LoRG 5

Originally he had come out to the finished meal and paled immediately putting together what had happened Then he had spent the entire meal surly and silent believing that she would see how he was feeling and suddenly realize what had gone wrong Then she would have apologized and then would have maybe gone to one of his favorite restaurants anyway and it all would have been better

But she had never noticed

Randidly knew she was overworked That she struggled to support both of them even with the payments that Ezekiel sent them every month That she had been too young when he had been born and wasnÆt ready to raise a son

But he also knew that between the two of them she was the parent He was just a kid

Even thinking about it now that small spark of irritation rapidly flared into something more

ItÆs RickÆs favorite isnÆt it Randidly prodded He felt almost dead with exhaustion inside a dry sort of tinder that his rage ate up Then he bit his lip to keep himself from shouting Because he was furious but anger didnÆt always need to be loud You made someone elseÆs favorite meal on my birthday After forgetting it

What That canÆt be right I mean he does His mother sputtered in confusion The wheels in her mind were turning But then some of the dayÆs exhaustion caught up to her Her expression darkened Hey listen you canÆt talk to me that way IÆm your mother and IÆm not claiming IÆm perfect but IÆve gone out of my way to make

Can we just be honest with each other Randidly whispered Opening up this tight bundle of emotions felt like he transformed into a child once more You donÆt very much want me around do you

He felt mad Furious And scared Because more than anything else he didnÆt want his mother to forget him Incendiary because he wanted to stuff himself so full of flame he wouldnÆt look and see a world where he didnÆt matter to her

Anger and affront warred on her face But then she just sighed Look itÆs not always easy Sometimes IÆm not going to lie and say that sometimes I donÆt wish things ended up differently But She raised a finger a visual confirmation of the punctuation and emphasis But That never means I donÆt love you Randidly Ghosthound

Love means something very different to you that I needed it to Randidly realized still lingering with that strange clarity from when his heart had stopped A strange metaphor occurred to him To you love just needs to be Nether The connection And itÆs true that will never leave But all I wanted was a bit more Aether some more shape to this thing Because

Randidly pressed his eyes closed He left the memory without replying to her

Chapter 2113

Randidly woke up exhausted and practically buzzing from raw emotional force zooming through his limbs Closing his eyes he wished he could let everything go for a short amount of time and sink down into oblivion

But his bed suddenly felt small and cramped The renovated storeroom still stunk of dust and old Ara Fruits

Fuck He whispered at the ceiling He could still see the expression on his motherÆs face as she told him she loved him

Randidly could hear voices from outside the farmhouse especially JotemÆs joyous prattle The noises drew him even further from relaxation There must have been a visitor for Jotem to release such a constant barrage of words Randidly could practically feel his skin heating now wasnÆt a great time for him to be social He stayed in his quiet room gradually churning his way through the waves of rage that ran rampant through his body The task at least let him stop thinking for a short amount of time

Most of the struggle was converting all the freed up emotional force into usable resonance More than even the prior two cores combines rage unleashed waves and waves of heat and intensity that were now at his fingertips should be able to integrate all this energy

Honestly he was unsure if his images would even be able to handle all the force he could now bring to bear Polishing and solidifying their foundation would be crucial before he volcanically erupted with all the emotion he possessed

Yet even while he worked the lingering remnants of the memory kept nagging at the edges of his consciousness All this newly arrived emotional affect was a sea of kerosine and every time he recalled his motherÆs face tiny lit matches were flicked out across the choppy waters and began spreading rippling infernos out to burn across the horizon

She was just so self righteous about it Randidly pressed his eyes closed Loving me in her mind was the only thing required of her So everything else

He forced his thoughts away these insights were only making the fury more all consuming Instead he threw his body directly into the sea of emotional force and began converting it to usable emotional energy This time the redirected focus stuck The toil helped distract him from the source He felt the rage flickering against his back inflicting some emotional pain on him

He ignored everything else His Discretion of the Apostate Moirae whirred gradually activating to its full over five thousand potential The waters were rid of flame and then smoothed to become part of the emotional reservoir he developed in his body At this point the amount he possessed was becoming ridiculous Only due to his extremely high Stats was he able to process all the excess negativity given to him by the Alpha Cosmos Otherwise he might very well be ruled by the emotional cores even though he had subdued them

Three down one to go Randidly whispered to himself as he finished the task His body was slick with sweat he felt vaguely dirty and unclean It took an effort of will not to let his mind shift back to the memory

Instead he stood and walked to the door Strange though My chest feels so light more than IÆve felt in a long time Bearing all this extra emotional force has been a burden I havenÆt really acknowledged But based on the current feeling the last negative emotional core doesnÆt possess very much emotional force at all What could it be

His musings were interrupted by a soft knock at the door DemetriusÆs voice spoke through the wood You better come quickly Gretite has arrived Jotem has attempted to entertain her but she looks about ready to kill him Bogart would willingly be an accomplice too

Randidly swayed His pulse pounded in his ears On the one hand he didnÆt think he was quite ready to interact with people His heart still ached and a strange tremor lingered in his body his heart might be light but thatÆs because all of the dangerous emotions had been moved elsewhere They had been purified once but he still suspected he hadnÆt totally weathered this storm

The two began making their way back toward the farmhouse moving through the Ara Fruit area Due to the way Randidly and DemetriusÆs working dispersed the weather to lighten the storms air currents snaked their way in every direction out from the farm Which meant that everything smelled like delicious roasted meat at the moment

However Randidly frowned a new group had arrived at the farm while they had been inspecting the plants Probably drawn by the smell of food and the halo of light precipitation that surrounded their setup

Demetrius stood at the back of the farmhouse with his hands folded behind his back He had another cider bottle which he offered to Gretite My liege Madam a Hobfootie team has arrived seeking shelter from the stronger storms further along the ridge They appear to be staying for our barbecue and are willing to pay quite a lot to do so Your grandson’s discussed backing a few Zhixu cakes and selling them at double their usual price

Pah what a hassle Her words were dishonest GretiteÆs clicking mandibles revealed her excitement at doubleÆ the usual price Her eyes gleamed as she strode forward Well I suppose there is no sense in serving as an honorary host But donÆt blame me if your primitive stove makes the process slow

What is it Randidly asked when Gretite had gone He might be distracted by his own issues but Demetrius wouldnÆt have been waiting here for no reason

DemetriusÆs smile fell away The team that arrived is one we know The red team from the match we viewed

Devick A vision flashed in his mind of her crimson hair flying around her as she caught the scoring ball in the midst of three opposing defenders Then superimposed upon that image was the current Devick her face warped in hate and madness rusty chains clinking around her body Randidly felt a headache brewing but ultimately just shrugged Thanks for the heads up IÆll be inspecting some of the surrounding areas until they leave

Demetrius bowed slightly IÆll stay out of sight I donÆt wish for her to suspect you are here

Somehow I doubt her showing up was just a coincidence Randidly thought as he moved back into the rugged land around the farm He found a low hill with a good view of the Ara Fruit area and sat up on it his eyes tracing the lines of the interwoven canyons He had designed them purposefully to follow the fickle impulses of wind but looking at them so directly was oddly mesmerizing

The twitches in his body worsened as he remained still The tension hummed through him

Strangely looking out across the farm he had sculpted Randidly began to cry Slowly at first just sitting there and allowing tears to slowly collect in the corners of his eyes But then he blinked and cleared his throat triggering shoulder shuddering sobs The aching twitches kept him locked in that position staring and letting tears fall down his face He gritted his teeth and sobbed as quietly as he could looking over the canyons he made so spitting mad he canÆt muster up the desire to even stop crying

Gradually the tension in his body ran its course He could only wait for it to fully emerge

Even all these years later with his mother probably dead the ache of feeling so replaceable hadnÆt faded More than anything else Randidly understood why he hadnÆt wanted to face this dark emotion for so long He sniffed loudly as fluids began to drain freely through his sinuses Because now he was left with this truth about how his mother felt about him without any sort of recourse It sat in his chest now true and constant Processing it didnÆt help It just

His head whipped around sending a glob of nose phlegm tumbling through the air A familiar face poked over the edge of the hill Devick as a young woman had her hair up in a ponytail When she smiled at him her whole face brightened That intensity that would eventually sputter into madness now burned bright and pure from within her features Aha This time I had to follow you but it was worth it Nether King Hungry Eye I presume

She stopped really looking at him for the first time She froze in a strange sort of scandalized panic Her expression of surprise was almost enough to cheer him up She spoke in a small voice IÆm not interrupting anything am I Should I leave

Chapter 2114

Randidly felt an impulse to chuckle at her reaction but it wasnÆt enough to overcome his desire to cry Tears continued to roll down across his face as he looked over at Devick Belatedly he admitted to himself how out of it he really was not only had he failed to sense her approach but he couldnÆt even muster up enough self position to stop

Her presence aggravated the feelings in his body The trembling in his shoulders grew worse But he also felt too exhausted to try and restrain it

They stood there for a few seconds with her question hanging in the air between them Devick looked entirely scandalized as she pulled herself the rest of the way on top of the rock face I t this is a bit weird right If I made you uncomfortable

This is a personal issue He managed to croak Then he bit back a sob and lowered his head

I oh Devick said rather dumbly

You might even be able to understand RandidlyÆs voice was raw He barely cared that she was probably drawn here by the complex significance between them without really understanding why He managed to raise his head IÆm just trying to acknowledge how hard my teenage years were

He sucked in a shaky breath talking helped rid his body of the tension too He coughed and continued Facing the bad memories And at the time the reason I was able to sail right on through was just by ignoring the problems Undoing all those years of studious ignorance isnÆt very comfortable

Huh Devick blinked several times She produced a handkerchief from a pocket and offered it to him Randidly waved it away pulling a towel out of his interspatial ring and getting rid of the lingering snot and tears on his face He felt strangely detached knowing he must look rather off putting Yet she watched him nervously as though she were the one doing the emotional display Well you certainly not a child anymore YouÆve escaped right Maybe you donÆt need to dig so deeply into those things if they are such a burden

You would recommend I just bottle everything up Randidly finally did chuckle Some of the explosive insanity that defined her current version of herself made a lot more sense if that was her coping strategy

Tsk donÆt give me that look You know something that is always bottled in nice and tight Fireworks And no one can deny how glamorous a concoction they become when ignited Devick flashed a ghost of a smile But it quickly faded as she looked over him once more She kicked her toes in the dirt I Well I really didnÆt expect to find you like this And I know you purposefully ran away from me before at the game But I just I just had to find you Sorry IÆm not well only a partial stalker

Heh Partial huh You found me But letÆs leave it at that Randidly released a sigh The sun had begun to set and the intoxicating smell of barbecue swirled around the farm He wiped the last few tears from his cheeks Finally he felt his body loosening up There is a connection between us that defies common explanation Still letÆs just have these two meetings and part ways Becoming involved isnÆt good for either of us

T two meetings You DevickÆs face began to flush Over the next few seconds her head was as red as a tomato She kept her mouth open her eyes bulging clearly struggling with her own embarrassment

Randidly tilted his head to the side What is it

Haha hah of course You donÆt even remember Devick slumped onto her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs Now she very purposefully didnÆt look at him I can only assume I mean you are a Nether King right Journeying throughout the Aether lands So IÆm sure you meet a lot of people even people in dramatic situations And look IÆm not saying that IÆm the most haah but at least I I thought my hair color would be pretty memorable

Haah one set of problems at a time

Clearing his throat Randidly said Alright letÆs head back IÆm feeling better now And that barbecue smells damn good

The duo began moving with Devick following a short distance behind him The air between them felt strange and almost companionable Intuitively he understood that Devick wouldnÆt share that she had seen him crying And weirdly releasing that emotion and it simply being accepted by someone else

Actions like that were what I always needed mom Randidly sighed inwardly To distract himself he asked Devick a question By the way why are you competing on a Hobfootie team The first time I met you I just assumed you already had a Class Is everything alright

While speaking Randidly had bumped up against his worry that DevickÆs adoptive father hadnÆt handled RandidlyÆs refusal to hand over Devick very well However Devick only grinned Oh everythingÆs fine OleÆ Byuresk actually sponsored the team at my direction IÆve wanted to focus on working with Padraic to learn patterns but I also didnÆt want I donÆt want to be weak I figured sharpening my edge on the Hobfootie field would be the best way

Besides DevickÆs smile widened even further Her eyes glittered ThereÆs nothing like absolutely clobbering someone publicly and having everyone cheer for you You should try it Such an adrenaline rush

Just as he rather ruefully reminded himself that just because Devick hadnÆt yet gone insane she wasnÆt completely innocent Randidly stilled After Devick had showed up so close to him without him noticing he had spread Grim Intuition back across the area and now followed movement very closely With his control over the environment due to the weather working very little occurred within the surrounding few miles without him noticing

And right now a single individual was rapidly approaching the back side of the farm

Go on ahead Looks like a wild animal is making a break for Ara Fruits Randidly said lightly IÆll turn it away and be right there

Devick eyed him suspiciously perhaps suspecting that he might just be ditching her to flee once more But in the end she nodded and turned away Almost immediately RandidlyÆs face twisted into a vicious snarl From bottled emotion to rage to cathartic sobs to an unexpected few minutes of relaxation now his emotions began to twist and tighten once more

Whoever was trying to sneak onto JotemÆs farm had better have a damn good reason for doing so

The Stillborn Phoenix pulsed releasing a silent gravitational cry across the farm A shiver ran through the clouds as Randidly lifted up off the ground and began to speed through the sky The red sun of this place continued to sink below the horizon the shadows of dusk spreading to cover the surrounding hills

But with unerring accuracy Randidly crashed into the ground into a short sprinting figure To the figureÆs credit he responded well Digging his feet into the ground he skidded to a stop before he crashed into Randidly

Still that just meant he was only a meter or so in front of Randidly With Sulfur Randidly reached out and grasped the figure in front of him His wild snarl widened Well well well To what do I owe this pleasure Why would the bloody right hand of Drane Swacc be skulking around my farm eh Coppun

Chapter 2115

The first thing Coppun did after being snatched up by Randidly was release an aggressive pulse of his image and jerk sharply away His eyes burned with barely controlled antagonism Clearly he both recognized Randidly and felt insulted by his poor treatment from him

The Stillborn Phoenix devoured CoppunÆs image in two enormous soundless bites For a few seconds the ominous event horizon hung in the air above the two and hissed desperate for additional feed Meanwhile Sulfur didnÆt even react with pleasure to CoppunÆs struggles it wasnÆt enough to interest the living plant arm The squat man just wasnÆt that strong Randidly tilted his head to the side regarding the abruptly sweaty Coppun with a cold stare How strange I could have sworn I just asked you a question You must not have heard it huh Otherwise you would have answered

You Coppun tried to speak but Randidly slammed his fist against his stomach and knocked the wind out of him All he could manage was a few flecks of spittle out of his mouth SwaccÆs servant hunched over and began to wretch Randidly sniffed once and then brought his fist around a few more times cracking his shoulder and pummeling the manÆs sides

For good measure Randidly shook him one last time Feeling like your listening skills have improved Visitt for the latest updates

You broke the agreement with Master Swacc Coppun croaked out There is nothing to be said

Jotem has left the city per our agreement The Nether Ritual dissipated shortly thereafter I assumed the task was done And since Drane so kindly introduced me to Jotem I figured it would be spitting on his generosity not to spend some more time getting to know him Randidly felt his emotional reservoir filling with more and more vindictiveness and snorted to clear that out at some point cathartic violence would just make him even more bitter about the situation than he currently was

Shoddy workmanship from your people proves nothing Coppun hissed You gave your word to Master Swacc Hungry Eye and if you do not complete your assigned task immediately

You will do what Coppun Randidly shook him again his voice low and soft In his chest his Nether Core revved again stabilizing the memory around him further for his full capabilities Randidly sensed that he had access to about three fourths of his previous abilities Before taking into account the steps forward in emotional intensity he had taken Even within the memory he was confident that few individuals posed a threat to him

Coppun paled but still forced the words out of his mouth You may be confident now but Drane Swacc has powerful friends The Westrisser Estate will hear of your actions Do you dare act so brutish in front oof

Randidly slammed his fist against CoppunÆs guts one more time for good measure DonÆt try and threaten me with your master scuttling to someone else and asking for help Now let me give you a warning I wonÆt just stop you next time I find you lurking around the farm IÆll kill you let the darkness that crushed your image take everything you have and suffocate it within itself So do not return Am I being clear

The Stillborn Phoenix gurgled very much looking forward to such an opportunity

After a few seconds of strained eye contact Coppun nodded

The final challenger was the feathered warrior that had given Randidly a heavy glance earlier His bicep was split by a thick vein as he placed his elbow on the table with enough force to shake the wood But Bogart slammed his hand down against the surface all the same

After Randidly returned back to his room and laid down to sleep He left his mind drift away For a while nibbling thoughts and emotions kept him awake but he forcefully quieted himself He let his consciousness sink into a healing state of oblivion After the emotional turmoil he definitely needed it

When he awoke Jotem ambushed Randidly outside his door as he went to do his farm chores Nether King it is unbelievable Through common discourse with these freeloaders er athletes I learned that that young angel Devick is the adopted daughter of Byuresk Her pockets are absolutely stuffed with generosity we will be paid to feed and assist in the housing of these individuals Our fortunes have truly

Talk to Armel about the buildings Randidly grunted breezing past He had finally recovered his energy after a long night of sleeping he wasnÆt going to allow Jotem to suck away his peace of mind first thing in the morning

Gretite had departed the farm but Randidly had quite a few ideas of how to improve based on her advice He carefully scrawled several more chunks of wooden cucumbers and tossed them up into the sky making very minute adjustments for precipitation over the neighboring vegetable fields Then he gathered up some seeds from previous cucumbers and planted them in a new area With all the buildings they had been throwing up in the past few weeks they had entirely burned through his store of lumber

He pivoted on his heel and examined the area The low wind across the farm ruffled the happy green sprouts poking out of the dirt Despite the shouts and laughter coming from over the hill the sudden presence of the team in the surroundings didnÆt detract from the idyllic contentment Randidly felt when he looked over everything he had shaped

He scratched his neck Okay enough lazing around letÆs get to work

For the next two weeks Randidly kept his activities simple He worked the farm developing more and more specialized environments for the various vegetables He experimented with growing different crops to create a barbecue sauce entirely from produce on the farm He dabbled in different gravitational radiations to try and add carbonization to the cider He used the image of Yggdrasil to clear large swaths of land for DevickÆs Hobfootie Team the Miracles to practice He even volunteered the services of some of the growing cohort of Arakis Beasts hanging around the back part of the farm

When he had finished with his daily farm chores he spent a few hours meditating That meditation took a lot of forms sometimes he refined his emotional sea other times he examined the significance within the memory to try and sense when the next large event would happen and Randidly also spent about half of the days firming up the details of his three images so they could handle his weightier emotional affect

