LoRG 5

Solomon just watched RandidlyÆs internal conflict with a knowing curl at the corner of his mouth

Randidly breathed out a breath There is too much strange about the situation LetÆs take one thing at a time

Why are you here Randidly asked Not the projection but your true body You are sleeping

Very deeply But thatÆs the price I had to pay To remain here Solomon RexÆs smile faded IÆm guarding Pine against selfish and shortsighted fools Even if our leader has forgotten the original goal of the Nexus there is a group of us that has not No matter what we cannot give up now out of fear

Randidly absorbed that answer slowly He wasnÆt sure what Solomon meant by giving up out of fear But rather than ask that question he changed his focus but kept things simple And why have you been waiting for me Or someone like me

You are quite special It didnÆt have to be you obviously Solomon scratched his beard looking surprisingly mundane despite the environment The horrible truth is that the System is all about commodifying and stealing something precious in order to repurpose it for another aim First to cut through the abyss and reach Eden and now well All the powerful individuals who have come before end up eventually empowering that man on top of this sick pyramid one way or another The reason I reached out to you what you are making of yourself would be very very difficult to copy There are too many crucial pieces And for that reason you have a chance of being singular A chance of reaching the Pinnacle based on your own power

Chapter 1891

When Solomon spoke the words left his lips and hung in the air like secondhand cigarette smoke As Randidly opened his mouth he could feel the distinct tang of knowledge and honesty hanging in the air

Since arriving in the Nexus Randidly had heard many people talking about the Pinnacle They revered it there was an entire group of people that were so obsessed with reaching it that they were named after it the Pinnacle Seekers The power divisions that he had encountered as far as he could understand them were constructed to describe how close a person was to reaching the Pinnacle

For all that when the shade of Solomon standing at the foot of the bed told Randidly he had the potential to reach that point on his own power that goal felt quite distant despite the confident expression on the projectionÆs face It was hard to even know what it would take to push his images to that potency

RandidlyÆs thoughts turned inward for several seconds But he ended up being pulled out of his thoughtful reflection by a soft laugh from Solomon Oh donÆt worry most people donÆt share my optimistic opinion on you Elhume included you are still beneath his radar even if youÆve managed to defeat Wick ThereÆs no rush to fight him to the death For now you just need to continue doing what youÆve been doing

Randidly allowed himself to nod still trying to figure out the pieces of this man with the mild smile and the grey hair The way he spoke was disarming Plus there was a strange emotional resonance about him that kept grabbing RandidlyÆs attention So why did you call me down here now ShouldnÆt that bring more attention to me

Solomon gestured dismissively at the screened engraving underneath their feet There is no need to worry about that If nothing else IÆm confident in my ability to create Engravings IÆd go so far as to say IÆm best in the Nexus Just to provide a little extra reassurance this was drawn by the main body before he fell into his slumber Elhume cannot discover us here heÆs too disgusted by the presence of Pine to dig into the poor childÆs shadow Even when he came recently to make those ugly adjustments to the energy apparatus he didnÆt notice that I slept right here under his nose

Randidly pursed his lips Who exactly are you How do you fit into the history of the Nexus

A big question Solomon said easily For the first time the standing version left the foot of the bed He walked across the blurry Engraving to a small area on the grand divide before the Nexus above and the howling abyss of morphing emotion below He crouched down quite easily and began drawing an Engraving His fingers danced like butterflies with soft and fluttering touches Mana glittered as his fingers left it behind Soon an elegant little sigil flared to life releasing a soft projection of light Everything that light touched was covered in numbers and strange readings so much that Randidly had to blink

It looked like

To my great shame Solomon offered Randidly another half smile of a child unlocking his toy chest and offering his most precious figurine A pure note of guilt rippled out from Solomon I am the one who created the framework Elhume used to enact the overlay System I donÆt think youÆll find my name in any history but IÆm the engineer that helped tie everything together into the horrible pyramid scheme the Nexus has become And I didnÆt know what was happening until it was too late

If you were worried about Elhume being able to steal and repurpose images you really fucked yourself with that one Randidly thought somewhat spitefully still aware that he had perhaps given Elhume new tools when he allowed his Fateset to be discovered by the System But SolomonÆs smile had a brittle edge it was clear he understood and regretted what happened So Randidly didnÆt press on that issue

You didnÆt answer my earlier question Randidly decided to let that information go for now He would ask Edraine and the Patrons about Solomon Rex after Why call me down here I can understand now how Pine acts as a natural amplifier to add some teeth to the message but I still think any message had the potential of drawing attention you donÆt want

Ah well it was about time for us to discuss a few different subjects I think itÆs time for you to start to understand how dangerous the Nexus can be Solomon Rex shook his head Randidly blinked if anything he was confident in his understanding of how dangerous the Nexus is

