayed on the black orb the more she felt like something terrible was growing in its depths

The inky black egg devoured KaanÆs musical voice without comment

KaanÆs toothless smile stretched even wider Do you think that I donÆt have ways to force you to answer me

I think you donÆt Randidly replied quite confident ThatÆs exactly why you used Lyra to try and apply pressure so I would go into a Dungeon ahead of time Although I was worried for a bit Octavius was right you wonÆt move until I give you justification You need proof that IÆm an unstable element

All the glee vanished from KaanÆs face So you choose to delay I donÆt know how you fooled everyone on the frontlines but I know that you are a Nether spy IÆm ready for your Nether tricks

Suddenly KaanÆs words stopped as he saw a flash of shock and panic across RandidlyÆs face For a split second Lyra entertained the possibility that Kaan was right that Randidly was truly a Nether spy and that was the reason he was so powerful

Kaan began to laugh maniacally Oh I didnÆt think you would reveal yourself so easily No worries IÆll still wait for proof but I really just need to wait until the Epic Danger Zone is revealed then IÆll be able to conduct a more thorough investigation of this planet to root out unstable elements

Believe me when I say you will give me an answer for the death of Ileot Swacc on that day Randidly Ghosthound

Chapter 1350

For a split second as Kaan had been speaking Randidly had realized that his attempts to hide his ability to use Nether were basically all for naught in front of this foe For the wrong reasons it seemed like Kaan had made the right sort of preparations to fight against him He even threw that fact in his face rather than hiding his preparations

Which was annoying but the reveal was more of a mental blow than a true one Kaan could be prepared for Nether but Randidly doubted he would be prepared for how adept he would be at utilizing it Already Randidly had moved far past the abilities of Nether Gatekeepers

Seemingly satisfied after delivering his last threat Kaan turned away and gestured for Lyra to follow him Randidly was interested to note that Lyra followed almost immediately only casting an almost apologetic glance back toward Randidly before she walked away with Kaan Swacc

Already Randidly had accomplished his three goals for coming to this Dungeon so he was fine with them leaving It disturbed him a little to see Lyra acting so obediently like this but her hidden warning in the earlier message clearly indicated that things werenÆt completely overwhelming for her

Besides after being next to the bronze humanoid Randidly could admit he wasnÆt ready to fight against him

Still with how smug Kaan seemed after another misunderstanding Randidly couldnÆt help but needle him the tiniest bit Ileot Swacc isnÆt dead you know

Whatever Randidly had expected after throwing out that tidbit he hadnÆt expected the Special Investigator to ignore him completely Very soon the figures of Kaan and Lyra began to grow fuzzy and fade with a strange chiming like a handbell ringing Even once they were completely disappeared Randidly waited for several more minutes next to the Dungeon without moving There was no point in rushing now

And if Randidly was being honest his heart was pounding after standing in front of Kaan Swacc The Special Investigator oozed solidity of image in a way that Randidly hadnÆt sensed since Ileot Swacc himself There were basically not ripples of his image as he moved and used his Skills

Eventually Randidly received a message from Neveah and Randidly released a pulse of Nether in the surrounding area He kept the pulse weak but it spread out through that crack in the System and gave him a pretty good understanding of the ground around them Even if Kaan Swacc was a powerful individual from the Xyrt Brigade Randidly hoped that Nether would be able to detect him nearby

Which might not be true considering he was trained to counter Nether foes Randidly grimaced But itÆs not like I have any other choice There arenÆt any other Skills that I think would be more effective

When his Nether detected nothing Randidly gave a return signal A few minutes later another Randidly walked out of the Dungeon this Randidly without Acri and Sulfur They nodded to each other and then Randidly used the PhilosopherÆs Key to open a portal back to his island

Only when they were back on the island did Neveah let her illusion fall away Or rather she replaced the illusion Randidly with an illusion of her usual human form And immediately she spoke ItÆs hard to confirm without you testing it directly but for the moment itÆs best you donÆt head into any Dungeons The Aether constructs are necessarily very delicate in order to accomplish such a vast dilation of time

Randidly grimaced So getting me to go to a Dungeon wasnÆt about keeping my tracked inside but about outting my use of Nether

More specifically I suspect you traveling through the Dungeon threshold will damage it thereby triggering an alert in the System Neveah put her arms behind her back and folded her hands like a professor giving a lecture I cannot be sure but like I said earlier your idea about warping the Aether to increase the time distortion is feasible but would severely damage the Dungeon in the long run Which I suspect would cause the same sort of alarm that you heading into the Dungeon with too much ambient Nether around you

I suspect we donÆt want to find out what causing such an alarm would trigger

How much is too much Nether Randidly asked taking a seat on a wide and flat stone he had brought to the center of the island for just this purpose Moonlight spirits flitted around gleefully happy for his return

Finally Neveah seemed to hesitate I donÆt know Trace amounts should get you through fine but your current Nether situation in fact I would suspect that any sort of teleportation that the Nexus has constructed would be affected by your current Nether You are likely very lucky that you obtained the PhilosopherÆs Key when you did If you had gone through the Nexus teleport arrays

Randidly thanked Neveah and she departed after Randidly promised that he would allow her to come with him in the eventual confrontation against Kaan Swacc Neveah was rather bitter about the fact that Randidly had been hogging all the boss fights recently She departed after extracting his promise

Which left him slightly amused and alone on his stone to consider what to do next

LyraÆs warning was crucial for avoiding this trap even though she was also the vehicle by which the hook was delivered to Randidly Luckily instead of trying to just think up a way to lure Special Investigator into a scenario that would give Randidly an advantage in a brawl he had immediately consulted Neveah on what form Kaan SwaccÆs trap would take

It had torn her away from continuing to research the Engravings Yystrix had left but it had been worth it Neveah had brought up some very valuable points that had completely changed RandidlyÆs strategy for dealing with the situation

Her opinion about a trap inside a Dungeon being unlikely made Randidly willing to gamble a bit to see if he could figure out his second goal for this encounter would the Special Investigator truly just freely attack the people of Earth in order to bring him anguish

It was to ascertain this fact that he had come to the Dungeon in the first place and had a disguised Neveah go through before him to flush any watchers out And Randidly could emphatically now answer that Kaan Swacc did seem to have some sort of honor that would keep him from moving against Randidly

Alone he had very quickly begun to assume that Kaan was a sadistic bastard on Earth for vengeance Randidly had believed that he would stop at nothing to cause Randidly pain and in fact would enjoy spreading havoc across the Earth

But after meeting Kaan it was clear that he was a military man through and through

Sighing Randidly shook his head On the one had it was better that Kaan wouldnÆt lash out at the people of Earth but his military solidity would make him a tough opponent

Once more he had time At least until the Epic Danger Zone manifested itself Because Randidly didnÆt plan on doing anything particularly destabilizing now that he assured himself that the Special Investigator did in fact have some morals that guided his behavior

And during that time Randidly planned on training Specifically on a way to beat Kaan Swacc And the training was a bit dangerous in the long run but for now

With a small smile on his face Randidly produced the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night The reason that he ultimately took the risk of exposing himself to the Special Investigator wasnÆt just to determine whether he truly wouldnÆt attack without proof of deviant behavior from the people of Earth

RandidlyÆs grin widened as he focused on Kaan Swacc and a single chiming moment appeared in the depths of the Fatepiece Seems like it was pretty easy to accomplish my third goal for today

Congratulations Your Fatepiece Dreamcatcher of the Long Night has grown to Level 44

Congratulations Your Fatepiece Dreamcatcher of the Long Night has grown to Level 51

Just over halfway huh Randidly said out loud his mind briefly going to the third piece of his Fateset that he had already obtained from YystrixÆs tomb If he continued at this rate he might have access to it after another month or two Then Randidly shook his head The third Fatepiece could wait until later

Randidly burrowed his perception into his current Fatepiece and aligned himself with the chiming moment that it had recorded There was a swirling sense of blending to the surrounding space and then things started to settle back into definitive lines around him

At the moment of that frozen moment in the Fatepiece Randidly was stepping through the portal of the PhilosopherÆs Key and seeing both the figures of Lyra and Kaan twisting around in shock as he arrived for the second time in five minutes After seeing him head into the Dungeon they clearly werenÆt prepared to see him walk out from behind them

This time however Randidly took advantage of the opening in a way he hadnÆt in the original memory He raised Acri and used Man Is Proud But the Chimera Takes He had barely stepped forward onto the sandy ground on the other side of the portal when his body blurred forward and the sand beneath him exploded in a huge cloud of debris Lyra was sent stumbling backward by the concussive force

Kaan reacted quickly but he reacted exactly as Randidly had expected As Acri zipped forward to impale Kaan the shiny man threw himself backward And truly Randidly was impressed with the speed of his reactions But Randidly also noticed that he wasnÆt relying on his image at all It was only his Stats and Skills that moved him

And when it came to those two factors Randidly was very confident in his significant advantage Randidly flexed his muscles conscious of Nether Brawn slowly surging to life in his every movement Acri made contact with KaanÆs hands that blurred upward to deflect the thrust

It was quite enjoyable actually to see KaanÆs face twist into shock as his two hands slapped upward and caught the pyramidal tip of Acri only to realize that he was inferior in Strength to Randidly In fact Randidly had quite a bit of advantage on that front The two figures were shooting across the sand Randidly shoving Acri further and further forward despite KaanÆs best efforts

Of course even without his image Kaan was a powerful humanoid trained by the Xyrt Brigade There was no way that his Skill Levels were low So the next time his skidding feet found enough of a dune beneath him his legs flexed and his abruptly twisted Acri and slammed its tip downward

Even though the plant lance unraveled itself as soon as it felt the Special InvestigatorÆs movements AcriÆs bulk still caught in the sand and flung Randidly forward Kaan spread his arms wide and released a strange noise from his mouth that caused the air to shimmer and hum Yet Stillborn Phoenix image appeared above Randidly devouring the Skill before it could land

It was a silent cry of hunger from the collapsed star that wished to be born again

And then when Kaan prepared for another move Randidly exploded like a veritable volcano of Nether The powerful negative energy that he had been cultivating in his Nether Nebula seethed over the surrounding space instantly cause the air to bend and ripple as the fabric of the System was disturbed The edge of the area became the bubble and the entire interior that was soaked in his thick Nether became the core

KaanÆs eyes began to glow a baleful silver color even as Nether set his skin sizzling I knew it

Randidly felt KaanÆs image surging to the fore in response but Nether had already seized the initiative in the area In addition Randidly instantly pulled back on his Nether rapidly making it flow through the same pattern that he and Neveah designed to flatten it So abruptly all the Nether in the area smashed downward exerting a heavy binding influence in the surrounding ten meters Kaan staggered under the force of the sudden suppression

Randidly had been careful to know Kaan far enough away that Lyra was clear so that he could oppress the Special Investigator and see what he really was capable of But honestly this was a bit disapoint

Suddenly RandidlyÆs Nether was gone His Aether Detection Skill screamed at him as he felt several strange Aether constructs lock down the surrounding area In fact suddenly the surrounding hundred meters appeared to have been cut out of Earth and brought to a strange area Any other attempts Randidly made to generate Nether saw that energy ripped out of his body without the slightest change in the surroundings

Kaan showed a wide grin without any teeth toward Randidly A strange howling noise seemed to emanate from his body It was a powerful image that gave Randidly pause and it was only getting started

Got you traitor

In response Randidly shrugged Then he exited the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night before Kaan could do anything that would permanently injure his Nether

Chapter 1351

For about fifteen minutes Randidly sat in one place and rubbed his forehead to try and alleviate the slowly growing headache Every Level in his Fatepiece made the process a little easier but the truth was he upped his activity much faster than he was gathered Levels He had spent much of the past six hours attempting to fight against the isolated moment with Kaan Swacc and had to admit that he had initially been quite optimistic about his chances against him

Perhaps it was time to consider options other than forcing a fight with the Special Investigator

The biggest problem in fighting Kaan was that even the slightest hint of Nether from Randidly resulted in KaanÆs entire persona changing With great prejudice Randidly would be ripped from Earth into that isolated area and Kaan would explode with his own image If that wasnÆt bad enough Nether was completely useless within that area It was like the surrounding area was connected to some sort of Nether sink that would siphon away his energy to a location where it would become irrelevant

The weapon that Randidly had been honing for the past couple of weeks was instantly made irrelevant

Of course after experiencing the suppression a few times Randidly learned some valuable information about the Special Investigator It wasnÆt that he was entirely sure that Randidly was a Nether spy based on the small manifestations of Nether that Randidly released but that they were sufficient justification for the Special Investigator to move

For all his honor he was a loaded gun waiting for justification to shoot

And on one of the occasions that Randidly gambled and fought for a short amount of time within the isolated area rather than fleeing Kaan let slip that if Randidly wasnÆt a Nether spy he didnÆt have anything to worry about After he was captured and thoroughly scanned by the Xyrt BrigadeÆs special equipment the truth would come out If he was innocent he would be released

Randidly didnÆt like the sound of that at all Especially because he did have a Nether Nebula inside of his body From his discussions with Octavius seemed like something of an open secret that many people in the upper management of the Nexus understood Nether principles and could utilize it in small amounts But the official stance of the Nexus was a no tolerance policy

Which didnÆt even address the fact that such sophisticated scanning equipment would likely notice the existence of the Alpha Cosmos in RandidlyÆs body Randidly hadnÆt forgotten that the Alpha Cosmos was the entire reason that Ileot Swacc had tried to gain control of his body in the first place At that point it was a toss up whether the Xyrt Brigade or the Swacc Family would be the ones to take him away and experiment on his unique physique

Randidly did at least figure out that using his Stillborn Phoenix Skills that were based on Nether principles but not fueled by Nether didnÆt trigger the isolation reaction out of the Special Investigator He would doggedly fight with his physical body and Skills until an actual hint of Nether appeared Of course the Skills were much weaker without relying on Nether to fuel them But the conflict was at the very least good training

Besides he prevents me from using Nether for longer than five seconds anyway Randidly thought sourly

Special Investigator Kaan Swacc was a demanding training partner Because even without his images he was a little bit stronger than Randidly due to his higher Skill Levels RandidlyÆs higher Stats bridged some of that distance but not enough

As overpowering and killing the Special Investigator seemed to be less feasible of an option than he had anticipated Randidly put more and more thought toward trying to apply some pressure through the Nexus But that train of thought soon reached a dead end Because he quickly realized that the force demanding a fight was no longer just the Swacc Family at this point it became the Xyrt Brigade

It was actually a masterful bit of maneuvering on the part of the Swacc Family Because the reason that the Xyrt Brigade had agreed to help was an effort to shirk responsibility for the Aether tithe to all the planets of wounded veterans Now that it had gotten the taste of being free from that burden it wouldnÆt easily let that go And orders from the Xyrt Brigade were probably why the Special Investigator would have his tied hands freed when the Epic Danger Zone was revealed they didnÆt want any accidents to occur

Once Earth closed in on the finish line to obtain the benefits the Special Investigator was free to act

For a little while Randidly considered whether to just accept the burden of the planets in the Epic Danger Zone that the Xyrt Brigade was giving them in order to avoid a confrontation Based on what Octavius was able to gather they were essentially getting enough land to rival the surface area of four old Earths In addition they would gain the populations of those worlds some of which were very powerful in their own right

Even with those benefits most of the resources from those worlds will slowly dissipate over the next year Randidly grimaced What was worse was the issue of Aether density assuming that he maintained his current state of passively releasing a small amount of Aether to supplement the planet the resulting Aether would be barely enough for EarthÆs current elite to survive