During those days he didnÆt speak much with anyone aside from Demetrius And those conversations were generally just regarding their grand working and how it was functioning in real world conditions

Randidly had been worried that Devick would try and ingratiate herself into his life but she seemed very genuinely consumed with practice with the team For two whole weeks Randidly only felt her presence on the periphery of his senses He let everything else fall away as he distracted himself from the emotional pain of facing his past

And gradually he healed

Just in time for the Hobfootie tournament to begin With the trial of Elhume looming just over the horizon

Chapter 2116

Congratulations Your Skill GhosthoundÆs Green Thumb has grown to Level 702

Congratulations Your Skill Heritage of the Origin Beast has grown to Level 650

Randidly sat back on his heels in front of the carrot patch nodding with relish at the thick and healthy root vegetable he pulled out of the ground He tossed it in the basket with others and surveyed the pitted remnants of the ground the harvest was done It was time for the group to head into Malloon Currents of significance were steadily gathering over the central city Historical events picked up once more

Will you two be alright here alone Demetrius asked Armel and Bogart But of course his attention fixated on his grandson

The young man folded his arms across his chest and just snorted ArmelÆs smile was quite nervous Yes I will just feel better staying here Begging your Pardon Mister Nether King but even with your protection I donÆt want to accidentally cross paths with Drane Swacc while traveling through Malloon He he always finds a way to get what he wants And since he wants me dead

Randidly stood and nodded ThatÆs smart YouÆll be safe on the farm IÆve put up a few defensive Nether Rituals but also the Arakis Beasts have been informed to attack and devour any strangers that try and infiltrate the farm Each dead body is worth a full Ara Fruit Make sure they get their reward if there are any

One of the three Arakis Beast that imprinted on Randidly licked its lips nearby He pivoted and clicked its tongue at it What are you getting excited for I thought the three of you wanted to follow me

The Arakis Beast mewed and flipped over onto its back only a few pounds shy of being the size of a horse yet still trying to act cute in front of him Randidly rolled his eyes and rubbed its belly for a few seconds Despite the rough scales covering the rest of it the belly was soft and warm Then he patted its side and straightened Alright all we need to do is harvest the lumber cucumbers and we are ready to go

So it comes time to receive the groundÆs lucrative bounty Jotem drifted over with dollar signs in his eyes He let a slow breath out from his nose and raised his hands like the maestro of a symphony To be sure our act of generosity by housing the Miracles

Which Devick paid for Randidly mused At a premium from the way Armel built their little lodge so enthusiastically Not really very generous of us at all

might have expended some of our developing investment yet do not fear I would like to posit something quite radical the true investments are relationships And by extending a warm hand to those in need

Randidly just turned away and hopped toward the lumber cucumber fields his three Arakis Beasts racing each other to keep up It was almost like the more people ignored him the more Jotem felt driven to bridge that gap with flowery language and strange and poorly timed declarations

Some days he almost wished he had just did as Drane Swacc asked and killed him Yet simultaneously he could also lay these emotions at the feet of his own newly faced rage

Of course the modern Randidly who had handled three of his sinister emotional cores understood this wasnÆt a sustainable pace he would need to face the problem directly and talk to Jotem about his coping mechanisms to avoid snapping at him

But he wasnÆt a saint he would probably ask Demetrius to do it

We cannot trust the Nether King Jawem said in a low voice His eyes scanned the horizon always on the lookout for threats to his charge Why is he alone Has he only the two supporters despite his apparent power And his arrival in our home city was quite suspicious perhaps the interaction with those two Nether Kings years ago was all a charade You must admit his sudden disappearance was quite

You shouldnÆt say things like that about him Devick said seriously The two walked at the head of the teamÆs column as they proceeded to Malloon She glanced sideways at Jawem Her eyes twinkled with mirth You realize heÆs the man I will someday marry right Oh a fruit cart I hope they have some of that Zhixu stuff

With that Devick skipped ahead leaving a pale and worried Jawem in her wake He stroked the feathers along his arms to calm himself down His heart was pounding Considering her capricious nature surely she was kidding because she knew it would nettle him

When Byuresk had allowed Devick to go on this whimsical adventure it had been for two reasons First because he felt guilty he so publicly offered her to the Nether Kings Despite the practicality of the move his popularity amongst the cityÆs populace had reached an all time low The lovely Devick slumping about and sighing dramatically while gazing out windows wasnÆt helping the situation And secondly because her fixation remained on the mysterious Nether King Hungry Eye and Byuresk wanted her not to be present if that dangerous fellow ever wandered back into town

If Jawem the guard Byuresk had found and placed within the team to guard her allowed her both to meet and marry Nether King Hungry Eye Jawem might as well take his own life It was better than returning and casting himself upon ByureskÆs mercy

Tsk apparently Zhixu is incredibly rare A pouting Devick slumped back over to the group She took a bite of a purchased apple grimaced at the taste and tossed it over to one of the other players The rest of the team gradually caught up to them Quick as a flash she brightened as she looked around at them all Well no reason to stay down about it Team building exercise Everyone gather around

About half the group groaned audibly at those fearsome words but still everyone gathered DevickÆs manic and abrupt training sessions she described as team building exercisesÆ were legendarily exhausting However the frequent competitions to push themselves to the limits stopped feeling so pointless when they started easily winning their Hobfootie matches For these unaffiliated individuals who were raised poor the payday from a victory stampeded over most complaints

Devick lifted a finger LetÆs keep it simple A footrace All the way to Malloon The last half of the team will do some fast and slow runs tonight Ah but I know what you are thinking Jawem and I have been winning waay too much these past few exercises Fear no longer Look what I got from the Nether Warrior Bogart

With a flourish Devick produced five worn leather vests

What bad fashion sense One of the players joked Many guffawed

DevickÆs smile grew Hehehe Tell how nice of you to volunteer to wear one Here take the lightest IÆll do the next up and the heaviest for you Jawem YouÆve been winning too much She distributed the two and put away the extras She slipped into the vest and patted it on the chest Just press here to activate it oof hah this is going to be a treat Alright begin

These are clearly engraved Jawem muttered to himself as the entire team bolted forward without giving him a chance to put his on Tell staggered past to try and keep up with the group but Jawem took his time he wasnÆt just a little better trained than these individuals From birth he had been raised by Byuresk to be a shadow How does a Nether King have engraved items

Sighing to himself Jawem activated the vest And immediately collapsed to the ground

These vests are clearly designed for individuals with Classes He gurgled

Chapter 2117

Devick was sweat slicked and radiantly grinning by the time Jawem finally staggered to the waiting team in front of MalloonÆs gates The Hobfootie team was one of an entire throng the rolling hills around Malloon had almost been entirely settled Children in bare feet shrieked and chased each other down word muddy paths Nearby an anthropomorphic rat squatted above a fire and sold skewers of roasted squirrel

The low field directly in front of Malloon had been filled with shabby looking huts Meanwhile several laborers carried rare poles to a clear area setting up a more permanent looking tent Likely this would become the central alehouse for those unfortunate enough not able to pay for entry into the city

But DevickÆs voice cut right through the low drone of MalloonÆs defensive barrier and the babble of surrounding activity What a delight this is These vests really work wonders Despite our physical gifts Tell Jawem and I all were in the second half of the team Very markedly too

We were the last three Jawem tried to wheeze out the words but couldnÆt find the air He slapped the opposite shoulder to deactivate the equipment Only once the Engravings disengage could he gratefully suck in a breath of air

Still smiling Devick patted him on the shoulder Take the rest while you can we will be wearing these for the fast and slow runs as well Oh man I need some food Anyone have any of that walrus meat left

We ate it all A woman muttered as she rubbed her stomach

Jawem wanted to vomit at the thought of food Several of the other players snickered behind their hands at his predicament Most of them accepted his presence as a necessary evil to also have Devick and also respected his capability on the Hobfootie team but disliked him personally

Especially because he often became especially brutal in Crusher training drills when anyone showed too much fondness for ByureskÆs daughter

Before they proceeded closer to the obnoxiously droning barrier around Malloon a massive flare of energy nearby had them all whipping around A wave of Nether crashed against his face and JawemÆs instincts activated He scrambled to put himself between the source and Devick but hadnÆt accounted for his bodyÆs lingering exhaustion His feet caught on one another and he ate dirt

A howling wind rose up Other travelers nearby screamed and began to scramble off the road to Mallon The halfway erected tent swayed and collapsed The owner screaming and tearing out his hair as he heedlessly ran to check if the pole had fractured From a nearby hill a pillar of Nether pierced the cloud covering It umbrellaed outward seeking to entirely encapsulate the city

Before Jawem could even push himself back to his feet an equally domineering bolt of energy shot out from MalloonÆs barrier In a single touch it pierced through the pillar of Nether and began to eat its way down through the energy In the next instant a group of serious faced powerful individuals rushed out of the gate and made a beeline toward the source of the energy

His voice echoed out through the hall as he stepped to the side and allowed the group to pass Despite the look of annoyance on his face Jotem followed the instructions Demetrius took three steps forward and bowed as well Randidly walked a little further until he stood on a black circle in the middle of the marbled floor and bowed his head briefly Then he looked upon the face of Faelmac Westrisser

He blinked in surprise struck by a weird sense of familiarity in the sharp features Yet suddenly the recognition aligned He knew these features if only related by blood Randidly sucked in a breath he had seen them in the sleeping face of the Patron of Feathers Except while that Patron and also Lady Iellaya had been called the raven winged darkness Faelmac Westrisser had ivory feathers as pristine and clean as freshly fallen snow

I would bet Faelmac Westrisser is the Father of the Patron of Feathers Something else occurred to Randidly Then although their names are different itÆs possible

Nether King Hungry Eye welcome to my home Faelmac leaned back in his chair He was a humanoid with tanned skin and silver eyes Ivory feathers ran along his arms and a few more fluffy varieties clung above his ears He burned in RandidlyÆs vision a nebula of intense energy Within the center of that supernova of energy Randidly could almost see his image sleeping A massive ivory serpent its feathers acting as prisms and releasing little rainbows of light

He leaned sideways and placed his chin upon his fist Below him on the dais several guards stood at attention Randidly recognized Dogoel the leader of the group who had been attacking ElhumeÆs Patrons A small smile played across FaelmacÆs lips However I must admit I have a question for you Why did you interfere with the business of my men when they were sent to deal with the representatives of Elhume

It was not an auspicious start But Randidly allowed his own lazy smile stretch across his face and gambled Would you have truly dealt with those individuals Faelmac Considering their leader was the daughter of your new Undersecretary

Faelmac grunted and waved a hand A half daughter only And if it isnÆt my responsibility to educate the straying children of my subordinates whose would it be

RandidlyÆs mind raced at the confirmation ThatÆs why even in the present day until they betrayed him and tried to reach the Pinnacle the Swacc Family was kept so close to ElhumeÆs side Because after the Patron of Truth was killed how could he not protect her family

Westrisser leaned forward He had long fingers that gripped the armrests of his throne Let me rephrase Why should I let a Nether King who stood against me just walk into my hall unpunished

Randidly pushed those thoughts away he couldnÆt afford to be distracted while dealing with this man Sizing the feathered warrior up he definitely could push Randidly into shattering his way out of the memory Lifting his chin Randidly replied confidently Because that was that and this is business for the benefit of Malloon

For a second Faelmac Westrisser simply studied him Then he smirked I agree entirely Alright Nether King Hungry Eye How do you intend to benefit Malloon today

Chapter 2118

Drane Swacc yanked on the chain around the Nether KingÆs neck The hunched bark skinned creature whimpered as the tug sent it stumbling forward His lip curled up from his uppity attitude earlier in the day when it launched an attack on Malloon this creature had learned very quickly how limited its world understanding had been

Drane only wished he had more time to toy with its emotions

Undersecretary please enter WestrisserÆs ancestral hall

With his head held high Drane obeyed Faelmac and entered through the wide doors He had been rather surprised and disappointed when the order came for him to bring the prisoner to the main hall But at the same time he wanted to casually bring up a few things around Faelmac to earn the leader of Malloon

However Drane stopped short when he looked at the individuals waiting in the ancestral hall In direct insult to him the pompous fool Jotem slithered around the ground like some sort of puffy slug And the be damned Nether King he had hired to eliminate the threat pivoted and looked coolly at Drane his emerald eyes calm

Wha Drane scrambled to figure out what was going on but Faelmac cut him off

Nether King Hungry Eye The most powerful man in Malloon leaned forward and put his hands on the hand rests of his throne WeÆve discussed business but this is more about the first matter on which we spoke For now I will pretend like your transgression didnÆt even happen However I do not wish for you to think IÆm soft Coincidentally one of your people attempted to capture Malloon in a Nether Ritual The epitome of foolishness He will be executed immediately

You want me to watch The Nether King asked in a low tone as he spun to face Westrisser His expression was inscrutable Behind his back Jotem kept shooting horrified glances at Drane

WestrisserÆs smile was cruel If youÆd prefer you could strike the final blow Give this imbecile a clean death

Councilman Westrisser Drane finally managed to squeeze the words out through his clenched teeth but the frigid look he received in return stopped him immediately

Your input isnÆt required Undersecretary Westrisser pronounced His eyes then bounced back to Nether King Hungry Eye Unless you wish to try and foil me here too To save the life of a fellow Nether Being

Several of WestrisserÆs guards tightened their hands around their weapons Drane felt his skin tingle as the tension in the room skyrocketed His eyes widened Westrisser genuinely believed there was a chance this Nether King might act against him

Yet in the end Nether King Hungry Eye only shrugged I do not know this Nether King He intended violence on the innocent people of Malloon Already his body shows signs of torture but my heart isnÆt so soft as to bleed if I watch him die

Traitor The captured Nether King hissed Drane yanked on the chain sending it sprawling

Randidly let him into the room Great timing I actually wanted to speak to you about a few things IÆve been hearing

I will answer you any questions you may have but I want to first address the last words of that poor wretch in WestrisserÆs Ancestral Hall DemetriusÆs wrinkled features were agitated So Randidly fell silent and allowed him to continue The ancient Nether Herald began to pace back and forth through the room Wyndaos has released Nether King Bleak Sky on the condition he seeks vengeance for Uwittin This has never been done But I believe it is for the best for us to leave Malloon as soon as possible When Bleak Sky comes all of the people here will die

What Randidly blinked several times What really threw him was the conviction and fear in DemetriusÆs voice Is he really that powerful More powerful than Westrisser himself

Well I have not met the formidable Nether King myself Demetrius admitted However he has historically never lost Do you know this grand Second Wave of the Nexus was all due to Bleak Sky The forces had been developing smoothly until one Aether entity unknowingly tread upon his territory In retribution Bleak Sky razed dozens of worlds The population of Aether beings was decimated The imbalance distribution of Aether and Nether is due to his frenzied crusade Of course he has been imprisoned in Wyndaos for two hundred years for his indiscriminate slaughter Yet now that he is freed

Demetrius gestured anxiously unable to finish his thought

One man ended an entire Cohort and made it necessary to have a second If it was true it did shake Randidly somewhat to think about His eyes sharpened Still this is another powerful figure One detail IÆve been considering is who became powerful enough to require the Hierarchy of Karma to be used against them It wonÆt happen soon based on the timeline as I understand it Wyndaos falls first But still this Nether King Bleak Sky is the first possibility Or if not him

Ah there is something else Another reason to leave as quickly as we can DemetriusÆs gaze snapped upward If the Arbiter was moved to make this decision there must be things at play we donÆt understand Uwittin itself was a mark on Nether honor but it does not require this mad dog to be unleashed No the Westrisser Family must have done something else And if it moved Wyndaos it must be quite the transgression

Randidly rubbed his chin if you feel uncomfortable you are free to head back to the farm to stay with Bogart Or even take your grandson and leave the area But I will not go I must see how the situation develops here But I do have one related question And forgive me for my ignorance Does that mean that this Arbiter is more powerful even than Nether King Bleak Sky to restrain him

Demetrius gave Randidly a long look Truly you know so little about your heritage Your Nether Core developed on its own No the Arbiter is not more powerful than anyone the Arbiter is the weakest of the Nether creatures That is why its judgment is so wise All of the weight of Phaea rests upon its shoulders

Randidly replied IÆm a little confused but this is a good transition My question was about what Phaea were Are they like a Penance

Phaea are the connections of fealty They are extremely tight bonds that can only be broken with great difficulty However those connected by Phaea are lifted Their powers are liberated and potent

Randidly recalled the fake Nether Lattice So they draw power through Phaea Nether Kings grow strong with more supporters who have supporters of their own A pyramid of power with themselves sitting at the top

Now Demetrius gave Randidly a very strange look Exactly the opposite A pyramid shape is correct but inverted It is difficult to explain if you have not felt it but Weight can become too much for one to bear Just as literal weight often grants strength until it becomes untenable to move Phaea is loyalty from the retainers in exchange for a Nether King bearing a portion of their Weight So that warriors can utilize the power of Weight while shedding a portion of the burden

And the Arbiter sits at the center of the enter Nether world DemetriusÆs eyes shined with respect Bearing the Weight of all Their capabilities compacted and pressurized unable to be even slightly unleashed

Chapter 2119

Randidly sat with his legs folded beneath him and his eyes closed He took several breaths gradually turning down the burning lava flows of energy he sensed around his person He would need all of his awareness focused in the next few minutes His Nether Core churred smoothly the energy flowing alongside his blood and completing a full circuit through his person

Demetrius sat opposite him in the small room preparing his own energy Randidly almost felt nervous the Nether Herald blazed with gathering significance in his senses Right now they were entirely alone The older Nether being had said that the best way to demonstrate the use of Phaea was to do something long overdue for Nether King Hungry Eye to accept the Phaea of Demetrius the Nether Herald Their bond would become permanent

RandidlyÆs nerves were twofold First he was somewhat leery about the talk of Phaea being restrictive on his usable power Yet that negative restriction seemed to creep up on a scale much much larger than a single individual After all powerful Nether Kings warred all the time with entire cities behind them

Yet in the back of his mind Randidly thought about the Alpha Cosmos If he started accepting PhaeaÆs from all those people he would undoubtedly begin to grow weary

Still the true source of his nerves was the fact he was within a memory performing this connection Nether was an extremely strange energy but he wasnÆt entirely sure that Demetrius could actually form this bond with him across space and time And the consequences of failure likely wouldnÆt be light for the old Nether being

Yet Randidly patiently waited Anxious he might be but understanding the power of Nether was important Not only would it help him eventually condense a Penance but also simply recognize the possibilities he now possessed

In his chest his Nether Core revved one more time as though sensing the momentous occurrence that was approaching The memory continued to become stabilized by his presence etrius extended both of his hands and cupped his significance within his palms With deft strokes the talented Nether Herald began to weave that energy into a very particular pattern Unlike most Nether Rituals Randidly had seen this creation was obviously incomplete it resembled a pillar built for stability connected to nothing and standing alone on top of his hands All of its capability related to a nonexistent other Again and again Demetrius reinforced its construction until it had become humming with potent potential Describing the working as robust would be an understatement Dark threads of power sizzled along the pillarÆs edges The whole of his power and ingenuity seemed to be wrapped up in that small manifestation