His reaction must have shown on his face because Solomon snorted Oh yes I understand youÆve had to fight and claw every moment youÆve been in the Nexus But youÆve faced the wild frontier of the Nexus so far I would recommend that as quickly as possible you get yourself a Tier III Citizenship coin Only when youÆve walked across the high walled castle built there can you understand the polite monsters that have no doubt been noticing your meteoric rise More than Elhume who nurses his own obsessions those Tier III individuals who want to maintain the status quo will be the threats Because theyÆve definitely been watching you after what happened with Claudette Beigon

RandidlyÆs eyes sharpened Perhaps it was the meek honesty that Solomon displayed or the dispassionate mention of Claudette but he wanted to pressure this man And what exactly did happen You tried to control Claudette by having your daughter betray us

Solomon continued speaking while RandidlyÆs gaze fixated on the crystal Authorities are strange things that IÆve only ever fought against You Randidly are the first citizen of the Nexus to condense the genuine article However I understand they come from the foundation of your Nether Core Considering your three images I would expect you possess three Authorities Having one develop while the others havenÆt been discovered will lead to some irregularities in Nether rotation A Penance will balance that Act as a counterweight while you grow into your full form

Where did you get it Randidly whispered looking at the teardrop shape In a way it was hard to believe this to be a Nether Penance he had hypothesized The more he stared the more his awareness sank into the details The smooth and the curved arcs the inner light the dance of soft color In addition a portion of it moved Randidly could see the light rising and falling at an even pace

Ah An old story Solomon scratched the back of his neck with his other hand In my younger days I was quite zealous in my persecution of genuine Nether beings youÆve undoubtedly heard of the Nether Wars Well one in particular had wounded a close friend At great personal cost I tracked down the offending Nether King and slew him This is his Penance His family was one of great import to the Nether people this Penance possesses great power Holding it is a heavy burden but that is exactly the point of a Penance

You deride Elhume for stealing the strength of others yet you bear the trophy from a fallen Nether King

Thank you but I think IÆll try to condense my own Penance first Randidly answered slowly

Solomon shook his head Now just hear me out I have no doubt that youÆll be able to figure out the method to condense a Penance In the end Penances are simply ways of making each moment more significant Nether beings willingly pay a constant cost to increase the weight each moment has However I think your Penance will be light Not of your own design but because while you may use any number of Penances each individual can only create one A light Penance will earn you nothing in the end Besides this is the way of Penances They are not like Fates bound to a person Among Nether people it was often encouraged to pass down your Penance to the next generation to help them improve

Lastly you can stop using a Penance at any time At the very least I recommend you experience the particular for a time so you can use that knowledge to form your own

SolomonÆs words swayed Randidly Or perhaps it wasnÆt just the words it was the strange forthright attitude of the projection standing next to his own sleeping form Every action and explanation felt honest Which could be a front but Randidly was more inclined to believe that Solomon genuinely meant to help him That emotional purity and resonance werenÆt faked

Of course SolomonÆs assistance was likely only to push Randidly more toward a clash with Elhume

Nodding slowly Randidly reached out and took the Nether Penance Almost immediately he felt Nether stirring in his chest restlessly seeming to want to dig its way into the Nether Penance right this moment He restrained that impulse and was relieved to feel the stone as an inert weight in his hand WhatÆs the cost you were talking about

This particular specimen requires seconds Solomon looked at the crystal almost wistfully You can consider it a timepiece As a Penance you are required to give it one second out of every minute in its base form This can be slightly banked or deferred so it doesnÆt interrupt you in an important meeting or fight But so long as you bear that Penance one of your precious seconds will no longer be yours

Can it be deferred indefinitely Randidly asked Already he could see the way that giving up one second would help accumulate additional significance in the other fifty nine

Rather than answer Solomon quirked his lips and looked back at his sleeping form Only after understanding dawned on RandidlyÆs face did he speak eventually the debt will come due with interest But believe me when I say I needed the power and donÆt regret the choice I made No matter how the Don played me like a fool

Randidly licked his lips and then looked at the Penance in his hand It felt oddly cool against his skin like fresh mint would feel on his tongue How many seconds did you give it

Twenty nine out of sixty SolomonÆs chuckle was dark and dry like a burned and hollowed tree collapsing after a forest fire I burned brightly for a short period but in the end it wasnÆt enough

Chapter 1892

Randidly couldnÆt imagine that a story that ended with you slumbering underneath the shadow of a fake and warped significance singularity and on top of an abyss had gone very well

His eyes took in the peaceful expression on the real SolomonÆs face and his mind tried to grapple with what had led him to this point He tried to imagine what it would be like to give up almost half of the seconds in a minute to a Penance Then he shifted toward understanding how the mechanism that enforced the Penance would work He examined the soft lines of the linens that lay across SolomonÆs physical body Then Randidly considered how and how much benefit you could extract by using a Nether Penance like that

He had said that he burned brightly He wondered how far Solomon RexÆs light had pierced through the darkness

In the end he decided to change the subject The almost glittering sensation of chilliness continued to radiate through his skin from where he handled the Penance Did you know that Don Beigon attends to make an attempt on the Pinnacle