All of the work they had done over the past five years would have been undone by a backroom deal in the Nexus And that pissed Randidly off quite a lot

On the other hand I donÆt have to actually kill Kaan Swacc In theory I could just occupy him so that Earth can finish things off With Helen at the helm they should be rather capable But can I be sure that I can keep him from interfering with the Epic Danger Zone And who is to say he wonÆt just doggedly continue pursuing me after they succeed

Growling Randidly shook his head It would be easiest if he could apply some internal pressure from within the Nexus to get the Xyrt Brigade to take a step back but the original Vualla was still MIA She had not responded to his messages and he didnÆt have a connection with her like he did with the most recent iteration of Vualla to reach out directly with Nether Ritual

She was supposed to be his greatest shield against these sorts of things Which was why he had helped her take Ileot SwaccÆs body away Yet now Randidly was slowly becoming frustrated at her disappearance

Besides IÆm a little leery of using Nether Ritual as long as the Special Investigator is here to observe me Randidly sighed Then the threw his hands up in the air At this point he had basically recovered from his headache it was time to go back into the Dreamcatcher

Congratulations Your Fatepiece Dreamcatcher of the Long Night has grown to Level 52

Randidly had the impression that there was a secret about the usage of the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night hid some sort of secret philosophy or something but his attention was so focused on other things that he hadnÆt been able to figure anything productive out But he at least continued to note the times that it had Leveled

The swirling colors slowly settled around Randidly He was holding Acri and stepping through the portal The duo in front of him was turning around in shock

That earned a smile from Randidly No matter how many times he saw it the confirmation on Kaan SwaccÆs face that he had been fooled by NeveahÆs disguise never failed to put Randidly in a good mood It helped that they were Soulbound but the illusions that she wove were absolutely impeccable

Randidly focused on this battle on getting more familiar with his Cosmic Necessity After all it was hard to find a sparring partner who was as enthusiastic as Kaan Swacc just lying around on Earth And most others were too easy to bully

RandidlyÆs gaze darkened as he took a step forward A purple black energy flowed around his limbs filled with the tiniest pinpricks of emerald and orange There was a strange sense of peace that flowed through Randidly as the energy filled him giving him vast insight into how Kaan would move He was part of a vast pattern and with his sharp gaze he could capture slight hints of what was to come

Congratulations Your Skill Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold has grown to Level 258

Congratulations Your Skill Cosmic Necessity has grown to Level 203

Randidly brought Acri upward in a vicious thrust toward the Special InvestigatorÆs neck The bronze man immediately responded by pulling up his hands to catch Acri By this point Randidly had seen this move so many times that he was already adjusting the angle of his thrust to avoid it Annoyingly KaanÆs hands unerring followed the blow

Good Perception and Reaction but not enough

With a small grin Randidly conjured a Cosmic Orb directly in front of him and activated it in quick succession He pulled himself forward a short distance throwing off KaanÆs predictions and smashing AcriÆs tip against his foeÆs collarbone Unfortunately KaanÆs body was exceedingly tough he only staggered when hit and wasnÆt pierced by AcriÆs sharp tip

Of course Randidly wasnÆt willing to miss this chance He activated Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart and smashed the back of KaanÆs knees with a surge of unexpected gravity The Special InvestigatorÆs face twisted into a snarl as he folded backward and Randidly brought Acri down in a vicious overhead strike to smash him into the ground

Unfortunately Randidly hadnÆt moved quickly enough KaanÆs hand flashed upward to intercept Acri and he used his strange sound based Skills to defuse the force of the blow into the air The sand in the surrounding area was blasted away but the Special Investigator was none of the worse for wear

RandidlyÆs eyes narrowed Spinning downward and dropping to his knees he unleashed a kick at Kaan that the humanoid twisted away from at the last second But of course Cosmic Necessity saw that coming and Randidly was already surging forward With AcriÆs huge form brought to bear once more Randidly unleashed three quick thrusts

Dong Dong Dong

There was a flash of bronze and all three strikes were dealt with By this point Kaan had caught up to the tempo His hands spread outward and turned RandidlyÆs attacks aside Did you truly think guh

Randidly conjured another Cosmic Orb and used it to accelerate his body into smashing his metallic left shoulder into the Special InvestigatorÆs chest It was only a half step backward that Randidly caused but it was enough to seize back the initiative He released Acri to let the plant lance act independently and unleashed a barrage of palm strikes at Kaan

Acri was simply too big and unwieldy against a foe like Kaan who could neutralize kinetic force with but a touch Better to rely on quicker strikes to inflict rapid damage

Congratulations Your Skill Cosmic Necessity has grown to Level 204

Congratulations Your Skill Cosmic Necessity has grown to Level 205

Randidly landed several vicious hits against KaanÆs torso before the bronze humanoid managed to gather together more of a defensive stance But Randidly could tell that his earlier blows werenÆt nearly enough to inflict any lasting damage And now that Kaan had seen his tricks with the Cosmic Orbs he was on his guard against them RandidlyÆs attempts were met with those dismissive palms forcing him to rely entirely on his insight to keep the brawl even

Congratulations Your Skill Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold has grown to Level 259

After about ten minutes of exhausting exertion Kaan had seized the upper hand was beginning to release strange blasts of kinetic energy in return that Randidly could barely handle even with his devouring image So Randidly swore under his breath and left the Fatepiece Besides his headache was already pretty substantial

After he had recovered he could try again And then again

Chapter 1352

Ramsey Swacc the current head of the Swacc family tapped his finger against the heavy wood of his desk His tap was enough to cause the powerful material to shudder Dalak I believe I made my orders clear We know where Randidly Ghosthound currently is Apply for special dispensation to head to Earth and stick to him like fucking glue He is your superior officer You should

Please Dalak positively wiggled with stress in front of Ramsey It seemed that he was well aware of how close Ramsey was to wiping him out of existence no matter which of the Swacc Family Elders he needed to offend in order to do it You know that these things take time And now that Kaan Swacc has eyes on the target is it really necessary

Yes Ramsey said simply Because it was Randidly Ghosthound had already proven how difficult he was to pin down

For fully a minute RamseyÆs office was completely quiet as Ramsey stared at Dalak and Dalak stared at the floor Then just as RamseyÆs anger was reaching a rumbling intensity that would see Dalak ripped shreds until naught but particulate remained RamseyÆs communication terminal lit up

Casting one last frosty glance toward Dalak Ramsey checked the terminal His expression immediately curled into vindictive glee Ah Speak of the devil itÆs our bold Xyrt Brigade officer I hope you wonÆt mind if I take this call with you here

Dalak at least knew enough not to do anything other than nod So Ramsey answered the communication and smiled at Kaan SwaccÆs serious face Good to hear from you Special Investigator To what do I owe this communication How goes the mission Is there any support that the Swacc Family can provide you

I made contact with Randidly Ghosthound Kaan immediately said ignoring the other questions Ramsey believed that he deserved a little bit more respect and acknowledgment before proceeding directly to the issue but Ramsey supposed this was just the short sightedness of military men they didnÆt understand or respect soft power But Ramsey SwaccÆs expression twisted as Kaan asked another question As for this communication I wanted to ask if it is possible that Ileot Swacc is still alive

For a second Ramsey was frozen Then the head of the Swacc FamilyÆs expression twisted and darkened Dalak who was cowering in the corner of his office shivered as the man pulsed with the pressure of his powerful image Although the tapping ceased the resulting pressure of stillness was even more oppressive what are you trying to imply

Randidly Ghosthound claimed that Ileot Swacc was still alive The Special Investigator responded As you know I know what truth sounds like Randidly Ghosthound believed what he was saying was the truth

Are you implying that Ileot would refuse our communications willingly That he has betrayed the Family The Head of the Swacc Family spoke slowly letting his mind scrutinize each word as he said them He carefully turned over the prospect of being betrayed by Ileot Swacc in his head

It was theoretically possible And if it were true the Swacc Family was in extreme danger Even if Ileot hadnÆt been heavily involved in the running of the family he had been simply alive for too long not to realize the dirty game that the Swaccs were playing behind the SystemÆs back If another faction had that information

But who could have tempted Ileot away Solomon and his goons The Nexus Purists Or even those old fogeys that ran the Xyrt Brigade

No I think our initial read of the situation was correct The Special Investigator continued interrupted RamseyÆs thoughts Nether forces plotted to attack Ileot and succeeded but I think we were optimistic about the results of that ambush Perhaps Ileot has been captured by the Nether operatives

The Head of the Swacc Family considered that What threw him most of all was KaanÆs statement that the Nether forces were responsible Obviously that was hooey the Nexus had made sure that there were no independent Nether officers left in the war theater of Ileot SwaccÆs capabilities Only the mindless animals of the Nether were left independent

Hard to tell whether these Xyrt Brigade officers are being genuine when they talk about the threat of Nether being on the frontlines they should know more than anyone else how hapless the Nether forces weÆve allowed to persist are but sometimes being too close to an issue can keep you from seeing the bigger picture

Ramsey cleared his throat Unfortunately Ileot Swacc was extremely paranoid during his life I would even go so far as to say it was his defining characteristic IÆll investigate the possibility but finding him if his Aether remains even remotely active will be difficult He cultivated Skills to avoid just this sort of situation And the task will be especially if the foe is capable enough to subdue him

The Special Investigator nodded I simply wanted to inform you of the possibility IÆll continue to investigate from this end but until I have definitive proof of Randidly Ghosthound being associated with Nether

Of course Ramsey said with a chilling smile Inwardly he cursed Kaan SwaccÆs rigid personality but at least he was eminently capable Disconnecting the communication Ramsey cast a glance at Dalak and sighed in envy

Tim and Delilah laid on their backs and looked up toward the cloudless sky Neither spoke instead content to savor the silence Moss Spirits floated around them adding an ethereal feel to the area

Tim was especially willing to let the silence stretch after he had to sneak out of the childrenÆs education facility to meet her and heard her news Delilah was only here because she ran away from her parents and Tim was simultaneously impressed and terrified at what that decision represented He tried to imagine running away from his dad but he kept picturing Derek MossÆs stony face when he had caught them trying to steal the cake two days ago

Distantly the shouts of children reached the tucked away field where the duo lay But still for the moment the world felt far away

Is Randidly Ghosthound a bad guy

Tim pushed himself up with his elbows and looked over at Delilah She hadnÆt moved from her position as she spoke so her eyes reflecting the blue of the sky above After thinking about it for a short amount fo time Tim tried his best to answer her question I mean of course not This is his city right And this place is much nicer than where I used to live

ThatÆs just because the people here are nice And rich But Randidly Ghosthound I mean I always knew he was scary but that thing last night

Delilah shivered To that instinctual horror he saw in the young girl Tim had no real answer That terrible howling in the deepest part of the night had shocked Tim awake too From what he could gather most people woke in the middle of the night but didnÆt really understand why He had heard some of the teachers talking about it this morning while the children were finishing their first exercise block

But Tim had immediately known what was going on when he had been ripped to consciousness The Moss Spirits had been humming in resonance with that terrible sense of loss and hunger that RandidlyÆs image had released over the world And for an instant Tim had felt a suffocating sense of being drowned in those horrible emotions

Even after the sensation had faded what had kept Tim awake was the fact that Randidly carried those emotions with him all the time Although he didnÆt want to admit it his initial thoughts had been very similar to what Delilah was saying right now

How could someone who held so many dark thoughts be a hero

HeÆs not a bad guy Tim said again

Delilah nodded her hair freely mixing with the grass beneath her head Okay okay I know that But it was just scary Makes me wonder if we will be scary like that when we grow up

Again Tim just stared at her This time Delilah hopped up to her feet Like we want to be strong right IÆm going to be the strongest one day But Randidly heÆs so scary Like super scary HeÆs too powerful to be any fun even when playing hide and seek So when I become the strongest will I have to be that scary too

You donÆt have to be scary to be powerful Tim argued But the more he thought about it the more he realized that most of the people who bossed him around had a strange sense of scariness around them His teachers his dad Miss Tatiana and Wolfram who ran Kharon

For several seconds both were silent There were no clouds so the sun was warm on their skin even as the temperature of the air continued to drop with the changing of the seasons Yet despite the warmth Tim shivered in a strange mirroring of DelilahÆs earlier reaction

They want to build a statue to Randidly Ghosthound in the middle of the new square they are making Delilah suddenly said Before you could sneak away today I was hiding on the outskirts of the older kids training grounds and listening to what they were saying So many of them want to be strong like the Ghosthound so someday they can have their own statue built They think heÆs the perfect hero They dream of being allowed into the Order Ducis

Tim kept his mouth shut Especially because he had been dreaming about getting into the Order Ducis himself ever since his dad had become a member

When IÆm that strong I wonÆt be scary Delilah said stubbornly She raised her hands toward the sky Moss Spirits rapidly started to gather around her hands until they seemed to be encased in heavy emerald gauntlets With the sun and gauntlets Tim could almost see the valiant woman she would become IÆll be warm and friendly and everyone will love me IÆll be the most adorable powerful person in the world A princess too

Tim rubbed his chin ruefully I think the older kids only follow you because of how much you scare them though

Then Delilah shook her head in disgust But how can I become the most powerful if I canÆt even handle more Moss Spirits than you How are you so good at that

This time Tim grinned I mean there is an easy answer the moss spirits were created by the Ghosthound and you spend so much time complaining about him DoesnÆt it make sense that they donÆt like you as much as they like me

Snorting Delilah conjured a ball of Moss Spirits and threw the emerald energy at Tim It impacted his body and exploded in a nova of harmless light Soon both were giggling and flinging moss spirits at each other while taking cover behind trees For the moment the long shadow cast by Randidly Ghosthound was forgotten

Chapter 1353

Randidly watched the sun sink toward the horizon with the fatalism of a starving monk who has accepted that his body has turned against him For the past two hours he had rested but still the ghost of an overuse headache hung over him Honestly he didnÆt know if he would ever escape those headaches

Still there was work to do And although it wasnÆt based on anything logical Randidly always found that his image work was most easily done once the sun had disappeared below the horizon Dusk signaled the beginning of his most intense training sessions With a small smile on his face Randidly produced his PhilosopherÆs Key and pointed the tip toward the horizon

Open up dusk Randidly said to his empty floating island

It had been two days since Randidly had flushed out and confronted Kaan Swacc Two days of brutal battle training where Randidly threw himself against the Special Investigator until he collapsed exhausted into a meditative nap Then he woke up and did it again And again Luckily it had been a few days where he was largely unburdened by both the Eidolon Crucible and by any political concerns every group was too busy beginning their conquest of the Danger Zones to bother him

Donnyton and Zone 11Æs task force had already located the final bastion of the Corrupted InvaderÆs resistance at their location The other groups were less far along but were making quick time to reach a similar result In the process the groups from Earth had probably killed thousands of monsters and Corrupted Invaders and earned only seventeen deaths in return

RandidlyÆs head throbbed and his smile fell away

It was a deal everyone on Earth agreed was worth taking Yet for Randidly that was somehow worse He even chided himself After all how could he balk at these seventeen lost lives to make sure Earth grew into its own strength when Randidly had allowed so many people to die at the football game to teach them about their mistakes

Yet his heart ached for them Those were seventeen people who would no longer have the chance to grow into the images that Earth needed to survive Seventeen less people who could stand against the Calamities The likelihood of them being the determinative factor was small but still