The construction of the Phaea is important From a young age Nether Beings are taught to practice creating their Phaea Pillar Because Phaea can be weak or strong The more of yourself and your complexity you pour into a pillar the stronger the connection will be The more of the harsh Weight the Nether King will bear the greater the benefit for the subordinate

RandidlyÆs lips twitched as he examine what Demetrius had wrought You have a lot of faith in me I see

Demetrius chuckled You can view it that way if you wish To be frank this is your first structured Phaea although I can tell you already bear many weights on your shoulders As such it is important it be incredibly firmed Later if you begin to suffer you can structure some of the Phaea to be given to me

For a moment Randidly opened his mouth to assure Demetrius that he would not require others to bear his burdens but he saw the bright look in the Nether HeraldÆs eyes Pride anguish and loneliness flickered there as Demetrius was lost in his shadowed memories Randidly considered the mysterious past through which the duo had lived when the rest of their family had been lost and the two had been forced to flee on their own Building this bridge between them perhaps seemed to Demetrius to be a return to belonging to a sort of family So Randidly closed his mouth silently and said nothing

Now take the energy within yourself Demetrius stretched out his hands and offered the woven pillar Your Nether Core will respond naturally to it and create a node somewhere within your body That will become almost a secondary Nether Core a central point that the burden of the Phaea will flow through Follow your instincts

Randidly almost felt awkward answering perhaps you are lighter than you believed I canÆt feel any difference

Ha To be young and full of vigor Demetrius chuckled He waved a hand Take your time examine yourself once the energies have begun to settle The burden is there but it manifests in slightly different ways for everyone In the meantime I wish to go gather some information There are a few Nether Beings operating in Malloon despite the prejudice against them I will see if they know more about how Westrisser might have earned WyndaosÆs ire And Nether King Hungry Eye thank you I appreciate everything you have done for me and my grandson

With those words Demetrius left the steamy room Randidly sighed to himself and leaned back on his hands He pulled out a pitcher of water from an interspatial ring and guzzled it all down to rehydrate himself Then he combed through his internal self trying to find a shift resulting from the acceptance of the Phaea within his body Obviously it had begun to change his emotional sea but in terms of restrictive burden

Randidly stilled It might just be his imagination but his fourth and final negative emotional core seemed to be swollen slightly Like a fruit left out in the sun it seemed poise to burst and fling its rancid sickly sweet flesh all throughout his internal world

Randidly clicked his tongue as he came back to himself Well I planned on addressing it soon anyway Just accelerates the timeline a bit But now I have a promise to Westrisser to get to

He stretched and cracked his neck Then he walked outside of the inn to the positively packed streets of Malloon Children hooted and cooed at each other as they dangled from second and third story balconies A carpet salesperson using a pinch of business savvy to rave about his waresÆ ability to soften the ground for sleeping had set up shop directly outside the inn in which they were staying Everyone had to walk in a narrow aisle in the middle of the street because the sides were lined with various other stands hawking their wares

Of course the sight of his black robe with gold trim did a lot to clear out the area Only the children remained active Randidly could hear them asking why everything got quiet while their parents furiously shushed them

Everyone Randidly included felt a lot better when he had made it out of the crowded area and left Malloon through its front gates The area directly outside of Malloon was even more crowded than it had been when the group had arrived Randidly had no idea how they withstood the constant droning of the barrier

He let loose a little bit of his physical prowess to leap away from Malloon heading toward the areas to the South that were absolutely ravaged by storms As he did so his senses regularly pulsed out and scanned the surroundings Both for ambushes flows of significance and for the peppers he had been seeking for so long

For better or for worse he found nothing No danger no excitement

But he did find stone

Randidly flew through the whipping winds and wild rain almost laughing from the sensation of the elements tugging at his robe The hunched hills in the area were scoured entirely clean of plant matter very few life forms could survive down here It was the perfect place to steal some ground to create a skyisland

He glanced over his shoulder when he sensed several lifeforms approaching But he quickly turned back forward It was only his three Arakis Beasts chasing him down now that he was out of the city Randidly stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles Okay I can do this on my own I just need to think what would Tatiana do And when that fails make it big and fancy

Chapter 2120

Randidly sculpted stone with the intent to create a great stadium for Hobfootie The stands would be spacious the bowl of an arena high and totally inclusive Then with a method he had observed from Armel working he used his hands to slice the massive wooden cucumbers into manageable wooden planks to begin patching together the innards These he physically drilled screwed hammered and fitted together into a whole little village of buildings around the stadium with a focus on housing and commercial endeavors

The doors were tall and wide Abruptly Randidly realized he would probably need to melt down and cast a lot of glass to finish the buildings

In a fit of Tatiana infused inspiration Randidly created a humongous shopping complex directly opposite the stadium just as large and perhaps even more opulent in its indulgent sprawl He found some spare materials he had laying around his interspatial ring and created massive sandstone columns out front The structure of the interior he shaped with his reinforced blood lumber which exuded a strange attractive power by virtue of his energy releasing qualities Just being inside the mall would revitalize and invigorate the average person

This is good but will it be enough Randidly bit his lip Combat was his specialty trying to judge the reaction of an average person to his building left him almost bewildered

The Arakis Beasts scrambled to follow Randidly as he flitted from task to task but one by one their attempted imprints upon him backfired and they collapsed with blood leaking out of their mouths

Randidly tskÆd and shook his head but continued to work By working he could ignore his worries about the result

To his surprise he found the construction incredibly satisfying the act of assembling all the pieces to form a finished whole was incredibly cathartic The last dregs of rage he still carried with him drained out as he assembled a shingled roof for the shopping plaza from old dragon scales he had sitting around When polished they glittered out an intoxicating mix of amethyst and emerald in the sun

Satisfied with his creation Randidly nodded to himself

He stared at the sky island for several seconds feeling strange To his surprise he found he was disappointed to be done After a shrug Randidly rolled up his sleeves and decided to create a second one this one specifically designed to float outside of Malloon perhaps high enough to avoid the damned noise of the barrier In that case it would be primarily focused on housing No need to fit it with another stadium

The second construction lasted long enough that the Arakis Beasts recovered from their first desperate activation of their abilities attempted to imprint on him once again and were again rendered unconscious Almost all of the lumber Randidly had grown over the past few weeks was devoured by the constantly increasing slew of buildings he realized he would need The air hummed and trembled with his powerful and lightning fast steps leaping immediately from one task to another Waves of gravitation radiation warped space as he positioned materials to be bounded together

And even with the eight hundred logs he had grown on JotemÆs farm he had to scour the surrounding areas and pluck up a few inferior stunted lumber cucumbers to have enough raw materials to finish the construction He wiped sweat and rain from his forehead and waved a hand Both massive pieces vanished sucked into his Alpha Cosmos

The memory shook violently causing Randidly to wince the memory really didnÆt like it when he demonstrated a whole world existed within him It remained the one way he could destabilize the area around him

Randidly returned quickly to Malloon and introduced himself at the gates where Westrisser had said a representative would be waiting for him He was soon introduced to the jittery anthropomorphic gopher Freewall Yuuryin who would be examining the Engravings and buildings before they were allowed into the city proper The two shook hands FreewallÆs tiny paw absolutely dwarfed by Randidly then proceeded outside the city

Producing the two giant platforms of stone with their buildings caused another tremor through the memory which lingered for almost an hour afterward Under FreewallÆs watchful eye Randidly traced lines of Mana along both purposefully slowing down the speed of his movements and Engravings so nothing was hidden from the inspector All this effort and investment would be pointless if it wasnÆt approved

Jawem wheezed as he settled down on the wooden bench but his muscle pains were already beginning to fade His face was slick with sweat He squeezed his eyes shut hoping the dust from the hills around Malloon wouldnÆt be mixing with his sweat and forming a plaster when he tried to stand up

Yet his mood was surprisingly positive After a few days of constantly being forced to wear this damnable vest he was growing used to its burden Already he could feel himself growing stronger because of it

He didnÆt want to admit it but they were actually becoming a pretty good team

All of the Miracles were sprawled out in the surrounding area fresh off an extended fast and slow run to build endurance and sprinting speed Everyone was drenched and limp No one could example the mental agony of pushing themselves to their limits If an athlete had been trained enough to handle the exertion Devick had handed out a vest Plus she had been increasing the base pace recently

The idea was that two lines of people would jog constantly over a long course At DevickÆs signal the pair in the back would sprint to the front They would continue in this way for almost half an hour as the sprints became more frequent and the playersÆ legs would be barely able to support them in their sprintÆ

Guys I just realized something Tell laid with his back flat on the ground and his arms spread wide around him After deactivating his own vest he pushed himself up onto his elbows Our lord and savior Devick believes we might actually have a chance in the Hobfootie tournament SheÆs going to drag us to the victory whether we like it or not

That Supreme Leader to you chump Devick karate chopped Tell lightly on the forehead With a groan he collapsed and earned a laugh from most of the other players Devick put her hands on her hips and grinned around at them Okay okay Yes I think we are good We have worked hard over the past year honing our teamwork and improving our physical foundations We are definitely above average

Above average wonÆt win us a championship Jawem observed Not against the established teams TheyÆve been around for decades babies sign up to be raised specifically for Hobfootie LetÆs not be too optimistic Realism

Boo Tell blew a raspberry between his hands JawemÆs eyes flashed but he said nothing

Devick waved them both off Still I want our goal to be

If she had been allowed to finish that sentence maybe things would have been different for the Miracles

Excuse me I hope IÆm not interrupting your practice I need a favor

The entire group froze A split second later all of the players scrambled to their feet despite how exhausted they had been only a few seconds ago Jawem took a half step back and grasped at his waist for his weapon but of course his axe was stored away But the sudden arrival of Nether King Hungry Eye demanded their immediate attention

You Jawem narrowed his eyes Why can’t you simply leave us out of your dangerous plots

Chapter 2121

Inwardly Jawem felt embarrassed and slightly intimidated as he looked at the strong jawline and dark hair of the sleek figure in front of them he hadnÆt sensed the Nether KingÆs approach at all Truly no matter his actual intentions for Devick the power he wielded could not be denied

Jawem would need to up his vigilance And hope the Nether KingÆs intentions toward Devick turned untoward

Of them all only DevickÆs face opened up into a smile like a blooming daisy She stuck out her hip and put a hand on it Well well well A favor for a Nether King eh Honestly not sure what we could realistically do for you All we do is fucking manufacture sweat

Devick stilled Her expression dramatically shifted The gaze with which she now looked at Randidly was meek and fearful Her eyelashes trembled Unless Mister Nether King I had no idea you were that type of man if its my sweat which juggles your sweet jollies

No thank you The Nether King rolled his eyes He gestured to the field his lips still twitching with amusement It actually has to do with Hobfootie IÆll be constructing a third stadium for Malloon to help handle the flood of people crowding around This sport can really draw a crowd And I want it to be the most prestigious stadium I want to steal that right from the teams based out of Malloon So all I want

Nether King Hungry Eye stuck out his hand and clenched a fist Even just flexing his fingers he crunched the air and created a loud spatial distortion His eyes blazed with emerald fire Set my stadium as your home stadium and dominate your way to the top of the tournament Win by as much as you can as early as you can Bring the crowds to me

Jawem felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he saw DevickÆs expression begin to change Meanwhile the Nether King looked around at the rest of the team Obviously IÆll reward you for it Free lodging and as much food and energy as you want All you need to do is keep winning Put on a grand show for the audience one they wonÆt ever forget Deal

We will see what we can do DevickÆs smile twitched and writhed a monster trying not to reveal its true form in public Or more specifically in front of the Nether King Behind her back her fingers had wrapped themselves into a knot tight enough to strangle a stone pillar

After one last nod the Nether King turned and took a single step That was all it took for him to vanish Even while observing directly his speed remained overwhelming For a few seconds the team remained silent Then one of the defensive players shook his head I really donÆt know how I feel being sponsored by a Nether King

YouÆd refuse food and money Tell shook his head Honestly you make me sad Listen he may be a Nether King but his meat is damn good right You are good at tossing Crushers not thinking DonÆt overcomplicate things

Still The player hesitated then shook his head The team seemed pretty evenly split on the issue Jawen knew a lot of them had lost friends and family to the Nether Meanwhile just as many had friends and family die due to the apathy of the Aether elite These players had been drawn from harsh backgrounds

Tell began unbuttoning his vest Alright letÆs not dwell on this I for one am ready to shower

Tell put that back on Training isnÆt over Hehe

Everyone who hadnÆt previously noticed the transformation that had come over Devick paused and pivoted to look at her due to the strange laughter She had wrapped her arms around her own shoulders and leaned slightly forward A horrifying grin spread across her face the two edges of her mount eating their meandering way out across her cheeks like two centipede heads A dense and whirling emotions pun around her

Randidly looked at the largest Arakis Beast and gestured to Bogart We have some uninvited guests coming Look after him while I figure out why they are so mad

The guests were cruising directly through the brunt of the storms that were shunted off of the sky above the farm but that didnÆt slow them down at all If anything they seemed to be accelerating through the last few cloud banks using their bodies as battering rams to obliterate unfortunate bolts of lightning that forked across their path

With a pulse of gravitational energy Randidly floated up to meet them

A massive golden school bus careened its way out of the slate grey stormclouds wisps of water vapor streaming from the gleaming chassis Only when it drew up short and reared up like a cobra and release a thunderous bellow did Randidly finally have an inkling with whom he was dealing Nether King you better have an excellent explanation why you possess the farm of my kin

If Jotem was an overly puffy individual without weight the Patron of the Deep was a whale that had totally mastered its existence in space Randidly sucked in a breath as he took in the PatronÆs underbelly and strangely amorphous two side appendages He usually kept his energy vision entirely toned down so as not to blind himself on the constant flower of existence but even in the base version the Patron was as brilliant as standing directly in front of the rotating radiance of a lighthouse

Yet more than even this Patron it was the other accompanying him that threw Randidly Because there following more discretely behind the massive Origin Beast was the raven haired Patron of Feathers His chest tightened immediately and his senses scanned her However the flows of significance did not lead her what the current Patron of Feathers needed the past one did not possess

Well The Origin BeastÆs mouth opened and it wasnÆt powerful energy that Randidly smelled to make him wrinkle his nose

After a small cough Randidly replied Jotem and I are partners He handles the networking and I handle the actual growing of the produce HeÆs not here at the moment heÆs within Malloon for the Hobfootie tournament

If youÆve harmed even eh The massive being blinked as RandidlyÆs words slowly registered His frown was considerable so large that Randidly could recline against his lips and take a nap What do you mean the two of you are partners Why would my distant nephew associate with a Nether King

ArenÆt you the one that says that all beings are energy The Patron of Feathers spoke up Her voice was light She also looked very very young as she offered a brittle smile toward Randidly Please Nether King we mean no disrespect However it has come to light that recently

A conspiracy Enemies on every side Again the Origin Beast began bellowing out massive geysers of its foul smelling breath A few accidents I can accept and grieve But to have almost an entire race die within a decade no an ominous darkness comes for us all for the greatest race to be torn down by jealous fingers

Randidly held up his hands in what was a placating gesture DonÆt worry I have a Nether Herald near to Jotem as we speak I will ask him to watch over him while we proceed

To Malloon No time to waste This crusade must continue And without even a backward glance the massive being shot directly toward the destination

The Patron of Feathers drifted closer to Randidly I appreciate that you were here You are Nether King Hungry Eye yes Mae spoke of you Perhaps well there are a lot of suspicious aspects of recent deaths in his family And if the same had happened here he would have barged into Malloon and probably challenged my father to a duel

Chapter 2122

There were a few moments while Randidly followed after the rampaging Patron of the Deep when he felt a horrible constricting sense of deja vu Anxiety crept into him His emotional sea began to stir He believed everything was alright with Jotem but he had believed the same about Helen hadnÆt he His connection to Demetrius provided less and less reassurance until he was surging through the sky with just as much intensity as the Origin Beast

Despite the fact this was only a memory if this journey ended in a corpse RandidlyÆs steps toward healthy emotional behaviors would all collapse His newly achieved emotional strength would rise and demand bloody retribution

In a series of bellows and growls the Patron of the Deep reached the front gate of Malloon and worked himself up enough he seemed intent on fighting his way through the cityÆs defenses His calls rose above even the rumble of the barrier RandidlyÆs pupils dilated his own impatience and worry spreading fire through him Only the Patron of FeatherÆs timely arrival prevented a confrontation

The guards scowled after them but allowed the cityÆs princess through without much protest

The Patron of the Deep didnÆt even seem to notice the cityÆs crowds freight training his way directly through the thickest groupings and knocking aside those unfortunate enough to be in his path What made this careless charge was what happened next With a surprisingly deft spatial distortion the Origin Beast shrunk his body to fit through the door to their inn

Jotem his cheeks ruddy from drink was right in the midst of tossing dice across a wooden table Oh fair lady fortune smile upon your eternal suitor

Randidly felt his heart ease He awkwardly scratched his cheek suddenly embarrassed at how worked up he had allowed himself to become

Nephew Despite whatever magic he used to shrink the Patron of the DeepÆs voice still shook the entire building as it boomed out and silenced the rest of the conversations in the room A nearby beer mug spontaneously cracked from the intense volume But that was nothing compared to JotemÆs reaction who bounced off the bench distancing himself as quickly as possible from his drink and the dice

Patriarch What a pleasure The words were squeezed out of him like the last bit of toothpaste from a near empty tube The Patron of the Deep swam forward through the air and swept the half Origin Beast in a massive hug The movements jostled several individuals earning sharp glares However they noticed Randidly daring them to try something and turned their expression down to their reflection in their drink

The Patron of the Deep pulled back after the hug His massive face split into a brilliant smile What glorious news Your life remains intact I have returned from Skyhigh Village The entire place has been abandoned Undoubtedly our family has been ambushed and sequestered subjected to unspeakable tortures by nefarious hands

I Indeed Jotem drifted away from his larger uncleÆ

Due to the situation it is paramount that we gather together for our own protection Until our enemies reveal themselves we cannot lower our guard for even a moment Since IÆve now placed you under my protection we can use this as our base camp and investigate the details The Patron of the Deep seemed finally to notice their environment He looked around quickly and sniffed in distaste I must say cousin the lodgings well They leave a little bit to be desired Are you still too cheap to ensure you maintain at least a baseline of decency

At the far end of the room the innkeeper folded his arms across his chest and scowled

And who are these individuals with which you have been dining The Patron of the Deep pivoted to the three alarmed people who had been dicing with Jotem You know youÆll never find a respectable woman to marry if you participate in debauchery or games of chance even just dabbling A match of substance can simply intuit these things Considering your age you have a responsibility to help sire the next generation

