LoRG 4

Rather than metal it felt like these things were made of cool porcelain As he made his preparations he savored the refreshingly smooth feeling beneath his fingers

Then Randidly barred his teeth and ripped the limbs off of the piece of shit With a casual gesture he tossed the scrap down into the shaft As he silently laughed he could feel the drones approaching

They appeared as small drains that subtly sucked away emotion in the surroundings As far as he could tell six more were gathering around him

Chapter 1579

The streamlined Randidly wasnÆt just good at training his mind also adapted quite quickly to fighting His attention was a razor that would cut to the issue at hand no matter what the situation was

Even against these strange creations Randidly initially had quite a bit of confidence However it quickly became apparent that Randidly had chosen his foes poorly

Should have fucking stuck to bullying Nether Beasts RandidlyÆs senses scrambled to keep track of his foes in the surroundings

RandidlyÆs left arm struck against the approaching slam of out of the porcelain automatons which forced him through the air sideways Without leverage he could only retreat before their overwhelming power At the same time he couldnÆt reflect on that attack for too long his right arm shot upward to lash out at another automaton that approached him whirling like a helicopter propeller He twisted to avoid the spinning clubs and half lunged forward As long as he could strike in that small opening

RandidlyÆs pink finger snapped as his blow came up just short and was then blasted away by the rotating automaton His hand throbbed in pain as he rapidly retracted his arm Before the impending counter attacks could arrive Randidly twisted around and shot himself downward

Randidly was struck directly in the jaw dazing him for a split second The bone of his jaw fractured and he painfully pulled a muscle in his neck as he was twisted around His instincts contracted his body bringing his limbs together and guard his torso As he did so he finally realized the largest problem with continuing this fight

ItÆs my sense of direction not only do I sometimes dodge a different direction than I intended but as soon as they create the slightest bit of distance I forget where they were are these things fucking invisible at all or am I just

Right on cue one automaton gathered both of its massive arms together and slammed them down on RandidlyÆs side His right arm blocked most of the damage but he still grunted in pain His skeleton creaked as he was buffeted sideways There wasnÆt a single part of RandidlyÆs body that didnÆt ache from being treated like a rubber ball during a childrenÆs kickball game over the past ten minutes

But even though he was battered RandidlyÆs mind continued to furiously process information The longer he fought against these things the clearer it became that they werenÆt truly trying to kill him only drive him deeper into the shaft Perhaps as he theorized earlier these things were designed to keep powerful Nether creatures from escaping upward and he had attracted their attention completely by mistake But either way they behaved predictably which gave Randidly a chance to strike back

Mentally he reached out and seized his emotional tether The deeper he went into the shaft the more difficult it was to gripÆ the emotions that stretched like a lifeline upward from his current position but Randidly was able to steady himself after a few seconds of struggle He was barely able to detect hints of their movements but Randidly knew that his sudden deceleration had the automatons repositioning themselves

LetÆs see how you can handle this Randidly thought with a grin

Immediately his skin began to tingle his Grim Intuition was sure that the automatons were approaching to continue driving him downward Once more Mana flooded out to the microbes in his skin and he became a vine amoeba floating in the dark His tentacles lashed out widely with thorny edges

Those thorny vines hit the automatons and did not one lick of damage to the approaching opponents The thorns were silently repelled by their porcelain exteriors But the swelling plant matter once more gave Randidly a picture of three automatons in the surrounding area

What he saw made his eyebrows rise upward all three were in the helicopter mode cutting cleanly toward Randidly from his lower right behind him and directly above It seemed that these things possessed some sort of collective intelligence which allowed them to adjust their tactics after fighting for a time

Still it wouldnÆt be enough

Even if the spinning increased the automatonÆs power Randidly could take advantage of it He activated the Grim Chimera and displayed a burst of speed His image was immediately wiped out by a pulse of energy that enforced the dull reality around him but he had already shifted around to the side of the nearest automaton He moved past the dangerous hoop and struck at the core with all the venom of a rattlesnake

The destruction of one set off the piercing chain reaction of noise through the surrounding automatons Even though he expected the response Randidly felt somewhat alarmed as blood spurted out of his nose there were more gathering than he had guessed Their combined volume inflicted more damage than he had been expecting But although the noise made him dizzy it did rather directly reveal the locations of those automatons in the surrounding space

There were ten automatons slowly circling closer to Randidly

It also displayed the porcelain constructions fury but that just amused the current Randidly His own fiery emotions flared higher in glee As he silently chuckled he retrieved a dozen spare ingots of Black Gold from his interspatial ring His heart began to pound as he flexed his fingers and gripped the first ingot It was a bar about as long as his forearm and as thick as his fist In his hands the weight of it was extremely reassuring

If Skill attacks won’t work Randidly grinned Then with blood continuing to trickle out of his orifices as that horrible noise annihilated his mucus membranes he flicked his wrist and launched the metal bolts

Chink Chink Chink

In quick succession those three bolts pierced through the cores of the nearest automatons and destroyed their cores RandidlyÆs smile widened The cores were even more fragile than he had expected But his glee began to ebb for two reasons First any automaton more distant from him than five meters was unaffected Or rather Randidly had missed his throw

Whether it was his lack of direction or that the automaton dodged his effective range was limited Very much so Frustratingly so

The second reason that RandidlyÆs mood turned so swiftly was that his skin was beginning to tingle in a very different manner from his earlier anticipation Not because of any intuition or fear but due to waves passing through the air These most recent three casualties hadnÆt erupted in shrill noises to call their companions when they had been destroyed No instead they fell silent Or at least silent to the normal human frequencies

The remaining automatons communicated with each other using subsonic pulses of sound

Worst of all Randidly was once more floating in empty darkness He seemed entirely alone His own emotions spread to the surrounding area but otherwise it was a blank space

Worrying about what the automatons were planning Randidly stored away all but two of the Black Gold ingots and activated Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil once more Thick vines wrapped around RandidlyÆs body bulging and warping They swelled and slashed outward with their thorns looking for the automatons The pulsing heart of vines grew to three meters in diameter and then five meters without encountering anything

RandidlyÆs scowl worsened Pulses of energy from the surrounding space continued to disperse his image and Skill meaning Randidly had to mobilize Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil over and over again In addition the cessation of the Skill meant that the plants he had already grown would quickly disintegrate and turn to ash after a short amount of time But during that time he forced himself to keep expanding in the face of the Skill neutralization He would follow this Path to its end

Soon he covered a ten meter diameter sphere based around his body Yet he hadnÆt encountered a single automaton Randidly rubbed his thumbs across the bars of metal in his hands Already the bonfire in his chest was heating up making his stomach uncomfortable If he didnÆt act soon

At the same time seven projective automatons forced their way in through the thorned plant exterior The roots and vines that were reinforced with RandidlyÆs Mana were annihilated simply by the layer of air that the automatons generated as they pierced forward A split second was all the automatons needed to arrive right next to Randidly

Even his hyper streamlined thought process was a half step too slow to respond in time to the impending threat Randidly barely had time to twitch before the automatons were there with their arms raised clearly intending to smash him into gore and visceral His fingers tightened on the ingots in his hands

But even as his reaction time proved woefully inadequate the Grim Chimera raised its head and silently howled The rotation of RandidlyÆs Nether Nebula quickened Instinctively Randidly activated the most powerful Skill in the Grim ChimeraÆs arsenal All Else Succumbs Yet Time Whirls the Earth

RandidlyÆs awareness branched off into two then four then eight then sixteen different RandidlyÆs standing in the same spot In those precious fragments of time each reacted differently based on their slightly different timelines They each flourished struggled struck attacked clashed and fought in different ways

RandidlyÆs Grim Intuition buzzed as he felt them all severely wounded by every exchange they attempted Although the feeling was faint he could sense that beyond this first killing net that spun down around him more would come Randidly had finally destroyed enough of the automatons that he had earned their full attention and ire

It was an honor that Randidly had never hoped he would receive

However even in the face of death the Grim Chimera was decisive in its actions And with very few other choices Randidly allowed the imageÆs instincts to guide him As the automatons arrived he blasted an enormous amount of Nether upward fully a third of his Nether Nebula was discharged between the automatons Even in those small moments before the automatons impacted him he felt a tremor running through their bodies

As a distraction it could be considered only partially successful

The blast of Nether also produced a concussive force to propel Randidly downward The slight pause as the automatons rapidly gobbled up the Nether and the sudden shift from Randidly was enough to push him outside of the danger zone but two automatons still slammed into him Their first shattered through his hastily condensed image physicalizations and broke the bones in his left thigh and knee Shards of bone tore their way out of RandidlyÆs flesh and tumbled weightlessly in the air behind him a trail of gore that testified to the danger of his current situation

The second hit Randidly in the side caving in his already fractured ribcage Even his powerful heart skipped a beat due to the impact

Like a broken kite Randidly tumbled downward in darkness barely able to sense his surroundings

Chapter 1580

Wheezing a breath out Randidly finally reached up and seized upon his emotional tether This time he needed to squeeze his eyes shut and helplessly grasp for well he couldn’t know how long the process took but he felt like it took much longer than it had previously Not only were the emotions more stretched and strained as he proceeded deeper but he was absolutely exhausted

His broken ribs steadily knit themselves back together

The automatons had doggedly pursued Randidly as he had tumbled deeper into the shaft smashing him against the walls and each other whenever they could The physical form that he had once held with such pride had certainly been humbled against Velio Dunn but it was now as he was pushed deeper and deeper that his arrogance was completely broken His bones repeatedly cracked and blood sprayed from his ruptured skin

In darkness he fell downward dogged constantly by the automatons But at a certain point his Grim IntuitionÆs constant warnings eased He took a few seconds to gather himself

IÆm still so weak Randidly wiped blood from his mouth and glared around him into the empty space in the direction he believed to be up No attacks came and he continually scanned the surrounding space soon his expression eased He now had the confidence to hold his current position Because although he still couldnÆt detect the automatons until they were right on top of him he sensed the change in the air

Randidly ran his tongue across his teeth as he furiously studied the surrounding environment in order to keep his obsessive motivation happy 90% Nether content in the air IÆve proceeded very deeply And this situation

Randidly sensed several powerful creatures floating below him Their auras stained the air a variety of colors a precariously balanced series of territories in the darkness Nether Heralds and Nether Gatekeepers glared up at him briefly as he arrived but they quickly turned their attention back inward They were thickly clustered in this area all hovering in a meditative stance with surrounded by their various boundaries with each other

Combing through the air with Grim Intuition Randidly was shocked to discover that he could feel almost a thousand of these powerful Nether soldiers just in the area around him each more potent than any of the Nether Heralds he had fought on the front lines In his mad flight down the shaft he had completely lost sight of the walls he now simply felt alone in the vast darkness The bones had receded gradually leaving only emptiness

The worst part of his current situation was that his grasp on his emotional tether was steadily slipping He could shift his grip to steady himself but in that moment he would go a little deeper into the abyss Randidly silently clicked his jaw shut testing how the bone was healing For the moment it was still quite sore

We are all now truly caught by the significance below those automatons can move relatively freely but even they dare not come down here They batter any strong Nether Beasts that escape upward and force them back downward in a way they are the jailors for all the Nether forces down here

Scanning the significant Nether power that the nearby Gatekeepers possessed Randidly shivered inwardly But on the other hand he couldnÆt help but be excited much more than the areas that housed the weak Nether Beasts above this place provided a lot of helpful examples of successful Nether Cores for RandidlyÆs experiments

It was only a matter of acquiring the relevant data

For several seconds Randidly eyed the closest Nether Gatekeeper that floated in the darkness It was a humanoid creature with dusky and hairless skin for a torso but its legs were covered in black fur and ended in hooves Upon its head were an impressive rack of black antlers Then he shook his head

Studying could wait For now he needed to reestablish his equilibrium Yggdrasil flared to life in his chest illuminating his veins with golden light and expediting the healing process And to his relief there were no interfering pulses from above But honestly his body was the least of his worries

Unleashing all that Nether bought him some time but his current Nether Nebula had weakened significantly Even with the incorporation of his Nether Engravings in the expanding flow he was steadily losing Nether to the significance below So Randidly ignored his aching body and hurriedly mobilized his Nether Nebula with his Willpower

The Nether Nebula spun faster and faster churning out Nether Randidly gritted his teeth and forced himself to reaccumulate his own dense Nether

When he had once more built himself back up Randidly released a sigh of relief Then without the ability to take a break Randidly forced his tired mind to focus its efforts on his images He carefully refined the details while his body gradually healed from the beating it had taken during the descent The fire in his chest continued to urge him forward forcing him to push at his limits

Then although his flesh was still tender and recently healed Randidly needed to once more strain himself against the current of significance and focus his efforts on physical strength his mind just couldnÆt take any more effort He was dangerously close to the foggy exhaustion that would have him struggle down here for years without any effective improvement He needed the chance for his mind to recover

So he forced his reknit flesh to move It was especially painful training As his muscles trembled Randidly felt the unfamiliar impulse to surrender he truly wanted to give up and just surrender But his instincts told him that he couldnÆt Although it was much less obvious than his bodyÆs current situation allowing the oblivion of the mind to swash him away was just as dangerous

The pain and anguish of his current struggle had Randidly wandering in his memories to those days where Shal took him into a Tellus prison and forced him to fight against the inmates there He remembered the endless field of tall grass swaying in the wind He could picture perfectly the color and shape of blood dripping off the tip of his spear

And gradually the pieces of RandidlyÆs consciousness came back together while his body bought him time He could allow his strained body to relax and turned to other pursuits Namely he had stumbled across some insights into the significance of the Grim Chimera while being bludgeoned by the automatons

I always felt like I was missing something when I was younger Randidly spoke quietly to himself in the emptiness of his Soulspace Why was I quieter than my peers Why couldnÆt I walk so easily among groups Why was I always so nervous Why did I always struggle in social situations So I think I internalized that I was missing a piece of myself And if I could only find that piece I would be normal I could fit in

Part of that emptiness was reassured when I met Sydney and Ace along with my few other college friends but the hole never really went away It just took a backseat to the other concerns in my life

But that that is the core of the Grim Chimera The desperate belief that I have the ability to evolve That someday I wonÆt remain helplessly inadequate in a way that others rarely seem to be

Yggdrasil craved stability but I also developed desperately wanting to change

Randidly fingers glowed with the congregation of Nether Then he began to trace his appendages through the air leaving sinister trails of darkness in their wake Within RandidlyÆs senses these trails were the purest absence of color forcing away even the powerful emotions that Randidly subconsciously released from his body At the moment he had no walls and didnÆt bother to utilize a physical medium for his initial attempts he knew in his heart that he was still finding the shape

One step at a time Randidly reassured himself

But with his impression of the Grim ChimeraÆs significance in his life Randidly carefully attempted to solidify these concepts in Nether The shapes gradually grew sharper and more refined as he continued to draw shapes Those refined runes were steadily incorporated into his Nether Nebula Even though Randidly continually was losing his grip on the emotional tether the improvements to his Nether Nebula added the slightest hint of buoyancy

Closing his useless eyes and letting his other senses fall away Randidly only shaped Nether no threats could reach him here The automatons didnÆt travel past the 90% Nether content line and the surrounding Nether Gatekeepers were more concerned with their own troubles Time became ephemeral flowing freely around Randidly

His fingers flicked back and forth moving quickly and lightly He buzzed with burning inspiration

But soon he began to approach the limits of his current understanding of the Grim Chimera He worked the core base inspiration the shape of the image the way the image had helped him and his different Skills into the patterns of significance that he traced through the air When the shape seemed stable he practiced upon some metal ingots until he was confident that he was on the right track

Then those concepts were incorporated into his Nether Nebula where the patterns of significance for both Yggdrasil and Grim Chimera became tested constantly through the flowing avenues of energy The incarnation within the Nether Nebula was slightly different than how a core would exist of course While the core would be a closed system in the Nebula these shapes were drawn only from outflows they were never reinforced by a second revolution of the energy

For this reason his Nether Nebula could never truly be his Nether Core But on the other hand the constant repetition of the shapes allowed Randidly to observe their behavior closely He could only see the way that energy would pass through the shapes in the first revolution but experience with those first revolutions gave him insight into the small flaws in his thinking The shapes grew more polished and refined even as Randidly accumulated experience layering the two very different concepts of significance

Randidly pulled back his lips that balance was difficult It was exhausting to refine the shape of both Yggdrasil and Grim Chimera at the same time they were far too different from each other and the balancing between them needed to be done very purposefully or he would get nothing from the experience Randidly hoped that this was akin to balancing on a two legged chair versus a three legged stool so the process would get easier when he worked in the Stillborn Phoenix But the boat of rosy outlooks hadnÆt been what carried Randidly to his current strength

That honor belonged to practice So he practiced

Soon or perhaps not soon and only soon to RandidlyÆs impression the Visage of Obsession called Randidly once more He paused in his Nether Engraving practice and allowed his attention to be devoured by the canvas Whereas RandidlyÆs attention had previously been an inert liquid he now flowed into the colorful emotional world with attention as shapeless as a gas But with a wick of focus he condensed into a solid form to walk forward

For the first time in a while a defined landscape had returned to the Fatepiece The ground was a luminous golden color feeling warm and kind to RandidlyÆs senses The sky had lightened to a hopeful pink But in the distance a horrifying grey tower could be witnessed piercing through both the bright ground and sky

Randidly floated forward and observed the occasional thin grey root that seemed to poison the color in the Visage and turn everything monochrome The reach of the grey tower was quite long it seemed

Before too much time had passed while he was still quite distant from the grey tower Randidly encountered ShalÆs projection

Shal shook his head at Randidly You are quite talented at foiling my good intentions for you Why do you refuse to throw yourself into your training

You are an unhealthy impulse Randidly replied while silently clicking his tongue Useful for focusing on one goal but largely unhelpful otherwise LetÆs skip this part please IÆll be quite glad to no longer deal with you and make it to the last projection of this maddening Fatepiece What sacrifice do you require

Shal chuckled If you think IÆm unhealthy heh Well this sacrifice is an easy one To proceed further you must give up all memory of your name Randidly Ghosthound

Chapter 1581

The man floated absently for a while in the darkness feeling somewhat lost His limbs felt separate from him as though the body was barely his He looked at his hands one metal and one flesh almost in wonder for several long moments

But then the fire in his chest urged him toward action No matter the strange sensation he had work to do

The man shrugged Clearly I had to give something up in order to proceed with the Fatepiece Yet nothing seems different Am I just going to be numb this whole time Hum Well best not to dwell on it So to finish my Nether Core all I need is the significance of the Stillborn Phoenix And then to actually Engrave the thing

