LoRG 4

His fingers twitched and flexed His knuckles popped Several veins on his neck bulged outward

Then the wave passed through him heading deeper toward the horrifying significance below Gradually Randidly could force his joints to relax and study the now drifting spike more closely It truly looked like a giant nail almost the size of Randidly himself The metal was some sort of heavy iron with a large chunk at the top and a spike below that Yet as the heavy object slowly began to drift down through the gloomy air buffeted a bit by the emotions that spent themselves on this new target Randidly saw a familiar looking Engraving across the surface of the nail

Gradually his eyes widened After re establishing his emotional tether so he wasnÆt devoured by the significance below he used Tide of the Void to gradually pull the nail down toward his position As it approached him Randidly clicked his tongue and looked up at the spot on the wall where the doppelgangerÆs etchings remained I can use the Dreamcatcher to examine them but itÆs quite unfortunate that I lost direct access to them Perhaps I was a bit too jumpy But still the power of that image

RandidlyÆs eyes went to the nail again If those Engravings are truly NeveahÆs work then Edraine But why

Randidly paused as he abruptly realized he couldnÆt feel the familiar connection he possessed with Neveah For a second he was aghast it was like discovering he was missing a toe and the loss obviously wasnÆt recent His eyes widened further Although the connection was still present a Soulbound wouldnÆt be cut without consequences Randidly couldnÆt feel it Information and emotions couldnÆt flow through their intimate bond

Suddenly the arrival of the nail made a bit more sense

Grinning with genuine happiness Randidly reached his hand up and beckoned The nail floated down toward him Heh you were always a bit more sensitive than I was Sorry for being a bit slow on the uptake Neveah So you were even willing to come to the Nexus to help me huh I probably donÆt deserve you

RandidlyÆs Grim Intuition quickly scanned through the whole of the Engraving Although he had never seen anything exactly like this before he quickly understood its function and inserted Mana into the correct area of the Engraving There was an audible click and the nail split in half The two heavy pieces of metal fell away revealing a bronze plate supporting a scroll an envelope and some sort of strange brown debris

Squinting Randidly picked up some of the brown bits in his fingers He took a long sniff Then he popped the chunk into his mouth Blueberry muffins Or the casualties of the baking wars

He shook his head sorrowfully for the tragedy of the impact then opened the letter As he suspected it was from Neveah It warned Randidly about the lack of emotional temperance he now possessed now that emotions werenÆt flowing freely between them In addition she excitedly informed him that she had included some muffins she learned to bake from her pen pal on Expira Plus the scroll contained the finished Engraving for RandidlyÆs arm

Randidly couldnÆt help his smile from softening Heh at least that explains how wild IÆve been But if IÆm dealing with my aggression you handled all the caution How difficult was it for you to face your fear and come to the Nexus Neveah

At the bottom of the letter she wished him good luck on returning as soon as possible to the Nexus She would wait for him in the Nexus just to confirm that he was alright The last line informed Randidly that about 30 hours had passed between when Neveah lost contact with him and when the spike was sent down to RandidlyÆs position

He considered that information for a while The letter cleared up his concerns about his insanity at least he was undoubtedly being affected by the emotional intensity but his personality also felt out of wack because his subconscious connection to Neveah had been suppressed Knowing he wasnÆt secretly infected with wild emotions was such a relief that Randidly giggled then coughed lightly to restore his dignified expression

In terms of time Randidly had been down here for about a month in a half although most of that was above the 50% Nether content line Sinking to this depth of 63% the time dilation probably increased rather significantly due to the increase in proficiency he had seen from the doppelgangerÆs emotional weapons As for the exact ratio

Definitely at least a month passed here before a day passed in the Nexus It might even be as much as three months passing down here for a single day

Still that sort of shift meant that he couldnÆt stay down here for the decade he had claimed he needed to catch up to Velio Dunn but it would probably be alright even if Randidly stayed here for even a year Heiffal would be able to handle things in his absence with the trainees

Then Randidly opened the scroll and scanned through NeveahÆs specially made Engraving His eyes immediately brightened this wasnÆt just good The arrangement was positively sublime Comparing the prior Engraving to this one was like comparing a letter to a smartphone With his first glance at the Engraving Randidly had quite a bit of difficulty interpreting the complex interactions that made it work

It was clear that somehow the movement of energy through the metal limb would generate additional energy in a feedback loop to reinforce the joints during impacts but Randidly was bewildered as to the mechanism There were small distortions in some of the familiar sigils in the Engraving but Randidly didnÆt understand how those changes would accomplish what Neveah claimed they would Probably Randidly would need a few days to understand the Engraving enough to attempt making it

Even if making the arm was a distraction from the very real danger of his situation the project would give him some to improve his Architecture of the Primordial Ways before he began to work on the etchings that would physicalize his significance Randidly nodded to himself So for now he would continue to refine his emotional control as a warm up then study the Engraving until he had a functional understanding Afterward he would ponder the significance of his three images until he had recovered his mental energy

Randidly scratched his ear and grimaced down at the scroll This is going to be a bit more difficult than when I can just ask Neveah questions about anything I donÆt understand looks like she hasnÆt been slacking off while IÆve been training in the Nexus

He could direct Helen to gather the necessary metals for his arm in the meantime Randidly wondered if Wendy had managed to invent any new methodologies for working with metal Then

Stirrings from below caught RandidlyÆs attention Then he swore quietly as dark sniffing shapes swam upward through the midnight blue darkness They were still far away and traveling slowly but two entities were quickly pushing their way up through the gloom of the murky darkness Likely they came to investigate that strange wave of force that had allowed NeveahÆs message to reach Randidly down here

So there really are monsters in the depths He whispered

Strangely the first thing Randidly felt was a flash of jealousy He narrowed his eyes and examined the approaching figures it was clear that they were able to resist the pull of significance and push themselves upward although their speed wasnÆt anything impressive Yet to RandidlyÆs surprise they didnÆt appear to have any actual emotional affect to their bodies His Grim Intuition strained to pierce through the surrounding space The constant cascade of information through the Nether dominant air continued to be more hurtful than helpful Yet abruptly Randidly recognized them

Nether Beasts Randidly released a shocked breath Both of the dark silhouettes raised their heads and looked directly at Randidly apparently this time they were close enough to catch his voice Then with a growl Nether surged from their body and propelled them aggressively upward

The beast on the left was a giant newt with a long neck and six eyes on its triangular head The one on the right was a three armed monkey the third arm being a rather slender limb that stretched around its body from the middle of its spine Compared to the Nether Beasts that Randidly had seen in the past their exteriors were much more detailed they werenÆt simply malevolent silhouettes intent on ripping Aether beings to shreds They definitely possessed a more complete Nether flow that allowed them to resist the significance pulling from below

But other than that they seemed similar to the Nether Beasts Randidly saw in the Great Rift Unrefined Nether rolled off their bodies Although their exterior was more detailed Randidly still sensed the core of their being within their bodies sustaining their form The corner of RandidlyÆs mouth twisted upward as he felt a surge of cruel glee

It had been a long time since two Nether Beasts were able to threaten Randidly Ghosthound But they would serve as the perfect stress relief

Without seeming to sense the differences in their tiers of existence the two Nether Beasts roared and closed the last several meters between them In their postures was the certainty that they would kill him Meanwhile Randidly was a little worried about the way those roars reverberated down into the depths but the enjoyment of a fight quickly pushed away those worries there was little he could do about that now anyway

If more came then he would just kill those Nether Beasts too

The fingers of his right hand glowed in the murky Nether filled air as the monkey Nether Beast rushed forward His Pernicious Fang of the Shade drilled directly through the monkeyÆs fist and shredded its arm The blow continued to blow apart the Nether BeastÆs shoulder sending it tumbling backward in agony

Thick tendrils of Nether condensed from the wound gradually gathering the ambient Nether into a thick mass that clouded the air

Meanwhile the image of the Grim Chimera condensed around RandidlyÆs body As the newt launched itself forward the spiked lower tail of the Grim Chimera whipped sideways into its body and smashed it backward The movement was almost dismissive Completely stunned the newt didnÆt even have the capacity to react as RandidlyÆs upper tail pierced forward through the center of its forehead In a flash the deadly point impacted the core of the Nether Beast causing the entire Beast to tremble uncontrollably

Randidly raised his eyebrows as he turned to study the newt more carefully How strange your core could withstand that Looks like you are more genuine than those grunts at the front lines

Just before Randidly was about to release his emotional tether and go study the newtÆs Nether core he activated Chimeric Impunity The monkeyÆs third arm ripped forward harmlessly passing through RandidlyÆs now incorporeal side But RandidlyÆs smile rapidly widened as he looked over at the monkey Nether Beast

Although Randidly had destroyed its right arm its core had been intact He had assumed the monkey would be sufficiently distracted to allow him to focus on the newt And now it seemed that intact core had begun to rapidly spin Nether surged outward in a particular pattern strengthening the Nether Beast But more importantly the wounds that Randidly had inflicted upon the Nether Beast rapidly began to heal underneath the ministrations of its core

The healed limb was covered in a chitinous armor that definitely hadnÆt been there previously Its ruined hand now ended in razor sharp nails With a screech the monkey stabilized itself and shot back toward Randidly with its hand raised

RandidlyÆs emerald eyes glittered Did you really just evolve to fight me How fascinating LetÆs test your limits then I suspect you will soon regret the fact that you didnÆt just immediately die

Chapter 1563

Contrary to his positively contagious excitement at the beginning of his experiments Randidly was quickly disappointed by the ability of these Nether Beasts to repeatedly evolve He had sparred for almost ten minutes with the improved Nether Beast allowing it to strike him with both its old limbs and its new one And without a doubt the new limb had a drastic increase in power compared to the original But it was lacking quite a bit if it truly wanted to inflict a wound on Randidly

In addition to testing its current capabilities he continued to inflict non fatal wounds on the Nether Beast to urge it to evolve further But although it healed with slightly higher specs after each wound knitted back together none of those changes came even close to the improvement of the first Because of that Randidly quickly tired the exercise and restrained both the monkey and the newt with the injured core

It was much less enjoyable but he began to approach his examination much more scientifically

After studying their behavior for a few days and then studying a four winged frog Nether Beast that wandered up a few days later Randidly was able to confirm most of his findings about the Nether Beasts

First the cores that these Nether Beasts possessed were very different than the cores he had seen on the frontlines While those he had encountered in the past were clearly just an imitation these were true cores acting as a physicalized object to hold the significance manifested by the Nether flows around these Beasts In essence Nether was at its most powerful when it was attached to a physical medium to generate intangible energies with its flows

Which was why Randidly was so helpless when he had tried to weave together his Nether in the past No matter how dense and thick his Nether became it was never more than energy What he needed was a physical object to serve as the core The details of how to make a core still eluded him but it confirmed that the doppelgangerÆs actions were correct

To that end Randidly identified two types of intangible energies that anchored Nether produced by those cores The first he labeled Virtue The Virtue produced by the core seemed to accumulate at a constant rate although the amount of stored energy appeared to plateau at some predetermined amount for each Nether Beast While all three were bound by Yggdrasil the injured Newt stopped accumulating Virtue the most quickly After that was the four winged frog and finally the monkey accumulated the most before slowing down

This was basically the amount of charged power the anchored Nether had gathered Meanwhile when the usual Nether flows were interrupted that Virtue would expend itself to produce the second type of energy Stature

That was why the arm of the monkey experienced such a transformation

Stature was the equivalent of image physicalizations The Stature condensed in the wounded arm after it healed and lingered through all of the subsequent days of testing Honestly the improvement seemed permanent Considering that Nether was the energy of connection and memory it made sense that it required external stimulus to mobilize the improvements Which meant that ensuring a constant stream of stimulation for his Nether Class would be important

Theoretically Randidly determined that he could eventually make the monkey as powerful as him should he give the monkey time to accumulate Virtue and then mortally wound it over and over again Unfortunately the increase in power it experienced was relatively minor compared to Randidly so he shelved that idea

He definitely didnÆt want to stay here for that long

But what was most fascinating to Randidly was that when a Nether Beast transferred its Virtue into Stature it lost its ability to resist the horrible mass of significance below Without Randidly seizing onto them with roots they would have been pulled downward Perhaps if they didnÆt accumulate Virtue fast enough they would have been ground to dust at the base of this shaft

When Randidly had gathered all the information he could from them he slaughtered the Nether Beasts and pulled out their broken cores to examine them As eh had suspected they werenÆt just crystallized energy but actual physical objects Their mundane shapes were the most disturbing discovery of his investigation The newt had a blade of grass at the core which disintegrated to dust when Randidly fully destroyed its exterior The monkey had the bones of an actualÆs monkeys paw The frog was centered around a hunk of hardened stone

All three were covered with mysterious symbols Unfortunately the truth of Engraving was that these Nether Cores were based on a completely foreign understanding of runic symbols As the energies around these actual objects gradually faded Randidly couldnÆt understand even a bit of what they represented But he still forced himself to study them carefully Even just seeing the shapes might inspire his own Engraving so he made use of every second he could to absorb them

When the cores had turned completely inert Randidly sighed and looked down into the depths below him Despite the fact he was now aware of his overly aggressive mindset he couldnÆt help but feel some disappointment that stronger Nether Beasts hadn’t wandered upward to investigate the disturbance from before He felt quite a bit of temptation to head deeper and locate these more powerful Nether Beasts His hand twitched at the thought of slaughtering more Nether Beasts Plus the difference between the Great Rift Nether Beasts and these was extremely stark

If Randidly found a Nether Gatekeeper would be able to beat it in a fight The prospect made his mouth water and his eyes sparkle Plus even if he inflicted a deadly wound on the Nether Gatekeeper its Purity would become Stature elevating it into an even more dangerous existence

Yet he could only sigh and shake his head in regret Not yet Better to wait for that a bit

Randidly brought Nether to his fingers and drifted closer to the wall Time to start thinking about my own significance that I will anchor on a physical core

Lady Iellaya tilted her head to the side Is this really necessary

Edraine nodded forcefully her mouth pressed into a thin line I had my suspicions when there was no corruption found in the Military High Command investigation but after reading through the records well itÆs definitely been quite an illuminating few days I fear that we are missing something extremely large that is occurring right beneath our noses Even more than our plan to steal ElhumeÆs body if we can figure out this truth

Octavius Shrike who was sitting in the corner of the study in front of a pile of open scrolls stirred He raised his horned head and blinked Then he shook his head a blank expression on his face So if things would have continued as they were just like the previous Overseer I would have been accused of corruption But why

Very likely Edraine stood up and stretched Even though it was foolish Lady Iellaya couldnÆt help but be slightly taken aback by the smooth practice of the very human movement Most of the time Edraine sat at her desk like a statuesque goddess To see her roll her neck like a normal person was rather unexpected But perhaps Lady IellayaÆs response was also a result of feeling EdraineÆs image as she blasted NeveahÆs nail down toward Randidly

To make sure that the nail had reached its destination Edraine hadnÆt held back in the least The horrifying orange light Lady Iellaya had felt across her skin her hands tightened to fists just remembering it Even though it was several hours ago her body hadnÆt forgotten the sensation I still have much more growing to do

As for why Edraine shook her head Even I cannot gather the details just from these reports But let me ask you something broadly about the Nexus why do we have an Aether shortage

Lady Iellaya glanced at Octavius who seemed bewildered by the question The Overseer cleared his throat Well because people use it As more and more people have joined in the Nexus we both need to provide more raw Aether to them so they can grow and also we need to power the Nexus Ways and other amenities of the Nexus The NexusÆ size has ballooned through the last three Cohorts So what are you trying to say by asking that

I just want to point something out Edraine shrugged elegantly She reached for her coat that hung on the back of her chair and slid her arms into the garment I agree with your first point people without any exposure to Aether grow by gathering raw Aether and utilizing it directly learning as they do so But as for the second drain on our resources isnÆt that nonsense I could take a pinch of any sort of Aether and refine it with my own image to the point that most of the Nexus would be powered In terms of efficiency at utilizing Aether we have two individuals in the Nexus who have reached the Pinnacle they can make the fake real with their wills Either could entirely eliminate the demand for refined Aether

But itÆs not like we can ask the most powerful people in the Nexus to work as power plants Lady Iellaya argued

EdraineÆs mouth twitched as she glanced over at her Well that isnÆt wrong But there are plenty sufficiently talented individuals who are middling in terms of the Nexus hierarchy to eliminate the need for refined Aether completely Which only leaves the demand for raw Aether as the driver of our Aether shortagesÆ

The Nexus earns raw Aether two ways by passively controlling a larger area and gathering the energy over time and by breaking down the inefficiently refined Aether taken from failed planets The second method causes quite a bit of energy loss almost 30% because the emotions held by those individuals persist despite our best efforts But the Nexus now covers an obscene amount of territory The passive gathering of Aether should more than cover our needs And also remember the only reason the Nexus needs so much more raw Aether is because it claimed that it did and subsequently expanded so rapidly Normally the Nexus shouldnÆt have an Aether shortage at all

Octavius was clearly lost So

But Lady IellayaÆs eyes widened So because this framing of the Overseers for corruption is a pattern and clearly supported by someone highly placed in the Nexus that Aether is being used for something else But they are siphoning off the raw Aether not the refined version that is more valuable for those who already have powerful images Why would they need the raw form Basically only those weaklings without any of their own Aether and unable to purify it with their image would want raw Aether

Edraine gestured at Lady Iellaya with a finger as she walked to the door And that question is exactly why we must go visit the former Overseer Because of how tightly guarded he is I suspect he noticed something

Chapter 1564

Over the next month of focused Nether research Randidly managed to lure up a few more Nether Beasts from the midnight blue depths by releasing expansive pulses of his images One of those unlucky fishÆ had been much stronger than the others clearly having expended its Virtue for Stature several times in the past In addition after Randidly slaughtered it and obtained its core the markings there had been particularly eye catching

Combined with the subtle alterations that Randidly gradually internalized from NeveahÆs gifted arm Engraving his Skill steadily increased In terms of proficiency he was confident that he had made significant improvements

In addition all three of his images grew quite a bit sharper during that time Well Randidly didnÆt think that was quite accurate In terms of detail there was some minor improvement but it wasnÆt overwhelming Rather than sharper

RandidlyÆs new images now cast much darker shadows

Being constantly exposed to the wild emotions at this depth meant that he couldnÆt slack on his emotional precision even for a second Each manifestation grew both more vivid and self contained while also becoming strangely leaky That is the power of the image spread out like an amorphous cloak as the emotional base expanded and dominated the surrounding space

RandidlyÆs growth was very quick in every area except the one that was probably the most important His understanding of Engraving was shaping up nicely but when it came to transforming that into a Nether Core