Ha Yes indeed Quite ironic that such a conservative man would make the decision to fly in the face of the status quo But the way his wife die certainly left a mark And IÆll tell you one of the DonÆs secrets I know the moment that he intends to use as his springboard SolomonÆs eyes flashed For a few moments the purple was light enough to glow in the dimly lit shaft Randidly reflected that the combination of that piercing gaze and the emotional resonance probably meant that SolomonÆs light had shone far indeed The Moment he will use is the time when I wake from this extended slumber And can finally claw my way out of this place

Despite himself RandidlyÆs lips twitched Is he fleeing from a debt from you too

The two of them exchanged wry grins A vision of Don BeigonÆs dramatically aggrieved expression floated between them a testament to how difficult it was to dislike the Don through his charm He played a character and played it well Likely it was part of some Skill but it was difficult to stay mad with how reassuringly himself he was

In the DonÆs hands even honesty becomes a weapon

Well anyway thank you for coming to visit When he spoke SolomonÆs expression became quite serious He glanced upward not at the giant sphere housing Pine but beyond that at the shaft Although I have to say youÆve cut it pretty close Time is essentially frozen down here so close to his main body I recommend you take some time to stabilize yourself here before you return Try and discover your other Authorities familiarize yourself with the Penance see what you can do to strengthen your image And have a plan for when you leave to get Tier III citizenship as soon as possible Otherwise you wonÆt even see them sharpening their knives around you

Randidly tilted his head to the side Time is frozen So your situation down here

My slumber has been a bit extended due to that yes Solomon shrugged Mostly IÆm hibernating so itÆs not like I notice In the end I simply dare not sleep away from Pine

Something else occurred to Randidly He frowned around briefly scanning the lines of the massive Engraving that sipped at the ambient energy PineÆs dream world created If time really is so slowed here then how can Pine fuel the Nexus with his energy

SolomonÆs purple eyes flashed with something akin to pride His tone was filled with reverence That just demonstrates the depth of power that Pine releases His vigorous energy flows were actually a problem in the early Nexus thatÆs why the first two Cohorts devolved into such a chaotic series of factions The power he released was too much to even attempt to control Later he began to accumulate significance and the power tapered down to more reasonable levels At this point most of the problems that the Nexus are experiencing are because the energy weÆve had to work with has been steadily tapering off

But why would he hide it Based on his emotional reaction whoever had done so was an enemy of his Or perhaps even he had reached the Pinnacle and that power had been stolen from him

Ultimately Randidly decided to store this sudden rejection away for later No need to antagonize Solomon now

Randidly walked across the divide a ways to get away from the undertow of Pine not looking either up or down Both wielded forces that even made the current Randidly wary Then he pressed off grimacing a bit as the pull of significance grabbed at his body without the divideÆs protection He forced himself upward heading to the area with those powerful Nether beings right near the base

After stabilizing his position and whirling his Nether Core to add some protective layers to himself RandidlyÆs attention turned inward Again he had a half dozen activities he wanted to pursue understanding the Penance learning his other authorities training his images consolidating his understanding of energy flows etc

But Solomon spoke some sense He had been bullishly focused on Wick for a while and had lost sight of his plot to bring down Elhume To that end he contacted Edraine and the Patrons for a meeting

Randidly returned to his sky island above Kharon which currently drifted around the crouched city above a chain of active volcanos Sea turtles poked their heads out of warm turquoise waters wondering where this new island had come from He had Tatiana send up some freshly butchered meats and cooked and cooked making a veritable feast for himself The recipes were ones he had learned from Nrorce which still made him feel somewhat strange But considering their most recent interaction Randidly had some hope that the old goblin was pulling things together

For this meeting the Patron of Blooms and the Patron of the Abyss didnÆt attend Both apparently were nurturing students in the Alpha Cosmos which made Randidly feel slightly strange However he believed Edraine the Patron of the Sun and the Patron of Blades would be enough

The Patron of Feathers Randidly began when the group settled into one of RandidlyÆs many ornate drawing rooms This one Tatiana had filled with tastefully carved wooden furniture

The Patron of the Sun frowned Even with this Alpha CosmosÆs best healers progress is slow She possessed a horrible sort of emptiness in her that seemed to have resulted from a large portion of her soul being devoured Those wounds are not simple Even now we are unsure if she will ever recover

Randidly nodded He was curious about what happened to her but mostly because the Patrons seemed obsessed with her situation With that one distraction out of the way he turned to Edraine Have you thought about our plan to hurt Elhume IÆve just spoken with Solomon Rex Any information you have on him would be helpful but he recommended getting Tier III Citizenship as soon as possible

Solomon Rex Edraine sucked on her teeth What a nostalgic name He was a military Commander right One important enough that even I remember him As for the plan well After helping the Patrons escape and feeling ElhumeÆs ire I donÆt think the strategy of stealing his physical body is feasible Would we be able to keep it from him considering his martial power WeÆve been discussing other methods but the best we can come up with is investigating that charm that the Patron of Feathers was holding Whatever sort of weapon it is it definitely has the chance to harm even someone of ElhumeÆs caliber Other than that well if overthrowing Elhume was easy someone else would have done it already