The man stretched his limbs feeling his joints crack pleasantly As he moved the numbness was steadily disappearing The horrible heat in his chest continued to char his organs to urge him to move forward but somehow that drive was blunted by the strange emptiness that the man felt in his head Rather leisurely he used his Grim Intuition to peer at the surroundings Particularly he examined the Nether Gatekeeper floating nearby very closely

Due to the dense aura of Nether the creature projected outward it was difficult for him to get a good look at its Nether Core But as he continued to press his Willpower the general shape of the Nether Core was revealed to him Grim Intuition took great pleasure in slowly peeling back the layers of obscurement

Gradually the Nether Gatekeeper appeared to sense the intense scrutiny It looked upward with sharp eyes at the man The territoryÆ around this Nether Gatekeeper was a vivid teal color Yet as it appeared to grow more and more incensed at the manÆs unrelenting attention that strange being raised its antlered head and hissed up at the man the color of the area grew closer and closer to white

After adjusting his grip on the emotional tether the man grinned down at the Nether Herald below him If youÆve got the ability come and stop me Otherwise

Even as the Nether Gatekeeper began to gnash its teeth and swipe menacingly at the air the man gradually forced his senses through the thick layer of swirling Nether and could study the Nether Core within the creature Immediately the manÆs mood improved compared to the average Nether Beast the Nether Core of this Nether Herald was created with such complexity and acute curves that even his initial examination proved fruitful Some of the subtle layerings of patterns present helped point the man toward solutions for his own complex layering problems

The man grinned downward in satisfaction And the Nether Gatekeeper could do nothing to stop him

So a new variety of training was incorporated into the manÆs normal schedule There were some other nearby Nether Gatekeepers and the man antagonized them all with his invasive stare until he could observe their Nether Cores while they were still functioning His understanding of complex Nether layering finally reached beyond his initial sense of helplessness As the man drove himself forward in this new manner he also felt his ability to observe Nether growing at a prodigious rate

Still he didnÆt masquerade as a peeping tom all the time He also spent a significant amount of his energy revising his images Strangely the man in his current iteration felt like he had been such an idiot in the past why hadnÆt he been able to see all the simple ways that his images could be improved So he started making large scale changes to the three main sources of his strength

For Yggdrasil the manÆs focus was two fold first he adjusted the runic symbols that covered the bark of the World Tree to utilize some of the principles of Nether Although the effect was small some portions began to resemble his new progress in Nether layering In his mind it was silly to expect that the story of the universe would be solely writ in the shape of Aether

Secondly he began to add some surrounding plant and animal life to his image Beings now existed in the biome generated by the World Tree YggdrasilÆs main power came from the aura of life that it released into the surrounding area Yet that most powerful weapon wasnÆt demonstrated properly in the image the effect was simply reliant on the faith the man had poured into it Now as smaller shrubs and ferns blossomed beneath the auspices of the World Tree that aura of life became concrete

Birds fluttered from branch to branch while foxes sat below and watched them with cunning eyes A smattering of brightly colored flowers bloomed near the base of the massive trunk Yggdrasil was a spring of life invigorating plants and animals alike The very air changed nearby becoming pure and wholesome

And already the rejuvenation effect has increased the man thought with a smug smile

For the Grim Chimera image the man focused on the tails The spectral tail starting from the base of his neck grew more translucent and mysterious seemingly not even present most of the time Sometimes an observer would see it flicking to the left yet in the next instant it was somehow curling around the opposite shoulder Its behaviors and traits were misleading and dangerous for the manÆs foes

Meanwhile the lower tail had its bone armor completely overhauled The spikes were blunted this wasnÆt a weapon of puncturing but bludgeoning In addition the length doubled In terms of power the blows that the Grim Chimera could execute with the lower tail were now more powerful than any strike the man could make with his other limbs

As the tails became more central to his image the man could feel his balance shifting The structure of his legs shifted with more muscles clustering around the knee joint His explosive power steadily rose as he refined the image

The man was most hesitant with his changes for the Stillborn Phoenix considering he hadnÆt yet figured out the significance of that image He was missing a key component Because of that he focused only on one specific aspect the black holeÆs ability to devour emotion

The man hadnÆt thought deeply about it before but it was strange that his image could absorb emotion when even the horrifying significance below him in the Aether Refinery couldnÆt manage to restrain that fickle Aether energy But instead of justifying this deviation from the norm the man offered up some capability as compensation

Now when the Stillborn Phoenix was active spectral forms would sometimes wander out of the event horizon Monstrous hunched beasts humanoids with hollow eyes even a starfish esque amoeba drifted out of the Egg of Depression as the man shifted the black holeÆs focus These phantasms were hollow shapesÆ that rapidly disintegrated after departing the black hole Without their energy and emotion motivating them they rapidly fell to pieces

In the manÆs view if he could restrain one portion of Aether he should be less effective at influencing the other portion

Much to the manÆs delight those remnant pieces of shape left behind a thick thread of significance which the man was only too happy to devour into his Nether Nebula He hadnÆt been focusing on the development of his grey bubbles in quite some time due to the more dangerous threat of being dragged down by significance but these occasional phantoms rapidly bolstered those grey bubbles

Previously the man had only a single grey bubble floating at the center of the whirlpool with a small bulge hinting at the formation of another Yet as he continued with his training he gathered more and more to the point that three bubbles clung to each other in the core of the Nether Nebula

Feeling pleased the man continued his ceaseless training

He pondered the significance of the Stillborn Phoenix and sharpened his images Then when his mind began to grow weary he tested his physical body against the inevitable current of significance heading downward He delighted in the powerful vibrations of his own heartbeat Occasionally he had to reset his grip on his emotional tether but the speed at which he sank downward was acceptable It would take a very long time for the man to even reach the antlered Nether Gatekeeper below him let alone the Aether Refinery at the bottom of this place

Still slightly annoying that IÆm falling more quickly than that fellow The man reflected as he spared a glance for the Nether Gatekeeper below him Hopefully he isnÆt the type to hold a grudge

For the most part this seamless existence of training was extremely satisfying But occasionally the man would be rocked by a sense of impending crisis He would halt his activities and float for several seconds in the darkness exploring his own soul in order to find out why he had such a terrible feeling in his chest

Yet his soul was empty of anything but the sensations of the present leaving the man bewildered at the source of this worry His heart ached with a sense of loss that he didnÆt truly understand Sometimes tears formed in the corners of his eyes At times like those he wondered why he was down here constantly training Why did he need to struggle like this

The ache in his chest grew stronger in those strained moments of empty reflection The man felt like he was peering into the mirror but he had no actual features the item could reflect back at him The impression his empty soul left him with was somewhat chilling

But those motivating flames also surged upward during those long moments A resolute expression came across the manÆs face Even if the why of his current circumstances eluded him he trusted those flames in his chest And those flames told him that everything would be solved only as long as he continued to advance

So the man trained and trained

Part of that training was utilizing strange and mysterious abilities that were related to his images yet somehow independent The flames approved of this activity and the man found it relatively restive so he engaged with those abilities from time to time as he gave his mind space to tinker with other pursuits

In particular the man was fascinated by a certain particular state he could achieve with those abilities where he would touch upon the Fates of parallel versions of himself Unfortunately those alternate versions were just as foggy and adrift as the man was But as they all worked together they could maintain the connection in a much more intimate way

Although the man was abandoned and compelled to train in this place of darkness he was not alone in his struggles That realization made him feel very warm and that warmth steadily began to change the shape of that ability

Then there came a day where the man stopped his training for an entirely different reason A scroll appeared in front of the man and steadily unrolled without him even touching the object He examined the scroll with his senses and then followed his instincts to allow himself to merge with the scroll

He knew this object It was a Fatepiece

The man found himself in a new place where the ground was a swirling and murky grey that varied between storm clouds and gunmetal Strange forces shifted beneath his feet As the man lifted his Grim Intuition a tower the color of a heavy sword pierced upward The sky around the sword was a robinÆs egg blue but that tower continued upward until it reached an enormous black moon that hung over this place

The man stared at the tower for a long time His senses went to the spot where the sword punctured the moon Grey tentacles stretched from the sword seeming seeking purchase on the moon but with no success Then he lowered his gaze as he detected that there was another figure in the vicinity

The man looked at this stranger curiously The person in front of him was extremely clear as though drawn in an entirely different style than the rough and blended fabric around him The man had short black hair and bright emerald eyes Without a shirt the lean and powerful muscle of his torso was revealed There seemed to be shallow scars across almost all of him The strangerÆs left arm was made of black metal but golden veins that pulsed intermittently with light ran through that dark material

Strangely the manÆs feet were bare His toes didnÆt seem to mind the seething layers of grey beneath his feet

Powerful the man thought as he examined this unexpected presence

As though sensing his thoughts the emerald eyed man grinned But very quickly the strangerÆs face turned serious as he began to speak Well I guess I should take that as a compliment But we shouldnÆt spend much time chatting I believe your instincts should tell you why you came to this place

The man considered that once more examining his empty soul Perhaps it wasnÆt a mirror but a well And at the bottom The man slowly nodded as he could see down to his goal There must be a sacrifice to advance

Indeed The stranger said wryly Then the man shook his head as though amused by some secret joke Well this is a bit larger than the previous sacrifices but it will hopefully accelerate the process Even IÆm not sure how long weÆve been like this So these The stranger gestured to the grey tower and the black moon above him are what you will be sacrificing

The man tilted his and to the side feeling very confused Why would he need to give up these strange and foreign entities They were not his to begin with

The stranger rolled his eyes Trust me when I say that these things are a part of you although itÆs tough to sense it in your current condition This grey tower is something we have been building for a long time It is the Lord of the Baleful Wood and all associated variations

The strangerÆs finger went up to the black moon that loomed above both of them That I suppose that is the bigger sacrifice That is the Alpha Cosmos

Again the man looked up without any recognition

Sighing the stranger shrugged DonÆt think about it too deeply the meaning is there even if you cannot sense it Oh but there is one more thing The Fatepiece is essentially in its most active state after this sacrifice and wonÆt deactivate until you accomplish your goal So good luck DonÆt you dare give up halfway

Chapter 1582

Edraine had been extremely careful with her planning The more information she had gathered the more hesitant she had become What they did now would leave some traces And what Edraine began to worry about was who would be the one who would come to silence unwanted snoopers

Lady Iellaya strode forward confidently following the heavily armed guards into the depths of Military High CommandÆs prison They were hemmed in by heavy stone blocks the size of a normal dresser Even worse the ceiling was oppressively low so everyone who passed through this place had the impulse to stoop Here the worst and most dangerous criminals in the Nexus were kept under lock and key Of course the open secret of this place is that most of those terrible criminals were soldiers who had simply killed too many people too blatantly to ignore

But the Nexus might be relatively lax most of the time but its justice was harsh Once the criminals were sent here they would never escape alive not without significant help The guards here possessed enough power that one could pin down Lady Iellaya and two would probably be able to overcome her in a short while

Their quiet capability added extra tension to the air as they proceeded down the stone hallway Expressionlessly the duo of guards held a torch aloft and continued forward The flames licked eagerly at the stone ceiling

But luckily it did not appear that this place was designed for someone of EdraineÆs caliber She moved in Lady IellayaÆs shadow without revealing a hint of her presence Or rather her image constantly annihilated any signs of its own passage leaving nothing in her wake

After some investigation Ocativus and Lady Iellaya had discovered that no one had ever visited the corruptÆ Overseer of the Sixth Cohort In the entirety of that individualÆs stay in this horrible jail no one proceeded to the deep cell surrounded by heavy stone to either interrogate or visit the disgraced Overseer Considering the political clout required to have someone assume the position of Overseer it was impossible that the Overseer had no allies remaining

To EdraineÆs mind there were two possibilities The first was that the Overseer had truly pulled the wool over his allies eyes for her own personal gain But based on the research that she and Octavius had done that was almost impossible

The second possibility then was that the Overseer had been tossed aside by her former allies Which implied that the core of this conspiracy was powerful enough to buy them off or intimidate them into silence

Lady Iellaya did remarkably well keeping her expression even as they approached the crucial intersection She had requested permission from Military High Command to visit some old Nether Heralds that were held captive here considering that she would soon be heading to the Fifth Cohort it wasnÆt a particularly strange request

Except for the fact that Lady Iellaya was the leader of an entire frontline she was undoubtedly familiar with Nether Beasts of all types But Edraine and her cabal had no choice they needed access to the Overseer

There was a breeze that rustled the still stone halls filled with heavy air It was the sort of air that hadnÆt been touched by wind in centuries Just as the guards paused to glance backward from the strange anomaly Lady Iellaya sneezed and rubbed her nose Sensing the guardsÆ gazes her eyes turned sharp

what the hell are you lookinÆ at soldier

Pressing their lips together the guards turned away And in those few interactions Edraine arrived before a small wooden door far down the hallway There was the sound of an aluminum can being crunched to a flat disc and then Edraine brushed away the remnant dust from the deceased guard and opened the door

Within a shriveled green caterpillar woman sat in a wooden chair Her antenna were limp and feeble her body ancient and weak Other than the woman and the chair there was nothing else in the small cell When Edraine arrived the womanÆs milky white eyes shifted upward And then she smiled

IÆve waited for someone to come here a long time The woman whispered She gestured to the surroundings As EdraineÆs eyes adjusted to the lighting inside of the room she could see that every inch of the cellÆs walls were covered in dense lines of script Even the floor was crisscrossed with words I believe youÆll find everything you want here Every secret that I have I only ask for one thing in exchange That you kill me so I can finally escape this wretched world

EdraineÆs eyes flicked around scanning through the words until she found the information she was seeking There was a portion of the text dedicated to the caterpillarÆs home world some explanation of her insights into her image and also an entire wall that appeared to be a auto biography

Her lips curling upward Edraine skipped to the end of the biography As she hoped there was the information regarding her time as an Overseer When her eyes reached the few lines pertaining why she had been betrayed by her supporters Edraine frowned they would need to do some more investigating in order to verify the former OverseerÆs claims

Then Edraine turned back to the caterpillar and nodded I will do as you wish

Edraine didnÆt bother to mention that she would have slaughtered the woman anyway to prevent news of her visit from leaking It seemed more merciful to allow this woman to believe she finally had control over her fate

The shade gripped the limp body beneath it maintaining their floating position as best as it could Its hold upon the emotional tether shook slightly Honestly it was quite annoyed that it not only had to keep itself from slipping downward but also protect this inert body

Yet its subconscious urged the shade to protect this floppy humanoid And when the shade looked down at the face of the humanoid it felt its nonexistent heart soften Yes it was an exhausting task But it would never to refuse to protect this humanoid And when it looked at its face there was just something so familiar

The shade shook itself Its attention could not waiver There was work to do The longer it procrastinated the longer it would need to suffer underneath this weight

As the shade turned all of its considerable focus inward to consider the significance of an abstract existence called the Stillborn Phoenix it immediately smiled All it took was a thought and the problem unraveled before the attention of the shade Due to its extremely unusual existence the shade could see to the core of the issue immediately

The Stillborn Phoenix was many things but above all it was the personification of necessity during the difficult tribulations of living In a way it was possible to think about the Grim Chimera closely relating to necessity but that was an entirely different understanding of the term The Grim Chimera responded to necessity and other outward forces in order to survive

The Stillborn Phoenix was literally all of the necessity in the life of

The shade paused and frowned Its mind turned abruptly foggy as it tried to follow through with that train of thought The thoughts scattered like they were dried leaves blown away by a chill gust of wind But despite the strange intellectual stutter the shade quickly shook itself once more it was a higher order intelligence and not one to be stuck on tiny details Instead it continued its reflections on the Stillborn Phoenix

Yet the more the shade thought about it the more it realized that necessity wasnÆt quite appropriate Or rather it painted a rather rosy picture about the sort of necessity that constituted the Stillborn Phoenix If the shade was a bit more honest with itself it would perhaps instead choose the term compromise

The Stillborn Phoenix was the site of compromise between the self and the universe and due to its role was filled with unwillingness Its existence was the evidence of the inevitable concessions one engaged in during the normal course of existence

It was an image built with foreign and recycled pieces The purity of the host was steadily wiped away It was a place where other powers were devoured and repurposed In a way it was an image innately tilted toward failure Even from the beginning the image knew that its dream was impossible In the end a singularity of mass could never break through the eggÆ of its even horizon and be reborn as a phoenix On this bitter foundation anything and everything was absorbed

It was a contradiction It was inherently flawed It was the representation of the lack of perfection in the self But even from that flawed beginning the image didnÆt possess the power to rise above its existence Outside influences continued to intrude

It made allowances and excuses They were impossible to avoid Even with monumental strength strength wasnÆt sufficient to live

The image was the faded regrets of R G

The shadeÆs face twitched That thought was extremely strange Then it shook itself for the third time and adjusted its two grips one on the limb flesh body in its hands and the other upon the emotional tether that kept it from being pulled inexorably downward After discovering the long awaited significance that it had been pondering it raised its hands to a new task Nether spun out of its inner nebula and arrived at its spectral fingers

Luckily shades can have as many hands as they want the shade grinned to itself and grew six more arms It divided its attention and segments over several portions of its mind allowing itself to wholeheartedlyÆ work on six attempts at once Nether Engravings filled the surrounding space inky blank lines of darkness that hung in the air

Time flowed forward Occasionally the various parallel thought processes either were stumped or believed that they had completely captured the correct feeling so they would peek at a neighboring hand Usually what the hands found sparked off some heated debate and two arms would merge into one to resolve the issue They would combine the best of both Engravings to create a new streamlined version and then peek once more at a neighbor

Soon there were only two hands Engraving Then when both were prepared they examined each otherÆs Nether Engraving To the shadeÆs delight both had essentially come to the same final shape

Of course that sense of accomplishment didnÆt last very long now came the most difficult portion layering the three significance Engraving But the shade wasnÆt too worried it had plenty of time It adjusted its grip on the body and on the emotional tether and got to work

In the silent shaft time moved steadily forward Spectral fingers traced Nether in the air

The shade didnÆt feel exhaustion or any sort of mental fog It seemed to be constantly experiencing epiphany after epiphany as it tackled the problem of Nether Engraving Occasionally it would peak at the Nether Gatekeeper below it to examine some of the principles there Other times it would refamiliarize itself with the significance of all three images to see if it had missed anything in the Engravings

When the Nether Gatekeeper below it stopped being helpful the shade looked farther afield at some of the other Nether Gatekeepers it had examined before Then when those werenÆt enough its Grim Intuition fished downward for more Bit by bit the difficult problems of layering the energy flows were resolved With its own Nether Nebula the shade tested the patterns of significance and discovered that they were extremely effective As it combined all the different elements there was an overwhelming qualitative change to its existence that the shade somehow felt ill equipped to understand