Randidly was rapidly reevaluating his opinion of Jotem as the Patron of the Deep launched into a rambling lecture They had been too hard when they had been annoyed by his superfluous way of talking and flowery language He was just an individual who had spent far too long being berated by one of the most passive aggressive and reproving mother in law types Randidly had ever seen

Chuckling Randidly shook his head A bit hard to explain right now WestrisserÆs people are performing final inspections on new locations as we speak so you have a bit of time Think about it IÆll come back in a few days and see if you are interested If not IÆd appreciate a list of trustworthy individuals

With a strange expression on his bearded face the innkeeper nodded and walked away This time the Patron of the Deep waited until he was out of earshot before speaking You would offer a job to one who so obviously disrespected you Too many decisions like this will lead to a mutiny of your supporters Nether King Hungry Eye

Randidly looked at the Patron of the Deep with a sharp glance his framing proved he was aware of the effect of his actions Did he say those things to get them kicked out to try and protect Jotem in a more isolated location I offered him a job because he has spine And because I need someone to do a job

It was generosity like this which has now led me to scramble to protect the remnants of my people The Patron of the Deep harrumphed To that Randidly didnÆt respond He just wondered how he reconciled his treatment of his surviving family with the vehemency with which he sought to protect them

Without any more dramatic displays for which Randidly felt rather grateful the group departed from the inn Leaving Malloon felt a relief The press of bodies slowly thinned as Randidly led the group to where his two islands were waiting What he hadnÆt expected to find was a nervous Freewall Yuuryin flitting back and forth as a group of curious individuals walked around the outside of the skyislands A few of the bolder had already clambered up on top of them and helped themselves to the rooms they found there Randidly hadnÆt any furniture with which to fill the rooms but it was still quality shelter

One man lay in the dry marble fountain dominating the central portion of the shopping plaza He spread out his cloak and patted his self made bad with satisfaction RandidlyÆs lips twitched

He wheeled and gave Jotem a sharp glance Alright itÆs time to display your gift for commerce Extract some money from these mooches and see if you find any volunteers for laborers We are going to need some workers to get this off the ground as soon as its approved Demetrius head along with him Handle any problems

The two nodded With one last backward glance at the Patron of the Deep Jotem undulated away In his wake the Patron floated forward and pursed his lips This you plan to create a floating shopping plaza The heart of opulence Nether King Hungry Eye I have underestimated your vision Due to your friendship with my kin I will acquiesce to look around a bit and offer my opinions on the decor no no need to thank me Ahem well this entrance area is simply intolerable Such cheap materials tsk this is why you hire professionals

The Patron of the Deep drifted off speaking over his shoulder to Randidly as though he followed along and hung on his every word Randidly sighed he could handle the fallout of that later For now it was enough for the Origin Beast to be out of trouble

Freewall walked closer Apologies Nether King They simply climbed up the far side so

DonÆt worry about it Randidly waved a hand Then he turned again to the Patron of Feathers Even now her significance felt strange to him He wondered what he would need from her to help the current version He cleared his throat What will you do now Go see your father

The Patron of Feathers shook her head No that can wait The rest of us are coming soon If you donÆt mind we will meet here before we head in for the trial

Her tone was casual but Randidly felt his skin tingle as the implications of what she said hit him

They were all coming

Elhume was coming here

Chapter 2123

Jawem kept his face even as the referee announced the two teams competing in the exhibition game Even though he understood the purpose he still felt too bone tired to put up with this shit The tournament wouldnÆt start for another three days but truly this was quite a bit more of an exhibitionÆ match So many teams flocked to Malloon for the tournament that there was no possible way to compare the various minor leagues and claimed records the teams came with to create the tournament bracket

So non local and non already seeded teams were encouraged to engage in as many exhibitions as possible to help make the tournament itself more dramatic with a properly constructed bracket Jawem couldnÆt help but note that this also fed information on the strategies of foreign teams to the local established Hobfootie clubs but supposed that few people planned on challenging these juggernauts anyway

One particular idiot that planned on challenging the Hobfootie establishment buzzed next to Jawem impatient to begin the match Devick hopped from foot to foot clearly pumped full of energy She was a cross between a bottled bolt of lightning and a child that needed to pee In a very positive way it fed into the rest of the team all were adequately warmed up for the first time in a long while

But it was also somewhat aggravating to have her eyes so constantly scanning the stands for an individual who would be very conspicuous

The referee waved his hands signaling the teams should take up their positions and wait for his whistle Opposite them a group in green from the Southern lands gathered together for a quick last meeting The Miracles did the same

Even if heÆs not here that just shows he has faith in us A white knuckled Devick muttered as much to herself to the team waiting for a last speech Her eyes were intensely hungry So or maybe heÆs running late we know how busy heÆs been

Miss if this bastard was personally invited by you to attend and doesnÆt have the decency show up Tell spat to the side Maybe taking his support isnÆt such a a good idea It ainÆt right to turn down a ladyÆs invitation even if heÆs made of Nether Those sort of fair weather fools are a dime a dozen in my village

At first Jawem thought Devick would spring to the Nether KingÆs aid as she always did and sighed inwardly But Devick just looked at Tell with bulging eyes Blood drained from her face Their Hobfootie opponents put their hands together and unleashed a primal scream Then they shifted to their positions Still their leader seemed frozen

Sighing Jawem said you didnÆt invite him did you He probably doesnÆt even know we have a match right now

I can sprint over Devick began but the refereeÆs whistle and the call of players to their positionsÆ stopped her dead

Tell hid a chuckle behind his hand and patted Devick on the shoulder Well this is for the best right You wanted to prove we are worth coming to see right Think how persuasive its going to be when you invite him to the next game with a dominant score to back you up

Yea youÆre right Yea Devick straightened and stopped fidgeting A singularity of purpose came over her ridding her of all the previous energy leaking out of her body She turned to look at the team opposite him Her intense emotional aura once more seeped out into the space around them Her eyes narrowed with grim purpose LetÆs get rid of these clowns in our way and go home to celebrate If we slaughter them no extra conditioning tonight Everyone gets the night off

The team cheered and rubbed their hands together

A great sigh passed through his lips The potent discharge he had twisted together in the storm cloud crashed down and shook the ground Thunder boomed across the storm torn skies Yet already Randidly felt himself calm Instead of tensing himself up admitting his worries did a lot more to relax him

So long as he admitted his emotions he could face them directly Just like he would soon face Elhume

After he had gathered his breathing he returned to the grounded sky islands Already the significance within the memory began to swirl around the location Randidly first wondered if it could be these skyislands would alter the fate of the memory and the dream reacted but upon closer reflection he realized that this was just another inflection point in the memories It wouldnÆt have happened here but Elhume and the Patrons would have always approached Malloon and gathered

Maybe actually seeing them all together and meeting Elhume will finally provide some answers about what happens in the near future RandidlyÆs eyes flashed Why ElhumeÆs priorities changed so drastically from saving Pine to killing him why so many of his Patrons died and also how this Cult of the Savior run by ancient individuals trying to take advantage of the Nexus vanishes from history

He calmed himself down enough to help with cleaning out the skyislands of squatters and began making furniture to fill all the rooms On this subject the Patron of the Deep had many opinions At the very least all of these thoughts helped crowd out any worries Randidly might have

The longer he listened the more pity he had for Jotem Excusing himself with the justification that MalloonÆs inspector needed some assistance understanding the finer points of the Engraving he left the miserable descendant alone with his opinionated uncleÆ

His Nether Core began to rev stabilizing the memory He had almost forgotten about the approaching group until he sensed them on the horizon Pausing in his explanation of how the converted energy flowed through the levitation Engraving he looked up and stared toward the horizon

Seven powerful individuals were rapidly approaching Including the Patron of the Deep and the Patron of Feathers all nine of ElhumeÆs group was accounted for Sensing them together Randidly finally settled some doubts about the crew

After meeting the individuals from the Cult of the Savior and Westrisser himself he had started to wonder how these people managed to resist the powerful established forces of the Nexus After all Mae MyrnaÆs power had been quite interesting but she wasnÆt as overwhelmingly strong as the ruler of Malloon was

Two truths became obvious feeling their approach First their energies were extremely compatible with each other To the point that Randidly could find an undercurrent of Nether connecting the individual members of the group That is probably why he had always seen the Patrons in groups of two or three When they utilized their images together there was a multiplicative effect Randidly felt curiosity stirring he definitely wished to study the quality

But also he felt ElhumeÆs power pure and direct He as a clenched fist a hand raised against an uncaring sky a single cocked back blow about to be thrown In terms of Aether he was only a little more developed than his Patrons

Yet something about the image he sensed shook Randidly to his very core This was a being who however briefly and not of his own power had stood at the Pinnacle He had helped create an alternate universe That undefinable something extra suffused his whole aura

Randidly exhaled Then he wiped his hands on his robe and walked out to meet Elhume and his group

Chapter 2124

Elhume perhaps self evidently looked essentially like a human A tall athletic human with short hair that shimmered in light and flowed from one color to the next but a human nonetheless His nose was wide and his jawline strong He wore only a thin black vest it almost struck Randidly as weird not to have a colored robe identifying his identity He wore battered boots and cloth shorts

His eyes were golden and sharp visual even from a half mile away as the group made a beeline toward them At RandidlyÆs warning the Patron of Feathers and Patron of the Deep had come out to welcome their companions The Patron of Feathers seemed immensely pleased while the Patron of the Deep just seemed bored

Here we go again The massive Origin Beast released a large enough sigh that a small whirlwind formed in the dirt nearby It did not help RandidlyÆs nerves to see him suddenly quiet He released a second sigh in only a few seconds I wonder what helpless innocents we will be crusading to save this time

We are attempting to keep rigid stratification from strangling the life out of the Aether Lands remember The Patron of Feathers added

For now The Patron of the Deep grumbled Thankfully the Nether King is making preparations to house all these unwashed homeless Otherwise

Before he could continue speaking some of the Patrons began to whoop and run forward excitement clear on their faces Mae Myrna took the lead her eyes burned with life Reunited at least With our powers combined we are undefeatable

She and the Patron of Feathers met in massive spinning hug The Patron of Blooms and the Patron of the Sun both looking younger and more innocent than the versions inside the Alpha Cosmos came next to inspect the Patron of the Deep for wounds He waved his appendages asking them to please stop even while very obviously relishing the attention

The Patron of Blades and the Patron of Abyss walked slowly with the Patron of the Borrower their eyes scanning the horizon for threats Meanwhile ElhumeÆs yellow eyes fell on Randidly and didnÆt waver for a moment

You must be Nether King Hungry Eye IÆve heard a lot about you but wasnÆt sure what to believe ElhumeÆs voice was warm and resonant Up close his leather boots and canvas pants were scuffed with dirt Yet his smile was wide and open He was a handsome man and his raw natural charisma through Randidly somewhat Sometimes Truth over there doesnÆt really deserve her moniker She can get swept up in the romance of a situation

Hey I heard that Mae Myrna pulled back from her hug and glared at Elhume How dare you deny what any pair of eyes would naturally tell you this Nether King is the sort of weather beaten traveler who would enrich any quest Failing to invite him with us to meet the Cult of the Savior would have been such a waste A gallant companion is there with you through thick and thin

The warm smile on ElhumeÆs face faltered briefly as Mae mentioned the Cult of the Savior His eyes when he refocused on Randidly were a little bit sharper Indeed Well at least IÆm not the only one who sensed something strange about this man then Your aura you also refine Aether And your body

Randidly stiffened even as Elhume took a step toward him Up close a strange and oddly familiar intensity burned in his expression Elhume flexed his hands cracking his fingers and knuckles Considering all you have done for the group itÆs a bit much to ask But please allow me to spar with a fellow body practitioner

Randidly blinked at the sudden suggestion The rest of the Patrons groaned good naturedly Meanwhile ElhumeÆs face bloomed open with the enthusiasm of a battle maniac For a split second a hand gripped his heart Those chill black fingers tightened slowly around the organ

He looks so much like Helen it hurts

His stomach released a strange rumble

Especially especially individuals who would fight without holding back

Shall we fight with just our bodies Nether King Hungry Eye Elhume called out with hunger and strange sort of glee in his voice

In answer a wave of spectral grey flames surged across the Nether KingÆs body His eyes usually so lively and green now resembled the deadly stillness of a peat bog His words came out in a whisper Come at me with everything you have

Ha Elhume kicked off the ground with enough force to shatter the stones beneath his feet and spray pebbles across the watchers His body blurred across the intervening distance yet Mae felt it moving in almost slow motion

Despite the fact his opponent had urged him to come with full force he still didnÆt activate anything but his body Mae couldnÆt decide whether he was underestimating his opponent or overestimating himself

Her eyes were naturally drawn to the Nether King opposite a relatively unprotected Elhume He was a bipedal creature with black hair down to his chin His limbs were long and muscular His eyes were a piercing emerald He possessed a spear he kept wrapped around his waist and wore an immaculately embroidered black robe He had displayed a surprising amount of capability in their brief spat with WestrisserÆs men but this

Even while still the air around him burned Half from the spectral flames of Nether Weight he so cavalierly utilized but the other half was raw emotional force Mae had never felt its like even from Faelmac Westrisser himself All of that had been grounded in a concrete image A massive continentÆs worth of emotion now ground against all of them projected out from his body

It acted like a vindictive wind pushing the flames of Nether Weight to rise to new heights

Elhume Mae found herself whispering Her impression of the Nether King rapidly changed How could she have missed this This feeling Right now heÆs not a friend The Nether King

Nether King Hungry Eye stepped His hand left a jagged gash in space dragging with it all the condensed Nether Weight and howling emotion he contained Elhume reacted quickly he also possessed an overwhelming physique He planted his feet and crossed his arms in front of him in a guard and finally activated his image

This was not the time for ElhumeÆs fool habit of revealing his powers one at a time during a fight

is a villain

The Nether KingÆs hand burned through the flesh on ElhumeÆs arms smashing the image back before it could protect his body The attack didnÆt slow down at all through the guard simply bullying its way through and piercing into ElhumeÆs torso Even as ElhumeÆs eyes widened the Nether King unleashed a beam of pure emotion from the hand ripping a hole out of his back and sending him careening back across the isolated sparring area

He skidded across the ground small clumps of grey fire clinging to his body Next to Mae the Patron of Blooms gasped

Once more the Nether King was still His eyes were vicious and his words were as suffocating as his long fingers tightening around a throat Will you stand Or is the spar over already

Chapter 2125

Mae scrunched up her face focusing on the form of Nether King Hungry Eye and the churning maelstrom of power around him The man seemed to blaze with the energies of Nether Weight and emotional affect creating genuine distortions in space with his intensity Her instincts usually so direct and accurate about the goodness of people now fed her conflicting information

In his core a monster howled Yet a kind heart within him bled fat drops of regret

It was almost like she saw two people within his body fighting for dominance EachÆs influence waxed and waned with the fickle waves of force coming off of his body One moment he burned with domineering arrogance looking down across the assembled Patrons with an obvious sneer The next his eyes were clear and furious but filled with righteousness and a wisp of helpless fear

But considering the vicious strike the Nether King had used on Elhume

While Mae struggled to figure out the conflicting impressions the other Patrons began to gather closer with stormy expressions Their grips tightened on their weapons The amorphous Patron of the Void especially burned with a vindictive image It looked at Mae in askance waiting for her judgment If she signaled all would attack before Elhume suffered further damage

She hesitated She teetered back and forth Her instincts had never failed to give her an unerring answer Her particular image involved a world projection of absolute justice So to have it waffle the implications

Ha

Elhume struggled to his feet his from half covered in blood His eyes flicked to his Patrons To MaeÆs surprise his eyes were filled with irritation and disappointment What the hell are you doing Pull back your images and step aside We are in the middle of a spar

The Patron of the Sun stepped forward with a frown Perhaps it started as a spar but his previous attack was obviously designed with deadly intent

He warned me Elhume growled After spitting blood out to the side he raised his hand to the wound in his shoulder that steadily wept blood Light flared around his hand and he cauterized the wound closed ElhumeÆs eyes went back to the Nether King a wild expression of excitement in his eyes This was the happiest Mae had seen him in a long long time He told me to come with everything right from the start I didnÆt listen because no matter what theyÆve always said the powerful individuals IÆve sparred with in the past held back They feared others knowing their capability of engaging in a spar with a relative unknown like me and losing I had assumed you were the same but you have no fear of that at all do you Nether King Hungry Eye

The bonfire of emotion and grey flames continued to billow out around the Nether King Silence became almost an armor crusted around the edge of his display of power

Chuckling Elhume rolled his shoulders No You meant what you said A loss to you means nothing I can see the resolve in your eyes the same I possess If you lose now next time heheh Apologies ItÆs been a while since IÆve been this fucking pumped for a fight Ready yourself

MaeÆs senses had begun to settle back toward firmly believing that perhaps it was just his abundant Nether that interfered with her imageÆs characterization of him Over the past few seconds it settled firmly toward righteousness Yet as Elhume spoke suddenly that domineering arrogance flared back to life She watched the Nether KingÆs eyes narrow to slits

What the hell is going on

A low tremor ran through the memory around Randidly His attention was split almost completely in half with one half concerned with making sure he didnÆt let his rage swell to the point it ripped its way out of the memory entirely It really would if he let the flames in his chest run unchecked His Nether Core continued to rev stabilizing the environment around him as best it could but his emotional force remained overwhelming Only utilizing about half of the emotional sea pushed him to the limit of maintaining the space and keeping his senses reliable

Then almost all reasonable thoughts were lost in the pounce at the frozen Elhume

The absolute power of Seize fueled by the emotional affect with which Randidly blazed had literally stopped Elhume dead midcharge He watched Randidly approach his eyes bulging as he hung in the air without the ability to move He was a dead fish hanging off the end of a hook Only at the last moment did the fist aura flare around him and he shatter the Seize

Just as Randidly whipped a leg around and smashed it into his midsection he couldnÆt dodge in time The force of the collisions smote the surrounding ground kicking up shattered stones and dust

Once again Elhume skidded backward across the ground unable to find purchase Randidly landed on the balls of his feet and took another breath through his nose Each breath gathered him more information about the strange superposition of this moment with the original memory but right now he had other concerns

Smashing around Elhume was way too much fun

This time Elhume had barely made it to his feet before Randidly unleashed another attack He didnÆt even bother to draw Acri simply stabbing his hand toward ElhumeÆs chest His opponentÆs fist based image solidified much more quickly finally catching up to this desperate sort of spar The power of his body tightened and multiplied in a defensive barrier to stop the rampaging Nether King in front of him

Randidly Ghosthound sheered right through that physical power knocking ElhumeÆs block to the side and aiming for his opponentÆs throat Yet at the last second his gaze flickered Randidly moved so quickly the ground shattered and he left after images in his wake Elhume had chosen to take the trade to even his throat aiming for a hook on RandidlyÆs ribs in exchange