RandidlyÆs gaze flickered With everything going on with Claudette he had forgotten about the charm Investigating it would be another way to spend time One more item for the agenda He reached up and cracked his neck Looks like IÆve got a lot on my plate then

In terms of Tier III citizenship EdraineÆs expression turned somewhat bitter as she looked at Randidly She sighed and shook her head As hard as it is for me to admit you should be the one that uses it I believe I could still defeat you right now But for how long will that be the case In ElhumeÆs fist I saw a way to improve but your speed of accumulation is ridiculous We need two more Tier I tokens in order to make the III but we have enough genuine articles They can just be the more mundane variety which we can buy if we head back to the Nexus

So train for now get Tier III citizenship when we head back to the Nexus Randidly released a breath His skin tingled Finally some time to firm up my foundations

Chapter 1893

Raymund Ballast stood in front of whole of the Vulpis Squad with his arms folded behind his back He felt the moment building on his lips even before he opened his mouth On the one hand he knew he didnÆt have to do this He could live other lives be other people On the other he had become entirely convinced that this was the life he wanted to live A life where he paid his debts

The individual who lived this life wouldnÆt have failed his younger brother And more than anything else that was who Raymund Ballast wanted to be

The Ghosthound has seen fit to give us a reprieve He said slowly He felt the turn within himself Perhaps even now he wasnÆt the individual who could save his brother from the expectations of the elders But he could force himself into the sort of situations where he would have no choice but to become that person or die That is what he intended to do now His timeline is slow but he has some projects that need to be completed before his return to the Nexus During that time all members of the Vulpis Squad are welcome to take something of a vacation in the Alpha Cosmos To enjoy themselves to the best of their abilities considering their connection to the Nexus will be cut off The Ghosthound suspects that upon our return to the Nexus we will be under intense scrutiny and pressure He will have no margin for error

They might finally realize IÆm a threat the Ghosthound had joked when they met on his skyisland But Raymund Ballast having watching Randidly Ghosthound grow just since he taught the Elite Squad knew that it was 100% true

From the hard look in the GhosthoundÆs emerald eyes he had known it too

Near the front of the column Charlotte Wick closed her eyes Jieu Ronault stood smartly at attention his elemental body nearly under his total control Vizzeret Clamman shook his head release the oppressive pressure of an apex beast The other recruits’ eyes began to burn Perhaps they too could sense what he built toward

Some of their thoughts seemed to mirror his own Already a strange haze appeared in the wide blue sky above them

Of course as leader of the Vulpis Squad Raymund tried to keep his voice even as he spoke but emotions began to choke him up The heaviness of this choice pressed against his shoulder He thought of the look of exhaustion on the GhosthoundÆs face when he came to talk to him He thought about Techetadore still missing but also that strange certainty Raymund carried that his little brother was still alive I cannot help but observe that the Vulpis Squad has been required to do very little in the recent months In fact it was Randidly Ghosthound himself that handled the dangerous situation We have run drills Naught else has been placed on our plate

Which makes it feel quite queer to take a break right now

After observing the way KharonÆs image could weave together Raymund had some ideas of how to improve the Vulpis Squad He put those into practice now using his blazing emotions to guide the surging communal agreement of the Squad They all had been the favored but ultimately forgettable favorites and descendants of upper class residents of the Nexus They had been cobbled together into the Elite Squad to be tucked away and ended up under Randidly Ghosthound just by chance

Underneath HelenÆs and the other instructorsÆ tutelage they had rapidly grown They had been shown the way effort and hard work could change their fates as favored playthings And then had been forced to witness unable to help in those tragic hours while Helen had stoically endured torture to keep the Ghosthound out of harm’s way

After everything that he and his subordinates had done for them the Ghosthound had only asked them for a small portion of their rewards from the Nether incursion Then when the real danger had manifested itself the Ghosthound had protected them and gone on his own to face down Commandant Wick

The fact that he had eventually overcome that challenge was irrelevant to the shame Raymund felt That WickÆs image had been broken brought no one but perhaps Charlotte any joy All they understood was that when their benefactor had needed their help they had been useless to him Not once but twice Perhaps the old versions of themselves would be able to move on from these moments of helplessness able to press forward and pretend they werenÆt filled with guilt and regrets but Helen and Heiffal had forged them into warriors Warriors didnÆt shy away from danger

Yet even that wasnÆt enough Now they craved to be more than simple warriors

The tension in the air around the Vulpis Squad crackled Raymund raised his eyes giving each individual time to make their own decision To dip their toe into the shifting current and decide whether they would throw the whole of themselves into that pursuit He could practically see heat waves rising from the group as more and more firmed their resolve Emotions flowed up into the collective and gave it shape underneath the wide sky Their pure desires became fuel for it to burn hotter to settle upon the shoulders of each willing individual firming into a presence that would goad them onward to accomplish their goal

He flicked a wrist and produced the strangely textured teardrop Even now even when he used Sulfur contact with it filled him with an invigorating tingle He held the item close to his chest measuring the illumination that flickered in the core of the crystal Then he pulled a long and thin thread of Nether and ran it through the crystal