The more the shade practice the more powerful its Nether Nebula became The knowledge came like a bolt from the blue if the shade was willing leave this limp body behind it would be able to escape from the pull of the significance below These patterns that the shade had created generated a self contained energy field that was impervious to the current of significance

The only shackle holding him here was responsibility

However soon the shade realized that there was another problem Between its continued practice it began to cast its eyes around very seriously what physical item was appropriate to use as its Nether Core

The dark shaft did not provide any easy answers

Chapter 1583

In a place that was mainly defined by its stillness a change occurred

The meditating Nether Gatekeeper was rather surprised when the strange being above its head began to drop at a speed that was visible to the naked eye Although that being had rather rudely stared at the Nether Gatekeeper early in its arrival to this place the Nether Gatekeeper was also clear that this being was not in its right mind There was something mentally deficient about the new arrival

Even for a being of Aether its behavior was unusual

And unlike the usual fools who came from above that being was not immediately dragged downward by the inexorable current of significance It clearly had some mastery of Nether Since all those trapped down here were basically laboring under the same curse the Nether Gatekeeper ultimately decided not to mind this strange beingÆs behavior

Besides that being had persisted in this place for nearly three years Just for that accomplishment alone the Nether Gatekeeper was willing to show some respect for it Most arrivals who made it that long were here to stay those that lacked conviction were quickly eliminated

So the sudden descent was confusing And as the Gatekeeper looked up at the approaching creature it only grew more confused

It seemed that the thingÆs mental schism had worsened since last the Gatekeeper had checked its situation At this point most of its psyche appeared to be asleep within the body while a remnant will utilized Nether to support both itself and the body The Gatekeeper immediately assumed that this strange separation had gone too far and now it was weakening but to its surprise the Nether surrounding the remnant will was lively and thick

Even thicker than the GatekeeperÆs own This remnant willÆs capability was somewhat frustrating

The GatekeeperÆs expression shifted toward a frown as the remnant will slowed its descent speed with the body and very obviously approached the Gatekeeper Did it want to continue the study of its Nether Core The Nether Gatekeeper considered this It supposed that it was somewhat flattering to be an inspiration for the next generation regardless of how unusual such an examination was

Before the Nether Gatekeeper had decided exactly how he felt the other arrived Then rather inanely the remnant will smiled at it

Greetings The Nether Gatekeeper said awkwardly It wondered when was the last time it had conversed with another

The remnant will nodded cheerily in return and then began gesturing quickly First to the body it supported then to the Nether Gatekeeper then to itself and then upward The remnant will flapped its hands signaling freedom

The Nether GatekeeperÆs frown deepened You want me to support this body while you journey out of this place I refuse Besides do you take me for a fool You need to be at the tier of a Nether Prince in order to resist this

The remnant will offered the Nether Gatekeeper the body it was holding as though indicating that it could demonstrate its ability if it simply wasnÆt burdened by this anchor any longer The Nether Gatekeeper hesitated and examined the remnant willÆs state once more Its expression remained cheery And indeed the Nether flowing around it was extremely potent But even the Nether Gatekeeper who had been born inside of this shaft and had never seen the might of a true Nether Prince could tell the remnant will was incomplete

There was no core despite the willÆs strength And due to that absence the Nether Gatekeeper felt a great deal of pity for the thing

The guardians will not let you leave The Nether Gatekeeper tried a different persuasion tactic You might not have seen them in the past but they are

It couldnÆt continue talking because it was frozen by the expression of pure malicious anticipation that suddenly appeared on the remnant willÆs face That expression loudly broadcasted the willÆs affection for the guardians The Nether Gatekeeper suppressed a shiver Certainly this being possessed plentiful bloodlust and it was also more powerful than the Nether Gatekeeper itself

The Nether Gatekeeper shifted uncomfortably Maintaining its current situation while also conversing was an unfamiliar challenge so it took a few seconds to stabilize its own significance before the conversation continued Then after a few seconds of hesitation it reached out and took the body from the remnant will

It was an unfamiliar act of faith on the Nether GatekeeperÆs part

Immediately the Nether Gatekeeper grimaced Its fingers tightened on the body to prevent itself from dropping it The flesh was even more troublesome than it looked You truly how have you managed to persist with this Ah hey Wait a second

The remnant will had already turned its head to stare sideways then turned and rotated slowly It seemed to have some difficulty orienting itself But at the GatekeeperÆs words the remnant will looked back down and tilted its head to the side

The Nether Gatekeeper licked its lips The beingÆs trouble to determine which direction was up did not instill very much confidence But at the same time the truth was floating in the air above it clearly the remnant will was immune to the pull from below The Nether GatekeeperÆs heart fluttered If I do this for you what will I receive in exchange

The remnant will smiled again and gestured sharply The meaning was clear it would take the Nether Gatekeeper out of this place when it returned

The Nether Gatekeeper couldnÆt help it it began to cry

Ultimately the only way for the shade to find its way out of the shaft was by waiting for a flow of emotions and simply following in those energiesÆ wake Riding on the back of a violent wave of rage the shade accelerated upward The current of significance parted before it pushed back by just the basic form of the three layered Nether Engraving it had created The shade wondered how powerful it would be when it finally created its own physical core

With speed came the tingling sense of momentum in the shadeÆs body The sensation of freedom was intoxicating A previously undiscovered urge to explore the Nexus bloomed in its heart it wanted to run the gamut of this shaft to truly see if this was an enormous skeleton In addition it was curious about the Aether Refinery at the base of this location

But a steely and partially forgotten part of itself stopped the shade from straying it had a mission to accomplish first

So the shade rose through the darkness closely following the emotions After only a short amount of travel it sensed the familiar subsonic buzzing of the automatons during their internal communications The porcelain dolls immediately converged toward his location their detection capabilities were quite sharp

Yet that only made the shade even more excited

The shade reached out and seized a fistful of emotions Its incorporeal fingers began to stroke the energy refining it with one of the lingering images that it remembered More and more emotions spiraled together in its hands It would make these fucks pay for the disgraceful way he had fallen in the past

As though formally declaring a challenge to the shade one of the automatons screeched and shot at the shade from the left Although the shade still didnÆt have an extremely strong ability to detect his foes his improvements with detecting changes in Nether allowed him to feel their approximate locations Just naturally these automatons suppressed Nether around them So where they were the Nether was weak and listless Those suppressed areas broadcast their presence to the shadeÆs sharp senses

With a smile on its face the shade sidestepped the first charging automaton and ripped open its central body with its clawed fingers It didnÆt bother to use either Neither or Aether simply taking advantage of brute force

Unlike the impression from the shadeÆs foggy memory it experienced no pain from the noise In fact it could grasp that opportunity more directly shooting forward and ripping through three more automatons in the surrounding area The shadeÆs Nether Nebula although it hadnÆt reached the power of a Nether Core was still a dominant force in the areas of memory and connection Here it was near unbeatable

In this Nether rich environment the shade could practically teleport at will It wasnÆt a matter of speed but all the connected space was within its reach

But these automatons obviously had dealt with Nether beings in the past In fact they were probably designed especially to combat rogue Nether elements more than force random fools in the shaft down to their deaths So while a dozen more automatons spiraled around to form a dense killing web around the shade they began to devour the Nether in the air Which as the machines created larger and larger voids masked the automatonÆs position relatively well ItÆs ability to instantly bridge between separate space vanished

Still the shade grinned like a wolf Its had squeezed on the tight ball of emotions it had been steadily gathering and refining That ball began to glow as the shade mobilized its abilities beyond just Nether

That tiny core became a seed which bloomed and grew rapidly Wild rays of energy erupted from between the shadeÆs fingers Sharp emotional knives lashed outward cutting through the void and destroying the automatonÆs bodies just as surely as the shadeÆs fingers had The machines stalled in the air confused The shadeÆs smile widened a beast of Nether could not wield emotions so well as it could

There was a hanging moment of confusion where the shade slaughtered all the close automatons

And as the shade had suspected the automatons shifted their strategy More flew closer ceasing their absorption of Nether to spin and smash him downward Those that were further away released pulses of energy that reinforced the reality of this place and dispersed the emotional bloom In response the shade spread its arm and released an enormous wave of Nether that replenished the energy in the air Again the spinning automatons stalled slightly The split second that the automatonÆs recognized again they were fighting a Nether Beast the shade was among them reaping their lives with its fingers

The automatons had engagement modes for both Aether and Nether beings but they had no way to handle both at once

However the shade grew bored after destroying around a hundred of the automatons they continued to come endlessly flying out from some distant location on the walls of the shaft So when the next emotional current shot upward the shade followed it leaving the pursuing automatons in the dust

Still that shame and dissatisfaction in its heart had been finally laid to rest The shade was much cheerier after having its revenge

Unfortunately it was soon stopped again as the Nether content in the air rapidly dropped the shade felt increasingly numb and stuffy After having grown accustomed to the extremely detailed information it could gather with its senses losing those senses was somewhat disorienting Especially because it made the shade more reliant on its hearing

Still the shade had a mission It must find a place for its Nether Core So although it was uncomfortable it rapidly acclimated and shot upward once more The Nether content in the air continued to fall dipping under 50% and even going so low as 20% Here again the shade needed to stop and reevaluate itself After some meditation its senses began to compensate for the lack of Nether Sensation Its ears twitched and flicked

Gradually vibrations revealed the surrounding space just as well as vision and then Nether Sensation had Grim Intuition was extremely adaptable

Feeling pleased with itself the shade left the shaft It didnÆt spare a single thought for the body it left behind

Chapter 1584

Truly the sense of freedom that spread before the shade was exhilarating In order to locate the requisite materials for the Nether Core the shade had very little choice but to leave his body behind and utilize the will that was buoyed forward by his nascent flows for his Nether Core

The shade had done some experiments with the materials it could gather from the bodyÆs interspatial ring but it noticed something disturbing in his experiments the physical medium would begin to reject the Nether Engravings if the material wasnÆt grounded with corresponding memories Or rather without the memories to protect the item it swiftly degraded underneath the powerful radiation of the Nether Engraving

Which meant that part of what the shade needed to do was gather some potent memories As it soared upward out of the shaft and saw some normal Aether beings utilizing the Web to move around the Nexus it could barely suppress its excitement

And that excitement lasted only until the shade realized that it was lost

However it could very clearly feel the tug of significance at its Nether flows The strongest pull was back toward the body that it left behind but the shade ignored that for now Instead it followed its instincts and began searching for both an object to become its Nether Core and for powerful memories it could gather

Its Grim Intuition was especially sharp at picking up on nearby threats which the shade instinctively avoided And around the cursed place it had escaped there were several horrifyingly powerful threats It was only by sneaking through the thin crack that the System allowed Nether that the shade was able to avoid detection As it wandered out into the vastness of space its vigilance eased those powerful beings didnÆt come out here Due to the relative safety the shade accelerated

Following significance the shade shot across several galaxies and located a familiar planet Without understanding its actions it arrived on top of a familiar hill From the hill the shade could feel the vibrations of a river below The gurgling sounds of water over stone drifted up to it In addition the hill was studded with squat standing stones that faced the river as though guarding against an external threat The shade had to think for quite a while before the name of this place drifted up out of its subconscious the Hallat River

For the life of it the shade could not remember why this place was important to it However the significance wouldnÆt lie The shade wandered over to one of the standing stones and pressed its fingers against the cool surface Next to the standing stone was an old spear that the shade touched gently

The spear was heavy not due to its physical properties but due to the memories contained therein The shade examined those murky impressions marveling at how familiar they seemed Despite its current circumstances it could feel its heart stir in response

But very quickly its attention was pulled away by a powerful reverberation in the sky The shade frowned upward because this was information that it sensed very clearly a powerful being of Nether was moving in the vicinity And now that the shade looked more closely it could see the way that Nether was beginning to spread in the vicinity of the planet

The shade carefully stored away the spear Unfortunately just as the shade sensed that being that Nether being sensed the shade After hesitating that Nether being turned and accelerated toward the shade on that low hill

The shade spared the surroundings a glance Deciding that there were no worthwhile items in this place the shade didnÆt bother to stay and meet this Nether Being It had its own business Locking onto another powerful flow of significance the shade left the area as fast as it could Through the small passage left by the System the shade was just as elusive as a fish in water

Yet the pursuit continued leaving that planet and shooting across the surrounding galaxies While the shade moved gracefully the being behind it acted like a bulldozer forcibly spreading apart the Aether enforced structure as it gave chase

Honestly the shade didnÆt mind this strange Nether Being But the real problem was that the steady destruction of the Aether scaffolding was drawing over the attention of some of those horrifying foes from the Nexus

The shade could sense several auras fixating onto its position due to the speed of its passage ahead of the Nether Being Pursing its lips the shade gathered together several handfuls of emotions and forced them to bloom in a burst of violent energy around its position With those emotions as cover the shade stepped outside of the thin layer of Nether and relied on its images to blend into the surroundings

Due to the distraction and the distance between the shade and those auras it rapidly shed the Perception of its followers It streaked across the surface of a frozen moon skimming across the icy surface When its Grim Intuition finally informed the shade that it was safe it moved back into the Nether layer and accelerated

Without much thought it followed the significance in its chest

The shade touched down at a new place feeling strangely content with its surroundings This was a familiar location Its senses could feel the warm sun flowing through its ethereal body hear the sound of birdsong A relatively well kept wooden shack sat in a low valley surrounded by a wooden fence Behind the shack were several large fields

It had once called this shack home A long long time ago The shade looked upward It was spring in this place and everything was blooming

Without fully understanding what the word spring meant the shade twisted and began to float more leisurely forward away from the house The memories lingering there were relatively weak Besides the shade was examining the surrounding area There were no threats here but it was an area rich in memory and emotion As the shade moved through these locations its tongue flicked out to taste the subdued but plentiful feelings in the surroundings

The shade moved through a prosperous town square people shouting and jostling each other as sellers moved their hand carts into position around the edges Smells of smoke and freshly baked bread drifted through the air Without noticing its ethereal presence several individual walked right through the shade The shade honestly didnÆt mind happy to use the proximity to get a closer emotional taste of these humans Sunlight warmed the entire area adding a rich and fulfilling note to the air

The shade glanced toward the hill at one end of the town square An extremely manicured road led up through a commercial district to a small wooden palisade that seemed to be kept around more for traditionÆs sake rather than providing any defensive cover People were hurrying to and from some carrying supplies or weapons while others simply kept their heads down while heading toward their destination

To the shadeÆs surprise there werenÆt many people relaxing in this place But it didnÆt think too deeply about this fact

Turning away the shade headed North deeper into the valley The air grew smokier complimented by shouts and the clang of metal on metal There were fewer people in the industrial district than in the town square but this section did hold the shadeÆs attention for a little bit longer Occasionally it would peer through the stone and metal shielding of a workshop and stare intently at various artisans working within They wielded expertise and emotions more freely than the average person imbuing materials with impressive qualities

But although some of the things he witnessed would become serviceable Nether Cores the shade somehow sensed that these should not be his choices So it wandered further following the pulse beat of emotion that lay over the area The shadeÆs ears twitched and it raised its head to look to the Northwest A dull roar drifted over to him heavy with the scent of positive emotions Tilting its head to the side the shade proceeded deeper

Somehow within the ambient emotions it sensed a distant memory

But between the industrial area and the source of the noise there was another feature that attracted the shadeÆs attention A vast sinkhole drew its eyes and held it still for several minutes An island was suspended in the middle of that sinkhole held aloft by several enormous metal chains each so massive that the humanoids here could walk across them comfortably

Feeling the tug of significance the shade across the enormous hole As it did so it smirked at the relatively minor depth of this place When it arrived at the island it wasnÆt drawn at all by the top portion but it passed cleanly through the ground using the trace amounts of Nether present to slip to the secret area below

There the shade found what amounted to a diving board at the bottom leading directly down into the abyssÆ Chuckling to itself the shade hopped off It drifted downward for only eight hundred meters before arriving at its destination

The shade looked around at the small shelf along the side of the sinkhole hidden by depth and darkness The light filtering downward became thin and filmy down here The shadeÆs instincts were telling it that this place was important yet as it scanned the small area all it sensed were trees Shaking its head the shade walked forward to one of the secret trees and grabbed one of two fruits hanging from its branches There was a memory here and a complicated sense of regret These trees were some sort of gift

Feeling bored the shade turned and vanished directly crossing the distance to find the source of the noise The emotional memory was much more interesting to it

Soon it was floating above a colosseum looking down at the cheering crowd The shade could not see the faces but it could feel their wild and hot breath as they screamed The stands were absolutely packed Two groups of humans were fighting each other in the middle though most of those people either had their armor broken or were too wounded to continue It was down to the final three one man standing tall against a man and a woman who circled him

The shade soon became bored watching these humans fight wasnÆt very entertaining But it only took a few sharp interactions for the duo to triumph over the single man And at that moment the two victors dropped their weapons hugged each other and cried

Significance and emotion began to condense rapidly over their heads To the shade the resulting jubilation was so nostalgic that its mind went blank for several seconds

Then the shade reached out and plucked a powerful strand of joy from the air It spun it between its fingers feeling the peculiar sense of indomitability that filled the air Once the shade had engaged in this same emotion Slowly nodding it withdrew an even larger strand and then turned away from the colosseum From this place these two items were all it needed

From this rejoicing town the shade headed Northeast Soon it arrived at deserted scrubland that even vegetation avoided But that wide suppression was exactly why the shade was here It took a step to arrive at the scrubland a second step to locate a large crater that was partially hidden by tall grass and a third step to reach the core of that impression in the ground There the shade crouched down

It dug its spectral fingers into the dirt and took a handful This place stunk of betrayal and achievement It was a confusing but powerful memory Without any reaction to the lingering emotions the shade tossed that soil with the fruit and strand of stolen emotion as it began to move once more

This time it had to travel far almost the entire way across this strange planet to find itself floating above a city with a thousand metal legs It looked as much like a fat bug as it did like a city The shade tilted its head to the side as it considered the strange existence Significance connected to the shade flowed heavily through this place Aside from the body it left behind the densest network of significance led here Of all the locations he had gone to this was the one that most satisfied his instincts Then the shadeÆs ears twitched and it focused on the surrounding area something was coming

Rising like that tide a huge wave of emerald spirits surged up toward the shade They spiraled joyfully around the shade seething and chopping in thick and energetic waves Even the shade couldnÆt help but smile as it looked around at the gleeful moss spirits As though sensing why he was here they packed themselves into tight brilliant orbs for the shade to take but it waved its hand

