LoRG 4

He was immediately awake

For all that his first response to being kicked out by his uncle was to go to a national park and camp Elijah didnÆt have much appreciation for the natural world and its wonders So he rubbed his eyes just to be sure he wasnÆt hallucinating and then tumbled forward into the front seat of his car After twisting until his feet were in the right positions he started the engine and put the car in reverse His sedan twisted backward so the front of the car was pointing toward the bewildered Hydra Hatchling

The monsterÆs Level ticked upward to 13 just as Elijah stretched his short legs as far as he could pressing the gas pedal into the floor The wheels screeched and then the car lurched forward slightly to the right of the monster so Elijah had to swerve his charge back on target The thing released a horrible screech as he thumped across its body Elijah was panting

Congratulations You have learned the Skill Machinery Proficiency Lvl 1

Congratulations You have learned the Skill Vehicle Force Lvl 1

Congratulations You have learned the Skill Burst of Acceleration (Un) Lvl 1

Elijah decided that he quite liked the feeling of running over animals But he quickly realized that most of the Hydra Hatchlings in the surrounding area were farther along in their growth than the Level 13 variant he had just crushed Leaving the parking lot earned him a lot of negative press Elijah had to conclude that the others could smell the first oneÆs blood on his wheels Luckily an exploratory force from Zone 1 discovered him fleeing in his car from a rampaging Level 39 Hydra Adolescent and rescued him

From there his skill with interviews quickly landed him a position working in drone production in one of the larger cities in Zone 1 Which while enjoyable didnÆt leave Elijah quite as fulfilled as the pulse pounding high speed chases he had briefly experienced He would spend long nights tipping back cheap beer and remembering that rush of speed Without noticing it he began an adrenaline junky He started staying in the factory after the assembly line shut down tinkering with the spare metal pieces and building the prototypes for his skybikes

His hobby rapidly consumed him And with the advent of the System his early high speed crashes werenÆt nearly as fatal as they had been in the past

However he soon encountered a problem a lot of the valuable materials he wanted to use in his bike assembly required citizenship in Zone 1 to purchase Without signing away several years of his life his company would refuse to sponsor his bid for citizenship And without an established sponsor backing him even as a native to Expira it took years to have your application even reviewed

As someone who was always on the lookout for a side job Elijah Frank entered into a new line of business to continue to progress in his hobby he learned to forge Citizenship papers It turned out that there was a relatively high demand for such services Within six months he had enough money to found a small private firm dedicated to the production of civilian transport vehicles to launder his cash To avoid paying tariffs on Kharon refined metals he soon stuck his greedy hands into the business of smuggling valuables across the borders between Zones When he sniffed out the interest for a similar service in Zone 7 Elijah went on a trip to schmooze and make connections

Maybe two years after he arrived in Expira no one knew who he was but he was the most wanted man in the world At least on paper he was After all many of his biggest clients were the central figures in those governments that made a big show of hunting down the King of ExpiraÆs Underworld

In the end he got sloppy and complacent with his commercial success with his skybikes It all started with an ogre walking into East Providence waving his forged Tier 3 Citizenship papers like a talisman When he was detained and questioned he described the fact that Elijah had arrived at their clandestine meeting riding his personal skybike

Everything began to unravel after that He was forced to flee the Zones and seek asylum in the Wandering City All the connections he had made suddenly became unresponsive to his communications His bank accounts even the private ones were found and confiscated by the governments Everything he had gathered in the past six years vanished just as quickly as he had obtained it

But his hasty flight wasnÆt all bad he kept his Skill Levels and a few of his favorite bikes And honestly Elijah liked Kharon The independent nature of the city was exactly what he needed to screen the heat from the Zones

The specter of the Ghosthound protected Kharon even setting aside the significant influence the city possessed

Utilizing that political clout was so tempting to Elijah that he interviewed for a position in the Order Ducis with his typical winning smile in place The beetleman had nodded at the end of their talk and told him Sure you seem quite appropriate You are free to join the Order Ducis recruitment camp after six months you will be eligible to apply for full membership

Elijah had honestly been a little thrown His smile became a bit shakier But IÆm Elijah Frank

Your name is on your application was all the response he received

But that was when Elijah realized the problem although the Order Ducis was the smallest of the Orders it was still a relatively influential Order that probably had a massive member count Even if his typical skill with interviews had won over this Ajax the beetle man probably didnÆt have enough authority to make any decisions besides admitting him into the training camp What Elijah needed was an individual who could make a sweeping executive decision regarding his peculiar case Someone who would be only too happy to help a talented individual like Elijah

And then he heard the rumor that Randidly Ghosthound himself was in Kharon There were no individuals higher up on the food chain than him

So Elijah rode his largest and most impressive skybike up toward the island of the Ghosthound attempting to make a good impression He hopped off the vehicle and looked around at the misty place The Ghosthound himself was sitting cross legged on the ground with a humanoid animal on his left and a lovely woman on his right

Elijah ignored the growing sense of trepidation in his chest and smiled There was something about the air that felt suffocating but he pushed through the feeling Greetings Ghosthound My name is Elijah Frank I think IÆd be a real asset to the Order Ducis but your recruitment procedures are a real hassle Can you make an exception and just let me in

Maybe should have worded it so I sound a little less desperate Elijah winced a bit but still remained smiling But he was only greeted by silence Three pairs of eyes examined him

Elijah wasnÆt sure what he expected from this famous individual but Randidly Ghosthound certainly lived up to the hype He tilted his head to the side regarding Elijah with obvious amusement And unlike some of the other powerfulÆ individuals that Elijah had met while smuggling different specialty items for the Senators of Zone 1 just standing before the Ghosthound was somewhat exhausting

It wasnÆt the air that was steadily tightening around his throat simply being close to the Ghosthound was difficult

He released a natural pressure the likes of which Elijah had never encountered before He felt more like a horrifying monster than a man Elijah could only lick his lips and reapply his smile to his face as the silence continued to stretch

Finally the humanoid animal next to the Ghosthound chuckled He thinks heÆs a genius

The woman to the GhosthoundÆs left toyed with her spear eyeing Elijah the entire while

Elijah resisted the urge to reach up and feel his face WhatÆs going on He isnÆt engaging with me at all well they say that the Ghosthound is something of a battle maniac so the strong silent type He certainly is rather muscular looking

Elijah licked his lips again IÆm very confident in my abilities To demonstrate IÆm willing to engage in a spar as long as IÆm able to use my specialty skybike I think that we Elijah looked at the heavy eyed animal humanoid and hurried moved his gaze to the shapely woman playing with the spear Ahem Perhaps it is appropriate for us two to engage in a spar so I can display my capability

The Ghosthound chuckled Well I certainly admire your bravery How about it Helen Do you think you are in the mood for a spar

The woman smiled As long as you are willing to make it up to me later when he doesnÆt last long enough to satisfy me

Chapter 1690

Needless to say HelenÆs prediction ended up being exactly right She still had a sizable lead over even the most powerful images on Expira and this strange man was only above average in his capabilities

Randidly walked casually forward The spar hadnÆt taken long Elijah FrankÆs powerful skybike had been ripped to shreds by HelenÆs Depths of Horror and left in pieces across the area that Randidly had previously used for training

Eventually he crouched next to the panting Elijah and rested his chin on his fingers LetÆs not dwell long on how that spare finished you didnÆt have a chance from the beginning Instead let me ask you something Why do you want to be a part of the Order Ducis

The tightness around ElijahÆs eyes clearly conveyed how much pain he experienced in the five minute spar with Helen Likely he would not make the mistake of choosing her again Elijah FrankÆs bulbous nose was red and swollen from when Helen had shattered the bike and sent him sprawling across the ground His leather jacket had been eviscerated At this point ElijahÆs smile is lopsided

Haah I think my Skills I can

Randidly waved his hand to stop the squat man from continuing Words arenÆt what IÆm looking for you know ItÆs your image I can feel you struggling to answer that question You donÆt know what you want Which is why IÆm not just letting you into the Order Ducis If you want to join just go to the camp like everyone else A man without conviction doesnÆt deserve special treatment

Elijah pressed his lips together as he looked up at Randidly At the very least Randidly was impressed by the balding manÆs ability to the Weight that he was releasing by the end of ElijahÆs sparÆ with Helen he wasnÆt bothering to restrain his aura at all Yet still the man laid on his back and stared intently upward at Randidly He met his gaze directly

I Elijah lifted himself up on his elbows I have a way with people And System images are important but so is image And I have a gift for understanding how to convince others Do you know what most people think about the Order Ducis About you With my help youÆll be able to spin

I donÆt need someone who doesnÆt know himself inside the Order Ducis Randidly said slowly His eyes were unfocused feeling the vague curves of the image of this man There were several bright and impressive aspects within Elijah Frank More than anyone else Randidly had meant Elijah carried a very shallow pool of significance within his body that spoke to the intensity of his personal desires But that significance was tied more to the murky depths of his image than the lofty aspirations What IÆm trying to build is something that I hope will endure after after I go It cannot be hollow

IÆm not hollow Elijah snapped And for the first time since they had been speaking his smile briefly slipped

Randidly nodded slowly and extended his right hand Then try the camp Maybe my recruitment methods are unreasonable But itÆs hard to take your perspective too seriously before youÆve even tried it

Instantly ElijahÆs manufactured smile slipped back into place He grabbed RandidlyÆs arm and allowed himself to be effortlessly lifted to his feet Consider it a deal Mr Ghosthound IÆm really glad we had this talk In the future if you ever want a skybike

But Elijah trailed off speaking pinned to the ground by the heaviness in RandidlyÆs eyes At that moment he released the limiters he placed on his image physicalizations His left eye was pitch black His torso and left arm were armored while his other body parts were ethereal His veins pulsed with golden light and two tails flicked out behind his body

The Order Ducis has to endure Mr Frank What comes next for Expira will not be easy Randidly said softly Then he spun the man around and pushed him away

The man quickly left the skyisland producing another skybike to ride away Randidly sensed the shifts in the depths of the manÆs image in response to the pressure he applied but he didnÆt know what those changes meant He sent Tatiana a message about the encounter and she thanked him for intervening apparently Elijah Frank had been jawing her ear off with requests for special treatment since he had arrived She was more than happy to insist that he attempt the Order Ducis training camp before providing him with any special resources

Eventually Randidly was pulled up from his casual research about Elijah Frank by HelenÆs gaze on his face What is it

Nothing Helen turned her eyes back to her spear which she had polished to a mirror like sheen Heiffal raised his head and looked at the sky clearly displaying his intent to not get involved in the conversation

Randidly rolled his eyes How well do you think I know you Helen WeÆve known each other for He thought about it Shit itÆs probably been ten years now

Although you were isolated and training for half of that time The corner of HelenÆs lips quirked upward She put her hand on her hip and looked at Randidly ItÆs just isnÆt it a bit hypocritical Forcing that man to face what he really wants You of all people should know it isnÆt that easy to acknowledge your own humanity

Randidly grimaced at the glimmer of truth in her words Well even you have to admit that IÆve been pretty clear about what IÆve wanted look at all IÆve managed to accomplish IÆve dedicated

You are talking about what you think you need Randidly Helen interrupted gently Not what you want as an individual

I Randidly opened his mouth to say something but abruptly he was struck by a realization He closed his mouth and looked at Helen for several seconds before speaking YouÆve talked to Neveah About what she said to me a few days ago

Randidly was surprised by the deep and well worn lines across HelenÆs brow as she answered Of course weÆve talked about it Did you think the rest of us are as uncommunicative as you are Did you think that when you go radio silent on us that we donÆt talk to each other A lot of your subordinates and acquaintances are friends Close friends We interact a lot outside of training And do you think I would challenge you so often to spar if you were easier to

Helen didnÆt continue speaking She just hissed for several seconds clearly annoyed Even while Randidly was blinking in confusion Helen jerked her chin toward Heiffal We are all friends And him Do you know what heÆs been up to During his time in his Alpha Cosmos he has asked out Lucretia almost a hundred times She always says no if you were wondering

You donÆt need to drag me into this Heiffal mumbled and kept his eyes up on the stars

you might be the force that brought everyone together but nowadays you are just the one that all of us worry about The rest of us spend our free time actually living our lives As you alter yourself so you can fucking Helen trailed off in another long his Her shoulders were shaking

Then she shook her head I apologize This is fucking stressful knowing how big of a fight you are picking with the Nexus We are walking a tightrope and IÆm not I canÆt improve fast enough to matter and I just

Helen brought her hand up to her face and pressed her pointer finger and thumb over her tear ducts She sucked in a ragged breath

The silence stretched until Randidly sighed What do you want me to say

Nothing Helen whispered I just want you to be able to answer the question you posed to Elijah Because you are right about one thing what you are trying to build wonÆt hold up if its core is hollow And compared to that bikeboy how important are you to the Order Ducis Randidly

Randidly opened his mouth to respond but Grim Intuition picked up movement a new individual was approaching RandidlyÆs skyisland that was shrouded in silver mist Unlike the other arrivals on this night this one didnÆt take a confident path Their flight meandered back and forth riding on an inconsistent if persistent Scrawl

Randidly pressed his fingers to his temples at the distraction Something inside of him trembled as this person approached in a way that he hadnÆt experienced in years Randidly saw too much of himself in this person of the version of himself that had gladly followed Shal to his homeworld to pay back a debt That purity and naivety was difficult for him to handle directly So Randidly gathered his Willpower and flowed through the silver moonlight spirits Ripples spread outward screening

Helen kicked Randidly in the back breaking his concentration Let him in Randidly And then IÆll let the topic drop

Randidly pressed his lips together But ultimately the wall of moonlight spirits dissipated

Todd passed through the ethereal silver screen and stumbled as he tried to land on the edge of the skyisland He barely caught himself from eating dirt and then twisted around to scan the misty surroundings to see if anyone noticed Randidly felt his mouth curving into a smile even though his heart tightened painfully at the sight Helen and Heiffal moved to the other side of the skyisland even as Randidly spun the mist around him to open up a tunnel in front of Todd He produced some wood and started a small fire

Todd approached slowly His eyes kept flicking to Randidly and then away Fire Randidly misty surroundings starry sky Randidly fire Randidly ToddÆs emotions switched from one thing to the next more quickly than he could follow

So youÆre like the Ghosthound Todd said awkwardly when he joined Randidly in sitting next to the fire

Randidly nodded He wondered why Helen wanted him to have this conversation The fire crackled between them Yeah

Like Randidly Ghosthound The one who made Kharon and everything Todd continued He hurried through his words A man so strong that you fought all of Donnyton and won twice

Why is this so hard ToddÆs words were waves and Randidly felt like a sandcastle Yeah

So I had a bunch of fun or whatever Flying on your surfboard But you arenÆt staying for the Calamity right You need to go Todd spoke even more quickly now And he no longer looked at Randidly Because because of the Great Enemy So its not a big deal that we canÆt hang out anymore or talk about Scrawls and things Because you have to do this You donÆt have any choice

Todd trailed off as though he had run out of words The silver moonlight spirits swirled around them Somehow Randidly hated how he could feel so much significance gathering from this strained moment

I donÆt want to be the type of person who can only feel the benefits of certain actions Randidly shook himself slightly Even if I am becoming something different I still need to live and feel

ItÆs not a big deal Todd said again But can you just tell me is the Great Enemy really that strong That you really have to go Like whatÆs the Great Enemy like

Randidly closed his eyes and recalled the massive crystalized Aether mountain range that sealed the body of Elhume Then he also saw that horrifying darkness at the base of the shaft that called to him ItÆs so massive I sometimes donÆt even know how to fight back

I knew it Todd whispered Are you ever afraid

Randidly truly looked at Todd then He saw his thick glasses and his small shoulders And to his surprise the emotional turmoil in his chest began to clear The words seemed to change after they were spoken twisted by ToddÆs image into a new shape

IÆm afraid Æ He said staring intently at the fire the entire time he was speaking

Randidly reached his arm out and pressed a hand on ToddÆs shoulder Maybe a little but didnÆt you say that someday youÆd found your own Wandering City That made me feel a lot better Because because I know IÆm not fighting alone No matter how scary the Great Enemy is even if I struggle you have my back right

We arenÆt alone Æ was RandidlyÆs response as well as he could articulate it The significance between them swirled and thickened

Well Todd frowned It might take me a few years and the Calamity is only a few months away so

RandidlyÆs mouth twitched Somehow it doesnÆt seem like he was hearing the same subtext that I was

Chapter 1691

Todd eventually left RandidlyÆs skyisland his vehicle meandering back and forth through the clouds as he descended toward his dormitory Randidly pressed his lips together as he watched him go with his eyes half closed Only when the boy was out of sight did he fully close his eyes and focused on his Soulspace He examined each of his three images each releasing a different aura in turn

That sense of premonition that sudden belief I had that allowing the Calamity to proceed forward in its callous form would hurt him Randidly burned with that certainty that still persisted in his chest even to this moment filling him with hesitation Where did that come from Is it just a bad feeling or was it a genuine prophecy

In particular Randidly looked toward the recently well behaved Stillborn Phoenix for its Revelations of the Atramentous Threshold The image physicalizations he provided from his Fatepiece continued to give it more and more permanence cutting down on its wild hunger Randidly believed that the insight given to him by this imageÆs Skills Yet the Stillborn Phoenix just looked at Randidly helplessly it could not answer that question

The dark event horizon of the Egg of Depression held no answer

Both Yggdrasil and the transitioning Grim Chimera were also sorrowful and silent under RandidlyÆs intense gaze None of his images were able to identify the source of the feeling Randidly physically raised his fingers and rubbed his temples

But should I really alter my plans just for one individual Or rather because of knowledge that one particular individual will be affected Because if I do this Todd will only be one of many that suffer thousands will die in the chaos of the Calamity All of those portals Probably even more will suffer than I allowed to die due to Theodora GreymanÆs idiocy back then

But RandidlyÆs worries were pushed aside by a new feeling rising in his chest The Eidolon Crucible was activating even as he teetered on the cusp of this decision Huffing out a breath Randidly leaned back and got comfortable Then he allowed the Skill to carry his consciousness away weightlessly tumbling through a blur of colors that reminded Randidly of golden edged clouds at sunset

Reality melted and reformed as the Skill activated

When he settled into the Skill Randidly was somewhat surprised to find that he was basically in the same position he had been in the physical world he was lying on his skyisland wreathed in a powerful silver energy His three images released intermittent pulses of power marking the area as his own But when he walked to the edge of the skyisland Randidly could see that the sense of realism was distorted below He was perhaps two or three kilometers up above Kharon with thousands of small skyislands floating between himself and the wandering city below Each burned with a different image

The Eidolon Crucible had brought him quite a few foes this time The population of Kharon radiated a resolute determination to crush Randidly Ghosthound