Fuck me Randidly growled as he pulled his hand back and slammed it against the bone wall in frustration The surface didnÆt even shake let alone crack despite the fact that this blow blasted past the physical limit of the System as it struck This spine had seen much worse in its day than RandidlyÆs fist

And that realization only depressed him further

With a sigh he lowered his slightly sore hand and studied the shallow markings on the wall The drawing there was the most recent in a long string of failures that stretched off to his right about a quarter of the way around the inside of the spine He had begun the process with Yggdrasil as it was his first image His thought process was that he understood Yggdrasil the best out of all his images And he had tried to use his Architecture of the Primordial Ways to epitomize that ethereal concept as his first and probably most important image almost sixty times now

But even halfway through this most recent attempt before he deepened the Nether flowing through the Engraving the flows began to destabilize and run together in a messy knot Somehow Randidly looked at the wiggly drawing of a tree and realized that both the shape and the ideal that he was pursuing was insufficient

Randidly raised his hand and ruffled his hair Plus I canÆt make the Engraving look like a tree The doppelganger could because that truly was his natural expression of his ideas But I have too much of an abstract base in my Engraving the final product should evoke the feeling of Yggdrasil but the core runes will just need to be more esoteric

Randidly had considered not trying to mirror his threes images exactly but then he would have no idea how to start this process Besides he sensed that achieving a balance between his current self and his Nether Class would be best Aether and Nether in harmony would give him the boost in strength he was looking for

Probably not all the way to Velio DunnÆs level but still

The other problem of course was what physical object would serve as RandidlyÆs core The most convenient answer was putting those final carvings somewhere within his Alpha Cosmos but the problem was that he would need to mentally be in the Alpha Cosmos while he worked on them Unfortunately he had experimented and discovered he couldnÆt maintain the emotional tether while he was within his Alpha Cosmos

Which meant that to prevent his body from unknowingly tumbling down into the significance below Randidly would need to create the cores here

Randidly couldnÆt help but grin widely and stare down toward the churning significance below Of course are you truly as dangerous to me as you were to Roy These fucking Nether Beasts seem fine from wandering around

But they possessed Nether Cores

Of course even though his words reverberated down through the conductive midnight blue air there was no answer from below All around him was only emotions and stillness in the Nether rich air The stretched time of this place was steadily getting on RandidlyÆs nerves and he wasnÆt sure what he could do about it

His continued failures didnÆt help his mood in the least

What am I fucking missing He muttered looking again at his drawing And of course he could think of an answer he wasnÆt truly able to find the significance of Yggdrasil It being the first image he ever developed was obviously true but something was missing to that explanation The firstÆ was just a label It couldnÆt cover everything Yggdrasil was to him

As for methods other than a boring ass extended meditation session to find that truth

Randidly hesitated for a few seconds then reached into his interspatial ring and produced a heavy scroll from within his ringÆs messy depths The texture of the paper was thick and rough as though it was a mix of canvas and true paper The edges were frayed and tattered as though it had existed for a long time

Strangely as Randidly produced his Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession he felt the Nether in the surrounding space stir Even his own Nether Nebula began to churn just a little bit faster Even the emotions that were rushing past began to imperceptibly curve toward him as though they were caught in the orbit of some overwhelming celestial sphere His fingers tightened on the Fatepiece He glanced around at the darkness and barred his teeth Heh Am I supposed to feel happy that my Fatepiece can create this sort of response Are you hinting that this is the answer IÆve been looking for

RandidlyÆs emerald eyes went back to the rolled up painting The response from the surroundings did make some sense however It was the Visage of Obsession Obviously there was a powerful emotional component to the Fatepiece In a way it was reassuring to see its effect

Yet it was still impossible to tell if this would help him find the significance to form his Nether Cores

Some part of Randidly told him that this was a gamble made attractive only due to how aggressive he was right now but Randidly was losing his patience after toying with the Nether Beasts for a few weeks Perhaps if he was struggling to understand the Engraving Neveah sent or to think of ways to improve one of his images he wouldnÆt have so quickly turned to the Fatepiece But the crux of the issue was that Randidly was seeking understanding about himself

Even his most patient version of himself had to admit that sometimes it was very difficult to achieve an understanding of the self by simply remaining in one place Using the Fatepiece would cause a reaction Just Randidly had no idea what it would be

But is obsession really the emotion I want to be pursuing in order to understand myself Randidly mused Yet as he said that aloud he unrolled the Fatepiece As he did so he recalled the notification that he had received when he had obtained it

But what the notification says is true Randidly whispered as he completely unrolled the scroll and looked at it directly To his surprise it was a rather bland watercolor painting with the sky being a melty mixture of seafoam greens and robinÆs egg blues while the foreground contained an arching orange red lump Toward the bottom of the lump it faded to brown and then black I will not stop until I can accomplish the impossible

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 3

At least it seems like I can gain Levels in my Fatepiece here even if I canÆt do the same with Skills Randidly mused I wonder why that is Because a Fatepiece has an internal predetermined growth Path

As Randidly stared intently at the painting he wasnÆt sure what he was expecting But what he began to observe were the slow changes of the color composition of the piece Stretches of pure emerald expanded and contracted across the top like clouds driven by an overwhelming wind Flashes of orange and yellow manifested in the lump along the bottom Gradually the fuzzy edges of the colors narrowed a bit so each small piece was distinct giving the mound the kaleidoscope colors of fall

Randidly paused in his viewing to confirm that the emotional tether was still present To his relief it was but his Absolute Timing Skill gave him a shock in that reprieve he had been staring at the Fatepiece for almost ten minutes already

Is this the cost Randidly wondered Losing an increasing amount of time without noticing it

When he once again looked at the Fatepiece this time he could feel the process of it activating It was like his attention was like a pitcher of water that he dumped into the painting He constantly generated more and more emotions and focus which was just dumped into the Fatepiece without end As his liquid attentiveness was poured forward in an unending stream the painting gradually began to fill As it filled the content of the colors on the Fatepiece began to whirl forward

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 4

The colors along the ground because it was becoming increasingly obvious that the mound in the foreground was supposed to be the ground continued to twinkle like stars orange red yellow The sky was runny like whisked eggs blues and greens growing amorphous and mixing Randidly blinked and felt himself moving forward Or rather the perspective of the painting rolled smoothly forward Everything was melting together

Subconsciously RandidlyÆs breaths began to accelerate He leaned forward and frowned deeply at the Visage of Obsession

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 6

What That notification shook some of the FatepieceÆs hold on Randidly WasnÆt it Level 4 previously Did I really missing the previous Level up

Yet while his thoughts had wandered his eyes had remained on the painting So just as quickly as he had been shocked away he fell back into the shifting colorscape in his hands The blues of the sky were darkening toward royal blue while the greens were growing paler And in the foreground something was approaching Randidly floated forward over a hill and arrived at an arching stretch of black a heavy stone bridge

And standing in front of that bridge was a figure

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 9

ItÆs been a full day since I started staring at this thing Randidly chewed on his lip In the grand scheme of things a day was worth very little to him But he expected that the cost in time would continue to steadily rise as he used it That made his gaze harden a little further I suppose then it depends on how effective this is at truly opening my mind I donÆt feel much different yet but the tests every ten Levels should be the key improvements

If it ends up being worth it I might need to go deeper just so time is even more dilated

But again RandidlyÆs thoughts faded away as he refocused on the colors in front of him The ground gleamed and flashed like a searing river of lava And the details of the dark figure slowly came into focus

Yystrix drawn in heavy and rough strokes that slightly blurred the features that she had stolen from Lyra looked up at him from the canvas She smiled sweetly Hello Randidly ItÆs been a while

Chapter 1565

Raymund Ballast folded his furry arms to buy time as he gathered his thoughts Certainly from the moment that they were given the task of kidnapping someone he was comfortable Yet as time went on that discomfort had deeply taken root in his chest slowly tightening around his esophagus When his arms were completely folded he looked down at the ten meter deep pit that DiOrtho had dug when they had arrived in the valley At what point do we liberate her from her current predicament

When she agrees An incensed Diortho Vant growled Above them the slightly luminous form the Class Lighthouse stood proudly erect It was midafternoon and the high mountains around them kept the sun from illuminating all of the surrounding area Yet before the Lighthouse those shadows were quickly banished Which gave the entire area despite how far they were from civilization a surprisingly neat and orderly feel

There had been some individuals visiting the Class Lighthouse as the three of them had arrived but as soon as those people had obtained their Class they had departed Raymund rolled his tongue across his teeth as DiOrthoÆs words and looked again down into the hole

Apparently RaymundÆs emotions were clear on his face because DiOrtho sourly spoke another few sentences Look hunger teaches lessons alright Once we break her this job is going to get a hell of a lot easier She will just follow around like the meek mouse that she

A shuffling noise from below caused both of them to pause Raymund leaned together with DiOrtho to glance down into the depths of the pit where the princess was scrabbling at the edge of the dug up ground At first Raymund assumed that she was trying to climb out but the young woman was kneeling as her hands determinedly scraped more dirt from the wall So he cleared his throat to attract her attention the sooner this farce ended the better Princess have you decided to accept your Class

The woman stopped her frantic actions and turned her face upward Her mouth was smeared with mud and when she smiled small granules of dirt could be seen between her teeth After a very obvious swallow she spoke Heh you dumb fucks IÆll just eat dirt and kill myself to spite you Why the hell would I get a Class I donÆt negotiate with inferior species terrorists Whatever fucked up plan you have IÆll ruin it

Raymund was speechless Did this young woman truly intend to eat dirt until she died But just as quickly as he had that thought he turned to look at DiOrtho Vant in case he needed to restrain his partner in crime Over the past few hours the princess had repeatedly infuriated the ram demon to the point that he had dug an enormous hole and tossed her inside of it without food Yet to RaymundÆs surprise DiOrthoÆs face was rather placid at the womanÆs show of defiance

You donÆt mind this development Raymund asked cautiously

DiOrtho shrugged Well seems the bitch has more spine than I expected But does it matter IÆll punch her stomach and make her vomit up all this dirt sheÆs stuffing into her fat mouth even if sheÆs insane she still is a princess How much dirt can she really stomach

Do you truly believe such actions Raymund was floored by that casual response He pulled DiOrtho away from the edge of the pit so they could speak without the princess hearing Below in the pit the shuffling noise busily resumed Your best solution is to simply punch away the problem You are significantly more powerful than the girl what if your casual fist shatters her organs You need not continuously rely on violence to solve problems In fact you should not

Oh Then what do you suggest DiOrtho responded with a frown WeÆve been waiting around for four hours here while she dug in her heels Time is ticking away Besides you cannot seriously expect me to let her hold her own life hostage she will only get more spoiled if we donÆt beat this out of her Better to deal with this harshly

Raymund narrowed his eyes His chest burned with his discomfort You so casually talk about violence against a girl barely older than a child

That finally earned truly malice from the eyes of DiOrtho Vant He reached over and jabbed his finger into RaymundÆs shoulder The volume of his voice steadily rose as he spoke And you so casually forget why the hell we are in this mess in the first place YOU donÆt even fucking know what you want And even when you find a goal the slightest moral quandary leaves you helpless You give away half your lifespan to any random shit who asks nicely Is it any wonder why the current you is so weak

Raymund was so surprised he couldnÆt even muster a response to DiOrthoÆs words for several seconds As soon as that surprise turned to fury in his chest his tightly held control cooled those dangerous emotions He spoke through gritted teeth While it is true that I havenÆt reached my full potential

Even now you are fucking terrified of yourself DiOrtho snarled This time when he shoved the Vulpine he smashed his palm against his chest and sent him a half step backward The ram demon stepped forward aggressively into that small space and pressed his chest against RaymundÆs Why the hell do you deny your nature You are a fucking fox Raymund Act like one

My people are indeed noble foxes Raymund barred his teeth However the implications of your tone

From below the princessÆ voice drifted upward DonÆt you half breeds dare kill each other while IÆm still stuck down here

Both paused balanced between annoyance toward their captured target and fury toward each other Raymund once more reined in his emotions lest he pointlessly lashed out Fighting now was a waste of effort And as much as he hated to admit it DiOrtho was probably correct in his accusations Raymund too easily sacrificed his own pursuits

Advisor Zauna also shared DiOrthoÆs opinion about embracing his natural impulses

Despite that admittance that the other side had a valid point Raymund was unsure how the confrontation between the two trainees would have ended had his instincts not begun tingling at that very moment His ears snapped upward From the way DiOrthoÆs pupils dilated it seemed his companion sensed the same approaching threat

Without needing to speak DiOrtho hopped down into the pit Raymund could hear the princess yelping and scrambling backward away from the demon but ignored the noises The Vulpine pivoted and looked toward the East The only way into the valley housing the Class Lighthouse was through a thin game trail that meandered down the dense cluster of trees that had sprung up between the surrounding peaks As a dull thump from the pit was followed by retching noises heavy footfalls came from that innocuous dirt path

Gradually the hairs along RaymundÆs arms began to stand on end Each step of the approaching figure echoed strangely through the ground It wasnÆt an image exactly but there was weight to the resonance in the ground Like there was more presence to the approaching figure than just physical mass and image

Somehow seeing the azure haired beauty walking out of the forest with her hair done up in an elaborate braid didnÆt ease RaymundÆs nerves in the least When she saw the Vulpine and her expression brightened Raymund felt a chill running up and down his spine Carrying an unconscious princess with a bit of bile dripping from her lips DiOrtho clambered out of the pit and stood next to Raymund They exchanged a long glance

You know youÆve really kept me waiting The azure haired woman grinned That innocent smile immediately jogged RaymundÆs foggy memory Although he had been near dead with exhaustion at the time this ominous woman was clearly the romantic partner of Head Drill Sergeant Ghosthound

Suddenly Raymund felt like the wind in the valley had completely died out When Overseer Helen had mentioned that the plans for their training had changed

What the fuck is she doing here DiOrtho whispered But from the tremors in his voice it appeared the ram demon was jumping to the same conclusion that Raymund had come to Seeing Lady VuallaÆs expression soften at DiOrthoÆs words Raymund had the urge to run

Yet even with their powerful physical bodies even if he could also utilize his image he had no confidence that they would escape

Either of them

Oh donÆt act so tense you two I donÆt mind a little swearing and banter between training partners She waved her hand lightly Then her smile widened and she looked at the duo carrying the princess with the eyes of a predator Because thatÆs what we are right now Ah I should explain a bit Due to RandidlyÆs circumstances our stay in this world will be extended for a bit Well maybe more than a bit We might be here for quite a while so IÆll be helping Overseer Helen with your training Exciting right

Her smile slowly shrank into something small and poisonous But donÆt worry IÆll be under the same handicaps as you I wonÆt use an image And also well I was planning to wait until you got the princess a Class before revealing myself but what is taking so long I was starting to get bored

Once more Raymund and DiOrtho exchanged a glance Raymund barely suppressed the urge to growl in front of this woman Her presence rivaled no In terms of the raw force of her person she likely even surpassed the Head Drill Sergeant Just by standing there she almost pinned Raymund to the ground Sparring against her seemed suicidal

Yet paradoxically despite the significant threat she represented she also ignited his urge to fight In DiOrthoÆs eyes Raymund could see that same desire mirrored back at him A strong foe smiled at them and they both clenched their fists and narrowed their eyes

Lady Vualla clapped her hands together releasing a resonating pulse in the process that hit Raymund and inflicted a dull ache in the marrow of his bones IÆm not relieving you of the responsibility of this task the princess will get her Class from this Lighthouse one way or the other But I simply have to assume that you havenÆt been taking this mission seriously Perhaps its a problem of motivation Digging a hole and threatening her And apparently without much effect Tsk Tsk

See IÆll help with your motivation IÆll give you one more hour to finish this If you manage to wake up the princess and get her to agree to receive a Class that hour will be time for you to have a headstart on me If you continue to dawdle well we will start fighting right here Honestly the prospect of being cooped up in this place has me quite stressed I think a few scrappy brawls will do wonders for my mood

As Lady Vualla continued to speak in front of them both of their faces were solemn Her humanoid form had every instinct in RaymundÆs body screaming that she was extremely dangerous When she casually cracked her knuckles Raymund had to suppress the urge to shudder

And her azure eyes there was something else there something that was bothering her Yet it undoubtedly felt true that she wished to work off some aggression to their detriment

DiOrtho grimaced Might be about time to try this your way Raymund

With a nod Raymund Ballast took the princessÆs body and did his best to rouse her to wakefulness As he did so his traitorous senses couldnÆt help but detect that Lady VuallaÆs smile widened

She enjoyed this

Chapter 1566

Randidly frowned down at the Visage of Obsession for several seconds as his brain considered this sudden appearance The drawing of Yystrix tilted her head to the side that same small smile on her face Randidly bit his lip But after a few moments of examination he shook his head heavily no You are not truly Yystrix You are just me arenÆt you

The rough featured Yystrix shrugged The navy blue and pale green sky behind her rippled Well IÆm a construct that was carefully made by your subconscious And you do have quite a thorough understanding of me even if you donÆt understand all the secrets of my existence so I would say that the difference is negligible You can consider me both you and Yystrix

Randidly pursed his lips at that In his mind that distinction made a world of difference With that realization he was able to release a breath and relax this wasnÆt another nightmare scenario where Yystrix somehow managed to infiltrate some part of himself to exert her will once again It was just the indelible mark that she left on him manifesting itself in the painting

The effect was more annoying than dangerous more exhausting than deadly

YystrixÆs smile widened as though she could sense his thoughts She moved her head from tilting to the left to tilt to the right But she changed the subject You must have questions about the Fatepiece I am here to give you your first test but the actual mechanism is rather simple So while you are here I can try and ease your curiosities

After a short snort that showed how little he trusted her words Randidly was silent for several seconds Despite the fact that this was just a projection from his subconscious every effort that this individual made to help him only made him more suspicious But he couldnÆt deny that he had some concerns about the activation of this Fatepiece

So after thinking carefully he opened his mouth to speak Will using the Fatepiece grant me what I want Can discover the significance that each of my images holds in my heart

The Visage of Obsession obviously isnÆt just going to provide you exactly what you want In typical Yystrix fashion she shrugged unhelpfully Her eyes were bright and amused as she examined Randidly ItÆs a tool that will surely cause some result as you pass through the various challenges it will present but the exact result is difficult to know After all obsession is a powerful but very distorting force upon an individual How you handle that is difficult to predict

Randidly grunted at that and shook his head Heh If this is your idea of answering questions I guess I have a very thorough understanding of Yystrix after all