The shade floated downward passing through the streets of the walking city where people were staring curiously up at the behavior of the emerald spirits in the sky The shade passed through stone and metal to arrive before the humming core of the city where there were several larger more developed moss spirits hanging in the air

Their light was darker and less eye catching than those above but these were some of the original spirits that made this place The shade approached the moss spirits and offered his hand From the back the oldest dimmest moss spirit stirred Then it left its place in the engine of the city starting to hop and whizz just as quickly as the more recently generated moss spirits above

Its glee was infectious And in that aging moss spirit was the memory of a pure dream Grinning the shade seized this piece and then shot straight upward

Above the walking city were four floating islands the meandered around the city as though they were loosely tethered to it The shadeÆs current target was the smallest and the highest of those islands where it cut cleanly through silver mist to reach a massive mansion standing alone on the property The shade landed on the roof looking around at the plant structure that welcomed the shade with open arms

Truly it was a good feeling to be so instantly accepted After the depression isolation of the shaft these shows of affection warmed the shade

Then the shade passed through the floor and to one of the bedrooms below Its fingers opened the closet and it located a seal that was tucked away toward the top Its fingers brushed away the dust as it took the object The shade stared at the seal without much recognition for several seconds until its foggy memory produced a term for what the seal represented the Order Ducis

Still even with that term the shade was nonplussed at the function of such a strange item But it was necessary so he took it The memory inside of that item was one of responsibility The shade closed its eyes and used its Nether to sense the flows of significance

There were two more thick flows remaining so the shade left the island and its silver mist behind Luckily the two flows of significance led to a location near to each other Soon the shade arrived at a small hut sitting in the wilderness It passed through the door finding that the furniture within the room made the shade think about the concept of home Its fingers touched a pile of letters sitting on the desk but these were written by something other than its target Strangely the letters had notes of Nether clinging to them

The shade wondered if beings of Nether were more common than it had thought

Uninterested the shade went to the heavy iron pot This too was insufficiently significant for its purposes so it drifted around the cottage Item by item the shade examined everything but nothing seemed to suit its needs Luckily a strong wind blew by and caused some items that were hanging out back to rustle

Curious the shade passed through the wall and found several large wooden frames that held aloft thick sheets of woven vines The maker had clearly spent quite a bit of time carefully gathering different varieties of vines and then preserving them Some had thorns others had dried flowers The final result was an oddly compelling maze of plant matter

Its gentle fingers touched one of the hanging items Inside was the memory of a meeting that would change two lives forever Intimacy was practically overflowing from the woven vines The shade nodded in satisfaction this would work

After storing the woven vines away the shade followed its instincts and entered into a strange place only a kilometer away It was a tomb but the tombÆs floor was covered in dense Engravings Before the shade went up to the raised central platform it explored the Engravings on the ground The ten areas relied on very different principles than Nether Engraving did but the current shade was extremely experienced at both layering Engravings and interpreting them from its study of Nether Cores

For a brief time the shade lost itself in its research into the Engravings Very quickly a significant portion of the Engravings’ meaning became clear to it All in all it could quickly interpret about 80% of the entire legacy that was left here It could have proceeded further but it could tell that there was a layered message spread across all ten of the areas The effect was novel but the shade lost interest

Somehow the shade knew the message was not for it

Perhaps if it spent time here it could read that final message but even its instincts were loath to chase that secret So it returned to its task The shade ascended to the central platform and looked straight upward There hanging in the air masked by a relatively clever folding of space was a fist sized chunk of significance

In the shadeÆs memories of this place it hadnÆt even detected that significance was lurking above its head But how could the current shade miss an obvious pocket of Nether

No memories were present in the significance but it was extremely valuable An important figure in the Nexus had died here That had meaning Now the shade planned to take advantage of that reservoir of energy

This would provide a significant amount of reinforcement to whatever material the shade settled on to be his core It was the final piece that the shade needed It raised its hand and seized that energy

Finally it felt like its preparations were sufficient As long as the shade could find a strong material he could begin forming his Nether Core Without consciously thinking about it the shade returned to that island with its seething lines of silver mist Then it looked down and watched the city with many legs clambering through a mountain range while it considered the problem of the physical medium

Its thoughts were jumbled to say the least In terms of solving a concrete problem the shade was extremely talented Its form had been streamlined to complete a distant goal in near impossible circumstances Even those dense Engravings within the tomb had readily revealed their purposes before its discerning gaze Yet in the free form tree of decisions that would lead it to create a Nether Core

The finish line was within reach What slowed the shade was not capability but insight

The shade sighed in a rare showing of hesitation it truly did not have the tools for this problem With a thought an image of a fist sized event horizon appeared above the shadeÆs body Then purple black flames sprang into being around its head Its already powerful senses sharpened Beyond the present the shade could witness the broad avenues to the future

It looked at the floating islands and the walking city beneath it The shade could see the way that this city would become a crossroads of significance for him in the future Originally the shade planned to locate the reinforcement he needed and the sturdy material before returning to the shaft and creating the Nether Core But the shade also knew that it didnÆt truly need to keep the Nether Core with its body

It could create the core here Its instincts seemed to be considering an alternative to its previous plan ponderously just as ill equipped for this sort of long term decision as the shade was A Nether Core kept on his body would provide him with a boost to its physical power and recoverability But at the same time the shade knew that distance would mean very little to the Nether Core Perhaps such a decision would allow opponents to cut off his access to the Nether Core

But the shade had memories of foes that suppressed its Nether in the past anyway They had directly rid it of Nether And even with the distance the Nether Core would be better equipped to handle that suppression no matter what

A Nether Core that was his would always be connected to him That was a fact

The shadeÆs ears twitched still covered in purple black flames It could hear the sounds of the city below as though it were standing amongst them Voices and flames and doors and furniture and metal refineries and farming and wind and sizzling food the significance in this place was already robust It was very suitable to house its Nether Core

Yet the shade turned and glanced to the side toward a massive floating island that was almost half as large as the city itself The shade moved passing through the deserted surface to the depths of that floating island where it found a group of workers carrying a massive grey green pillar down through a series of strange rooms The shade drifted after them dragging its fingers across the walls

Considering the islandÆs size it was quite strange that so few people were present Currently it was empty aside from a few groups of workers like this one that were performing mundane tasks The flows of significance spiraled around this place but did not yet enter This was a new place There was no memory or connection yet present

The more the shade looked at that grey green pillar the more it liked it The metal was one that it didnÆt recognize but it felt extremely durable Plus with the expansive surface of the four meter long metal pillar the shade might be able to incorporate some of its newly learned Engraving techniques into its Nether Core The layering would be much simpler with a larger space to begin

The workers proceeded downward heading to the very bottom of the floating island At this deepest portion there was a large circular room with nothing else present it was completely empty The workers then carried the pillar to that place and set it up in the middle as though it were a relic to a pagan god

Then the lead worker gestured sharply Alright thatÆs it LetÆs get out of here They are going to activate the Engravings soon Careful you donÆt leave anything after this this place is just for the students

One of the other workers looked up at the pillar Hey boss why did we just bring this down here ItÆs valuable sure but shouldnÆt the final reward for clearing the labyrinths be a bit more impressive Besides the refineries were just drooling to get their hands on this

The lead worker slapped his hands together Orders from the top Who the hell are we to question Some things seem more impressive when youÆve worked harder to achieve them And based on what Miss Collins said it will be extremely rare for someone to make it this deep

It certainly has an austere charm One of the other workers said cautiously After a few more comments from the workers the group left

And in that empty space the shade appeared It stepped out of the thin area for Nether and put its hands on its hips Its senses scrutinized the tall metal pillar It was so thick around that two humans would barely be able to touch their hands if they stood on opposite sides of the pillar

Then the shade carefully set its gathered significance on the ground The spear the thread of indomitability the fruit a handful of dirt the ancient moss spirit the seal the beautiful mat of woven vines and the fist of dense Nether were all set out in a line Seven memories and a well of significance were the building blocks to his Nether Core Then the shade walked around the pillar examining it one more time

Then it began to smile with anticipation

Chapter 1585

Jelick Youmun stood under the observation tower and stared anxiously upward His skin was moist with sweat For whatever reason the rhythm of his day was off today He had arrived early for his shift with the sun still hanging low in the sky It would probably take another hour for night to come The guard crossed his arms and uncrossed them over and over wishing time to move forward

Why had he come early

The air in this deserted part of the Fifth Cohort was hot uncomfortably so Jelick began continuously wipe away sweat as he waited exposed to the elements in his position below the observation tower In order to placate his fluttering worries he settled back on the familiar activity of counting his own heartbeat His eyes practically glazed over as the sun fell toward the horizon

Nothing was as important as restoring his rituals

At the proper time Jelick roused himself he raised his head and watched as the entrance to the observation tower swung open The familiar form of his fellow guard that formed the other half of this watchtower tandem stood in the doorway

It was the same guard with the same lined face The familiarity was reassuring Jelick licked his lips Anything to report

There were a few beats of silence The other guard hesitated his face twisting in indecision Jelick felt like the bottom fell out of his stomach His sweaty hands turned instantly clammy

technically nothing The other guard shook his head But I have a bad feeling The monitoring equipment has been getting some strange readings Keep an eye on it

Jelick YoumunÆs feet were frozen to the ground as the other guard hurried away from the post All of JelickÆs own stress was compounded by this additional news from his partner His own horrible sense of impending disaster was triumphant in his chest It clamored for JelickÆs attention but he ignored it as best he could The guard stiffly climbed up into the observational tower and looked at the monitoring equipment as his fellow had suggested the needles occasionally twitched for no discernible reason

Jelick looked up at the wide open sky in front of him The last light of this planetÆs sun was sinking below the horizon allowing a complex network of stars to creep across the sky like deadly mold A small yellow moon hung close to the horizon straight ahead As Jelick tried very much to calm himself his eyes settled on that moon

It was a slightly unfamiliar sight which was one more shock to his already overloaded system but the innocuous celestial body became a resting place His heart could beat he could stare at the moon he could recover his equilibrium

Perhaps the strange readings from the monitoring equipment were simply a malfunction Those stuck up individual from the Engraving Guild might act superior but they were just as prone to failure as the rest of them If nothing occurred during this shift Jelick resolved himself to complain to management that the equipment was faulty

Now he just needed

Jelick paused His eyes were still on the moon but there was something different about the whole of what he saw He stared at the distant sphere with a frown on his face Was it a change in the color But no itÆs pale yellow was still the same

Jelick shook his head decisively Perhaps the moon was just moving closer or farther away from the horizon due to his planetÆs rotation It was strange that he had never noticed this moon in the past but Jelick was already too frazzled to let something small like that faze him now He settled into a comfortable position and began to count his heartbeats

He was determined to move past this day

One

Two

Three

It only took ten heartbeats for the moon to once again seize JelickÆs attention Suddenly he understood the strange impression that the moon was giving him the current moon was noticeably bigger It was once a small coin in the sky but now it was around double that size

Jelick coughed lightly Perhaps perhaps this was also due to the rotation

In a flash the moon was as big as an apple hanging above the observation tower with almost antagonistic realism JelickÆs heartbeat counting tumbled to a stop

Five seconds later there was another shift and the yellow moon had doubled again in size From yellow it shifted toward a radiant golden as the quality of light that it was reflecting down on JelickÆs planet changed The air seemed to glitter despite the fact that it should be night

Then it surged closer and took up a third of the horizon making the light it released was almost blinding Jelick was trembling in his seat His body was slick with sweat

The next jump quenched the light entirely The observation tower was suddenly entirely in shadow The entire sky was filled with the looming moon With such a short distance between the two celestial bodies the moon above was dark and ominous hanging over Jelick Youmun like a guillotine

From that dark landscape in the heavens the seething hordes of Nether Beasts began to descend It was only when the alarms from other observation towers began to ring that Jelick Youmun remembered to trigger his own

The shade worked tirelessly first reinforcing the pillar with the memories that it had gathered then by beginning the process of Engraving Each motion contained within it the full weight of the shadeÆs Nether This core room of the floating island began to hum with the surging energies of connection and memory

For good measure the shade grew several extra arms Then it began to Engrave all three base patterns all at once

For the Yggdrasil carving stability and growth to compensate for a childhood of loss and instability From the Grim Chimera a deep seated craving to change in a manner that would make the complex social interactions of a modern world a little easier on a misunderstood young man And the Stillborn Phoenix eternalized that sense of helplessness an individual experiences before the unrelenting might of reality The shadeÆs third image was the accumulation of compromises spread across an increasingly dangerous life

Each Engraving took up about a third of the pillar They glowed with obsidian energy the ambient waves of significance that they released lapping up against one another in complex patterns Then came the difficult part the shade began to layer all three Engravings across into each otherÆs territory

For this step the shade needed to move up and down the length of the entire pillar Layering in a small space was literally impossible but even with the larger space it was extremely difficult The subtle permutations of depth and breadth of Nether flows were innumerable A normal human brain simply couldnÆt handle the sheer number of permutations

Luckily the shade was only barely human these days

During the Engraving process the shade swiftly grew annoyed with the pillar itself it dearly wished it had found a less durable material for his Nether Core Obviously the physical power would prevent it from being damaged but Engraving each line required significant amounts of Nether energy Even the shadeÆs instincts wondered where such a pillar came from

Had the shade not obtained that dense pooled significance from the tomb it would have needed to take several breaks already to replenish its strength As it was it quickly devoured the ambient significance and converted it into its own And then it looked at the grey green pillar with reddening eyes There was so much more to Engrave

What the hell was this pillar anyway

As the layering continued the requirement of specific depth for the lines the shade made grew increasingly harsh The Nether Engraving pulsed releasing a baleful light into the sealed room The shade could sense the island around it slowly shifting both because of the actions of the workers to activate this place and because of the ambient Nether flows stemming from the very actions it took

The Nether Core was as advertised the coreÆ The energies of this location naturally were steadily being integrated into the core As a core that was its prerogative

But neither of those phenomena was what attracted the shadeÆs attention No when it took rare breaks from the exhausting process of Engraving it looked up in the direction of the sky and frowned for an entirely different reason It didnÆt understand how it was possible but that being of Nether had locked onto its position once more

It rapidly approached Expira its pursuit of the shade continuing across Cohorts

The shade clicked its tongue silently a motion that it didnÆt truly understand but one that was leftover in its instincts Then it turned back to the Nether Core Its many hands moved ceaselessly The layers of the differing significances began to steadily overlap deeper and deeper As the shade proceeded it could feel its spectral body steadily growing weaker the process of Engraving was more exhausting than it had anticipated

Occasionally it would take breaks to recover its energy but the looming threat of the approaching Nether Being made it tense Yet despite its emotional turmoil it did not hurry in its Engraving The Nether Core was more important than anything else The shade was a being streamlined for this purpose even though it was nervous those emotions didnÆt manifest in its work The Engraving continued smoothly

The layering deepened Waves of force rippled across the pillar strengthening the material There was only a thin layer of Nether allowed by the System in the surrounding space but that Nether began to naturally swirl inward The Core exerted its influence in the surrounding space steadily changing the surroundings The materials of the entire island gradually shifted toward something beyond the physical

Waves of ethereal black energy lapped back and forth over the pillar

Yet on the cusp of completing the humming Nether Core the shade paused the process It looked up toward the sky at the Nether Being that approached The shade could feel that Nether Being gathering power to strike against the reinforced Aether protections in the area around this world and the Seventh Cohort more broadly

Slowly the shade began to smile Leaving the Nether Core a single step away from completion and its first energy rotation the shade utilized the principles it had learned in the tomb it had visited to rapidly construct a more typical Engraving

Except this Engraving flowed easily through the air rapidly seeping out into the surrounding space The longer the shade worked the further its Engraving spread

The shadeÆs instincts had felt a great deal of worry about the completion of its Nether Core It had already attracted enough dubious attention with the creation of its Fateset To create a Nether Core in the eyes of the System was something that it didnÆt want However circumstances had conspired against the shade to reach the ability to finish his Nether Core so quickly the original version of itself had to be trimmed down It didnÆt understand the details but there were other methods it could have used if it retained its full capabilities

As it was the shade could only muddle along as best as it could With quick flicks its hands accelerated forward drawing heavily on its Mana The Engraving expanded crossing mountains and rivers and ocean sot reach the ends of this world Then the shade released a long breath

Suddenly there was an opportunity Or rather its instincts told the shade that it now had plausible deniability After a few more seconds the entire world was wrapped in this new Engraving The shadeÆs fingers buzzed with the energy friction it had generated with its rapid Engraving patterns

The shade finished its ancillary Engraving and looked up at the sky with anticipation The Nether Being gathered more and more power and then brought a swirling maelstrom of Nether crashing down on the NexusÆs defenses For a second the Aether held but then everything cracked and began to disintegrate

Suddenly the pursuit became the perfect distraction

With a smile on its face the shade activated the familiar Engraving it had made In a split second a wave of power spread rapidly across the whole world The Overlay System that so worried the shadeÆs instincts was dislodged A new overlay slipped into its place

One of the shadeÆs pairs of arms moved quickly drawing several lines of Nether to connect the layering With a shudder the Nether Core was finished Energy rapidly began to rush through the layering rising in intensity with every revolution The ground beneath the pillar began to crack Sizzling bolts of ambient energy lashed off of the pillar charring several spots in the surroundings

The shade watched intently Above the Nether Being struggled to rip through the remnant defenses in the area and descend The shadeÆs focus narrowed It would not be distracted despite the extremely tense situation

This situation had become a race Although the System could no longer observe this place the shade still needed the Nether Core to be complete to move to the next step

Energy pulsed through the pillar suffusing through the entirety of the Engraving The energy soaked outward running through the concurrent layers The grey green pillar shuddered After several long seconds the revolution of energy was completed there were no obvious flaws in the Nether Engraving The Nether Core was complete

The gamble paid off

The shade looked upward and winked Then the Nether CoreÆs energy exploded outward The Nether Being descended from the sky intent on the shade But the energy of the core was faster Soon it covered even the atmosphere of Expira

Where there was a core there could be a bubbleÆ

There was a flickering pulse and Expira vanished slipping through the small allowance of space left by the Nexus The Nether BeingÆs force crashed into empty space After searching the surrounding area it raised its head and howled its fury

Chapter 1586

Tatiana stood at the window with her arms folded behind her back The sunlight was warm on her skin Gertrude Collins sipped her tea set the cup down fussed with her hair and then picked the teacup back up Then as though the dean of the soon to be opened Kharon Academy wasnÆt aware of her actions she put the teacup back down absentmindedly

Meanwhile Tatiana studied the world outside of her window There had been a minor earthquake a few hours ago Obviously it hadnÆt affected Kharon itself much as the legs naturally soaked up much of the reverberations but the miners who were inside the excavation site nearby needed to rapidly evacuate and return to the Wandering City