RandidlyÆs mouth slowly stretched wider and wider as he felt the images below marshaling themselves preparing for an assault on his position His previous activation of Reign of the Eidolon Crucible had been extremely difficult Enduring the constant attacks of KharonÆs population had pushed him close to the edge for the first time he had almost succumbed to their images Even he Randidly Ghosthound could barely keep up with the growth of so many people over five years

However the Grim Chimera was stirring in RandidlyÆs chest rising to fight against KharonÆs assembled images Its sharp eyes glittered as it looked down Because this time Randidly didnÆt intend to allow the clash of images to go as Kharon wanted it

Before Kharon had finished marshaling its forces Randidly chuckled and stepped off the edge of his skyisland His image physicalizations immediately snapped into place stretching his powerful body into the combined form of his three images His Willpower was almost a physical force swirling around him as he began to descend He spread his fingers wide and his tails lashed aggressively back and forth behind him

For the first time Randidly took the initiative and attack

Immediately the images of Kharon below realized what was happening and reacted Randidly had to admit that KharonÆs elites were truly quite capable Randidly could feel the defiant professionalism of his Order Ducis shaping the response rising up to meet the assault Randidly raised his heavily armored left arm and then brought it brutally downward Man is Proud But the Chimera Takes

Congratulations Your Skill Man is Proud But the Chimera Takes has grown to Level 318

He accelerated downward with a discarded sonic boom in his wake blasting aside some of the weaker images that had the presence of mind to move together to form a hasty blockade However Randidly distinctly felt TatianaÆs concise and controlled image reaching outward and rapidly forming an array with the other images Soon the skyislands he was rushing toward arranged themselves in a complex pattern that glowed with a unified aura

But Randidly simply avoided it A ripple of image power covered him

RandidlyÆs powerful body flickered and simply seemed to phase through the blockade The crackling array could not find purchase on his insubstantial form Then he was past it those image skyislands frantically scrambling to bring themselves after him as Randidly descended upon the lower tier of skyislands

Because the true reason that Randidly had been so exhausted was that KharonÆs strategy was to feed mental energy from about 80% of the population to fuel the determined and talented 20% of the population in their tireless attacks When Randidly simply sat and endured this ploy it was difficult for him to cope with the vigor of the constant assaults

However this time Randidly avoided the 20% completely Before he returned to the shaft he planned on sending a message to those who were content to support KharonÆs elites from the back

Randidly clenched his long fingers into fists Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart which manipulated gravity and Tide of the Void which absorbed emotional energy and significance both whirled within RandidlyÆs chest in time to the rotation of his Nether Core before exploding outward and soaking through the totality of those waiting image skyislands

RandidlyÆs eyes burned one forest green and one emerald Living in Kharon means you must be prepared to pull your weight

Then Randidly triple activated Skills twice in a row flaring his three images for maximum effect Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart ReaperÆs Mantle of Catastrophe Inscrutable Mien of Genesis

A pulse of gravity horrifying ash and overwhelming life energy spiraled outward and soaked all those already gripped by his two earlier Skills

Tide of the Void Cursed Appetite of a Wraith The Implacable Price of Exodus

Then once all of the supporting images were bathed in his energy all that potency was raked backward with the second triple Skill activation

He felt their pain as thousands of individuals were ejected from the Eidolon Crucible Their mental energy was shredded likely they would wake up with a headache tomorrow morning The surrounding space was ominously empty while the skyislands of the earlier blockade drifted around with a shocked aimlessness

Then Randidly raised his head and grinned at the remainder The second lesson You cannot protect the weak from everything

Congratulations Your Skill Reign of the Eidolon Crucible has grown to Level 312

Congratulations Your Skill Reign of the Eidolon Crucible has grown to Level 313

Congratulations Your Skill Reign of the Eidolon Crucible has grown to Level 351

Randidly clicked his tongue as he came back to his body and rolled his shoulders Seems like the Skill improves faster when my victory is quick but well usually I wouldnÆt want to teach them such a harsh lesson

Just as RandidlyÆs mind was turning back to his decision regarding the Calamity Tatiana sent him a message asking when he would be leaving Randidly could only shake her head at the womanÆs insight and replied that he would be leaving tonight

Good luck Randidly We are rooting for you

Randidly stared at that message for a long time Eventually an explosive sigh that transformed into a smile Shaking his head he gently mocked himself You cannot control everything Even if you are stronger you arenÆt strong enough to protect everyone Just like the Order Ducis alone wonÆt be enough And thatÆs okay

He then sent a message to Lucretia to proceed as planned with the Calamity Next he sent messages to all his subordinates on Expira to contact him if they wanted to go back to the Alpha Cosmos He was heading back to the Shaft His PhilosopherÆs Key opened a portal from within his body back to floating in that dark space above the meditating Nether Gatekeepers

Randidly looked down at his hands after he put away his Fatepiece Then he clenched his fists Something inside of him hardened I canÆt waste too much time here Somehow I donÆt want to just be sitting in the darkness while Expira goes through the Calamity I donÆt think IÆll be able to keep myself from just observing how it goes and obsessing over the results

And also I need to provide that planet for the Nemesai to use as a base for the Calamity

So Randidly threw himself back into his frantic training schedule The lionÆs share of his time went to weaving Nether learning to create a grand Nether Array that would tie together this new addition to his Alpha Cosmos With some communication with Neveah about the principles behind the process he improved by leaps and bounds rapidly expanding the scope of the Nether ArrayÆs he could make

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 311

Congratulations Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual has grown to Level 292

Influence +33

As his Nether Core continued its constant rotation feeding off his determined efforts to improve Randidly interspersed his days with other varieties of training He activated his Hierarchy of Burden improving until the Fatepiece reached Level 15 and the activation produced crimson serpents of lightning that lashed and bit at Randidly to shake his concentration Even with his powerful body he was starting to have difficulties handling the dangerous electromagnetic radiation

He continued to experiment with immersing himself in his own images improving the concrete potency of Yggdrasil and the Stillborn Phoenix by polishing up the details His capabilities continued to climb

Randidly pulled out Acri and Sulfur and utilized Ripple of Amenonuhoko in the shaft sensing the way the pull of significance below constantly skewed the ripples In addition Randidly took quite a lot of time to study the profound ripples that sometimes resulted from his energy impacting the spine of the shaft Randidly truly began to believe that this enormous skeleton belonged to a Universe Devouring Beast which still possessed a hint of that miraculous energy to create life

In the darkness Randidly advanced He pushed himself until he was exhausted And then he pushed himself further doing anything to exhaust himself past the point of thinking about the Calamity hanging over Expira

Improving was all he allowed himself Improving enough to protect Expira was the only way he could justify to himself that he would allow a Calamity to ravage his home planet on his own order

Chapter 1692

This is Tatiana pressed her lips together as she looked down at the golden edged paper that was being presented to her Her own signature at the bottom seemed to be laughing at her quick acceptance of RandidlyÆs suggestion I certainly didnÆt expect to see this used so quickly

Zack Krum the studentÆs chosen representative bowed slightly The two of them were alone in TatianaÆs office Golden rays of sunlight walked confidently through the windows and enthusiastically warmed the carpet between them I know it is quick but this was something we all agreed upon Fully 80% of the student body supports this

Tatiana suppressed a smile Yes despite his other failings in social interactions one cannot deny Randidly has a flair for the dramatic Even though I suspect he doesnÆt do things like this purposefully

She scanned the proposal briefly So you want to make a holiday But not just for the Academy but for all of Kharon

Zack Krum hesitated then nodded with enough force that his ginger curls bounced across his head We we wished that we didnÆt need to impose upon everyone but considering all the options there just didnÆt seem to be a way to pull it off without involving the whole of the Wandering City we think that will be part of the uh entertainment value That everyone can participate

And of course children are born with a little bit of narcissistic naivety but I donÆt hate it Tatiana nodded calmly trying to strike the right balance between adult seriousness and cautious acceptance Having the kids parade across the sky would certainly alleviate some of the constant grind of KharonÆs wanderings So have you thought about the name for this holiday

Zack KrumÆs eyes brightened We want to call it The Running of the Ghosthounds

Congratulations Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual has grown to Level 366

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 342

Fuck IÆve got a headache Randidly muttered to himself in the depths of the shaft allowing his Nether Ritual to dissipate between his fingers The ritual gradually came to pieces in front of him without the powerful force of his Willpower animating it

Four months had passed since he had left Expira and returned to training in this misty dark interior of this bone esophagus And he had improved quickly when he pushed everything aside and embraced the study of Nether For the past few weeks the scale of his Nether Rituals was such that he had basically reached the limits of the area he could extend the scope to include everything that he could sense in his surroundings which had earned him the constant irritation of the Nether Gatekeepers meditating below

Which meant that there were two months until the announced date of the Calamity on Expira Lucretia was getting increasingly pushy so it was time for Randidly to stop practicing and leave the shaft He shook himself and glanced downward at the Nether Gatekeepers Briefly he entertained the thought of approaching them about joining the Alpha Cosmos but Randidly reasoned that they might be a little miffed about his Nether Rituals at the moment

After I head outside for a while months or years will pass Randidly grimaced at the obvious animosity the Nether Gatekeepers released as they noticed his examination Hopefully they will forget about my training and be more willing to talk

Randidly slapped his hands against his cheeks to wake himself up a bit Then he mobilized his significance within him working the Nether within his body into a frenzy His Weight shrouded him filling out aura like an extra layer of inflated muscle He kicked at the air and accelerated upward moving with much more ease than he last left the shaft despite his headache

He blew past the porcelain guardians and then the representatives of the Engraving Guild who were still talking quietly where Randidly had met them previously He gave them a brief nod and continued to accelerate upward only slowing down as he approached the door into that strange twilight neighborhood where Edraine had set up her base

Both Edraine and Octavius were busy with other things so Randidly gratefully returned to hisÆ room and spread out on the palette there He closed his eyes and stretched even further earning pops from his shoulders I guess I should have just recovered by sleeping in the shaft but thereÆs just something particularly great about sleeping on a bed

Besides a few hours wonÆt make much difference in the grand scheme of things

But despite the ready ease that his body relaxed his strained mind didnÆt behave so obediently Despite or perhaps because of the all consuming exertion he had embraced for several months finally taking a break from the training allowed his thoughts to confront something that had been nagging at him for a while Randidly opened his eyes and sighed Assuming I eventually gather enough power to protect my Alpha Cosmos to change the way the Nexus functions What is it that IÆll do then How will I spend my time

RandidlyÆs mind drifted to those early days growing plants in the Safe Zone and then in that valley that would eventually expand to become Donnyton I suppose Farming and Potion Making were the two things that I actually enjoyed Maybe I could just

And like magic something about the memory crouching next to a dirt field with the warm secondhand heat of the sun coming off of the soil just eased something in RandidlyÆs heart His flitting mind settled and clear Randidly sucked in a deep breath and by the time he breathed out he was completely asleep

When he woke up it was to a bunch of waiting Skill Level Up notifications

Congratulations Your Skill Soulbond has grown to Level 156

Congratulations Your Skill Soulbond has grown to Level 356

For a second Randidly just stared at the enormous column of notifications in shock Then he could only shake his head and chuckle Maybe IÆve been driving myself too hard My work here in the Nexus is important but IÆve been putting too many things on hold RandidlyÆs mind drifted to Vualla before he snapped back to the notifications and that has hurt me But like I told Todd even if I fail thatÆs not the end of things ThatÆs why IÆm driving the people of Expira so hard

So I donÆt always need to be the heroic force

Plus Randidly could immediately feel the way that his heart had eased and allowed him a more intimate connection with Neveah when he began to think about himself Now with just a thought their bond crossed the distance between them and established a connection Without even a message they could rapidly exchange insights about Engraving More than ever the two of them were working together

A rumble from his stomach finally pulled RandidlyÆs attention back to the physical world Chuckling Randidly tossed himself to his feet and wandered out of the room while scratching his back No one else was back yet so he wandered out alone into the Web and headed upward to the more populated portion of the Nexus to get some food

Eventually Randidly entered one of the middle tier housing areas and settled on a half underground little building on the outskirts of a commercial district Randidly walked past ax wielders casually leaning against their weapons and chatting and a crystal shop filled with floating psychics

But when he left the street suddenly he was very aware of the silence Stepping down a few steps through the round doorway Randidly was given the immediate impression of a hobbit hold Heavy stone tables filled the cramped room which was deserted except for a dark blue skinned goblin who looked up and waved in a universal sit anywhere youÆd likeÆ signal

Randidly settled himself on a surprisingly plush booth enjoying the feeling of the dirt between his toes in the cave like room The goblin wandered over toying with his droopy ears Randidly raised an eyebrow at his empty hands Do you not have menus This is a restaurant right

Rather than answer immediately the goblin yawned Then he waved his hand No menu no menu Just whatever the cook is hungry for Do you want a small or a large portion

Randidly began to wonder if this place was a bad choice WhoÆs the cook

I am the words dragged off into another long yawn

Then IÆll have a large Randidly eyed the goblins small body as the man ambled away toward a door at the far side of the restaurant His stomach rumbled again and he felt vaguely like he should just leave but he decided to give this fellow a chance Besides donÆt all talented individuals have weird quirks Maybe IÆve stumbled upon a hidden gem

It was just hard to believe that to be true considering how deserted the restaurant was And aside from the crystal shop the surrounding area had been rather sparsely populated

Either way Randidly shook himself and focused on other things He took inventory of his current goals For the long term Randidly needed to continue training his abilities with Nether and prepare to evolve the Grim Chimera More short term he needed to successfully capture a planet even if it was just a small moon and incorporate it into the Alpha Cosmos This would both prove it was possible for the NemesaisÆ worlds and also provide the materials necessary for ExpiraÆs First Calamity

In the meantime Randidly had a few other things on his plate One was the recruitment of Nether Gatekeepers into his Alpha Cosmos both as a repayment to that first Nether Gatekeeper and also to learn more about these powerful Nether Beings at the base of the shaft and the Universe Devouring Beasts

That thought made Randidly grimace When it comes to my Nether Core time will strengthen it gradually but understanding is also important pah I just donÆt really want to reach out to either the Engraving Guild or Neshamah

Bah but evolving my Nether Core blindly feels a bit foolish IÆll have to ask the Nether Gatekeeper what stage his Nether Core is at

In addition remaining in the Nexus allowed time to pass for others which was only important for two reasons the final results of RandidlyÆs Elite Squad in mopping up the remnants of the Nether KingÆs forces and also because of the request made of him by Claudette Beigon

The former he was optimistic about due to Raymond BallastÆs growth but the latter he hesitated over Due to various personal reasons that Randidly didnÆt understand the blonde haired student of the Frost Matriarch seemed to have no choice but to request that he an unknown quantity be the one who refined her image Perhaps because of his acknowledgment of his hitherto trampled humanity during his time on Expira he was much more swayed by the abject vulnerability he remembered in her solemn gaze when she had made the request

Randidly grimaced I should at least look into the issue the experience with working with another image will be useful And at this point I feel confident that I can survive an ambush from Velio Dunn and his ilk its just those top individuals those Speculum who have the power to decide my life and death

Haah somehow I suspect accepting her request will make another enemy the question is who that will be

After sniffing casually RandidlyÆs expression perked up and he looked toward the low door to the kitchen with a light in his eyes something was beginning to smell quick good He drummed his fingers on the table but it seemed like the food wasnÆt quite ready yet Then for the first time in a while Randidly opened his Path screen

Combined with some of his leftover PP from his previous Soulskill Tithe Randidly had 7805 PP available to him Which was quite a lot but considering it would require 30 000 PP for him to reach his next Tithe it was really just the first in several long steps For now he had to earn PP the old fashioned way Still two new Paths had appeared in his list of options that caught his eye

Fiber of the Nether System 0/5000 Spark of the Origin Beast 0/

Randidly twitched slightly looking at them Both are obscenely expensive but the Fiber of the Nether System seems to be related to my focused research into Nether Arrays It will take most of my PP but I definitely donÆt want to waste much more time on this issue considering that ExpiraÆs time is now tied to my physical body

As for the other one I have to assume itÆs due to my time in the shaft It seems like there certainly is something to the Nether Gatekeepers stories about the Universe Devouring Beasts

And maybe even a survivor of that great race is what calls to me from the base of the shaft

RandidlyÆs musings were interrupted as the blue skinned goblin kicked open the door to the kitchen and carried out a massive tray toward RandidlyÆs table Immediately Randidly wanted to shed tears of joy the entire tray was smoked meats

To his surprise however the goblin plopped down at the table after setting down the tray But the goblinÆs words perked Randidly up again This will be our first course Enjoy

Randidly licked his lips So this is what you meant by whatever the chef is hungry for

Chapter 1693

The roast meats were objectively delicious They had been smoked and seasoned to a flavorful perfection Randidly had complained while visiting Kharon about the automaton made food in the City Hall canteen but all of the food of Kharon was made to taste bland in comparison to the food that the floppy eared goblin casually shoved onto the table

When they finished the first platter the goblin returned to the kitchen and continued to cook Luckily the second course was easier to prepare than the first

After the meats were a cool and slightly sweet soup and then a tray of roast vegetables There were potatoes green onions peppers and other strange vegetables Randidly didnÆt recognize but was only too happy to stuff into his mouth Under their care the mound of food rapidly disintegrated But what really brought Randidly joy was that after a larger belch over the empty veggie tray the goblin had dusted off his shoulders and said Okay thatÆs a good appetizer Let’s start on the main courses

Please forgive me for ever doubting you hobbit goblin Randidly bowed his head toward the departing back of the chef At this point his appetite was only whetted but it seemed the chef shared his intentions Then he turned his attention back to the Path screen

Again his eyes first went to Fiber of the Nether System Path Randidly tapped a finger on the heavy wooden table and his expression turned serious He could handle the 5000 PP price tag and it definitely seemed like the Path would improve his chances of success in incorporating planets into his Alpha Cosmos In terms of his immediate goals this was exactly what he wanted

Just spending this PP takes away an opportunity to solve another deficiency in the short term but well what else will I need but this So after letting loose a sigh Randidly began freely spending his PP

To his surprise he didnÆt earn any Stats from adding PP to the Path But at the same time every 50 PP he poured down the Path earned him +1 Weight

I suppose Nether is part of the underpinnings of the System and Weight is an Attribute of Nether but actually this is quite a boost Heh and considering how long the Path is

In total the Path earned Randidly another 100 points in Weight which was equivalent to another 10% boost in his capabilities And that was even before he received the bonus from completing the Path

Congratulations You have completed the Fiber of the Nether System Path Beyond the limits of the normal Nexus and its Ways lies a vast network of connections that rely on the mysterious energy of Nether to function The NexusÆs foundation are deep and broad Although taking this route has not bought you time in our Path to the Pinnacle the depths of this vista hint at universal truths The value of such a view resonates with your soul

Weight +50 Congratulations you have learned the Skill Nether Draftsman

Congratulations You have learned the Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath Level set at 100 due to synchronicity