Tch bastard at least knows how to use his body

Scowling he reappeared behind Elhume and thrust a palm to crack his lower spine But despite the bonfire of Nether Weight Randidly radiated ElhumeÆs image was stubbornly beginning to manifest itself The more room it had to breathe the more his power could manifest despite the constant pressure of RandidlyÆs emotional gale

With a sharp twist Elhume pivoted and lowered his stance His arm swung and met RandidlyÆs palm The forearm shattered but the blow was deflected Randidly gritted his teeth and attacked again even as surprise and relish flickered in ElhumeÆs expression A little bit more the fist image spread across ElhumeÆs skin

Before Randidly could strike again Elhume brought his elbows to his sides fists out A pulse of pure force pressed him backward the Skill was extremely limited in scope but released an almost absolute pressure within a meter

Taking advantage of the extra space Elhume made the preparations for a move in such a clean and practiced manner it almost appeared to have been done in slow motion His fingers one by one clenched into a fist All his image power rushed around his hand until it burned with coppery flames

Elhume pivoted and punched Randidly caught the attack with Sulfur A pulse of force blasted out from their position long cracks in the ground ripping themselves open across the entire isolated area The barrier flickered and almost collapsed Only the yelping efforts of some of the Patrons managed to stabilize

Sulfur cooed in pleasure Both fighters narrowed their eyes and blurred into motion

Randidly shattered ElhumeÆs jaw with a backhand blow but took a punch to the rib the first attack that had landed on him

When Elhume hopped back to his feet a wide grin stretched across his face

Chapter 2126

Faelmac Westrisser stood at the window of his personal quarters his hands folded behind his back Pale sunlight filtered down through the light cloud layer A cup of soaked mint and chicory lay forgotten on the table beside him Emotions crackled in his heavy gaze as he looked to the Southeast unable to look away These undisciplined foolish children

Yet he couldnÆt deny something stirred in his blood to watch them so thoughtlessly throw themselves into conflict Both possessed immensely powerful bodies so they exchanged blows freely There was no hesitation or artifice in them Even within WestrisserÆs own guarded and scarred heart he could remember what it was to be young and enjoy strife just for the wild exhilaration of conflict

Now he controlled a city His heart had frozen against frivolous pleasures Or rather he recognized them for the weaknesses that would result

Of course his attention had fixated on his daughter as soon as she had returned to within the sphere of his influence Despite their spats in recent years mostly over the radical ideas of Elhume she was his only blood relation worth a damn The rest were as sniveling and conniving as Undersecretary Swacc Useful but only when rather constantly reminded of the threat hanging over their heads if they failed Without proper guidance they were snakes that would eat their own tails dreaming one day of how large and strong they would become

The constant grind of MalloonÆs barrier blocked all sound but Westrisser could almost imagine the thunderous blows exchanged

In the distance the Nether King continued to wallop on Elhume Like a door with long unused hinges a stiff smile creaked open on his face Seeing the wounds across the uppity fist userÆs body did bring him a small measure of joy Yet what gave Westrisser pause was the Nether King himself

In their short meeting he had seemed surprisingly direct and focused There wasnÆt a shred of youthful exuberance in him And his deft maneuvering to target the Undersecretary had been masterful Was there some history between himself and Elhume that now had him seemingly possessed by fury Or some long standing feud

His attacks were sharp and vicious but diffused And he hadnÆt really activated his true Nether powers The longer the spar went the more confusing it became

Westrisser watched for a while longer musing on how simple life must be to so freely flaunt your strength without fear of others plotting against you Clicking his tongue he turned away from the window

Hopefully your confidence is well founded Nether King Westrisser returned to his desk Because if I am watching you can be sure the Undersecretary is as well If this is all you amount to Swacc will hang you within the week

They eventually stopped mostly because the fight had carved canyons beneath their feet Even for powerful individuals fighting on ground that had been repeatedly pulped into sand was annoying

Plus the inflection point passed and he could no longer release as much of his power

Randidly stood over the shattered form of Elhume his body trembling with the wild pounding of his heart Despite his sorry state Elhume grinned cheerfully up at him Quite a good spar I havenÆt had fun like that heh I canÆt remember when But I really do have a ways to go donÆt I

DonÆt we all Randidly said torn between the remnants of his fury and a strange bitterness By the end of the fight the satisfying heat of fighting had completely drained from his body He turned away from his foe

This wasnÆt the Elhume he needed to overcome Randidly had been too volatile lashing out at this Elhume The inflection point had passed and his Nether CoreÆs revving became increasingly dire The memory trembled around him without pause In the end it hadnÆt even been very cathartic Still Randidly didnÆt regret the fight

At some point the clones broke and scurried back into the darkness Lowering Acri Randidly didnÆt pursue He blew a long breath out through his nose and spent a bit of time calming himself down What came next would be much more difficult than

Right as Randidly took a step forward to enter the void he felt a presence next to him Are you sure you wish to proceed

A floating wisp drifted next to him After shaking for a few moments it resolved itself into a clone version of Randidly this one with grey hair and black eyes Its expression was surprisingly neutral considering it was an ego built out of his repressed emotions and negative subconscious If you start opening these emotional wounds you wonÆt always grow stronger Sometimes ignorance is bliss

I would think you would push me to face these fears Randidly spoke with squinted eyes trying to read the intentions of this projection His perception told him very little about it

The grey Randidly shrugged almost looking bored Do you know in social science questionnaires the group of people who think they are the happiest The most unreasonable If they believe they are happy they are happy Those who know better often make themselves sad

Randidly just stared at his clone

The clone scratched his cheek All four of us are a part of you you know We protect you IÆm telling you to turn back You should listen to me

Randidly lifted his chin Are these memories of my mother really so difficult to bear

Not really But they serve as a key that will unlock everything else A truth youÆve been avoiding for a long long time

He thought about that his mind scrambling to figure out what he was dealing with for this last emotion He had dealt with self pity jealousy and wrath thus far These were the greatest of his vices They had steadily escalated the violence of each emotion which made this fourth iteration certainly a deviation So what are you supposed to be Depression Hatred or even loneliness

The clone just grimaced as though being labeled made it uncomfortable

Randidly sighed Would you at least tell me if I was right The clone didnÆt answer but its inert features seemed to indicate the negative Randidly shook his head Either way it doesnÆt matter For the power you carry to unite my emotional sea I need to look into those memories

Who possesses more power a dying man tied to the front of a train or a young man carrying a wooden spear The clone asked

Randidly stared at the clone for another few seconds He really wasnÆt sure what to make of the philosophical responses from this core of negative emotion You realize IÆm not going to stop right

ThatÆs the trick isnÆt it Finally a change came over the cloneÆs features it looked almost mocking What would cause Randidly Ghosthound to stop

Maybe itÆs cruelty Randidly scrunched his face together But still he put one foot in front of the other and walked toward the first memory

Chapter 2127

When Randidly touched its edges the memory responded eagerly it had almost been waiting for him to approach Light bent itself into shapes building a small enclosed area in a split second Despite his mental preparations some part of Randidly still flinched when the scene that materialized around him was so familiar

He stood in the interior of one of the seedy motels his mother drifted between after RandidlyÆs college departure During those times he had come home to visit he would spend just as much time tracking her down as he would actually hanging out with her RandidlyÆs lip curled up in distaste

He had forgotten those anxious and vaguely sick returns during his first year

His attention scanned the surroundings The offensively patterned blinds were shut and most of the room’s illumination came from the blue tinted glow of the television The deadbolt had been thrown on the door and the bathroom light at the far end of the room was off Draped across the couch in her underwear was his mother

Her snores were shockingly familiar even though it had been so long since he had heard the noise Just like her loud laughter the shuddering exhale through her nose had marked the steady movements of the clock hands during his adolescence Especially after Ezekiel left When Randidly had heard the snores some of the dread of the day passed He could finally flip over onto his side and fall asleep Or at least try to before dawn crept in through the window and prodded him awake

The room was messy A cracked open pizza box sat next to the couch with some unsavory scents wafting out from its percolating contents Crumpled beer can littered the floor so many that it was impossible for them to have all been consumed in a single night More piled up on the far side of the rumpled bed A dirty t shirt was dropped on the floor taken off right before bed and also likely to be put right back on when Emilee woke up

Seeing it made him acknowledge it He ached to know the life she had lived And for how she made him feel growing up he had only been too happy to abandon her to face the dark impulses alone

The television was muted but it continued to move in a meaningless caricature of life

Randidly sighed She seemed so small and frail in the darkness Especially compared to his current body Her pale skin made it obvious she didnÆt leave the apartment much The roots of her hair were grey revealing her age and also indicating how long it had been since she cared enough to dye them

Perhaps due to a dream her fingers twitched in her sleep

When he rounded on his emotional clone standing over her inert form RandidlyÆs eyes were narrowed with fury Why did you bring me here This isnÆt my memory And also this is before the Nexus arrived

Behind them the muted television showed the reruns of bland comedies that hadnÆt yet been tainted by the arrival of the System

The grey projection tilted his head to the side as though confused by the question Whoever said this would be your memory I just told you not to look Just like you havenÆt for years even after the information was available to you with your powerful senses Our powerful senses Well now you are here despite my protests So donÆt try and take this out on me

Randidly turned and surveyed the room Then this

Is how your mother dies The clone confirmed Since we are here we will watch

Randidly pulled back his lips to reveal his teeth So you are cruelty or arrogance

Uninterested in his speculation the clone turned away Honestly he couldnÆt blame it the truth was he was just trying to distract himself from the discomfort he felt being here Even if it wasnÆt his memory the situation was all too familiar Next to him his motherÆs chest rose and fell

Just as Randidly opened his mouth to say something else the world twisted The System arrived in a surge of light fury and energy Comets of pure energy tore through every facet of existence rearranging their relationships Randidly stumbled backward dazed and blown away by both the immense movement of meaning around him but also the lack of impact

Eh The impact against the door finally woke RandidlyÆs mother She pushed herself up to her elbows the couch sagging beneath her Her eyes were blurry and bloodshot

Randidly gathered up momentum in his internal world gathering his influence despite the chilled fingers of the emotional core His clone narrowed its eyes at him as his Nether Core began to rev with more force Behind him the Stillborn Phoenix raised its head preparing to release a burst of gravitation force that would implode the head of the laughably weak troll

Just as the monsterÆs fist broke through the door Randidly felt himself choking on the chilling grey aura the emotional cyst unleashed Despite his powerful Discretion of the Apostate Moirae his mind reeled before the crushing explosion of emotion it unleashed upon him The deepest and darkest of the emotional cores was right about one thing it was part of him

It wielded a part of his strength A suffocating strangling power that felt like freezing to death under waves of grey sleet

For a few seconds his mind blanked out The essence that assaulted him nearly ignored his resistance not only did he struggle against the entropy esque aspects of the energy but it also felt like he was being temporally bludgeoned as well

His mind was too frazzled to be sure but there was something strange about how affected he was He fought in the present while also being dragged down by the heavy chains of the past

Despite the strange nature of the emotional torrent it only took a few seconds for Randidly to tear his way through Which meant his lucidity snapped back into place right as his mother sat up and opened her mouth to scream

And had her head torn off her body by the swipe of the troll

He heard the crack first saw the jerky twist of the spine The momentum of the trollÆs thick fingers did the rest

You Randidly growled at the fourth emotional core but his shoulder slumped His motherÆs blood splattered across the wall and began to drip down toward the discarded pizza box He hadnÆt been able to act After pressing his eyes closed and trying his best to ignore the excited grunts from the troll Part of him still wanted to shred it to pieces but also his heart began to quake being forced to stand by while she was murdered right in front of him

She barely even recognized something was wrong She had been hungover and bleary up until the point she died

Why Randidly grunted He felt hollowed out Despite the fact he had long suspected that his mother was dead to have watched the act that killed her stabbed at him Hearing the noises was even worse than seeing so he opened his eyes again

The pain of losing a mother was horrifying but he had been steadily preparing himself for this No what really got him were the ways this loss resonated with so many others

Randidly couldnÆt bear to be powerless and watch those he cared about die Not again

DonÆt flinch before the truth this is what happened The clone was oddly defensive its grey power falling back around it now the moment of contention had passed I donÆt mind you revisiting the past and making amends but only when you couldnÆt do right the first time This this would have just been pathetic revisionist sniveling

What do you mean Randidly demanded Then something occurred to him as he view the slender and faded figure his emotions projected You I understand You are loneliness ThatÆs why you wanted to make me watch Because

He halted in his speech the look the projection gave him was withering Loneliness ThatÆs part of it but just a scrap And the reason I made you watch was that you could have saved her the first time she was in a bubble city you damned fool You werenÆt as powerful as you are now but if you spread out your awareness past this tiny area you can feel your past self You just never looked for her

The clone folded his arms across his chest Why the hell should you get the chance to do something about it now when you couldnÆt be bothered in the first place

Chapter 2128

Randidly just stared at his grayed out double Guilt and grief seeped into his veins dulling his responses For several seconds he couldnÆt move couldnÆt confirm what the negative emotion told him His heart groaned and split in half underneath the pressure A cold sweat began to form down his back

In truth he didnÆt need to confirm what the clone suggested looking into his doubleÆs grey eyes he knew the projection wasnÆt lying about his mother Grief squeezed him insistent and genuine To his great relief the bloody tableau around him began to flake away The troll and its meal began to disintegrate Huge flakes of the environment just peeled away like dead skin and left him floating in a massive void In the distance he could see two more memories glimmering in front of him But he couldnÆt even think about moving forward

The one memory had shaken him well enough

Blessedly Randidly could squeeze his eyes without hearing the flesh noises of the trollÆs body moving He stood alone with his guilt This was another foe that he could not fight against His hands remained at his sides His breathing slowed

This was the choice I made even if I never consciously thought through the implications I didnÆt look for her

He felt the emotional core floating next to him The consciousness within it flickered Not with sympathy but with an echo of the same guilt The period of time would have been short Just a few specific minutes where you needed to be scanning the opening Bubble Cities for her presence A draining task to be sure But it was not impossible This was the mother that loved you as best as she could And you didnÆt even

As best as she could was by occasionally mustering up the willpower to hide how much of a burden she considered me to be RandidlyÆs eyes snapped open Once more his emotional sea began to simmer He glared at the grey version of himself He obviously felt guilty but that feeling paled in comparison to his grief IÆm not blaming her for what happened I will feel guilt over this for the rest of my life But I will not wallow Are you a reprise of self pity

Just admit this is our fault Stop trying to escape blame The Grey Randidly didnÆt back down either taking a step forward A host of those clammy hands spread out in the abyss around them ready to try and smother RandidlyÆs anger

Significance began to swirl around the duo Witnessing the first memory had already initiated some change in this emotional core even if Randidly didnÆt understand exactly what occurred

This isnÆt a fucking court of law Huge pillars of flame ripped out of his emotional sea urging his heart to a faster and faster cadence His Nether Core began to whirl drawing from these sudden surges in significance A singular culprit is never selected Life is messy Why are you so insistent on making everything about us How about narcissism Megalomania/

You have earned the responsibility because you had the power to intervene Because you are the one who always works so hard to gather the power When you donÆt use it thatÆs on you The emotional core began to tremble You could have prevented her death yet you didnÆt Do not try to deflect

I am not deflecting You are just seeking a place to deposit your own negative emotions You seek absolution But I know the truth The number of deaths on Expira I could have prevented are staggering RandidlyÆs voice was raw Frustration in his chest mounted at how stubborn and fixated this pinning blame Every day their ghosts whisper to me YOU are one of those ghosts ThatÆs why you are here thatÆs what these cores of negative emotion are

You donÆt understand the first thing about me The negative emotion hissed Its grey eyes darkened You cast me aside long ago

Randidly barred his teeth What the hell is that supposed to mean You are looking at me with mournful eyes but IÆm the one who has been struggling all this time MomÆs death hurts More than I can articulate even if we hadnÆt been close in years Yet IÆll have to carry it wonÆt it ThatÆs just what I fucking do

Jawem sighed Before their conversation could continue further an officious looking scaly fish person in an embroidered robe elbowed their way through the milling crowd all staring up at the revealed board Based on her robe Jawem recognized the fish person as an official representative of the Hobfootie Committee

Team Captain of the Miracles The fish person addressed Devick I really must insist that you indicate a home court Due to your high seeding it is entirely allowable for you to select the arena within Malloon

ThereÆs going to be a third court Devick interrupted still sounding dreamy We choose that as our home field

There isnÆt a third court The fish snapped

There will be Devick smiled Her eyes were as glazed as the sweet dough sold during a Hobfootie match

Jawem stepped in before Devick thoughtlessly caused another problem He offered the fish person his most charming smile We have it on good authority that MalloonÆs Council will soon approve a third location YouÆve heard rumors about the Misplaced Islands that appeared to the South The field is on one of those

The fish person spat to the side Fine whatever IÆll list you as having your imaginary court as your home base But when the tournament starts and we schedule your first match for that location if itÆs not there you forfeit End of story Enjoy the long walk home

Apparently the worker didnÆt find Jawem very charming It was also a testament to how far gone Devick was that she didnÆt even bat an eyelid at the pronouncement

When the Hobfootie representative had departed Tell looked between the still gooey Devick and the fuming Jawem For the second time he rubbed his neck So what are we going to do The team wonÆt be happy if we get disqualified for a bullshit reason

The Nether King will come through He always does Devick answered in a sing song voice

Tell gave Jawem a look Jawem could only shrug

In silence the two followed Devick back to the teamÆs training area She announced to the group that they were seeded at ten which earned much excitement and exclamations from the crew Despite how brutally they had been exhausted over the past two weeks since the ratcheting up of DevickÆs intensity they held no regret Their eyes blazed bright with hope

Tell joined the group laughing and cheering along with the rest of them

Jawem pressed his eyes closed this is going to be a long few weeks getting through the tournament Now I just hope the Nether King doesnÆt forget about us

Chapter 2129

Within the grey constricting emotion Randidly mobilized his mind against the aggressive exhaustion Each breath was a labored battlefield someone escalating from a human necessity to inflating a balloon beneath a boulder More and more of his muscles began to scream underneath the onslaught of pressure

The grey pressure resonated with itself The longer he held it at bay the stronger the weight became Every few seconds it would exert all of its cloying chilling suppression His body groaned His breath rasped between his lips All his Stats were flared to their most capable heights He was a being who had evolved beyond the limits of humanity He had climbed and ascended nearing the peak of the Nexus

With that power he was able to shred the greyness around him Bodily strength could simply tear away chunks disturbing the resonance In this manner he weakened the suppression against him and bought a few seconds Yet no sooner had those shreds been allowed to fall than they joined back in with the hole

As far as Randidly could tell none of the damage he had done yet would really impair the emotion around him

All three of his images roared and lashed out into the grey expanse YggdrasilÆs vivacious roots flayed back and forth The Stillborn Phoenix spread its influence reaching out with such a heavy pull that it seemed to devour both space and time The Grey Creature stormed out of RandidlyÆs body forcing back a huge swathe of the grey exhaustion Each shimmered with the power of the emotional affect they possessed weakening the pulses to the point they barely managed to apply any pressure