Shaking his head Randidly did his best to put that emotional pain out of his mind At least for this the ghost of the headache was a welcome distraction He already had so much to deal with so adding additional emotional turmoil seemed like asking for trouble Yet the human mind was clearly not as intelligent as it claimed to be

His anguish over the deaths forced Randidly to reconsider his decision to not allow any of his Frontline forces to assist with the Danger Zone expeditions The only real exception was Helen who Randidly didnÆt count as she had come from Tellus with him rather than spending any time on the front lines As for the rest they were explicitly barred from being part of those task forces The Order Ducis too although that was largely because Kharon needed them to serve other functions

Yet that same cold fear that had held back RandidlyÆs assistance in the past once more reasserted itself He would not change his mind now Even if the Epic Danger Zone was going to be even more difficult that was the point that challenge would spur the people of Earth to even greater heights This run in with Kaan Swacc had made Randidly even more sure that he wouldnÆt be able to remain on Earth very long He needed to move deeper into the Nexus to protect his home planet

Perhaps to protect his home planet from forces trying to capture Randidly himself

Luckily these past two days had also seen the Special Investigator remaining completely absent from any sort of interference as far as Randidly could tell Because of that Randidly was extremely careful not to practice any great workings of Nether while not within the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night He didnÆt want to give Kaan Swacc the excuse to move that he had been waiting for

The calm before the storm as they say

Randidly had tested that strange Nether suppression many times through the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night in the past two days And basically he had come to the conclusion that unless there was no other way he essentially couldnÆt beat Kaan once the suppression had manifested itself

The disc of the sun grew wavy as it was partially eclipsed by the horizon The colors in the sky slowly darkened to the color of slow healing bruises Releasing a sigh Randidly pressed his eyes closed and tried to focus The headache drifted away throbbing beat by beat

For now Randidly believed he had reached the limit of what he could accomplish by just practicing the fight against Kaan Swacc His physical gifts were certainly overwhelming but it seemed like they werenÆt singular in the whole of the Nexus It was clear that Kaan had some experience fighting in similarly disadvantageous positions in the past His reactions and tactics quickly adapted to RandidlyÆs abilities

With infinite time Randidly believed he could develop his fighting methods to the point where he would have a firmer advantage But he had spent a little bit of time investigating the issues of his Nether interacting with Aether thresholds a bit and had discovered that it might be a little too late for him

Whatever functional purpose that the Aether working Randidly and Neveah had come up with to make his Nether flat was supposed to have what Randidly didnÆt expect was for it to also begin to influence his Nether Nebula directly He thought it would just affect the energy outside of his body

By the time Randidly had noticed the effects it had reached to the core of his Nether and fundamentally altered the way it functioned Which meant that when Randidly investigated the possibility of suppressing his Nether to go into a Dungeon he had been horrified to discover that the diameter of the thin disc of Nether he released almost doubled in size since he last checked it

His influence had been naturally creeping outward as his Nether Nebula adapted to the change He had reeled his Nether energy back into his body but there was only so much he could do without completely dismantling his Nether at this point Which was something that he was willing to do if he had more time but

Doing it now would be effectively throwing all the work IÆve done on deepening my Nether into the trash The sun sank entirely below the horizon The stars gradually made themselves known in the vast sea of space ago Randidly slowly opened his eyes It always comes back to time huh I hope after this IÆll have plenty of time for a long break

Almost immediately Randidly chuckled Who was he kidding He was a man who had accepted in himself the habit of running directly toward danger The future likely wouldnÆt be any easier than it was now

Because some part of Randidly wondered whether he would be able to survive in his current state during an extended stay of peace It was easy with the presence of a threat to find the will continue to work hard But with any stretch of peace the last stretch of peace that Randidly had taken resulted in him exterminating the people of Ki Kunot

Shaking that thought away before it could take root Randidly sucked in a breath of cool night air and turned to the task at hand refining his image of the Stillborn Phoenix

With a little bit of concentration his consciousness sank to the core of his Soulspace and found the related image the black egg now seemed to be ringed in a faint milky light that disappeared when you looked at it too directly It wasnÆt a conscious change that Randidly had made to the image but he liked the effect of it He supposed it was a result of pop cultureÆs strange depiction of light under the influence of black holes

Although pop culture was based upon real images taken from black holes so it should be at least slightly accurate

Of course there was a point where light could not escape the grasp of a black hole The event horizon But before that it began to unravel the light and pull it in different directions The light congealed and flowed as though the event horizon melted it For several minutes Randidly tried to make his image of that light to be as bleak and forlorn as he could muster

The runny liquid light congealed like blood to RandidlyÆs eyes before it was devoured

Then Randidly returned his focus to the core of himself and began to sink into those emotions that animated the egg of his Stillborn Phoenix that was of course anything but a phoenix That was the reason Randidly took such great care in making sure his new image was finely tuned He didnÆt want any dangerous mistakes to happen in the future based on a contradictory image

Because while his image was a lie it wasnÆt a contradiction RandidlyÆs image was a black hole It was a star that had run out of fuel and collapsed inward on itself Yet this was a star that had an obsession with being reborn and once more spreading light and energy across the star system around it

The sad truth was that any life that a star supported during its original existence would surely be annihilated by its rocky transition into a black hole Those precious lives the star had nurtured had been betrayed in a fundamental way For those lives it was too late

Still the star was an ignorant object so it prayed to become a phoenix Even now rapidly absorbing ambient images and emotions present in the surroundings to become part of that singularity at its core it continued to hope that this was just a transition stage It hoped that after gathering a sufficient amount of mass and image power it could be reborn

Randidly decidedly kept himself from considering the transformation process too deeply for now Doing so would bring his image more power but both choices about how such a transformation would end came with costs that Randidly couldnÆt yet decide between So he sank into those howling emotions and acted as a stabilizer of sorts to the maelstrom of negativity that howled at the center of the Stillborn Phoenix

Not that he attempted to slow the rotation in the core If anything he provided additional acceleration What he did was create a broader sense of structure to the way the emotions were interacting with each other With a deft hand from his work on Classes Randidly easily wove a grand pattern to the emotions The fierce violence with which the flows passed only a hairÆs breadth from each other released waves of powerful ambient energy that became additional gravity to force more from the surroundings to fall into the endless maw

By the end of the tuning Randidly was gritting his teeth truly it was taxing to work too deeply with the Stillborn Phoenix What he was essentially doing was digging up a mine during his work on the image For every second of work it took him to dig down and improve the effectiveness of the image it would take him another second of effort to extricate himself from that depth afterward

Congratulations Your Skill Visualization has grown to Level 275

Not a problem for the moment but something to keep my eye on Randidly thought as he considered the notification that popped up in front of him Then he nodded Really it was more than time for him to spend all of the PP that he had been slowly accumulating over the last several days

Even if it was pushing him toward the brink in terms of mental strain the training against Illym and now Kaan SwaccÆs projection was showing dividends He had earned himself 992 PP that he could now spend

Humming to himself Randidly opened his Path menu

Chapter 1354

Randidly took a few seconds to scan the list of Paths available to him There were some new ones making an annoyingly difficult decision even more aggravating But when he looked at his list of Paths most of what he saw were Paths that he could have taken but didnÆt

Friend to Humanity 0/100 Mantle of the Patron 0/500 Aether Convergence II the Bell of Doom Tolls 0/600 The Ashes of Ulaat Patron of Ash 0/1000 Order Ducis Font of Guidance HumanityÆs Torch 0/500 Bearing of a Teacher Puppet Master 0/100 Pain Immunity I 0/250 Cleaver of the World Tree Weakness of the World Tree 0/500 Experimenter IV 0/1250 Guilty Conscience I 0/100 Peerage of the Baleful Court I 0/600 Hands of the Artisan 0/ Ashes of Illym the Above Average Child 0/5000 The Flame the Burns Memories 0/ Exodus the Terror 0/1000 Genesis the Considered 0/1000 Image Cooperation I 0/100 Body Refinement I 0/ ChimeraÆs Struggle II 0/ Spear Mastery III 0/200 Mysteries of the Fiery Emerald Waltz 0/ Violent Heat I 0/ Domineering Control 0/500 Sovereign of Violence I 0/1000

Because of so many of the Paths being related to other endeavors it was quite easy to cut out quite a lot of the options Some of the Paths Randidly had since very early in his time underneath the System and therefore he believed the benefits of completing them wouldnÆt justify the cost Others were more focused on his Skills as a leader or relating to humanity as a whole While Randidly now led a city he truly didnÆt think the Crown that he wore was that sort of Crown

OtherÆs Randidly could eliminate because they related to aspects of Yggdrasil and Randidly wanted to refine his own image before he would consider improvements to those aspects In addition it appeared he had obtained some Paths recently due to his focus on incorporating fire and heat into his combat style but that largely could be set aside now that Randidly had obtained his Stillborn Phoenix image

Honestly it feels like I never put enough effort into nurturing my images there are so many aspects I havenÆt explored Randidly could only scratch at his scalp and sigh Concentrating on one image seems like such a dream at this point But I suppose I would have lost a lot of utility

Finally there was a group of Paths that were related to his production Skills Extremely useful but again not what Randidly wanted for the moment they would do next to nothing to improve his fighting power Therefore the amount of choices Randidly considered to be good ones was quite reduced

The Ashes of Ulaat Patron of Ash 0/1000 Peerage of the Baleful Court I 0/600 Ashes of Illym the Above Average Child 0/5000 The Flame the Burns Memories 0/ Image Cooperation I 0/100 Body Refinement I 0/ ChimeraÆs Struggle II 0/ Spear Mastery III 0/200 Domineering Control 0/500 Sovereign of Violence I 0/1000

Ten Paths remained in RandidlyÆs curated list and each tempted him in a different way But of course he quickly began to cut that list down to size as well

First although his Riders were proving every day that they were an untapped resource that Randidly really needed to address he didnÆt think improving them was the best way to spend his time No matter how amazing this Path was Randidly didnÆt believe completing it would power his Riders up in time for the confrontation with the Special Investigator

And in an unrelated matter seeing that Path made Randidly wince as he realized that Tatiana had sent him several pointed messages about meeting with the contingent of Riders that trooped dutifully behind Kharon on its journey to explore the wildlands

Merchants were ecstatic to have a group that was bringing a seemingly endless supply of monster meat and parts into the city but Tatiana didnÆt like the fact that Randidly hadnÆt really given the Riders of the Baleful Court any direction As it was they were currently just as much a liability as they were an asset

And sheÆs right about that Randidly scratched the back of his head and decided that his training was beginning to slow anyway Perhaps it was time to deal with some of the issues that he left piled up in Kharon After he chose a Path it would be good to have a break from the repeated training sessions Specifically Randidly planned on dealing with the presents from his birthday and checking on the status of the Danger Zones with Corrupted Invaders personally

Even if he didnÆt plan on interfering Randidly didnÆt want to be blindsided by any plans that had been laid out in Aether which others on Earth wouldnÆt be able to sense

Coughing lightly Randidly turned back to his Paths In addition to setting aside the Riders Path Randidly also rather quickly set aside The Flame that Burns Memories and Body Refinement The former because he wasnÆt sure what he would get out of such a Path and the latter because he already had quite a physical advantage Improving it was something that he wanted but his fights against Kaan made him realize that learning to control the power he already wielded was the most important issue for now He still didnÆt quite understand how to use his overwhelming physicality to its full potential

As Randidly continued his examination of his Path options he summoned some of the purple black energy of Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold Everything seemed to be highlighted and enhanced so that he could parse apart the options even more easily His eyes narrowed

The Ashes of Ulaat were something that Randidly had retained for a long time but it still didnÆt feel like it was time to delve into his history In addition ChimeraÆs Struggle seemed to be the continuation of ChimeraÆs Grude which already had cost 1000 PP It would be one thing if it was another 1000 PP Path but Randidly expected the cost to grow since it included a numeral So that option was set aside due to the expense

For a similar reason Randidly agonizingly decided not to pursue the Ashes of Illym the Above Average Child Path On the one hand he believed that if he could learn more about Illym he could create a large change in his Stillborn Phoenix image In his mind this would definitely increase his power More information would give him more outlets for the wild emotion at the imageÆs core But 5000 PP simply was too much of a commitment for Randidly

Excluding the Tithe from the Alpha Cosmos it would take him anywhere from six months to a year to finish the Path even with the lead of PP he already had And for the moment the change in his fighting prowess would be very small Which meant that there were only four options remaining

Image Cooperation I 0/100 Spear Mastery III 0/200 Domineering Control 0/500 Sovereign of Violence I 0/1000

Randidly looked at those four options for a long time The moon began to rise above the edge of the horizon a small crescent of light to illuminate the night But even if the moon was a crescent the Moonlight Spirits came out in hordes spiraling upward toward the source of their namesake as though channeling a mysterious powerful down toward the floating island It was enough to distract Randidly from his Paths

Tsk ing to himself the first Path that Randidly set aside from the final group was Image Cooperation Although Grim Chimera and Yggdrasil would probably benefit most from that Path he didnÆt think the Stillborn Phoenix was quite ready for it His work on solidifying his new image was a long way from complete

The effect it could wield was powerful but that was because it lacked much of the utility of his other images It was quite easy to fashion a good hammer after all But even if Randidly would use a hammer for the moment he knew that wouldnÆt be enough against the truly powerful people in the Nexus

The other elimination was Spear Mastery III It would provide a benefit but one that Randidly believed would be marginal Especially because only one of his three images involved spears in their fighting potential

The final decision was much tougher Randidly had an intuition that Sovereign of Violence might hold the key to controlling his physical gifts enough to gain an edge But there was no guarantee of that It might even lead Randidly to a Skill that he would need to grind before he could see tangible benefits And certainly he had access to some good training partners with Dreamcatcher of the Long Night but it still would take valuable time

However Domineering Control wasnÆt perfect either Mostly for a very silly reason Randidly was secretly worried that the Path would upgrade his Stat to Domineering Control And for others it would sound strange that Randidly was worried about that happening but it would mean his Control Stat his main and most reliable Stat would not be able to be upgraded into a rarer version of the Stat but a rather plain sounding Domineering Control

Domineering Control was obviously valuable but was it as potent a jump as Nether Brawn and Grim Intuition

Randidly could help but chuckle God I sound so spoiled right now

After chasing his thoughts back and forth for several minutes Randidly ultimately decided that Domineering Control was the better choice Partially because he could finish it immediately but also because Control was always the avenue that Randidly would use to grapple with his ridiculous physical abilities Sharpening Control right now would help him in the long run either way

Especially when the next Fatepiece will cause me to lose Control on Level ups Randidly grimaced When he started pouring his PP into the Path he was rewarded with 1 Control every 10 PP he spent And very soon he finished the Path entirely

Congratulations You have completed the Domineering Control Path Although the Paths have become increasingly rocky your gait has not been disturbed in the slightest Through a combination of instinct and savvy planning you create a superior Path amongst all the lessor choices This is the Path of those who have chosen Control as their ultimate goal

Of all the Domineering Paths this is the one least traveled The route is littered with weeds and broken stone As you continue upward you cannot help but notice the bodies of those who attempted to reach the Summit before you and failed They died like dogs in droves The history of the Nexus is long and all of their names have been forgotten

Remember there are no shortcuts to power Only transactions

Congratulations Due to your Level being 60 +120 Control In addition +1 Grim Intuition +1 Reaction +1 Focus and +3 Control per Level