Right Hand of the Nether Polymath By relying on your analytical sense of touch you are able to have a deep degree of insight into any Nether Arrays that you encounter In addition there is a small likelihood that you are able to detect and sense flaws in a Nether Array due to your experience with observing Nether behavior Efficacy of utilizing Nether increases with Skill Level Chance to detect flaws slightly increases with Skill Level

Randidly was quite pleased with the rewards of this Path Even just the Weight he received would have left him with a smile but the new passive Nether Skill was an added bonus Unlike Left Hand of the Nether Oracle the Right had of the Nether Polymath was a much more practical Skill aimed at his ability to understand and identify flaws in Nether Arrays Having such a Skill would save him quite a bit of time

Even just sitting here as he reconsidered the organic weave of the Nether Rituals that Randidly had been using in his practice he found a few areas that felt wrong or incomplete to him The entire Nether Array didnÆt need to be uniform part of organic systems were organic transitions

Congratulations Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath has grown to Level 101

Congratulations Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath has grown to Level 102

Plus IÆll never say no to a new source of Skill Levels Randidly grinned at the notification but was soon distracted by the kitchen door being kicked open again This course was an extravagant six suckling pigs (or at least they were pig like enough that Randidly didnÆt dig any deeper into their origin) stuffed with saffron sage and ground chickpeas The little piglets were covered in a sweet apple glaze that filled the slightly sunk dwelling with a rich aroma

The two set about the quiet task of eating their food with the utmost sincerity Neither spoke to each other they were simply accompanying each other for a meal Teeth and meat danced a prelude to digestion

After they both cleaned their plates the goblin produced a wooden pick and began to flick pieces of gristle out from between his tiny teeth He eyed Randidly speculatively You full yet

Nope Randidly grinned

The goblin nodded sagely and then got up to amble back to the kitchen Good good Hum what should we eat next

Oh wait Randidly called out abruptly making a decision He hesitated for a second as the goblin turned around but forced him to release a breath and continue Can I invite someone else

Will they be eating Suddenly the goblins face turned cold His eyes were small and beady but extremely potent But when Randidly shook his head the goblin grinned and all his suspicion disappeared Fine fine As long as they donÆt try to steal food itÆs fine

Randidly rolled his eyes Is this why you donÆt have any customers Because you are constantly worried about people walking in here to take your food But he didnÆt say anything Instead he thoughtfully composed a message for Claudette Beigon and sent it

I want to meet to talk about your proposal Are you free

Then Randidly settled back in his seat to practice with Nether Arrays underneath the table but the woman replied almost instantly Thank you for your openness Where are you

Randidly looked toward the closed door to the kitchen and sent the address of the strange restaurant to Claudette Beigon This time there was a long break between her messages before Randidly eventually received an on my wayÆ from the student of the Frost Matriarch Randidly leaned back in the chair and spread his fingers back out on the table Thin threads of Nether wrapped around his fingers

At the same time it was quite difficult to concentrate New appetizing scents began wafting out of the kitchen

Randidly was practically licking his lips in anticipation when a door opened but he was a little disappointed that it was Claudette opening the creaking oak front door and peering past the threshold into the dimly lit almost basement When she saw Randidly her expression brightened into a charming smile and she walked forward to join him at the booth Unlike their encounter in the reformatted space of the Nether King and Commandant Wick she currently wore a fluttering sundress that was white with a single drop of blue pigment earning it a color several shades more delicate than robinÆs egg

Without her armor her limbs were thin and elegant Truly she oozed refinement and privilege

She folded her legs underneath her and pushed her golden hair behind her ears Mr Ghosthound IÆm surprised you reached out so soon After our previous meeting well I was a bit afraid that you didnÆt want anything to do with me You treated me quite coldly

RandidlyÆs lips twitched I think we both know that I was too distracted by the situation to seriously consider your offer But IÆve had some time in time dilation to give it some thought and before I get any more details I want to ask you something Your identity your situation it isnÆt simple right

You could say so ClaudetteÆs smile shyly widened

Randidly kept his gaze firm as he looked at her Then the fact that IÆm your best choice letÆs be frank For all the different personas IÆve seen you assume to fit the situation the core of Claudette Beigon is calculating If you genuinely believe that IÆm your best option without any experience after only the briefest of chances to know me then something is going on behind the scenes And me interfering I want to know who IÆm antagonizing

Some of ClaudetteÆs smile began to wilt Well thatÆs a long story But you cannot deny that you accomplished something on the frontlines that none of the others present could replicate Your ability to utilize Nether well I hope

Her words were cut off by the long awaited kick down of the kitchen door The goblin marched out caring two large trays barely sparing a glance for the newly arrived Claudette As for the young woman she gargled strangely as the words she was about to say were caught in her throat She tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows at Randidly as though to say who is this Æ

Randidly grinned and half shrugged in return This is the chef

I was told you wouldnÆt be eating The goblin informed Claudette as he plopped down next to her Her smile was somewhat brittle as she scooted deeper into the booth to make room This course was thinly sliced meats that were covered in a strange nut spread and rolled but Randidly gratefully dug into the food without questioning how much this goblin relied on meat for its diet

But if you do want something The goblin spoke with his mouth open sliding the meats down into his gullet He pointed at RandidlyÆs tray steal from him

It smells delicious Claudette said politely Then she remained silent her smile pinned to her place until both Randidly and the goblin had finished their meal and patted their stomach in satisfaction After the chef had taken the plates away and gone back to the kitchen she quirked her eyebrow upward

The chef is eating with a customer

So who am I offending by helping you Randidly countered

Claudette sighed Randidly could almost see her mentally acknowledge that charm wouldnÆt work with him so she took a different tack her eyes glittered with earnestness as she spoke my father indirectly Both because he wants to use me as a bargaining chip and your actions will hopefully give me the capability to resist that But also he can be somewhat possessive And although I am not sure if this is the case I suspect he has already soldÆ me to someone If you can help me improve my image enough for it to matter whoever that is will likely also hold a grudge And they are likely

Claudette paused and stared at Randidly why are you making that face

Randidly shook his head slowly With his emotional senses he could pick out the lonely chord of truth in what Claudette had been saying And that chord resonated powerfully with his own childhood your father is selling you for his own benefit IÆm sorry I sorta also havenÆt had a great relationship with my father either so I get how rough that can be That you donÆt matter not really not compared to what he wants until you are useful to him

Oh Claudette reached up and fussed with her hair for a second The two individuals didnÆt look at each other Randidly pressed his fingers against the table while his heart shifted uncomfortably as he thought of Ezekiel

I didnÆt sense his image in my visit but that just means heÆs definitely not in Kharon Where did he go I wonder

Claudette cleared her throat ItÆs just the way my life has always been I donÆt really think about it But what I was saying is that the person who bought me is probably quite an influential individual in their own right So youÆd be offending them too

Randidly clenched his jaw briefly then forced himself to relax Somehow it was difficult to think about the people he would need to be wary of after helping Claudette especially when he imagined the gleeful act of smashing her father in the face

But I need to find out the truth first Randidly gave Claudette a searching glance And how I can benefit from this arrangement

Chapter 1694

During most of her complicated life Claudette Beigon felt like she was sitting at the bottom of a pool looking upward at the rest of the world Sounds were muffled and the light was elusive Everything was modulated and absorbed by the lapping waves of othernessÆ that swaddled her even if she were to struggle and thrash she couldnÆt shake the surface of herself She was powerless underneath the weight of her identity but she could observe

At least partially through the strange and distorting substance of expectation around her And so she watched staring up at the warped shafts of light that made it down through the surface of her being to the observant core

The first thought she remembered having was the realization that the reason the other kids were treating her so nicely was due to her father Don Beigon cast such a long shadow that she was constantly swimming in it His one half influence over the coveted Alymian was a ubiquitous topic for everyone she encountered They all complimented his management style Everything that Claudette experience had to pass through his heavy existence to reach her

Compared to her father Claudette was very small in her own life

As she grew sent to the finest private schools in the Nexus and always excelling in tough conditions Claudette did her best to escape that shadow She threw herself into other things desperate to be able to define herself She forced herself to study and memorize until she was heralded as a genius She strained her muscles and bled herself until she could thrash her instructors earning praise as a combat maniac

By sheer luck puberty was kind to her So for a while she lost herself in the admiring eyes of her peers She had become beautiful and everyone couldnÆt stop talking bout it They couldnÆt stop talking about her or looking at her or squeezing and pinching her or breathing heavily into her ear

Yet she quickly discovered how hollow all these labels were for two reasons First no matter how much of any one thing she was she never escaped that first otherness that smothered her fatherÆs shadow And second these labels were just as ephemeral meaningless and numbing as being related to her father All of them were pools steadily allowing her selfÆ to sink even deeper into obscurity

At some point Claudette wasnÆt even sure why she struggled she could no longer answer the question of whatÆ her self truly was It was a surprise to wake up each day and discover that she hadnÆt drowned underneath all of it

And yet And yet

ClaudetteÆs whirring mind paused as it took note of the changing expression on the face of the man opposite her The expression was one she didnÆt recognize From the bottom of the overlapping pools of her identities her self peered upward in interest Very rarely did an existence like this appear one she couldnÆt understand why are you making that face

The man called Randidly Ghosthound the enigmatic Head Drill Sergeant with a knack for weaving Nether closed his eyes and shook his head There was something incredibly gentle about the movement There was a considered ease to him now that Claudette hadnÆt had the time to notice in the hectic battle in the Fifth Cohort And weirdly she couldnÆt help but observe how long and lovely his eyelashes were

Even more than his face what truly surprised Claudette was his words your father is selling you for his own benefit IÆm sorry I sorta also havenÆt had a great relationship with my father either so I get how rough that can be I get the way it makes you feel That you donÆt matter not really not compared to what he wants until you are at all useful to him Then heÆs suddenly back and telling you that youÆre being too sensitive but of course you arenÆt YouÆre being abused

Oh That self at the bottom of the pool suddenly felt quite seen She lifted her hands but forget what she had meant to do with them The feeling of being pulled apart and examined was uncomfortable Claudette tried to recover by tucking her hair behind her ears but her hair was already tucked behind her ears She quickly hid her fingers beneath the table hoping that Randidly hadnÆt seen the mistake

What the hell is wrong with me People talk about my father all the time Get it together girl Claudette urged herself

Claudette then cleared her throat and tried to get the conversation back on track Some sort of childish fantasy of being seen was definitely not why she had come here Even if it was the scent of a miracle that she was following ItÆs just the way my life has always been I donÆt really think about it But what I was saying is that the person who bought me is probably quite an influential individual in their own right So youÆd be offending them too

Randidly nodded slowly still moving with such incredible control of his own body that Claudette was reminded of the gentle way that an animal would nudge her young awake to feed them

Then letÆs talk benefits Randidly said and Claudette flashed a genuine smile

Benefits is my first and most proficient language Claudette leaned forward but she still kept her suddenly clumsy fingers beneath the table Well given that you are the Head Drill Sergeant for this emergency draft and have so many connections with Military High Command I can guess that money wonÆt tempt you But should you manage to successfully assist me to the point that I can defend myself I will be your life long friend and confidant

Randidly Ghosthound quirked an eyebrow at her seeming to ask Really thatÆs all youÆve got

Claudette couldnÆt help but chuckle With his talent he truly had the standing not to be tempted by any sort of goodwill from her but it doesnÆt seem like you are particularly hurting for friends either Well the timing might be strange but I do have something quite valuable I can offer you at least a hundred year long passes to Alymian Redeemable at any time

Claudette watched RandidlyÆs expression for the typical greed or sense of shock But he just frowned and shrugged his long and elegant eyelashes swishing through the air as he blinked Alymian ThatÆs like the vacation spot for the Nexus right The land that was created when the second person reached the Pinnacle I donÆt think thatÆs very useful to me right now

Ah Claudette was genuinely stumped by the obvious sincerity in RandidlyÆs expression And she was kept from trying to articulate the strange sense of confusion she felt by the floppy eared goblin kicking open the door to the kitchen and walking out with two more trays of food Claudette once more shifted deeper into the booth allowing the small goblin to sit next to her

Then she sat there and watched the two devouring the piled and skewered meat and vegetables in front of them Her small sense of self at the bottom of the pool frantically tried to figure out the situation It swam worriedly in circles its small movements barely disturbing the currents around it Claudette couldnÆt figure out if there was something that she was missing in this situation

He truly doesnÆt want them But even if he just traded them away for favors The grudge the Engraving Guild holds toward him would be so easy to solve

Even though the chef was there too ClaudetteÆs confusion eventually pushed her to speak Alymian isnÆt just a vacation destination It is truly another plane of existence Separate outside of the System A break from everything that the Nexus forces upon us Obviously it wonÆt help you earn Skill Levels but many people find the experience quite invigorating

Claudette was somewhat speechless as her explanation didnÆt earn a glance from either of them She started to feel the smallest bit of irritation as she watched Randidly rip half a chunk of some indeterminate meat from the skewer Claudette schooled herself and turned to the goblin Excuse me sir but please help me prove a point If I offered you a pass to Alymian

Too expensive The goblin grunted Small bits of chewed onion were flung out by the noise hitting the table in front of him He waved the skewer as though to shoo her away

Claudette pulled her arms back and kept them tight at her sides to avoid any further mouth debris She tried to keep her smile friendly even as her jaw tightened No sir you misunderstand IÆm offering you a free

Well itÆs free now The goblin set down his cleaned skewer and tugged on one of his floppy ears But you seem like the type to come back years later and call in a favor And IÆm an upstanding chap so could I refuse Of course I could but you are also pretty And can I refuse that Probably you arenÆt really my type A bit tall But youÆve told everyone I know and suddenly everyone is complaining and driving away business from my restaurant ah IÆm exhausted just thinking about it No need keep your pass or whatever

Claudette clenched her hands into fists What customers are there to scare away in this abandoned place

She was still fuming when both finished their meal in peace and the goblin took away the trays Randidly turned to her and tilted his head to the side His green eyes studied her Something wrong

Claudette did her best to calm herself She wasnÆt like this she didnÆt have strong emotional reactions to peopleÆs idiosyncrasies She was an observer a small creature beneath the waves that avoided being crushed by the true monstrosities swimming around her By keeping herself small she wouldnÆt be crushed by their identities So she schooled her face into a smile and tried to make her bitterness sound like wry humor It feels like IÆm not doing a very good job with this sales pitch

Randidly raised a hand Let me make this easier for you There are a few things I want If you can help me with them IÆll consider your offer First IÆd like all the information you have about Nether Cores specifically about both the methods that the Engraving Guild and Neshamah Rex use to form them Ideally without them knowing you are providing me with that information Second IÆd like access to firsthand accounts of the Nexus Historical accounts concerning the First and Second Cohorts I only ask because the information IÆm searching for likely wonÆt be available in the publicly available version of history

Third I want to buy some planets Specific ones but I donÆt IÆm a bit worried that some groups that already have a problem with me will notice what IÆm doing and try and interfere if IÆm open about it So I hope you can purchase them for me and then not ask any questions about what IÆm doing with those planets

Suddenly Claudette felt a cool prickling on her skin Her observing self stilled She looked at the man in front of her and felt the strangest combination of relief and disappointment Relief because this man finally made sense The miracles that he accomplished were definitely impressive feats But Claudette could begin to understand how he had been able to accomplish them

And disappointment ignoring that strange coincidence earlier where she had felt briefly seen suddenly she could see Randidly Ghosthound Setting aside the weird second request his first and third requests laid bare that he was just as two faced and monstrous as all the other people Claudette had encountered He was just as ambitious and merciless His straightforward rejection of authority was a breath of fresh air but just like everyone else Randidly Ghosthound had walked the same bloody path to get here

He wanted planets filled with people so he could advance his twisted experiments with Nether and improve his own power It made sense Why wouldnÆt he

ClaudetteÆs smile was cool The pool of numbness around her felt deeper than ever That can be arranged

Chapter 1695

Claudette’s smile remained cool as the food came out once more and Randidly and the goblin devoured huge bowls of a thick and hearty stew Even Claudette couldnÆt deny that the food smelled delicious even if her sudden realization about the truth of this man left her without an appetite But almost as if he sensed her gaze the goblin gave her a harsh look and jerked his chin over at Randidly

When the next course had finished Claudette pressed her lips together There was still one thing that left her confused Setting aside the payment Well maybe because your payment will be relatively easy for me to fulfill I want to make sure you understand the ahem the results of helping me

I might not succeed Randidly stretched his arms up into the air and yawned His massive shoulders audibly cracked Even the metal arm clinked slightly seemingly just as much a part of his flesh as his right arm Will it really matter if IÆm not good at the image refinement

He looks like a normal humanoid normally but looking at how long his arms are Claudette couldnÆt help but scan the compact and powerful muscles of his torso as he stretched The casual laziness made it clear to her that he wasnÆt trying to show off his physique which meant she didnÆt studiously refuse to examine him His body was he really this broad shoulders when we met previously Somehow

Even if you fail and donÆt end up offending my buyer The word buyer tasted like copper in ClaudetteÆs mouth I doubt that our actions will escape the attention of my father He wonÆt move against you directly but you shouldnÆt take his actions lightly

IÆm not taking his actions lightly For the first time since they had encountered each other the light from the GhosthoundÆs eyes changed he lowered his arms and laid his muscular forearms against the table as he leaned forward He barred his teeth But am I supposed to just sit back and do nothing when some shitty

The Ghosthound huffed out a breath and shook his head He pressed his eyes tightly shut through the whole of the motion whoops IÆm projecting a bit Heh IÆm not saying IÆll help you I do still need to consider But it just pisses me off

There was a strange tightness in ClaudetteÆs chest as she looked at Randidly Somehow she was torn between exasperation and fury by his words Her smile was fraying Licking her lips she tried to figure out the source of the feeling but only grew more irritated as she looked at the calm and righteous expression on his face

No need to pretend to be gallant Claudette said finally We both know the sort of transaction this is

As always the entrance of the goblin was abrupt and decisive This time he only had a single tray but it was so large that he wheeled it out on a trolly A massive bear carcass sat in the middle surrounded by steamed carrots mashed red skin potatoes green beans and a massive crock of gravy

The goblin expertly wheeled the trolly next to the table and plopped down in his seat while tossing a knife toward Randidly The black haired man caught it expertly and didnÆt question anything he immediately been carving off juicy slices of marbled meat Claudette kept her eyes on her lap trying to suppress her nausea

Why did I even want to ask this man to help me Claudette bit the inside of her cheek Even if I were to get the best image refiner in the Nexus can I really improve enough for it to matter Can I really escape this

She was so small The pool of her fatherÆs identity was all she had ever known In a way perhaps her self truly had drowned within its depths All that left was the smallest shred of her that observing portion

Of course I canÆt escape this another part of Claudette smirked The numbing pool around her rippled and bubbled This is just one last cry for attention One last nameless boy I use to infuriate father