In his chest RandidlyÆs Nether Core spun and sputtered somehow being affected by the same haze that covered all of him

The clone version of himself had completely vanished He was alone to face off against this final emotional core to an emotion that didnÆt even seem fairly categorized as an emotion He fought and fought pushing back the waves of resonating restricting his powerful heartbeat forcing out the chill that tried to grip him

To his immense surprise even as he tore through more and more of the greyness around him Randidly felt himself being infected by it the effect lingered His breaths became increasingly ragged His emotional affect began to fade and die as his emotional sea seemed to calcify into an expanse of concrete he carried in his chest

A strange fear crept into RandidlyÆs chest Yet he had fought a thousand battles against fear fear was a foe he knew how to overcome His eyes burned with an intensity that had carried him to his current heights His body moved waves of heat radiating off of his overcharged physique He ripped and tore

And ripped and shredded

And slashed and fought and struggled

After breaking the surroundings simply reformed

LetÆs each try it in our own ways First one to escape wins

Randidly snorted but didnÆt disagree He worried that his semi independent image would be blurred and weakened if it failed to overcome the grey but he supposed there was also an opportunity there He had pushed up the emotional affect of his images when he refined the emotional cores but that didnÆt mean they completely had matured into top level images Randidly still relied on his others gifts in order to make up the differences between himself and some of the NexusÆs other top combatants

Perhaps the Grey Creature would find an answer here that would change that

Either way Randidly withdrew his awareness He stopped struggling allowing the resonating waves to sap motivation from his body The ache spread from his shoulders to his entire body as he bore the weight of every moment in his life where he had stubbornly refused to concede against the limits of his own body

Unsurprisingly there were tens of thousands of such moments that he had accumulated while crusading against the System

Gradually as more and more waves intruded into his body the flow of both blood and Nether turned sluggish in his body The heat radiated out by him diminished He no longer breathed his blood stilled his organs entered a kind of stasis Even more dangerous his thoughts became sluggish Without hesitation a part of Randidly began to cut away his ancillary thoughts Especially as more and more of his physical mental and emotional life stilled Randidly severed those useless portions of himself to keep him streamlined and focused

The lessons in the necessity of cruelty he had learned from the Visage of Obsession came in extremely useful here His connection to his Nether Core vanished His senses were abandoned All the waffling emotions and hesitations were carved away In the end when Randidly felt that the restriction of the grey could penetrate no deeper into his person the being that existed there could not really be accurately called Randidly Ghosthound

But this remnant was his burning spark that had animated him for so long With an inert body around him with a distant Nether Core without any emotional baggage the spark was given a choice by the grey remain here in peace or pick up all the burdens of being Randidly Ghosthound one by one reclaiming himself gradually

The spark flickered slightly possessing an echo of his original sense of humor And what about the Grey Creature

The consciousness that animated the grey sea of exhaustion sighed What can we do That guy is crazy But if you want to go back you need to pick everything back up by hand Bearing the exhaustion you skipped out paying the first time through

If I take too long do you think the Grey Creature can take over the main body for a short amount of time The remnant queried

For the first time the fourth emotional core seemed troubled Well I donÆt quite hey donÆt act like this will be simple Your exhaustion has been building and compounding for more time than you can understand for some of it you were unconscious You may very well fail to return to our body at all

The grey expanse paused slightly before continuing but the other two images might be dormant but the Grey Creature breaking out of here should wake them up They will guide its harsher impulses

Chapter 2130

Freewall Yuuryin bowed to Faelmac WestrisserÆs back Despite the harsh decisions Westrisser had made over the years the engineer never displayed fear Westrisser appreciated that Freewall understood that each had their own role and as long as something catastrophic didnÆt happen being competent at his job would be enough to protect his life

WestrisserÆs expression darkened At least for now

The engineer spoke Per your orders IÆve been inspecting the skyislands provided by Nether King Hungry Eye After a few days I can say with complete confidence that they are just as ordered there are no traps hidden in their Engraving They will greatly expand the cityÆs ability to host visitors

Westrisser nodded still looking at the gloomy clouds at the window After a few seconds of silence Freewall began to squirm again He found the stillness away from the wall uncomfortable

The diminutive engineer cleared his throat There is another matter The Engraving principles utilized in his levitation and energy arrays are extremely profound In terms of energy conversion formations well it is difficult to describe An entire other language seems to be present in the working He is several generations ahead of our current capability Therefore I recommend we hire him to consult with MalloonÆs barrier He could revolutionize our defenses

You would give a Nether King a key to our kingdom

Westrisser didnÆt bother to hide the sneer in his voice His alabaster feathers flared slightly as his temper began to flare Freewall hurriedly tried to explain Ah obviously he wouldnÆt simply be allowed to remake our barrier but the principles he utilizes are completely separate from ours If we can simply understand how he would construct a barrier

Enough Westrisser growled In a rare showing of clemency the white feathered leader turned and inclined his head slightly to Freewall Obviously I respect your decades of service Yuuryin You are likely correct However possible benefits in the future are not worth taking undue risks now We are at a critical time in MalloonÆs development We have finally established ourselves as an outpost that can stand against the whims of the Nether We cannot endanger that for any reason Besides how long will it take you to incorporate aspects of this Nether KingÆs Engravings on your own

Freewall winced Honestly perhaps five years It is that alien to me I have done some small experiments and the efficiency drops dramatically when you deviate from a set of principles I cannot seem to completely understand

Westrisser nodded slowly His eyes were still out the window Begin to experiment in your free time then But there is no rush to develop a firm grasp of these concepts Most of your attention should be focused on the barrier The defenses must not possess even a single flaw These clouds

Freewall followed his leaderÆs gaze Out the wide windows the strangely mild weather that had been concentrated around Malloon spread for several miles But West past the rolling hills a sudden block of heavy grey storms rumbled forward For several seconds the tiny engineer couldnÆt react to what he was seeing

Giant misshapen heads vague in the details but unmistakable in their shape Heads grew out of the clouds their next thick and twisted Only the most general approximation of mouths warped in agony or raw desire And the strangest part was the thin wispy clouds that leaked out from these headsÆ eyes As they floated in a misshapen and ominous parade toward Malloon these giant heads were weeping

Westrisser grunted So it seems the rumors are true The Nether begin to move against us Bleak Sky nears our fair city Which is why we cannot allow even the slightest weakness in our defenses Do you understand

Yet despite the fact that his emotional affect should be much depleted

The Grey Creature cut down and the entire grey expanse shuddered

Congratulations Your Skill The Wrathful Calamity Rends has grown to Level 890

each of its strikes seemed to split the entire realm of exhaustion if just for a moment The spark felt a strange sense of fascination as it watched The blows didnÆt come very frequently and the grey expanse continued to reform in their wake but the Grey Creature did seem to be creating the sort of attack that could genuinely wound even exhaustion

If I donÆt hurry up The spark grimaced as it watched the muscles of the Grey CreatureÆs back coil and tighten Its arm swept sideways razing a huge swath of the grey It really will return to the body before I do

Congratulations Your Skill The Wrathful Calamity Rends has grown to Level 891

Congratulations Your Skill Twin Lingering Shadows of Misfortune has grown to Level 990

The second notification caught the spark by surprise It expanded the area covered by its awareness and sensed them the two unborn spirits he had carried from his time on the mountain had lingered in the grey expanse even after the Stillborn Phoenix had been forced to withdraw They had swollen to double their original size engorged on bite sized chunks of the grey they had ingested As the spark observed they yawned and stretched One lazily opened its mouth and bit off a chunk of grey chewing it thoughtlessly

The spark twitched They always added an element of unreality that weakened the Stillborn Phoenix but now even they might make it out of here before I do

With its resolve restored the spark flared itself as much as it could and returned It began to pick up the pieces of Randidly Ghosthound marching forward through time Despite the difficulty despite the increasing drain on its resources it did not slow It could not afford to be late returning to its body

The spark progressed without ceasing for quite some time until Randidly Ghosthound ascended to the Nexus for real and began training within the shaft With the time accelerating suddenly the accumulation of exhaustion began to spike upward

By the time the spark reached the moment in the shaft where he was ambushed by Velio Dunn forced downward before he was prepared and forced to utilize the Visage of Obsession to condense his Nether Core each moment was agonizing

The weight borne by Randidly Ghosthound increased exponentially as significance became involved

Chapter 2131

Faelmac Westrisser remained at his window alone in his high tower watching the first signs of a calamity crawling over the horizon With his powerful senses he pierced out through MalloonÆs defensive barrier without any problems He scanned the horizon like a hawk waiting for a definitive sign he could use to tailor his cityÆs defenses

His lip curled up in frustration and annoyance he was aware of the impending arrival of Nether King Bleak Sky yet he could not sense when the unleashed monster of Wyndaos would show his face

His brows crept together digging furrows across his brow Yet what else could it mean that the clouds suddenly had become ugly faces constantly weeping as they drift closer The Nether people especially the ancient bastards arenÆt known for their subtlety

In two more days the clouds would be overhead pressing up against MalloonÆs barrier So for now he simply watched and waited

Master Westrisser A servant knocked at the door There is a visitor for you

Send them away Westrisser responded imperiously Not that he truly was consumed with this watching MalloonÆs defenses would only be a few moments later than his own instincts if the attack should come suddenly

No the true reason that Westrisser rejected any interruption right now was the tingling thrill of fear he felt looking at those clouds Even from this distance he could not discern how the approaching Nether King manipulated the energies to form those clouds He wasnÆt sure if the shape was meaningful a way for a newly liberated criminal to let off some steam or simply a show of dominance

That unknowing became pressure Westrisser flared his feathers The best way to keep his edge sharp was to sit in these pressurized situations for as long as possible This was a rare chance to train

There was a long pause before the servant spoke up again From the slight hitch in his voice he was aware of how Westrisser appreciated those who second guessed his orders I it is your daughter sir

Send her in Along with a tray of Deepice Tea A smile of victory spread across WestrisserÆs face despite the lost opportunity to train there would be time later He quickly suppressed his expression when his daughter stormed out of Malloon almost five years ago he had known she would eventually come back In the end the allure of power could sway even the most righteous individuals

And there were many lessons Faelmac Westrisser could teach his daughter She used only a fraction of the power of their sacred Winged Serpent bloodline Perhaps her adventures with that fool Elhume had finally shown her the limits of her current path and convinced her she needed more power of her own

Some of his joy faded as he moved away from the window and took a seat in one of the imposing teal dyed leather chairs by the hearth Perhaps more likely his daughter had decided to try and beg for mercy on behalf of Elhume To make some deal with him in exchange for clemency at the upcoming trial

Westrisser sniffed somewhere between annoyance and disappointment Either way you cannot deny your blood girl One day you will realize that we were meant to rule But I must take advantage of these opportunities to remind you of what you sacrifice leaving home

A few minutes later after Westrisser had time to prime his image to come off as effortlessly imposing and scrounged up a meaningless scroll filled with doodles he could pretend to be carefully pouring over a servant led his daughter into the room However all of his carefully cultivated preparations fell away when a second figure followed her into the room

Wooww so this is the study of the imposing Faelmac Westrisser Truly you have excellent taste The young woman with metallic hair blinked her eyes and looked around with obvious relish Trying to keep a leash on his temper Westrisser lowered his scroll Mae Myrna grinned at him and offered him a small wave Honestly I have a lot of respect for you Mister Westrisser You certainly know how to cultivate a certain aura by the way what were you reading Your eyes were really intense

Young Miss Swacc What a surprise to have you turn up at my home You know I donÆt even allow your father such a privilege Westrisser folded his hands in his lap His eyes flicked left to his daughter who wasnÆt looking at him then back to the agent of chaos standing in front of him with such bright eyes Is it safe to assume that you are the reason my daughter chose to return to visit me

Indeed MaeÆs smile impossibly widened further We had a long talk about it

Westrisser pressed his lips together When they were children he had almost found this girlÆs antics cute when she had come home with his daughter Despite the vast difference in their status the girl had rambunctiously bounced around their home without an ounce of respect Westrisser had allowed it hoping some of her fervor would rub off on his daughter At the very least Mae had clearly stated what she wanted and reached out to take it And also her fondness for his daughter was genuine

MaeÆs wild attitude eventually had rubbed off but in a dramatic denouncement that still filled him with ire It would be quite therapeutic to pop the girl like the ingrown feather she was

I Devick choked off her words He seemed much younger like this without his intense eyes constantly announcing his power He looked positively mundane not like a Nether Being at all Well his musculature and size were imposing but it was oddly reassuring to see him existing without blazing like a star of negative energy Perhaps strangest of all he released enough warmth that he could be safely considered a campfire

She raised her hands to use that heat to evaporate the sweat on her hands then panicked and lowered them She took a few steps closer Still he didnÆt stir

After biting her lip for a few seconds Devick took a tentative sniff The scent of his body flooded through her veins reassuring and solid Yet more than that when she breathed in the air around him the strange ache in her chest faded Despite herself DevickÆs own thoughts made her blush

ItÆs not an emotional ache itÆs just the limitation of pushing the physical limits without the use of a Class In the end your body only has so much energy to distribute between the various improvements Yet somehow just breathing near Nether King Hungry Eye helps ease that ache Her expression flickered between a dozen expressions A few more tentative breaths relieved that tension even further After a minute of her hunched in front of him she felt more refreshed and energized than she had felt in months Is this what it means when people describe love But weÆve known each other for such a short time

Just as Devick leaned forward and took another deep breath of the Nether KingÆs aura his eyes snapped open Two burning emerald eyes fixated on her only a short distance away from him The heat radiating off of his body intensified

Hi The word came out like the squeak of a caught mouse Devick tried to smile I I just came to tell you

The Nether King blurred into motion Despite how hard she had been pushing herself in the past few years his speed belonged to another realm entirely By the time the world ceased whirling around her she was laying back the Nether KingÆs long arm wrapped around her waist and running up her spine to support her head She looked up at him her breath beginning to come very quickly

HeÆs about to kiss me

Of this she had no doubt It seemed to have been ordained by a higher power with their faces so close and with their eyes locked With no time to respond she trusted her instincts Devick closed her eyes and pursed her lips

Nothing happened Her lips felt very dry and exposed

All she heard was a strange whirring and scraping noise while the Nether King continued to hold her like that She opened her left eye trying to figure out what was taking so long Simultaneously some other part of her began to flush with embarrassment She almost didnÆt want such a painfully drawn out first kiss Almost

But the Nether King wasnÆt looking at her at all but at a whirling drill that he had caught in his right hand almost exactly where her head had been previously

Steam wafted up from his hand from the friction of its rapid rotation Gradually the whirring ceased and the drill dissipated Devick blinked that drill had simply been a tightly wound air current Yet it possessed such penetrative power Wind whistled through the circular hole in the wall

Rather unceremoniously completely ruining the romantic undertones of the scene the Nether King dropped Devick on the ground He glanced back over her shoulder his eyes still burning His voice was raw as though he hadnÆt spoken in a long time Stay

He flicked his wrist at the penetrated wall and blasted it open Shards of demolished wood drifted in every direction as he stalked out through the opening and out onto the far Above several clouds that resemble gloomy weeping faces looked down at them

IÆm not a dog Devick muttered but quietly enough that he might not have heard with the rising wind in front of them And when she followed him out she did it sneakily creeping up to the edge and peering out to the fields Immediately her eyes were drawn to a hunched figure wearing a ragged cloak that stood on top of a nearby hill

The new arrival had the head of a hawk and grey eyes with vertical pupils You how strange You clearly possess a Nether Core yet why is an Aether image currently mobilizing your body while your mind is in a deep sleep

Nether King Hungry Eye didnÆt answer just lowered himself onto the knuckles of his hands as he glared up at the antagonist

A black tongue flicked out of the strangerÆs beak I do hate when Aether heretics touch things that arenÆt theirs Allow me to rip these pesky poisons out of your body

Chapter 2132

The spark felt it when the Grey Creature somehow cut an exit from this place It paused in its toil and spread out its awareness aware of the impending ascension So it saw the final strike that could rip out through even exhaustion and carve a path of survival

The Grey Creature had turned almost blurry except for its hand It concentrated all of its power into that appendage searing the sparkÆs awareness with the concentrated emotional affect All of its life it poured into this one strike betting everything on an impossible effort after failing for hours

Somehow the spark knew that even if this particular attack had failed it would have forced its body into motion gathering the pieces back up for another attack in the near future While the spark observed the Grey Creature sliced The world groaned and split before its concentrated power

Congratulations Your Skill Chimeric Impunity has grown to Level 931

Congratulations Your Skill The Wrathful Calamity Rends has grown to Level 901

For a brief moment a hallway sized passage in front of the image was entirely cleared of even the slightest hint of grey The Grey Creature growled in triumph had enough time to pivot and wink in the sparkÆs direction then leap out of this unending torment Leaving the spark somewhat sourly considering its own job

Congratulations Your Skill Twin Lingering Shadows of Misfortune has grown to Level 1000

The spark pivoted in surprise the two ghosts continued to float around swelling and chewing on the grey expanse when they got bored The spark grimaced I cannot believe those two are the third Skill to get to Level one thousand Also doesnÆt this mean IÆve caught up to Don Beigon in terms of Skill Levels

Shaking itself the spark returned to its work

Devick crept a little more out of the shattered wall of the farmhouse and noticed a storage bin nearby She crept sideways and went into the opening on the side and planned to peek over the lip and observe the faceoff However she was somewhat taken aback to discover that the interior was already occupied The three Arakis Beasts that followed Randidly around like puppies turned and looked at her for a split second their bulky bodies compressed to the limit to keep themselves from being too conspicuous inside of the container The beast with multiple limbs was particularly cramped practically sitting on its own hands not to poke out over the edge

IÆm not a dog Devick muttered to herself again tiptoeing over and joining them in their observation A powerful wind whipped her hair around her head until she tucked the offending strands behind her ears

Nether King Hungry EyeÆs voice continued to be rough and vicious like he chewed on gravel while speaking You are

They call me now by the cloak I drag behind me the Bleak Sky And you Opposite him the Nether King Bleak Sky raised his head letting more of the ragged cloak around him to fall off Although he appeared at first to have the beak of a hawk his bald head revealed him as a buzzard His heavy adamÆs apple bobbed up and down

Ran didly Ghost hound Nether King Hungry Eye forced out a weird phrase that made Devick blink Is he making fun of the other Nether KingÆs weird name with this nonsense phrase

Nether King Hungry Eye paused in his motions to look up and growl softly But that was the only response he had Then he threw himself at the other Nether King engaging in a tight and rumbling melee that demolished the carrot patch as they fought each other

Hungry Eye used his unnaturally long limbs to whip vicious elbows at Bleak SkyÆs forehead then spin away before the slightly more sluggish vulture could catch up with him Still the foreign Nether KingÆs defense were solid He deflected and endured each strike without any visible damage despite the fact that each attack release an impact enough to make the already breathy Devick positively lightheaded