Chapter 1355

Lyra did her best not to yawn But it was difficult considering the fact that for the past two days Kaan Swacc had done nothing but sit at his desk and sketch And he demanded that Lyra remain by his side the entire time To amuse herself Lyra occasionally pretended that she was a puppet and collapsed woodenly to the floor

Kaan didnÆt even lookup His pencil continued to make skritch noises on the paper in front of him

On the one hand Lyra would readily admit that the Special Investigator was quite good at sketching Although he only used pencil and paper he had quickly traced out a rather immaculate sketch of a beach And then a sketch of a volcano exploding And then of some sort of tired animal that Lyra didnÆt recognize looking up toward a bank of storm clouds that were clearly about to open up and drench the creature

Then Kaan Swacc drew Randidly Ghosthound It was almost eerie how well Kaan was able to capture RandidlyÆs sharp gaze The rough lines of graphite pierced upward with a murderous intensity As Lyra looked down at the paper it was almost like Randidly was standing right in front of her

And that Randidly considered her an enemy

Still Lyra was very very bored To the point that on the third day she couldnÆt hold it in any longer Her little games could no longer hold back her aggravation ArenÆt you going to do any investigating

Kaan chuckled but didnÆt stop sketching Why So you can sneak away and give him a hint again

Yes Lyra replied with not the least bit of remorse Honestly the Special Investigator seemed to respond well to such an attitude because he laughed out loud at her bold answer

ThatÆs why I laid the next trap before telling you about the first one Really what comes next will be what forces his hand it was just a matter of getting him to lower his guard The Special Investigator turned his toothless grin toward Lyra And now he thinks as long as he toes the line he has until the Epic Danger Zone to prepare Now that IÆve told you that until one of the Danger Zones is cleared of Corrupted Invaders all you are allowed to do is stay here and watch me draw

Kaan Swacc then began rather enthusiastically sketching LyraÆs furious gaze with perfect accuracy

Randidly grinned as he looked at his Status screen with the completion of his most recent Path he had reached 1500 Control almost exactly Although the effect was generally ephemeral Randidly could already feel the extra sharpness to the way he could manipulate his limbs To the point that he rather unenthusiastically regarded his left arm

His Control had reached the point that he could feel the way that his metallic limb was holding him back It was designed by Randidly not so long ago but his knowledge of Aether was steadily climbing upward as Neveah raved every night about the techniques she was learning from the glyphs Yystrix left in her tomb He definitely could increase the fidelity of the Aether apparatus at this point

Just another task in a long list of things Randidly could only shrug helplessly as he examined his full Status screen

Class Lord of the Baleful Wood ()

Level 60 (84%)

Stam(/R per min) 8411/8422 (1737)

Control 1500

Skills (Soul Skill) Figure of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 23900

Combat Spear Mastery Lvl 303 Heavy Blow Lvl 134 Iron Skin Lvl 47 Dodge Lvl 140 Block Lvl 77 Calculated Blow Lvl 136 Roundhouse Kick Lvl 97 Idiosyncratic Cut (Un) Lvl 126 Stalemate Breaker Lvl 142 Talon Strike Lvl 131 Counter Lvl 94 Ruinous Drive Lvl 73

LoBW Class Skills Spray Holy Sap (Un) Lvl 27 Sharpness Lvl 149 Earthquake (Un) Lvl 48 Invigorating Call (Humanity)(Un) Lvl 14 Erode Image Lvl 100 SpriggitÆs Tinkering Lvl 152 Aether Understanding Lvl 152 Aether Infusion Lvl 47 Volatile Ash Lvl 44 Visualization Lvl 275 Fruit of the Planting of Enmity Lvl 49 Absolute Timing Lvl 130 Cycle of the Gloomy Wood Lvl 45 Riders of the Baleful Court Lvl 181 Lantern of Harsh Truths Lvl 145 Sigil of an Approaching Fate Lvl 66 Profound Influence Lvl 21 Reckoning of the Bleak Dawn Lvl 99

Descent of the Grim Chimera Chimeric Avoidance Lvl 244 Cursed Appetite of a Wraith Lvl 275 MonstrosityÆs Appalling Physicality Lvl 265 ReaperÆs Mantle of Catastrophe Lvl 122 Molten Fang of the Pariah Lvl 209 Man is Proud but the Chimera Takes Lvl 200 The Chimera Weeps as Man Mourns Lvl 157 All Else Succombs Yet Time Whirls the Earth Lvl 161

The Stillborn Phoenix A Star that Prayed it would be Reborn Piercing Gaze of the Egg Lvl 210 The Tug of Tragic Silence Lvl 135 Cosmic Necessity Lvl 223 Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart Lvl 209 Tide of the Void Lvl 202 Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix Lvl 263 Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold Lvl 267

Aether Skills Aether Detection Lvl 201 Aether Manipulation Lvl 219 Living Aether Lvl 163 System Interference Lvl 88 Aether Surgeon Lvl 104

Spells Yggdrasil Soul Seed Inspiration Burning Footsteps Lvl 23

Yggdrasil the Universe that was First a Tree Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil Lvl 196 The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil Lvl 242 the Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil Lvl 199 the Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil Lvl 241 the Inscrutable Mien of Genesis Lvl 252 the Implacable Price of Exodus Lvl 219 Reign of the Eidolon Crucible Lvl 226 Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil Lvl 287

Auxiliary Sneak Lvl 56 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 21 Sewing Lvl 11 Digging Lvl 9 Cooking Lvl 101 Clockwork Mastery Lvl 30 Aether Connection Lvl 21 Soul Bond Lvl 135 ChefÆs Palette Lvl 36 Nether Modification Child of the Rain (Un) Lvl 59 Engineering Savvy Lvl 154 From Darkness Genesis Lvl 17 (Domain) Crossroads of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 190 Connection to the Alpha Cosmos Nether Sensation Lvl 196 Nether Ritual Lvl 164

At least in terms of Skil Level the Stillborn Phoenix didnÆt need to feel inferior next to his two other Skillsets any longer If anything it was currently benefiting from all the increased emphasis it received due to his impressive capabilities when it came into being Yggdrasil took quite a bit more time and effort to reach the current Skill Level because the Randidly of that time had been a little bit

In over his head Randidly laughed without humor at the thought considering his current circumstances After finishing the Path Randidly still had 492 PP remaining but he was again torn between Spear Mastery and Sovereign of Violence Feeling much better about his abilities with more Control he decided to wait a day or two before deciding

After thinking that RandidlyÆs first impulse was to spend some time training his other images to get a few extra PP He took about an hour each day to go over Grim Chimera and Yggdrasil so he wouldnÆt lose any potency with them but largely his efforts had been toward the Stillborn Phoenix for almost three weeks The other images were relatively stable and Randidly hadnÆt wanted to upset that

Yet Randidly also didnÆt forget that he had resolved himself to go help with some of the issues in Kharon that he had considered not as important as immediately improving his training prowess It happened before the burst of Control made him feel invigorated But with the ghost of a headache still lingering Randidly had to admit to himself that he needed a break

Not that handling these issues will be a break but still Aggrieved Randidly stuck to his earlier promise and went down to Kharon proper from his mysterious island The city was as bustling with shouts and smells as it normally was although Randidly didnÆt miss that the industrial center was especially humming with activity From one of TatianaÆs reports he had heard the mountain range they were crossing had particularly rich deposits of enhanced that coal that allowed KharonÆs furnaces to reach an unprecedented heat in only thirty seconds

For a while Randidly watched the human and ogre laborers heaving up vast quantities of the powdery mineral while Kharon crouched between two peaks and allowed its passengers to harvest Then he activated Grim Intuition and made a beeline for TatianaÆs current position in Town Hall

As though Randidly had scheduled his arrival through TatianaÆs assistant she had just finished brewing a pot of tea and offered Randidly a cup when he arrived Which somehow made Randidly feel somewhat guilty that he hadnÆt thought to inform Tatiana of his impending arrival Resolving to better at communicating his intentions in the future Randidly sat down on the leather couch in TatianaÆs office and enjoyed the rich smell of orange wafting up from the brewing tea

After taking a sip and humming in pleasure Tatiana gestured and an unfamiliar aide brought a stack of papers to Randidly For a second RandidlyÆs eyes sharpened as he searched his prodigious memory for any hint of this person who worked with Tatiana Not that Randidly knew everyone but generally he recognized those around the government of Kharon

Perhaps sensing RandidlyÆs focus the man flinched visibly and pulled his limbs close to his body as though he was trying to hide from a predator Only after coughing awkwardly and bowing did the aide offer Randidly the packet again Ah apologies You are just as imposing as the rumors Mr Ghosthound

ThatÆs enough Charles IÆll call you back in after the meeting Tatiana said The aide immediately fled from the room Then TatianaÆs gaze slid sideways to RandidlyÆs relaxed posture She arched an eyebrow It seems your aura has grown stronger

Randidly tilted his head to the side Then belatedly Randidly realized what she was talking about The ambient Nether

Yes IÆm honestly surprised you noticed heÆs new he came from the refugee group we picked up yesterday Capable and hardworking but I wanted to see how someone completely uninitiated with images would react to your influence Considering how much he was trembling I think itÆs safe to say that your aura is still a problem

Sighing Randidly shrugged rather helplessly IÆm aware In the short term I donÆt know if thereÆs anything I can do But thatÆs for later For now IÆm here to try and help with anything in Kharon that needs my touch I went to watch a bit of the coal harvesting

Your assistance with mining might get us moving sooner but its good to give the laborers some exercise Tatiana waved her hand Hum but if you want something to do there are a couple of issues I need your decisions on And of course you still need to go through the presents

I plan on heading to deal with the presents after this meeting Randidly confirmed as he slowly exhaled

Tatiana grinned at him Happy birthday But in terms of decisions there are two things First the children of Kharon have somehow developed a secret method of Engraving that vanishes after it is used ItÆs how they created that flying ship that crashed in the Glowstone Ballroom I cannot decide whether to try and obtain this ability or more specifically how much effort is worth it to obtain it

Honestly that at least piqued RandidlyÆs interest An Engraving that was consumable Yet Randidly was a little curious how exactly Tatiana would go about obtaining the Skill If she referred to it as a secretÆ method the children were likely hiding it from people

The second issue was much less whimsical however

Tatiana tapped her finger on a single sheet of paper sitting in the center of her desk WeÆve received a report from Vye Likely youÆve been too caught up in your training to notice but we are currently quite deep into the borderlands and have been encountering quite a lot of refugees in the past twenty four hours Vye confirmed the source When the barrier was removed one of the bubble cities went on a warpath At the moment it has found raided and subjugated two other bubble cities We estimate that the resulting caravan currently has almost half a million people

Vye also dug up some information on the leader His name is Howard Boltmer his Class is the Blighted Paragon He ruled his suburb of Moscow harshly but with relatively few other blemishes to his name But considering he has so many followers and is so immediately aggressive how should we deal with him Kharon should arrive in front of the convoy around lunch time tomorrow

Chapter 1356

Randidly released a long breath as he looked at the precisely mapped out scenario that Vye had included in her report The neat lines of movement and patrols that the map laid out completely captured the large convoy of people that was trooping across the grasslands A few paragraphs described succinctly the size and rather cohesive organization of the grouping which Vye indicated to be the most impressive fact about the whole thing

This new threat from bubble cities the Special Investigator the Epic Danger Zone the Special Investigator is protecting the missing memories of Yystrix whatever crazy plan that Ace is preparing Seems like my time on Earth is going to be hectic for a while

IÆll think about both issues Randidly eventually said pushing himself back from the table Tatiana made a small note on the paper in front of her and nodded

Then she took another delicate sip of her tea Hopefully we will receive more information about the convoy in the next few hours as Vye approaches the groups more directly

That gave Randidly pause as he was about to head toward the door VyeÆs going to establish contact Is she safe contacting the people from the bubble cities When they are so obviously aggressive

I also was somewhat doubtful whether such a move was necessary but you should be very familiar with how stubborn she Abruptly she paused in her speech Then Tatiana tapped her finger on the desk and then chuckled then again you also possess that same sort of stubbornness so perhaps you cannot as easily recognize it in others well anyway she should be safe From our observation this Blighted Paragon doesnÆt appear to have any inkling of the power of images With the Order Ducis training Vye will be fine

RandidlyÆs mouth twisted and Tatiana laughed again I think the real problem Randidly is that you have no concept of the strength of the average person on Earth YouÆve fought too many people from the Nexus Sure VyeÆs pretty weak in the Order Ducis but they really are the cream of the crop right now That amount of strength should be enough

Shaking his head but accepting TatianaÆs judgment Randidly left and proceeded to the warehouse that was housing all the gifts brought by the various factions of Earth for his birthday The first thing that he noticed when he walked into the room was how crowded it was there were huge piles of gifts in the dim interior of the warehouse

Many people included gifts within interspatial rings but to make the sorting easier Tatiana had already removed most of such goods and set them out on display The warehouse was about the size of a football field but it was half filled by the valuable items that the people of Earth gave to him

Randidly was about to release a pulse of Nether to thoroughly scan the area when he remembered to keep his Nether activities to a minimum So therefore he simply just concentrated and used Grim Intuition to check out the interiors of most of the gifts that were in boxes Very quickly he sorted the gifts into three types and hummed to himself The ground trembled and several small shoots of vines carefully wound their way up through the floor

Not that he couldnÆt repair it but it was easier to just avoid damaging the foundation in the first place

When the roots and vines had bypassed the ground they began rapidly to swell Then the vines stretched and split and steadily began to move the gaudy and festive packages Randidly noted with amusement as he did the sorting that Tatiana had left most of them covered in wrapping paper and bows So he shook his head and had a series of roots come forward to rip off and collect the trash

Congratulations Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil has grown to Level 288

Scratching his chin Randidly approached the first pile This was where he put items that appeared to be things he would either use or sell for other valuables Just by coincidence the first long package that the roots hefted up in front of Randidly was from the Order Valorem Already knowing what was inside the package Randidly rolled his eyes and pulled off the lid

SlayerÆs Darksteel Spear Lvl 76 A weapon of incredible power the darksteel spear was famously wielded by a slayer to defeat an opponent that was said to be invincible But before the domineering weight of the SlayerÆs spear none could live long The blood of an invincible being stains the blade of the spear to this day +1000 Stamina +100 Strength SlayerÆs Ferocity IV Penetrating Blows II Darksteel Suppression V

The stats were certainly impressive and Randidly wondered for a short time where the Order Valorem had been able to obtain a weapon forged at Level 76 with an attribute that reached V but Randidly didnÆt even bother to read the details of the spear Because it was made of darksteel it was anathema for the type of image based power that was prevalent in the System

Still Randidly picked up the spear and held it above his head Even from just touching it and allowing his Yggdrasil image to flow around him he could feel the way the edges of his images were damaged as it came in contact with the inert darksteel There was a suppressive effect that made Randidly wonder if the material somehow incorporated Nether principles Might be worth it to keep it around and test it against the Special Investigator to see how he deals with it

Thinking that Randidly put the darksteel spear into his interspatial ring and brought more gifts to himself He felt like a birthday octopus dragging more packages toward himself with his many roots even as he finished opening the one in front of him Within five minutes he had seen dozens of strange gifts including a watch that was warm to the touch and would show the time at any location he focused on a very translucent pair of pajama pants that were so soft that even Randidly gasped another spear that was even less useful than the darksteel one and a crystal mirror