Suddenly she wished very dearly to be away from this Maybe she could visit the Frost Matriarch walk out into the field of snow beyond her palace and just lay down allowing the chill to seep into her bones

To ClaudetteÆs immense relief the two took to eating like they hadnÆt seen food in years Only ten minutes were required to leave nothing but bowls and empty bones on the trolly After patting his stomach in satisfaction the floppy eared goblin looked at Randidly We still need to do the dessert courses but itÆs time to start talking about payment You good for it

Of course I Randidly began but then he rapidly paled He awkwardly patted at his pockets and then toyed with his interspatial ring While the goblinÆs stare turned increasingly frosty Randidly rubbed the back of his head and turned to Claudette Not that this is a guarantee that IÆll help you but IÆd really appreciate it if you could pay for the meal IÆll pay you back

You Claudette couldnÆt resist snorting You came here without bringing money What about your salary from being a Head Drill Sergeant Inwardly she wondered what other debaucherous hobby he was hiding beneath his strangely compelling eyelashes Where had all his money gone

The goblin sighed very audibly and Randidly coughed I havenÆt really collected it yet But anyway IÆm definitely good for paying you back so

Typical the goblin grumbled Randidly Ghosthound flushed red

Somehow Claudette had the weird impression that this happened to Randidly quite often Her observing self squirmed oddly distressed by this information Either way she cleared her throat and turned to the blue skinned goblin as you might have gathered I am Claudette Beigon the daughter of Don Beigon If you contact the Beigon Estate you will definitely be reimbursed for your troubles

Bah At least he has the decency to look guilty about not paying me The goblin tugged on one of his ears But you you feed me shit and expect me to thank you for the meal Peh If neither of you is good for the money just say so

I Claudette sucked in a breath A frown creased her face Today was just apparently not a good day for her When was the last time she had gotten so upset over petty trifles I you donÆt know who I am If you ask anyone

Should I know her The goblin looked at Randidly as he asked then And Claudette was incensed to see that Randidly just shrugged

WhoÆs side are you on She hissed at him across the heavy wooden table

Randidly rubbed the back of his head with his metal arm I mean I didnÆt know who you were until I ran into you coincidentally in the Fifth Cohort So can you really blame him for not recognizing your name

Claudette gurgled That was all the sound she managed Her small self at the bottom of the pool was twitching frantically You you two Is this a joke Did you arrange a play just to piss me off

Is there anything else I can do to pay you back The Ghosthound asked the goblin

The goblin considered that Then he sighed Baah well my son left a while ago to pursue a life of misplaced justice so IÆm a little short handed on my farm and you do appear to have a pretty robust frame

You didnÆt have to come you know Randidly said to Claudette who still wore her fashionable sundress as they walked down the busy streets to the nearest entrance to the Nexus Ways In order to repay his debt they were currently heading to the goblinÆs homeworld

Claudette had been acting strangely since the goblin had refused to take her family credit She gave Randidly a look with a pair of eyes that suddenly resembled a dead fish ItÆs the least I can do for you

RandidlyÆs lips twitched but he turned around before she could see his smile Do you really need to be so insulted just from the fact he doesnÆt know your family Well maybe she was more disturbed by how much I want to antagonize her father for the way he treats her haah there are some complications for letting my emotions move freely inside of me

With the small goblin leading the way they soon arrived at a teleportation station and walked to the proper portal The three of them all different heights stood on the platform and were whisked away Randidly idly watched the Aether Engravings around the platform activate but mostly he understood the process well enough that he didnÆt gain anything from examining them closely

Instead Randidly thought about his current situation IÆm willing to help for a short time because of how excellent a chef this goblin is but if the work takes too long IÆll just have Octavius bring me some spare money to make up the difference

The trio flashed into existence underneath a wide blue sky without a single cloud spoiling the pure color Rolling hills stretched around them in every direction occasionally dotted with dirt roads or small homesteads Aside from the fact that the greenery had a slight blue tint and all of the buildings were built sunk a meter into the ground Randidly refreshingly felt like he could be on Expira right now

Keep up The goblin grumbled as he glanced over his shoulder Then he started jogging down the dirt track Despite the fact that his legs were short they quickly blurred roadrunner style and the goblin zipped forward Randidly stretched his legs and loped after the chef to keep up Claudette blew out a loud sigh but utilized some strange ice skating Skill to keep up

With their speeds the hills quickly blurred around them They covered quite a bit of distance traveling for about a half hour before they slowed down Immediately RandidlyÆs eyebrows rose as he saw their destination Compared to the small hobbit houses that they passed to get here they now stood in front of an alabaster fortress with ten meter tall walls

But Randidly only grew more impressed as they approached Because he quickly noticed that the entire wall was covered in thick and powerful Engravings Luckily the goblin slowed as they approached so Randidly could slow too His eyes grew wider and wider as he neared the wall He recognized these Engravings although it had been a while since he had seen anything like it

These Engravings Randidly began slowly They block the System yes The Overlay System And in addition those isolation runes does this wall completely block images from entering the interior

Heh you liked my food yea Wondered how it tasted so good The goblin smirked with obvious pride Well IÆll tell ya the secret I donÆt let the NexusÆ shitty growthÆ image touch my livestock Everything inside matures the old fashioned way

Chapter 1696

Randidly eyed the gloves that the goblin passed to him More complex runes glittered along the metal plates that were embedded around the wrists It seemed that the goblin took this process seriously Being hired as a laborer came with a uniform These suppress Skill use and images

Meanwhile the continually dead eyed Claudette grimaced as the admittedly rank smell of the well used and sweat covered gloves wafted under her nose She held the implements at armÆs length and it was clear she didnÆt consider that far enough Sir are these gloves really necessary IÆll have you know in addition my identity as the daughter of Don Beigon IÆm also an apprentice Pinnacle Seeker underneath the Frost Matriarch I can assure you that my mastery of my image is immaculate Such a tool is redundant

Oh a Pinnacle Seeker The goblin said in mock sincerity The trio was standing next to a small shed propped up against the edge of the immaculate and glittering rune covered walls And literally the shed was filled with farming equipment Gloves boots hoes and overalls made the small building feel extremely cluttered So you are still seeking the Pinnacle yes Which probably means that your control over your image isnÆt perfect So you want to waltz into my farm and jeopardize my livelihood on your word The word of a woman who didnÆt even have the money to pay for a single meal

I didnÆt even Claudette twitched with rage and once more Randidly had to turn away and hide his smile

The goblin clicked his tongue and eyed Claudette with blatant suspicion Forgive me if I refuse If you want to walk away from your debt fine IÆll work your boytoy plenty I donÆt need a complainer

HeÆs not my Boytoy Claudette snapped Then the second part of the goblinÆs words reached her and she hissed her breath out through her nose in an attempt to breathe fire

Wondering if he was pushing things a bit too far Randidly slipped on his gloves and nodded IÆm really not her boytoy I actually am seeing someone else

Ah so sheÆs the other woman Well Suddenly the goblin looked at Claudette with pity Not that I blame you but be careful If you donÆt set emotional boundaries a shameless man like this will walk all over you Anyway your personal mistakes are your own either put on those gloves or leave

The goblin waddled forward toward a small door next to the shed Avoiding a growing eddy of frosty air spiraling outward from the glaring Claudette Randidly hurried after the goblin He was actually quite curious about the design of the gloves When he snapped the leather wrist braces into place the runes connected and activated Instantly Randidly felt a strange sense of heaviness settle across his body as the Engraving activated

He took a few steps tentatively getting used to the new sensation With their suddenly more intimate connection Neveah sensed his wonder and brought her attention to align with RandidlyÆs they looked in wonder at the bracelets The Engraving was extremely domineering in its scope ItÆs truly suppressing all of my Skills Even the passive ones

Randidly waved his arms feeling the runes on the gloves activate with a bit more vigor Of course the bracelets couldnÆt prevent the Skills from functioning within the confines of his body But the equipment created a thin barrier across his skin that completely disallowed anything related to Aether from proceeding past it

Guess itÆs a good thing that the Alpha Cosmos is inside of me at the moment RandidlyÆs lips twitched Otherwise heh

However a new tidbit of information became obvious as he continued to walk around experimentally To compensate for the passive Skills of his body the gloves generated an equal restriction against him That is for all the extra physical power Randidly received from where his Skills could occur the gloves countered with a restrictive forcefield He studied the patterns on the gloves making a mental note to add a version of this to his physical training regimen

Careful

Randidly looked up in shock He had been so caught up in examining the function of the gloves that he didnÆt notice the goblinÆs approach The goblin was squinting at RandidlyÆs gloves Heh yea you definitely have a pretty robust body Good for farming But just a warning donÆt be too lively out there I didnÆt add a heat sink to the runes The formation is connected to the central weather control I maintain inside of the farm so powering the Engraving isnÆt an issue But as it has to channel more energy to restrict you that heat will accumulate With the materials used for those theoretically it could melt through your wrists

Randidly reached out and touched the metal plates embedded in the leather gloves Already they were quite warm to the touch But he just flashed a cheeky smile at the goblin He thought that it was quite unlikely that heat could easily overcome his new body Thanks for the warning but IÆm pretty confident in my heat tolerance By the way whatÆs your name I really admire your Engraving

Nrorce The goblin grunted Then as Claudette finally thawed enough to slip on the gloves and snap them into place Nrorce led them to the door in the wall and opened it Instantly bolts of white lightning raced up and down around the threshold A rather cramped and low ceilinged hallway ran forward through the entirety of the thick alabaster walls A powerful electromagnetic field crackled within the area populated by floating orbs of white lightning

Surveying the lightning filled tunnel Nrorce cackled a bit then favored Randidly and Claudette with a wide smile Ehh not to be blunt but you might want to ahem void your bowels before proceeding through the barrier This energy field rids you of any lingering images but also can have a strange effect on the body Feel free to go beyond the shed and relieve yourself

Before Claudette could open her mouth and finally vent the frigid fury she had been nursing for almost an hour Randidly stepped forward and confidently walked into the passageway White lightning quickly lashed out and hit his body but he continued walking without the slightest hitch

Barely at the first Level of the Hierarchy of Burden tsk tsk getting me excited for nothing Randidly proceeded through the passageway and then turned around Nrorce looked at him in shock for several seconds before muttering to himself and hurrying forward He lowered his head and kept his limbs tightly pressed against his sides But even with his preparations the tiny blue skinned goblin buzzed like a kicked beehive as he rushed forward

Nrorce huffed out a breath and shivered when he passed through the long tunnel After giving Randidly a wary glance both turned and waited for Claudette to follow To both of their surprises she proceeded forward in a manner much more akin to RandidlyÆs walk than NrorceÆs frantic run

Nrorce sighed with obvious disappointment in a way that made Randidly wonder if he was something of a pervert Then the goblin pointed to some farming equipment leaning against the interior walls You take those Go through the East field and till the soil a bit Then walk through the South and North fields examining every plant understand Rip out any weeds Kill any bugs And you Nrorce scratched his head as he looked at Claudette Well come with me IÆll have you refine some spices

Suddenly Randidly scratched his cheek as he watched the other twoÆs departing backs He had been left alone on a farm A breeze rustled the grass in front of him dancing ahead down one of the dirt tracks that led around the periphery of the fields

Well letÆs not think too deeply about it Randidly picked up a hoe and walked vaguely toward the West field The entrance to NrorceÆs massive farm they had used was to the South so for now he moved past the South field and headed to the Northwest To his right Randidly could make out a well to do country manor on a small hill above the fields That was likely where Nrorce was currently taking Claudette into his home

Aside from the four main fields in the cardinal directions Randidly also sensed four miniature special spaces between them Two were animal enclosures one for a monstrous form of bears and one for a feathered flightless bird that looked like a pheasant The one in the Southwest that Randidly walked past now was a place with several small orchards clustered together while the one opposite was an herb garden

Nrorce certainly has all his bases covered no wonder he is such a good chef Randidly reflected as he allowed his senses to expand He takes this process very seriously

Randidly continued to walk through the blue greenery admiring the various strange fruits that he saw hanging from branches in the orchards But the more he looked the more Randidly realized two facts that made him abruptly glad that he had come to this place

In a way his typical habit of not thinking about money had led him to a unique opportunity

First due to the runes that stripped away the typical overlay System the pressure the Nexus applied in the area was somewhat lax Therefore the usual thin layer for Nether was able to expand somewhat on the farm perhaps to three times its normal thickness That wasnÆt as wide as the depths of the shaft but Randidly could remain here and train with Nether usage while allowing time to pass in the Nexus

Specifically he wanted to allow time for his Elite Squad to earn its merits and also to get a response from Claudette regarding his requests Plus since he had his Pantheon running an imitation System within his body so he would still receive Skill Level Up notifications

Secondly and this was truly what stopped Randidly dead right as he was about to walk into the Western field was that he discovered an ancient and completely organic Nether Array humming beneath NrorceÆs farm The flows of energy were inconsistent and tattered which was the reason that he hadnÆt noticed it from a distance But as he walked across the farm the currents of Nether in the surrounding area quickly became clear

The whole of the farm was connected by the significance of NrorceÆs purpose in becoming a chef Perhaps the existence of the Nether was a bonus reason why the food turned out so well all of the ingredients were grown with this harmonious bond that multiplied the effect when they were cooked together This was truly a pollution free environment

And that meal was definitely worth a little bit of work Randidly patted his stomach with a smile on his face

And without any external Aether or images being allowed into the area the sheer length of proximity had slowly adjusted Aether and Nether within the barrier to be neutral toward one another That was the real reason that an organic formation of Nether could occur And looking at it Randidly realized how long Nrorce had worked here honing the art of his cooking Truly it was admirable

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 344

When he reached the West Field Randidly licked his lips He immediately got to the physical task of hoeing the soil but that barely took any attention at all Instead his mind was carefully examining the organic Nether Array beneath his feet Despite the fact that it was quite the accomplishment the thin and raggedly flows quickly earned his pity

Since IÆm here laboring anyway Randidly eventually reasoned with himself There should be no harm in just polishing up the Nether flows right ItÆs the least I can do

Chapter 1697

RandidlyÆs eyes were glazed as he moved from the West Field to the North Field passing the bear enclosure in the process He moved like a zombie barely even noticing the intervening space as his legs carried him forward He set his prodigious subconscious to scanning for weeds and bugs within the field while most of his Willpower concerned itself with the act of polishingÆ up the Nether Array beneath the farm

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 344

Congratulations Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath has grown to Level 189

RandidlyÆs fingers were deadly weapons flicking out and accurately crushing even the smallest bug or beetle that was nibbling on NrorceÆs delicious plants He moved blindly guided by his instincts and a viciously minded Grim Intuition The rapid acceleration he utilized soon brought the Engravings on his gloves to the point that they were sizzling but Randidly didnÆt even notice Most of his attention was below steadily stirring the Nether into motion and smoothing out its flowing currents

At one point Randidly paused and stopped himself right as his hand was about to crush a bug no butterflies and bees are probably okay Do these plants utilize pollen to spread Haah I should have asked for more details

Randidly wrote a small addendum to the instructions for his subconscious then gratefully turned away from the task His body lumbered forward his tail naturally unwinding itself and flicking back and forth in his distraction To the insects he was a Calamity the likes of which they had never seen before Any mooching insect in the vicinity of the fields was rapidly sought out and crushed mercilessly

When he had done several circuits of the North Field and found no more transgressing insects Randidly blindly allowed his legs to guide him South Because he was bored his tail started flicking side to side experimenting with some of the insights into Nether that his mind was considering Subconsciously he started sketching out Nether flows behind him with his tail

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 352

Congratulations Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath has grown to Level 244

Unlike the creation of his own Nether Array enhancing this tattered Nether Array beneath the farm proved to be much more difficult Because the inherent balance of this Nether Array was much less sturdy it had simply occurred it hadnÆt been designed So his early attempts to improve it had only destabilized the array further causing Randidly to panic and rapidly reinforce it

Which only made it more brittle so Randidly scaled back his attempts and crossed his fingers as he examined the result But then he worried that he had weakened the overall effect so he gradually began to try and strengthen the Nether Array once more

The process of searching for flaws and desperately trying to stabilize the Nether Array after he caused it to fail rapidly pushed up the Skill of Right Hand of the Nether Polymath and also earned him a few for his Left Hand Both Skills gleefully informed him that he was playing with fire by doing this The positive outcomes and the negative ones were mixed together The result was often random despite RandidlyÆs understanding of how Nether should work

And he really couldnÆt figure out what he was doing wrong The shape was just too different from what he had done before

Randidly arrived at the South field and once more began his mostly blind insect extermination As most of his awareness worried at keeping everything beneath the ground steady he realized that he had completely remade the Nether Array Using the same original shape after two dozen haphazard attempts But he examined it with pride when he saw how the movement of Nether in the area had definitely increased

So Nether could be used like this as well Randidly paused in tinkering with the Nether beneath him and closed his eyes His body robotically continued its bloody work as he did so Thin trails of steam were floating upward from his superheated gloves Somehow the thinnest and strained portion of the previous array was the most structurally robust

I suppose itÆs a lot like people Sometimes necessity is more determinative than arrangement not in spite of the hardships but because of it that tiny thread of significance grows strong

Humming to himself Randidly began to loosen the structure of his Nether Arrays Instead of covering for the previous array’s weakness he now embraced its strengths and stripped away many of the ancillary connections he added for stability He knew he would soon try and incorporate a world into his Alpha Cosmos and it perhaps wasnÆt the best time to experiment but he was caught up in his acute sensation of the Nether around him Something simply felt right about how he was moving

Because Randidly realized that the way he shaped Nether Rituals should be based upon who he was And perhaps he wasnÆt quite sure who that person was but he had to admit that while he definitely took his time in preparing to deal with a problem his solutions were often pretty aggressive and bold So where his previous Nether Arrays had been built up like a house with a foundation and then the function rooms arranged on top he made a change

This time Randidly made a circus tent with strong solid polls with the high trapeze draped between them There was risk He felt it even as he made the new arrangement of the Nether Arrays There were a few points that were exceedingly weak a proper assault by someone who understood the arrangement could easily crumple it to nothing

Congratulations Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual has grown to Level 367

Congratulations Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual has grown to Level 370

It should be fine here I doubt anyone is going to assault this farm Randidly continued to his methodical massacre of everything non butterfly and bee crawling through the field The fingers of his gloves were covered in gore but those insects’ guts were just as quickly baked into charred crisps by the heat rolling off of his gloves His tail swam lazily through the air leaving a hanging trail of Nether for several seconds But for the Alpha Comos huh Yet at the same time as long as my body is fine

Randidly made one final adjustment to the Nether Array beneath the farm finally setting it up in the inspired style that combined its previous shape and RandidlyÆs understanding of himself Then he obliterated the remaining safeguards Rapidly the currents of Nether changed and began to accumulate within those thinnest and most fragile strands of Nether He could sense the subtle vibrations released by those slender strands was rapidly intensifying Soon the energy began to vibrate at such a quick frequency that the Nether Ritual began to sing