The Penance accepted the energy easily The Nether flowed out the other side relatively unchanged despite the satisfying feeling of connection that emerged Randidly pursed his lips he supposed it would be too easy if such a noncommittal effort could achieve a boost in significance

He licked his lips and sighed Then he pressed the Penance against his chest Leaving a chill in its wake it sank into his flesh and floated down to take up residence in his Nether core The crystal began to pulse like a heart superimposing itself over the rotating energy source It still remained inert and Randidly carefully examined its functions afraid to activate it prematurely Having an item given to him by a powerful force in the Nexus that didnÆt abruptly activate in an unexpected relief was almost just as shocking as the rest of his conversation with Solomon

Aside from that final lie about Alymian of course

Randidly soon found the functional portion of the Penance waiting patiently for him to pour Nether into it His attention brushed itself along that pulsing heart of light Randidly released a breath Then he shifted the Penance and his Nether Core into position settling into the one second per minute Penance

His Nether Core accelerated just slightly Cool ripples spread through his body riding along with the wave of newly refined Nether The energy felt glittering and fresh running through his body sparkling like snow runoff on a sunny dawn The strangely pleasurable sensation forced a breath out of his body

Something within him relaxed His Nether Core accelerated forward seeming to be filtering out a strange flavor that had grown heavy across the surrounding Nether

Ah the First Authority RandidlyÆs eyes glowed emerald as he looked down at his hands Then he raised his head and glanced around at the whole of the Nether storm he had created to cover the island beneath him

A portion of him acknowledged the subconscious clock that formed in his Nether Core measuring the time that he spent As minutes passed he built up a debtÆ of seconds which he would need to eventually pay The payment seemed straightforward he simply needed to relax and let his thoughts drift away For that time he would be completely inert But for the moment the shift in the surroundings interested him far more

Likely due to one Authority being active and the others remaining undiscovered the First Authority had crept into most of his Nether Which made it easier for it to form some connections and much more difficult for it to form others Likely that horrible avaricious seizing aspect that had spread through his Nether was why all the animals had been driven from the island Only plants and insects didnÆt mind the shift in significance

However with the Penance active that influence was curtailed down to one fourth its previous power

Randidly blinked One fourth

His attention zeroed in on his Nether Core In addition to slightly increasing the rate at which he accumulated significance it also helped frame Nether in a way that made it easier to detect subtle differences in energy flows So he could feel the grasp of the First Authority and beyond that he found three more slight flavors that appear in disparate notes around his core These unnamed Authorities were more difficult to understand but the feelings they gave him were distinct

Yet Randidly still felt wary Obviously one is based on the same desires that birthed my images One for Stillborn Phoenix and one for the Grey Creature But where did this final Authority come from Is it possible itÆs from the Penance itself

Was that why Solomon had given it so freely

Chapter 1894

Randidly spent almost a day wrestling with the issue of this mysterious Fourth Authority During that time he mobilized all of his powerful mind and delicate senses to comb through the notes and flavors of his internal world He even found and eradicated a few lingering notes of DevickÆs madness that had somehow managed to survive his first few purges

On the subject of the Fourth Authority however he achieved exactly nothing

He couldnÆt feel any connection between the dimly sensed Authority and the Penance They were a part of him not some passenger from the Penance If anything this only made him feel worse if the Authority didnÆt come from a foreign influence he had no idea why it would be a part of his Nether Core

His next theory was that perhaps it was related to his other Skillset the Moirae of Ripples He had used that pseudo image quite a bit in combination with his Nether Skills after all Especially recently However that made even less sense Authorities came from the foundation of his Nether Core Solomon had mentioned it and RandidlyÆs intuition told him the same thing And as powerful as Moirae of Ripples was it hadnÆt even been imagined when he had made his Nether Core

This Fourth flavor wasnÆt exactly unfamiliar but he couldnÆt see how his Nether Core had been founded on it

Still his failure to identify the culprit from his vague senses wasnÆt exactly surprising Trying to understand the source of his authority based on the vague sense was like studying shadows to figure out the tactile sensation of rubbing fabric

Randidly did his best to put it out of his mind As it turned out the Penance was a useful tool for this he felt conflicted and vaguely anxious when he closed his eyes and accepted the owed oblivion but woke up cool and tingling from paying a few hours’ worth of deferred seconds He even went so far as to go under for another few hours building up a bank of paid seconds that he could rely on through the early portion of his training

Examining his refined Nether closely he could feel the subtle difference in depth that using the Penance generated After humming to himself and staring down at the grey cooling surface of the lava of the volcano Randidly reached into the Penance and shifted the payment up to two seconds per every sixty

The effect was immediate but relatively small Randidly clicked his tongue he might have doubled the amount of time he paid to the Penance but it was still an insignificant portion relative to how much time remained his own However due to the thickening of the currents he could weave Randidly left increased Penance intact and moved his attention away

He meant to begin building a schedule for himself on this island but his attention was drawn by some movement at the edge of his sphere of influence Randidly twisted to look out at the growing behemoth riding the sea waves and his lips twitched