Those tremors in the ground had passed but the subtle changes in the air had not Sunlight continued shining down but Tatiana couldnÆt shake the feeling that there was something different in the atmosphere Still that same feeling assured her that the change was a positive one so her examination of the sky was done only to satisfy her curiosity

Even in this world filled to the brim with Classes and Skills Tatiana found knowledge to be the most reliable weapon

While Tatiana mused Gertrude continued to fidget The young woman eventually raised her gaze and bit her lip Do you truly think itÆs alright to leave that Ancient Fang in the final chamber of the labyrinth as is I believe the Ghosthound wanted the process of descending through those trials to be akin to a pilgrimage The fang is interesting especially for youths but perhaps other items should have been left there to add to the mystique of the location

Tatiana tilted her head to the side still facing the window I believe the difficulty to reach that final sanctuary will be more than enough to make any one place special importance upon that room As more children make it there they will be able to carve their names on the walls and gradually create a treasure that is all their own And besides that

Birds chirped merrily outside of the Town Hall window hinting at the long awaited return of spring Tatiana narrowed her eyes as she looked at the sky Truly she was vexed by how mundane everything current seemed despite her instincts

Then Tatiana released a long sigh but afterward the corner of her mouth quirked upward I just have a feeling we wonÆt need to worry about the ancient fang Though isnÆt it intriguing That the System notification told us that buried on Expira were the partial remnants of an ancient beast relating to a deep secret in the Nexus WeÆve been here digging for days and all weÆve managed to excavate is a single fang the other remnants are too enormous I believe that we will soon discover that these remnants are more impressive than we can even imagine

Gertrude Collins frowned as she considered that Before either could speak again there was a knock on the door

Come in Tatiana said still facing the window The door opened and an aide walked into the room Gertrude straightened her posture and took another sip of her tea

The aide glanced at Gertrude but quickly bowed toward Tatiana The report you requested is ready Madam

Tatiana waved a hand No need to hide it itÆs not anything serious What did they say

The aide nodded The leadership in the other Zones reported that they located similar archways across all of Expira after the earthquakes They are relatively few and far between but their location means it is impossible that they were somehow unearthed by seismic shifts there are examples on top of mountains or on previously deserted islands Miss Vye says she senses something will happen soon so sheÆs going to linger a bit around them to investigate

Thanks James Tatiana said quietly as she stared upward toward the blue sky Something was definitely different today than it had been only a few hours ago Her intuition connected to Randidly assured her it was the case

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 100

In the depths of the shaft Randidly wheezed and sat sharply upward Coughing and hacking he barely could control his body His muscles were alternatively spasming and so stiff they refused to move

He blinked rapidly which was a mistake because his eyes immediately fed him a slew of information that his brain wasnÆt used to receiving So he pressed his eyes shut to cut off a growing headache Still coughing Randidly was hyper aware of the noise his body made as it moved after having it be completely silenced for quite a while He could hear the beat of his heart the gurgle of his blood and the slimy squelching noises of his stomach Somehow the whole process was sickening

And the nausea didnÆt help alleviate his headache

Pressing his eyes closed Randidly tried to keep his breathing steady as he once more acclimated himself to the unfiltered sensations of being alive Holy shit this is rough this is worse than some of the terrible hangovers I used to get after a night out with Ace and Sydney ugh and these noises that my body makes

What a haphazard and shitty Fatepiece

Still the feelings of discomfort and unfamiliarity that Randidly felt from his body were soon washed away as a wave of invigorating Nether surged into his Soulspace He barely suppressed a gasp as a feeling akin to lowering oneself into a piping hot bath came over Randidly His body relaxed and some of the internal confusion was wiped away Perhaps most importantly that warm flow of significance between himself and his Nether Core surrounded him with a film of energy that made the pull of the Aether Refinery below irrelevant

Slowly a lazy smile stretched across RandidlyÆs face Energy rotated through his Nether Core and then reinforced his body strengthening his physical form even further Heh But in the end I can finally get out of this place

For a few minutes Randidly took the time to examine his state The first thing he noticed was that some of the aches and discomfort in his body werenÆt just due to the return of his consciousness after experiencing his Fatepiece he also was extremely famished While his projected consciousness was working on the Nether Core it had taken most of his image strength as well Only now was Yggdrasil feeding energy into his body so it didnÆt continue wasting away

Second although he now shared a powerful connection with his Nether Core the shade was currently hiding that valuable item in the Seventh Cohort Randidly would need to retrieve the Nether Core and Expira at some point He had a foggy understanding of what the shade had done but he would know more when he got out of the shaft and merged with the shade

Along that lines RandidlyÆs own Nether within his body was rather feeble the shade had taken the Nether Nebula with it when it had left

It was about that time that RandidlyÆs confused senses suddenly detected ambient emotional discomfort in the air not coming from him Randidly opened his eyes and then squinted for a second to get used to the sensory information Gradually his rusty eyes got used to the act of seeing But his slow adjustment gave Randidly a little bit of pause

Exactly how long has it been since I started the Visage of Obsession Hah hopefully I went deep enough that the recruits havenÆt been sent to the frontlines

When Randidly could focus on surroundings he found himself floating in darkness But nearby was a dusky skinned creature that was clearly a Nether Gatekeeper Just as soon as Randidly felt alarm from being vulnerable while next to this creature he noticed again that the figure opposite him was staring at him with alarmed eyes

Apparently his awakening came as quite a shock to the antlered Nether Gatekeeper And through his suddenly exquisite ability to read other peopleÆs emotions Randidly released that he was actually the more sociable individual between the two of them

Randidly cleared his throat awkwardly and spoke in a husky voice How do you do

The speaking set him to coughing so Randidly reached into his interspatial ring and removed a jug of water which he promptly downed For good measure he removed some dried boar meat and devoured that to give his gurgling stomach something to gnaw on After licking his fingers to clean them of crumbs he produced another jug of water and drained that one too

Much more confident Randidly smiled at the Nether Gatekeeper Hello it is nice to meet you IÆm Randidly Ghosthound Thank you very much for protecting my body I wouldnÆt want to fall to the bottom of this hellhole

The Nether Gatekeeper in front of Randidly continued to frown The strange sensation of seeing the expression sensing the ambient emotions and also feeling the shifting features through Nether Sensation was a strange one But Randidly suddenly sensed a thin tendril of Nether reaching out toward him

After a hesitation he accepted it Suddenly he understood through the bridge the Nether GatekeeperÆs worry Randidly grinned at the him he faced because the thoughts he could read felt very masculine DonÆt worry I may not be the same as the shade but IÆll honor its promise I can take you out of here

Finally the Nether GatekeeperÆs expression eased Just from its obvious display of emotions Randidly could tell how honest and naive of a being this Nether Gatekeeper was Compared to the violent monsters that Randidly had fought on the frontlines

This might be a Nether Gatekeeper in its true form

But then Randidly raised up his hand I know it is a little dishonest to impose restrictions on our agreement now but IÆll need your word that you will stay with me and assist me with the usage of Nether for at least Randidly considered briefly one year But during that time you will also have my protection IÆll teach you about the current state of the Nexus Because

Randidly was monitoring the reactions from the Nether Gatekeeper in front of him very carefully as he spoke But to his relief through the Nether connection the Nether Gatekeeper seemed very accepting of this deal It even agreed that such a pact was in both parties’ best interest So Randidly sensed the truth of his statement even as he finished saying it because youÆve never been outside of the shaft And I donÆt want the authorities of the Nexus to capture you and find out what happened to me here Our interests are aligned

Sensing the Nether GatekeeperÆs continued assent Randidly opened a portal to his Alpha Cosmos and warned the fellow not to cause any trouble or fight anyone With that problem solved Randidly pulled out his PhilosopherÆs Key But he clicked his tongue when it still couldnÆt connect to outside this prison

Randidly could reach outside to his own Nether Core but he couldnÆt connect the spaces

But honestly he preferred to make this journey the hard way Grinning Randidly looked upward and cracked his knuckles Then he began to accelerate pushing himself faster and faster with Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart until the air began whipping around him like blades His heart began to pound

When Randidly passed the place where the automatons were floating he accelerated further in a massive display of his shrieking Stillborn Phoenix image producing a sonic boom that blasted away all the porcelain dolls in his path

Chapter 1587

Beyond that line that divided the 50% Nether content in the air a whole slew of notifications waited for Randidly They washed over him ceaselessly as soon as he crossed the threshold All the accumulated Skill Levels exploded into tiny notifications

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 336

Congratulations Your Skill Conviction of the Smiling Horror has grown to Level 359

Congratulations Your Skill Chimeric Impunity has grown to Level 341

Congratulations Your Skill Tide of the Void has grown to Level 295

Congratulations Your SKill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 341

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 360

Congratulations Your Skill Experienced CreatorÆs Ingenuity has grown to Level 185

Congratulations Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways has grown to Level 332

Congratulations Your Skill Chimeric Impunity has grown to Level 352

Congratulations Your Skill Architecture fo the Primordial Ways has grown to Level 347

Congratulations Your Skill the Inscrutable Mien of Genesis has grown to Level 321

Congratulations Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil has grown to Level 332

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 369

Congratulations Resonance detected Warning failure to contact your Village Spirit

Congratulations Your Skill All Else Succumbs Yet Time Whirls the Earth has evolved into Ruin is Inevitable Yet This Too Shall Pass Skill Levels will be maintained

Congratulations Your Skill Ruin is Inevitable Yet This Too Shall Pass has grown to Level 285

Congratulations Your Skill Grit of the Ascendant Bane has grown to Level 385

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 389

Congratulations Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways has grown to Level 370

Congratulations Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways has grown to Level 399

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 100 Congratulations Your Fate has reached maturity

The next piece of your Fateset has awoken from its slumber Seek it out to continue to find your Fate

Randidly drifted through the shadowy air his eyes somewhat glazed over from the mass of notifications that hung in front of him like a wall of text There were so many Skill Level Ups that he couldnÆt even count them all After flexing his fingers Randidly opened up his Path menu and looked at what the final count was The corners of his lips immediately curled upward he now sat at 1712 PP

He was still short of his Tithe from the Alpha Cosmos but by only 43 PP In a few weeks he would have a huge swelling of power from the Paths he could follow Considering all the time that had passed since his last PP Tithe

And thatÆs before I even figure out how long IÆve been stuck down here

Randidly clenched his fists but quickly loosened his hands as his forearms spasmed He still wasnÆt quite used to the full experience of his body so he was somewhat lightheaded after accelerating up here He really needed a good meal But as he floated in the shaft now risen to a depth where light filtered down through the spine he couldnÆt decide what to do next Several tasks demanded his immediate attention

The entire time his body was suffused with an unfamiliar feeling of power as the Nether rotated through his veins If he let his mind wander to that sense of power the air around Randidly began to hum with barely contained potency

After chewing on his lip for a while the first thing Randidly did was produce his PhilosopherÆs Key If nothing else his time while stuck in this place had given him plenty of time for his wounds to his Fatepiece to heal completely He slid the key into the air and twisted the metal handle A portal opened showing him an empty space inside of his home solar system

But a second later there was a ripple in the air and the shade rapidly flew out of that empty space passing through a veil of Nether as it did so It streaked toward Randidly soon merging with his body

It was immediately obvious that the shade was completely exhausted from the ordeal Whatever it had been doing with Expira left it drained beyond measure The Nether Nebula it carried was depleted and listless

RandidlyÆs muscles flexed and his veins bulged as the swirling force of the Nebula once more settled itself within RandidlyÆs Soulspace Under his ministrations it rapidly recovered its speed and density The unfamiliar sense of power running through Randidly’s veins and tendons had become even more evident

Some of the missing pieces of what the shade had done settled into place as the Nether Nebula returned it hadnÆt truly been able to steal away Expira After pushing away the overlay System it had simply made RandidlyÆs physical body the bubbleÆ that all things needed to pass through to reach the world

In essence as long as Randidly lived his home planet would now be protected by the Nether Core he placed there He was the bubble In addition Randidly could sense that the intimate connection that the planet shared with his body would have some implications for the Alpha Cosmos

This outcome at least put the problem of protecting his core on the back burner for now Randidly didnÆt think that there was any being currently on Expira that could threaten it Plus if the shade had truly stolen the planet how would it maintain its climate

Randidly was looking at Expira with a complicated smile when the next wave of notifications hit him the shade had saved the information from the completion of his Nether Core for this moment

Warning internal change within your body detected Please proceed to the nearest Village Spirit in order to

Communication Error Recalculating Examining shift Generating explanation

Congratulations You have Generated a Nether Sphere Monitoring energy flow measuring power output Assigning Rarity

Congratulations You have generated a Rare Nether Sphere the Fang of the Primeval Betrayal You have earned the Nether Attributes Weight and Connections In order to advance the Rarity of your Nether Sphere please increase the number of your newest Attribute Connections

Weight of your Neither Sphere determines your additional power within your Sphere For each point of Weight you will wield a 1% increase in capability in all areas Connections demonstrate the number of living beings with your Nether Sphere with which you have a substantial connection

Please note that it is EXTREMELY difficult to raise the Weight of your Nether Sphere Normal advancement of Weight will require years of disciplined meditation achieving a full rotation of significance through your Nether Core Small additional amounts of Weight will be rewarded for exceeding the requirements for raising the Rarity of your Nether Sphere

Ascertaining base Attributes

Weight 11

Connections 1 261 697 311/25

Congratulations You have exceeded the requisite number of Connections For exceeding the number of Connections by 5 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 10 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 25 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 50 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 100 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 250 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 500 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 1000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 2500 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 5000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 10 000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 50 000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 100 000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 500 000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 1 000 000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 5 000 000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 10 000 000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 100 000 000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the number of Connections by 1 000 000 000 +10 Weight

For reaching the required number of Connections the Rarity of your Nether Sphere has increased to Ancient For reaching the Ancient Rarity you have unlocked the Attribute Scope

Scope describes the reach of your Nether Sphere across a three dimensional space

Examining Nether Density in order to approximate Scope

Scope 12 509/100

Congratulations You have exceeded the requisite Scope For exceeding the Scope by 5 +10 Weight

For exceeding the Scope by 10 +10 Weight

For exceeding the Scope by 25 +10 Weight

For exceeding the Scope by 50 +10 Weight

For exceeding the Scope by 100 +10 Weight

For exceeding the Scope by 200 +10 Weight

For exceeding the Scope by 500 +10 Weight

For exceeding the Scope by 1000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the Scope by 2500 +10 Weight

For exceeding the Scope by 5000 +10 Weight

For exceeding the Scope by 10 000 +10 Weight

For reaching the requisite Scope the Rarity of your Nether Sphere has increased to Runic For reaching the Runic Rarity you have unlocked the Attribute Influence

Influence increases as those connected to your Nether Sphere regard your more highly Influence also allows those connected to you to benefit from the Weight of your Nether Sphere

Influence 1999/

Grading of the userÆs Influence will wait until the user starts the process

Randidly blinked several times Then he scratched his cheek Today is just a day of notifications I guess Not a Class in a traditional sense but still

But then he turned his attention to that sense of power that Randidly felt suffusing every inch of his body He floated over toward the familiar bone wall After spending so much time out of sight of the wall in the depths it was oddly nostalgic to look at it

With a small smile on his face Randidly laid his hand against the wall The muscles of his arm tensed and the air around Randidly began to tremble Waves of raw force rolled off his hand with just a thought as he mobilized the weight surrounding him His heart began to pound Nether swirled through his whole body As his eyes glowed like brilliant emeralds Randidly barred his teeth in satisfaction

With just his fingers he steadily scraped four long divots into the powerful bone The exertion was such that his entire being was trembling but the effect of the Nether Core was the real deal

Chapter 1588

After clearing the cluttered mess of notifications Randidly looked at the whole of his Status Screen

Level 62 (94%)

Nether Sphere Fang of the Primeval Betrayal

Weight 311

Connections 1 261 697 311

Scope 12 509

Influence 1 999/

PP 1712

Skills (Soul Skill) Figure of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 25750

Combat Spear Mastery Lvl 333 Heavy Blow Lvl 134 Iron Skin Lvl 47 Dodge Lvl 150 Block Lvl 77 Calculated Blow Lvl 149 Roundhouse Kick Lvl 97 Idiosyncratic Cut (Un) Lvl 126 Stalemate Breaker Lvl 142 Talon Strike Lvl 146 Counter Lvl 94 Ruinous Drive Lvl 114

LoBW Class Skills Spray Holy Sap (Un) Lvl 27 Sharpness Lvl 250 Earthquake (Un) Lvl 48 Invigorating Call (Humanity)(Un) Lvl 14 Erode Image Lvl 100 SpriggitÆs Tinkering Lvl 252 Aether Understanding Lvl 201 Aether Infusion Lvl 47 Volatile Ash Lvl 44 Conviction of the Smiling Horror Lvl 370 Fruit of the Planting of Enmity Lvl 49 Absolute Timing Lvl 182 Cycle of the Gloomy Wood Lvl 45 Riders of the Baleful Court Lvl 304 Torch of Fast and Slow Silences Lvl 212 Sigil of an Approaching Fate Lvl 66 Profound Influence Lvl 21 Reckoning of the Bleak Dawn Lvl 99

Supremacy of the Grim Chimera Chimeric Impunity Lvl 355 Cursed Appetite of a Wraith Lvl 365 Grit of the Ascendent Bane Lvl 393 ReaperÆs Mantle of Catastrophe Lvl 301 Pernicious Fang of the Shade Lvl 306 Man is Proud but the Chimera Takes Lvl 313 The Chimera Weeps as Man Mourns Lvl 261 Ruin is Inevitable Yet This Too Shall Pass Lvl 285

The Stillborn Phoenix A Star that Prayed it would be Reborn Piercing Gaze of the Egg Lvl 259 The Tug of Tragic Silence Lvl 258 Cosmic Necessity Lvl 301 Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart Lvl 341 Tide of the Void Lvl 297 Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix Lvl 316 Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold Lvl 367

Aether Skills Aether Detection Lvl 240 Aether Manipulation Lvl 252 Living Aether Lvl 165 System Interference Lvl 88 Aether Surgeon Lvl 104

Crafting Potion Making Lvl 73 Farming Lvl 34 Analyze Lvl 29 Refine Lvl 106 Extract Lvl 92 Architecture of the Primordial Ways Lvl 399 Experienced CreatorÆs Ingenuity Lvl 199 Touch of the Ghosthound

Yggdrasil the Universe that was First a Tree Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil Lvl 298 The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil Lvl 321 the Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil Lvl 260 the Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil Lvl 314 the Inscrutable Mien of Genesis Lvl 321 the Implacable Price of Exodus Lvl 283 Reign of the Eidolon Crucible Lvl 275 Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil Lvl 332