The cacophony of Nether was so demanding that Randidly finally stopped his physical body The undulating movements of his tail began anxious as he crouched down and pressed his right hand against the ground He could sense that the Nether Ritual was about to snap Randidly could see no way for the arrangement to endure this intensity of energy that was coursing through it

And yet Randidly was still and solemn as he looked down unseeingly into the energy flowing within the ground I suppose thatÆs why I called the half step of Nether a PenanceÆ This is an act done with faith

So despite how fragile everything seemed Randidly held himself back and just watched He tried to trust his gut

The central pillar of the Nether Ritual was vibrating like a flicked guitar string sending ripples through the entire construction Then it began to fray small piece of energy splintering off and radiating outward as some sort of natural significance by product The process was interesting but Randidly felt a flash of regret that he had held himself back a second prior

When the snap Randidly had been dreading finally came it was not the snap he had expected Instead of the whole support structure collapsing all that pressurized Nether finally forced itself through that central pillar A dense squirt of Nether pushed its way downward rapidly circulating through the preprepared flows By the time that Nether had gone all the way through the Nether Array and reached its original position at the top the pressure had dropped to the point where the flow as constant but manageable

Gradually the tremors in the Nether Array ceased

Randidly sat back on his heels in wonder I mean I did this but I almost did it on a whim to think that it actually

When he studied the phenomenon more closely Randidly realized that Nether possessed a quality similar to drag as it rubbed up against itself Two types of Nether one flowing one still would stick to each other So even though the pressurized Nether flow circulating through the array and then came together in a massive gush through the central pillar with enough force to blast it outward the movement of the Nether became the greatest source of support

To think that thereÆs still so much more to learn about Nether Randidly shook his head in wonder Then he became even more tempted by ClaudetteÆs offer As long as she could provide him with information about Neshamah and the Engraving Guild and the way they used Nether Randidly had no doubt that he would continue to improve his mastery at a rapid pace

Randidly idly reached up to scratch his chin as he considered the problem of refining someone else’s image but he wrinkled his nose and stopped himself He looked in horror at the gloves on his hands For whatever reason the melted corpses of thousands of bugs covered his fingers There was an extremely strange smell wafting off of them and the metal braces with the Engravings were so heated that the leather seemed to be bubbling a little bit

Randidly chuckled Okay better move slowly for a while and let these cool off

So Randidly sat on the ground and meditated for a bit his mind traveling through his images If he planned on helping Claudette he might as well make sure he did a damn good job

A good enough job that she could finally force her father to acknowledge her

Did you feel that

Claudette looked up from the cutting board in front of her Huh Feel what

Like a shift in energy Like something profound just came into alignment Maybe there was a little bit of an earthquake too Nrorce hopped off his stool and hobbled to the window He peered out the glass but the window was only barely above the ground because of the depth of the building which meant that the goblin couldnÆt see much beyond a screen of grass

isnÆt that a good thing Claudette asked slowly She had arrived quite peeved at the situation but the process of cutting up herbs actually was quite fulfilling Time cooled her temper So she once more had the poise to smile

Ehh Nrorce shook his head vehemently Unexpected blessings are a sign of future calamities Such a hassle

Chapter 1698

You hoed the Western field

Randidly was lying sprawled in the grass while he gave his glove a break to cool The words made him look over at the long eared figure of Nrorce who ambled over toward him with mild eyes Randidly tilted his head to the side not really understanding what the goblin had said he had so busy continuing his experiments with Nether that it took a few seconds for the words to reach him What

Nrorce had his small arms behind his back his mouth steadily stretching into a scowl aimed at Randidly The WESTERN Field I told you to work on the Eastern one Are you deaf as well as poor

The goblin picked up RandidlyÆs discarded hoe and arched his body back His javelin release was perfect flinging the weapon at such speeds toward Randidly that it whistled through the air Feeling slightly awkward Randidly allowed the wooden tool to bounce off his chest and land in the dirt His cheeks flushed Did I really

Ah well I just wanted to be thorough IÆll head over to the Eastern field now Randidly coughed and pushed himself to his feet The Engraved metal plates in his gloves were still steaming but the worst of the heat had already dissipated If he hadnÆt been so fixated on Nether he likely would have already moved around through the fields without even realizing his mistake He might have even finished before Nrorce had noticed that anything was wrong

Randidly suppressed the desire to display an aggrieved expression Sometimes I suppose I can get a bit distracted

Suddenly Neveah was there and chuckling Sometimes

One more thing Nrorce was still scowling but most of the antagonism left his face when Randidly got to his feet He reached up and tugged on his ears That girl had to go there was some attack in the Nexus She has to deal with the fallout And considering that you havenÆt even don’t the initial work I asked of you hmph Work hard youth

An attack That sharpened RandidlyÆs attention Was it the Nether King Did he return to the Nexus

What Oh the girl mentioned you are affiliated with the military Nrorce shook his head No it wasnÆt the Nether this time They claim its the work of rebel organizations that hate the Nexus The sort of fools that think they can change the world with destabilization and chaos But this time they hit one of the bigger factions in the Nexus the Swacc Family Kicked up a real hornetÆs nest Heh they probably wonÆt live long enough to regret that choice

As Nrorce grumbled to himself and waddled back toward his house Randidly stared after the goblin with several emotions warring across his features But finally he displayed a wide grin and chuckled Despite his earlier mistake he was suddenly feeling quite refreshed Oh I guess IÆm not the only one to seek trouble with the Swacc Family Heh hopefully this keeps them too busy to send more assassins after me

With his steps quite a bit bouncier Randidly proceeded to the Eastern field and finally finished the original task given to him by the goblin chef He took his time to work the land partially because he was toying with Nether and partially to keep his gloves from becoming dangerously heated again All in all it was a very good day for Randidly

The smell of the soil the warmth of the sun the feeling of dirt between his toes the calls of the pheasants the rumbles of the bears the scents of vegetables the entire environment felt stable and relaxing

Randidly let out a sigh as the sun began to set looking out across the hills Maybe itÆs a good thing that I forgot my money today This when everything is over I think IÆd want something like this

As the blue sky shifted toward pink and mauve and navy Randidly sat at the edge of the field and inspected the refined Nether Array beneath the farm His tail continued to draw small Nether Arrays in the air trying to capture the principles he was able to identify through his earlier epiphany His impressions were gradually being refined through experimentation

Congratulations Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath has grown to Level 247

Even with a concrete example in front of him the process was slow going RandidlyÆs experience with normal physics seemed to mislead him as often as it helped But the mental challenge was fulfilling More and more Randidly could envision the shape he would use to incorporate more worlds into his Alpha Cosmos One step at a time he was closing in on his goal

When night had fully arrived and dominated the sky Nrorce found Randidly again The goblin tskÆd immediately his eyes took in RandidlyÆs sitting position Randidly could practically hear the goblin inwardly complain about how lazy Randidly was Maybe the goblin just had something against him sitting on the ground lest he contaminate his plants with his humanoid sweat But the goblin held his tongue about the display and instead asked a question Do you know anything about Engraving

That perked Randidly up Yes actually I would say IÆm pretty good

Peh Youths always boast Nrorce shook his head Then he turned away and waved for Randidly to follow So he hopped to his feet and proceeded after the goblin toward the central house

They didnÆt actually enter the dwelling but proceeded into a tunnel a few meters to the side of the house Nrorce heaved open a heavy iron door and led Randidly down into darkness The goblin closed the door behind them activating another Engraving array on the doors to seal them off from the outside world But as they proceeded deeper Randidly began to stiffen And not even just because he had to hunch over so his head didnÆt scrape the ceiling The air was thick with an unpleasant scent But more important

Randidly frowned This the ambient energy down here

Oh yea DonÆt pass out Nrorce grimaced I wonÆt bother dragging you out of here I doubt youÆd die but who knows

Randidly rolled his eyes behind the grouchy goblinÆs back and continued deeper It wasnÆt that the Aether here was particularly dense but the ambient energy was abundant His Grim Intuition prickled it was the equivalent of seeing a live wire sparking on the other side of the room

When they finally came out into a large underground warehouse the source of the energy was obvious Energy crackled and hissed from a complex and messy network of Engravings

Eh so just clean up or whatever Nrorce waved his hand airily And that was all the instruction that Randidly received

But he was in no state to respond he was too busy trying to process what he was seeing

What this room was supposed to be was clear this place housed all the harvest ingredients from NrorceÆs farm until they were brought into the kitchen A ten meter high ceiling and embedded sunstones provided abundant illumination for the area So far this was the only building on this planet that had a roof that was comfortable for Randidly There was even remnants of a pretty thorough classification system There were markings on the ground that outlined different areas some for meats others for vegetables and fruits etc All around there were tall palettes and barrels and boxes containing foodstuffs

It was a well stocked warehouse However the closer Randidly looked the more horrified he became

Some of the boxes of turnips near him were so old that half had turned rotten and the other half had started attempting to grow on the decaying matter of its brethren pushing sprouts out through the sides of the boxing Some of the preservation Engravings had clearly gone bad in some areas and rather than clean out the material and apply a new Engraving someone had just slapped another Engraving right on top of the previous one Sparks hissed intermittently upward from those points as the energies of the two Engravings conflicted

Randidly looked around and realized this wasnÆt an aberration whoever had cleaned upÆ previously seemed to take great pleasure and layering conflicting Engravings on top of each other The air practically buzzed with the energy released by the inefficient Engravings

Over by the meat section one of the massive ice lockers was clearly broken down releasing horrible waves of rancid meat smell Another had cracked open somehow allowing the Engraving to tap into energies from surrounding Engravings that were made too close and ice spread out to cover the surface of the ice locker and the surrounding floor

There were places that the conflicting Engravings created such severe energy discharge that holes had been burnt through the floor into a cave system beneath And when RandidlyÆs Grim Intuition discovered that he quickly realized that millions of Level 95 Absolute Darkness Ants were swarming beneath this warehouse through tight tunnels Very quickly he could notice the signs that much of the food in the back half of the warehouse had been stolen or bore bite marks

Even more aggravating was the fact that it appeared Nrorce had also noticed and simply not done anything about it most of the recent harvests were stacked haphazardly near the entrance that they had just used clearly indicating that the rest of the warehouse wasnÆt worth using anymore The goblin seemed ready to abandon it because cleaning up would be a hassle

RandidlyÆs eyes reddened he was deeply deeply offended by everything that he saw He didnÆt really consider himself to be a neat freak but he did have strong faith in the power of hard work and training as a foundation for everything else For this farm this warehouse was the foundation

And everything here is fucking rotten

RandidlyÆs fingers twitched His images stirred unconsciously within him and rapidly the temperature of his gloves rose as they struggled to suppress his rising Skills But ultimately out of respect for NrorceÆs desire to keep all of his foodstuffs from being contaminated with an image Randidly forced down his anger

Once again NeveahÆs awareness was drawn over by RandidlyÆs emotional turmoil Huh WhatÆs this oh Oh no

Right Randidly muttered Nearby some weird semi liquid substance was dripping out of a very very old palette of apples His pupils dilated as he saw indeterminate brown stains on the floor in quite a few places

Okay we can fix this You clean out the trash IÆll start using your senses to examine the Engravings here We might need to just rip out everything and start over honestly But itÆs sorta an interesting problem especially without being able to add an image to any of the Engravings

Randidly cracked his knuckles and prepared to walk over to one of the holes and descend to deal with the ant problem but then he paused I mean I appreciate your help But you really donÆt need to put so much attention toward this IÆm just trying to pay back a debt

Maybe thatÆs all it seems like but I just like seeing this side of you Neveah responded This is human Randidly Or post human but whatever

Randidly clicked his tongue in embarrassment but had nothing to say to that But really he didnÆt have to Their emotions flowed freely between the Soulbound companions So instead he just focused on the task at hand

Chapter 1699

There was Randidly found a very thin margin of temperature that was hot enough that the blazing metal bands on NrorceÆs gloves superheated the air so quickly that it became plasma but also before the gloves themselves began to melt The required temperature range was so high that even RandidlyÆs powerful body was scalded But this little amount of pain was nothing to him

He moved in the darkness with his weaponized torch hands proceeding at a brisk pace down one of the many underground tunnels Behind him the corpses of Absolute Darkness Ants twitched Acri curled around his waist gratefully absorbing all of the resulting Experience Apparently it had understood some of RandidlyÆs dilemmas and used the Experience it had earned from the battle in the Fifth Cohort to learn the capability to almost completely siphon off Experience from Randidly at will

Without an image using his blazing palms was the most efficient method of cutting down these Absolute Darkness Ants Plus it was a novel experience to weaponize his hands and simply chop them to pieces The other method Randidly found was simply using his own body from a bulldozer and crushing all these human sized ants but that strategy left him covered in sticky ant gore

Plus Acri was much more sensitive to the heat radiated from his gloves than he was

With his hands occupied his tail took over full time experimenting with Nether Randidly was a little dubious at first but the more he used it the more proficient the appendage became During the eight hours that Randidly assumed the role of an exterminator his tail became just as capable at creating Nether Arrays as his hands were

Randidly took a brief looking down at the light saber like energy flaring up around his hands with amusement After coming to the farm perhaps IÆve discovered my true calling An exterminator Bugs everywhere will learn to fear the Ghosthound

Centipedes No problem

Giant spiders Gone in seconds

A secret race of subterranean worms with carapaces as hard as diamonds Hah

Chuckling to himself Randidly continued to lawnmower his way forward through the complex network of tunnels underneath the warehouse The only illumination was the burning heat released by his gloves Honestly even he had a headache as he thought about clearing out the several million strong population of these ants And that was only the ants in the immediate area If he forced his Grim Intuition to spread outward he realized that the surface of NrorceÆs world was basically only inhabited by a few farmers It was the underground where most of the population was he could detect almost a hundred different varieties of ant in his brief examination

Congratulations Your Skill Cosmic Necessity has grown to Level 310

But luckily for Randidly they really just possessed an insect level of intelligence So he felt no qualms burning his way downward slaying the queen setting fire to the egg sacks and then slaughtering the several hundred thousand that got in his way Then he returned to the warehouse and began another thankless task disposing of all of the spoiled food

This was a great deal more difficult than Randidly had expected because he could only use his physical body not images or Skills to do it Even worse dealing with the rancid organic matter was the first time since his shoes had been burned away by acid all those years ago in that first Dungeon that Randidly regretted being barefoot

The warm feeling of maggots popping beneath his toes was not something he would soon be able to forget

Ultimately he just dumped the stuff down into the caves It would attract more ants in the short term but he could easily deal with them Plus it would be convenient for Randidly if the ants would feast on this shit so that the air down here would begin to clear out

Randidly even dropped Acri down into the tunnels when ants began to arrive to let the Soulseed have some fun

Then he heated up his gloves again and used plasma to melt away the haphazard Engravings that covered the warehouse floor Some of the Engraving resisted drawing their energy from whatever core lay beneath the farmhouse but they all eventually were wiped away Only then could Randidly and Neveah begin to cobble together a much more efficient Engraving System free of any images

The task was so big that they had only started brainstorming when Nrorce came back and announced it was time for breakfast Randidly was only too happy to stop and follow Nrorce into his home where enough friend ham pheasant eggs and a cheesy potato casserole to fill several barrels waited for them

But the true reward for the nightÆs toil was a breath of clean air

After eating Nrorce gave Randidly more tasks around the farm and then wandered back to his kitchen to do the dishes

Randidly paused then tapping his fingers against the table as he stared at the goblinÆs departing back The way things were developing it seemed that Nrorce would allow him to stay here and work for a while Which made him happy but also made him hesitate

Still Randidly eventually shook his head and banished those thoughts For now this is fine

So his days settled into a new pattern He worked on the farm in the mornings and then trained with Nether and the Hierarchy of Burden through the afternoon into the evenings His body gradually became accustomed to simply coping with his significant physical Stats moving through the various motions When Acri grew bored with tormenting ant Randidly practiced his spear forms and savored the simple ache of pushing his body to its limits

Or at least as much as he could push without setting Acri on fire

At nights he shared a dinner meal with Nrorce and the Randidly continued to clean up the warehouse After the second night he and Neveah had come up with the shape but implementing it proved a bit difficult without an image An image functioned as an inherent quality control toward Engraving making it much easier to output an even layer of Mana for a long period of time

Randidly paused in his Engraving and shook his head No wonder the original maker just said fuck itÆ and added everything on top getting an Engraving this big to work Pah

Honestly Randidly wished Neveah was physically present and even considered trying to explain the situation to Nrorce for her to show up But ultimately he saw this as training So Randidly buried his complaints and practiced

On the third day Randidly paused after dinner and looked at Nrorce The subject of how much of a debt he owed to the talented goblin chef never came up Somehow Randidly sensed that he could stay here working as long as he wanted And that he could leave anytime he had felt that he had repaid the debt he owed But Nrorce kept a tight grip over his emotions meaning that Randidly was mostly left to guess why the repayment method was so open ended

But he forced himself to clear his throat after dinner on the third night Is it alright if I leave the farm for a few hours ThereÆs something I want to do and I can only work with my image

Nrorce waved a hand in the careless way that he had as he gathered up the dirty dishes and carried the items through to the kitchen You know the way out Just make sure you put your gloves on before you come back And wipe your shoes well feet before you tramp filth all over the farm

Randidly stared after the goblin for several seconds Then he stood and stretched He stooped down to pass through the low threshold and left NrorceÆs home proceeding directly to the Southern entrance When he passed through the white lightning tunnel and closed the door behind him he gratefully took off the leather gloves

However even as he delighted in the sensation of power that suffused his body as his passive Skills kicked back in he looked upward and the levity steadily left him He could sense it now the general ceaseless encouragement from the System pushing plants and animals to grow in size and strength at a rapid pace Randidly sniffed lightly and wrinkled his nose Now I sorta get it all this image pollution is radiating off people constantly Even on a small planet like this there are quite a few low grade influences that can affect your image

Randidly began walking back toward the teleporter to return to the Nexus but then he changed his mind Instead he activated Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart and lifted himself off the ground When he had risen about twenty meters he stopped holding back and rapidly accelerated toward the sky

Darkness condensed in his left eye forming the keening Stillborn Phoenix Light melted and spiraled toward his eye where it was soon devoured by the image Small bolts of red electricity crackled off of the edge of the event horizon as it began to stabilize

Randidly blasted up through the cloud layer and then pierced further and further up in the atmosphere As the physical particles around them began to dissipate Randidly began to feel the Stillborn Phoenix become more and more active But due to its recent good behavior Randidly didnÆt bother to restrain it The sensation of having a quarter of his face devoured by the darkness of the Egg of Depression was a strange one but Randidly wasnÆt too worried

Even his own images would have difficulty damaging his remade body in a short amount of time