Randidly only had to look at the group from the Vulpis Squad and feel their image to understand their intentions They had lashed together several barges setting up a basecampÆ right outside of RandidlyÆs Nether storm which extended above twenty meters beyond the beach into the surrounding seas There they staged several excursions into the Nether environment where their images were constantly weathered by the heavy presence of Nether

Seeing that this was exactly the point Randidly didnÆt bother to try and attune the Nether to their image which wouldnÆt have been difficult considering that their image partially came from him And increasingly he played a larger role in their collective image However he had noticed their regular activities a few days ago before he had banked up some time for the Penance now he couldnÆt help but gawk at the blossoming bobbing shanty town that sprung up on the edge of the storm

A lionÆs share of the new arrivals were from Kharon and the Order Ducis who appeared to have negotiated with Heiffal and the Vulpis Squad to be part of the training session Groups came from the Wandering City on Scrawled bits of driftwood that were soon repurposed to extend the barge and create small shelters But what fascinated Randidly was the trickling arrivals of smaller groups

They came in ones or twos with unfamiliar images but with a distinct trail of significance that they followed to reach him They were strong stronger than Randidly expected to find amongst unfamiliar individuals who hadnÆt been trained by anyone that he knew Yet the weirdest part was the way they were connected to him without him even knowing due to his far reaching influence on Expira

Due to his capabilities with Nether he could prevent the item from latching onto him Yet also he could sense that time was required for it to build up a chargeÆ of its horrifying attack He did his best to penetrate the structure and understand the mechanisms before it was armed once more

Skill Levels came slowly compared to the frantic struggles he had engaged in over the last few weeks However what Randidly gained was understanding Understanding of energy ripples understanding of Penances understanding of the way that images and connections could be blended together

Also a distant understanding of the way the Nexus cleaved the two energies apart in a mysterious effort that had led to several strange side effects

But he didnÆt rush Because for the first time in a while Randidly had time to improve slowly

Sam growled and threw up his hands This piece of shit

He tossed the headpiece of glittering leaves to the side It clanked noisily off the workbench and fell to the floor somehow managing to cut a deep divot in one of SamÆs favorite hammers as it fell to the ground Buzzing like an overstressed steam engine he bent at the waist and swept the item off the ground Then he tossed it over to a bin at the far end of the room filled with similar attempts

All very high quality higher than anything Sam had made by relying on the materials on Expira But not high enough

Muttering quietly to himself Sam went to the sink and rinsed his hands under the faucet His connection with Ozark had continued with the other party giving meandering instructions and vague explanations of materials that led to this a headpiece worn by a powerful wolf that could benefit an image

Recently those nagging messages and requests for status updates had stopped Sam thanked his lucky stars that the Ghosthound had chosen to go into isolated training so he now had some space to breathe and think about the project

But at the same time Sam wheeled around and glared resentfully at the bin filled with poorly executed materials It means that IÆm stuck in here with these failures staring me in the face and no one to be mad at

Sam Have you got a minute Regina knocked and then allowed herself into his workroom without waiting for a response

Sam put on an aggrieved expression it was a rule that they werenÆt allowed to do exactly this in their house However he inwardly felt a flush of warmth as he looked at his wife He coughed to hide it Hum What is it I just finished up And you know our rule

I know I know Regina flapped her grease covered fingers Then she gave him a bright smile a smile that had made him fall in love with her She sucked in a breath and spat out her new idea How would you like to take a little vacation to the South Sea

Chapter 1895

Sam examined his wife closely His lips twitched when she used the word vacation as a pretext for some adventure how is this going to be a vacation YouÆve heard the rumors the crazies are heading down there for training which you know is going to become some sort of tournament and I heard that the Purity Movement will be gathering to run a demonstration against the Ghosthound Even worse is the announcement from the Order Ducis that the connection to the Nexus will be cut off merchants were just getting comfortable enough with the exchange to really feel the sting This journey will be anything but a vacation We are walking toward heaps of work

Regina pushed up an elegant eyebrow and put her hand on her hip So Are you trying to say you arenÆt one of those crazies That you wouldnÆt do anything even ignore your family to improve

For several seconds Sam sputtered trying to get his thoughts in order He was quite tempted to head South and talk to Randidly to experience the Nether aura he created but he stubbornly resisted the urge to admit it Besides recently she had been just as quick to absentmindedly miss dinners in favor of her work

Then he looked at Regina again the glitter in her eyes and his expression softened He looked at her leather toolbelt and her greasy fingers and the fire that animated her burning through her expression in a way that she had lost in recent years now returned to its former glory Despite being one of the greatest healers on Expira she felt unfilled for a long time the System took care of most serious diseases usually reducing all other healing to a matter of available Mana to reuse a Skill over and over again

Obviously she could heal more efficiently but without purpose she had lost her sense of direction Even her various friends in Donnyton had privately come over to say a private word to Sam about it Yet after she had finally pestered Sam to teach her about forging and had begun tinkering in her own workshop