YystrixÆs nose crinkled as she laughed Randidly silently noted the increase in detail of this figure the more he stared at the Visage of Obsession in his hands Yes yes laugh while you can Your Fatepieces are all a bit Well the Visage of Obsession is unpredictable to begin with But IÆll say this of all the reasons you could use this Fatepiece your current goal is one of the best you could have chosen The significance of your own images as you pass the trials and lose precious things your own significance will be one of the few things remaining

That caused RandidlyÆs gaze to sharpen Lose precious things huh Which brings us to the first trial

Yystrix nodded ItÆs rather simple really For the first trial reach into the Visage of Obsession and rip out my tongue

That caused RandidlyÆs eyebrows to shoot upward Rip out your tongue So itÆs a fight

What Oh no I wonÆt struggle IÆll just bleed a lot Yystrix shrugged Beneath her feet the reds and oranges of the ground flashed and shifted The greens in the sky above Yystrix continued to grow increasingly pale until they were only a few tints away from white She shrugged Sorry to disappoint you but the Visage of Obsession wonÆt test you in that manner None of the tests will be fights Just reach into my mouth and rip out my tongue Then you can move on from here

ItÆs that simple Randidly asked slowly And of course Yystrix just smiled in response

Huffing out an annoyed breath Randidly let go of the edge of the Visage of Obsession As he expected it just hung there in the air in front of him So he pressed his hand forward and saw his fingers pass through the front of the Visage of Obsession without any discernible change in sensation He flexed his fingers With narrowed eyes his hand continued to travel forward as the drawn figure of Yystrix grew and grew until it dominated the entirety of the foreground Her eyes were very very bright

She smiled at him as though she was encouraging the act ItÆs that simple

RandidlyÆs eyes narrowed But it wasnÆt like he had any choice He glanced around at the edges of the Fatepiece but it was now difficult to see past the face of Yystrix The lines around her eyes were so familiar It was the gaunt face of Lyra who had walked to hell and back She was a woman who was deeply haunted by her past by the pursuit of Elhume by the situation of her son Pine

Sighing Randidly reached forward Yystrix obligingly opened her mouth He grasped her tongue pausing for a second as he truly felt the slimy sensation of a tongue through the pads of his fingers After wondering at the realism RandidlyÆs fingers tightened around the tongue and he began to pull

Rather anticlimactically he hadnÆt bothered to worry about his grip and his hand slid harmlessly of the bundle of muscles and nerves While Yystrix chuckled Randidly gritted his teeth and reached back within her mouth This time he reached deeper seizing on the base of the tongue His grip was firm And then Randidly ripped that tongue out

When suddenly RandidlyÆs own mouth tasted like blood he only chuckled But then he blinked because he realized that he didnÆt make any noise as he laughed

As the Yystrix in front of him suddenly receded allowing the colors to return she winked at him Then she held her finger up to her lips to make a shushing gesture Then in a small whirlwind of rough grey lines she was gone

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 10

The Visage of Obsession quietly rolled closed in front of Randidly and hung there in the air by some otherworldly power Almost as though they were sharks sensing blood three gusts of emotion cut in sideways and tried to knock the Fatepiece away from Randidly But the Grim Chimera roared to malicious action and shredded those emotions to tattered pieces of ethereal mist

Only a few minutes had passed since he had reached Level 9 in his Fatepiece but Randidly could no longer make any noise This then was the costÆ

He opened his mouth and blew through his lips He could feel his breath escaping his body but it made no noise Randidly frowned He brought his hand around and slapped it against his chest Again there was no noise although he felt the normal force Meanwhile the emotions continued to howl upward from the depths of the spine moaning as though the energy animating them came from strained agony Air rustled against the ragged clothes on RandidlyÆs body

He drifted over toward the wall and slammed his fist against the warped and yellowed bone Again no noise resulted Randidly clicked his tongue or meant to but of course nothing happened When he ripped out YystrixÆs tongue he had completely taken away his own ability to generate noise

That caused Randidly to scrunch up his own face Obviously that couldnÆt actually be what happened Much more likely was that he had somehow deprived himself of the ability to hear noises that he had made

Having that thought caused Randidly to make another meaningless click of his tongue which then caused him to roll his eyes at his own situation Not that he especially relied on making noise stranded as he was in the depths of the Nexus But it felt strange to so suddenly be deprived of his ability to make noise

Which is probably the point RandidlyÆs expression turned solemn as his gaze landed on the floating Fatepiece If things continue like this IÆll be steadily deprived of portions of normal existence as I use the Fatepiece In exchange I suppose IÆll more easily be able to focus on my significance But at the same time

Randidly shook his head at how this might affect his already precarious mental health Then he looked down through the midnight blue darkness After a moment of indecision he released his emotional tether and began to drift down through the swirling torrent of emotions His right hand shot out and grabbed the Visage of Obsession RandidlyÆs emerald eyes glowed as he let his own emotional strength seep outward from the edges of his body and combat the wild emotions directly

I cannot stop now that IÆve started And if I continue IÆll require more time Better to head deeper now in case I lose sight next

So Randidly descended Yggdrasil Stillborn Phoenix and the Grim Chimera cutting open a path It was somewhat dangerous to release his images for long periods of time but with the support of Yggdrasil clashing against the surrounding blasts of emotion became a tempering process The impurities in his imageÆs emotion were hammered out and then cleanly healed It was a holistic improvement that Randidly couldnÆt quite measure at this moment

Because as he headed closer to the horrifying significance below the emotional remnants were growing steadily stronger So it didnÆt feel like his improvements were very much to speak of at all Yet Randidly had a sense that he was improving much more quickly than he realized

Occasionally as he fell downward emotions managed to break past his defenses and sear his skin Although empowered with image physicalizations his skin rapidly broke out in blotchy boils Then his flesh began to sizzle and warp until these deviations were annihilated by the thunderous fury of his image

All of his images of course were now also silent

Randidly kept his attention on his Nether Nebula the entire time as the Nether content in the air moved up toward 70% The emotions he could learn to cope with but he knew he was playing a dangerous game in terms of significance Until he managed to replicate the effect of the Nether Cores proceeding too deeply might lead to him simply vanishing without a trace

Before I even get to make to dig a grave for my helpful doppelganger Randidly thought bitterly And that thought led him to slow his descent and reach upward for the emotions that the Stillborn Phoenix steadily released For a split second RandidlyÆs heart dropped the difficulty in reaching up toward those emotions was many times what it had been only a short distance above him

Then he paused Honestly he probably had dropped more than a short distance as he had proceeded The time he spent falling was probably misleading It wasnÆt that the Nether content in the air changed more quickly the deeper he went

just that he was traveling more quickly downward In fact the changes in the Nether content of the air might be happening much more gradually the deeper he descended Yet that truth was erased by the obscenely powerful significance below

Either way the Stillborn PhoenixÆs pattern of absorption refinement and release had greatly accelerated since coming down below the event horizon of this significance Due to the constant barrage of emotions it had to pick up the pace of its breathingÆ So when Randidly finally reached up through the surprisingly vast space that now existed between him and the Nexus proper to seize his emotions he paused in his descent

Grimacing he acclimated to the new pressure of the flow of significance it was still manageable but getting very close to his limit He then cast his eyes around Gradually the corners of his mouth quirked upward If he could have he would have laughed aloud

There were quite a few shapes moving the murky darkness below him Their robust body had his eyes sparkling with excitement Randidly was nearing the territory of the Nether Beasts

Chapter 1567

As the desperate figures of Raymund and DiOrtho hurried from the valley Vualla crouched on one of the overhanging peaks and watched their rapid departure A smile danced across her lips as she checked the time they had managed to convince the princess and depart in only nineteen minutes They still had plenty of time to open up some distance between them

Vualla flicked a pebble off the cliff and watched it bound down the rock face to the ground below Seemed like it truly was a matter of motivation after all

The sound of skin against rock drew VuallaÆs gaze to the left but quickly she allowed herself to relax honestly there were no opponents in this world that truly threatened her It was just instinct from the Xyrt Brigade training that kept her suspicious That and her constant knowledge that Randidly was out there in the Nexus fighting for his life

A sudden movement sent a few more bits of stone tumbling down into the valley below Helen scampered herself up around the rock face with the ease of a mountain goat and settled next to Vualla You seem to enjoy babysitting IÆm surprised

You know ItÆs honestly not as bad as I thought Vualla readily admitted to the other woman I can see why Randidly always spends so much time trying with his subordinates I can definitely feel how fulfilling this is And watching them itÆs somewhat inspiring you know As though individual differences each generates its own advantages It encourages a different sort of strength in me ItÆs fascinating

Enjoy it please Helen nodded Then her expression twisted toward an uneasy look at the sky Because based on RandidlyÆs last message

Vualla gritted her teeth with such force that his jaw began to tremble Randidly had said that he had decided to train in the deepest portion of the Web as he prepared for their escape but how could she not sense that the process was much more difficult than she let on He was stuck after he had brought her here to relative safety

Still her own memories of that dense Nether and horrifying natural phenomenon pulling from below told her in no uncertain terms that she would be of no use to him Despite how much it pained her she could only remain in his Alpha Cosmos for the moment Her immensely powerful image was completely useless against this type of foe

Every individual had their own advantages

Perhaps sensing her mood Helen clapped Vualla on the shoulder DonÆt let it bother you that much He has things only he can do and we have things that we can do as well Come on I want to introduce you to a few very emotional individuals

Vualla raised an eyebrow Who

The King and Queen of the Shelley Kingdom Helen replied with a sly smile Did you think that you were just going to be working as a vigilante You are going to be hired as a tracking and pursuit expert In order to make those two absolutely miserable youÆll have the entire force of a kingdom behind you

Vualla grinned

Randidly floated on his back staring upward and watching with no little envy as the vibrant emotions the Stillborn Phoenix released could swim upward and escape these depths The vivid pink strands flew upward in spirals savoring their relative positioning As a weight counterpoint Randidly and his sour mood were stuck down here

Plus he enjoyed looking upward because he had sunk so deeply in the shaft that the darkness above matched the darkness below There was a curious duality to the experience like laying upon a mirror It was entirely impossible without the steady movement of emotions to know from which direction he had come

He paused now because he needed a slight break the passage of days had been unusually difficult for a Randidly who had been training for long lonely stretches since the beginning of his System tenure

Not that he didnÆt benefit greatly from his training down here Randidly enjoyed the restrictions placed upon him here too It was quite simple to release a pulse of an image and draw one or two Nether Beasts to investigate which usually resulted in powerful enough impacts that more Nether Beasts were drawn upward In between attempts at discovering how to Engrave for his own Nether Cores Randidly cleared his mind with manic melees that set his heart pounding

The Nether Beasts still werenÆt truly a threat to him but they were stronger than the small fries he had lured upward previously In addition more and more drifted upward as he slaughtered them meaning he didnÆt worry about depleting their population And although Randidly suspected there was no meaning to what he was doing after he finished studying the fading cores of the slaughtered Nether Beasts he dropped those cores and allowed them to return to the significance below

Yet he continued to be perturbed Randidly had to admit to himself that this wasnÆt a matter of boredom there was plenty to do here with threats of multiple varieties surrounding him But the act of constantly shaping and reforging the emotions present in his images straining against the draw of the significance below and the withdrawal from the Soulbond connection added up More than had ever been true in the past ominous black clouds hovered at the edges of Randidly GhosthoundÆs psyche

So Randidly took long breaks from his normal training routine to steady himself by studying the surroundings Sometimes he wondered if the Nether Beasts were a side effect of the power plant working below

Yet his emotional state wasnÆt the only difficulty plaguing him Despite the fact that Randidly was (probably) steadily earning Skill Levels with his fights against the Nether Beasts he continued to struggle with the Engraving for a Nether Core Architecture of the Primordial Ways was extremely sophisticated but

Randidly looked at the nearby bone wall The air down here was especially thick and murky which led to the illusion that the spine was widening the deeper he went But either way as he glanced around he could see failed attempts at capturing the significance of Yggdrasil curling around into the darkness His technique was getting more advanced with every stroke He was trying complex new patterns Yet

Pursing his lips Randidly looked back upward The midnight blue darkness held no answers although it continued to broadcast a variety of confusing information up from the depths A tumbling claw from a slain Nether Beast drifted close enough to him that Randidly batted it away in annoyance But as he did so he paused

Something had occurred to him finally If he could speak he would have said aloud It doesnÆt matter that Yggdrasil was my first image What matters is why I chose that shape as my first image

Of course he couldnÆt speak So he only thought about that distinction and continued to frown

There were obviously contextual reasons that he had chosen Yggdrasil Randidly had learned the golden roots Skill from a turtle in DonnytonÆs partner Village Plus his earliest Skill was Entangling Roots which he had used to survive during his early System struggles Plant based Skills quickly became part of his core skill set as he trained with Shal and then later returned to Expira

But if there was a driving subconscious reason

Dragging up such a motivation wonÆt be easy the me of today is very far from who I used to be

Randidly twisted his mouth Then he rolled his shoulder and procured the Visage of Obsession once more The process of working toward making a Nether Core was new and therefore boosted the speed of his Engraving growth quite a bit Helen and Wendy had gathered him the materials he needed to begin forging but he figured there was no harm in waiting a bit longer to work on his arm

Besides IÆm a little worried about the effect the environment here will have on the limb Randidly made a bitter expression That anxiety delayed him somewhat but it wasnÆt like he would be able to wait forever An escape from this place still didnÆt seem like it would happen anytime soon

He would probably need to create a new arm here as distasteful as that truth was

Randidly finished unrolling the Visage of Obsession before him His eyes sank once more into the colors Randidly was rather shocked to discover that since he had last looked the colors had reversed suddenly the sky was flashing with warm oranges and bloody reds while the ground was a dark blue

In this strange point of view Randidly glided forward

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 11

Soon the ground darkened to black From a hump the ground flattened Randidly seemed to be moving across a plain of absolute darkness The only observable sign that he was traveling at all was the continued wheel between red orange and yellow above him The way the lights glimmered hinted that his destination was close

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 14

Of course Randidly was deeply suspicious of the Visage of Obsession when he pulled briefly back and sensed that almost two days had passed without him noticing Inwardly he was glad that he had proceeded more deeply into the depths of the Nexus Hopefully this would prevent any unexpected developments outside of this place why he continued to push himself

This makes me wonder if using the Fatepiece is worth it Randidly bit his lip Also

Unfortunately Vualla Helen and the two recruits would need to keep themselves occupied for a time within his Alpha Cosmos but as far as downsides went this one wasnÆt debilitating just tiresome And perhaps even giving Helen more time to solve their issues with images was probably for the better

Then Randidly refocused his gaze on the Visage of Obsession The colors seemed to seep forward out of the edges of the painting He could feel himself being drawn inward into the painting but Randidly didn’t resist the sensation His perception spun like all that was Randidly GhosthoundÆ became a liquid that was swirling down a drain

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 15

and then he came out the other side purified

His mind felt sharp and powerful Like he could slice apart the shallow world of colors in front of him

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 17

Creepy ass painting ItÆs like you heard me complaining about you Even if the effect is just this mental cleansing itÆs very valuable Randidly reflected The acuity IÆm feeling right now is it an illusion Or perhaps just an effect of steadily shedding away the redundant or distracting thoughts

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 19

There was no obvious arrival at the destination as had happened the previous time The darkness of the ground was absolute Randidly almost didnÆt think he existed on that plain he was only a bump against the implacable darkness a smudge below the brilliant fiery sky Yet at that place the form of Yystrix formed once again in front of him

She smiled slyly and tilted her head to the side as though asking how he was managing with his current predicament Despite the fact that this projection was grown out of his subconscious Randidly smiled aggressively back at her His expression was a challenge asking this Fatepiece to do its worse

Without any noise standing on that pitch black landscape Yystrix laughed Then she pointed upward at her own face Her message was clear this time rip out my eyes Randidly pressed his lips together but this time he did not hesitate

His only dissatisfaction was the fact he currently had a single arm Which meant that he needed to do her eyes one at a time

Chapter 1568

To RandidlyÆs surprise losing his sight was much less bothersome than losing his voice had been although he used his eyes much more while he had been here But it turned out that the information gathered with his eyes had been superfluous

Plus whatever had occurred at the 15th Level of his Fatepiece lingered Some of that horrible emotional exhaustion had been forced away leaving his remaining personality and Willpower streamlined The sensation of clarity was certainly intoxicating

And so I start to drink more deeply from the poisoned well of obsession Randidly thought wryly

As he had noted previously when he still had eyes to witness it the murky darkness above and below him resembled each other to the point of being interchangeable Yet now his blind senses could comb through the surroundings in minute detail The air was thick and coarse like unwashed wool It felt itchy against his skin and also strangely damp

Into the void where his sight had been stepped his growing emotional acuity leaving the shaft dyed with constantly bleeding tints

The way emotions manifested wasnÆt the same as colors not exactly but the vibrancy and heatÆ of these passing emotions and RandidlyÆs own images gradually soaked the surroundings in a new sort of awareness The resonances and collisions became part and parcel to his newfound existence

Which didnÆt even address the biggest benefit without RandidlyÆs eyes his Grim Intuition began working much more diligently to interpret the sensations that filtered up through the Nether To his shock he discovered that he could peer much more deeply down into the depths in this manner And what he found there were hundreds of thousands of Nether Beasts milling around in the darkness

Sometimes they fought each other but it was a largely inert experience that left him deeply curious

In addition Randidly was able to confirm that his sense of space wasnÆt lying to him the spine really was growing in diameter as he descended further At this point it was almost double in size as he had observed previously

Releasing a silent breath Randidly pushed himself through the air toward the wall Of course there was still an area that he was worried about He slowed himself as he neared the bone marveling at how smooth the inside of the spine was to his Grim Intuition Thousands of years’ worth of emotion had stripped away any bumps and irregularities from the surface With a snap of his fingers Nether wound down from his nebula and to the tips of his fingers

Then he began to Engrave

Very quickly Randidly frowned and cursed at himself mentally Partway through his Engraving he had forgotten the larger shape of the formation and created a glaring weakness in the flows of energy Randidly resolved himself to pay closer attention with Nether Sensation to the shallow lines of energy running through the Engraving so he didnÆt lose himself again

So he started over

For a while Randidly dragged his fingers gracefully across the bone wearing a pattern into the difficult surface That was part of the problem with this practice that the substance was so reinforced that it required dense Nether to make even a shallow a mark Yet Randidly possessed Nether at the requisite density

His knuckles were white as he applied careful pressure during the Engraving process

Still halfway through this second try Randidly grimaced and ceased his efforts He had been keeping tabs on his shallow marking along the wall by sensing the volume of Nether flowing through the small indentations but already he realized that his vigilance wasnÆt enough to avoid problems Nether flowed through the created pathways in waves At all times there was a low amount of Nether present throughout but then one of the rotating wavesÆ would push through that area deepening the effect