Auxiliary Sneak Lvl 56 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 21 Sewing Lvl 11 Digging Lvl 9 Cooking Lvl 101 Clockwork Mastery Lvl 30 Aether Connection Lvl 21 Soul Bond Lvl 155 ChefÆs Palette Lvl 36 Nether Modification Child of the Rain (Un) Lvl 59 Engineering Savvy Lvl 275 From Darkness Genesis Lvl 17 (Domain) Crossroads of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 260 Connection to the Alpha Cosmos Nether Sensation Lvl 389 Nether Ritual Lvl 221

After examining everything Randidly felt quite a bit of satisfaction at his own growth Especially when he looked at the amount of PP he possessed

For now Randidly didnÆt try and force his Nether Sphere up to the next Rarity tier for two reasons He probably would be able to make succeed now but raising his influence would likely get him more Weight when he expanded In addition he currently didnÆt understand the role of this Primeval Fang of Betrayal at all

Scratching the wall was impressive but Randidly had managed to Engraving the walls with Nether in the past And also where had that name even come from The System claimed that Weight would increase his capabilities by 30% according to the notifications but he would be more comfortable if he had some more time to train and observe the changes

Randidly looked down at his hands Certainly though that warm gush of energy through his body when he connected to his Nether Core had felt quite enjoyable And when he squinted his eyes he could see ethereal flames rolling off his skin

Influence +1

Randidly tilted his head to the side at the new notification but then chuckled Apparently someone somewhere was thinking quite fondly about him Based on the number of connections it seemed that both Expira and the Alpha Cosmos were included in the Sphere that was generated by making the Nether Core Which hopefully meant that the people in those places would help him increase his Influence quite quickly

A thought occurred to Randidly and he went white He hastily produced his Philosopher’s Key but was so twitchy in his movements that he almost dropped the Fatepiece Just the thought of the PhilosopherÆs Key tumbling down to the bottom of this shaft after he worked so hard to escape made his heart skip a beat After snatching the piece of brass out of the air he slid the key forward and opened a portal into his Alpha Cosmos After about two minutes of sending out messages and waiting four individuals floated out of the portal and looked around

Vualla raised her hands and threw back her hair as she floated out of the portal supported by RandidlyÆs Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart She was dressed casually in leather armor without her heavy gauntlets Since Randidly had seen her last VuallaÆs hair had grown out from shoulder length to near her waist As Randidly saw that he couldnÆt help but grimace at the amount of time that must have passed

But Vualla just smiled at Randidly and opened her arms toward him That express was enough to remind him of the connection between them They embraced both squeezing each other with enough force that they probably would have squished and popped weaker humanoids

We made it Vualla whispered against RandidlyÆs shoulder

He nodded suddenly realizing that he was still floating around down here shirtless Yea It was a pretty vicious trap we fell into But the pull of significance down here isnÆt a problem for me any longer Randidly pulled back a little and scanned VuallaÆs face How long did I take

Vualla wrinkled her nose We were having a moment Randidly DonÆt you worry IÆll beat your ass for making me wait so long but wait you donÆt know how long it took

Randidly shook his head while inwardly hoping his Nether Sphere would give him enough power to surprise Vualla in their eventual confrontation But his earlier nerves were quickly fading Part of the way I escaped was going into a hyper training mode with my Fatepiece By the end of it I thought about basically nothing except finishing my Nether Core Time was meaningless So I really have no idea

Five fucking years Well maybe a month or two short of that but it took a long while Helen floated forward But although she swore her expression seemed relatively light She even grinned over at Randidly and slapped his shoulder when he separated from Vualla Five years of my life waiting while you are training Pretty typical if you ask me

You seem in a better mood than I would have expected Randidly said slowly But inwardly his mind was spinning Five years Depending on how much time dilation there was things might have changed significantly in the Nexus He hoped Edraine and Lady Iellaya had managed without him And had Neveah waited in the Nexus during that whole time

Instantly Randidly felt for his familiar connection with Neveah and sighed when he found her waiting there in that familiar place inside of his Soulspace

About time you remembered me Neveah said playfully IÆm a bit jealous that Vualla was your first thought But donÆt worry about the time for use its only been ten days Commandant Wick has been pressuring Heiffal to give up information on where you are hiding but you made it back in time The real issue is well we will talk about that when you come back to EdraineÆs lodging

Meanwhile Helen gestured backward to the two individuals floating behind her Heh who would have guessed that raising proteges would be so fulfilling Bahaha they might be a bit rowdy but thatÆs why I like them These two you told me to take on the special training mission well letÆs just say IÆm a genius kukuku

Finally Randidly recognized that the other two individuals standing there as Raymund Ballast and DiOrtho Vant Both looked wildly unrecognizable from his prior impressions of them The previously disciplined but meek Raymund had let his fur grow out resulting in the wild savagery of his Vulpine blood being on full display His arms and shoulders were crisscrossed with jagged looking scars

Meanwhile that wild ram demon DiOrtho was wearing a nice suit and had trimmed his hair He looked like a middle aged office worker all of his aggression and hatred for authority gone as though it had never existed

Despite these changes the images that both released had improved quite a bit

But also Randidly tilted his head as he looked at the duo His gaze was above their heads but Helen misinterpreted his confusion

Ah yea these little punks changed a lot Vant even got married to a racist princess But their images are finally up to snuff so no worries about that Helen grinned I donÆt know if the recruitment is still happening but these two will be able to slaughter Nether Gatekeepers like they are chickens

Uh huh Randidly said softly as he thought about the true Nether Gatekeepers below But then his gaze went back to that spot above their heads His hand came up and rubbed his chin as he continued studied the duo As the moment lengthened Randidly could sense both of them becoming increasingly nervous rather belatedly Randidly wondered if he should continue with the rather harsh persona that he had used earlier in their training

But what Randidly was truly looking at were two small notifications that hovered above them Above Raymund were the words Influence 135 Borrowed Weight 135 while DiOrtho had Influence 90 Borrowed Weight 90

Hey you Vualla floated over to Randidly and put her hand on his shoulder She sniffed around Randidly like she was a feral cat This why do I feel something warm when IÆm near you Some weird flames I feel like I could crush an entire city

You are only realizing your feelings for me now Randidly joked as he turned around but when he saw Vualla he had to suck in a breath

Influence 503 Borrowed Weight 311

RandidlyÆs face twitched Does this mean that when we are near each other Vualla will receive the same benefits from my Nether Sphere as I do I suppose my dreams of suddenly overwhelming her will need to wait a bit but hell my images have improved a lot too Perhaps

But Randidly shook himself to get himself back on track He nodded to the two recruits and floated past them to close the door to the Alpha Cosmos Both scrambled to get out of his way Then Randidly opened a portal to the Fifth Cohort Rally Station and gestured Good news for everyone but Vualla Only ten days have passed in the Nexus For now donÆt reveal what happened to you recruits It seems like tensions are rising in the Fifth Cohort IÆll gather some information and debrief you later

After a fleeting kiss from Vualla she led the way through the portal while muttering about being late to report due to a boy Once they were gone Randidly rolled his shoulders closed the portal and exploded upward once more

It only took him a few minutes to reach the portion of the shaft that was crisscrossed with wires and then a few more minutes to locate the side door that led to EdraineÆs neighborhood As always the streets of that isolated place were completely deserted

When Randidly walked up to the study he was met with a leaping Neveah Chuckling Randidly caught her and spun her around Then he lightly settled Neveah onto the ground His hands tightened on her shoulders Thanks for coming

Thanks for not going too wild down there Neveah said wryly Suddenly RandidlyÆs chuckles became awkward as he recalled his mad descent downward in order to dilate time enough that he could create a Nether Core The brittle smile on NeveahÆs face told him exactly how aware she was about the true nature of his behavior

Lady Iellaya wasnÆt present but Edraine and Octavius Shrike seemed exhausted sitting next to ceiling height mounds of scrolls that made the previously expansive and sophisticated study seem like the den of a hoarder

Most interestingly Edraine didnÆt even bother to inquire how he was Instead she said ItÆs been a tumultuous few days the Nether forces in the Fifth Cohort have launched an enormous offensive by folding space But we can get to that later by any chance did you happen to witness the situation down in that Aether Refinery at the base of the spine

Chapter 1589

The intensity in EdraineÆs eyes after her question about RandidlyÆs experience gave him pause Her sharp gaze hinted that this wasnÆt something she asked casually

Randidly cast his mind back to his time down in the depths of the shaft and then shook his head as he came out of that fog with only a blank impression The situation at the base of the spine I was pretty deep down there but there is a spatial distortion to go along with the dilated time within that area So I really donÆt have any idea how close I was to the bottom IÆm pretty confident that there was still a significant distance between me and the bottom But I will say that there are a lot of Nether Gatekeepers down in that area And it looked like those beings were born there That place was extremely strange

Not that I wouldnÆt be able to handle it now but I hope you arenÆt going to ask me to go back down there to explore Randidly tensed as he looked at Edraine

Edraine raised her hands and rubbed her temples The presence of Nether Gatekeepers is interesting to say the least But it paints an even more confusing picture of that place For the moment letÆs set the Nether Gatekeepers aside Your long experience away might have meant that youÆve forgotten this but weÆve been trying to figure out why Octavius was to be framed for embezzling Aether and why Military High Command chose not to pressure the Nexus Labor Council with the information regarding the frame job

To that end we went to Military High CommandÆs greatest prison Edraine stood from her chair causing some nearby scrolls to roll down from their pile and further clutter the floor She ignored the shift as she walked across the study to the far wall There she picked up an extremely thick scroll from a cluttered shelf and scanned through it Then she looked at Randidly and gestured to the scroll We met with the former disgraced Overseer of the Sixth Cohort Luckily it seems like Military High Command still hasnÆt noticed her situation due to the developments of the Nether attack This is a copy of her autobiography

Essentially she got wind even earlier than Octavius that someone was trying to frame her Instead of bringing the evidence forward like we did she decided to spring a trap on her enemies Yet as she started investigating all her allies began to die No matter how powerful an individual she hired to investigate they would be killed before the mission was accomplished By risking her own life she was able to discover something very interesting right before she was captured and imprisoned for life with only a sham trial That the Aether Refinery at the base of the Nexus doesnÆt actually produce Aether at all

Instead it absorbs raw Aether constantly At a pace that has beggared even the grand Nexus Edraine set the scroll back down and raised her hands to her temples once again Randidly could see the long hours spent examining records in the dark bags under her eyes Whatever is down there its more important than almost anything else in the Nexus Its the reason that we need to repeatedly ration the raw Aether allotments in the Nexus And considering the presence of Nether Gatekeepers in the shaft I suppose that maybe what sits at the base is some sort of powerful leader of the Nether forces and the raw Aether is required to imprison that individual

Randidly frowned I only know this second hand but I had heard that when someone dies in the Nexus their consciousness and images were taken down there We had someone on Expira who returned after being exposed to that what he saw were the dismembered limbs of a baby floating at the core of the significance So is the significance separate from the refinery Because

Edraine raised a hand You are correct And honestly I have no idea whether the significance is related to or caused by the same phenomenon that requires the Aether What I can do is hypothesize that the Nether Gatekeepers are a by product of the Nether Being down there trying to escape Which is why the Nexus has been sending increasing amounts of raw Aether down there over the past thousand years

The real conundrum Octavius Shrike finally spoke up Is why it is raw Aether that is sent down there If the goal was truly to imprison a Nether Being wouldnÆt refined Aether be superior In addition even if it isnÆt actually an Aether Refinery so much raw energy and emotion floats upward there are too many mysteries regarding that place

and from the situation of the previous Overseer itÆs clear what happens to individuals who meddle casually with that place Edraine sighed

Randidly scratched his cheek and nodded in agreement He was still somewhat light headed as he listened to these two talk about their theories it had been less than an hour since he had returned to his normal body after being ridden by the Visage of Obsession for almost five years At least for the moment Randidly wasnÆt able to make any sense of the information they provided

Congratulations Your Skill the Golden Roots of Yggdrasil has grown to Level 322

I know Yggdrasil you are doing your best Randidly felt a ghost of a smile settle across his face But there are limits to everything including my Stamina

Apparently Edraine noticed his dazed expression because she waved her hand at him Go Leave the worrying to us Even if this information hints at a deep secret in the Nexus our main plan is still to earn enough Nexus Citizenship Coins to steal ElhumeÆs body This is just a diversion to see if we can take advantage of the situation

Somewhat relieved Randidly nodded again Then he glanced sideways at Neveah

She grinned at him As fun as this was I really do want to head back to Expira If you could open me a portal

After sending Neveah back to Expira with another long hug Randidly returned to the Fifth Cohort Rally Station He opened the portal with the PhilosopherÆs Key directly back to his penthouse apartment Then although there were many demands his body had Randidly turned on the stove and walked to the window

He closed his eyes and released his senses to feel the images and beliefs of the recruits present Plus his presence restarted the constant flow of Nether between him and his recruits The previously motionless energy gradually began to build up momentum as it began circulating through the surroundings

With his improvements to Nether Sensation the amount of information he could gather about the entire situation amongst his recruits just from the Nether was amazing The energy was filled with soft but lingering memories that hinted at the struggles of the past ten days

The recruits had proceeded with their training as though their Head Drill Sergeant hadnÆt vanished Based on the time Randidly had been gone it seemed that the group had also Engaged in one of the group training sessions with the other Drill Sergeants He could sense the impression their sense of triumph had left on their Nether The corner of RandidlyÆs mouth twitched Seems like they had won the challenge

Good That just goes to prove that they are mine Randidly opened his eyes and raised his fingers to press against the glass pane of the window Even as the Nether was stepping up its invasion the recruits were in their last month of training Soon the Aether would begin their counterattack

The notification brought Randidly back to himself where he then rubbed his chin and wandered back over to the lit stove He drizzled oil into the pan to heat while producing some meat and vegetables from his interspatial ring In this case he wasnÆt going to bother with any fancy recipes he would fry everything up in an enormous iron wok and then just devour it all He might even make seconds for himself

Still feeling exhausted RandidlyÆs attention turned to the eviscerated Aether defenses he had erected around his portion of the Fifth Cohort Rally Station Most of the anchors he had left had been smashed to bits In addition the arrays around his personal training areas had been methodically demolished Randidly pressed his lips together into a thin line as he tossed onions and peppers into the pan It seems like Commandant Wick wasnÆt just willing to take HeiffalÆs word for it when he told him I wasnÆt present

Still feeling fuzzy it was difficult for Randidly to feel too worried about the dangerous Commandant Part of it was his growth and part of it was how distant the threat currently felt He dumped the raw pork into the pan with the vegetables and began stirring the concoction around In fact it was difficult to force his body to wait until the food was fully cooked to begin eating Very quickly Randidly decided that his stomach could handle just about anything so he used the spatula to shovel the piping hot food into his mouth

I planned on improving my training array anyway so I guess it really doesnÆt matter Soon Randidly finished the meal and licked his lips He produced more meat and vegetables heating more oil for his next serving This time he would likely have enough patience to fully cook the food before eating Randidly raised his gaze and peered through the wall toward the edges of his domain But I should work on the defenses as soon as possible IÆm definitely stronger but I donÆt want to find out exactly how strong IÆve become by immediately fighting someone like Velio Dunn

But he also couldnÆt deny that even through his exhaustion the wild part of himself raised his head and grinned at the prospect But the restored Soulbound connection quickly restrained those impulses with NeveahÆs reasonable approach

Randidly continued to make vague plans while finishing the prep and devouring his second giant sized helping of food Although he wasnÆt truly full he did feel a great bit of satisfaction from the warm sustenance in his stomach Then he walked into his room and laid down on a bed he had never truly used before and closed his eyes

Randidly Ghosthound breathed out a long breath as though he could shed his worries just by exhaling them

Sleep took him immediately It came softly and buoyed him away to a dreamless silence where all the accumulated mental fatigue Randidly had built up from near five years of training the latter portion without any rest whatsoever could finally begin to heal RandidlyÆs breathing became increasingly even as tension seemed out of his muscles and joints

His heartbeat slowly by powerfully as though the force of its contractions could refine and enhance RandidlyÆs blood

One by one RandidlyÆs three images settled into a relatively deep slumber as well Their edges turned foggy and their cores began to churn Thin threads of Nether stretched from RandidlyÆs Nether Core to all three Each had been changed during the time in the shaft but there was never an opportunity to stabilize and reinforce those changes In addition RandidlyÆs massive growth in his understanding and use of emotions hadnÆt truly begun to influence those images

From those blurry edges viciously sharp details began to emerge The heart and soul of each of the images began shining with radiant emotions

The changes didnÆt stop with RandidlyÆs images With this long awaited rest the various abilities that Randidly had gathered during his frenetic time in the shaft subconsciously began to gather and weave together His confused senses gradually brought themselves back into alignment As he slept Nether and Aether began mirrored flows of each other gradually changing his physical body

Even as his heart began to pound more loudly and RandidlyÆs eyelids twitched he remained in that coma like sleep A strange energy field seeped outward through his person as both Aether and Nether circulated through him

The blankets on his bed burned away as the ethereal flames of Weight that he could now wield began to unconsciously manifest The bedframe underneath Randidly creaked and groaned As the Weight was more fully released tremors ran through the air from RandidlyÆs body His heartbeats seemed to echo to fill the whole room His powerful Weight seemed to grip the air The entire building beneath him began to tremble

With the dramatic sound of a tree hollowed out by forest fire collapsing in a charred clearing on his first night in this new bed frame the piece of furniture steadily cracked and disintegrated beneath him Now on the floor the still sleeping Randidly stretched and rolled over to find a more comfortable position

The plush carpet near RandidlyÆs body began to sizzle and wither Luckily Randidly woke before the situation could escalate much further As he opened his eyes he found three notifications waiting for him

Congratulations Your Skill Absolute Timing has grown to Level 183

ThatÆs another PP Less than forty more before the tithe Randidly thought with a grin Then he realized the situation and glanced around him His bed had vanished leaving only scraps of fabric in the surroundings Somehow he had created a bald spot on the carpet

But before he could investigate the situation in detail his Grim Intuition told him why he woke up after only seven hours though his body might prefer to sleep for an entire day

Commandant Wick had once more returned to the Fifth Cohort Rally Station With a groan Randidly got to his feet

Chapter 1590

Well I suppose it is reassuring that this impudent whelp didnÆt completely waste his time while shirking his military duties Commandant Wick thought as he swept his eyes across the standing form of Randidly Ghosthound His subordinate now stood in front of him with his arms behind his back as was proper It seemed the boy planned on pretending that his deeply troubling behavior hadnÆt even occurred