Well fine I donÆt have much choice do I Sam grumbled He wondered if he could get his hands on any of the rare seashells he had heard whispers about

Regina laughed and shook her head Not really Alright letÆs leave tomorrow You tell Sunan to pack up his things Oh have you seen him lately Sometimes I think if we donÆt keep on him he wonÆt even eat meals

Nah the boyÆs fine But IÆve been working for the last few days so IÆm not really sure where he is Have you Sam could only chuckle when Regina gave him a blank look that morphed into one of motherly worry Likely she had gotten lost in her work and forgotten

Well Sam rubbed ReginaÆs shoulders feeling the knots of tension curling themselves into small bits of muscle in the fetal position while he touched her HeÆs just twelve right How far could he have really gotten

From the way she pressed her lips together Sam understood this hadnÆt come across as reassuringly as he had meant it He cleared his throat Everyone knows heÆs related to us He promised to stay in the area around Donnyton IÆll send him a message IÆm sure heÆs fine

Randidly raised his arms and spun his fingers tracing them along the interior of the Nether Storm that hung across the island like a grey drape covered dipped in buzzing bees He sat in a pillar of pure sunlight streaming down through the clouds but the rest of the island was submerged in a shadowy half light At this point the difference in environmental significance brought clouds that churned fitfully in the sky overhead The Nether flows generated a literal storm which added a new thread of significance to this already morphing area While Randidly sat in the eye of this literal storm the rest of the island experienced the near constant embrace of shade and a soft drizzle

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 693

In a way Randidly could grow to enjoy the discomfort The way it felt like it had such intense luminosity that it shined through everything reducing him from flesh and blood to a simple pane of glass unable to stop the light All his other worries vanished he was just a material to be examined Or at least thatÆs what Randidly told himself as he gritted his teeth and allowed his powerful physical body to adjust slowly to the light

Tragically Randidly couldnÆt activate the Penance while maintaining the Hierarchy of Burden Otherwise he would simply allow his organs to be baked while sinking into oblivion hopefully waking up before he was orange and wrinkly on the inside He wistfully imagined such a world while doing his best to keep his movements small

Of all my Stats its my physical defense ones that leave the most to be desired Randidly thought as he examined the small moments of trembling weakness as he endured the light Endurance is still the base Stat and Uncommon Metabolism is only Uncommon Serviceable for now but IÆm only 40% through this Fatepiece I will soon need more of this Maybe thatÆs how I should spend my next haul of PP

If I could get my Endurance to something above Legendary

Shaking himself so his drifting thoughts would gather Randidly squeezed the pyramid until the sharp edges cut into his hand All his soft innards continued to burn and sizzle under the unrelenting attention of that light but it was manageable So RandidlyÆs attention moved up the pyramid into the middle the sapphire layer

He squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself forward He clenched his jaw so hard it popped His senses were stretched to the limit searching for a taste of this next challenge while also barely handling the light radiation

Congratulations Your Fatepiece the Hierarchy of Burden has grown to Level 41

In that teetering moment of experimentation Randidly felt a gulf open up in front of him The jagged edges of the opening were so shredded that he took a step back He initially panicked thinking that some powerful being had somehow drilled into his Alpha Cosmos but it became clear that it was just the Hierarchy activating And due to the fact this dangerous rift didnÆt rip a hole in the side of the volcano he knew that only he could be affected by it

Looking at it you can start to see how this represents the dangers of reaching the Pinnacle You generate an image so perfect it warps the world convincing the surroundings that it is real RandidlyÆs head throbbed that familiar sensation of his mental energy being sucked away His eyes remained fixed on the rift a small gash of darkness hovering a few meters in front of him This is the cost of that A hole ripped in the very fabric of existence an emptiness that

Randidly abruptly sat up coughing He pressed his fingers into the dirt and shifted his weight into a more comfortable position His head throbbed and he groaned as he brought a hand up to rub at the bridge of his nose Sulfur felt pleasantly cool almost heavenly so easing away the tension headache that pounded at his consciousness

The pain from his mental energy being drained was just as bad as it had been forcefully learning patterns while struggling against Devick Randidly released a long breath and waited for the surroundings to stop spinning His expression was grim as he looked down at the Hierarchy of Burden which he had dropped when he blacked out

Did it suck away my mental energy Randidly muttered His voice sounded groggy and distant He groped for the Hierarchy of Burden with his right hand and missed

At that point Randidly realized it was more than mental energy that the rift had taken His entire body with the exception of Sulfur was unpleasantly cool like a corpse preserved in a refrigerator rather than a living being His movements were clumsy even as his vision stabilized and his thoughts sharpened And considering he seemed to have been unconscious for at least fifteen minutes this was after he had already recovered a bit

Yea Uncommon Metabolism just isnÆt going to cut it at this rate Randidly narrowed his eyes and slapped his hands against his upper arms trying to invigorate himself He swayed as he stood and held up the pyramid Fatepiece and looked at the sapphire layer So thatÆs the middle portion of the Hierarchy of Burden Entropy