The problem was that because of the way his senses now detected the Nether he had made the Engraving uneven from misunderstanding his own senses Randidly could already detect that the Nether flow he had created before it could ever become a Nether Core would destabilize and collapse due to a shoddy foundation

So Randidly drifted a meter to the left and began his third blind attempt Instead of going for anything specific Randidly simply tried to capture the feeling in his heart when he thought about Yggdrasil It was the World Tree the safest source of growth in his life If he could capture that sensation in Nether

The mute and blind Randidly rolled his useless eyes at the notification which came to him like a sudden epiphany in the nighttime of his awareness It didnÆt break his concentration while Engraving not quite but it was certainly an unwelcome distraction Without even bringing the satisfaction of seeing where my true Skill Level now is

Suddenly Randidly paused midway through his Engraving Wait a second how am I going to use the Visage of Obsession if IÆm blind

Randidly was tempted to immediately pull out his Fatepiece and look at it to find out the answer that but he smothered his curiosity for now The Visage of Obsession would eat up his time if he would let it better that Randidly fely like he was at the end of his current potential before he returned to the Fatepiece

At the moment plenty of that mental acuity remained He was still content to continue training

So after an extended pause Randidly resumed his third attempt Of course he quickly was forced to stop this one as well But this time it wasnÆt due to any flaw in his Engraving the project simply hadnÆt developed long enough for those flaws to reveal themselves

Instead Randidly was forced to pause and turn his gaze downward to face a particularly belligerent cluster of emotions that was roaring up toward him like an out of control freight train In his new senses that were plugged into the conductive Nether of this depth it blazed up toward him like an eruption from a maroon volcano

Seriously Randidly flicked this wrist to banish the lingering Nether from his fingers and then raised his hand The veins across his arms began to glow golden There was no longer any accompanying sound but Randidly could feel the overwhelming vibrations in every inch of his body as YggdrasilÆs leaves rustled behind him CanÆt you see IÆm fucking busy

RandidlyÆs hand tightened into a claw Although he couldnÆt see it an overwhelming aura of holiness blazed from his fingers Ripples spread out through the Nether rich air before Randidly even unleashed the Skill Then he barred his teeth and smashed his claw downward in a vicious strike to meet the landslide of emotions

There was an awkward sense of weightlessness to RandidlyÆs strike as the Skill blazed with bright power enough to send his skin tingling but when it smashed into the wild emotions there wasnÆt any feedback or noise His ears could only catch the mournful howls of emotions flowing upward through the spine around him

There were no crashes no booms

Still his Nether Sensation painted a much more satisfying picture Like a nuclear weapon detonating in a forest the initial blast destroyed the structure of the emotional torrent and the heat of RandidlyÆs Skill incinerated the remaining troublesome survivors A huge ripple blasted downward in its wake leaving Randidly completely unharmed

Of course Nether Beasts immediately turned their gazes upward due to that ripple By the dozen they sniffed at the foreign image and used their Virtue to resist the pull of the significance below They came with mild curiosity up due to their instincts but as soon as they were within a hundred meters of Randidly they seemed to recognize him as some existential threat

From the murky darkness the Nether Beasts began to accelerate upward

Randidly grinned widely Although he could no longer see them they seemed to dance across his exposed skin due to the conducive Nether The thick and damp air of this place pressed against him as though to smother him but he thrived under that pressure In fact the sensation possessed such high fidelity that Randidly made the decision to reach up and rip away the remains of his cotton shirt and leather armor he had been wearing His bare chest rose and fell in the darkness as he prepared to receive these guestsÆ He breathed deeply pulling at their Virtue as he did so

The Grim Chimera was the ultimate thief stealing even their valuable Virtue from right under their noses Those small strands congregated rapidly in his chest and filled him with a buzzing sense of lightness

Unfortunately just as soon as he absorbed the Virtue the energy destabilized without a physical medium and fell to simply be more typical Nether That caused Randidly to frown but he simply whirled his Nether Nebula faster and condensed the Grim Chimera more fully around him The Nether Beasts roared in challenge and charged upward While maintaining his emotional tether holding him in place Randidly began lashing out and slaughtering them

The Grim Chimera pierced through the wild emotions of this place and totally bisected unsuspecting Nether Beasts Very quickly they realized the threat this image presented but the Grim ChimeraÆs speed and adaptability meant that it could easily avoid the Nether BeastÆs unsophisticated counter attacks Truly it was an apex hunter at this depth

If he wanted a true challenge from the Nether Beasts he would need to head deeper

Occasionally RandidlyÆs strikes wouldnÆt quite kill a Nether Beast and then its Virtue would transform its body and become powerful Stature These Nether Beasts possessed a much higher base potential than those he first encountered meaning the transformation significantly narrowed the gap between their powers

But in this time in the depths of the Nexus the Grim Chimera hadnÆt been idle It silently cackled delighted that these Beasts thought themselves sufficient to challenge it Its glee and determination bled outward from RandidlyÆs body staining the surrounding air

Despite his initial joy the sensation of the battle was strange Randidly felt like a plague bearer or even like a lonely personification of death The roaring Nether Beasts charged upward and then he without any discernible noise silenced them In his Nether senses the initially bright cores and barriers around the Nether Beasts glowed as they charged upward filled with self righteous fury Yet beneath his touch they began to flicker and dim like summer fireflies before the inevitable chill of fall

Gradually the chorus of attacking Nether Beasts fell silent leaving Randidly floating above that mass of dimming life And his senses were all tied together in one larger hyper sense now so there was no way to close his eyes to the situation in front of him He simply floated there observing the way everything around him went dark and silent

Rather than a fight he had simply extinguished them

For almost an hour Randidly paused in his training and simply watched the cessation of the observable phenomenon below him Gradually the turbulent emotions pushed upward again bringing some variety to his vigil But still

The mental acuity could do nothing to help with the black edges of his own soul As always the stronger he got the more poisonous he began to his environment

In a dark mood Randidly returned to the spine and began to continue his Engraving

Chapter 1569

The first month of escaping from the combined political wrath of the Shelly Kingdom the relentless pursuit spearheaded by Lady Vualla was exhausting but ultimately within their capabilities for Raymund and DiOrtho Using less traveled roads and small towns they crossed from the Shelly Kingdom to the Southern Portion of the Armgrast Empire Periodically Overseer Helen would manifest in front of them and give them some task usually within the next few days

So the recruits had dragged the princess to a grand lake across the vast Southern Desert and to the top of the Lone Peak that sat deep within the holy land of the Armgrast Empire During that time the constant reliance on their overwhelming physical abilities caused them to become slightly cocky compared to the average individual within this world the recruits were unstoppable

Their speed gave them a headstart that seemed insurmountable Any time they were spotted they could leave the pursuit in the dust As long as they shook off any tails by the time that Lady Vualla arrived they would be fine

Continued success built their confidence even as they grew steadily more familiar with the capabilities of their bodies

Yet such confidence was as it always had to be fatal A few days into the second month of their escapades Raymund and DiOrtho walked into a trap And the jaws of that trap was the Imperial Prince of the Armgrast Empire a lion headed young man who release image reverberations that quickly grabbed the recruitsÆ attention The lion man led with a roar and followed up with legitimate power that neither could underestimate

Even if they had access to their own images and Skills Raymund was unsure if they would be able to overcome this man In that confrontation their pride was thoroughly shattered

Without their images the two of them could only rely on their physical strength to endure the PrinceÆs attacks while steadily fleeing Because behind the prince the specter of their true foe was lurking Yet as though the Prince knew exactly what was on their mind he doggedly pursued the two of them unleashing attack after attack

Even with a physique that Raymund had considered to be near unrivaled DiOrtho bones had been shattered and his head had been so battered that he was slightly dazed from a concussion But they managed to escape barely fleeing through a dried up river bed to the West

Raymund had the princess over his shoulder and glanced behind him at DiOrthoÆs hobbling form He couldnÆt help but grimace We are going farther away from Overseer HelenÆs next mission but we still have two days As long as we lay low for several hours DiOrtho should recover his vigor And after that

He rushed around a bend in the dusty riverbed and then skidded to a halt In front of him Lady Vualla cracked her knuckles

No more hesitation Raymund The woman said sweetly Her azure hair swayed as she began to walk forward toward the Foxman Show me the limits of your potential Otherwise IÆll bury you both right here

ItÆs about time

To the constant itch of irritation action became the cooling balm that allowed him to finally silently exhale Randidly released the emotional tether and began to drift downward once more Without his eyes fooling him Randidly had a much better sense of the way that the significance below was warping his perception of space as his annoyance parted clarity returned He could feel the way he accelerated downward quickly picking enough speed to cross vast amounts of space

The sensation was almost wondrous The deeper he traveled the more mysterious the Nexus became

So itÆs true The same distance that would have gotten me five more percent of Nether content in the air up above barely reaches a single percentage point down here Randidly reflected with a frown His senses spread outward straining to touch the edges of this place

His Nether Nebula whirled at full speed to resist the pull of the significance below but his experiments with Engraving to prepare a Nether Core were starting to bear some fruit Although there wasnÆt a physical core in the Nebula Randidly could imitate the principles well enough at this point It gave him a little extra advantage at maintaining his own independence even without being able to generate any Virtue of his own

He liked to think that had he not already proceeded so deeply down toward that horrifying significance he would now have been able to escape but it was difficult to tell whether there was any change at all He simply didnÆt have enough information At the very least it weakened the draw from below which was still significant progress

A few Nether Beasts lingered in the surrounding area and sensed RandidlyÆs descent but he was able to easily dispatch them when they aggressively charged toward him The Grim Chimera ripped them to pieces and the Stillborn Phoenix greedily drank down their ambient energy Meanwhile his senses were strained to keep measuring the Nether content in the air At the cusp of 71% Randidly slowed and seized his emotional tether once more

Only a little at a time Randidly reassured himself Then he lookedÆ around

Continued sightless exposure to the subtle mixture of Nether and emotions refined his detection abilities even further The sensations in the murky darkness deepened providing a strange sense of liberation from the flat shapes that could be captured by eyes No longer were the surroundings quite so dark Each ambient emotion had their individual vibrancy shape and echo creating a kaleidoscopic look into both the present and the past In some strange way everything meaningful that had occurred within the surroundings was recorded for RandidlyÆs senses allowing him to glimpse the smallest portion of the history of this place

The thick Nether that made up the air diligently recorded everything that occurred The location possessed its own memory Even now Randidly floated on history

At first Randidly was simply intrigued by the resourcefulness of his senses but then he realized that looking at the ways emotion had behaved in the past was still quite useful to him in the present Although he couldn’t discern why this would be the case there were areas that were frequently warped by powerful emotions and others that hardly seemed to have been touched in the last ten years

Which at least gave him places along the bone wall where he wouldnÆt be disturbed as frequently in his Engraving Following this discovery Randidly shifted his positioning

In addition Randidly discovered several locations where slight warping in the emotional history had occurred He likely would have continued to study them had not he been attacked by a group of Nether Beasts and witnessed the creation of such a distortion with his own eyes they were locations where Stature had been manifested

Even those changes were recorded within the surrounding air Noticing this made RandidlyÆs expression gradually twist Nether Beasts rushed at him but the Grim Chimera was more than capable of slaughtering them If one possesses an acute enough ability to read Nether does that mean that individual could completely follow my passage here understanding my every move

The thought left Randidly feeling rather sour

After he finished off the foolish Nether Beasts Randidly looked around with new understanding If he looked for long enough he almost felt like he could see ghosts lingering around in those spots transforming before his eyes

With a sigh Randidly shook his head Although his senses had become much more acute they still couldnÆt quite completely acclimate to the surroundings Well that was perhaps not true Randidly just wasnÆt quite strong enough to rip all of the secrets out of the surrounding shaft which seemed to become more mysterious the longer he stayed here

But he reassured himself that it was only a matter of time before he could read into the secrets of this shaft

After he stabilized his position at his new depth and settled in a location with low emotional traffic RandidlyÆs attention turned downward With his more expansive senses he could reach deeply into the area below him and see that the interior of the spine was as he suspected widening even further

That observation caused Randidly to pause and grin maniacally At this point this looks less like a spine and more like a bone esophagus leading to a massive stomach Heh just how much of a monster was this fuck

Randidly set that thought to the side for now and continued with his examination Within the wider space below it seemed that there were even more Nether Beasts he could lure toward himself to fight But the Nether Beast population he could observe was nearing the point where any fight that Randidly got into would quickly become tiresome there were simply too many Nether Beasts for even him to comfortably defeat those nearby quickly enough that others wouldnÆt notice and investigate

Basically Randidly estimated that any fighting right now would embroil him in a struggle that could last anywhere from two days to a week just from the constant stream of nearby Nether Beasts It would be a never ending cascade of aggressive Nether activity And considering the amount of image power he would likely need to use to fight off those Nether Beasts more could very well come up from below

More Nether Beasts and worse With the way their abilities were improving he would encounter Nether Heralds soon

And of course that thought sent a shiver of excitement through him

Silently shaking his head Randidly looked even deeper into the depths Due to the powerful emotions radiating upward from the power source below the whole area was stained with a subtle shade of maroon Despite his buried anticipation he could locate no Nether Heralds below it appeared he would need to satisfy himself with the typical Nether Beasts

In addition the more he peered downward the more Randidly realized that there were some openings in the gathering of Nether Beasts It was so far below that he couldnÆt get a clear view of what was occurring but there were clearly spaces that the Nether Beasts avoided

And those open spaces were gradually shifting As though the Nether Beasts instinctively avoided some living creature

Perhaps some sort of apparatus connected to the powerplant below Aether Guards Or even a weird life emotional life form Maybe IÆm not the first person to detach a doppelganger Randidly wondered But without more evidence he set those conjectures aside An aggressive part of himself was intensely curious but after descending further into the depths he could placate his aggressive tendencies for now

Besides Randidly came down here with a different project in mind

Silently breathing out through his nose he pushed his thick Nether out of the Nebula and into the surrounding air Although his eyes were useless in the gathering of information his Nether Sensation could detect the strange energy his eyes released as his body became the core of a weave of Nether The thick strands of Nether rapidly moved together pushing back the surrounding air and building a tiny bubble of isolation

The ambient Nether in the air resisted a little but Randidly was able to open up a few meters of space where he could work The bubble pushed everything else back

Once the Ritual cleansed the surrounding air Randidly folded his legs beneath him and began to meditate He needed to observe the behavior of the Nether Ritual as well as making sure there were no problems with the emotional tether or the Nether Beasts in the surrounding area Keeping the surrounding Nether from interfering with the process was just the beginning

After about an hour Randidly allowed himself to nod slowly this would work

Then he straightened his body rolled his shoulder and flexed his fingers of his hand He took out the PhilosopherÆs Key and opened a portal to basically the only location he could currently Before him a threshold to his Alpha Cosmos opened connecting this space to the secret world that was his own body

Strangely the plane of the portal rapidly grew fuzzy Randidly frowned it looked like his Nether Ritual wasnÆt completely effective Or rather there was some filtering that he couldnÆt avoid The energy makeup of the air on the two sides of the portal was different enough that this distortion occurred when the atmospheres met But considering the effect was relatively minor Randidly had to consider this a success

He reached through the portal with an open hand

It was slightly awkward waiting there with just his hand but his reliance on Nether Sensation meant that his vision beyond the portal was mightily reduced He could only rely on the exposed skin of his hand detecting soundwaves to carefully construct a picture of what was occurring beyond the portal Figures shifted moving toward the portal

Oddly Randidly felt strangely nervous When IÆm alone I donÆt mind missing my senses but it does make it awkward that I can only communicate through messages

But very soon a small ring was placed within his hand Grinning Randidly pulled his hand back closed the portal and scanned the ring New schematics and several valuable metals were carefully stacked within

It was time to reforge his left arm

Chapter 1570

Randidly took a few hours to study WendyÆs new plans The Spriggit woman had outdone herself of course Then he once more sat in a meditative position with several bars of the Black Gold that he had obtained for his arm floating around him He watched the tumbling ingots carefully seeing how they behaved when they were exposed to increasing amounts of Nether His Nether Sensation wrapped around each bar of metal watching for the smallest bit of corrosion

Luckily there was no reaction from the Black Gold From what Randidly understood from the hastily scrambled explanation included with the materials Black Gold was the new top end metal that WendyÆs company had developed It was an alloy with actually nothing to do with gold but it was the result of exposing a certain brass alloy to the Netherite now found within his Alpha Cosmos

Obviously Randidly couldnÆt witness the material himself but WendyÆs messages assured him that the metal was quite beautiful a completely black metal with thin branching golden lines running through its core without lessening its resiliency The aesthetics of the metal didnÆt matter so much to Randidly but he did like the obvious connections to the golden veins his image physicalizations caused in his body It might just be superstition but he believed the combination would be a good one

Assuming of course that he could finish the arm without any hiccups

Randidly began to steadily manipulate the bars of metal sensing their heft and density He even unleashed an attack from the Grim Chimera watching the way the Grim ChimeraÆs claws were slightly impeded by the metal and werenÆt able to rip all the way through That earned a small smile from Randidly It might not be to the point where it would be able to stand up against Velio Dunn but after Randidly refined the metal it would certainly be sturdy

Honestly if there was a material that could stop Velio Dunn IÆd cover myself in it and just be done with it He thought with a twitching mouth

But while Randidly continued to steadily use his Skills to push the limits of the metal he began his preparations for the forging He brought out both NeveahÆs letter and WendyÆs schematics to study them carefully together Because if either was flawed the entire creation would fail His acute senses could sense the presence of ink on the page giving him a full view of the information he needed He idly cut a divet into his chest with a nail allow two large pools of blood to form on either side of him

He couldnÆt use his eyes to see which was emerald and which was crimson but the negative and positive energy thrown off by the pools of blood were more than enough to keep them clear in his mind He was even rather surprised to realize that the reason that his blood could behave so differently was because of mobilized emotion He silently clicked his tongue and shook his head Perhaps such an explanation should have occurred to him a long time ago

Then he closed his eyes Alright Now itÆs time

RandidlyÆs right hand flexed and his heart began to pound He could feel the little humidity in the air of the shaft rapidly turning to steam around him as the heat radiated by his body shot sharply upward Randidly activated Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix increasing the strain on his person but also increasing the heat further Without any external source of flames Randidly intended to rely on the heat that his body generated to melt the metals

Seemed a bit silly to try and build a kiln floating here

Very quickly Randidly ceased pushing his body to become a furnace because he could sense the edges of NeveahÆs letter in his hand were beginning to smolder So he maintained that state of near combustion of the paper and swirled the steam and thin tendrils of smoke around him with Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart There was just enough of a substantive barrier created by the Nether Ritual that Randidly could accelerate that gaseous mixture until it flattened itself into a thin barrier around the edges