The light around him began to shift Finally Randidly paused in his acceleration and spun around savoring the feeling of weightlessness Well Randidly basically always felt no effort to move But the perfect sense of inertia he experienced was something quite different He twisted around until he could look down at the world beneath him The cloud layer was satisfyingly similar to swirled whipped cream Randidly chuckled soundlessly in the darkness of space So thatÆs a planet huh

It actually seems quite small and fragile RandidlyÆs smile gradually vanished Substances were gradually strengthened by the presence of Aether in the atmosphere ThatÆs why the average person couldnÆt just stomp and create a canyon on Expira even after gaining one hundred Strength But RandidlyÆs growth far outpaced the rate at which Aether could enrich most environments In addition he guessed that there was an inherent limit to how much more powerful materials could become Likely it was an asymptote at the Stat limit of the System so that the materials would become increasingly close but never touch that limit even after an infinite amount of time

And since IÆve moved beyond that Randidly turned away from the planet snuffing out that thought He expanded his Grim Intuition and felt the way that the Aether constructs of the Nexus stretched out like a vein and covered the planet Likely those were the Nexus Ways

Congratulations Your Skill Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart has grown to Level 346

Randidly activated Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart and pushed himself further away from the Nexus Ways He had considered finding just a small planet but he quickly spotted some partial moons floating in an asteroid belt a relatively short distance away from NrorceÆs planet By accelerating himself forward with gravity and then using Chimeric Impunity to avoid the intervening space Randidly quickly arrived at the cluster of massive moons

Randidly scanned the largest of the chunks and then smiled About one tenth the size of Expira But that still works fine it doesnÆt need to be an entire planet Hum there could even be a gravity difference on the Calamity which would be an added challenge But what are

As RandidlyÆs Grim Intuition scanned the world more closely his expression grew increasingly frosty He guided his body down accelerating toward the surface He barely bothered to slow down at all before impact meaning he smashed face first into the ground and punched a crater one fourth of the way into the moon The floating piece of ground shuddered

With burning eyes Randidly stalked out of his impact site Ridges and hills crumbled beneath him as he walked falling into the growing sinkhole He stepped once twice rapidly accelerating away from the destruction

There was no atmosphere on the planet which meant everything was preserved So when Randidly stopped he was standing above the mummified body of a blue skinned goblin with droopy ears The figure had collapsed with one arm stretched outward as though it were reaching for something

The figure was in the middle of a preserved road in a neighborhood RandidlyÆs heart began to pound

Dotting the surrounding hills were the tiny half buried in the ground houses of the goblins When RandidlyÆs senses scanned those structures he found that more corpses were often clustered gripping each other gathering together for warmth in corners and bedrooms and basements Randidly gritted his teeth and continued his investigation of the surroundings His shoulders were trembling

He couldnÆt find even the slightest hint of Aether in the surroundings so he had a theory when the Nexus arrived it didnÆt need to supply energy to an entire planetÆs worth of population So it had scooped out chunks when it remade the world tossing these pieces out into space to cull some of the population

Something horrible and implacable rose in RandidlyÆs chest He looked down at his trembling hands one flesh one metal The claws of the Grim Chimera flexed wishing to rip into flesh And this is why Neveah This is why I cannot stop Why IÆm willing to transform myself into a force to change this How long do you think they survived tossed into space like this How long did it take for those unlucky enough to be in the wrong places to suffocate

And IÆll change it Randidly clenched his hands into fists He wondered how many humans from his planet had suffered a similar fate How many had been frozen in the Wilderness and how many were deemed too expensive’ IÆll change it all At any cost

He could feel Neveah sigh But she didnÆt have the heart to contradict him at that moment

Chapter 1700

Fuck The word growled itself out of RandidlyÆs throat as he felt the ground beneath him shudder and crack His impact had destabilized this former portion of NrorceÆs world pushing it to the brink of annihilation Now the natural tectonic tension was providing the final push Which left Randidly infuriated by the methods that the Nexus used but also filled with scalding shame that he had been so incensed that he callously smashed into the ground and set this landmass on the path of destruction

Hot pure anger pumped through his veins circulating with the Nether

Hissing Randidly reached out and gripped the entire planet with his Willpower Vines and roots sprang up from the core of this world rapidly growing from tiny bits of calcified bacteria that resonated with RandidlyÆs potent Mana In the next instant the tremors of the ground ceased as Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil squeezed everything together

Yet Randidly looked down at the fallen mummified goblin before him with a bleak expression He swayed slightly No matter how tightly I grasp will I really be able to supply Mana to these roots forever Because otherwise

Because anything less than forever would mean nothing to the dead

RandidlyÆs sigh was explosive He reached up and rubbed his eyes with the butt of his right hand Then he shook his head releasing the domineering Skill His Nether Core hummed in sympathy its own significance aching with the act

Gradually the shuddering cracks resumed this moon would soon tear itself to pieces

Randidly knew that there was no meaning to his actions here nor his unwillingness to make this place the basis for ExpiraÆs Calamity He even doubted whether Nrorce would take it personally that Randidly had accidentally destroyed a moon covered in the ruins of his planet and people So none of his decisions mattered and he could do nothing to redress this tragedy

And that sense of impotency was what left Randidly feeling frustrated He activated Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart again to float away from the crumbling moon Those corpse filled houses buckled as the ridges beneath them collapsed and shattered The bodies were obliterated Randidly floated then for a while in the darkness of space twisting through the air

He took a breath and then released it Only after his emotions had calmed somewhat did he turn and examine the surrounding space for other options

Only by focusing on his current goal could he calm his fluttering heart The preparation became the cure and his lifeline

Randidly eventually settled on a massive asteroid as the home of ExpiraÆs First Calamity The size of the hunk of metal and stone was massive but much smaller than a normal planet Still it should suit their purposes fine There would be the main base but otherwise the Nemesai just needed an area to house the monsters they would use to attack Expira The barren and rocky surface would be perfect for such a role

With a little work the asteroid could be riddled with a complex network of tunnels too

RandidlyÆs tail flicked side to side the tip leaving a trail of Nether in its wake Randidly raised both his hands and unspooled the accumulated Nether out through his limbs When his aura was completely soaked in Nether he began to weave

Organic Systems the strongest pillars strengthened by necessity the stickiness of two flows of Nether running against each other The insights Randidly had into the behavior of Nether swirled around in his mind He settled into a strange balance his hands were responsible for the flow of Nether but it was his tail that guided the detail Gradually a growing blanket of Nether spread out before him It undulated mysteriously guided by the purpose of its making

Congratulation Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual has grown to Level 371

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 346

Once Randidly had the template the making was actually quite simple He generated Nether and wove it into simple patterns that naturally flowed together into more complex systems The blanket grew larger and larger a hazy barrier that starting edging around the enormous asteroid His focus entirely narrowed to the work

The longer he utilized Nether the lighter and more confident his tail became The patterns began to twist and flourish at the edges proof that RandidlyÆs mastery of Nether was gradually increasing The effectiveness of each stroke inched forward

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 353

Of course even as the details became easier fueling the massive working became increasingly onerous The interior of the shaft was extremely large but it couldnÆt compare to the dimensions of a planet Randidly rapidly began to sweat as he had to keep a tighter and tighter grip on his Nether Core in order to produce the requisite energy In addition he dare not spin it too quickly lest he lose control His brows knit together in worry even as his weaving gradually grew larger and larger covering half of the asteroid

RandidlyÆs focus narrowed further He only knew his hands his tail and the flow of Nether No longer did he bother to monitor the broader situation he was primarily concerned with finishing the pattern one stitch of woven Nether at a time

Congratulation Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual has grown to Level 372

In the end Randidly finished The web of Nether connected fusing the two sides together to form a film around the enormous asteroid Immediately RandidlyÆs sputtering Nether Core began to pick up speed and churn out Nether wildly There was a lot of meaning in his current actions Randidly gritted his teeth forcefully enduring the sense of wild resonance that was beginning to occur between himself and the Nether Ritual

While the Influence notification continued to churn Randidly couldnÆt help but his like a melted wheel spinning on hot asphalt Both Aether and Nether were smashing and crashing around in his body like a sea gripped by storm If not for his recently bodily refinements he might have been torn in half by the collisions From the depths of his Soulspace a grand rumbling began to emerge In a way that was very similar to the radiation from the Hierarchy of Burden Randidly found his body being seized and immobilized by the powerful currents of energy snapping back and forth between his Soulskill and the Nether Ritual he had created

The space and substance around him was being altered in a fundamental way He was bridging the distance between the isolated space and the asteroid

Why canÆt these things ever be easy Randidly raised his left hand at a glacially slow speed and pressed it against his chest His Alpha Cosmos was shifting and the result was not pleasant RandidlyÆs sensitivity toward images let him feel with brutal fidelity the forceful shifts of his own image as a new presence was dragged into his Soulskill

In a way the arrival of Expira there was cheating it had simply become a part of his body in a very literal way when it housed his Nether Core Meanwhile this process had no subterfuge Randidly was stuffing the asteroid into his Soulskill

And had to experience a sensation akin to having an asteroid stuffed into his mouth painfully warping his body in the process Everything struggled to cope

Congratulations Your Skill Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix has grown to Level 335

Congratulations Your Skill Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix has grown to Level 342

Eventually the resonance rose to a piercing screech RandidlyÆs body was increasingly rigid as the forces stretched his metaphysical self wider and wider The Nether Ritual rippled and then the asteroid in front of him was gone His chest squeezed and twisted

Randidly sagged a bit in the few seconds after the transition happened but then he opened his mouth and unleashed a loud belch

Or rather it would have been loud in other circumstances In space he could only feel the powerful vibrations running through his exhausted body Chuckling he leaned back and allowed himself to just float for a while He sent out several messages to his Pantheon and the Nemesai Very quickly he received pleased responses the asteroid had successfully arrived in his Alpha Cosmos and they would begin work on the Calamity immediately

Neveah had given them the Engravings they needed All that was left was the assembly and the creation of the army of monsters

Randidly pressed his eyes closed as he read the obvious enthusiasm that his subordinates displayed ItÆs a necessary task I know that I shouldnÆt hold their willingness to make these hard decisions against them

Eventually Randidly shook himself back to wakefulness from the brief rest He glanced down at the floating world of Nrorce below him but he made no move to return to the farm Instead Randidly pulled out his PhilosopherÆs Key and opened a portal directly back to EdraineÆs hideout in that strange twilight neighborhood The still air was somewhat of a relief after the ringing absence of space He walked through the dimly lit halls and entered OctaviusÆ office

The rhino man looked up from a tattered looking scroll and tugged on his horn Good good IÆve got what you wanted

After rummaging on the desk for a while he produced a thin slip of black plastic covered in golden lines Randidly took the object and studied it closely as Octavius continued to speak That is your personal payment mark IÆve deposited your wages so you should have access to funds in the next day or so ah careful about looking at it too closely

Randidly felt the card becoming extremely chilling in his hand as he tried to study the shifting golden lines so he averted his gaze for a bit Gradually the card calmed back down and became an ordinary piece of plastic Randidly looked at Octavius and raised his eyebrows Even I the owner isnÆt allowed to study it IsnÆt it my payment mark

But the Engraving process that makes it work is a trade secret of the Currency Consortiums Octavius shrugged And getting a second mark if you lose your first requires a third of the value of your account so you can see that they take the security of their Engravings very seriously

Randidly nodded calmly and stored the mark inside his interspatial ring He idly wondered whether the money inside was enough to purchase the planets he made promises about to the Nemesai He also hoped that the discomfort from adding the asteroid to his Alpha Cosmos was a one time thing even as he knew in his heart that the larger planets would be even more troublesome to move Meanwhile he opened his mouth and asked a different question to Octavius So I heard that there was an attack on the Swacc Family By terrorists

Terrorists Ha Octavius shook his head and scowled They are blowing it out of proportion to turn an accident into a useful bit of propaganda something weird is happening to the supply of raw Aether in the Nexus again and the NLC wants a scapegoat Truthfully it appears that a thief was simply stealing something from the Swacc Family when that individual triggered some sort of alchemic reaction from the facility blowing the whole area up and trashing a Swacc Family secret base in the process

Randidly felt vaguely disappointed He reached up and scratched at his head Just an accident huh ThatÆs too bad I think the Swacc Family could use a few more enemies

Hehe on that count you donÆt need to be disappointed Octavius flashed a smile ThatÆs why the issue became so big To the public its just a random explosion but to all the powerful players in the Nexus the Swacc Family has been clearly been experimenting with forbidden subjects Unitarium was blasted everywhere by the reaction

Unitarium Randidly tilted his head to the side

Octavius gave Randidly a weird look Then when Randidly still was obviously confused the humanoid rhino blinked I had assumed well I had assumed you would know what that was considering your Wait you have a completely organic bond with Neveah

Uh Now Randidly was really confused What

I had assumed OctaviusÆ expression was somewhat vacant Then he snapped back into focus and shook his head Incredible An organic bond in the flesh And a balanced one from the way you both survived your first trip to the shaft Okay let me backpedal Unitarium is a substance that increases the likelihood of the creation of a successful Soulbound The Champion of your Zone was actually quite rare she came from a planet very rich in Unitarium which was why some of your people had access to a Soulbond so early in the process of joining the System But that also meant that the bond was easier to form requiring only small amounts of Unitarium

Randidly was frowning as he attempted to understand what Octavius was saying

Octavius raised his hands Okay this is complicating the discussion Generally Soulbonds usually slide two ways once they are formed The individuals either eventually disconnect due to their personalities being too different or one soul devours the other Unitarium also serves as a balancing agent keeping these bad outcomes from occurring Very few very few Soulbonds are simultaneously very much a part of each otherÆs lives and simultaneously have independent existences that allows the balance to be maintained organically You and Neveah are very special to have maintained that balance

The hairs on the back of RandidlyÆs neck prickled Honestly we hadnÆt been maintaining very well until recently have we As for the requirements We were always very independent As for being a part of each otherÆs existence Neveah is the source of my Aether Or she was born in the source of my Aether Crossroads So in a way we definitely couldnÆt have moved further apart

RandidlyÆs eyes narrowed And the recent change the sudden and abrupt growth of our bond only occurred after I formed my Nether Core When the energies started to be balanced between us

Octavius didnÆt notice RandidlyÆs whirling thoughts Anyway experiments on Soulbonds are something tightly controlled by the Nexus All experimentation is done through a branch of the Engraving Guild Of which the Swacc Family is a prominent member but the quantity of Unitarium present at this facility can only mean that theyÆve been skimming for their own ends And Lathis NÆGick is definitely not someone who appreciates having his property stolen

For most this is a terrorist attack But behind the scenes all the big entities are stirring they arenÆt going to miss this opportunity to carve off a pound of flesh from the Swacc Family when theyÆve so obviously broken the laws of the Nexus

Chapter 1701

After his discussion with Octavius Randidly returned to NrorceÆs homeworld with a frown on his face With the PhilosopherÆs Key he portaled right to the edge of the farm He pulled on the gloves and walked through the white lightning corridor ridding himself of the images that clung onto his person from his brief foray into the Nexus

Somehow he wished that the lightning was stronger to burn away all his doubts

On the one hand RandidlyÆs trip had been extremely successful He had obtained the asteroid needed by the Nemesai to start working on the Calamity and he had learned additional information about an attack against the Swacc Family Even if it was partially an accident the reveal of the Swacc FamilyÆs experiments would bring pressure against the longtime adversary of Randidly Ghosthound That was a cause worth celebrating

But on the other hand Randidly still felt vaguely sick to be condoning and enabling a Calamity against Expira that would kill another wave of people In addition the situation with the Swacc Family was a sharp reminder that although Randidly had gained a little bit more understanding there was a lot of depth to the Nexus that was beyond his experience The sense of undercurrents he read from OctaviusÆ heavy expression stank of danger For now it was probably for the best if he kept a low profile and continued to improve himself

So the farm No matter what else it was to the owner it was a refuge for him The sensation of sun on his skin the noises of the animals the scents of dirt shit and fruit everything spoke of freedom from the Nexus The cleansed images and special equipment just reinforced that impression Randidly stood on the farm and sucked in a deep breath of the air perhaps only standing here could he understand the strange fixation that many had on the escape offered by Alymian

Randidly found Nrorce sitting at the dining room table waiting with cooling food in front of him The gravy was a brown grey ooze and the meat was dry The blue skinned goblin glanced up at Randidly as he bent to come into the sunken home His expression was strange I wasnÆt sure whether youÆd be back

I still owe a bit more right Randidly said slowly as he proceeded to the table and sat down

Nrorce gave Randidly a heavy glance well yea Just a bit more maybe

Then the two began to eat Even cold the food Nrorce made was delicious

After the meal Nrorce gave Randidly a number of adjustments he wanted to be implemented the remade warehouse Engraving and Randidly got back to work With NeveahÆs help he readjusted the Engraving and allowed Acri more free time to head beneath the warehouse and harvest experience from the bewildered ants The spear seemed to hint that it was approaching another transformation

Work here was simple and direct Randidly let it swallow him whole His tail burned with Mana as he began to adjust his earlier work

Congratulations Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways has grown to Level 428

Congratulations Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways has grown to Level 429

The one benefit of a farm was that there always seemed to be another task that needed to be done immediately Plus accomplishing those tasks mostly relied on RandidlyÆs quick and sure movements and not at all upon his mental energy So while he gathered the apple harvest re fenced the bear enclosure and shoveled pheasant shit Randidly was free to continue his own mental training without interruption

Within his body he sharpened the details of his images repeatedly His daydreams were full of the greenery beneath the auspices of the World Tree and the desolation at the edge of an event horizon He also carefully gathered and spun Nether into dense threads to use in an even larger Nether Array to begin to repay his debts to the Nemesai

In addition Randidly continued to rapidly accumulate significance and Influence At this point he had quickly blown past twenty thousand Influence and was rising higher every second It didnÆt seem that simply adding physical objects to his Alpha Cosmos was the cause but that the specific role of the object added had some sort of multiplicative effect Because definitely the actions he was taking would have a profound influence on Expira

For better or for worse

That thought made Randidly grimace Another shift was gradually happening in his inner world although Randidly couldnÆt decide whether it was a good or a bad thing Even with his recent trip to Expira there were simply too many details shaping his home planetÆs reaction So Randidly moved his powerful body through the mundane tasks of the farm polishing its edges and gradually seeing the things that he affected come to life he felt very accomplished to harvest food and then have Nrorce cook it that night

The process granted him peace and fulfillment the likes of which Randidly had experienced only rarely since the System had arrived

Yet simultaneously the more that sense of peace filled him the more Randidly was filled with a burning restlessness Right now his Elite Squad was out there pursuing the remnants of the Nether KingÆs forces Vualla was doing the same probably in even more dangerous circumstances for the Xyrt Brigade And there was the Nether King himself somehow plotting to reach the Path to the Pinnacle and accomplish some nefarious task