All these Randidly tossed into the sellÆ pile He had a second of hesitation as he rubbed the incredibly soft pants between his fingers but ultimately decided to part with them It was not like he had many chances to wear them anyways And if he wore them in his usual daily routine they would be ripped to shreds within a week

Maybe even only a day Even as Randidly cursed his rough lifestyle his root arms brought him more gifts to open

There was a pair of poisonous daggers a strange set of candles that contained an oppressive power within them that was obvious even while they were not lit a fur lined cloak filled with pockets almost a dozen interspatial rings filled with various currencies a well made iron pan lined with engravings to keep the handle cool powders and perfumes to increase his charm and a rather plain iron sword that had a sharp enough edge that Randidly spent a minute or two toying with it

Then he tested it against Acri and promptly rendered the gift garbage

Most of those things were also tossed into the sell pile with a few exceptions The daggers and the candles Randidly planned on giving to the Order Ducis to see if anyone would want them And the iron pan Randidly pocketed thinking that he hadnÆt spent the time pan frying food over a fire in quite some time Such a meal would be a welcome end to a strange day of chores

After another ten minutes Randidly pushed his way through the remaining gifts Most he planned on selling but he did find two other items that he had special plans for The first was a set of six whistles that could pinpoint each otherÆs location at all times These Randidly also planned on passing to the Order Ducis for special operations This way even if the individual who held the whistle was killed they could still find the corpse

As for the other item he would keep it It was a personal gift from Alana and her Frost Dragon partner

Frostscale Glove Lvl 89 A glove made by dragons for their god by carefully selecting the purest and most sensitive scales from the bodies of deceased dragons While the gloves donÆt possess much in terms of defensive resilience the dragon scales chosen have near perfect conductivity of energy In addition the souls of the deceased dragons who became the materials stay with the gloves protecting the owner Mana +500 Control and Focus +40 Frostsoul Revenants IV Glacial Field IV Energy Dynamism V

Frostsoul Revenants IV Wearer of the glove is capable of infusing his Mana into the souls of the Frost Dragons that were used to create the piece of equipment and summon their specters to assist in combat The potency of the souls depends on the amount of supplied Mana In addition the effect will be greater if the god of the dragons is the one utilizing the ability

Glacial Field IV All those other than the wearer of the glove will slowly be affected by the aura of cold that the glove radiates in response to the wearerÆs emotions After prolonged exposure it is highly likely that those below Level 50 will die

Energy Dynamism V Due to the craftsmanship and materials the wearer of the glove will receive a boost when examining and parsing apart ambient energies in the air In addition the wearer can more easily affect the surrounding space with his own energies The glove will act as a conduit to connect the dragonÆs god to the surrounding world

It was a deep sapphire dragon scale glove Just from touching the glove it felt refreshingly cool on RandidlyÆs hand Flipping it over he slid his right hand into the glove savoring the almost silk like feeling of the delicate dragon scales over his fingers In the dim light of the warehouse it looked rather unassuming But Randidly suspected that in any sort of light his right hand would glimmer and gleam wildly

DoesnÆt really match the rest of my aesthetic but this third ability if the effect is really that grand Randidly flexed his fingers

None of the abilities granted any sort of Stats but Randidly was rather contented with the effects that they had Since he was performing miscellaneous tasks anyway tonight he could go through and try out the different effects of the glove

Besides he didnÆt miss the numerous references in the text to the god of the dragons Randidly wondered what Alana had been telling them It felt like it was some sort of betrayal to not at least examine their offering all things considered

With the first pile dealt with Randidly turned to the second pile of gifts These were primarily raw materials and rare items given from the various smaller villages and organizations across the six Zones Tatiana had made it clear that no gifts were required to attend the birthday but if the guests insisted regional curiosities would be more than enough Which meant that several villages shipped out literal metric tons of valuable materials like Lightning Soul Cedar planks or Deep Jade Limestone when they couldnÆt come up with anything creative

In addition to the building materials there were also elemental sources body parts from rare or interesting monsters and carefully prepared specialty exports from the various regions And as Randidly looked at this second pile the image of the home that he would build on his floating island began to gradually fit itself together

However Randidly turned away abruptly before his mind wandered too far While diverting this was a task that would need to wait until EarthÆs current crisis was resolved He would mention the project to Tatiana but do his best not to let too much of his free time get sucked into the planning

But even as he thought about keeping his response casual for now Randidly also knew that his floating island manse needed to be something of a symbol to the people of Kharon His image and by extension the image of the rest of Kharon would change based on the form his home would take And on a more personal note Randidly had never really built his own home in his entire life

During his stay on Earth he basically made do with whatever was convenient On Tellus he followed Shal around On the frontlines he had a tent with a special color to designate his status But none of them were homes he personally shaped This would be the first time he had that power and influence

Taping his cheek idly Randidly turned to the third pile It wasnÆt so much a pile as a single sloppily wrapped gift The gift that Ezekiel had delivered

Randidly opened the box and looked down As he laid eyes on what was within the rope on his right wrist shivered A long memory chimed from within the Fatepiece but Randidly didnÆt need any assistance remembering what this was Are you fucking serious

With trembling hands Randidly began to reach for the comic book within but hurriedly stopped and removed the glove from his right hand when ice began to form around him on the box With his emotions in turmoil his new glove had enthusiastically responded with wave after wave of frigid energy But right now Randidly didnÆt want that sort of reaction at all

Reverently Randidly lifted the book and sighed It was Alan MooreÆs Swamp Thing Volume 1 exactly what Randidly Ghosthound had asked to receive on his 12th birthday His mother hadnÆt batted an eye at the time but Ezekiel Ghosthound knew a little more about the gift and promised Randidly that he would get it for him when he was older For now it was hard no

Randidly had planned on giving his father the cold shoulder during his birthday party in punishment for the refusal but his father hadnÆt come to his birthday party Or home at all It had taken a few days but both Randidly and his mother realized that this was not one of EzekielÆs usual moods That was the year that Ezekiel Ghosthound walked out on the family In the broader trauma of that incident Randidly had completely forgotten about his fatherÆs promise

How did you even Randidly asked the comic book as though it would answer him The warehouse around him was completely silent In the dark he pressed his forehead against the cover After its exposure to his new glove it was pleasantly cool

After a long sigh Randidly sat down and began to read the comic book He had waited years for this gift from his father So he was determined to enjoy it

Chapter 1357

Ezekiel folded and unfolded his arms and did his best to distract his mind He leaned his head backward and knocked it a little harder than he intended against the stone behind him To his right was open air and a calm night but to his left was a sinister ritual But even the ominous blood energy rising out of the one meter boulder sitting in the center of the cave to his left did little to distract Ezekiel from the secret fear that was currently tormenting him

Ace who was constantly radiating more lifeblood essence into the Impending Rock sneered at the Ezekiel when he noticed his distraught expression But Ezekiel did his best not to pay Ace any mind After all Ace had been largely consumed by his strange plot to create an Earth based threat rendering any conversation with Ace at the moment a literal waste of time

To Ace conversation was currently just an opportunity to sharpen his monologuing Even AceÆs assistant had started rolling her eyes and walking away when Ace started building up a head of momentum with his strange monologues Unfortunately Ezekiel was the one who had no choice but to stay nearby And the worst part was he had to admit that Ace was getting quite a bit better at his speeches

Perhaps normally he would be willing to walk away too despite the need for a lookout while Ace produced such powerful energy and images But the true reason that Ezekiel couldnÆt leave was the deep fear in his heart as he looked up toward the sky

Did he not like my gift Ezekiel wondered He chewed on his lip as he stood at the entrance to the cave and looked toward the thin sliver of moon that was hanging in the sky above Was that horrible hunger related to me

A few nights ago Ezekiel had been awoken by the horrible fury of the image of Randidly Ghosthound just as he suspected many others across the world had been It seemed that the effect was lower for those who didnÆt possess strong images themselves like it was a calamitous storm that could only be understood for its true destructive nature by those who possessed the capability for flight And as someone who had been working to heighten and control the image of his unique Class that strange cry had smashed into Ezekiel

It had been horrifying Suddenly he had understood viscerally why developing a powerful image was necessary

Even with the cold stone of the caveÆs wall against his back Ezekiel twitched as he remembered that feeling A great black egg had filled his entire consciousness and for fifteen agonizing seconds the eggÆs gaze had pinned him to the ground and squeezed every drop of emotion it could out of Ezekiel Those it lapped up greedily blatantly feeding off of him Before that egg his unique ClassÆs obsessive hunger felt pitiful and weak

The upside of that night was that EzekielÆs Class had significantly relaxed its demands on him He was only required to kill and devour another life once a week in order to maintain the status quo Which was certainly a result worth celebrating

The secret fear that RandidlyÆs outburst was a response to his childish gift made EzekielÆs face twist and collapse in on itself He had managed to bury all the guilt he felt over leaving his family in a deep and dark place but the act of wracking his brain and finally remembering the promise he had made to his son fifteen or so years ago had unearthed that corpse And the wafting sense of rot and anguish seized EzekielÆs entire body

It was suffocating him

Something inside of him was changing And Ezekiel was too afraid of what he had been or might become to look too closely at what was going on So he cowered against the stony mouth to the cave and looked upward to the sky dreading the return of that horrible oppression from his son

IÆm not a good father Am I Ezekiel whispered

Eh Mareen blinked and looked at Bekany Dugg who for her part was smiling brightly at the younger woman after delivering her news Mareen blinked again to try and figure out she had misheard You what did you say

I said Ed apparently found us our first client Bekany said cheerfully Their businessÆ was currently being run by an unoccupied apartment right next to the apartment that Mareen had only moved into a few days ago It was a business that Mareen had largely been given without asking and she hadnÆt yet done anything about the unasked for opportunity because it had been less than a week since she had heard about it Bekany pointed at the mess of papers the covered the round dining room table You can find the details there

What what sort of work Mareen asked almost unwillingly as she moved to the table Even if this wasnÆt at all what she had intended she truly did need some sort of job now that she had decided to move to Kharon And Kharon was already walking across the borderlands so it wasnÆt like she could change her decision now

The weird series of circumstances aside Mareen scolded herself for looking a gift horse in the mouth Having her own source of income would make sure she wasnÆt reliant on Naffur for so much In addition it would keep her busy during the day while he was handling official Order Ducis duties In fact it was quite irresponsible to not get some sort of job now that she lived on Kharon

Construction Bekany said brightly Mareen released a sigh of relief and began to move through the papers with more enthusiasm Since it was the same business she had practically run for Ed she wouldnÆt be completely out of her depth And then Bekany continued to talk Randidly Ghosthound wants to build a house

Mareen looked down at the papers in her hands With trembling hands she set the papers down The notes of messy chicken scratch that were smudged with dirt were from Ed The notes with looping letters and IÆs dotted with hearts were from Bekany Sighing she began to sort through the haphazard organization and wondered how things had gotten to this point

A house for the Ghosthound I think it would be better if I started with a project that had a little bit lower stakes Biting her lip Mareen cast her mind backward

Mareen had met Ed Dugg six days ago to tell him that she had quit and would be moving to Kharon She hadnÆt had the opportunity to tell him it was because she and Naffur had made up and would be dating from now on but that was to be expected Conversations with Ed rarely went the direction that Mareen expected Dealing with him required the ability to think on your feet

But what Mareen hadnÆt expected was for Ed to jump to the conclusion that she was taking another job in his field Or when she truthfully said that was not the case he would immediately assume that while she wasnÆt taking another job she was founding her own company His followup acceptance of a position she didnÆt offer at a company that didnÆt exist left Mareen struggling to gather the words to explain the misunderstanding

There were just too many factors to address It left her speechless

Mareen had left that meeting bewildered but hopeful that EdÆs follow up investigations would allow him to realize the mistake that he had made Now several days later Mareen realized that her thoughts at the time were almost childishly naive Ed Dugg had the strongest case of Confirmation Bias that she had ever seen

Ed would interpret MareenÆs untimely death as a PR stunt to drum up more business

Ed had sent her a message on the day following that misunderstanding filled meeting to the effect of I canÆt believe you forgot to file for incorporation of your new company Luckily you hired me an experienced hand IÆve taken care of everything Æ

The day after that Ed had reported to her that he had met with local material providers to establish a working relationship Bekany was hired as a receptionist and Ed began gathering quotes for various materials and contractors into a haphazard pile on a dining room table When Mareen had first seen it she hadnÆt been able to resist the impulse to organize and file everything so it would be possible to actually reference the gathered information

Yesterday had been reassuring bereft of further messages from Ed but this morning she had been distracted from her mental training by BekanyÆs soft knock at her door They had a job Her company that Mareen had very little to do with had a client It was not just any job either but the opportunity to build the house of Randidly Ghosthound

Jesus Christ Mareen whispered as she read through some of the notes that Bekany had made The size and scope of this project the amount of money that the Ghosthound was willing to pay her heart began to pound

Despite her misgivings and intentions to confront Ed and get him to stop spreading misinformation Mareen was intrigued She couldnÆt deny that she had grown to like the construction work while serving in her position at EdÆs company in Donnyton She also knew that by the end of it Mareen was essentially running the company while Ed did all of the hands on work Their current arrangement was perhaps just the true reflection of their work dynamic which was why Ed had agreed to an offer that she hadnÆt even made

For all that Ed could be incredibly oblivious he did have a rather powerful knack for sniffing out good opportunities Hence the mess that Mareen was currently sifting through on the dining room table The same factors that made her nervous also meant that if she succeeded in making this client happy

Hell even if its just Kharon that hires us to do buildings we will be set But we need an actual office if we are going to do this Mareen bit her lip and looked down at the papers If she was reading BekanyÆs notes correctly it seemed that Randidly Ghosthound would be providing almost all of the materials himself The only requirement that whoever was hired for the job would be able to handle them There was even a note that assuming he had some spare time the Ghosthound might be able to assist with refining

Mareen had been at the GhosthoundÆs birthdayÆ She had felt the powerful images of all those individuals and had felt rather small It made her realize that although she was getting better at the organization required to juggle a construction project that was a small thing in a big world

But isnÆt this part of the reason I left Donnyton and quit my old job It wasnÆt just about Naffur but about getting a new start For several long seconds Mareen stared down at the papers

Then Mareen knocked her fist onto the table A strong resolve formed in her heart Okay IÆll do it

Well you have to do it Bekany replied Ed already accepted the commission We have a meeting with Tatiana scheduled for this afternoon

Instantly MareenÆs expression turned sour But still she had made her decision so she wasnÆt going to flake just because Ed had already

MareenÆs breath hissed through her teeth Then she sent Ed a vicious message about professional bounds and the chain of command at the company Especially considering the importance of the client this sort of behavior was absolutely unacceptable

To her surprise EdÆs response was positively penitent In addition he called her BossÆ several times throughout his string of apologies It made Mareen suspicious but it was enough to cool her temper for the moment So Mareen could focus on going through the paperwork more thoroughly in preparation for the meeting In addition Mareen sent Ed a string of instructions to find out the exact specifications of the materials that the Ghosthound offered to provide

All this would be moot if they didnÆt have the expertise to use the materials

Right as she was walking out the door of their apartment office Ed sent the specifications back to her Seeing them Mareen blinked She quickly typed a message back asking if Ed had made a mistake in typing down the hardness and structural integrity of the materials Ed replied that he had not

Holy shit Mareen muttered The strength of the materials was practically ludicrous At this point it wasnÆt a matter of expertise It was a matter of whether they could even shape the materials at all But simply by dint of inertia Mareen kept walking down the street