Within those rapid flows of air the temperature rapidly cooled But that as more steam drifted off of RandidlyÆs skin the temperature gradually began to climb back upward within that dense gas layer RandidlyÆs lips twitched Very soon the temperature in that hyperdense layer was going to climb past its previous highs He just hoped it wouldnÆt rip through his Nether Ritual in the process

In the meantime Randidly drew a metal ingot to his hand and began to practice the Engraving given to him by Neveah With his recent improvements the Engraving she had made for him was complex but not overwhelming After attempting the engraving four times Randidly felt confident enough to proceed

Congratulations Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Way has grown to Level 312

These useless notifications are really starting to get on my nerves Randidly barred his teeth then forced himself to calm down Being distracted right now would only lead to regrets down the line the next time his arm faced a force that could shatter it

But before the Engraving came the metal refining After storing away the scrolls for the Engraving and the designs for the arms Randidly allowed the scalding layer of air to spread back out and fill the entirety of his Nether Ritual As his body trembled he forced his heartbeat to accelerate His muscles began to swell slightly as his boiling blood surged throughout his body More and more steam wisped off of him to the point that he could sense the impending dehydration within his body

Still Randidly ignored the discomfort and pushed himself forward His Willpower had been steadily been honed by the activities with emotions giving it an unforgiving edge that he brought now to bare on himself

Randidly couldnÆt prevent his mouth from twitching in regards to the notification but he ultimately ignored it Then he cast his senses outside of his Nether Ritual seeing if there was any movement among the Nether Beasts Seeing that there was none Randidly began to process of metal refinement

Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold

As Revelation energy filled his body Randidly peered at the metal ingots floating in the air around him He could sense their delicate loosening of their bonds as the heat tugged at them but Black Gold was an extremely robust metal this heat wouldnÆt be enough to melt the bars So he cackled without producing any noise and pushed the heat of his body upward His heart was thunderously silent shaking every inch of him with every beat without producing the slightest noise

As the heat rose the Black Gold began to soften at its edges With a knowing smile on his face Randidly raised his right hand and made a fist Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart squeezed the super heated air around the metal ingot increasing the heat even further as the air molecules collided with each other in a much smaller space Where his source of heat was relatively static he could only apply more and more pressure

So his fist tightened His Willpower flared

He couldnÆt see it happen but he could feel it The metal began to ooze and bubble

After that the destabilization began to accelerate The ingot completely lost its shape under the tight grasp of the Stillborn PhoenixÆs Skills Then Randidly began to spin the molten metal whisking away any slight impurities that he found within its material His heart continued to beat raising the ambient temperature within the Nether Ritual

With a steaming finger he pointed to guide the entire process of smelting

The sphere of metal was brought through the negative energy blood drawing out its weaknesses Then Randidly thoroughly beat and purified it with blasts of gravity Afterward it was dunked within the positive energy blood which strengthened its structure and reinforced it RandidlyÆs heart continued like a perfect metronome marking his progress

When he was satisfied with the first reforged ingot Randidly released it to float toward the top of his work area and started on a second ingot Soon he had created a second third and fourth but then he was forced to pause in his work He could feel the Nether Ritual slowly beginning to tear and allow some of his precious heat to radiate outward into the surrounding space Due to that strange heat some Nether Beasts were drifting closer

His annoyance spiked Randidly cursed quietly and wove a second larger Nether Ritual

Halfway through the weaving Randidly went through the motions of clicking his tongue and didnÆt produce the slightest noise He shredded his Nether Ritual and began again Each of his flows of Nether was suddenly very purposeful As he returned to making more common Nether Rituals after utilizing Engraving to make a Nether Core he realized he had made some rather foolish assumptions when he earned the Skill that he now carried Banishing those assumptions Randidly began weaving again aiming to mimic significance rather than organic lines

Organic lines were a byproduct of existence They arenÆt the ultimate goal

Since he was remaking the Nether Ritual anyway Randidly made the final space about double its original size It had occurred to him after melting a few ingots that it would be difficult to manage everything in his original zone Soon the second Nether Ritual snapped into place and once more sealed his activities from the outside space The Nether Beasts who drifted closer could not find anything of note within the Ritual and steadily drifted away

The Stillborn Phoenix seemed almost disappointed that it didnÆt get to devour more Nether Beasts for the moment

Expanding the space obviously cooled the air which meant Randidly had to spend a couple more minutes building up heat And the previously melted metals hardened in that time which filled Randidly with dissatisfaction He gritted his teeth But after concentrating on his heartbeat for a while the temperature reached its previous levels Yet Randidly suddenly thought this wasnÆt enough his Willpower flexed his muscles with such desperation his body began to shake

I need more heat As soon as sweat formed on his brow it evaporated and was whisked away His skin was red and inflamed Yet he knew that even this

Struck by sudden inspiration Randidly released the tight reins he kept on his emotions All his aggressive fury his frustration with his own development and that tingling madness that drove him into fights against Nether Beasts flooded out of his heart and filled his body Images required both shape and emotion to achieve their strength But even without shape emotions had power That was one of the lessons this experience had carved into his bones

To his Nether Sensation Randidly felt pink flames lick across his body He let the aggressive emotions run wild feeling the familiar suffocating feelings of mental imbalance rising within him Yet he didnÆt slow down as he approached that barrier He simply blasted past it reducing it to splinters

Randidly felt something within his Soulspace change but he didnÆt investigate the sensation closely Under the influence of the wild emotions he clenched his hand into a fist The flames around his body grew in height The isolated space became an inferno

As the ingots floating in the air began to melt Randidly began to laugh

Chapter 1571

The ambient temperature around Randidly Ghosthound continued to rise as he released his emotional limiters His skin was constantly tingling while his nerves sang with the near constant searing pain that stabbed into him from the uncontrollable emotions The flames of emotion dyed the surroundings a deep purple color to his senses More and more buried feelings of dissatisfaction and fury bubbled up from the depths of his soul

In a way it was cathartic In another it was a descent toward madness

The constant threats from the Nexus the arrival of Kaan Swacc on Expira now the movements of Velio Dunn targeting him

NeveahÆs emotional wounds and the fact that his weakness had drawn her to the Nexus despite her wishes

The sacrificed worlds of the Fifth Cohort the monsters of the Nexus

His current circumstances the innocent doppelganger he had killed

Everything erupted from his body staining the surrounding space The sensation was oddly intoxicating especially as more and more emotions gushed upward He paused in his manipulation of the melting metal to just savor the flood of sensations Gradually he was coming to understand the powerful effect of the Visage of Obsession There was no better word than ObsessionÆ to describe the wild hunger in his soul right now Those undeniable emotions became motivation that guided his hands with unerring conviction

Randidly could feel the veins in his sightless eyes steadily popping as he stared state forward into the air in front of him As his gaze grew increasingly bloodshot his hand grew almost cruel in its determined refinement of the Black Gold Meanwhile the heat continued to rise ripping out impurities from the metal that Randidly couldnÆt even sense prior to reaching this heat He could also feel the Nether Ritual straining underneath his newfound intensity but to his malicious glee the barrier strained but held

His progress in manipulating Nether was currently sufficient

Steam molten metal and flames flowed around Randidly His Stillborn Phoenix raised its head and screamed its fury He couldnÆt witness the light bending around his face as the image manifested but the power was enough to warp the very air The emotions within the Nether Ritual began to sluggishly swirl as that power distorted the surroundings Gravity gripped the space once the purities were removed from the metal Randidly began to shape and temper the material with the base force of celestial bodies

Yet he couldnÆt miss the way the Stillborn PhoenixÆs form began to twist and warp as he maintained its phantom The hyper concentrated emotions led to shuddering changes within the image From the depths of the depth less singularity at the core of the Egg of Depression Randidly could feel certain impossibilities yearning for manifestation With small steps those impossibilities became slightly more likely

Yet those changes only increased his own power The Stillborn PhoenixÆs cries grew increasingly loud to RandidlyÆs ears to the point that waves of imperceptible force traveled beyond the edge of the Nether Ritual And in his chest his of Nether Nebula began to spin even faster The feeling of limitlessness that followed these changes was intoxicating

The small portion of Randidly that still maintained his rationality couldnÆt deny that his current state was strange But while his body was seized with the delirious joy of obsession that small observer could construct a theory as to his current situation

Currently Randidly felt like his grasp could extend beyond the normal limitations of his mortal coil He spread like an amorphous cloud outside of his body through emotion The intensity of his concentration maintained his sharp Willpower through the experience but the sensation was profoundly uncomfortable to the small shred of rationality remaining to him Suddenly he no longer seemed to be tied to a physical form By the same token he was no longer protected by the physical That prospect filled him with a strange sense of urgency worrying that his body would be consumed in whatever reaction now wracked him

Soon he would be a ghastly spirit wandering around to prey on the living

However reflection proved those worries to be largely unfounded he wasnÆt close to becoming an undead Instead RandidlyÆs explosion of emotions was steadily pushing him toward internal balance In the past he had primarily relied on shape to govern his images His time in the depths saw him gradually increasing his mastery of emotions but it was always a secondary concern to his original methods But at this moment under the influence of obsession he instead shifted to a state where emotion was the dominant trait of his Aether

Shape could barely contain the intensity of emotions he had triggered

He was emotionally unleashed blazing with all of his hidden thoughts By surging past that limitation now he might even have the possibility of later bringing the two aspects of Aether into alignment in the future

Still not that any of that fucking matters right now Randidly barred his teeth as his shoulders rose and fell with silent laughter True to his earlier impression he toed the line of madness as his emotions washed across his personality and body with all the unpredictability of the sea But as he sensed the floating blobs of molten metal around him his mouth twitched Ugh looks like I need a bit more metal though

Randidly produced a dozen more bars of Black Gold from his interspatial ring They tumbled slowly in the air as the temperature rapidly softened their edges Under the heat released by his emotional flames and his pounding heart it only took those ingots a few minutes to completely melt into the refinable form Then he rapidly began cleansing these new additions to bolster his shrinking store of metal

There were obviously costs to his current state Even if he was obsessed to the point of seeking perfection from the result the influence of the emotions made him slightly heavy handed in his refinement When he blasted away the weaknesses of the metal he often annihilated quite a bit of the surrounding material

Some part of him understood that proceeding more slowly would make the process more efficient But he had plenty of material to spare

His heart began to pound as his hand flicked side to side guiding the molten metal through the air in front of him at higher and higher speeds It flowed in a large figure eight then spun off to the side and spiraled into a vortex from a twitch of his finger The bulging and distorted forms of overly emotional Yggdrasil and Grim Chimera combed their power through the material removing any weaknesses they found

When finally the refinement process seemed unable to locate any flaws he proceeded to the next step With tight Control Randidly began separating the large batch of satisfactory molten metal into smaller clumps Soon nearly two hundred beads of metal in varying sizes trembled in the air

Randidly sneered and mobilized every ounce of force he could from his manipulation of gravity Huge distortions smashed into the molten metal beads as he began to shape them But before he fully committed to moving onto the next portion of the forging his eyes flashed His mouth opened and he unleashed a pure screaming note that dwarfed even the Stillborn Phoenix at its most shrill

Of course the note created no noise But the pressure coming from his emotions spiked upward They spiraled together and resonated with that note until the majority of those emotional flames condensed into a tight stone in front of RandidlyÆs mouth He drove every last drop of emotion in his body to that crystalized point Then as his expulsion of the emotions continued the stone cracked

This produced a definite noise bits of smote crystal smashing against RandidlyÆs face and chest and unleashing a wave of force that distorted the surrounding air That wave ripped through the floating marbles of metal tearing huge gashes in their form Luckily that wave of force passed harmlessly through the Nether Ritual But as it escaped into the surrounding air Randidly curiously noted that it seemed to frighten away any of the ambient emotions

Tsk so the secret to crystalizing Aether comes from emotion huh How the hell did I even manage to do that

The Nether Beasts stirred to investigate the disturbance as Randidly fell from his emotional intensity but they still werenÆt able to peer through the Nether Ritual For now it seemed like he was proceeding as planned

With renewed clarity in his movements Randidly slowly blinked Then he raised his right hand in front of him Although his heart continued to pound and shake his body the emotional flames dimmed across his body The extended state of agony steadily eased For now he was spent

Gradually RandidlyÆs breathing continued to fall toward normalcy as he continued his work on the metal limb After the explosion of fury his emotions receded like a tide leaving him feeling somewhat numb That tingling numbness didnÆt detract from his conviction however His mental edge seemed to be all the sharper fully revealed after the departure of his emotions

His senses narrowed on the waiting beads of metal in front of him

Whatever that emotional wave had been it had baptized the remaining metal As continued to shape the material into his arm he could feel the physical form of the metal sometimes bend in unpredictable ways The way the material folded spoke to an existence that perhaps had incorporated a bit of his Grim Chimera allowing the material to somehow avoidÆ a portion of its mass Whether that was a good or a bad thing however

Even with a diminished wildness in his heart Randidly still smiled widely at the result Somehow I can tell that this result is exceedingly special

Then his grin shrank somewhat as a more wry portion of his humor reared its head At the very least I will no longer need to weave these Nether Rituals and do Engravings with just one arm fuck but itÆs been quite annoying to be so imbalanced like this

Small physical deviations aside the actual shaping was the quickness of the steps to creating an arm In this iteration Wendy had set aside the idea of scale mail at RandidlyÆs request the pieces had simply become too small to contain the power of the Engraving he needed Part of that was materials but some of the individual scales had been wearing out prior to Velio DunnÆs devastating strike The arm might have lasted enough year at that pace but it was still disappointing to Randidly that there were already signs of failure

The metal was shaped and tempered then cooled to slowly settle into its new shape Gradually the sharp edged components formed in front of him

The new form had been inspired by his Grim Chimera image but it wasnÆt overly reliant on the image Unlike the hollow options he created previously this arm would literally be composed of both a refined inner limb and a thick layer of armor that would be wrapped around it Randidly would need to help reshape Sulfur so he wasnÆt taking the place of the limb but that was probably for the best

Sulfur simply wasnÆt made for the delicate touch required by Randidly in his training or normal life

Most of the tiny pieces in front of him were bits of the complicated hand that was the portion with the most difficulty in assembly Even so Randidly rapidly spun the pieces together to create the final form Like pieces of a puzzle guiding themselves into their natural place Randidly observed with great satisfaction as his limb was completed

It floated in front of him the final result radiating a powerful emotional light

With a nod Randidly waved his hand the arm and armor around it disassembled itself The pieces spun outward and arranged themselves in front of Randidly He raised his right hand and Mana rushed toward his fingers It was time to Engrave

Chapter 1572

Congratulations Your Skill Experienced CreatorÆs Ingenuity has grown to Level 180

At first Randidly was somewhat worried that his exhausted state after expending all that emotional energy would mean that the final Engraving would be less than satisfactory But whether it was due to the mental clarity of the Visage of Obsession or because all of his distracting frustrations he had been carrying were removed he performed perfectly during the Engraving The movements of his fingers across the Black Gold arm were smooth The flow of Mana from fingertip to metal was clean

Each runic sigil was sharp and distinct The edges were perfectly luminous Randidly couldnÆt actually see the result but his senses were telling him that the result was near ideal As he finished the arm he pulled back and silently clicked his tongue in satisfaction Even if the gesture made no noise he appreciated the physical sensation of impact within his mouth

These Skill Level notifications are a useless distraction but itÆs true that it feels like thereÆs been an overall change in the way I Engrave the continued practice for a Nether Core has bourne fruit This Black Gold arm hum perhaps that name isnÆt accurate any longer Should I call it Black Blood metal Or Blood Gold or Blood Black Brass

Well it doesnÆt matter With a flourish Randidly added the final line of injected Mana to the arm in front of him It flashed brightly as the energy flowed through the entire piece of equipment Underneath RandidlyÆs careful scrutiny the arm demonstrated that there were no flaws the energy flowed through the Engraving without any leakage Finally Randidly allowed satisfaction to take root in his heart The arm floating in front of him was like a torch in the isolated Nether of his bubble yet didnÆt suffer at all due to the environment He had completely succeeded

He reached out and pressed his fingers against the equipment viewing its Stats

The Ghosthand Baptized by the Abyss Level 99 A profoundly warped left arm of Randidly Ghosthound The design workmanship and execution of this arm have approached the limits of mortal hands In addition many powerful energies in the environment have pushed the material beyond the realms of the physical This piece of equipment has vast potential but it remains to be seen how that will affect the limb

Aether and Nether are able to mix freely within the limb Slight boost to the usage of both Aether and Nether when channeling through this limb

Vitality and Endurance +100 Agility +30 and Control +50

Specter of the Ghosthound Breath from the Depths Emotional Resonance

But as Randidly began to frown at the aspects of his equipment more notifications popped up in front of him

Warning Error detected Due to interference unable to completely examine the chosen equipment Please proceed to the nearest Village Spirit for additional details

Warning Failing to seek assistance from a Village Spirit may result in sickness and death

That familiar refrain earned a strong eyebrow twitch from Randidly Like Hell IÆm going to go out and talk to a Village Spirit after all this time even if I wasnÆt stuck in here but seriously the fucking significance below also interferes with me seeing the details But more importantly I donÆt love that Breath from the Depths Does that mean the arm is somehow influenced by the pull of significance below But the term breathÆ

If Randidly were completely unwilling to take on the risk of the unknown attribute it might be safest to simply destroy the arm or at the very least store it within his interspatial ring for the foreseeable future He had been influenced by too many entities in the Nexus to react very positively when a surprise like this came up But the term breathÆ made him hesitate Perhaps he was overreacting

Breath was passive It wasnÆt domineering or controlling It was simply an exhale an influence sure but one likely generated by proximity Considering the fact that Randidly was already to escape from this place his main worry was that the aspect would somehow make it even more difficult to escape from this place

Yet Randidly also knew that having his arm back would raise the efficiency of his training And he could start incorporating more of his typical combat training into his routine down here While he was armless he generally avoided any sort of meaningful combat training so as not to develop bad habits for when he had both limbs For that reason he knew his dubious Skill growth (with the repeating Skill Levels) was slower than it needed to be

Assuming that the Skill growth was real just masked by the significance here he would have a pile of PP waiting for him when he escaped The bigger that pile was the closer he would be to receiving his Alpha Cosmos Tithe Power in the Nexus was mostly based on Aether images and Randidly was now investing heavily in finally obtaining concrete power with his usage of Nether but that didnÆt mean that the original milestones of power stopped being effective