When the rain of air spikes started covering the battlefield Hungry Eye was forced to jitter back and forth to avoid the worst of it Steadily his heavy blows became more infrequent The vulture had more opportunities to conjure javelins of compressed air and whipped them forward Hungry Eye could still dodge these allowing the projectile to howl past and demolish an unfortunate hill behind him but it meant a few bits of the offensive rain crashed against his body Which slowed him down just enough for Bleak Sky to make up a step

And the nearer the two came to each other the worst the Nether density in the air become At this point Devick really couldnÆt breathe even across the demolished field from them while the farmhouse trembled and swayed while being buffeted by the storm of their conflict She would have gulped had she been able to If the pressure is this high over here I can only imagine what it is between them

Next to her another one of the Arakis Beasts collapsed The weeping clouds drifted closer causing the rain of air spikes to become even denser By this point Hungry Eye had to spend small fractions of time lashing out with his long arms blasting away the nuisances so he could focus on his opponent

With a shriek of triumph Nether King Bleak sky pounced forward and grabbed Hungry Eye on both of his biceps Spectral flames surged up in a circle forming around the duo His thin black tongue flicked outward Got you

An appendage that had thus far been relatively invisible now peaked up above Hungry EyeÆs back It was his tail empowered and armored with image physicalization However what made DevickÆs eyes widen was the fact the tail wasnÆt alone that talking spear had woven itself through the armored tail

A deadly looking spearhead now sat at the end of the tail resembling a scorpionÆs stinger Without much suspense it stepped forward and gored its way into Nether King Bleak SkyÆs body

Devick felt a flash of hope in her body that this would the beginning of Nether King Hungry EyeÆs comeback The strike would contain the power of his Nether Core and infect the opponent His follow up would force an opening and then he would knock back the opponent

None of those things happened Even through the circles of darkness taking bites out of his face it was obvious Nether King Hungry EyeÆs expression became increasingly grave

Bleak SkyÆs grey eyes flashed Its beak opened Enough playing around Your ability to manipulate Nether is nifty but you are young LetÆs end this Bow before my Authority Woeful Tempest

Before Devick could even see the result she noticed the front of the container in front of her became oddly crimson As she looked down her legs folded up underneath her She recognized the color as her own blood from her ruptured sinuses just as she collapsed into unconsciousness

Even from this distance that ability

The Nether pressure picked apart her thoughts until they were just impressions Yet as her eyelids fluttered the sight in front of her triggered her stubbornness Because right in front of her lay a similarly collapsed Arakis Beast

IÆm not Devick spat out a mouthful of blood Some pet To order around

She didnÆt attempt to get up But she did wait for the Arakais Beast to visibly go unconscious before she relaxed and allowed herself to do the same

Chapter 2133

The Grey Creature flexed its muscles and ripped its arms out of Bleak SkyÆs grip but the small delay was enough The clouds sunk out of the sky casting long shadows across the broken remnants of the farm Thick rivers of significance blasted in every direction compacting the heavy storm into an even more dangerous form Wind and vicious spikes made rain swirl around in a massive whirlpool that threatened to flay his skin from his body

That was even before the buzzardÆs true Authority started to manifest in the surrounding space

The mouths of the cloud heads began to open revealing lumpy teeth The tears seeping out of the corners of their eyes trickled off and instead gushing waterfalls of water vapor began to pour out of their mouths Each of these acted as a spring of Nether completely suppressing the Aether in the surrounding environment The air became almost milky oversaturated with power All the while the rain of cutting wind blades intensified

The amount of pure Nether trying to restrict the Grey Creature made it sneer in derision Its inherent nature activated to weaken the effect

Congratulations Your Skill Chimeric Impunity has grown to Level 932

Congratulations Your Skill Chimeric Impunity has grown to Level 950

Despite its ability to resist the pull of Nether the Grey Creature narrowed its eyes as it looked up at the sky It grasped at Nether currents and tried to weave them in a pattern of resistance against the descending storm but the ancient Nether King Bleak Sky ran roughshod over his every attempt If the main body was here he might utilize Nether better But if it is me its power is too great

The Grey CreatureÆs attention fixated on the other images Assist me

The Stillborn Phoenix happily expanded its image physicalizations devouring almost the entirety of the bodyÆs head in its enthusiasm Behind his back Yggdrasil wove together even larger and more domineering wings that spread out and beat vigorously to smash back the rain of attacks Flames of Nether Weight sprung up across his body strengthening and grounding him

All three of his images existed in balance Their power supported each other giving the Grey Creature more options

Yet the Grey Creature looked up at the storm forming rushing around with stronger currents every second and knew the balanced efficiency of the three images wouldnÆt be enough against this foe Above the heads were merging into each other until a monstrous amalgamation with three mouths spewed out woeful energy and powerful jets of Nether The environment darkened and sputtered the memory straining under the weight of someone elseÆs manifested power

The main body still is the coordinator Some of our specialized abilities are impossible to utilize without his direction His pupils dilated His heart began to pound shoving away the pressure of this Nether storm against his body He couldnÆt interfere directly but his Nether Core was powerful enough to keep him free from its influence But this this level of threat

The Grey CreatureÆs smile split the face warping the black hole that had covered his mouth Hopefully he will wake up in time Otherwise IÆll just monopolize all of the fun for myself

The spark continued to push itself pulling more and more of the bodyÆs burdens onto itself The Stillborn PhoenixÆs little chicks lazily ate All the while the threat against his body grew more and more acute

The spark gritted its essence and began to push more quickly through the past memories It knew the exhaustion it held spiraled out of control but it sensed it couldnÆt waste any more time At this new sprinting pace it managed to force its way through until Randidly had started to face the negative emotional cores

Each of those was another crushing weight of exhaustion concentrated negative emotion from the Alpha Cosmos cycling through his body The spark keenly felt the way it could grant him power but by making each decision and thought overwhelmingly burdened Randidly Ghosthound was a train shrieking along its tracks given more and more weight hoping that momentum would continue to carry him forward

For the moment that was true But the spark could see why the grey doppelganger wanted to prevent him from realizing this At the same time it could also see the very primitive equivalent of Phaea forming between himself and the Alpha Cosmos He had already begun to benefit from those connections granting him the power to fight way above his level If he could make it out and make those bonds official

Of course the burden would be equivalently brutal The spark grimaced It forced itself forward despite its waning consciousness At first the spark thought it had overspent itself forcing its way through its focus and gripping him with its chill Yet then the spark realized what was really happening

His body was beginning to die Without a body the spark would naturally begin to fade to nothing

The realization slapped him in the face stunning the spark into slowing its journey It didnÆt make sense considering how powerful both his body and images were how could he feel the approach of death A true fear he hadnÆt felt in quite a long time crept through his body He wasnÆt the most powerful individual in the Nexus There still existed beings that posed legitimate threats to him

The spark could only buckle down and push forward

Yet he felt the weakness spread through him as time passed The spark was torn between fear and fury What the hell had the Grey Creature done since it had escaped this place Challenge Westrisser himself to a duel

The spark forced those thoughts away the chill spread through it dulling its senses Pain was beginning to pierce through the veil of this place and infect it It couldnÆt dwell on this The current moment was so close So the spark brutally forced itself to pick up all the exhaustion of the last few weeks during its time in the memory

As the spark neared the end of its journey it could sense the emotional core forming in front of him It regarded him cautiously its eyes torn between frustration and a strained joy You now walk before me with the consequences of your actions draped across your body I hope you have confidence in yourself

I do The spark replied It took several steps forward His skin crawled for a moment he was proceeding through himself proceeding through the process of picking up all the burdens a recursive activity that always began shorter and always ended with himself endlessly going through the process deeper and deeper the pressure and exhaustion around his body building each time

After what felt like an eternity the spark completed his last step The spark blinked unable to understand how it had broken through the fully contained cycles His arms felt like lead The echoes of his images remaining within the spark felt completely suppressed by the pressure binding it Although it was hard for the spark to tell whether the pressure resulted from the increasingly dangerous threat on his life and what came from the memories

Good luck The emotional core sneered Now that youÆve chosen this youÆll need to bear the weight for the rest of your life

Actually The sparkÆs shoulder slumped He was tired So tired he couldnÆt even move without trembling He felt like a single mistake would send the Grey Creature veering slightly off the edge resulting in his death Yet perhaps because of that he felt oddly sharpened and clear He raised his head with a great effort of will grinning at the emotion I donÆt think I will Hey you two Unborn how much can you fit in your stomachs

Chapter 2134

The sparkÆs question hung in the air for almost twenty seconds before the targets twisted and flopped around in confusion The two Unborn Spirits almost seemed shocked to be addressed They looked at each other then back at the spark Because of the attention they drifted closer even if they gave no outward response

The spark didnÆt move Honestly he couldnÆt Every muscle screamed in protest Truly the effort of acknowledging all his hidden exhaustion left him almost completely inert

An ugly fury crossed the face of the emotional core I donÆt like the implications of that sentence The whole point of this exercise is to stop the self denial that runs rampant through our psyche You are deeply exhausted by the pace youÆve kept up for years You cannot continue like this And I refuse to allow you to live in a delusion

Slate spider legs stretched from the emotional coreÆs back transforming it into a strange arachnid beast Yet the sparkÆs attention couldnÆt even note this transformation as a problem The very real threat on his life continued to such away light and color from its awareness The Nether Core in his chest began to spin rapidly Everything ached

The situation wasnÆt ideal

As the Unborn Spirits neared the rapid rotations of the core became resonance A strange energy flooded through his limbs Yet it wasnÆt nearly enough to sweep away the lethargy that resulted from directly facing all his exhaustion The Spark remained torn standing with the desire to move forward but without quite the drive to take that first step The rotations continued to accelerate

Listen to me The emotional core growled If you do this

I believe we started this process with you telling me that usually its those with the least understanding of their position that were the happiest It is better to think you live a good life than to actually possess an objectively great life Well congratulations If nothing else this nonsense has convinced me you had a point The spark looked down at his body This well if knowing leads me to this IÆm better off not knowing

YouÆve already made your choice The sparkÆs Nether Core began to spin so wildly it seemed just a pinch away from tearing its way through centripetal force However the sparkÆs sudden change of heart seemed to incense the emotional core further It took a step forward its grey legs clicking ominously This exhaustion is your penance for all the foolish decisions youÆve made ItÆs too late

ItÆs not The spark tried to smile but his expression was pained Even his cheeks were weighed down by his exhaustion Meanwhile his Nether Core really felt like it was tearing itself out of his chest both from the threat against his life and the growing certainty about what occurred within the Core Maybe if you were an outside objective force IÆd take your warning about ignoring my exhaustion more seriously but you are just me My fears And yes you might be right But you might also be wrong And IÆm going to bet on you being wrong because I donÆt think I can survive if you are right

A powerful ripple spread out from the negative emotional core More and more slate legs ripped their way out of its back and bristled aggressively swinging back and forth The pressure from the grey expanse tightened on the spark Combined with all the exhaustion it had picked up through the process it really couldnÆt move even a pinky

Meanwhile the two Unborn now towered over them huge and silent They observed the interaction waiting for the winner of the confrontation

The emotional core raised a hand and squeezed The pressure on the spark grew more overwhelming His ribs popped ItÆs too late You cannot back out now You are the main body Start to take some responsibility This cannot be avoided

You are wrong the spark thought His Nether Core released a keening scream pushed to its limits His chest began to feel like it was being torn apart from the inside He struggled for a few seconds against the restriction but he managed to open his mouth The resonance shook the fabric of the surrounding space He followed his instinct and the words flowed out of his mouth The Third Authority Intangible Burial

Even the spark felt surprise

In his chest something stirred from within the Egg of Depression That impossible creatureÆs gaze sharpened even as power exploded out of his Nether Core Besides the spark the two Unborn grinned with massive misshapen teeth

To see their companion finally unleashed brought them vicious joy

An impossibility manifested All the energy all the emotion all the momentum in the surrounding space

The Stillborn Phoenix bit it all away It swallowed the exhaustion whole The shrieking whooshing momentum left the spark blinded and deaf Then it had withdrawn leaving a rift in the world

From there IÆll find other ways to struggle Randidly narrowed his eyes More and more Nether spun around his body first whispers and then more respectable streams empowering him and reinvigorating his physical body His heartbeat began to pump with more vigor as the wounds across his skin closed up

Congratulations Your Skill Marred Yet Reliable Foundation of Yggdrasil has grown to Level 901

Congratulations Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep has grown to Level 1000

Mille number four Eat your heart out Nexus

You have potential

The buzzard lowered its arms The intense pressure it had been releasing began to ebb After a small hesitation Randidly allowed his own preparations to lapse Bleak Sky spoke again and almost seemed contrite Ahem That sort of Authority is an asset to Nether Forces Please forgive my earlier aggression You well those images you house within your body I had assumed you were the result of some experimentation The rumors I have heard about this city Malloon

Congratulations Your Skill the Grey Creature Glimpses Providence has grown to Level 930

The lines around Bleak SkyÆs eyes tightened For a split second RandidlyÆs instincts screamed at him to get as far away from this individual as possible His Nether Core still had enough wisps of energy to sense the presence of Phaea in this Nether King The connections had grown faded over uncountable years but as his temper rose it became possible to see the way Phaea weighed him down If Bleak Sky wasnÆt bound by those Phaea

RandidlyÆs left hand or rather SulfurÆs hand twinged in recognition of that weight Sulfur hummed in confusion but enjoyed the pressure

But just as quickly that power vanished Bleak SkyÆs expression became inscrutable This was diverting I have not fought in a like this in two hundred and eighty two years For the small spark of joy youÆve allowed letÆs end things here But hear me Randid if you are associated with Malloon or its masters

Bleak Sky shook his wings Above the clouds began to reform into horrifying faces I will not show you mercy again Your power is not enough to live so flippantly This is not the age of mercy

With that the Nether King turned away heading away into the low hills surrounding Malloon After a few minutes his heavy aura dissipated apparently Bleak Sky had chosen to hide his presence

Randidly sagged to the ground with an explosive sigh Fragmented bits of the Grey CreatureÆs fight against Bleak Sky came back to him but with huge chunks that still remained chunky blurs It took about twenty minutes of inspecting the memories to figure out what had caused the gaps the Grey Creature had utilized the trick it had created to escape the grey against Bleak Sky Several times in fact pushing RandidlyÆs mind to its limits

It had compressed all of the emotions it utilized resonating until emotion and movement had blurred into one unstoppable force It had reached the sort of intensity of a true warrior of the Nexus with its image And it had turned that weapon on Bleak Sky

And had its blade broken by raw power Over and over again Which at least explained the origin of the horrifying headache that now plagued him

After a few seconds of panting and recovering Randidly groaned and pushed himself to his feet He couldnÆt just wait here until he finished recovering He should return to JotemÆs farm

Randidly paused The corners of his mouth turned downward He reached out and prodded the Grey Creature You did you fight this random ancient powerhouse Directly on top of my farm

Standing on the smoking ruins of the farm the Grey Creature twinged in guilt

Chapter 2135

Why are you looking at me like that Mae Myrna gave Westrisser a frank look The two sat in a rather mundane room considering this must be one of the deepest chambers within the Westrisser compound The walls were bare stone with only a small candle to provide lumination A few beaten pillows provided only the barest hint of comfort beneath their folded legs

Mae kept scanning the area looking for something she missed during her first examination but there truly was nothing of note She couldnÆt decide if that made her feel better or worse about this private meeting with Westrisser Between them was an unassuming wooden table Judging from the dust around its legs it had remained here for a long time Yet the point of contention was the strange vulnerable look Westrisser gave Mae from across the table

He cleared his throat his face settling back into a much more palatable look of apathy I am not a man who shys away from his works If your image will be refined by me I will claim responsibility no matter if your mind breaks under the strain or if you actually manage to make something of yourself

From that ordering I can tell which you believe is most likely Mae muttered She pressed her hands against the ground enjoying the coolness of the stone

Westrisser ignored her Instead he gestured around at the bare room This is a recreation of the room I lived in before I escaped my home and found my own Path The leader of our clan when I was born placed all feathered serpents youths into such rooms Only when you had confidence in your own powers were you allowed to step out And if the overseers didnÆt agree with your confidence well From within my room I had heard many claim greatness and then be ruthlessly cut to pieces for their inadequacies

Wait what

Again Westrisser didnÆt acknowledge her His voice took on an unusual cadence almost as though he was repeating a mantra he had spoken to himself thousands of times The room serves as a reminder without power we are nothing We return to this room We are trapped All options are stripped from the weak leaving them with nothing To avoid this we train tirelessly We push our limits We grow

How could you know whether your power had increased enough to receive the overseersÆ approval Mae felt strangely fascinated by the offhand admission For the first time in her life she felt a glimmer of curiosity about the glum father of her childhood friend Were any guidelines given

Westrisser serenely continued with his own thoughts Yet somehow the shadows in the room seemed to deepen the more he explained I have some passing familiarity with your image I have not seen you manifest it in a few years but based on the aura I sense from you the foundation is stable if a bit unexciting If you are to be changed by me into an individual worthy of respect

Hey now This finally wiped the smile off of MaeÆs face

then we must begin by strengthening the bonds of casualty in your world projection Westrisser leaned forward His eyes flashed with something not too dissimilar from excitement IÆll speak frankly some of my own personal experiments have led me to a very fruitful area What you need to do is learn to incorporate some Nether principles in your image construction The presence of the actual energy wonÆt be necessary Simply resembling the shape will add an adhesive quality That way the very presence of your image will beget itself The energy you spend maintaining the image will be cut in half

Experiments

With most of his immediate worries assuaged Randidly took time to simply breathe Once his mental energy recovered to a usable point he focused inward on his emotional sea The fourth core of emotion hadnÆt exactly been incorporated directly into his emotional sea having instead been consumed by the Authority based on the Stillborn Phoenix But at the same time it also no longer weighed heavily against his consciousness

Randidly took a long breath in through his nose then exhaled through his mouth He felt the subtle pressure building from the Alpha Cosmos at an all time low since he first discovered it was leaking into his subconscious

He had made his choice and had finally caught up to the present His emotions were under his exclusive control There may be another bill coming due in the future but his current self had more pressing concerns

RandidlyÆs eyes flashed open I need to train using the emotional affect and see if I can incorporate it into the other images But first I need to get things started here Bleak SkyÆs presence proves the situation will develop soon he strikes me as someone without much patience

Randidly stood and stretched intending to head to his skyislands and get them off the ground Right on cue Devick sat up and unleashed a loud burp

Morning sunshine Randidly said casually He walked over next to her and crouched down next to her As her eyes focused on him still clearly very confused Randidly rather unsympathetically rapped a knuckle against her forehead What you did was very very dumb You donÆt have a Class you canÆt Level and your Health is a pittance If the Arakis Beasts hadnÆt been piled on top of you and soaked up some of the energy radiation you would just be a corpse Can you imagine how obnoxious Jawem would have been if you had actually died