In the right circumstances sure If there was another faction here they would ignore such trivialities

But now they were alone standing at the edges of the GhosthoundÆs territory There had been no explanation offered as to why he was away aside from training So Wick truly had been kept away just due to convenience for the boyÆs training And Wick did not like being made to wait

For now Commandant Wick would allow his subordinate to maintain this foolish self delusion They had bigger fish to fry And as he noted earlier the Ghosthound now possessed a much greater influence over his own aura Standing in front of Randidly now it was almost impossible to detect either shape or emotional reverberations he had brought his wild heart under control during his brief absence

Honestly considering how little respect the Ghosthound had shown Wick was quite obnoxious in combination with his calm demeanor

Perhaps observing me inspired him Commandant Wick reflected while he frowned over at the kid Because otherwise it was difficult to think of how the boy could have generated such significant progress with his images since he had last seen him Perhaps he had gone to a Dungeon but this wasnÆt an area where a year or two made much difference Even a decade might not be enough to address such weaknesses

Pursing his lips Commandant Wick upped the pressure he released Some of the tight reins that he maintained over his own image were released allowing the distorted core to squeeze the surrounding space The nearby dirt ground was blasted clean by his imageÆs intensity The GhosthoundÆs eyes tightened but otherwise he displayed no outward recognition of the increasing pressure

A good chess piece Commandant Wick felt avarice in his heart as he looked at the GhosthoundÆs stoic expression and strong posture but he knew that now was a time to wait He once more veiled his inner distortion and cleared his throat He would give him one more chance to apologize Do you have anything to say for yourself Abandoning your post in a time of war sets a dangerous precedent It is difficult to feel assured giving you responsibility when this is the way you behave

The Ghosthound lowered his gaze still saying nothing Wick noted that the manÆs control over his emotions had also improved but he was confident that he could still read the inexperienced young man This silence was much different than the prior repentant silences More was hidden beneath the surface The Commandant smirked It is good to know the boy still knows shame Still perhaps a little more of a threat is necessary

If I find you have committed a similar sin in the future you will return to find that annoying subordinate of yoursÆ head waiting for you on a spike Commandant Wick growled I will not tolerate insubordination Have I made myself clear

Randidly lowered his head further The Commandant nodded in satisfaction His body language displayed weakness It seemed that the CommandantÆs insight was spot on Although calm on the surface the young man was engulfed in complex emotions

Still it was not as though the powerful Commandant was without empathy His expression eased somewhat as he looked at the young man It is understandable that you would crave power Only with power can you protect those things that are important to you And I assume you have heard the news about your home planet

This time the Ghosthound looked upward Although there were no reverberations in the air his eyes were extremely focused Just below the surface the Commandant could feel the emotions seething like a sea of fire

Good You arenÆt a weakling Craving vengeance is just the in I need in my chess pieces

With a practiced air Commandant Wick baited the hook and tossed it out into the waters Although you are technically free to do as you will after you finish training the recruits if you wish I can arrange for you to be part of my deployment force We need capable commanders Channel that aggression young man and someday you will be a true force in the Nexus No one will dare humiliate you ever again

Then at a thought Commandant Wick tilted his head to the side and turned away As long as he started the process of reeling the Ghosthound in these visits wouldnÆt be a waste of time The situation at the frontlines was hectic but mostly because the Commandant wasnÆt given the freedom to do as he wished Other independent forces in the Nexus were using the deployment date for the recruits to bind him to just defending until them This allowed the others to gather their own forces in the hopes of contributing to the war effort

They were fools to allow a wound to fester like this But since the rot had already taken hold the Commandant already had some plots to sever puss filled limbs when the house cleaning began

While here Wick inquired blandly How goes the training of the recruits I hope your own improvement doesnÆt come at the cost of the troops

The Ghosthound smiled I believe you will be pleasantly surprised on that front sir You can look forward to the final Drill Sergeant Challenge

The antlered Nether Gatekeeper was stunned by the color and texture of his surroundings He had originally planned to remain at the spot where he had been released by his savior but the terrain around him was too new and brilliant The grainy sensation of the orange dirt the sharp and proud ridges of the mountain the warm feeling of sunlight on his skin the Nether Gatekeeper was completely blown away As it had spent its entire existence within the darkness of the shaft the surroundings overstimulated him very quickly

The Gatekeeper trembled from simply standing in this place

Hours relentlessly passed and the hot sun gradually cooled and sank toward the horizon Curious where the sun was going the Nether Gatekeeper rapidly climbed up the stone ridges until he reached the top There he stopped next to a strange archway and looked with glazed eyes toward the horizon The sky was filled with a smattering of clouds and they were dipped in gold as the sun gradually set And below him the land slope down to a vast bowl that stretched as far as the eye could see

The whole world seemed to be laid out in front of the Nether Gatekeeper Below him was a lush plain dotted with lakes that shimmered with ethereal light At the behest of some hidden instinct in his chest tears flowed from his eyes

This was why he had struggled This was why he had refused to surrender and allow himself to be devoured by the darkness below which was the fate of all the Nether Gatekeepers born in that place

This moment was the most beautiful thing the Nether Gatekeeper had ever experienced In his heart the Nether Gatekeeper held a deep reverence for his savior but this place cemented that position and began rapidly to raise the figure of Randidly Ghosthound toward something near the tier of a deity Because who else but a deity could have access to this land of wonders

As the sun gradually set the Nether Gatekeeper drank in the surroundings with every sense he could muster still trembling Meanwhile his significance rapidly accumulated In the past his Nether Core had been writ with the desperate desire to survive and escape the place of its birth where so many of his fellows still remained But now the Nether Gatekeeper had accomplished that task A sense of warm fulfillment bubbled up within his body

Energy circulated rapidly through his Nether Core The long worn paths of the energy flows gradually began to change the previous significance had been accomplished Now it was time for Nether Gatekeeper to advance to a new form

It was only a matter of discovering his new purpose

However this process was an unconscious one After all the Nether Gatekeeper was now completely consumed by his observation of the natural phenomenon of the Alpha Cosmos at the moment His eyes constantly drank down the natural beauty of this place seeking higher meaning within the vast wilderness around him

Still his attention was eventually dragged away by movement from the archway next to him As the sun neared the horizon a sparkling wave of white light ran across the arch Then a swirling vortex of white and green energy formed in the middle of the edifice

The Nether Gatekeeper looked at this new phenomenon with the same fascination with which he had regarded the sunset In addition he reasoned that this place was truly a wonderland so there was no need to worry overmuch about his own safety He could sense that this energy posed no threat to him So he walked forward and stretched his hand out to touch the energy

When the Nether GatekeeperÆs dusky fingers brushed against that energy a bridge was built between two distant and intertwined orbs of energy The Nether GatekeeperÆs senses could detect the profound simplicity in the arrangement Then there was a wrenching sense of disorientation and suddenly the Nether Gatekeeper felt itself being teleported to somewhere else

His first response was one of horrified guilt Had it transgressed the orders of his savior and been punished If this movement returned him to the Abyss

But then the Nether Gatekeeper looked around The surroundings were different yes but he was still standing at the top of a mountain range Stone and rock formed the majority of the surroundings But the air in this place was very different Not only was it chillier but there were gorgeous white particles drifting down from a grey sky With wonder in his eyes the Nether Gatekeeper raised a hand and grasped one of the particles in his hand

He studied it closely and noticed it was some sort of frozen crystal As he held it the crystal grew insubstantial and disintegrated The Nether Gatekeeper was left with a wet palm

He looked up at the sky with an even more solemn expression The entire surroundings were filled with these transient white particles that drifted toward the ground Gusts of wind sent them spiraling in confusing movements The whole world around the Nether Gatekeeper was in constant motion Somehow it made him think that the sky was dancing gracefully down around him

Yet in the middle of his wonder the Nether Gatekeeper felt panic once again the white and green light had left the archway He hurried forward but simply passed through the mundane air without any wondrous change in location this time The bridge had disappeared

Even more alarming was the massive shifting body on a nearby peak An enormous scaled azure dragon raised its head to stare fixedly at the Nether Gatekeeper Some small amount of those frozen crystals had been hiding its presence and now as it moved those fell away to reveal the monsterÆs bulk Feeling the threat that such a being presented the Nether Gatekeeper clenched his fists But a split second later he remembered the words of his savior

Try not to cause trouble or fight anyone

The azure dragon raised its long neck toward the sky and roared Then its spread its enormous wings each one stretching five meters outward and flexed its limbs to release several powerful gusts of wind Each gesture blasted away the white crystals in the surrounding air The Nether Gatekeeper brought its arms defensively near its chest and lowered its head Energy cracked through its dusk colored antlers

It was clear that this strange beast was the domineering ruler of this area just from its aura But the Nether Gatekeeper planned on following its savior’s words He would just attempt to defend itself in the face of this single threat

At the same moment that the azure dragon threw its body off of the peak to glide toward the Nether Gatekeeper there were several disturbances in the nearby clouds Scaled bodies cut through the slate grey clouds Blood began to drain from the Nether GatekeeperÆs face as it saw that four more enormous azure dragons began circling around this location

Perhaps the reason that the savior told me not to wander was because of threats like this The Nether Gatekeeper sighed After escaping the Great Abyss I foolishly let down my guard Ah savior IÆm so sorry

Rather than striking the Nether Gatekeeper immediately it seemed like the azure dragon intended on playing with its food With his senses that were sharpened by the Great Abyss the Nether Gatekeeper clearly felt the emotions of this beast in front of it it exuded an almost childish combination of excitement and anticipation as it approached

Perhaps it had been a while since it had a satisfying meal

It crashed down in front of the Nether Gatekeeper cracking the ground with its weight The long claws of its legs gouged deep divots into the ground It beat its wings several times and then folded its wings against its sides While its body remained still the dragonÆs long neck undulated further until it was only a few meters away from the Nether Gatekeeper Then a growl emerged from deep in its throat

Then it spat to the side a large glob of phlegm The dragon turned its eyes back to the Nether Gatekeeper and spoke in a rumbling voice Hello sir Would you like to hear about our lord and savior Randidly Ghosthound

Chapter 1591

When the Nether Gatekeeper cautiously assented to the request in order to preserve his life the azure dragon began to speak very rapidly about the exploits of this Randidly GhosthoundÆ The other dragons soon landed nearby and began to nod along with the stories that the first dragon was explaining

It was clear that they were all were very familiar with these tales

And it only took a few minutes for the Nether GatekeeperÆs expression to change as the dragonÆs described Randidly Ghosthound When the dragon finally stopped speaking in order to take a breath the Nether Gatekeeper raised its hand for a moment to speak

Ah Disappointment rolled off the dragon with palpable sadness The corners of its mouth drooped downward It shifted its position uncomfortably You donÆt wish to learn more Please believe me if you accept the savior into your life

No it isnÆt that The Nether Gatekeeper rasped out He was quite taken aback when his own voice was even worse than the dragonÆs The Nether Gatekeeper had never spoken in the past but he had witnessed speaking And when he opened its mouth and expressed its meaning vocally the System appeared to take care of the rest But despite that the action was somewhat uncomfortable His throat tingled from the new vibrations

With all the large dragons crouching around him the Nether Gatekeeper felt quite out of place But he also felt a kinship with these azure dragons The Nether Gatekeeper continued to speak slowly I actually I too was recently saved from the Great Abyss by a savior And and after hearing you talk about him I b believe our saviors are the same person

The first dragonÆs eyes in front of him were very bright as it nodded seriously Of course there is only one savior

Meanwhile the other dragons growled to each other

The Great Abyss

The Ghosthound is of course active in other places

Could we could this be the beginning of a new scripture

A fellow believer

Now The first dragon spoke again Brother please tell us everything about this Great Abyss and the exploits of the Ghosthound We must record our saviors actions so we can spread the word of his works

Influence +2

Influence +3

Randidly yawned wildly and took a break from repairing the defensive Aether arrays on the Fifth Cohort Rally Station His fingers dimmed as he stopped channeling Mana through his body Suddenly IÆm gaining multiple Influence at the same time Well IÆm not going to complain but I wonder whatÆs happening

Ah maybe its KharonÆs exposure to my Nether Core Maybe even Kharon Academy opened That will probably accelerate the accumulation

Randidly made a mental note to send a message to Tatiana regarding the development of the Academy but there were simply too many tasks requiring his attention at the moment Since waking up this morning and talking to the smug and arrogant Commandant he had been rather constantly busy Most of it was catching up on the development of the recruits but he had also strengthened the images items he had left with three of the recruits to incorporate his new image details

In addition Randidly had to speak with Helen and make arrangements for DiOrtho Vant and Raymund Ballast Both had moved past the point where typical physical training wouldnÆt be a problem for them Randidly didnÆt like the satisfaction on the two recruitsÆ faces when Helen had said that and because he had still been in a sour mood after Commandant Wick threatened Heiffal Randidly had created two mini training pods for them

Those two training pods were perfect replicas of the training pod Randidly had used prior to his ten days away To the current him such training would only be a warm up but it was more than enough to teach the recruits some humility

Influence +2

Or perhaps its those recruits deepening their awe for me after being chastened Randidly grinned but quickly yawned again He simply was too busy and his body still craved more sleep He also had several messages from Octavius Shrike explaining his and EdraineÆs investigations in more detail Yet Randidly couldnÆt bring himself to read them in his tired state This definitely seemed like a time where he would happily let his mind forget he had those waiting messages as he moved on to address more pressing issues

He briefly considered forwarding the messages to Tatiana and asking her to summarize what they said but somehow sensed that the head of Kharon wouldnÆt be too pleased by his actions If he was going to leave Expira in her care he couldnÆt continue relying on her

It was just unfortunate that none of his other subordinates were very talented in the area of information gathering

Congratulations Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial has grown to Level 400

The notification of his first Skill to reach Level 400 was welcome news but after a small smile he went right back to work RandidlyÆs fingers glowed with the blue light of Mana as he continued Engraving the protections Every line was one more barrier against a sudden attack With the understanding that the shade gained in YystrixÆs tomb the number of layers of defenses that Randidly could muster shot upward

After he finished he examined the array carefully The runes glowed with power Randidly utilized all three of his images to test the defensive limits then nodded in satisfaction It wonÆt be enough to stop someone like Velio Dunn or Commandant Wick but it should slow them down Man even with my improvements IÆm still a bit short from matching up to the powerful figures of the Nexus hah perhaps my ten year promise was a bit optimistic

But although he thought that way Randidly was in a very good mood The nap hadnÆt been all the rest he needed but it was enough to restore most of his faculties The mental acuity he now possessed was nothing compared to the streamline clarity of using the Visage of Obsession but it still filled him with confidence that he wouldnÆt forget something important

Chewing his lip Randidly produced his Visage of Obsession and examined it without unrolling the painting He was curious whether it was possible to re use the Fatepiece Luckily a notification quickly popped up

Although the Visage of Obsession has been sated for the moment it is possible to once more to descend through the depths of your psyche to pursue a new obsession Simply open the Visage of Obsession while holding the craving in your heart to begin the process

Warning once the process is started it can only be delayed never halted Warning the sacrifices required to pursue your obsession may be different from prior uses of the Visage of Obsession

Randidly shook his head helplessly He had somewhat anticipated it but it was still a shame that the sacrifices would be different the second time through Basically the experiences he had gained might not be much use But he supposed that the gradual adjustments were the entire reason the Fatepiece was so effective

He put the Fatepiece away without having to spend too much time thinking about the decision now wasnÆt the time for another attempt

Influence +4

Randidly scratched his chin feeling somewhat embarrassed that his Influence continued to rapidly rise But he rationalized part of the growth was due to the fact that it wasnÆt possible to grow the same way before his Nether Core existed So his return to the Fifth Cohort Rally Station and activation of the stagnant Nether flows had jumpstarted the spread of his influence

Having a Nether Core serve as the intermediary sped up the process His exchange of meaning and significance was more smooth than ever before

With his mind at ease Randidly frowned upward at the sky Enormous banks of glittering orange dust drifted overhead Then he left the borders of his area and headed toward his personal training sphere He was still tired but he wanted to spend a little time studying the effect of Weight before anything else

And after a full nightÆs sleep he could finally begin seriously pushing for the required PP to receive his Tithe from the Alpha Cosmos

Randidly clambered into his training sphere and immediately activated the Engravings Growling in something close to pleasure he felt the tight physical restrictions settle around his body Due to his increased insight into Engravings the new training sphere was even more effective than the previous iteration he had made for the two five year recruits The humming Engraving squeezed Randidly to the point that he had difficulty breathing normally

But that just made him release a hoarse laugh His images and Skills stirred to action as Randidly spread his arms Is this the limit ItÆs not enough to even make me break a sweat

The Grim Chimera smiled and his image physicalizations came into being Randidly began to stretch easily practically ignoring the suppression of the sphere After loosening himself up Randidly adjusted the Engraving and doubled the pressure he was under The waves of force around him intensified His cackle was choked back by the pressure but his smile was still in place finally he could test the limits of his Weight

As he slowly shifted his position his joints popped and settled into place Blood began to flood through his veins and into his muscles

Congratulations Your Skill Grit of the Ascendant Bane has grown to Level 394

Randidly cracked his knuckles pleasantly as he lowered his stance He dropped his right hand down to his hip With a light brush of Willpower his Nether Core began to swirl A mysterious humming spread outward as ethereal flames surrounded RandidlyÆs body Randidly threw a punch forward feeling the explosion of force The movement started in his toes shot up through his legs traveled through his waist and finally arrived as shoulder and arms His strange ghost flames spiralled outward in a whirlwind from his wrist in an explosive torrent

The reinforced Engravings of the training pod flickered briefly as the physical force of RandidlyÆs punch had enough oomph to distort their energy With a twist Randidly spun and generated a humming tension through the muscles and tendons in his legs Then his leg snapped upward in a crushing heel kick

Congratulations Your Skill Cosmic Necessity has grown to Level 302

This time when the ethereal flames of his Weight rushed forward in a searing cut the Engravings sizzled slightly The runes had to flare with power in order to escape being forcibly extinguished

Randidly grinned as he allowed the training sphere to cool and disengage While it was true that the benefits he received from the Weight only amounted to a 30% boost it was a 30% increase in base performance across the board not an increase in effect So while each muscle might only be 30% superior to his prior self the final result of every attack probably was closer to a doubling of his effective power

Randidly very much looked forward to seeing how the boost of Weight would affect him when he mixed three images and Skills together at once

In his best mood since he was forced to listen to Commandant Wick earlier in the day Randidly returned to his penthouse apartment After setting up some basic Engravings to resist the destructive aura of his own body he once more laid down to sleep