When Randidly gathered enough Stats he would create a mound that could even let him drag down the most powerful individuals in the Nexus He trusted that Even now further Stat points would push him further toward the realm of impossibility With the System limit broken and in his rear view mirror there was no reason not to keep pushing forward His Aether Crossroads would supply him with enough energy to develop beyond all recognition

With the time advantage these arrogant individuals had over him he wasnÆt going to refuse any benefit he could accrue

Randidly released a breath The emotional radiation from the arm continued to give him an extremely detailed look at the curves of the limb But as he sensed those emotions now a thought occurred to Randidly Actually if the arm throws off this much emotion constantly haah

Accepting the unknown attribute was a risk but Randidly reached out and seized the armored wrist in front of him He brought the arm around and blew another breath out through his nose His right hand went to the heavy shoulder of the limb His blind eyes narrowed His hand tightened on the joint which ended in a short spike to grip onto the flesh of RandidlyÆs body while the Engraving bonded with him

He shook his head slightly as his acute senses traced the edges of that spike If only this process was a bit more comfortable

Without any further hesitation he shoved the joint against the remnant flesh of his shoulder The spike broke through his skin drawing a silent hiss from Randidly Then his Aether stirred as he activated the Engravings present To RandidlyÆs senses emotion began to move with the Mana creating an even brighter illumination within the Nether Ritual Those violent emotions rapidly drove the heat of the metal upward

Randidly grimaced as the energized metal began to sizzle against the skin of his shoulder Then his chest rumbled as he felt the lines of energy digging their way outward from his equipment into his body The already scarred flesh of his shoulder once more was invaded by Engravings and Randidly had to force himself to relax to allow the bonding to occur All the previous markings on his shoulder had to be seared away to make room for the new ones

But as expected the experience wasnÆt a pleasant one

The cleansing and marking didnÆt take long however Soon the pain rapidly began to fade And in that vacated stretch of sensation the tingling feedback from his new limb began to arrive With a ghost of the smile on his face Randidly raised his armored left arm His new knuckles were thick and angular while the fingertips tapered down to the normal human size

It was a hand that could carve an Engraving punch through a stone wall or wring the life out of the throat of an enemy

Someday Velio Dunn Randidly glanced upward at the emotions that swam upward When IÆve had my decade donÆt you fucking worry IÆll come back for my revenge YouÆll get your duel

Currently Randidly had experienced three months within the depths of the Nexus He wondered how much time had passed in the outside world

After shaking his head to rid himself of distractions Randidly raised his hand and swiped it through the air The Nether Ritual parted allowing the thick Nether in the surroundings to come flooding back He planned to study the marks he left on this locationÆs Nether by this forging but as his aura spread out he could only grimace

Three violent blasts of emotions that were heading up on the other side of the shaft curved around and headed to his position as though they were curious about the radiation his arm released

His worst fears were confirmed the ambient emotions of his arm acted as a draw pulling everything toward him With a long face Randidly prepared to blast away these offending emotions

As he did so Randidly wondered if there would be a way to tone down his arm a little

For a while Helen was silent as she looked at Vualla sitting on the rock rubbing her cheek Finally she opened her mouth Should we punish them for this It might not have been conscious but he definitely mobilized an image against you

No this much is alright Vualla said with a sigh She slapped her cheek lightly The spot still stung slightly from where she had been so thoroughly smashed Training these two recruits certainly wasnÆt resulting in the sort of growth she had experienced while in the Xyrt Brigade training facility but it broadened her horizons Vualla hopped up to her feet and shook herself Besides isnÆt this exactly what we wanted Guiding him to this Path Heh I guess that fox is finally desperate

Truly that punch that Raymund had used had been sublime if Vualla did say so herself But she was somewhat biased because that punch was originally hers

And that Vulpine had somehow stolen it and used it against her

But Helen pursed her lips but didnÆt push it further

Vualla waved a hand Believe me IÆm mad But itÆs not that important in the grand scheme of things IÆll have my revenge on that bastard because this time I wonÆt be surprised by his abilities And when I finally capture them hehehe being without images might be shit otherwise but nothing replaces the feeling of beating someone to a pulp with just your own fists am I right

Chapter 1573

As always Randidly gradually lost himself to constant repetition of training In a way it was a relief It helped him avoid undue stress due to his current precarious situation The only problem was the addition of the left arm periodically pulled him out of training as it attracted the attention of the escaping emotions from below no matter where he positioned himself in the shaft While those emotions would react with fear and aggression when they came close to him curiosity still drove them to investigate

If I die here IÆm going to leave a BOMBÆs worth of negative emotions IÆll haunt all of you

Despite his vindictive impulses Randidly wondered what exactly the arm felt like to these semi conscious emotions But ultimately the flows of emotions werenÆt the problem the problem was his fights against emotions attracted the attention of the Nether Beasts

Which as he had predicted could quickly escalate

There were no true noises from his strikes but the reverberations in his hands were viscerally powerful His knuckles were white Randidly gritted his teeth as the Grim Chimera manifested across his body to strengthen his physique He used his powerful left arm to simply smash back a giant centipede Nether Beast while his right hand flicked out and inflicted several deep gashes across two other Nether Beasts that rushed toward him These sheep like Nether Beasts Why couldnÆt they just leave well enough alone Fuck they are going to make me lose my grip on the emotional tether

More than destroying the Nether Beasts he attacked his blows knocked his opponents into the path of their reinforcements They came up in a malicious wave surrounding Randidly and seeking to strike at him from every angle But Nether Sensation kept him a step ahead allowing him to predict and interfere with their shitty tactics

Yet as the Nether Beasts in front of him stabilized himself he felt an all consuming fury that they would push him like this And that emotional blaze was exactly what Randidly was waiting for In front of him was almost thirty Nether Beasts with two that he just struck transforming Virtue into Stature and surging forward but sudden the edges of his Grim Chimera manifestation began to shimmer with cracking power

The left arm of the Grim Chimera grew heavier The right arm flexed and grew sharper A grey aura rippled outward and soaked the surrounding space The Nether Beasts within that area found themselves mired in the shade their movements significantly slowed

Congratulations Your Skill ReaperÆs Mantle of Catastrophe has grown to Level 272

Randidly couldnÆt trigger this reaction at will yet but when someone pushed him emotionally

Within the depths of the Grim Chimera Shape and Emotion moved in tandem Balance was briefly achieved The air around the Grim Chimera grew sticky as its grey aura released a horrifying amount of suppression His physical manifestations grew bright and lethal As the two tails of the Grim Chimera flicked back and forth the nearby Nether Beasts screeched in pain and were inflicted with near fatal wounds and left with cracked cores

A few Nether Beasts had the presence of mind to lash out with their claws and tails to strike back as the Grim Chimera gathered itself but Chimeric Impunity meant that their attacks were harmless

Then the Grim Chimera grinned as they crowded around his empowered form The Chimera Weeps But Man Mourns

The fingers of the Grim Chimera shot out in several directions aided both by shape and emotional energy Typically this Skill unleashed about 10 to 14 thrusts in the area around him The damage of each of those wasnÆt especially impressive but rather the utility of the Skill came from the fact that each thrust was near simultaneous Randidly could inflict quite a bit of damage in his surroundings in a short amount of time

Yet the boost from the emotional energy made all the difference When RandidlyÆs hand shot out to rip away the life from the Nether Beasts in front of him huge cones of force followed in the wake of his attacks They silently swept outward ripping through the Nether BeastsÆ bubbles and annihilating their core For a brief moment he was a flurry of activity Both arms lashed out wildly Randidly seemed to sit at the center of an explosion and launched shrapnel in every direction

With eyes glowing with fury Randidly panted and looked out across the empty space in front of him Severed limbs fizzled and began to disintegrate no longer supported by the Nether Cores that had sustained them

He released another breath as his emotions steadily drained out of him leaving the Grim Chimera in its more typical form A similar process to condensing drops of liquid Aether and using a hyper powered Skill but the efficiency is much better I donÆt need to gather emotion for near as long this way IÆll be able to wield this power much more frequently if I can just master my emotions

That thought earned a rueful smile from Randidly He shook his head Mastering emotions It wasnÆt a realistic goal even if he gave up his wish to overthrow the Nexus and became a monk Then he glanced around his position sensing the movements of Nether Beasts to investigate that last image burst he released Without much urgency he drifted across the whole of the shaft to the other wall Currently he felt like he had reached his limits with his Engraving attempts it was time to activate the Visage of Obsession once more

So far these sacrifices havenÆt been much but there are quite a few more to go I only have so many senses what could be coming next

Before he produced the Fatepiece Randidly wove himself a Nether Ritual to seal the surroundings as he had done for the forging It was especially necessary now to have a refuge with his arm constantly drawing emotional ire his way Once he had his protective barrier up he pulled out the old scroll hyper aware of how grainy the canvas paper in his hands felt

He unrolled the Visage and looked at it with his blind eyes wondering whether his sight would pose a challenge But as he expected it did not

The longer Randidly looked the more emotions began to flow out of the blank canvas coloring his vision His point of view was gathered and pulled forward Instead of just being able to see from the perspective of the painting Randidly felt like he was sinking directly into that strange world of ambient colors With the experience of sensing the surrounding through Nether he realized that the colorful painting displayed a view that was extremely similar to Nether Sensation

The ground was again black although there were thin strands of yellow poking up through the ground in spots This time the sky was green with red flashes Randidly began to float forward

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 23

Skipping Levels now or did I really just miss them Randidly sighed as he continued along the strange ground in front of him He decided to ignore the constant passage of time He simply observed the surroundings The yellow was becoming increasingly common in the messy black strokes of the ground It was like he was walking on a hill containing a vast amount of precious gold And the sky

The red was bleeding outward from its humble beginnings It was a fatal wound constantly oozing Very quickly the green darkened as it was stained beyond recognition

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 27

The ground became light and the sky became dark Randidly continued forward leaning against a low wind that was forming in this place Colors blurred further in front of him tugged by the currents The horizon blended together into an ugly mass As RandidlyÆs senses continued to create a perspective for him he felt oddly like he was walking directly toward the abyss

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 29

This time Randidly was surprised to find that the figure that bloomed in front of him was not Yystrix At first he thought it was still her projections but those features were too playful to belong to the ancient being that could trace her origins to before the Nexus No this person in front of him was Lyra

Randidly tilted his head to the side Lyra grinned at him and winked He snorted in response and gestured with his hand get on with it

She sighed dramatically and the familiar movement brought a hint of nostalgia to RandidlyÆs heart Things were so much easier back on Expira toward the beginning while the duo stayed in Donnyton Even without a Class he had direct and clear ways to grow more powerful There was a simple satisfaction to those times that Randidly had lost as he had grown

He gestured again at LyraÆs knowing look get on with it

This time she shrugged Unlike Yystrix who pointed to the part of her body that Randidly would need to rip out of himself Lyra produced a wicker basket Randidly was rather disturbed to sense that within the basket were the bloody remnants of a tongue and two eyeballs She hefted the basket and smiled at him

Her thoughts appeared in RandidlyÆs head without any sort of communication Which made a certain amount of sense because she was simply a construct of his subconscious But what Lyra requested Randidly surrender made him slowly frown

Give me your sense of direction

Randidly grimaced Without that do you truly want me to be stuck here forever

Lyra shrugged Her expression clearly indicated that it didnÆt much matter to her whether he chose to continue with his Visage of Obsession or not But he couldnÆt back down now She shook the wicker basket slightly and tilted her head to the side Again Randidly could easily read the thoughts from her expression even if you refuse to proceed further you wonÆt get these again until you complete the Visage of Obsession The Visage can only be delayed

Just as Randidly felt the benefits of the Fatepiece accruing the disadvantages grew more obvious as he proceeded But despite his misgivings Randidly nodded his assent to this sacrifice There was a flash of light and suddenly a battered brass compass appeared within LyraÆs basket Her smile widened

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 30

Randidly didnÆt proceed further he pulled himself out of the Fatepiece and inspected himself Absolute Timing told him this most recent usage of the Visage had taken two weeks And as he studied his body he didnÆt feel much difference He still held on to the emotional tether that kept him from proceeding deeper In terms of losing his sense of direction

Initially Randidly was very optimistic But all he needed to do was keep a portion of his senses on the bone wall so he wouldnÆt lose himself But to test the effect he purposefully didnÆt extend his Nether senses back toward the wall For a few moments he was adrift Unbidden Randidly could feel himself steadily sliding through the surrounding space The sense of momentum was shocking it seemed that part of what he gave up was control over his movements

He spun back around and was shocked to find that he remained floating right next to the wall Some of the irritation at losing control faded but it was quickly replaced by annoyance that his senses had fed him false information of movement

The sensation of being forgetful and unmoored quite obnoxious Randidly grimaced Then he glanced downward But then he blinked and realized he was glancing upward not that where he looked made much difference to his senses He tried again to glance downward and coughed into his hand But at least all I need to do is release the emotional tether to drift deeper

God it would be nice if I could get lost and accidentally leave this place haah

Chapter 1574

The only real difference in RandidlyÆs current training regimen after reaching Level 30 in his Fatepiece was that he needed to keep the wall within his perception at all times Having a frame of reference kept the worst side effects of losing his sense of direction from popping up It also prevented the inexplicable impressions of movement that were surprisingly convincing despite the fact that Randidly repeatedly reminded himself they were false

Unfortunately keeping a portion of his attention on the surroundings was rather difficult to manage during some portions of his training Especially when his newfound forgetfulness kept making itself known

Yet Randidly had to admit that the forgetfulness also benefited him As had happened previously there was a newfound purity to RandidlyÆs concentration that often resulted in him completely shutting out what was happening around him So while he considered the significance of his Engraving for his Nether Core sometimes Randidly would abrupt wake to find that he had drifted away somewhat while he had gathered quite a few Skill Levels

The worst part of the whole experience was that he found it very difficult to care The goal began consuming his every waking moment resulting in him setting aside the danger of the indulgence and simply pushing forward This meant that his Skill Levels continued to steadily tick upward but the observer part of Randidly was growing increasingly worried

But at this point IÆm already in the grips of obsession RandidlyÆs face contorted With these three sacrifices there is nowhere to go but forward

So he kept his worries to himself and threw himself more deeply into the training As predicted once more possessing a second arm helped him in the efficiency of his improvement With renewed confidence he once more resumed combat training Randidly was also very careful to create enormous Nether Rituals to contain his image reverberations He had accepted that attracting the attention of the Nether Beasts was more trouble than it was worth

Even his aggression had limits these Nether Beasts would swarm toward him until he was exhausted

All three of his images steadily grew in their emotional clout He spent time developing his usage of the spear altering his form to incorporate his increased physical power He continued to experiment with Engravings both related to Nether Cores and more typical Engraving projects His senses grew even further tuned to Nether letting him peer even more deeply into the depths

Again he was fascinated by the vast spaces below where he sensed Nether Beasts actively avoiding something in the depths Considering how they behaved like drunken moths and drifted closer to him anytime he released any sort of energy he was shocked that these Nether Beasts had some instinct that drove them away If he could observe this phenomenon and duplicate it his attempts to train would become much simpler

But to his senses he was unable to determine what caused those spaces And Randidly still possessed enough of his caution not to force the investigation If the Nether Beasts thought this was a source of danger Randidly would at least tread cautiously

Randidly trained for another month in the thick darkness losing himself whenever he looked away from the wall But soon that familiar sensation manifested in his training Randidly could sense the plateau in his growth he had reached the limits of his current potential Not that he wouldnÆt continue growing but the speed was beginning to drop as he trained without any pressing necessity urging him forward

Worst of all his understanding of his own significance still eluded him He remained stumped

Randidly sighed and pulled out the Visage of Obsession His senses were steadily drawn inward and then fed into the paper The sky had now turned completely crimson while the ground cooled off toward a dull grey Randidly felt like he was in the monochrome world of a vampire

With no other choice he began walking forward

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 39

After his previous experiences of wandering for a time Randidly was rather shocked to find that he arrived almost immediately in front of Lyra She held her basket against her hip with that same sly smile on her face Perhaps it was an aspect of losing his sense of directionÆ but his sense of time completely blurred leading him immediately to this point

Obviously he didnÆt doubt that time had skipped forward while he was drawn into the Fatepiece But he almost wished he could turn around inside the Fatepiece and examine the spaceÆ behind him But the feeling of being insideÆ the Visage of Obsession was only an illusion His senses couldnÆt examine the Path he had taken to get here

Randidly tilted his head to the side as he examined Lyra There was no reason to delay since he was already here What now

Lyra offered him the basket and smiled She raised her hand with a flourish The System has been a bit distracting donÆt you think Why donÆt you get rid of its notifications

RandidlyÆs expression slowly became solemn as he considered her reply you donÆt just mean Skill Levels

Messages too Came LyraÆs impish reply Oh and those warnings Not that you listened anyway but its better to rip out something like that from the roots right

Randidly released a low breath Before accepting the demand of the Visage of Obsession he composed and sent messages to Helen and Vualla saying that his training would take away his ability to contact them for a while But that he was safe and improving quickly and would likely soon have a method to get out of the grasp of the horrifying significance

The last line was a bit of a stretch but Randidly felt the effect that Fatepiece was having He was rather confident that he would soon have a breakthrough The significance swirling around his practice was steadily increasing He knew he was close

After sending the messages he nodded He reached up and put a finger to his temple going simply by instinct When he moved that finger away he could feel a tight cluster of Aether attached to his finger After minutely examining the complex intersecting lines he lowered his finger and deposited the System notifications within the basket

With a gleeful expression Lyra vanished and Randidly slid out of the Visage of Obsession He consulted Absolute Timing A month had passed in that sudden moment of arrival in front of Lyra Which brought his time in the shaft to near five months Around him the Nether Ritual he had made to isolate himself was starting to tear at the edges the coincidental damage from emotions had almost interrupted his focus

Randidly shook himself loosening the muscles that were stiff from long standing still for a month Then he twisted his mouth Seems like if this keeps going up this depth wonÆt be enough to cover the time spent in the Fatepiece

Feeling somewhat worried by various threats Randidly released his hold on the emotional tether and drifted downward The air continued to thicken around him as it contained more and more Nether The increases were incremental but Randidly could sense the qualitative change in the air was coming soon

As he drifted downward his senses could stretch farther and farther sensing more and more Nether Beasts crowding the depths In addition he could detect three of those entirely clear spheres where Nether beasts dared not tread Below them was an even thicker grouping of Nether Beasts but what was most intriguing was that in this group there was a significant amount of fighting

Feeling suddenly cold Randidly seized the emotional tether once more He wiped cold sweat from his brow and released a relieved breath Part of losing my sense of direction really was losing my sense of time If I wasnÆt paying close attention to the Nether content of the air I would have just kept descending and even still I proceeded a bit more deeply than I wanted