He would have tried to attack you Devick smiled at the thought then winced Even though her hair was thickly crusted with blood it was easy to overlook it if you didnÆt focus on it The color of her hair was such a vibrant crimson I IÆm sorry I didnÆt mean to get involved But considering your capabilities I couldnÆt resist the chance to watch you fight

Randidly pressed his lips together Have a bit of self awareness Compared to fighters like this you are a gnat No matter how much youÆve studied Engraving that wonÆt help you survive at all

Would you be sad if I died Devick glanced sideways at Randidly

He gave her an unamused look After a few uncomfortable seconds Devick grimaced Jeez it was just a question But anyway did you manage to drive the storm guy away

Randidly snorted Only when he saw DevickÆs even more confused expression did it occur to him that she probably had passed out before the worst of the fighting and wouldnÆt have been able to interpret the movements with her low Perception anyway He cleared his throat and shook his head in the end we had no real quarrel But I suspect it had more to do with the watching eyes of Faelmac Westrisser than me That Nether King Bleak Sky didnÆt want to reveal all of his capabilities

somebody means to attack Malloon DevickÆs eyes widened Then she clicked her tongue How audacious

Anyway letÆs get a move on Randidly offered her a hand ThereÆs a lot to do

Chapter 2136

The taking off of his two skyislands was a circus Huge crowds of people had steadily gathered around the resting site of these commercial hubs excited to be allowed into them Children sat on their parents’ shoulders in long columns pointing up at the buildings and speaking excitedly at the movement within the buildings

To his immense relief there wasnÆt much busy work required of him before they would be functional While Randidly had been slightly indisposed handling his emotional core the Patron of the Deep and Jotem had been working hard to prepare

The merchant used his old connections to find many of the fellow businesses that had been steadily pushed out of Malloon by Swacc and his business consortium He invited these merchants into the skyislands where they would be able to sell their wares with no oversight from Swacc He even provided a few samples of ceramics ornate robes and specialty foods made by these individuals Honestly the variety and quality of the products that had been excluded from the city was staggering He bit into a scone with relish his eyes glowing with wicked glee As far as Randidly could tell Swacc refused to deal with any people who had even an ounce of self respect

To RandidlyÆs immense relief the innkeeper that had stood up to them previously agreed to come work in all of the inns he had constructed on the island And when the anthropomorphic lizard noticed the size of the housing facilities on the islands he had immediately contacted his family to bring backup

A slew of lizardpeople showed up in the next seven hours some of them fully grown but at least a score being hip height geckos that often walked on four stick thin limbs The innkeeper shrugged at RandidlyÆs stare The children must learn a trade as well For now their small bodies make them excellent cleaners and washers

Shaking his head he left the lizardpeople to their frantic preparations and hopped down on the far side of the first skyisland He had his own role to fulfill Randidly closed his eyes and pressed his palm against the stone side His Mana slipped in through the immaculately carved patterns gradually spreading across the massive facilities and activating the sigils

Keeping his face impassive Randidly expanded the Engravings massively from what he had demonstrated to MalloonÆs engineer They crept up through the ground and spread throughout the buildings guided by his Mana Not that he wanted to plan some secret trap for Malloon but he had quickly realized that FreewallÆs slow ability to interpret Engravings meant that certain aspects of the skyisland would need to be rather covertly added later In this case the framework to provide lighting and air conditioning to the rooms

Modern amenities will probably be the hidden hook that keep individuals coming back RandidlyÆs lip curled up as he guided his Mana into particular patterns Individualized temperature controls appeared on the walls of every guest room He could have accomplished the task much more quickly but he didnÆt want to alarm the slew of child geckos now populating his island with a sudden surge of Mana

Still in terms of time it only took fifteen minutes to finalize the process After patting the skyisland on the side it rumbled and began to rise No reason to waste time people could be staring up at the island and wishing they were on it He heard the shouts of alarm and awe from the crowd as the heavy island began to gain altitude With a few quick steps Randidly vanished from that side of Malloon and returned to the farm

Besides he didnÆt want to hear Jotem complain anymore about how much money the Patron of the Deep was spending to renovate the skyislands

He found Armel already beginning to shore up the holes in the house A Bogart with a limp helped him the foolish young demon sparing Randidly fear filled glances whenever he thought his instructorÆ wasnÆt looking At least this gave Randidly a sense of grim satisfaction Hopefully being crushed by the reverberations of that fight will help screw your head on tight But I am glad you survived

However thinking about his own result against Bleak Sky made RandidlyÆs expression crumple he still needed to narrow that gap a little more With events beginning to accelerate in the memory world he needed to improve himself as quickly as possible

Randidly knew the best way to improve as well

He retired back to his room a blanket draped across the ripped wall to at least give the semblance of peace to his resting place He quickly filtered out the noise of ArmelÆs construction and focused his attention inward His emotional sea seethed at the brush of his attention rising with furious waves of fury that crashed against his self control

He allowed the emotional force to run its course before he reached into its depths Although he had mastered all these negative emotions what that truly meant is that he had unified their power within his own will But it stretched even his Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae to its limits It was a source of energy with much untapped potential

Congratulations Your Skill Intense Emotional Effort has grown to Level 155

Randidly proceeded with utilizing the emotional caps in the same manner all the while shaking his head inwardly Only received a Rare tier Skill despite all that No no we canÆt add such a shabby Skill into my Moirae of Ripples Skillset Better keep squeezing it

Once he had exhausted the preprepared emotional threads he reached back out toward his emotional sea This time he didnÆt satisfy with just stealing away single threads he harvested entire currents of emotional force While he did so Randidly did take some care to make sure similar character emotions composed each He wanted to power evolve his Skill but he needed some easy fodder to do so

The current contained more emotional notes but they still came through clearly as he adjusted his emotional state to match them

These surging veins of emotional potency were an entirely different sort of medium As he carefully sculpted them to form a gleaming gauntlet of power around his right hand he felt his Skill beginning to hum with the strain Skill Levels ups continued to rapidly accumulate Flexing his empowered hand he waved it through the air

The storm grumbled and collapsed clouds blown away by the casual gesture A wave of water slapped against some of the nearby hills the moisture pounded into precipitation as everything else dissipated With the empowerment of his emotions natural forces could only flee before him

Randidly tried not to think about his growing fears that his very presence is poison to the area around him and how this development while useful in fights meant that his emotions could literally alter the world

He seized another emotional current to distract himself took some time to sense out all the disparate emotional notes within the current then created a resonance to its core At his bidding the emotional power surged and covered the edge of his hand

The air fizzled slightly Randidly grinned as he raised his hand He cut and the world shuddered

Congratulations Your Skill Intense Emotional Effort has grown to Level 303

Recalculating determining influences

Congratulations Your Skill Intense Emotional Effort has evolved into Casting Blades from Insatiable Grievances Skill Level will be maintained

Casting Blades from Insatiable Grievances User has tapped into the dark subconscious of an entire world However rather than using himself within those dark desires user has been able to covert and purify those desires into power An immense well of emotional intensity has been created within the user that can be used to empower other Skills Familiarity with empowerment increases with Skill Level Wellspring of emotional force vastly increases with Skill Level

Now thatÆs more like it Randidly smiled Now letÆs push the Skill Level up a bit and finally check out those reward Paths I received from the Milles

Chapter 2137

The Path Screen remained as familiar to Randidly as it had in the beginning With a few touches it spread before him laying out the possibilities He had managed to earn a little over five thousand PP Which was just enough to complete the first reward Path waiting for him but not the second

He briefly scanned through the other Paths he had available to him but ultimately dismissed them Nothing IÆve seen so far is as reliable as the Mille reward

Congratulations You have completed the Achieving a Mille II Path Your growth underneath the System defies explanation Few others have found such powerful loopholes to allow them to steadily accumulate more and more Skill Levels and travel so far down diverse Paths Despite all the progress youÆve made the Pinnacle remains far ahead Yet it can also be observed that for those just starting out in the System you seem just as unreachable as the Pinnacle itself

Your dedication to polishing up your base Skills proves you have not forgotten from whence you came without the cycle of Skill Levels PP and Paths all that youÆve accomplished would have been impossible As you continue to follow Skills to their limit not only do you see beyond the limits of the rigid system of Skills but you can also appreciate their advantages The shape gives structure which gives reliability and support

Congratulations Health Mana and Stamina +1000 All Stats +10 You have gained the Unique Skill GhosthoundÆs Proficiency

GhosthoundÆs Proficiency Your familiarity with Skills as well as with the underlying energy of Aether means that you are able to extract a slightly increased effect from activating Skills As your comprehension increases so does the extra effect you can achieve with the same Skill Warning It is very difficult to increase understanding Current Understanding +3% in all Skill Level Effects

Congratulations You are the second fastest to finish the Achieving a Mille II Path Due to your speed you have earned an extra reward All Stats +100

Randidly grinned as he looked at the notifications Not only had he received a boost his to Attributes which honestly didnÆt matter much to him but a wholistic 110 increase on all his Stats was very valuable even with his already monstrous Stats Accumulation added up In addition to that he received a Unique Skill that would slightly boost the effect of all his Skills with the hidden possibility of those bonuses increasing

Still if my current understanding of Skills is only 3% how much understanding do you need to get to something like 10% Randidly muttered to himself He considered how intuitively he understood the shape construction and resonance of Skills He could even now just look at the level of detail on a crystalized Skill within a Soulspace and estimate its rarity

If that was only worthy of 3% understanding maybe he was missing something

One interesting point was that most of the reward the +100 to all Stats had come from his speed in reaching the Second Mille Randidly pursed his lips as he reread the notification He had been the second fastest to complete the Path He looked again at his Path screen rather disappointed in the fact he only had five hundred PP remaining

If he managed to complete the next Mille Path he might be able to achieve the reward for the quickest journey to the Third Mille Which should come with a commensurately impressive reward

After chewing on his lip for a few seconds Randidly threw his hands up in the air Alright alright I know IÆve looked down on such methods in the past but I probably do need a bit of a break from the mentally intensive training regimens For now maybe its time just to farm some PP the old fashioned way

The storm had taken advantage of his inward focus to reform above his head the first drops of rain cooling his skin Nodding to himself Randidly began spreading out his awareness He couldnÆt find any living beings within the surrounding space so he freely began to spread his influence out across the area As his three images manifested in the surrounding the storms once against sputtered uncertainly suppressed by the pressure he released

His Nether Core revved spreading out energy to make the environment even more favorable to him

In a manifestation that Randidly hadnÆt utilized in quite a while he created a few dozen root avatars of himself They swelled from dormant plant matter in the ground and ripped themselves out of the cracked dirt One by one they pressed their forming hands and leveraged themselves up to stand

He allowed his emotional sea to distribute little pinches of fire into the chest of each one of the root avatars These beings rapidly formed rather well develop hands and legs getting closer in resemblance to a humanoid Weirdly it was much easier to keep them human than trying to imitate his current form but Randidly supposed that was related to familiarity

With Randidly sitting still on top of his stone platform the root avatars began to train in the slow rain Considering his goal in not straining his mental capacities he didnÆt control them directly But the pinch of aggression from his emotional sea was more than enough to get most into a grand melee He just needed to add some focus limiting them to his least used Skills for the greatest potential for growth

Heavy Blows Roundhouse Kicks and Calculated Blows shot back and forth between the green beings These attack Skills all left at around two hundred Skill Levels rapidly began to increase

Root legs whipped to smash root chests An avatar growled the location of their eyes glowing with emotional intensity as one raised imitation AcriÆs and smashed them down Another brought their spears sweeping around with such force the shafts bent into crescents

Randidly nodded to himself observing his own state After allowing the root avatars to rumble for only five minutes he had already gathered almost three hundred PP He wasnÆt sure if he could keep up this pace all the way to five thousand to unlock the next Mille reward Path but he would definitely get a good chunk by spending a few hours like this

It wouldnÆt directly improve his combat strength but it would perhaps give him access to a reward that would

He briefly glanced at Cutting Tide of Amenonuhoko sitting at 980 Randidly wavered for a second improving this Skill would actually benefit his current fighting ability The only downside is if I get the five thousand PP in one sitting but one of these other Skills becomes my fourth Mille WonÆt I just want to stay here for a while longer getting the fourth reward as well And I definitely donÆt have that much time

Randidly pushed that impulse down He couldnÆt forget the reason he was here compared to Nether King Bleak Sky and Faelmac Westrisser he was inferior Strong enough to survive a confrontation but not enough to overcome

Not that he believed he would need to fight against them and overcome either of the two considering he was here just to observe the memory But he needed to be sure he wouldnÆt be forced back and miss any truth about the second Cohort He allowed his eyes to unfocus and his mind to drift instinctually through the violence happening below

By this point he had trained his subconscious to the point it reacted almost perfectly to threats Relying on those instincts the root avatars gave themselves fully over to the emotional fires in their chest

Congratulations Your Skill Roundhouse Kick has grown to Level 300

Congratulations Your Skill Heritage of the Origin Beast has grown to Level 701

Congratulations Your Skill Smothering Inevitability has grown to Level 499

Congratulations Your Skill Casting Blades from Insatiable Grievances has grown to Level 412

Ah at least the emotional Skill will grow this way Randidly muttered to himself

Across the low hills one root avatar pounced at an unsuspecting third right as its footing was destroyed by an Earthquake activation Before the vulnerable root avatar had even recognized the new threat the aggressor had gathered energy momentum with Smothering inevitability and unleashed a crushing kick into the small of its back

Taken by surprise the victim was sent shooting out of the melee skipping off the edge of the first rock outcropping and demolishing the second A low rumble spread through the hills The avatar that had used Earthquake and the one who kicked met each otherÆs eyes for a split second A strange resonance occurred between their two emotional cores They also drew in energy from Heritage of the Origin Beast

When they turned to face forward something had clicked between them In the melee they had become allied with each other

Humming to himself Randidly created almost a hundred more root avatars and sent them to join in the fun Something strange is happening here Significance is beginning to pool and because of that the training is becoming slightly more draining Not too bad though The mental energy required is still low Might as well give it a bit more oomph to see what happens

He refocused on himself First he activated both Infinite Incendiary Filaments of the Dove Moirae and GhosthoundÆs Acute Nether Nose His awareness spread out flooding his mind with information He didnÆt even attempt to parse it apart just allowed it to flow through him His Nether Core revved marginally tightening his grip on the memory

Then he created three more root avatars keeping them in the area around him Into each of these he injected his images one Yggdrasil one the Stillborn Phoenix and one the Grey Creature They began to manifest their image empowered Skills each individually demanding more than the melee combined

These three flew to opposite sides of the battlefield and landed Each released pulses of energy animated by a burning emotional core Resonance formed between the various root avatars and they quickly split into three factions

Alright now we are really training Randidly grinned

Chapter 2138

Tell lay on the ground blood on his lips His eyelids fluttered and each breath was a gasp The crusher had taken him high in the chest missing his heart by only a few hairs His shoulder however had been mangled to a pulp He coughed his whole body curling with the reflexive action before speaking Look I know IÆm not in a place to make requests but If I donÆt make it

Devick shoved a finger into the wound and twisted her face serious Her eyes were oddly dead DonÆt fool around and get back up We have a special guest and I donÆt want you to make me look like a fool

Tell blinked in surprise then winced in pain He shot a glance at Jawem as he stood who simply shrugged at the unexpected behavior His eyes flicked sideways to the stands looking for a special guestÆ The MiracleÆs first match had ended in their overwhelming victory The other team limped off the field their spirits broken

Usually Devick led the charge on nonsense like this It was because of her dramatic actions that it became almost universal that players with injury would really play up their wound to the point that it seemed all but inevitable that they would perish A medic leisurely walked over as Tell stood In the background the Arakis Beast happily feasted on Ara Fruits after the completion of the match

Jawem raised his eyes higher and squinted at the special viewing boxes of this arena along the higher portion of the stands The crowd for their first match was small despite the throng of people who crowded the two skyislands both for the lodging and for the dining and shopping facilities First because they hadnÆt really announced that the Hobfootie match was beginning and also because people werenÆt very sure how to get on or off the skyislands hopefully they would release a schedule of landing times soon

Perhaps the Nether King came to the match which is why she is so serious Jawem wondered But he didnÆt sense any Nether in the environment He continued to look around for the dark haired green eyed specter that had haunted him for the past month However when his eyes locked on the sapphire haired young woman skipping across the bloody arena ground toward them Jawem eyes widened

The Cerulean Thone Jawem hissed TellÆs expression changed to one of shocked horror The rest of the players jerked upright their expressions similarly aghast Devick lifted her chin her expression serious and resigned

Oh my gosh The new arrival squealed her hands coming to her cheeks and her mouth forming a perfect oh as she stopped only a few meters away and regarded the group Devick it is you Positively absolutely unbelievable I had heard rumors you started dabbling with rough and tumble sports but truly well I suppose you are only the adopted child But to think a city lordÆs daughter you are just so bold I could never be so shameless as you

The girl was short and slight only standing up to DevickÆs shoulder Jawem and Tell both towered over the girl Yet no one would mistake her wicked smile and sapphire hair The players in the area hunched over doing their best to both look respectful and not meet her eyes

Hello Larson Devick said in a resigned voice She took a step forward LetÆs hug after such a long time apart

Pahah Such a joker No no need Larson waved her hands so quickly back and forth to ward off Devick Her white with cerulean embroidery robe would not survive a close encounter with DevickÆs bloody and scruffed MiracleÆs uniform Larson sniffed lightly Honestly though how could you join a team without telling me I simply delighted in watching Perhaps you heard my cheers The barbaric nature of the contest simply is so thrilling The passion simply carries one away does it not

I had assumed you would make fun of me for playing Devick deadpanned

LarsonÆs already weirdly oversized eyes widened to the point of taking up her whole face Devick you are such a joker We are the best of friends Why would I mock your proclivities Your sense of adventure is what I admire most about you Walking around without a Class staying so fragile you are the bravest woman I know And I want everyone to join in celebrating you Your next match will be much more well attended let me assure you IÆll host an event have you seen these private booths They are absolutely sublime

Larson finally appeared to notice the other players standing still without moving like a deer before a wolf She winked at them Tsk tsk no robeÆs on any of you Well since you are friends of Devick and just finished a Hobfootie match IÆll allow it But letÆs not get seditious ideas about not supporting Aether traditions shall we Haha

Even Jawem felt slightly ill at her words She framed it as a joke but coming from Larson Cerulean daughter of the lord of Cerulean City the single most politically influential figure in the Aether lands it was difficult to swallow her gallows humor After all if an individual was discovered without a robe in Cerulean they were executed With no chance to protest or explain themselves

For now better take a break Randidly muttered to himself Despite the fact that the individual activities werenÆt particularly difficult he had been engaging in hundreds of minute interactions for six hours Even guided by the impulses borrowed from the emotional sea it began to take its toll on him His shoulders sagged and his eyelids felt heavy