Tatiana met Mareen alone in the industrial sector The two women chatted for a while before Tatiana led Mareen to a platform covered in those dense Engraving that allowed the moss spirits to grip and levitate the platform Mareen hadnÆt seen the effect up close before so she was grateful for the chance to ask some questions about the functional limitations of this method

Tatiana laughed Honestly we donÆt really know WeÆve been steadily upping our experiments but we havenÆt yet reached a weight where the moss spirits couldnÆt eventually lift the object There does appear to be some corrosion to the Engraving at higher weights on smaller platforms but it certainly is an extremely useful ability that we didnÆt expect to discover in the making of Kharon

It was only after Tatiana stepped up onto the platform that Mareen blinked Uh our meeting

Oh I figured since we were going to be talking about it anyway we might as well give Randidly a surprise and pay him a visit TatianaÆs smile was sharp as she looked up toward the floating island above them He deserves it after all the work he has thrown on my plate recently

Chapter 1358

The closer they got to the floating island above them the more nervous Mareen became It manifested in the tapping of her foot and the almost obsessive way she rubbed her hands together Her eyes were round with alarm as she looked upward They kept moving but the island kept getting larger and larger

Part of the source of the nervousness was the silver mist that shrouded the entire island and part of it was the cobalt bolts of electricity that periodically illuminated the silvery shroud but what really made MareenÆs blood run cold was the stifling sense of powerlessness that she felt as they approached Mareen wasnÆt extremely talented when it came to images but she was dedicated to that effort She had made it a part of her routine

Every morning she practiced visualizing without activating her Skills trying to use pure force of will to achieve the same effect It was a slow process but especially recently Mareen had started to see some tangible results She was slowly developing her image

Especially since being woken up in the middle of the night by a piercing cry of hunger from the image of the Ghosthound That had certainly spurred her to extra dedication

Their platform floated upward into the mists around the island the sounds of the industrial district below fading rapidly away as the silver shroud slithered around them And Mareen practically jumped when she realized that the mist was moving It seemed like this island above possessed strange spirits of silver whereas Kharon was covered with the emerald moss spirits They swirled curiously around the new arrivals some even brushing up against TatianaÆs hands that she offered to the spirits

The color is different but they are essentially the same as the spirits of Kharon as far as I can tell Tatiana confirmed The platform shuddered slightly and Mareen abruptly realized that the had reached the edge of the floating island Come on I can sense Randidly He should be ready to talk to us soon

Mareen drifted after Tatiana through the silver mists abruptly feeling like she hadnÆt quite understood the decision that she was making when she had decided that she wanted to help build his house It abruptly hit her again that Randidly Ghosthound was the most powerful man on Earth and she was waltzing onto his floating island in order to talk about the home he wanted to build

It didnÆt help her nerves that Ed was currently trying to figure out if he had a high enough Skill Level to work with the materials that the Ghosthound provided for the construction He was rushing to consult with the experts of Kharon Donnyton had certainly dealt with powerful materials but few were willing to build entire homes out of them

They were mainly processed on a smaller scale to form armor weapons or other equipment To create a manor out of them Mareen suspected that no one but Randidly Ghosthound could accomplish such a feat

The found Randidly at what Mareen believed to be the center of the island Truthfully she didnÆt know how much longer she could wander behind Tatiana through the seething mists without having a panic attack when she spotted the GhosthoundÆs figure

A flat circle had been cleared out and Randidly was standing at the center in a fighting stance His shoulders rose and fell with the expansion and contraction of his lungs releasing long breaths that Mareen could practically see streaming out of his nostrils His hair wasnÆt exactly matted but it was definitely damp with sweat and ruffled by his fingers Based on the feeling in the air around him Mareen sensed that he had just finished with some physical training

Rather than a man Randidly Ghosthound seemed to be a steam locomotive releasing pressure and slowly cooling down after traveling a long distance His eyes were pressed tightly closed and Tatiana gestured at Mareen to keep silent and wait until he spoke to them

Not that Mareen needed any encouragement she was already terrified by the fact that she could literally feel the beats of the GhosthoundÆs heart The whole surrounding area seethed with his vitality and power

Thump Thump Thump

The heartbeat felt like an image but that also didnÆt feel entirely correct It just seemed like the Ghosthound was a natural force of such primal ferocity that it could no longer be contained within his body Yet all Mareen could think as she looked at Randidly Ghosthound was how young he seemed Sure he was definitely quite a few years older than her but he was nowhere close to thirty Yet he had crossed some invisible gap in significance and now stood at the apex of the world

This is the man that Naffur chose to follow well he certainly is good at choosing capable subordinates Mareen thought trying to keep the anxiety from bubbling up and overwhelming her

It felt like an eternity but even Mareen could admit that it was only about five minutes of enduring that horrible resonance of the GhosthoundÆs heart before he opened his eyes and turned to face them with a wry smile on his face as he looked at Tatiana A taste of my own medicine

Tatiana bowed I wouldnÆt dream of it I had some news and also didnÆt you inquire about building a house All the preparations for the contract have been made to your specifications You just need to discuss what sort of house you will want for your mysterious island

The Ghosthound released a bark of a laugh He flicked his wrist and a towel appeared in his hand You are enjoying this arenÆt you Well fine I could use a short break anyway And you must be Mareen

Mareen straightened trying not to think too deeply about the fact that he had known her name just by looking at her His emerald eyes studied her Yes I am

Then letÆs get down to business The GhosthoundÆs expression brooked no argument With a second flick he had stored his towel away With a third roots began winding up out of the ground and forming a rather basic table and chairs Seeing both Tatiana and the Ghosthound taking a seat Mareen sat down and was surprised by how comfortable it was Let me just tell you a little bit about what I have planned

After Mareen left Tatiana smiled at Randidly You actually seemed to take that very seriously I appreciate that And also either sheÆs much stronger than she looks or your aura isnÆt so much of an issue anymore

RandidlyÆs smile in return was crooked While itÆs true I can control it a little better itÆs still a problem she has a stronger image than her face reveals ThereÆs iron in that woman You said she and Naffur are an item

For now And now after meeting her I sorta expect that she would be the one to someday break it off with him Tatiana shook her head But I suppose our Naffur is quite pretty in a sort of pale and vulnerable sort of way

Shaking his head Randidly quickly switched the topic You said you also had news

Donnyton and Zone 11 are about to assault the inner sanctum of the Corrupted Invaders in their Danger Zone It shouldnÆt be over extremely quickly but youÆll likely have to head over now if you want to be there for the finishing touches Tatiana said Based on when I received the message the attack started about ten minutes ago

Humming to himself Randidly slowly nodded He looked down at his hands He had spent the entirety of the last twenty four hours training to familiarize himself with what he could manage with his new amount of Control while also testing the glove he received from Alana Yet his physical training still made Randidly a little dissatisfied as he felt that even with the fine tuned Control he was still missing something to truly harness his physical gifts

Probably need to rely on some experimentation with the Grim Chimera image to get a handle on that power but that will have to wait On the other hand

His lips twisting upward at the pun Randidly pulled his Frostscale Glove out of his interspatial ring and put it on THIS worked as he had hoped with his Control giving Randidly an unparalleled ability to manipulate both Aether and Nether in the surrounding area It was only after experimenting with the glove that Randidly was able to reign in his Nether disc to its original levels

The process created an uncomfortable feeling of being bound with a too tight belt but at least lowered the probability that the Special Investigator would find justification to bring his full power to bear based on a chance mistake by Randidly Also his experiments had made Randidly extremely fond of the built in air conditioning system within the glove

It was like a refreshing breeze now followed him around Assuming he kept his emotions under control of course Otherwise winter descended in a ten meter radius around him

As Tatiana departed Randidly shot a message to Mrs Hamilton and then produced the PhilosopherÆs Key He dragged the tip of the key through the air tasting the different threads of karma It always took Randidly by surprise just how wide the net that the Key cast was With this simple key he could see pathways to thousands millions of places that were an unknown distance from his current circumstances

For the first time since obtaining the Fatepiece the thought that Randidly could escape from all this and hide occurred to him He could mirror the CreatureÆs attempts to try and buy some time to escape the System All it would cost was his home planet

RandidlyÆs smile was sharp and his eyes were bright Not a chance

Finding the desired karma in the air Randidly pushed the PhilosopherÆs Key forward and opened a portal A second later he stepped out in a surging rush of Aether as the higher density energy on his side of the portal flowed to fill the vacuum in front of him And because of the movement of energy some of the silver moonlight spirits flitted through as well and billowed outward

Inwardly Randidly sighed What must it look like a portal suddenly appearing and silver energy flowing through in front of me People are going to start to believe that I have a special effects budget

When Randidly stepped through to the dimly lit cave in front of him however Mrs Hamilton was waiting beside the portal and smiled at him Ah Randidly Just in time Welcome to the Broken Caverns We believe the core is right ahead

They were standing next to a gleaming pile of shattered crystals The cavern around them was relatively spacious but he rapidly noted this wasnÆt the only pile of crystals in the area In fact as Randidly glanced around him basically everything appeared to be various sized mounds of shattered crystals

The roof in some places was low but a jagged fissure ran above the long meandering stretch of caverns around them Strange green light filtered downward in wild refractions earning RandidlyÆs attention The more he looked at it the more Randidly believed that the caverns had been created by a giant dragging a sword across the ground and leaving a scar As the green light shone down through the crack it reflected off crystals and bouncing around until the surrounding area was practically a paradise for unpredictable shadows

Up ahead he could sense Paolo and KayleÆs familiar images dealing with a relatively weaker resistance than he would have expected But he supposed he was slightly late to the party As RandidlyÆs Grim Intuition spread outward he quickly got a better picture of the situation in the next cavern The strangely insectoid corpses of the Corrupted Invaders littered the ground creating a path of bodies to a normal building that was extremely queer within the surrounding caverns

From within that building Randidly detected the signature Aether constructs of the Nexus

This world Randidly glanced around after locating his target His Grim Intuition spread outward in every direction revealing more and more meandering cave systems

Mrs Hamilton nodded Yes As far as we can tell the surface is inhospitable for all but the strongest people The radiation from the nearby sun is extremely violent how life survived on this planet before the System is a mystery to me

Guess they just dug deeper holes Randidly commented Then in the next instant the surrounding crystals shook as Kayle and Paolo clashed against the image of the leader of the Corrupted Invaders Some of the crystals that lined the passage to the next cave cracked and crumbled

not quite as strong as Alana but not a pushover Still what does that mean about the foe waiting in the Epic Danger Zone Randidly chewed on his lip Then he shook his head admitting that predicting a foeÆs strength was not his strong suit After all look at what happened to his plan to overpower the Special Investigator with Nether

Anything Mrs Hamilton asked with a casual smile

Randidly shook his head He wasnÆt surprised in the least that she understood the true reason for his visit even though he claimed to just want to understand the test the Nexus was giving the Earth But truly although the Aether he sensed was clearly the NexusÆ it didnÆt seem malicious It seemed to mark a trigger of some sort

but letÆs not jump to conclusions For the good of Earth itÆs time we started getting rid of these freeloaders before we get stuck with them for eternity Randidly said The two walked forward toward the next cavern ignoring the increasingly violent clashes between images ahead of them

Chapter 1359

PaoloÆs dominant image finally crushed the resistance of the main Corrupted Invader shattering the crystalline walls of the surrounding cavern in the process Such was the potent impact of the strike that as Randidly and Mrs Hamilton walked into the room glimmering fragments of crystal drifted around them like snow Waves of chaotic images also radiated outward toward them but Mrs Hamilton waved her hand and the reverberations immediately faded to nothing

That got RandidlyÆs attention Wow her ability to neutralize power with images is far beyond the strength of her image but I suppose manipulation was always Mrs HamiltonÆs strong suit

As the cracked crystal and dust slowly settled the interior of the cave revealed itself to their eyes Most of DonnytonÆs soldiers were taking long drinks from their waterskins by the entrance covered in scorched armor and blood from the invaders As they saw the new arrivals they stiffened and bowed hastily putting their weapons away

Ahead of the in the center of the large cavern Kayle was practically a blur ripping the fleeing remnants of the Corrupted Invaders to pieces They screamed in pain with a weird series of clicks their spasming bodies collapsing in pools of their own blood

It was a butcherÆs work but Randidly felt rather grimly pleased to see it happening Despite the fact that he knew these Corrupted Invaders were also in a rather pathetic situation that didnÆt manage to extinguish the frigid flame of wrath that was born in RandidlyÆs chest when the Invaders arrived They were a threat to Earth Obviously he wouldnÆt condone torturing them but he certainly wasnÆt going to soften his heart to their plight until the threat of bearing their Aether burden was neutralized

This System makes monsters out of us all one day literally or figuratively

Cracking his knuckle and smacking his lips Paolo crunched across the cave floor covered in broken crystals There was a screeching groan as the wall by where Paolo had fought the Corrupted Invader Leader It collapsed and sent a way of dust and flecks of crystal in a billowing gust Gradually PaoloÆs fuzzy form became sharp as he cleared most of the debris Zone 11Æs forces are mopping up the remnants in the side caves but weÆve basically completely cleaned all the buggers out Now what remains is to declare our victory to the world Ah it feels good to be champions

Another portion of the cavern behind him collapsed sending another wave of dust forward This time Mrs Hamilton grimaced and cut sharply with her hand splitting the approaching wave of dust before it could engulf them again

As much as I am loath to admit it Kayle wiped the blood from the Corrupted Invaders from his long knives and carefully slid them back into their sheaths Then he waved his hand toward the strange building at the center of the cave Standing amongst the settling dust it seemed strangely surreal Announcing that declaration is actually something we need to do There is an array in the middle of the house that can be activated

Then by all means Mrs Hamilton showed a wide smile and stepped forward LetÆs inform the Nexus of our success

Almost instinctively Randidly was wary as he peered at the building It appeared to be made of a light blue plastic that Randidly had never seen before clearly an alien element in an especially alien locale Crystal fragments slid off the roof and clattered onto the ground Randidly hesitated Yet it was clear from the Aether construct that something did need to be done

Paolo bowed to Mrs Hamilton If you would do the honors

Shaking her head in amusement Mrs Hamilton waggled a finger at Paolo Of course we wonÆt be doing it immediately LetÆs wait until our allies return They deserve to be part of this as well

Which meant that Randidly had the opportunity to take a long look at the Aether construct in front of him

Congratulations Your Skill Aether Detection has grown to Level 204

For the ten minutes it took for Zone 11 to mop up the remnants of the enemy forces Randidly scrutinized every inch of the building Even as he dragged NeveahÆs consciousness away from her near constant study of YystrixÆs Engravings all she was able to deduce was that the Aether formed some sort of inert transmitter Activating would release a signal of some kind

Which seemed to confirm that this was what they wanted but Randidly still was vigilant

Finally Warlord arrived His eyes twitched slightly when he saw Randidly but after nodding to him he turned to Mrs Hamilton with a serious expression You waited for us You shouldnÆt have This is a time sensitive matter The sooner we finish this the better

Randidly was surprised at the rebuke in his tone but Mrs Hamilton took it in stride She sighed and said In an ideal world you are right We should trigger this as soon as possible then head to reinforce other task forces to reveal the Epic Danger Zone sooner But do you really think anyone would be willing to ask for our assistance at this point

Warlord sighed in a strange mirroring of Mrs Hamilton perhaps you are right Then thank you But still I must insist that it is you be the one to activate this thing Your forces formed the vanguard today