And then there was the voice that had called to Randidly from the base of the shaft

Randidly took a break from his mid morning sweep through the fields for bugs and sat on the ground His tail almost subconsciously at this point sketched out the framework for a Nether Ritual in the air behind him He used the leather gloves to wipe some sweat from his forehead and let his breath hiss out between his teeth

Nrorce would be mad if he saw me sitting the corner of RandidlyÆs mouth curled upward Then he shook his head

Balance That was something he wasnÆt good at Randidly Ghosthound only knew how to be consumed by necessity These restive days of waiting and slow preparation were stressful in a way that he wasnÆt sure how to articulate

The only times that he was able to honestly answer that burning fear in his soul that asked is this enough Æ is when he allowed himself to be consumed To do any less almost felt like he was inviting disaster

In the end Randidly didnÆt let himself think about those inner fears for too long Instead he pressed himself to his feet and got back to work His tail began sweeping back and forth drawing great looping Nether Arrays in the air behind him Even if every other part of his body wanted to simply bury his head the tail flared up and slashed at the Nether problems with renewed alacrity

Congratulations Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath has grown to Level 249

Gradually precariously stressfully days began to roll past Soon Randidly had returned to the farm for a week The meals were a reassuring proof that time was passing yet everything else just seemed to be drifting along with the fluffy white clouds that loafed across the sky After the strange terroristÆ attack on the Swacc base the news Randidly got from Octavius was completely bland The clearing of Nether remnants in the Fifth Cohort continued without any end in sight

Randidly refined his Nether further His understanding steadily increased He began to consider very seriously his attempt to bring a whole world into the Alpha Cosmos

On the eighth day since Randidly had returned to the farm he received a message from Claudette Beigon that was outside the usual routine of the days she had prepared some of what Randidly had requested as a show of good faith She wanted to meet and discuss how he could help her

The group from the Engraving Guild stopped dead They were twenty strong all part of the Nether Lattice and all rather influential individuals at that But each felt a sense of dread in their hearts as they looked at the man standing proudly in front of the doorway to the target of their raid

They stood in the middle of what was normally a busy street yet somehow the other citizens of the Nexus seemed to have known this was coming and evacuated the area The stone buildings seemed deserted around them The windows were empty or locked shut This wasnÆt the headquarters of the Swacc Family but it was where many of their outstanding talents were stationed Considering the blunder the Swacc Family made it was only a matter of time before this location was targeted The tall doors and vaulted archways of the windows dripped arrogance

The tension was thick

Another ten seconds passed before the leader of this team from the Engraving Guild stepped forward Velio Dunn What is the meaning of this You are not affiliated directly with the Swacc Family Please stand aside and allow us to continue our investigation

Velio Dunn threw back his shaved head and laughed His shoulders bobbed up and down making the glowing bastard sword strapped to his back seem to shiver Then Velio lowered his gaze and grinned around at the Nether Lattice members in front of him Well when I get paid to accomplish a job what else can I do but fulfill my duty I have a reputation to uphold

The wind whistled once more Electricity steadily built in the air as the murky density of Nether started to ooze outward from the Engraving Guild group But the leaderÆs nerve failed him when he observed the way that Velio Dunn simply grinned and waited allowing the man to make his own preparations

The Engraving Guild leader snorted Pah What can one individual do DonÆt get involved in fights that are bigger than you Velio

CLANG

The Engraving Guild Leader didnÆt even see the movement One moment Velio Dunn was standing with his sword sheathed the next he was a storm of motion The leaderÆs eyes narrowed a figure had interposed themselves between the leader and Velio Dunn blocking the attack A Military High Command Commandant floated between them red faced while resisting the attack

And even more ominously the two members of the Engraving Guild that were standing most near to the leader slumped sideways They had been silently bisected by Velio Dunn as a warm up to his attack on the leader If he had chosen to attack him first

You The leader bellowed He glanced sideways at the Commandant Well I suppose there is no sense hiding it any longer Call out your forces let us finally rid the Nexus of this infuriating flea

No the Commandant responded coolly We retreat

Boo A new voice sounded out over the assembled forces From on top of the Swacc building a Vulpine humanoid stepped forward and leaned down against the ramparts Six tails undulated behind the figure How did you sense me You are pretty sharp you know that Hey Velio maybe we should kill them just for that

There was something worn about the foxman The bags under his eyes the prickly and stiff set of his fur there was something about the figure that reminded the Engraving Guild leader of a shirt that had been laundered too many times Some of the base substance of its existence was wearing away leaving a hollow remnant

But even somewhat drained there was a horrifying pervasiveness of that VulpineÆs aura

Bah Why chase someone who wishes to retreat Velio Dunn waved a hand Such foes arenÆt even fun tsk why did I even bother accepting these assignments Tsk tsk I wonder where the hell that Ghosthound is hiding doesnÆt he work for Military High Command Can you just send him my way Just thinking about how heÆs probably improving right now ehhehe

The Commandant didnÆt answer simply taking a step back and giving a sharp glance to the Engraving Guild Leader Then they retreated reporting that the Swacc Family would be a more difficult nut to crack than anticipated

Chapter 1702

You expect me to believe The officious guard folded his arms slowly across his chest His polished armor made Randidly very aware of his own clothes That Mistress Claudette wishes to meet someone like you

RandidlyÆs lips twitched He honestly wasnÆt even insulted at this point he could completely understand where the guard was coming from He considered how he had gotten here as he selected his answer

Claudette had told him it was probably easier for him to come to the Beigon estate to read the historical records because she had found them in her fatherÆs library and wouldnÆt dare steal them and draw Don BeigonÆs attention to their activities Randidly had agreed without thinking too much about it He told Nrorce heÆd be gone for a few hours and not to wait for his return to eat The goblin had nodded but somehow Randidly still would bet that the blue skinned creature would be sitting in front of a cooling meal once again when he returned

So he proceeded to some of the upper layers of the Nexus places where you needed at least Tier 1 Nexus Citizenship to even go Apparently the process would be much simpler if he had a higher Citizenship Tier but to approach the Beigon Estate as a Tier 1 Citizen one was required to ascend literally ten million stone steps Randidly had taken the teleporter to approach and was shocked to find himself at the base of a mountain Stones wisps of mist and stubby pine trees lined the ascent which had been inscribed with an Engraving to restrict all Skills and images All you could do was walk up the stairs

RandidlyÆs eyelids twitched The summit of the mountain was hidden by heavy clouds He honestly wasnÆt even sure he was still in the Nexus any longer Hum maybe I should have taken her talk about her identity a little more seriously

The number of steps was somewhat mind numbing but RandidlyÆs physical body was leagues ahead of even the most talented physical specimens in the Nexus He had shattered the Stat limit and then remade his body on an atomic level to take advantage of his newfound freedom So his legs blurred as he propelled himself rapidly upward

He was a ghost speeding up past giant granite outcroppings and shadowy ridges that spread outward from the three meter wide staircase

Half way up the stairs he realized that there was also a growing physical suppression from the surroundings Mist was steadily rising from the stairs filling the walkers with a sense of isolation If he had not been counting Randidly probably would be completely oblivious to his positioning At this point Randidly estimated that gravity was about three times as strong here as it was normally

And he probably wouldnÆt have even noticed the physical restrictions if he had not blown quickly past a group of sweating grey skinned humanoids who were clearly struggling to continue Randidly paused briefly to wonder why they were trying to ascend and visit the Beigons Then he shook his head

Everyone has their own circumstances

He continued upward moving past more and more individuals as he reached the three fourths point of the staircase As the intensity of the gravity was increasing so was the number of people They were packed in a wobbly line now huddled and hurrying up the stairs like war refugees The mist was thick around their knees adding to the impression that they were wading through a shallow river RandidlyÆs eyes flashed as he kept to the right side of the wide stairs and considered his ascent Some creatures and humanoids glanced at him as he passed but most seemed to consumed by their toil

The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer swimming through mist Then warm sunlight and the scent of lilacs hit him leaving him feeling refreshed He took the last ten steps slowly rolling his eyes at the fifty or so grunting beings struggling to cross that last distance

Finally Randidly arrived at the top and was struck by two things simultaneously First the front of the home of the Beigons was a gorgeous thing combining the heavy and solemn pillars of the Parthenon with the gold and jade inlaid patterns of East Asian cultures A gleaming metal gate stood closed covered in intricate and mesmerizing patterns that blended art and Engraving into a product that had Neveah instantly buzzing in RandidlyÆs subconscious cooing in appreciation In front of the gates were gorgeous statues surrounding by trees filled with pink and orange flowers

Secondly there appeared to already be a queue for others that had made it up here

There was a smaller gate off to the left down a manicured cobblestone path between flowering trees Fifteen people all sweating and bedraggled stood there and waited for a bored looking guard in white plate armor leaned out of the guardhouse to wave them forward Randidly hesitated sent Claudette a message to say that he had arrived and then just joined the line

Next The guard called

A humanoid with bright red antlers stepped forward He offered an ingratiating smile to the guard and then produced a red wrapped package with a flourish The guard folded his arms and the man hurriedly unwrapped the package within an ornate box was a bowl of some strange kernels Ah this is a humble gift I offer for the beautiful Claudette Beigon Please simply allow her to dine in the presence of this delicacy of my homeland The alluring smell

The guard grabbed the bowl from the antlered man and gave it to a second guard waiting behind him who sniffed the bowl and grimaced and then unfolded his arms and waved again Next

Of the people waiting in line in front of Randidly nine had come to deliver gifts that they begged to be simply brought into the presence of Claudette BeigonÆ The type of gift ranged from an inscrutable painting that was so divergent from ExpiraÆs concept of art that Randidly couldnÆt make heads or tails of it to a piping hot bowl of ham and bean stew Which even to RandidlyÆs nose that had been spoiled by NrorceÆs cooking smelled quite good With the same dismissive look the guard took the items passed it back to his companions and beckoned the next individual forward

Randidly glanced behind him as more and more drained and sweating individuals staggered off the stark stone steps and onto this flourishing wonderland Once they were up to the top ten steps he supposed it was just a matter of time until they made it all the way No wonder his expression is so bored Does he really just sit here and do it every day

Of the remaining six people in front of Randidly four had brought gifts for the Don Beigon himself These were universally less personal and more transactional than the gifts for Claudette The way that one beleaguered centaur with grey mutton chops handed over a ring with one thousand ingots of some specialty steal made Randidly think that this was less about earning favor and much more about repaying debts He wondered what the centaur had done to require him to pay so much

But most awkwardly were the two that had come to beg for entrance to Alymian

Please The monkey with golden fur got onto his hands and knees when his initial plea did nothing to sway the guard Please I must return to Alymian I for the briefest moment while I was there I found my calling Yet back here in the Nexus

DonÆt disgrace yourself The guard leaned forward and spat on top of the bowing monkey finally showing some emotion If you wish to return pay for a pass ItÆs that simple

Please IÆve already given everything for this chance The monkey raised his head off the ground His lips trembled I was so close

Next The guard bellowed And when the monkey moved to speak two other guards stepped forward and raised their weapons leaving the monkey to whimper and drag himself away

Randidly coughed lightly as he stepped forward It was finally his turn I hello IÆm here to see Claudette She should be expecting me

The words were like a spell slowing the panting and the whispering of the people who had filled in behind Randidly while he had been waiting Even some of the other guards paused in their yawning conversations and swiveled their heads over to look at the man who dared claim that Claudette Beigon was expecting him

And considering most of the people here are just here to drop off weird gifts I guess she doesnÆt have many friends that stop by Haah what a hassle

The guard folded his arms across his chest looking Randidly up and down from his bare feet to his chin length black hair You expect me to believe that Mistress Claudette wishes to meet someone like you

The guard didnÆt even give Randidly a chance to respond He just kept speaking Let me tell you a secret there is actually a method by which she could have told us to let you through It has just happened so rarely that we no longer bother to check it And because IÆm feeling generous and honestly in need of entertainment I donÆt mind checking today

The people behind Randidly were now whispering furiously with each other At the same time the other guards of the Beigon family began to gather around nudging each other with their elbows The receiving guard leaned forward his pristine white armor glimmering in the warm sunlight that suffused this whole place however If I go back and check and find out that youÆve taken me for a fool if youÆve lied and used the name of our mistress in some batshit scheme to lie your way into the Beigon compound well I suppose you will have to take responsibility for entertaining us I hope you donÆt break easily boy

Randidly reached up and scratched his jaw feeling somewhat helpless He couldnÆt decide what sort of expression he should be showing Not that any of you are weak but even Alana could come here and rip a hole through your defenses You are definitely not the true guards to this compound And you want to threaten me

Ultimately it was a moot point Randidly decided to overlook their foolish swagger and simply nodded The guards chuckled and one stepped forward and bowed theatrically I wish for the honor of finding out this manÆs fate

Go go the gift receiving guard said waving his hand and chuckling The younger guard who volunteered then sauntered forward taking his sweet time as he walked up to the main gate and approached a small and inconspicuous box sitting there

A slippery amphibian humanoid stood behind Randidly and leaned forward to whisper in his hear You best not anger them The Beigon Family and all their affiliates will hold a grudge against you for as long as you live They will never allow you into Alymian

I am telling the truth Randidly shook his head

After making a great show of producing a key and raising it above his head to show everyone the crimson metal and silver stylings on the handle the young guard inserted it into the box and twisted The door swung open revealing several small chambers

Bahaha The young guard threw back his head The young mistressÆs box

But then he choked There was an awkward moment of silence Randidly tilted his head to the side curious The young man reached forward with trembling hands and removed a small scroll from within the container After reading it he spun around Open the gates

What The guard in front of Randidly was dumbfounded All of the waiting beings were frozen with looks of shock on their faces One by one they turned to look deeply at Randidly

The main gates The young guard gestured frantically Open them

The gift guard spun around and looked at Randidly with wonder Randidly could only shrug helplessly I did tell you

The Engravings moved first flowing backward across the heavy gates in a mythical pattern that had Neveah swooning Then the physical gates moved opening a space of about a hundred meters just so Randidly could walk forward Then the gates rumbled back into place behind him

Randidly followed a floating light orb through a dazzling array of flowering gardens and strange sculptures The entire area was dyed the color of sunsets either with paint or material Everything he saw stank of money and power to the point that Randidly had to resist a very literal urge to wrinkle his nose the scent of the flowers was overpowering

If Randidly walked past one more perfectly blooming rose bed before getting to Claudette he considered very seriously whether he could set the damn thing on fire without anyone knowing it was him

If he gripped it with the slightest bit of Mana in a few minutes they would all transform to ash anyway

But due to his time on the farm Randidly recognized that his emotional reaction was to due the thick image of qualityÆ layered over every inch of this place The Beigon Family seemed to think very highly of itself

Finally Randidly was led into a small drawing room that gave the occupants a perfect view of the gorgeous bubbling spring in a nearby courtyard But the figure within was not who he had expected

So A middle aged man took a sip of tea then set down his cup He sat with his legs folded beneath him his heavy lidded eyes seeming to scan every inch Randidly Why have you come on this day to my house to meet my daughter

Chapter 1703

Don Beigon features were harsh and his hair was dark Looking at the intensity of his gaze and the lines around his eyes Randidly realized that the man was ancient the only reason he couldnÆt tell immediately was that his hair was completely black without even the slightest hint of grey

Yet there was an implacable weight to him that couldnÆt be faked His Nether Core responded to the significance he had accumulated simply by aging even if he had no dedicated receptacle to contain that power

The other fact about the Don that became immediately obvious was that he had no legs His torso cleanly transitioned into the wicker and mahogany wheelchair beneath him But the folds of the man’s maroon jacket prevented Randidly from seeing the particulars of that shift Yet the fact that his upper body appeared almost completely humanoid seemed to suggest that it wasnÆt a natural transition

Next to them in the courtyard the spring gurgled pleasantly Birds chirped in the warm illumination that shined down on the house of Beigon Randidly slowly opened his mouth wondering how much and what he should say to explain his presence

But the Don lifted a massive tanned hand to stop him Let us dispense with the artifice I can guess the goal of your meeting with my daughter even if I do not know the details nor why you the rumored Head Drill Sergeant underneath Commandant Wick were her best selection I am not a man who wastes time Do not bother lying to me

And for the first time since Randidly had walked into the room Randidly stiffened Don Beigon briefly pulled back the curtain and revealed a thick and furious flow of Aether that was pumping through his body His hand stretched outward elongated by the vast energy he contained The image that Randidly witnessed there of molten metal and bleeding skies was not at the overwhelming truthÆ of the Speculum he had witnessed in the Fifth Cohort But it felt a finger or two deeper than Velio Dunn and Commandant Wick

This was Don Beigon the man who shared the administration authority of Alymian with Solomon Rex Here was the ironhanded father that was selling off his daughter to the highest bidder

He was ancient And he had the power to survive in the viper pit that was the Nexus

Randidly pressed his lips together and controlled his expression as best he could He took several steps forward and sat down at the light bamboo table That reminder of what this man was planning to do with Claudette was enough to steady him through this strange development

He refused to balk easily before this twisted father

RandidlyÆs mind moved frantically trying to weigh loyalty to Claudette versus the subtle threat that Don Beigon made even while he simply folded his hands in his lap The Don leaned forward and poured Randidly a cup of steaming tea The way his jacket fell truly revealed that his torso ended at a complex network of straps that attached him to the chair

Of course in the Nexus you didnÆt need a whole body to wield overwhelming power

As the older man leaned back and set the tea kettle down Don BeigonÆs lips curled up slightly quite like your arm I sense my wounding was self inflicted But I was not so bold as you to directly alter the Aether body record of the Nexus Heh I just wished to escape my past And I found a new identity for myself in the Nexus one that didnÆt require legs at all or the tradition that was tied to them Only power

Randidly took a sip of the tea The flavor was warm and spicy all cinnamon and clove and citrus When he set the cup down he finally addressed Don BeigonÆs original question in as neutral a tone as possible IÆm here to see if I can help Claudette

To RandidlyÆs surprise the Don chuckled Heh Let me guess help protect her from me From my machinations From her vicious father

Is this a situation where he wants to force me to admit going against him before he bares his fangs Randidly wondered But still he nodded The Don had asked him to tell the truth and poured him tea So the least he could do was tell the truth

Randidly paused on that thought His Nether Core was whirling faster than he had seen it moving in a long time His skin prickled warning him His eyes steadily narrowed into sharp points Why the hell would it matter that he poured me tea

Seeing the shift in expression on RandidlyÆs face Don BeigonÆs heavy eyes showed an expression of surprise Oh Heh Well you werenÆt the Head Drill Sergeant for nothing eh Forgive an old man for wanting to use a few tricks to ensure the best for his daughter Truly your image is a little shallow but thatÆs a matter of time isnÆt it YouÆll be a monster someday in this manÆs estimation Randidly Ghosthound Keep at it