Currently the Nether content in the air was right below 75% To distract himself and prevent the increased density of Nether Beasts at this depth from noticing him Randidly wove a Nether Ritual around his person Then he began to train each of his images in turn shaping them and charging their emotional power

It was comically easy to set aside his images and concentrate on the training Soon he was completely immersed

But even if he lost himself in the familiar training patterns partway through he slowed in his movements as he practiced with the Inscrutable Mien of Yggdrasil He looked down at his hands in wonder Heh without the Skill Level up notifications it is quite easy to get lost here I really wish I knew what the ratio of time here to the outside world is

Sighing Randidly could only set that concern aside There was really nothing he could do to find out that knowledge worrying about it was a waste of time So he settled back into his stance and thought about what Yggdrasil meant to him

And as he was about to activate his Skills the epiphany he had been waiting for arrived

Stability and growth those are what I sought with Yggdrasil The warm embrace of the World Tree that supports the entire planet Both of RandidlyÆs arms fell to his sides From the deepest part of his soul waves of indigo began radiating outward He pressed his eyes closed and bowed his head Those are what those are what I was looking for Those are what I imagined

Significance is subjective Each individual experiences it personally It is shaped by context And it can move quickly or slowly Some seeds planted in the mind wonÆt bloom for decades Others immediately flare to life Narrative adds a shape to the speed of growth but itÆs not quite that predictable Viewing the issue from that angle there is a rather simple explanation of why I so quickly turned to the World Tree RandidlyÆs lip curled up Yet that answer is so convenient and cliched fuck

Is this really because of my parents

RandidlyÆs memories drifted back to the past He thought about his father leaving About his mother losing herself in liquor and drugs and men Of spending a silent childhood of loneliness Of meeting Sydney and then chasing her through high school and into college This younger version of himself that Randidly viewed dispassionately in his memories threw himself enthusiastically into all his pursuits

In the long nights of his youth Randidly Ghosthound had heedlessly searched for something Perhaps that something truly was stability and growth Because when he shaped his image that was what emerged

ThereÆs only one way to truly see if this insight is enough Randidly reflected He drifted over toward the bone wall Nether concentrating on his pointer fingers As he did so the significance in the surroundings began to sluggishly congregate toward him Randidly couldnÆt help but tremble Even now his movements carried enough weight to resist the significance below

Randidly began to carve The movement of Nether around him only grew stronger as the Engraving took shape in front of him

Chapter 1575

Time seemed to accelerate for the current Randidly But at the same time it receded like a shy tide He barely noticed its passage as he threw himself into his training If not for Absolute Timing he might have been completely drifted away into the satisfying actions of improving himself The mental clarity gifted by the Fatepiece left him sharp but it also left him smooth

He glided forward on that smoothness barely noticing his surroundings He passed easily from one moment to the next without the slightest hint of friction or hesitation

His abilities with isolating Nether Rituals grew more sophisticated with repetition Without Skill Levels he could only rely on examining the results but it was clear that his creations now lasted for longer He could lose himself for a month and still return to himself to find the Ritual intact Randidly wondered if he should expose himself more to the emotional attacks to force growth but his current rate of growth seemed fine to him

So he continued to train He glided forward gradually accumulating significance and experience in equal measure The Nether around him was rich with emotion and nuance carrying with it the weight of history Yet even with his accumulation he was uncannily smooth cutting through everything

His focus on details became overwhelming Randily often found himself lost in the minutia of his improvement Yggdrasil the Grim Chimera and the Stillborn Phoenix continued to sharpen their details They grew strong

He improved in other areas as well Spear usage Image details Emotional control Nether utilization In all of these areas he improved

Sometimes each training session took a whole day sometimes they stretched to fill an entire week Without really noticing it these training sessions pushed the time Randidly had spent in the depths upward he had suddenly been here for a year

IÆm improving quickly I believe but is it enough To that question Randidly had no answer

He was stronger yes but it was not enough The foes waiting for him in the Nexus were even stronger than the current him So he buckled down and trained His resolve continued to fold itself into smaller and sharper forms That resolve cut through everything to push him toward his goal

Of course improving his Engraving for the Nether Core took up most of his time His epiphany guided Randidly to create a shape that mobilized the surrounding Nether but he destroyed the result all the same and tried again immediately afterward His useless eyes traced the curves of Nether upon the bone wall and realized his mistake

What he had discovered about himself was the core but it wasnÆt the whole Everything he had considered in the past was relevant It was significantÆ The larger shape had been located now it was just a matter of establishing the relevant context

Which once more brought him back to training The repetition would have once been tiresome but he couldnÆt even stop himself at this point His emotions continued to seeth within his chest empowered and volatile

From effort inevitably came results As the Engraving for his first image gradually took shape his thoughts moved to his other two images And in addition Randidly began practicing the Nether art of layering His Nether Core would need to incorporate all three of these forces So to get ahead of problems down the line he practiced the layering

Due to his smoothness more and more time was lost Wrapped in his Nether Rituals he was safe from distraction The only reason Randidly eventually surfaced was that he felt that familiar plateau arriving before him It was no longer so simple to spot the increased proficiency from practice

So he produced the Visage of Obsession and stared into its swirling colors He was buoyed further by those colors until he arrived in front of a familiar figure But the rough strokes that had once been Lyra shifted to draw a new form

Ki Kunot the leader whose fiery passion reminded Randidly of himself when he had finally understood the System the bird woman he had killed inside of a Dungeon on Expira was waiting for him upon a grey plain She greeted him with a stern glance as though asking what took him so long Randidly almost chuckled but just gestured for her to inform him what he would sacrifice here

The separation between the world and the Visage of Obsession Ki Kunot responded in a light voice It will proceed more quickly if you view it directly but now it will steadily advance whether you are viewing it or not

Randidly pressed his lips together As long as one aspect didnÆt run unchecked that was almost a benefit And the sacrifices

To RandidlyÆs relief Ki Kunot shook her head in denial No they will not be automatically deducted Those steps will always require your express assent But this step will further eliminate your sense of time The fog of the Fatepiece will cling to you always To that end Your Skill Absolute Timing will also be blocked

So this is the cost of proceeding halfway through the Fatepiece Randidly grinned at Ki Kunot and nodded his assent to this sacrifice And just like that he was back floating in the gloomy shaft Emotional currents washed around his Nether Ritual Yet what he noticed immediately was that at the edges of his perception the colors began to swirl strangely Tingling motes of silver and navy blue flashed Yet when he focused on those areas the deviations rapidly normalized

Randidly clicked his tongue silently and dismissed the Nether Ritual Then he released his hold on his emotional tether intent on going deeper As for how long

Randidly abruptly realized he had simply been blankly floating downward for at least a minute Without his Skill time was becoming increasingly runny between his fingers He felt a great deal of pity for those inside of his Alpha Cosmos who would proceed through this length of time normally but he needed to trust them to maintain their edge in the meantime

Struck by a sudden idea Randidly wove a new Nether Ritual as he was falling The shape was extremely familiar Nether Beasts surged forward from his movements but Randidly didnÆt care He allowed the Stillborn Phoenix to manifest directly in his left eye rapidly devouring the emotions in the surrounding area With its surging size and unstable power it rapidly blasted away all the Nether Beasts that approached Randidly

Which of course drew more ire but Randidly didnÆt much care His focus was on the woven Nether between his fingers

He finished the Nether Ritual with a flourish The connection bridged across time and space connecting Randidly with Vualla He felt her heat and her shock replaced quickly by delight as she realized it was him He smiled enjoying the familiar sense of power he could feel from her image She was certainly as impressive as always she hadnÆt been slacking in his Alpha Cosmos

Around him the Stillborn Phoenix continued to grow The core of the black hole had grown so that the entire space around RandidlyÆs head was being bent and devoured in its maw In the shaft that usually was only disturbed by emotions a new horrifying wind was being born It drew its fingers silently along the inside of the bone seeking purchase to seize and devour

Yet just as quickly as the delight flashed in VuallaÆs heart it was replaced by worry as she examined his state Randidly whatÆs why do you feel so strange

My Fatepiece requires some self sacrifice Randidly replied awkwardly Their connection expressed meaning directly to each other but he understood from VuallaÆs deepening confusion that his expression was ambiguous He sent her a pulse of warm confidence DonÆt worry The effect is temporary But I we might be here for a while Is everything alright

Heh RandidlyÆs heart broke slightly as he felt Vualla set aside her significant worries and affect a cheery outlook through their connection She easily changed the subject These two recruits of yours Randidly where the hell did you find him With all the time youÆve given me they are going to be monsters when we leave here

Great Thanks I couldnÆt Randidly trembled and raised a hand to press against his chest The surroundings snapped back into focus How long had he been sinking downward His surroundings were filled with a sea of furious Nether Beasts But the Stillborn Phoenix had taken this chance to swell until RandidlyÆs entire body was hidden by the warped space His Nether Nebula was spinning furiously I I couldnÆt do this without you But I need to go Stay safe

You too Came VuallaÆs reply Then Randidly ended the Nether Ritual and seized onto his emotional tether He gritted his teeth for several seconds as he grew used to the pressure from the significance below He was now at 82% Nether content in the air And considering the increased distance for the change in percentage he had fallen much deeper than he had originally intended

Randidly glared around him The Stillborn Phoenix had been running rampant while he was distracted but Randidly swiftly pulled that wild energy back inward Hundreds of Nether Beasts surrounded him now and they surged forward perhaps believing that the shift was a sign of weakness Hydras and minotaurs and enormous slimes and krakens lashed outward at Randidly to slaughter this interloper

But his movement was one of preparation With RandidlyÆs malicious smile thick blades of gravity began to slash outward in every direction shredding all of the nearby Nether Beasts The Egg of Depression was like a machine gun before a herd of pigs ripping through flesh faster than they could even realize what was happening

Another small change occurred within the core of the Stillborn Phoenix as it reached out and devoured the surrounding Nether Cores It seized upon something precious and began accumulating it within its own core

But then Randidly suppressed his wild image He sensed the surrounding area in a single moment more Nether Beasts were converging but he had time before they gathered Randidly raised his hand and created a Nether Ritual to isolate himself Then he sat down and meditated

He had a new problem he had proceeded so deeply into the shaft that the significance below was stealing away his Nether more quickly than he could produce it

Yet RandidlyÆs newfound smoothness also prevented him from panicking He began to manipulate the Nether inside of his Nebula directly having it form a certain pattern that he had developed for his Nether Core The Nebula was heavy but Randidly sharply pulled the energy to suit his will

The shape was not fixated on a physical medium but RandidlyÆs time refining the structure of the Engraving hadnÆt been wasted even its merest form began to hint at the power it could eventually wield Gradually the influence the significance below could wield on him fell to a weak tug that Randidly hadnÆt experienced since about the 50% Nether mark

Then he rolled his shoulders disassembled his Nether Ritual and began to drift through the middle portion of the shaft as he gathered himself once more

He had thrown himself into both the attack with Stillborn Phoenix and the restructuring of his Nether Nebula without thought but in retrospect he could feel how mentally exhausting both of those tasks were

So he drifted simply allowing time to pass

The Nether Beasts had drifted away not finding the source of the disturbance while his Nether Ritual hid him Randidly studied the nearby Nether Beasts The creatures here were definitely more intelligent than the manufactured version but at the same time

At some point he yawned and stretched Break time was over Time to return to training

Chapter 1576

Vualla shook her head rather sadly after the connection was broken She was sitting a carriage wearing a silver gown that accentuated her brilliant azure hair and eyes When she had seen herself in the mirror even she was pretty impressed by how she looked when she scrubbed off the dirt she was a knockout

This was exactly why she was delighted when Randidly suddenly contacted her out of the blue after being dead quiet for several months She wanted to show off a little in front of him And it was also why she was then filled with a strange sadness sensing that Randidly was currently in a strange state of mind

At this point there is nothing I can do but trust him Vualla balled her hands into fists Even with the Xyrt Brigade training we are really far from overthrowing the Nexus arenÆt we Randidly You are out there risking your life to develop yourself And I I need to continue to grow here as best as I can

The carriage stopped There was a polite knock at the door Miss Vualla weÆve arrived at the auction venue Please be sure to have your mask in place before you head in the Shelley Kingdom would like to distance itself from events like this

The corner of VuallaÆs mouth quirked up She reached to the side and picked up a mask that she had specially tailored for this event as an homage to the body that was also this world The face was a hound with long black hair and emerald accents around the eyes Combined with VuallaÆs natural color hair and silver gown the accessory clashed garishly But somehow that display was satisfying to Vualla

She pulled the hound mask over her face and opened the carriage door The driver offered her his hand and she stepped down onto the cobblestones looking up at the brilliant lights from the building in front of her Wide marble stairs led a curving path around fountains and statues of heroes before finally arriving at a pair of enormous black doors Groups of masked individuals held flutes of champagne and conversed in quiet voices

Their eyes briefly flicked to Vualla but away with disinterest She was dressed to the nines but being simply beautiful wasnÆt enough to earn anyoneÆs attention it was only political power that attracted attention here

I could annihilate this entire country if I was allowed to use my image Vualla thought cheerily as she stared around

It was the site of the most powerful financial institution inside of RandidlyÆs Alpha Cosmos the Unus Institute Central Bank And due to the mission given to the recruits by Helen a month ago they would need to be here in person

Vualla began to walk up the stairs with a wicked smile Tonight she intended to enjoy herself

RandidlyÆs small voice of observation continued to note the way he was being polished like a shining sword His edges grew sharper His core became shining and reflective a bright torch in the depths of the shaft All of his ancillary personality traits gradually fell away to dedication and ambition Stroke by stroke the Visage of Obsession was wiping him smooth

He wondered how much longer this could proceed At what point would he cease changing But the curiosity was only an idle thing his attention inevitably was pulled back to the firm resolve that drove him forward In this place with this chance he would grow strong He finally had timeÆ He would then escape this place and pay back the debts he owed to the villains of the Nexus

So he Engraved He polished his images He trained

Occasionally Randidly left his Nether Ritual and fought against the Nether Beasts with each of his images in turn Yggdrasil grew towering and became more holy and glorious The Grim Chimera continued to streamline its form for violence The Stillborn Phoenix grew larger and more complex its manipulation of the surroundings becoming overwhelming

Then he worked on his Nether Engraving As he perfected Yggdrasil he began to develop the seeds of significance for the Grim Chimera and the Stillborn Phoenix Then he experimented with layering the varying forms together into a complete whole

The results were disappointing Keeping the heavy significance present in the construction while also weaving three different forms together was nearly impossible But Randidly simply set his failures to the side floated to the left and began Engraving once again Failure meant nothing to him He did not waste his time during those attempts he simply found one more method that was ineffective So he tried another

And anyway the current Randidly barely noticed the passage of time at all What difference did it make to him

It was only when the Visage Obsession hummed in warning that Randidly paused in his Engraving He silently clicked his tongue and got out the Fatepiece annoyed that he had been interrupted while he was busy testing out a new theory But he understood why it called to him

Ki Kunot once more stood in front of Randidly You must give up your external connections to proceed further

The current streamlined Randidly could see immediately what his subconscious construct within the Fatepiece was requesting from him But still he made an aggrieved expression as though he was confused How does that make sense The whole point of this is to work on my Nether Core Connection is one of the core principles of Nether You are trying to cripple me as revenge for your fate arenÆt you Ki Kunot

The projection flapped her wings in a huff Your humor is ill timed and riddled with guilt toward how you dealt with me I am you If your heart wants you to be crippled well enjoy being buried here by your own hand But in terms of Nether you already have the clues needed to find your own significance in the images You have just kept being distracted by your current connections and are unable to see the truth of how youÆve developed

Randidly snorted Just admit that the Nether Ritual to Vualla pisses you off

Would a subconscious projection get angry in the first place Randidly felt Ki Kunot roll her eyes Your resolve is weakened by your reliance on Vualla It is necessary

Finally RandidlyÆs teasing ceased His expression became serious She holds the same goal in her heart Her support has value

Which means she will understand and admire your resolve Ki Kunot replied sharply then she sighed LetÆs not distract from the truth you are worried about how the Visage of Obsession is proceeding You have held a part of yourself back during this process That hesitation will need to be lost here too If you continue forward you need to accept the risks

It is a gamble Randidly grumbled Ki Kunot didnÆt deny it Randidly withdrew his senses to within his body and simply hummed feeling the vibration traveling through his body Without his sense of time he couldnÆt tell how long he meditated then

But ultimately he nodded

Just like that certain exchanges that had been occurring subconsciously within himself were ceased All the meaning and shape that he had been steadily absorbing due to his Aether connections stopped flowing into him Randidly Ghosthound was left alone with himself

His senses displayed before him a rich world of emotion and color Nether Beasts breathed and fought each other beyond the strange empty areas that Randidly now approached Annoyingly he still couldnÆt quite make out what floated in the middle of those voids though it was clear that something was there

But he didnÆt dwell on it much He loosened his grip on his emotional tether and sank even deeper Then when he was just above the areas with the strange emptiness he stopped himself and began to train

No matter what else changed training was the same

He Engraved he perfected images he gathered emotions he meditated on significance he went out and slaughtered Nether Beasts Without that small observer in RandidlyÆs mind he was completely absorbed in this process He passed smoothly from one moment to the next

In a way it was the most fulfilled he could remember being

Bit by bit by studying the Nether Cores of the slaughtered Nether Beasts he had some breakthroughs in the area of layering his Engravings As his second image Randidly thought very deeply about what the Grim Chimera meant for him If Yggdrasil was his deep yearning for a stable support system then this adaptive monster was

As it had previously the Visage of Obsession hummed when it wanted his attention Randidly gnashed his teeth and pulled out the Fatepiece What the hell do you want now ItÆs only been

Randidly couldnÆt finish that thought Because he had no idea how much time had passed since the last time that the Visage had spoken to him And then he let his annoyance go because once more there was a new figure in front of him within the Fatepiece ShalÆs familiar frown examined Randidly from head to toe Then he shook his head as though disappointed

Do you really think Shal would be disappointed if he saw me Randidly thought with a smile as he looked at the projection

But to his surprise the projection nodded sternly Your resolve has the right shape but it remains a fragile thing I know you can do better than this Randidly Ghosthound I trained you to achieve more than this

You are ridiculous Randidly thought as he shook his head Even if IÆm not amongst the top characters in the Nexus

Basing your evaluation of yourself on comparisons with others is the comfort of fools The Shal projection responded

Randidly was speechless Or more accurately that response left him with a blank mind Because he could feel how much the projection believed what it said Did that mean his subconscious was just as foolishly stubborn

Not willing to indulge this shade for any longer Randidly shrugged Alright fine What do I need to sacrifice this time