Mrs Hamilton chuckled Be honest you are offering that dubious honor just because none of us know what this strange blue house does Then she turned to Randidly Any input

ThereÆs an array in the center of the building You should just be able to walk into it Randidly replied with a frown He flexed his right hand releasing a chill breeze through the gathered figures With the added clarity from the Frostscale Glove he gave the Aether array one last piercing examination He found nothing he hadnÆt seen before If nothing happens after you walk into it IÆll try and examine it in more detail

Mrs Hamilton nodded and walked forward toward the threshold of the blue house Randidly followed a few meters behind with Paolo Kayle and Warlord following just behind him But it turned out that all their worries and suspicion were for naught because as soon as Mrs Hamilton went into the building the Aether snapped into place A pulse of energy shot upward screaming across the sky back toward the portal to Earth A nova of Aether blasted outward around the building spreading through all the surrounding people as the message departed

Even with the help of the Frostscale Glove the Aether moved too quickly for his Grim Intuition to follow Luckily NeveahÆs more nuanced Aether Perception locked onto it once it crossed back over to Earth After a few more seconds Randidly received a message from Neveah

I can only pinpoint the general area but the Aether dispersed around Lake Apollo in Zone 1 I would suspect that is where the Epic Raid Dungeon is located

Useful knowledge but it likely wouldnÆt change much of the preparations they were making Humming to himself Randidly was just about to turn away and return to his training when he sensed a strange tingling in his Soulspace His eyes narrowed

It was also at that exact moment that there was a ripping sound in the air behind him and Randidly spun around A familiar energy leaked outward to fill the gloomy underground cavern

Kaan Swacc grinned at Randidly with his toothless mouth and clapped his hands to produce a queer clanging sound Congratulations on clearing the first infestation of Corrupted Invaders I must say my superiors were right to have a Special Investigator present for this test of Earth At this rate you will finish clearing the Danger Zones before the final Zone clears its Raid Dungeon A most unusual achievement

Instantly Randidly tensed His hands curled into fists If at all possible he wanted to avoid a fight with the Special Investigator for a little while longer Especially because a fight here would likely involve all of Donnyton and Zone 11Æs elite Perhaps they would hamper Kaan enough to make it a fair fight but Randidly knew they would pay a large cost for that assistance Thank you for stopping by But if thatÆs all perhaps you should go We have other matters to attend to

The tingling in RandidlyÆs Soulspace was growing more intense KaanÆs warped expression stretched itself even wider No but all IÆm saying is that it is certainly very suspicious that the Earth is doing so well Not just with this Danger Zone but all of them ItÆs almost as if someone has been giving this planet a small push forward so I did some investigating

And you wouldnÆt believe what I discovered There is foreign Aether present on Earth Aether not purified and pacified by the Nexus In significant amounts Now this might just be a natural phenomenon but just in case I used my authority to bring out a very old weapon of the Nexus back into circulation

Randidly didnÆt even have time to examine his own circumstances when he heard a low groan from behind him As he glanced over his shoulder he saw that Mrs Hamilton had collapsed against the blue plastic wall of the building and was slowly sliding to the ground Her face was contorted into a horrible grimace

That Aether Nova when the signal was released

Now that he knew what was looking for he could feel slight tremors coming through the Aether connection to Mrs Hamilton that was entirely independent of the tingling that was spreading through RandidlyÆs Soulspace Seeing that Mrs HamiltonÆs situation was so much worse than his Randidly sent his focus through their connection to Mrs HamiltonÆs body and found that running through her Soulspace were several strange nodes of Aether For lack of a better term they released a shockÆ every time they encountered non System Aether Considering the density of those nodes inside of Mrs HamiltonÆs body it was no wonder that the experience was agonizing enough to subdue her

Now that Randidly knew what to look for his Grim Intuition spread outward What he found caused a chill to run down RandidlyÆs back Even more disturbing than these nodes’ abilities to shock was the way they seemed magnetized toward foreign Aether At the moment he would see hundreds making a beeline toward either Randidly or Mrs Hamilton

You see Kaan SwaccÆs eyes curved up at the corners as he continued to speak During the Second and Third Cohorts various factions were struggling to control the Nexus Oftentimes they would provide direct support to various planets so that when those planets passed the Calamities they would support its sponsorÆs political ideas as citizens of the Nexus But this completely undermined the point of the System to create powerful images to war against Nether So the greatest minds the Nexus government possessed designed these Aether Mines and released them secretly

The greatest secret of these mines was their ability to follow an Aether connection to the source Within a month of the Aether Mines being released all those who poor cretins who received the support of the traitorous organizations died a slow and painful death It took a little longer for the sources to receive their just desserts but the presence of the Aether Mines in their bodies left them permanently crippled After that the organizations learned their lesson and allowed the System to do its job

There was one bit of silver lining that Randidly could find as he listened to Kaan Swacc talk It gave him a clue to addressing the more immediate problem of Mrs HamiltonÆs pain It was clear that the Aether mines were much more attracted to his body than Mrs HamiltonÆs likely due to the increased density of foreign Aether in him So he could use his Aether to gradually pull the mines that were present in Mrs HamiltonÆs body out of her and into himself

So he did so The sensation wasnÆt quite painful yet it simply felt like his skin was constantly buzzing With a little bit of luring the Aether Mines flowed out of Mrs HamiltonÆs body and into RandidlyÆs Soulspace Despite the danger Randidly couldnÆt help but feel a bit of relief as the expression on Mrs HamiltonÆs face eased

Ah I forgot to mention one thing you might be able to handle this amount of mines but each Danger Zone is rigged to release more when it is clear Kaan chuckled As for a way to deal with them thereÆs actually a quite simple method Nether unravels them almost instantly But of course IÆve tied added a sensor to the mine that would detect that I wonder what decision you will make Mr Ghosthound

Chapter 1360

After chuckling again Kaan Swacc turned away and rapidly vanished Rather than actually checking in RandidlyÆs response Randidly suspected that the Special InvestigatorÆs true goal in coming here was to make sure Randidly understood precisely what the shape of the trap was So that Randidly would have to knowingly decide to trigger it if that ended up being his decision

Professional soldier he might be but heÆs treating this as a game He takes the time to enjoy the sport of a task when he can Randidly reflected

There seemed to be general confusion amongst the troops of the task force in regards to the sudden series of events but Mrs Hamilton graciously stepped forward and said that the enemy that appeared was the mastermind plotting against Earth In addition she elaborated that she and Randidly had neutralized the Aether mines for the moment so there was no reason to worry about further damage

But she did give Randidly a long look before the task force trooped off indicating that she would eventually expect an investigation Warlord also gave Randidly a look but he seemed deeply tired Besides his gazes were just as often for Kayle and Paolo as they were for Randidly It seemed that Zone 11 had an eye opening experience in the Danger Zone

When he met Mrs HamiltonÆs gaze Randidly gave her a grave nod Certainly he didnÆt mind giving more context to what had happened in the future But at the moment it didnÆt seem like it was an appropriate time He flexed his hands to try and rid himself with that uncomfortable sensation of buzzing

Randidly hadnÆt intended to hide the truth anyway Not when there were quite a few individuals who he had established Aether connections with amongst the various task forces who could be similarly afflicted Unless he wanted them to walk into the trap he would need to spread the word of this newest gambit from the Special Investigator

Saying he intended to study the array further Randidly remained behind as the task force crunched their way back through the Broken Caverns With his thick and rich Aether it was extremely simple to lure all the Aether Mines to within his own body They happily rushed to fill his Soulspace whereupon they set up shop and began releasing rather constant shocks to RandidlyÆs body

Twitches ran through his body as he struggled to get the reaction of the Aether Mines under control At NeveahÆs suggestion Randidly tried to create a working of Aether to bind the Aether Mines in one spot but that only made the energy shocks more agonizing When a certain number were grouped in a group they formed an array that released a much stronger jolt Randidly sighed and just let the Aether Mines spread throughout his body

When they reached an equilibrium the pain was actually manageable Just an intermittent stinging one that likely wouldnÆt even affect RandidlyÆs focus Annoying but still

Randidly produced his Dreamcatcher of the Long Night with the intent to start experimenting He was a little worried that he wouldnÆt have a moment to relive yet with the Aether Mines present but luckily it seemed that meeting Kaan Swacc for even that brief conversation was meaningful enough to allow the moment to be captured Or perhaps the Dreamcatcher also took RandidlyÆs opinion under advisement when it came to what moments it should keep

Congratulations Your Fatepiece Dreamcatcher of the Long Night has grown to Level 53

Congratulations Your Fatepiece Dreamcatcher of the Long Night has grown to Level 61

About damn time it actually responded to a theory I had Randidly whistled So part of its function was that it would follow his desires and record certain moments in his memories Ostensibly to give Randidly a tool to protect himself from nightmares

That earned him no response so Randidly shook his head The frustrating truth was that while Randidly had discovered a lot about how the Fatepiece functioned he was still struggling to even catch the faintest clue as to why it worked

Yet his Fatepiece could wait With the appropriate moment located Randidly slid into his Dreamcatcher of the Long Night He sat through KaanÆs short monologue for a second time and then when Kaan left immediately used Nether to neutralize the Aether Mines There was about a five second span that Randidly was rather shocked that Kaan hadnÆt lied about how effective Nether was against the Aether Mines Then the familiar Nether suppression slammed down around Randidly and he willingly exited that experiment

No need to waste his time and energy on a fight right now

On his next attempt Randidly toyed around with Aether Mines seeing if he could figure out which portion of the Aether construct Kaan used to detect their destruction But what he ended up doing was detonating an Aether Mine in his own face leaving him dazed and twitching for almost ten minutes from the shock it released

It wasnÆt electricity per se but perhaps something that could accurately be described as polarity It released either a positivity and negativity of energy that made even someone with the powerful physical body of Randidly uncomfortable It didnÆt inflict damage but only pain

Enough pain that when it was concentrated RandidlyÆs body spasmed uncontrollably In fact Randidly was glad that he had sent people away before he had made the attempt to experiment his wild twitches as he recovered from his costly mistake were enough to sunder the ground and rip open great chasms in the already fragile caverns around him He sensed that there were local monsters in the area but they quickly fled deeper into the caves as he became a buzzing natural disaster

His movements gradually stabilized as he recovered from the detonation his tampering had caused On his next attempt he contacted the Neveah within the projection and had her experiment a bit But his headache despite his increased Skill Level grew too onerous too quickly for the Neveah within the projection to discover anything useful

On his next attempt he made a very disturbing discovery Neveah couldnÆt share his senses while he was within the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night

It makes a certain amount of sense You are dreamingÆ while you are within your Fatepiece Neveah replied when Randidly explained his frustrations And from just inspecting your situation IÆll echo my projection we need a significant amount of time studying those to figure out a way to disarm them

Perhaps you should go into a Dungeon then Randidly rubbed his chin

But Neveah quickly shut that option down No Do you think this problem is a simple one This was a weapon aimed at the factions within the Nexus How long would it take for me to become more adept with Aether than them Besides isnÆt there already an easy solution You have the Alpha Cosmos Just throw the mines in there

Randidly rolled his eyes at how unwilling Neveah was to leave her studying of the CreatureÆs Engravings She wouldnÆt be away from the Engravings for long in the real world but to NeveahÆs Perception it might take months to figure out the Aether Mines But that didnÆt mean her point wasnÆt a good one These Aether Mines if they were what Kaan Swacc claimed werenÆt easy to deal with

Based on what Randidly knew of the Special Investigator wouldnÆt normally lie So when he said that Aether Mines were made by the NexusÆs finest minds that was probably the truth And he had also implied that it had left several of the affected parties permanently crippled

Obviously Neveah would be willing to head into the Dungeon if there was no other choice but what Neveah was suggesting was that there were other options that might be much easier And it wasnÆt that Randidly hadnÆt thought about relying on the Alpha Cosmos obviously his bodyÆ was much larger than Kaan Swacc understood Which was probably why Mrs Hamilton had been reduced to a quivering mess and Randidly just felt an annoying buzzing even after absorbing the entirety of the Aether Mines As his body was a world it could endure more

But just like Neveah Randidly didnÆt want to just throw them into the Alpha Cosmos unless it was absolutely necessary He could try and get an answer from the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night what would happen but he already had a pretty sizable headache after blowing an Aether Mine up in his own face For now he would try and conserve his mental energy and recover

ThereÆs always something Randidly forced out a shaky breath and looked around him at the crack riddled cavern

So for the moment RandidlyÆs focus turned to find out if it was possible to continue with his normal training with the Aether MineÆs present in his body He activated each image in turn First the Grim Chimera then Yggdrasil and then the Stillborn Phoenix Aside from the Stillborn Phoenix trying to absorb the Aether Mines and Randidly hastily stopping it there was no reactions from the Aether Mines Although they responded strongly to foreign Aether they ignored images

Seeing that Randidly considered allowing the mines to be absorbed by the Stillborn Phoenix But somehow Randidly suspected that the same quantity that allowed them to ignore image would mean that rather than being suppressed being suck into a black hole would just detonate them in RandidlyÆs body And he was not in any hurry to experience that again

Perhaps most annoyingly the Aether Mines still reacted to activating the Skills associated with those images So although Randidly could theoretically train his images with the Aether Mines present if he Leveled his Skills it would become significantly more uncomfortable to manage all the Aether Mines swimming through his body

And this is the sensation after only one of the Danger Zones is cleared Randidly sighed Then since he was waiting around for his headache to dissipate anyway Randidly began gathering all the Aether Mines that were within him to a smaller space Precisely one fourth smaller concentrated in the center of his chest

Thump Thump

RandidlyÆs heart began to pound more heavily as the increased pressure on the Aether Mines made them release waves of painful polarity at an increased frequency Gritting his teeth Randidly continued pressing until he could simulate what having opened all four Danger Zones would feel like Growling Randidly smashed his fists against the ground and shattered the crystals beneath him Hairline cracks skittered outward in every direction

Fucking shit Randidly hissed Even though everything was concentrated in his chest the pain was agonizing Agonizing for him someone who could now swim through lava without anything but some minor burns

Thump Thump Thump Thump

His heart rate steadily began to rise as the pain plateaued and then continued to gnaw at RandidlyÆs focus while remaining steady in intensity Pressing his eyes closed Randidly did his best to ignore the pain It did not make him optimistic about his chances of simply ignoring the Aether Mines

But even if this amount of pain was debilitating Randidly supposed that after the fourth Danger Zone was cleared Kaan Swacc would act against him anyway so he never would need to endure underneath this density of Aether Mines When the Special Investigator moved there would be no point in holding back any longer

But Randidly still maintained it the concentrated field of Aether Mines Because now there was an edge of madness in his eyes as he experienced pain in a way that he hadnÆt in quite a long time Not since his image had been corroded by Nether on the frontlines had Randidly felt this much pain It set his whole body on fire His mulish stubbornness reared hits head

Heh Did you think this much pain would break me Randidly muttered to himself His arms and legs were twitching now even though the pain wasnÆt concentrated there But a growing need to explode into motion swept through Randidly Especially because it quickly became clear that this was not helping his mental strength recover His body shuddered

THUMP THUMP THUMPTHUMP THUMPTHUMPTHUMP

His heart continued to accelerate His blood was practically being shot out of the arteries rushing through to his limbs before circulating back toward his core The pain continued to rip at his Willpower The trembling was growing worse as his cardiovascular system started pushing at the limits of his physical Vitality