When he woke up he would begin his final preparations for the war against Nether He hadnÆt forgotten the way that strange being of Nether had chased the shade to Expira If Randidly was going to expose himself he needed power enough to stand up for himself

As he closed his eyes and his breathing became even Nether continued to cycle through his many Connections His images continued to shift The energy field produced by functioning apparati of both Aether and Nether in close proximity grew more overwhelming The Engravings made to resist his aura gradually brightened as he slept forced to endure more and more power

Through it all the last of RandidlyÆs tension leaked out of his body

Chapter 1592

Randidly woke up after twelve hours feeling extremely refreshed He stretched and yawned then hopped up from the smoldering remnants of his couch He walked over to the window and grinned outside enjoying the sunshine

The constant aches and discomforts that he had carried with him since he had left the shaft finally were smoothed away by Yggdrasil His soul body images and Nether Core came into perfect alignment with each other There was no visible sign of the change but Randidly could feel the working shift something vital about himself

Balance was finally achieved

Reflecting on what exactly that shift meant Randidly could only scratch his cheek awkwardly as he turned away from the window he had no clue But he firmly believed that should he continue to earnestly train his efforts would soon be rewarded

With only ten days left until the final Drill Sergeant Challenge which was the day before deployment to the frontlines Randidly threw himself into training For now PP was his primary concern His SoulskillÆs Tithe was the most effective improvement he could receive in the short term

To that end RandidlyÆs first order of business was refining his training array even further his exercise with Weight had proven that he still hadnÆt gotten to the bottom of his current physical capabilities After a sizable breakfast he immediately went to his personal training array and mobilized his Mana He tightened the bindings against his body and also created an approximation of the image dispersal of the porcelain automatons that was reverse engineered from one of their broken corpses

Randidly couldnÆt get the effect of complete dispersal from a single pulse but he was able to incorporate a constant weakening of images into his training array through a persistent buzz of energy He sent another few broken dolls to Neveah to see if she could have some better luck reverse engineering their effects but for now his current array was sufficient

With a wide and wild smile on his face Randidly Ghosthound stepped into his training array With a shudder the Engravings activated Tight coils of compressed space clamped down over his body and weakened his images

Night and day Randidly trained aiming to accumulate PP He started with his images He aimed for the Skills that were close to reaching a new threshold and focused his attention on sharpening the details The musculature and body of the Grim Chimera was reinforced The ecosystem around the World Tree was slowly filled out The powerful and mysterious energy released by the Stillborn Phoenix became increasingly ominous

In the process he earned quite a few Levels in Conviction of the Smiling Horror reaching Level 389 Grit of the Ascendant Bane became his second Skill to reach Level 400

Randidly also spent quite a bit of time working with his new Ruin is Inevitable Yet This Too Shall Pass Skill With the newfound focus of the image it became much easier to connect to the parallel Randidlys and seek out survival information in difficult situations From there it required much less energy to activate the adaption portion of the Skill as Randidly already understood what he was targeting With his concerted effort that Skill soon reached Level 301

Upon taking an hour long break in his training Randidly checked his PP and grinned he had reached the needed 1750 PP He had even exceeded it by a bit For a moment he was going to utilize it now and at least receive the PP Tithe but he decided to wait

On the one hand he still hadnÆt really mastered all of his current abilities yet A few days would enable him to sort that unfamiliarity and be ready for his next spurt of growth But also Randidly would feel better to go to the Challenge without using the Tithe where he knew he was going to be observed by other forces Then if Velio Dunn and his ilk planned an ambush for him later based on observations from that event his explosive growth in Stats could catch them by surprise

All the while his Influence continued to accumulate

Cheered by the thought of surprising that fuck Velio Dunn Randidly bided his time and continued his training as though he hadnÆt gathered the required amount of PP From the individual Skills Randidly began utilizing three images at once with the multiplicative boost from Weight His three images spiraled together under the pressure and coalesced into a solid core The Engravings of the array shined bright as the suppression increased With this Randidly truly intended to discover his limits

Ethereal flames sprung to life across his limbs pushing his potential upward

Congratulations Your Skill Conviction of the Smiling Horror has grown to Level 390

Which was why on the fifth day of training Randidly forcibly shattered his training array The wave of force he unwittingly unleashed damaged all the surrounding training arrays and wounded several recruits in the process Luckily the two closest to Randidly were DiOrtho and Raymund who both possessed tough bodies otherwise there might have been actual casualties

Feeling chagrined Randidly asked Heiffal and Helen to increased the base difficulty of the recruitÆs training even further Then Randidly simply went back and made an even more powerful training array utilizing the insights Neveah had gained from studying the broken porcelain automatons Then around the training array he created a variant of the defensive array he had made around his area

Better safe than sorry after all

It was right when Randidly finished the training array that he abruptly remembered the Nether Gatekeeper that he put in the Alpha Cosmos before he had escaped from the shaft Because he could use some information on the usage of Nether he immediately swept his senses through the Alpha Cosmos But to his surprise the Nether Gatekeeper had vanished

With a growing frown on his face Randidly began to use his Nether Sensation to track down the Nether Gatekeeper As a being of Nether there were minute energy disturbances that Randidly could track And it was only due to this investigation that he discovered the strange archways on Expira and the Alpha Cosmos which opened at sunset and allowed small amounts of people to pass from one world to the other

He finally tracked down the Nether Gatekeeper at the Frost Dragon Village but Randidly reasoned that he already had enough on his plate learning to understand his weight and images For now letting the Nether Gatekeeper have some free time was fine

Besides there was one piece of information from Edraine that was emphasized enough that it reached Randidly through his general distaste for reading through their extensive reports they had found out why Velio Dunn knew when he went into the shaft

For whatever reason someone marked you EdraineÆs message read This method isnÆt available for everyone it requires the individual to have earned the ireÆ of the overlay System in the past Then it has to be activated manually by a worker with high clearance From what I can tell the mark was placed around the time you condensed your Fate

Because of that mark basically every high ranking member of the NLC will be able to keep tabs on you if they wish Be careful

Randidly gritted his teeth as he read that message His mind went back to the notifications around condensing his Fate and the communication from Nathaz Eloise requesting that Randidly come to meet him when he arrived at the Nexus

Perhaps he really would have to do that to smash the man to pieces for so casually creating an enormous threat on RandidlyÆs life

Still that news made Randidly double down on his plan to be relatively low key in the short term He would plan something suitably impressive for the Drill Sergeant Challenge to demonstrate his recruits’ abilities but his own movements would be contained Until he understood and eliminated this way to track his movements he needed to be cautious

To that end he wrote a short letter and sent it to Superintendent Xeruth of the Fifth Cohort Rally Station The letter read My elite unit will fight the entirety of the other recruits Arrange a suitable location

On the day before the Drill Sergeant Challenge Superintendent Xeruth paced back and forth in his office The curtains were tightly pulled shut and the candles in the room had been left burning for so long that wax dribbled down over the candlesticks and onto the desk Yet he continued to be driven by his fears into walking the length of his office over and over again

Soon there was a knock on the door and the Superintendent twitched Some of his fugue state was shaken away by the noise C come in

The door opened and the familiar form of his son Kallum walked into the room Although the pale boy was clearly exhausted he was healthy and safe After standing frozen for a second and scanning his son Superintendent Xeruth rushed over and squeezed him in a hug Kallum Kallum Thank god you were able to make it away I hope escaping

Dad please IÆm an enlisted member of the military now DonÆt treat me like a kid Kallum said with a frown as he broke up a hug and took a step backward And what do you mean escape I just told the Overseers that I wanted to visit my family before being deployed Because I had finished the assigned training early they let me go ItÆs not a big deal

You then the Ghosthound knows that you are here The SuperintendentÆs eyes widened

Kallum shrugged Well I doubt it The Head Drill Sergeant is too busy training these days to notice anything else But what does it matter Why did you want to see me so urgently

Finally the Superintendent mastered his feelings His expression became solemn Are you aware of the request the Head Drill Sergeant has made for the Challenge When Kallum shook his head the Superintendent continued He has said that his elite squad will take on all of the other recruits at once

What Huh Well I suppose that makes sense after how the prior challenge went Kallum shrugged Without a bit of a challenge how are we as the elite squad supposed to feel any pride in our victory I donÆt understand what your point is

Suddenly Superintendent Xeruth took a closer look at his son And although the boy was clearly pushed to his physical limits his eyes were bright and sharp More than anything else the Superintendent noticed the twinkle of pride in XeruthÆs eyes every time he talked about being a part of the Head Drill SergeantÆs elite squad

In a split second the Superintendent felt like he had aged ten years His son that he had so long tried to protect was walking beyond his reach And from the SuperintendentÆs perspective he was confidently striding right into the lionÆs den

Son obviously I know how effective the Head Drill SergeantÆs training regimes are The Superintendent began slowly He licked his lips as he gathered his words The first three challenges more than demonstrated his capability In the eyes of the military he was a clear success That is why this fourth challenge will be special Now that everyone understands the threat that the Nether poses every faction in the Nexus wants to take credit for saving the Fifth Cohort

When KallumÆs face didnÆt change at all the Superintendent continued to speak There have been thousands of injuries to recruits requiring substitute troops to be found The substitutes have largely passed into this batch of recruits without any oversight whatsoever I have no doubt that many private subordinates of power players in the Nexus are now amongst the various squads So not only will the elite squad be facing an overwhelming numerical disadvantage but they will also be outmatched in terms of experience

The Superintendent’s eyes bulged His son smiled smugly at him not swayed at all by his arguments

The Superintendent waved his arms desperately Why did you choose now to become bullheaded How much could you truly have improved in three months These are veterans There is no need to compete against them just for pride Your life will be in danger

Breathing heavily the Superintendent watched his son turn away from him Although he had deeply feared Randidly Ghosthound in the past it was nothing compared to the raw hatred that he felt for the Head Drill Sergeant now

Just watch dad Kallum said as he left XeruthÆs office IÆll show you how much three months can mean

Chapter 1593

Randidly woke up with a stretch and a yawn Scratching his stomach he sat up With only a few hours before the Challenge he had decided to take a nap After his time inside the shaft he really came to appreciate the true reset that could only be accomplished by sleeping That rest honed his edge to a vicious point that he suspected he would need

Today was important Randidly could feel several powerful individuals amongst the trainees these days It seemed that the Nexus wanted to make a statement with this Challenge Or perhaps they were just finally taking the Nether threat seriously Either way it meant trouble for his subordinates now

Randidly grinned widely as he flipped himself to his feet Wind rustled his hair He was on top of the high residential building for the Overseers He would definitely enjoy helping a statement be made here today But he had a feeling that many individuals would be disappointed

One step at a time

That thought brought him back to the present His lips twitching in amusement Randidly looked at the heavy stone ground around him The stones were bleached and pitted as though he had dumped acid on the ground while sleeping He rolled his eyes I decided to sleep on the roof to protect my room from further damage but alas my rest is a plague wherever I go relaxing enough to subconsciously release Weight seems to be a problem that IÆll have for the rest of my life

Ah if we ever settle down and live a domestic life this might make sharing a bed with Vualla difficult

fuck who am I kidding She might actually like it

Bemused Randidly walked to the edge of the roof His emerald eyes turned sharp as he carefully inspected the flowing Nether that connected him with the recruits below Perhaps it was the timeless seeming break that he had taken due to the Visage of Obsession but Randidly could feel the ways that his recruits had grown during their three months here Heiffal and HelenÆs vicious training had kept them on track The three individuals that he had given his images to had taken huge strides forward in incorporating those concepts And DiOrtho and Raymund

Well those two werenÆt at the level of recruits any longer They had the power to protect themselves even on a chaotic battlefield Currently all the recruits had returned to their created dwellings either meditating or harvesting the plants within their gardens Significance swirled above them as they prepared for deployment Seeing how seriously they took the process Randidly felt a surge of pride

These were the units that he trained He knew they would accomplish great things

Randidly turned away from the roof and walked back toward the hatch that allowed access to the roof For now weÆve done all that we could Perhaps I could have been more active personally but my own growth is the foundation of this elite squad Now all thatÆs left is to give them a speech

Influence +3

But before Heiffal gathered the recruits for RandidlyÆs final sendoff speech Randidly wanted to accomplish two things The first was less important he needed to spend some time thinking about the sort of figure that Randidly Ghosthound was going to be in the eyes of the recruits

Truly using the Visage of Obsession gave Randidly a chance to change his outlook and persona After tossing all the ancillary personality traits away he could be much pickier about which he would continue to hold on to as he slowly gathered everything back together At this point it seemed much more important for the recruits to be loyal than for them to be afraid of him The overbearing actions of Commandant Wick warned him of the dangers if he continued to associate with that man

He wouldnÆt try to coerce the recruits all into the group planning on causing a radical shift in the Nexus Nor would he want them to all follow him after this war hopefully ended Rather Randidly hoped to establish a firm connection Nether even if in extremely minute quantities would continue to flow between them sharing their significance

A large part of this shift was drawing a stark line between himself and Commandant Wick his acknowledged superior However Randidly understood that speaking out publicly about that relationship was sure to draw the attention and ire of an already testy Wick Therefore his desires could only be accomplished through a very specific and ambiguous emotional stance during his speech

Randidly even with his increased sensitivity toward emotions from his time in the shaft felt a headache at the prospect of such a subtle portrayal This was definitely not playing to his strengths but he would try his best

The second thing Randidly wanted to do was spend some time looking through all the Paths that he accumulated Soon his PP Tithe would be coming and he needed to be ready to make his decisions Even if he received a huge amount of PP he doubted that heÆd be able to finish ALL his Paths So Randidly opened his Path menu and perused through the list

Friend to Humanity 0/100 Mantle of the Patron 0/500 Aether Convergence II the Bell of Doom Tolls 0/600 The Ashes of Ulaat Patron of Ash 0/1000 Order Ducis Font of Guidance HumanityÆs Torch 0/500 Puppet Master 0/100 Pain Immunity I 0/250 Cleaver of the World Tree Weakness of the World Tree 0/500 Guilty Conscience I 0/100 Peerage of the Baleful Court I 0/600 Hands of the Artisan 0/ Ashes of Illym the Above Average Child 0/5000 The Flame the Burns Memories 0/ Exodus the Terror 0/1000 Genesis the Considered 0/1000 Image Cooperation I 0/100 Body Refinement I 0/ ChimeraÆs Struggle II 0/ Spear Mastery III 0/200 Mysteries of the Fiery Emerald Waltz 0/ Violent Heat I 0/ Sovereign of Violence I 0/1000 Deathwish III 0/3 The Pursuit of Alchemy 0/750 Weakness of the Grim Chimera 0/500 Weakness of the Stillborn Phoenix 0/500 The Shadow Beyond the Threshold 0/ The ChimeraÆs Metamorphosis 0/2000 Greater Nether Core 0/ Primordial Might 0/ The Passion sans Shape I 0/ Emotional Artisan 0/500 Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm 0/1000 Architecture of Yggdrasil I 0/ The Trace of the Ideal 0/ Physique to Break the System 0/1500 Glimpse of the Shallah I 0/

Randidly perused the Paths available to him new and old while heading down to his apartment to make breakfast

DonÆt play dumb Charlotte folded her arms across her chest as she looked over at Raymund and his new wild and primal fur Somehow every movement hinted at barely concealed violence What the hell happened to you two while you were gone Even spending time in a Dungeon isnÆt enough to make you seem so different thereÆs no time dilation powerful enough to turn ten days into the lifetime you two seem to have gone through

DiOrtho smirked but his expression was just milder somehow Even his sneering arrogance was muted by the changes Between the two of them he was the less aggressively different but he too gave Charlotte a tingling sense of fear when his gaze turned serious Are you jealous

Charlotte just growled in response at the ram demon while Raymund chuckled Pouting slightly Charlotte let the matter drop The three were slowly walking their way through the misty paths of the recruit residential area They passed by a mix of well and poorly made houses while the familiar sound of the creaking bamboo forest buoyed them forward

Charlotte felt a strange sense of loss as she walked out of this place

It felt surreal to be leaving this place now so strange that Charlotte dropped her suspicions about the changes that came over the duo She simply focused on the feeling in her stomach as she faced the truth she was moving on to a warzone The training months were over Although she bore the Wick name Charlotte knew that she would receive no protection from her grandfather someone who couldnÆt protect herself wasnÆt worth nurturing

An icy hand gripped her heart And thinking that she might never see Overseer Helen again

Yet at the same time she wasnÆt particularly afraid of fighting against the Nether Beasts that would be waiting for her She had not wasted the time that she spent here training underneath the Head Drill Sergeant

She had grown Somehow she suspected that even she truly didnÆt understand the changes she had experienced Only with time and perspective would she grow to truly appreciate how important these three months had been for her

Soon they passed through the misty area and arrived at the parade grounds Most of their fellow recruits were waiting there for them talking to each other in hushed voices After exchanging a glance with DiOrtho the trio moved to the front of the group Charlotte used hand gestures to signal her Squad which created ripples through the crowd as the other Squads also broke off their side conversations and assembled

She could feel how tense how they all were How much anticipation they all had Everyone was aware of the difficulty of the final challenge Today was the chance to truly prove themselves If they wanted to change their Fates as favored by replaceable descendants of powerful individuals a prestigious career in the military was a good first step

Five Squad Leaders stood at the front of the newly organized recruits Raymund Ballast stood at the front with a placid expression on his face Of the two the changes to Vulpine were more subtle but also more impressive His body now exuded a natural prowess that Charlotte had only ever seen on two individuals before Head Drill Sergeant Ghosthound and his lover Lady Vualla

Even Overseer Helen couldnÆt match that manifested gift for physical violence

Behind Raymund was DiOrtho who now seemed to show no discontentment that the other recruit was the squad leader Aside from Raymund the other four Squad Leaders were Jieu Ronault Charlotte herself Vizzeret Clamman and finally Kallum Xeruth They were in order the six most powerful individuals amongst the recruits based on the Overseers’ final assessment

Some recruits had been rather suspicious that Raymund and DiOrtho had managed to improve so much in their ten days missing with the Ghosthound but their sparring demonstrations had silenced all criticism Even if the process was a mystery the result was overwhelmingly evident

Standing without even a single movement the recruits waited for their Drill Sergeant

After five minutes the Overseers came They spread out like wings around the recruits creating a gauntlet of bodies A minute later the Head Drill Sergeant came to walk down that pathway

CharlotteÆs eyes widened as she saw the Ghosthound for the first time since he had returned She had heard the rumors from others who were nearby with the Ghosthound broke his training area a few days prior but she hadnÆt taken it too seriously when they had claimed that he felt completely different But faced with the evidence