Your ability to rest obviously The Shal projection said Then it added You waste too much time recovering Better to throw yourself back into training during those times That way your bones will remember when you are too exhausted to think

Chapter 1577

Despite his own rather significant capability Heiffal felt his limbs stiffening Which paradoxically was a good thing If not for the creeping sense of stiffness Heiffal might very well have collapsed the differences between their states was simply too vast

The two individuals were standing near the central training area of the Head Drill Sergeant Heiffal dare not let this individual into RandidlyÆs training area even though he suspected it was a meaningless effort In the nearby area the recruits were currently finishing up their physical training more quickly than they ever had in the past Part of that fanatical dedication to the task was their recent improvements but also

How could they not notice their Overseer was pinned to the ground by the gaze of another

Commandant Wick pursed his lips His arms were folded behind his back as he surveyed Heiffal The small change in his previously mild expression released a blast of pressure that he was forced to endure without complaint he is so busy with training that he cannot even greet his superior Tell him I bring news

With glacial slowness Heiffal forced himself to bow before the military leader in front of him Sweat ran down to the tip of his nose and dripped onto the ground Unfortunately there is nothing I can do at the moment Please rest assured that his only focus is providing the most capable recruits at the agreed upon time But he is currently busy

The Commandant snorted and Heiffal barely prevented himself from vomiting from the impact of that expulsion of breath Hah This sudden elusiveness in the face of a superior is disconcerting Concerning But I suppose training the recruits is what truly matters in the long run As long as the results end up being satisfactory I wonÆt pursue this vacation any further

The Commandant turned away but Heiffal didnÆt allow himself to relax He remained in his half bowed state as the ominous figure gathered his thoughts

truly the Ghosthound is a fickle man DoesnÆt he know that leaving the Rally Station means Dunn could kill him as easily as swatting a fly The hubris of the young certainly boggles the mind Then Commandant Wick glanced back over his shoulder at Heiffal His fury face was twisted into a scowl Two days remain until the Xyrt Brigade returns to the frontlines and the NexusÆs counter offensive begins I hope your master understands that the longer he remains away the more the other Drill Sergeants will gossip Firm leadership is necessary in times like these

Heiffal had nothing to say to that He remained there sweating until Commandant Wick snorted again and vanished It was only then that he allowed himself to straighten and stiffly walk back to his personal chambers

Despite his significant injuries just from exposure to Commandant Wick he had enough pride not to display his weakness in front of the recruits But below the exhaustion was worry Heiffal too had no idea where Randidly was Their connection remained although it was screened in some manner

Heiffal could only trust in his leader and wait Like the other Overseers and Advisors on the Fifth Cohort Rally Station he threw himself into the training of the recruits to hide the unease that lurked in his heart

ShalÆs projection might have framed the sacrifice as Randidly losing his ability to rest but his experience was more similar to constantly carrying around a lit bonfire in his chest The insides of his own ribs were charred with his enthusiasm and sudden vigor It was a compulsion that bordered on obsession

The fire he held wasnÆt energy per se but it felt a lot like energy It was a constantly gurgling stream of emotional motivation When one task ended he couldnÆt help but continue on to the next that was in front of him He was in a constant manic state during his activities where finishing was actually a detriment because he had to scramble to find something new to occupy him

Honestly if Randidly hadnÆt had prior experience with engaging in less mentally draining methods of training he might well have continued to frantically Engrave Nether until he had burned himself out That was how irresistible a geas he now bore

Not that a burn out would have stopped him from continuing of course He just would have lost a huge amount of efficiency as he continued to push forward after his mental energy was depleted Even with the time dilation he might truly need to spend a decade down here struggling with the problem of Nether Engraving if he allowed himself to fall into that state

Luckily that burning motivation in RandidlyÆs chest was relatively non discriminatory in its pursuits as long as Randidly truly pushed himself into a task it was satisfied

With such an ambiguous goal Randidly devised a new way to push himself Or rather he created a new method of a very familiar process in this strange environment testing the limits of his body

It was exactly the sort of draining but mindless exercise that Randidly needed right now

Constant work saw Randidly improving his Nether Core Engravings at a visible pace He had no unbiased method of determining his proficiency but Randidly was almost positive that had he not proceeded so deeply into the depths of the Nexus he would now be able to resist the pull of significance below and escape As it was when Randidly combined his rough Yggdrasil Engraving in his Nether Nebula with his insights into the Grim Chimera and the Stillborn Phoenix he was barely able to strain against the inevitable flow of significance downward

Basically he had gained enough independence to experience first hand how tightly he was grasped by the abyss

It was somewhat akin to a child pushing against a bolder He developed enough capability to exert his power even though the weight he struggled against was far beyond him In a way his struggles were completely useless Even if he stayed down here for a hundred years Randidly somehow doubted that his physical body could ever force itself through the space warping force of this significance Even his speed of improvement couldnÆt ever catch up with this

Yet even as Randidly strained and pushed against the current of significance with both his flesh and metal arms his mind had several minutes of must needed rest

But if you think this is all I can manage RandidlyÆs competitiveness once more manifested against the implacable tide He floated in the shaft with his arms raised above his head IÆll rip this entire Nexus to pieces one day Do you think some shitty significance is enough to stop me

As he continued to press upward in the darkness of the shaft the veins along his right arm and neck began to swell The vibration from his heartbeat steadily grew more pronounced through his body even though he could no longer perceive the soundÆ His image physicalizations sizzled with power as Randidly pushed himself toward the limits of his physical body

It was obviously a much smaller phenomenon than this shaft but it wasnÆt like Randidly lacked the ability to rip space to pieces

He clenched his jaw until it began to ache His muscles were trembling all across his body When there still wasnÆt even the slightest bit of give from the current of significance RandidlyÆs face spread into a wide smile His fingers flexed outward his knuckles cracking from the power they endured In RandidlyÆs chest his three images began to swirl together into one complete whole His metallic arm released waves of Mana as the Engravings across it activated and hosted the image physicalizations The heavy upper body and left arm of the Grim Chimera covered Randidly

The fingers of his right hand grew longer and clawed His revealed veins across his body began to glow with an inner golden light The new more unrestrained Stillborn Phoenix condensed its event horizon down to a flat black disc the size of a large coin that floated in the place of RandidlyÆs left eye Energies in the surrounding area warped and melted turning runny as they encountered the edge of that flat black coin

Randidly couldnÆt see it of course but his hair began to rustle and wave as it was buffeted by a gentle wind Gradually each hair shifted toward a deep emerald

Those changes manifested quickly then spiraled back in RandidlyÆs chest to connect with one another With the external changes completely the images began to mesh with each other A powerful reverberation spread outward from his core and the physical force Randidly unleashed almost instantly doubled He activated his Yyrwood Body of Yggdrasil Grit of the Ascendant Bane and Cosmic Necessity Skills to mobilize as much physical power as he could manage

He reached his peak And when he ascended to that point he stretched that moment for as long as he could

Partially Randidly wanted to push himself to the limits of his abilities All the muscles across his body flexed and strained unable to shift the current tugging at him even the smallest bit He could feel minute tears forming in his flesh just from the immense pressure that he endured But also it was a good chance to observe the completed arm under extreme strain This force could not rival a strike from Velio Dunn but Randidly was happy to discover that there was no warping in either metal or Engraving on his arm

Just as Randidly was about to ease up his mobilized body and images he realized that the surrounding space was a bit too monochrome to his sensitive Grim Intuition All the emotional color had been sucked away When he cast he senses about there wasnÆt the slightest hint of a foreign emotion floating upward toward him The space was also devoid of Nether Beasts

After so long experiencing the silence of his own existence the echoing impact shocked Randidly even more than the brutalizing impact did

The attack came without warning smashing into RandidlyÆs side and sending him spinning The next second he slammed against the wall and rebounded tumbling out into the middle of the space Randidly quickly righted himself and flared his triple images to the peak of their power He was shocked but not truly damaged by that strikes there were some perks to reinforcing your body as much as Randidly did

A few seconds of tingling soreness was already fading as he righted himself The details of the image physicalizations grew sharper as he prepared

This time the invisible strike didnÆt come from the side but directly above him Shuddering from the blow to his shoulder Randidly could only retreat and buy time to locate the culprit But also the damage had increased this time the force was enough that Randidly could only helplessly allow his emotional tether to be jarred out of his grip as he was smashed down With a vicious scowl on his face Randidly mobilized his combined images to comb the area above him

Yet no matter how he scanned the image waves he released were casually unwound without being able to locate the foe Had his image not unraveled right in front of his eyes Randidly would believe that the area above him was completely empty

The effect combined to the ominous silence around him was eerie A small seed of doubt emerged in his heart Had the abyss felt his struggles and lashed out against him

Without his emotional tether he began to sink down to the waiting significance below RandidlyÆs expression turned increasingly grave as he scanned his surroundings Luckily that sense of emptiness around him gave him a different theory and allayed his sudden fears This this is the thing that keeps the Nether Beasts in check

Randidly flicked his hand outward and released a dense blast of Nether Although the amount of Nether in the surrounding air was high RandidlyÆs senses could see his own pure Nether spreading out with all the subtlety of a bucket of ink being dumped into a fish tank

His plan was to at least glimpse the shape of his foe but as soon as the Nether spread out something began to devour it easily With an uneasy heart Randidly stared upward at the empty space above him and wracked his brain to think of another method But even with his mental acuity at its peak with so many distractions removed Randidly could think of no way to escape

Once more he hovered above the abyss with a hostile foe prowling toward him

RandidlyÆs eyes narrowed A fight then Fine letÆs draw you out a bit

Chapter 1578

Randidly unleashed Man is Proud But the Chimera Takes and accelerated upward But at the same time he didnÆt forget that he and this invisible opponent were essentially in freefall heading down toward the abyss below His acceleration was only relative With his sense of timelessness it really would be possible for him just to fall down to the depths in one go

Still Randidly didnÆt overthink that issue one threat at a time was enough

RandidlyÆs right arm lashed toward the empty space where he expected this foe to be floating His fingers harmlessly tore through space He spun around and dispersed his momentum Then he slashed left and right Still nothing

The silent expanse around him seemed to mock his efforts But Randidly continually scanned the surrounding area

But after a while he gnashed his teeth How long had he been waiting

On cue his Grim Intuition gradually seemed to discover trace discrepancies in the air to his left He exploded into motion But just as quickly as Randidly unleashed Man Is Proud But the Chimera Takes to unleash a flurry of piercing thrusts his image physicalizations wavered and receded due to a strange pulse of energy from that spot in the air

While mastering his shock Randidly twisted around clapped his hands together A wave of gravity spiked downward as Randidly mobilized Hallucinations of the Bloodless Heart The Stillborn Phoenix screamed first in fury and then in unwillingness Just like the Grim Chimera this image was dispersed with a pulse of strange energy as well

Suddenly the empty space next to him seemed incredibly dangerous The air continued to ripple Due to the close proximity RandidlyÆs instincts warned him in time to raise his arms to defend against the invisible strike crashing down toward him

Randidly grimaced as the bones of his forearm and shoulder throbbed painfully after enduring the most recent strike It was definitely growing stronger His focus was completely dispersed and he was once more driting downward Unless those first two strikes were warning strikes or

Even while RandidlyÆs senses could spy the barest hint of the opponent that floated above him he was completely clobbered from the side When the blow hit him Randidly felt like he was just being smashed by a giant club when he was struck the strike possessed all the brutality of a tribal warrior from the stone age

After tumbling through the air Randidly landed back against the bone wall and steadied himself He barred his teeth toward the empty air around him Were there truly two of these things or could it simply move extremely quickly With this distance between them he couldnÆt sense these things at all

Plus it seemed like they were relatively well equipped to handle him even after all the improvements he made down here The foes dispersed images and devoured Nether And Randidly was getting worried that each time they did so they got a little stronger At this point their attacks were painful but not enough to overcome his physical gifts But if this continued

Randidly had to grasp an advantage as soon as possible

With a light tap Randidly pushed himself away from the wall and drifted back into the space He was like a teenager wading out into a placid lake in spring completely oblivious to the predators that waited below the surface His image physicalizations pulsed as Randidly marshaled his Willpower But in order to fight back he would need to locate his foes And in order to pin them down Randidly had two ideas

Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil Randidly flexed the fingers of his right hand and seized upon the tiny microbes that covered his skin As they were flooded with Mana they rapidly swelled until they were thick and thorny vines that spiraled through the surrounding area His own body was the heart of an expanding plant monster

Just in case that didnÆt work Randidly touched the Stillborn Phoenix and released a vast exhalation of concentrated emotions from the black hole Since the Stillborn Phoenix had been steadily devouring destroyed Nether Cores the emotions it released were steeped in madness So violence and intensity radiated out from Randidly like heat from a sun Since they sucked away the emotions before they attacked he hoped this would reveal them

Glassy eyed Randidly cast his gaze around There was a strange sense of lightness to his movements How long had he been standing here No it couldnÆt have been long since the emotions still remained

Lowering his shoulders to banish his doubts Randidly charged forward The thorny vines that grew from his body lashed out in the surrounding space without hitting anything Nether Sensation and Grim Intuition continued to monitor the surrounding space but Randidly felt a sinking feeling in his chest If I canÆt find these things Heh IÆve taken for granted how valuable Perception is

Randidly didnÆt slow down as he charged forward even as directionlessness started to afflict him with a sense of nausea But he ignored his flipping stomach A slight eddy in the emotions Randidly released was all the warning that Randidly needed he flooded almost 1000 of his now rarely used Mana into his roots and had them exploded in size They split and forked over and over again until a towering mass of vegetation speared toward the movement

Even if Randidly couldnÆt see the cause it was enough to sense the squat form that ripped its way directly through the roots So Randidly spun sideways barely avoiding the first strike and raising his left hand to counter attack

But not only were these things powerful but they were quick Randidly barely could make out the outline of what appeared to be a floating torso with two powerful clubs for arms when his purser spun In a split second its acceleration vector completely changed and its other arm ripped through the plant matter to strike at Randidly

At the same time Randidly felt a tingling from behind him He wasnÆt sure whether he should be frustrated or relieved but there really were two of the things present The image of the Grim Chimera that he was preparing to use to attack crumbled to nothing from the radiation released by the second enemy

These fucks make KaanÆs image countering look like childÆs play Randidly activated Chimeric Impunity to briefly avoid club like arm of the creature but began to sweat as the other foe once again canceled his image Had it acted just a bit sooner that arm would have likely ruptured some of his undefended organs It isnÆt countering my images and Skills ItÆs just somehow invalidating them

Randidly pressed his lips together If I think about the way that Vualla described images instead of creating something from nothing this being has the ability to reinforce reality It doesnÆt fool the world it strengthens it

His thoughts flitted through his mind at high speeds without so many distractions thinking was a relatively instant process So Randidly could reflect on his foes while also minutely adjusting his body position

The enemy in front of him was smashing around wildly and Randidly couldnÆt avoid for much longer And lurking behind him was the second specimen Due to its slower approach Randidly felt rather confident that the berserk one in front of him was the one that had absorbed the Nether earlier Seeing the way the second one didnÆt go crazy from just canceling his image Randidly decided not to antagonize them further with Nether

Suddenly the way the Nether Beasts completely avoided these things made sense Perhaps Nether was what fueled this one to such a sudden increase in power

So Randidly mobilized the strength in his body to strike he couldnÆt just run As the foe in front of him brought its massive and invisible arm downward to smash Randidly he turned sharply sideways The blow skidded past him ripping the surface layer of RandidlyÆs skin off his chest as it passed

Bastard

In that instant Randidly activated all three of his images together Two tails a swirling event horizon in his left eye lines of armor covering his torso and down his legs the image physicalizations snapped right back into place Three images worked in concert Randidly normally couldnÆt activate his three images so quickly but the hints of each image he was creating in his Nether Engraving added weight to those images

RandidlyÆs waist twisted and he brought his metal arm around in a brutal strike to the core body of the invisible foe He had experienced the arms enough to know that strikes there wouldnÆt make any difference All three images howled with their concentrated power With the powerful pressure of necessity the emotional sharpness of each grew even more viciously ominous At their base all three mixed cleanly

There was a pulse from behind him but Randidly had a split second of unfettered explosive power the foes could disperse his images but it didnÆt seem like they could prevent him from mobilizing them altogether And that small space was enough

Clink

The noise was unsatisfying because Randidly couldnÆt produce noise himself But RandidlyÆs metal hand punctured through a relatively fragile barrier Small pieces of broken glass flew sideways and impacted the metal arm finally making a noise Immediately he could sense a searing blast of electricity that was conducted up through his arm to his body RandidlyÆs hair stood on end and he grimaced

But Randidly was still in a good mood his strike had worked

CHiiIrrpp

A piercing cry exploded from the thing in front of Randidly quickly picked up by the other one nearby The shrill noise seemed to fill up even the vast empty space of this hollow spine It wormed into RandidlyÆs ears making him dizzy

Still the one Randidly had struck sizzled and then fell still Randidly tossed the thing into his interspatial ring for later inspection and turned to fixate on the second one Although the noise was annoying and Randidly began to feel a soft dribble of blood from his nose and ears as long as he struck at their weak cores

Randidly was speared sideways with enough force to daze him but it was the impact against the bone wall that truly sent him reeling After the first impact the missile that struck Randidly had accelerated Perhaps he would have even been knocked unconscious if not for that unavoidable fire in his chest he must not rest With a gasp his blind eyes bulged open Consciousness flickered back on a split second later

Are my ribs cracked

So Randidly groaned and forced his buzzing limbs to feel down at the being that pinned him to the wall To his surprise he found that this one had used its core to hit Randidly and its arms to keep him in check so the impact had done just as much damage to it as it had to him

After another painful discharge of energy into Randidly body the thing pinning him went limp But somehow it was difficult to feel positive about the fact that these things displayed enough commitment to their aggression that they would sacrifice their existences to hurt him

You fucking shits Randidly tried to growl but of course he produced no noise A blank space surrounded him his Grim Intuition still couldnÆt get a grasp of these foes Once more the placid lake of darkness stretched in front of him The emotions he had released earlier were draining away

These things had the ability to make Randidly truly blind

Still that didnÆt bother him very much But the mechanism by which they avoided detection was the problem These automatons were clearly not beings of Nether If anything they seemed to be an anti Nether automated defense Perhaps they were related to the Aether Refinement Facility that was at the base of this shaft and constantly releasing dangerous emotions

Randidly wanted to take a breath and gather himself but of course he couldnÆt His subconscious no longer allowed him that luxury So instead of taking a useful action Randidly reached down and gripped the body in front of him They really were two heavy cudgels attacked to a fragile oblong core He shifted his hands to the attachments between the core and the arms