Honestly if a normal humanÆs heartbeat this quickly Randidly wouldnÆt be surprised if their body would explode There was so much power running through his limbs at the moment

FUCKING SHIT Randidly roared lifting and smashing his fists back into the ground in one last unpredictable muscle spasm His muscles were on fire with the intensity of the movement combining the twitches with his fury

What Randidly didnÆt expect was that the stone and crystal beneath him was pulped to dust just by the air pressure his fists released And then the physical force rampaged downward opening a sinkhole beneath Randidly

The ground beneath him collapsed with such suddenness that even the battle hardened Randidly yelped and tumbled downward in shock A split second later roots twisted outward and formed a platform on which Randidly could stand The rocks holding the roots in place shattered but the roots rapidly extended deeper into the surrounding ground and built a support structure that could hold RandidlyÆs weight

Then he solemnly looked downward at the collapsed cave beneath him The ground had disintegrated twenty meters in every direction but the real strangeness of the result was that even RandidlyÆs sharp eyes couldnÆt see the bottom of the hole he had opened

As far as he could tell that impact of his fists had practically dug a shaft directly downward about a hundred meters from his starting point And the reverberations had destroyed the crystals in the surrounding area allowing everything to collapse inward and create the huge hole he now stared into

His heartbeat began to slow Without Randidly concentrating on it the Aether Mines flowed apart and the pain faded to an annoying buzzing Randidly rubbed his chin as he looked downward A strange light was suddenly present in his emerald eyes

That power Was it really that easy the whole time Randidly muttered to himself I guess I forgot that the truth was I am a human being

Chapter 1361

There was a brief instant as Randidly had instinctively smashed downward with his fists when Randidly felt a paradigm shift In his movements he broke past some sort of subconscious limit in what he could accomplish with his physical body His Nether Brawn had truly manifested itself shattering the surrounding crystal with prejudice

Now the crystal was obviously not a very structurally sound material but the size of the effect that Randidly had generated spoke to the power surpassing that boundary would grant him Finally he had managed to bring his physical gifts to bear And as he stood on that platform of roots and looked toward the distant depth of the hole he had created he began re examining the sensations And when Randidly came to a conclusion as to the cause it surprised him

He had been able to exert such power because Randidly had truly believed such an effect could be achieved at that moment It was the result of a subconscious image that result was in line with what he could accomplish

If Randidly couldnÆt imagine what such uncontrollable physical gifts would look like he should focus on what he knew being a human and up the base specs on which he was running In this case by pushing his heart rate upward beyond what a normal human could withstand toward what was possible with his high Vitality and Endurance

Because the heart was the engine of the human body If he could raise his heart rate to monstrous proportions perhaps his monstrous physicality would finally feel right to Randidly The engine would power all the machinery that had remained frustratingly underperforming thus far

Heh Randidly chuckled looking down at the knuckles of his fists One was black metal covered in white lines of energy and one was normal flesh Both fists were his through and through fists that he had fought with for years But looking back with the strengthening of his images he had started to dissociate with his own body as he had grown stronger All his focus was geared toward sharpening his mind to impress his will on the world It was no wonder that he was having difficulty controlling his physical power

When was the last time he thought about what his human body was capable of

Randidly departed from the Danger Zone with his Fatepiece but didnÆt return to Kharon or his island He had learned his lesson from destroying the already very Broken Caverns instead Randidly headed deep into the vast grassland that Kharon was trooping across and set up a short term camp for himself

Just as Randidly was about to begin his training he received a reminder from Tatiana to make a decision on foreign policy toward the Blighted Paragon and his bubble city by tonight VyeÆs meeting had gone well so they had a little bit more context in which to make that decision That report was forward to Randidly to peruse as he made his decision

For now Randidly set that issue to the side He closed his eyes and released a breath With Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil he pulled down all of the surrounding grass to make a flat surface in a smaller area Then rather than beginning to train Randidly produced some wood he had laying around in his interspatial ring and set about making a fire

After the fire was created he pulled out his new Engraved iron pan and made a mental note to ask Tatiana who had given it to him so he could thank them Then his Grim Intuition billowed outward in a large area Randidly quickly located a Level 70 Two Headed Cobalt Adder nearby and directed Acri to go hunt their dinner To which Acri responded in absolute delight after all it had been quite some time since Acri had been able to devour experience

It shyly asked if it should only kill the one Two Headed Cobalt Adder and Randidly could only roll his eyes

While Acri excitedly took care of the meat Randidly prepared to handle the other supplies He continued adding fire until the heat reached a point that was satisfactory to him Then slightly amused at what he was about to do Randidly produced his PhilosopherÆs Key and opened a portal back to Kharon Specifically to a roof above the main market square

For whatever reason people loved open air markets weather permitting So although the square had originally been meant as a junction for industrial transportation the rise of Engraved platforms meant that it could be repurposed In the last month the area had bloomed from several shops with outdoor seating areas to the beating heart of the cityÆs merchants

RandidlyÆs bare feet slapped against the shingled roof as he peered down toward the surging mass of people below It was almost evening and most workers had just left their jobs and were either grabbing a bite to eat or gathering the ingredients to make dinner when they got home As such even the side streets and alleys around the wide market square were filled with squabbling and haggling People had to shoulder past at least a half dozen discussions in order to find the product you wanted in the dense mess of hanging cookware piles of fruit and carefully displayed monster materials

It was enough that Randidly blinked downward at the sheer about of heat and noise that wafted upward from the square The appetizing aroma of sizzling oil and freshly seared meat mixed with the scents of fruits and spices Children rushed wildly around the legs of adults earning a tirade of curses but no real retaliation as the adults barely had space to twist and glare

For a second Randidly considered disguising himself so he could quickly and easily buy some supplies without being noticed But considering his track record of disguises in the past Randidly had to admit it likely would be a waste of time Besides there was an easier method

Randidly hopped down off the roof landing lightly onto the edge of the fountain in the center of the square Basically Randidly had no choice in this matter it was the only location with even the slightest bit of room

It took about ten seconds after his feet touched the edge of the stone fountain for the entire square to realize that Randidly Ghosthound had arrived The people nearby seemed to be frozen stiff likely due to the influence of the Nether nebula inside of him The people further back stood on their tiptoes trying to get a good look at them

It was fascinating sensing how the new arrivals they picked up in the Wildlands were quickly adapting to the general image of Kharon It made Randidly proud When he was sure he had their attention Randidly smiled IÆd like to buy some groceries In large quantities Who can help me

Very quickly a smiling man with a mustache stepped forward bringing Randidly away from the crowded shops to the underground portion of the market where most of the ingredients were sold The crowd parted instantly to create a wide path Some people pressed themselves up again other people squished against brick walls in order to make room RandidlyÆs eyes picked it all up scanning back and forth

At the same time RandidlyÆs Grim Intuition could pick up that five other merchants were quietly arguing with each other over who should sell which of their wares to Randidly Ghosthound

Their discussion was surprisingly intense Part of it was for the achievement of having the Ghosthound patronize their start part of it was for the profit of the transaction but there was a significant portion of their discussion that focused on making sure Randidly received the best produce which touched Randidly

The underground market required Randidly to descend stairs into a low ceilinged space that seemed to have been built to be a warehouse but had been recently repurposed to form several long rows of tightly packed stalls that mirrored the square above But whereas finished products were sold above this was where the raw fish meat vegetables fruits cheeses and spices were kept in bulk

There were much fewer people here and those that remained seemed to be related to the merchants who were discussing above And those merchants hadnÆt remained idle while they were haggling with each other

It was also quite pleasant that by the time Randidly walked down into the interior of the underground the five merchants had come to a rapid agreement hastily ordering their employees to set up a long table in the little bit of space available by the stairs Upon that table they set out two of everything the best two of each individual ingredient picked from the warehouse of the five main merchants that had come together after Randidly had made his appearance

And glancing at the array they had brought out before him they hadnÆt held anything back But toward the piles of beautifully marbled meat that took up fully one half of the long table Randidly waved his hand IÆve got meat already But these things

The merchantsÆ faces fell as Randidly ignored the meat which was probably the most expensive of the stuff on the table but they quickly regained their cheerful dispositions as Randidly descended upon the other half of the table like the personification of a swarm of locusts

Olives aged parmesan cheese specialty kinds of honey asparagus florets green and red peppers a rich butter from domesticated minotaurs ground cumin cinnamon and clove a fragrant sweet potato that Randidly didnÆt recognize but his nose informed him would be delicious eggs that were a light red color red wine that Randidly planned on using for cooking and finally a flaky variety of biscuits that would go well with what Randidly had in mind

The variety of his choices improved the moods of the merchants but what made their jaws drop was when Randidly turned to them and began asking how much stock they had of the various things When it came to the spices Randidly wanted at least two pounds For the vegetables and cheese fifteen pounds each

When it came to the biscuits after ripping one in half and being delighted by how flaky and fragrant they were he was essentially willing to buy their entire stock With the sweep of his hand Randidly took away his veritable banquet and provided them with some of the cash that Tatiana had the foresight to insist Randidly take a few days ago Then he returned to his camp and prepared to make himself a meal

Very quickly he realized that his small fire likely wouldnÆt be sufficient So Randidly cracked his knuckles produced some old metal from his interspatial ring and got to work By the time Acri had dragged back the large corpse that would become the main dish Randidly had two secondary fires and a rather large central bonfire positioned underneath a series of metal bars to make a primitive grill

Acri impressed Randidly with its abilities as a butcher rapidly bleeding the corpse and removing the rich meet of the snake while Randidly prepped the vegetables Some of the biscuits were left next to the fire to warm The asparagus and a handful of diced red peppers was tossed with salt pepper and oil and then left draped across the grill to cook The sweet potatoes were sliced drizzled with honey and left over one of the smaller fires to roast

The meat of course would eventually go into his new pan But before that Randidly rubbed the meat with the salt and pepper and let it sit for a while he cracked some eggs into a wooden bowl After about five minutes Randidly put the salted meat into the gooey egg innards and then tossed the sticky result into a mixture of cumin pepper clove and enriched flour

Only then was the two headed snake meat ready for the pan and it had Randidly salivating from the first sizzle

Chapter 1362

If the heart was the engine then food was the of the body fuel And with his three cooking fires and AcriÆs timely assistance Randidly made a feast of breaded snake chops with a red wine sauce roasted asparagus and red peppers honeyed sweet potatoes and buttered biscuits

And then afterward Randidly lay on the ground looked up at the sky and burped Maybe I shouldnÆt have eaten that much

For that one meal Randidly had eaten fully a fourth of the cooking supplies that he had gathered Honestly it was ridiculous that his stomach would even withstand the weight of the food he consumed It felt like he had been chucking food into a hole for all that it seemed to be physically present in his body

Yet the strangest part was that after the meal Randidly felt great Like he was truly energized for the first time in quite a while Since becoming accustomed to subsisting directly on Aether Randidly had largely avoided meals Not because he didnÆt want them but perhaps because he felt that he was too busy to bother most of the time

But he could clearly feel that despite the fact that the energy fueling his body should be interchangeable it felt more valuable coming from food Even as Randidly sensed himself digesting the food almost as fast as he could eat it it became easier and easier to immerse himself in the power of the human body with a good meal

This is how a human becomes powerful Grinning to himself Randidly looked up toward the vast azure sky It reminded Randidly of VuallaÆs hair a light blue that made him think of endless possibilities From his vantage point in the grasslands the clouds above seemed distant and endless There was an open beauty to this place that he was slightly sorry to be about to destroy

Stillborn Phoenix IÆll leave the beginnings of this in your hands Randidly said softly In his chest the egg of darkness stirred Light began to bend around Randidly as an event horizon formed around him The Stillborn Phoenix gripped the surrounding world and pulled everything into its hungry maw With his new image Randidly felt his understanding of Nether slowly changing His Nether nebula spun faster and faster

Because it wasnÆt just that there was a core and a bubble to the substance of Nether There was the density and then there was the event horizon the point by which the influence of the core is too powerful for the surrounding anything to escape He had thought that the core that Randidly had been focusing on in the past was the density but he now realized that it had been the event horizon

The image was the source of density the bending edge of light the event horizon and then the energy field around him formed the bubble

But of course he activated his Nether very slowly He was exceedingly careful to keep his Aether Mines within his Soulspace where they wouldnÆt interact with the Nether and suddenly reveal his secret to the Special Investigator Pushing them into the one space was slightly painful but Randidly figured this process would be fraught anyway The pain wouldnÆt hinder him at all

In the grasslands the area immediately around Randidly was quickly ripped up and devoured as his Stillborn Phoenix image manifested and grew stronger Then the grass a little bit farther away was torn to shreds by the presence of the image And then the grass beyond that withered and died as the egg sucked in light and energy

Carefully Randidly brought his black hole to sit directly within his heart Although using the Aether Mines to stimulate his body would work it was painful and distracting What Randidly wanted to do instead was directly stimulate his heart to increase the pace of its beats without pulling a veil of pain over his eyes

Releasing a breath Randidly wrapped his body in the Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold Black and purple energy flowed across his limbs filled with emerald and orange motes of light Before his eyes every inch of his body was suddenly drawn in sharp definition Each stalk fo the rustling tall grass even a hundred meters away was crystal clear to Randidly Most importantly this allowed him to carefully monitor the situation of his organs

Despite his high Physical Defense Stats Randidly didnÆt want to take any chances with what was about to happen

Congratulations Your Skill Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold has grown to Level 269

With Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart Randidly began using gravity to directly influence his own body At first the sensation was extremely strange but his Control over the process was acute He quickly localized the area that he needed to effect Then slowly he began squeezing his own heart to increase his heart rate artificially

Almost subconsciously Randidly brought his left hand up to press against his chest The alien beats could be felt even through his metal fingers He released a long breath gradually upping the frequency of the gravity pulses His Grim Intuition sank into his muscles and veins His lungs expanded and contracted He followed the rapid flow of blood through his body His focus was so acute that even the constant buzz from the Aether Mines fell away All that remained was the determination to chase that feeling of power he had briefly experienced

Randidly released another breath As his blood pressure increased he didnÆt necessarily feel any more powerful than normal But he definitely felt a growing heat in his chest Even moment the Stillborn Phoenix sat at the core of him it devoured a little more of that heat But as Randidly rolled his shoulders and felt his heart begin to accelerate that heat continued to spring forth

Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump

Randidly barred his teeth at the ground His heart was slowly accelerating but Randidly didnÆt want to make use of the spare time that he had to take this process slowly Even if it was safer Randidly was honestly tired of training He was tired of going into his Dreamcatcher and losing badly in fights He was ready to finally discover this physical power that by rights was already his He simply couldnÆt find the means to seize it

The people of Earth treated Randidly like he had transcended humanity but it felt like every day Randidly was reminded how mortal he was And Randidly wanted to live up to the EarthÆs expectations

He would not stop pushing until he could finally suppress Kaan Swacc

With his Aether Mines contained to his Soulspace Nether had free reign to run wild in the rest of his body It flowed rapidly through his torso arms and legs in a shadowy reflection of his blood His body began to twitch RandidlyÆs emerald eyes slowly darkened Just a bit more

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

Congratulations Your Skill Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart has grown to Level 217

His body shook with each beat of his heart His blood was whipping through his veins once more But most of all what dominated RandidlyÆs consciousness was that vast heat that rose from the depths of his body The fuel was burning The engine was beginning to rev upward Rather than needing to be careful with the Stillborn Phoenix the heat in his body needed the egg of darkness present so Randidly would sear his brain into a steaming pile of much