However Randidly heard something entirely different from that statement The understated Don Beigon leered at him But you arenÆt a monster now not yet

Not like me

RandidlyÆs hands tightened on the teacup but he didnÆt dare take another drink He activated both Revelations of the Atramentous Threshold and Ruin is Inevitable Yet This Too Shall Pass but both Skills felt anchorless somehow The Skills spun but he couldnÆt get any solid read on the situation and he didnÆt dare forcefully flare his image to force the issue not while they were calmly sitting across from each other and sipping tea Begrudgingly Randidly allowed his Skills to deactivate and scrutinized the man in front of him

If Commandant Wick was the master of harsh rules and regulations the Don in front of Randidly was deeply talented in the methods of soft power Suddenly the strange debts he had seen being paid at the entrance made more sense That perhaps was the danger of this man That you would happily throw yourself into his debt and then just as happily give up everything you had to repay him

I think Randidly said slowly That selling your daughter to the highest bidder is not the best for Claudette

Again Don Beigon seemed surprised He glanced around at the surroundings for a few seconds his eyes inscrutable The birds continued their merry song even with the air seemed to hum and what do you know about the difficulties of being a father

To that Randidly said nothing

IÆll pay you double what she is offering just to walk away Don Beigon said after taking another sip of his tea Randidly had to forcefully suppress the desire to mirror that movement afraid that another sip would make him more susceptible to persuasion due to the DonÆs strange Skillset

Randidly shook his head He would not walk away Some part of him believed it was for the best to avoid drawing the ire of this man but another part of him refused to consider stepping back now when he so truthfully believed that Claudette didnÆt deserve this

A man with principles Don Beigon mused still with his eyes on the spring Small fish flitted back and forth in the shallow edge of the pool dancing with the dappled light that filtered down through the water As beautiful as stained glass and just as fragile Well Well well well Let me at least explain myself a bit I do not want you to get involved while ignorant of the circumstances

Claudette is a weakness My weakness My only child my precious daughter And the unavoidable truth is that she will someday leave me Don Beigon sighed Her spirit is too bright She would never consent to stay here forever protected from the despicable elements of the Nexus heh donÆt give me that look Do you think that the Frost Matriarch or the other Pinnacle Seekers will be able to protect her To get to me to get access to Alymian do you know what would put the Pinnacle Seekers immediately in line Power Power solves every problem in this fucked up world And thatÆs assuming that the ones seeking to control my daughter arenÆt the Pinnacle Seekers themselves Those fanatics who base their whole existence around an impossible dream

Randidly pursed his lips In the end when he opened his mouth he asked a question that had been bothering him for a while Why is Alymian so important to so many people And powerful people at that

Ah this makes sense Your image is yet too shallow for you to realize Don Beigon murmured You understand the Pinnacle yes You essentially create a world An internally consistent world emerges from your image whole and pure Well that is the ideal most often you make the attempt and someone sabotages you or more likely your attempt is flawed and you fail

To those Speculum and even less who feel like they are close to taking that final step two examples of how it may be done are better than one And Alymian is the only publicly acknowledged success in the history of the Nexus

Publicly acknowledged Randidly probed sensing something from the way the Don had spoken But the man just smiled blandly at him And when Randidly opened his mouth to press further he found that he could not

And he could read the reason why on the DonÆs face I have already given you this hint You dare ask for more in the face of my favor

Randidly gritted his teeth Don BeigonÆs strange social Skills gave him a feeling of pressure like nothing he had ever encountered before HIs ability to interact with others had grown but this was quite a bit beyond his comfort zone

Luckily the Don moved back to the prior topic You might think me heartless to do this to Claudette but I have no choice but to find a more permanent means of protection She will suffer in the short term I cannot deny that but I would rather knowingly give my daughter away and guarantee she is safe but upset than wake up one day and find that she is raped and dead in some dark corner of the Nexus It is my worst nightmare to think that she would die and I will not be able to recover her body

WhatÆs left unsaid is that the transaction will be binding leverage for you RandidlyÆs jaw clenched even further Your Skills you will bind this individual very tightly to the promise of protecting her as a wife And the fact that you are making this public will that act as a subtle deterrent How influential are you

If she cannot realize the truth herself I will make the decision for her Don Beigon shook his head That is my prerogative as her father

RandidlyÆs skin tingled as he looked at the intense man He licked his lips and forced his jaw to unclench Then he shook his head You cannot protect her forever Part of love is allowing allowing those you protect to experience pain To allow them to be hurt by the world because your truth is not theirs They need to find it for themselves

In that second all of the amiable candidness in Don BeigonÆs expression was gone Suddenly he was a hawk riding on a tidal wave of molten flames What do you know of love Mr Ghosthound What do you know of protection and responsibility

Randidly began to tremble underneath the force of Don BeigonÆs image pressure even as the polite invitation to tea acted as a binding that prevented Randidly from manifesting his own image in response Subtle and unspoken agreements bound his Soulspace But RandidlyÆs emerald eyes blazed he did not need an image to resist this little bit of pressure

My world even now experiences the System Mister Beigon Randidly hissed An entire world is balanced upon my continued success lest it be tossed aside by the Nexus and left to a slow death by energy famine after I am buried So please do not mock my understanding of responsibility

For the third time Don BeigonÆs eyes twinkled with surprise All the bluster fell away and the man chuckled Heh ItÆs been a while since someone has dared speak out against me Interesting Perhaps I can understand why you have the false stench of hope on you Hmm

Randidly tried to keep his breathing steady as the Don rapped his fingers against the table and thought Finally the older man spoke again how about this I promise to not stop you from making a deal in my daughter Because I think you are aware of how easy it would be for me to do so without even threatening your life And honestly I donÆt think your interference will change anything Giving her an outlet for this hare brained scheme of hers is likely a positive thing In exchange two things One you keep this meeting between us a secret Mostly because I donÆt want my daughter peeved at me And secondly to go along with the first portion IÆll teleport you to the entrance and youÆll approach once again What do you think

Randidly had been expecting some steep costs for the promise of non interference but the requests from the Don were quite reasonable

Of course RandidlyÆs heart sunk when he had that thought And because they are reasonable I donÆt think I can refuse can I He nodded with a heavy heart

Don Beigon smiled IÆm glad we had this talk Mr Ghosthound Reach out if you ever need anything YouÆll find IÆm quite good at getting almost anything for the right price

Then the Don snapped his fingers In the next instant Randidly was standing once more at the base of the mountain looking up at ten million stone steps Mist drifted above him in long clumps

This is what you meant by teleport to the entranceÆ What a petty old man Randidly muttered Then he shook his head and began to climb once more

Chapter 1704

Ramsey Swacc acting head of the Swacc Family sat at his desk and did his best not to look out the window He knew that in the courtyard below Velio Dunn was playing with the hounds RamseyÆs hounds his one hobby being the act of raising and training the powerful hounds in between managing the outward affairs of the Swacc Family

Not that he had time for them these days of course But to have that manÆs bloodsoaked hands rubbing their ears

Ramsey slapped his cheeks and forced himself to focus He lowered his shoulders and looked at the letter in front of him sent from the Engraving Guild demanding an explanation for the volume of Unitarium that was released by the explosion Ramsey clicked his tongue Not that the Engraving Guild hadnÆt been aware of their activities in the past but now that they so thoroughly

The happy barking of dogs caused Ramsey to stiffen again Growling to himself he stood and stalked to the window Down below in the yard several of the younger additions to the Swacc Family stood at attention while the oppressively powerful Velio rolled on the ground with the young hounds They had just reached one year of age so while they had most of the base training down their bestial instincts were still strong

When given such an invitation to play none of the hounds could resist They were rolling and barking and licking and play biting chasing after the preternaturally fast Velio Meanwhile most of the younger generation was staring warily at VelioÆs sword which was pulsing with a blue light and steadily eating away at the tree it was leaning against

Ramsey shut the window with a sharp snap Even more infuriating was the knowledge that Velio probably noticed his observation but just find it amusing And Velio was right there was nothing that Ramsey could do to the powerful man either through personal power or through connections Velio Dunn outclassed him in every way

Ramsey glanced sideways at the shadow painting in the corner Are you not infuriated by his prattle Do you not bear a grudge against him

Aisha Swacc continued to paint her expression placid Several silver pins kept her long grey hair up in an elaborate coil above her head Her milky eyes remained fixed on her art even while the merwomanÆs scale gleamed in the light filtering in through the windows Is this noise any different than the normal barkings your beasts engage in I am here to guard against unexpected foes not be your pet And also if you ever again mention my business with Velio

A flicker of a smile ghosted across the womanÆs face I will demonstrate on you what he once did to me

Ramsey shivered and returned to his desk My apologies elder Merely the stress

Of doing your job Finally Aisha Swacc spared him a glance The gills on her neck fluttered slightly Figure out where the leak came from Ramsey Or I am will be the least of your worries The fact that I was ordered to come here and babysit should give you an idea about the caliber of figures in the Swacc Family that are deeply interested in your management capabilities And you know the family rules I shouldnÆt need to elaborate what will happen if you fail yes

For the rest of the day Ramsey didnÆt dare move from his desk carefully reading through correspondence from immediately prior and immediately after the attempted theft What was obvious was that the thief had at least a portion of knowledge about the facility in order to make it as far as they did Yet at the same time they werenÆt an actual Swacc or they wouldnÆt have triggered that final trap

Unless the explosion was deliberate Ramsey grimaced as he stared down at the correspondence laid out in front of him Polite invitations to birthdays and weddings littered the desk scrutinized and cast aside as harmless But of course the biggest correspondence was for the party that Don Beigon will have in five months’ time

That was the fuse but why would that cause someone to try and weaken the Swacc Family Ramsey spared a glance for Aisha If you would provide me more information about the hidden side of the Swacc Family

But he dare not say that out loud Some things needed to be earned So he lowered his head and buried himself in the work

What took you so long Claudette complained when Randidly finally arrived She was lounging on a light blue chase couch the coloration a stark contrast to the russets and burnt oranges and golds of the rest of the Beigon estate A small act of rebellion here in the heart of Don BeigonÆs power

Very conscious of the geas that still remained in his chest from his deal with Don Beigon Randidly waved his arm No offense but the guards are quite protective of you You must have earned quite a few stalkers in order to have them bristle on command like that

Even though the second time I walked up and appeared before them the guards looked at me with only dread Randidly thought to himself

Claudette laughed Yes well aside from you most people find me quite charming Almost overwhelmingly so in fact And many men are glad to take kindness shown toward them as much more than what it really is

Claudette batted her eyelashes at Randidly then gestured for him to come and sit down when he didnÆt swoon He did so feeling much more at ease in this room than the other portions of the Beigon Estate The image of quality was much lighter here

Okay let’s get to business Unlike her father Claudette didnÆt offer Randidly tea She swung her legs off of the comfortable bit of furniture and produced some dusty scrolls that she set carefully on the table These are some of the more heavily protected first hand accounts of the Second Cohort However it would be much simpler if you could give me a better idea of what you are looking for

Considering Randidly was mostly looking for an explanation for the phenomenon that he had learned of from the Nether Gatekeepers the change in the Shaft Randidly shook his head But in addition to being afraid of revealing his information sources he also had to admit that he had no idea what he was looking for either Mostly it was an idle curiosity Something had changed in the past but the being at the bottom of the shaft was a completely separate problem of his

And the other things Randidly looked up and asked

I have nothing right now but I can guarantee that IÆll have no problems with the request for buying planets Claudette shrugged and her brow furrowed My family regularly participates in the real estate market considering the size of our assets a few planets will not draw anyoneÆs attention However it will be more difficult for me to give over control of the Nexus Ways for those planets to you if you wish to prevent others from coming and going from your planets

I have my own methods for disconnecting the planet from the Nexus Ways Randidly said Then he felt vaguely confused as he felt a flash of fear and disgust from Claudette even though her features didnÆt shift at all

What the hell sort of assumptions are you making about me Randidly wondered even while being impressed with her control over her face

But Claudette didnÆt give him the chance to voice his confusion As for your request regarding Nether Cores that will take me a bit more time to arrange I believe my father has extensive literature detailing both methods but those records I will not be able to get freely There are certain costs within my family I will need both a justifiable excuse and some collateral to pay for the knowledge That will take some time to gather

Randidly nodded slowly wondering what it would be like living with a father who could use his Skills to compel you to obey him based on the things he had done for you in the past The affection from such a powerful individual was infectious indeed

Still Randidly shook his head to get rid of those thoughts That is fine As long as you understand that I cannot guarantee the results from my assistance helping you refine your image Aside from my own image IÆve never engaged in something like this before But we should also talk about the timeline When should I be ready

Claudette paused then and examined Randidly from the top of his head to his bare toes She seemed to be reckoning with the knowledge that they were really doing this Again her expression was completely blank but Randidly could completely feel her emotions as she doubted her initial instinct to give Randidly this responsibility

But a dark streak of fatalism seemed to suffocate her hesitance and Claudette smiled warmly at Randidly a chilling contrast to the bleak outlook he could sense within her Well before the celebration of my father’s third Mille Preferably we would finish at least a few weeks before so I can get used to the refinements to my image So tentatively we need to be successful four months from now So we might need to start as soon as possible

That admission made Randidly blink You want to start immediately As I said I have no knowledge of the process how long does it usually take

For the first time ClaudetteÆs expression was bitter It was clear that the prospect of failure already filled her with grief A proper image refinement can take years But since you werenÆt very experienced anyway and I assumed we would rely on partial time dilation to give us some extra breathing room

Randidly reached up and rubbed his chin I can make sure the time dilation we experience is quite strong But I need some time both for you to provide the planets and for me to make my own preparations

Claudette pursed her lips She weighed him again that same calculating look Randidly had seen in the eyes of her father without any of the sharp hooks fine but I want a hard start limit of two months Agreed

Randidly winced slightly I might need to go to the shaft for a bit if I need to accumulate enough Nether to make a Nether Ritual for the planets in that time I could wait until after but somehow I doubt that Don Beigon will remain idle after the work begins

There was a soft knock at the door and then a familiar voice Honey Papa just wanted to see

The door slid open and revealed a completely transformed Don Beigon his face lit by a warm smile filled for affection for his child Yet when his heavy lidded eyes landed upon Randidly his expression suddenly became stiff There wasnÆt a hint of recognition there as he glowered at this interloperÆ hmm Who who the hell are you in my daughterÆs room

Papa Claudette was on her feet in the next instant She swayed and collapsed toward Randidly her hands held up protectively between her father and him Please this isnÆt what it looks like We are just friends

FRIENDS Don Beigon thundered wheeling himself into the room and releasing an explosive wave of heat His words shook this entire wing of the sprawling house YOU DARE CLAIM THAT YOU ARE FRIENDS WHEN HE LOOKS AT YOU WITH SUCH COVETOUS EYES

Did you get me to promise not to mention our meeting just so you could barge in as the righteous father Randidly wondered feeling vaguely exhausted I suppose it can be considered barely not interfering that you waited until we were done discussing the details to make your entrance

Those are just his eyes Claudette denied but she gave Randidly the sort of look that mixed desire guilt and rebellion in such a complex concoction that even Randidly couldnÆt help but wonder if this was a play where someone had just forgotten to give him his lines

If he didnÆt know better he definitely would suspect they had worked together to prank him

Randidly cleared his throat Both Beigons melodramatic expressions on their face turned to him giving Randidly a chance to participate in their strange game He did his best to resist the urge to roll his eyes But even to his ears his voice sounded monotone I didnÆt expect things to progress so quickly either I was simply swept away by passion

Dearest Randidly Claudette sighed with crocodile tears in her eyes Randidly couldnÆt decide if it was better or worse that she didnÆt address how flat he had sounded

GET OUUtt The Don howled

Chapter 1705

For the third time in only two hours Randidly ended up at the base of the staircase leading up to the gates of the Beigon Estates The ripples of spatial distortion around him steadily calmed back down after Don Beigon kicked him to the curb He could only shake his head and click his tongue But even if he was annoyed by this dramatic and manipulative family Randidly couldnÆt resist a smile

In a way he could understand how they could be so dramatic and brutally powerful and yet still be so popular they were charming At times it was very easy to see the fun in the games they played

Yet that was also the reason why the Beigons were so deadly

Randidly turned away from the staircase and then paused His lips twitched as he realized that the area behind him which used to lead to a teleporter was now replaced with a mirror image of what was in front of him the tall stone staircase at the base of the mountain Randidly looked back and forth wondering how he had somehow been placed in this valley where the only option was to climb the stairs once more

And walk right into whatever surprise you have planned for me at the gates No thank you Don Randidly produced his PhilosopherÆs Key and felt around for the essence of NrorceÆs farm in the air in front of him The tip of the key moved slowly feeling out the faint connections There was definitely a shielding over this area so most typical methods of escape would be blocked but RandidlyÆs Fatepiece was quite atypical

Enough so that it had attracted the attention of the Nexus It was the first and most general of the Fatepieces that Randidly had obtained

After putting back on the Skill suppression gloves and passing through the white lightning corridor Randidly was glad to find that Nrorce was only mid preparation for the meal within his small cottage The air inside smelled as tantalizingly delicious as always The blue skinned dwarf grunted and waved for Randidly to take a seat while he finished

The meal was a bed of grits with stir fried onions peppers and strips of pheasant breast dumped on top Randidly hummed with pleasure as he ate and savored the raw spiciness produces by NroceÆs homegrown peppers

Nrorce as he always did had accumulated another long list of menial tasks for Randidly before he wandered off heading to the spice room The toil on a farm could never stop even with superhuman Strength So Randidly slapped his cheeks and walked out into the warm sunshine of the day

For a few seconds he stood there and felt the real differences between this warmth and the strange presumptuous heat of the Beigon Estate The natural smells that formed the comfortable base of the experience here had been completely absent in that strained paradise in the mountains that place was artifice this was the dirty truth

Randidly flexed his toes in the dirt path savoring the feeling Then he got to work

Influence +41

While his body toiled until the Engraving plates on the gloves were superheated and smoking RandidlyÆs mind began making some calculations Two months was the timeline that Claudette wanted for him to begin work on refining her image and Randidly still had no idea how the process was supposed to go He had sent a message to Octavius but the Overseer of the Seventh Cohort confessed that his image was never powerful enough to warrant lavishly spending on having a specialist refine it he was just as clueless as Randidly

Still there were several organizations in the Nexus that specialized in nurturing image refiners Octavius assured Randidly that with his name and reputation due to the recent battles in the Fifth Cohort they should be able to find a group that could assist him through the basics And in the end what were the more sophisticated methods but applications of the basics

Randidly grimaced But before I work on Claudette I want to get my own transformation out of the way Which means I need to accumulate a lot of Nether within my Nether Core and finally settle these debts by adding the NemesaiÆs debts to the Alpha Cosmos accumulating Influence more quickly is helping that process but I donÆt think I can avoid a few more trips into the shaft to allow some time to pass