Chapter 1896

Randidly took the next week to focus on pushing the Hierarchy of Burden to Level 43 but each session ended with him passed out and near useless for a half hour after the effort The real problem was that the pale light radiationÆs heat covered a lot of the early signs that he was succumbing to the Entropy generated by an image reaching the Pinnacle The burning heat covered the loss of sensation so the only warning was the rapid appearance of a headache before darkness took him unawares

The only option Randidly could think of to prevent this was to train up some of the Vulpis Squad to take a portion of the second layer but as he considered this option he could only watch the twitching soldiers on the beach with an aggrieved expression It would take quite a while before they were ready for that

For now he was on his own

So Randidly could only sigh shake his head scowl and move on to other training methods However the problem of his body losing sensation reaffirmed his desire to improve his Endurance and Uncommon Metabolism Stats So he focused on an area he believed would get him some quick Skill Levels improving some of the lagging Skills in his three images First he would refine the images broadly then he would work on the individual moves until they were honed to a razorÆs edge

Randidly left his churning storm on that island and floated to the area on the dark side of the moon where he had left the Sea of Dreams

Compared to the Path of Blood that Randidly had walked the most recent creation of the mountain master glittered with color and light It was an extended cut of the northern lights woven into a lake a shifting gleaming wondrously immersive experience that drowned you with hue and vibrancy Looking at the fickle flashes of gold ruby and turquoise Randidly thought that the beauty of the path would be even more overwhelming when you were submerged within it

However he hesitated at the edge glancing around at the colors The bobbed and combined and split purple becoming red blue meeting yellow and becoming orange green and splitting to purple and eye catching canary An organic fickle spinning arrangement that could drive someone mad if they watched for long enough

Randidly had more practical concerns he scratched his chin Do I just wade into it

The colors didnÆt answer him They were too busy splitting and combining in an orgy of energy and light Shrugging Randidly threw away his hesitations and hopped forward into the Sea of Dreams

Alana Donal folded her arms across her chest as she looked at the two pig faced men that sat in the small booth along the converted highway A single thrust of her spear could demolish the plywood structure and shatter the road One of the men had ratty black hair and the other had wispy blonde hair but otherwise they looked almost like twins Down to the cruel twist at the corners of their mouth and their beady eyes

Eyes that kept flicking back to the Lizakh behind her Seeing their attention she knew why they were causing trouble for their group

In the small wooden booth the two ugly pig men dropped their jaws She raised her arms grabbing those thickening beams of solar power and shaped them into a massive spear of heat and light Her hands seized the shaft of that massive weapon and she drove it forward with a baleful will The area outside of the paved road was a hilly forest but all the terrain was as transient as sand as Alana took that massive sunlight spear edged with all the force of her image and dug a route forward

The two unfortunate Academy students yelped and scrambled sideways seeming to think they were under attack by some passing monster They generated two small Mana Shields that Alana popped in passing Their blazers now ruffled and singed they tumbled sideways out of harm’s way

She took great care in focusing and affixing her image to the ground too stretching forward for almost three miles Glowing Revelation gave bonuses to all physical Stats and also left the recipients feeling invigorated The road funded by the World Council provided relevant boosts but it was a mass produced sprawling thing And now suddenly this stretch of it would have to compete with a new pathway carved from AlanaÆs image and spite

Alana released a huffing breath and allowed her image to fade The sunlight waned returning to normal levels She pursed her lips as she looked out at the passage she had created there were a few problems with it Mostly it continued to sizzle and burn unnaturally as though embers had been buried into the ground Perhaps even more obnoxious was the fact that these burns appeared to take on three repeated images a thick tree a hazy circle and a sitting humanoid with two tails

My Soulskill at work Alana shook her head slightly Then she turned again ignoring the two small men in their fragile structure LetÆs go

She had furiously power walked off a small portion of her ire by the time Hank caught back up with her LeavinÆ jus like that ReckonÆd we could at least stay anÆ knock a few heads together send a message that this sorta shit wonÆt fly

Alana shook her head ThereÆs no point This is the problem this is why we need to have a summit and talk about the autonomy of small municipalities For every sweaty dictator IÆve punished while wandering five more have sprung up clamoring about their right to self govern And what right do I have to interfere but my spear being stronger than theirs If we want positive change we need a unified body of law that prevents them from discriminating based on humanity

Hank clicked his tongue Gonna be hard to even get to the PurityÆ question Zone 7 and 11 will never go for one system of law they donÆt want outside interference in their lands AnÆ with how fractal the independent cities are

The two stopped speaking as the Lizakh warriors fell into place around them with their weapons raised A dozen armed individuals sidled out of the remnant charred treeline instantly slowing as their ill will turned the bonuses of Glowing Revelations against them They wore the heavy powersuit style armor that was popular now in Zone 1 The armor simply required the user to supply Mana to create a series of energy plates that did an excellent job at defending the user They also carried heavy Mana rifles poorly maintained and grimy from exposure to the elements

All mass produced all very cheap and difficult to trace AlanaÆs eyes narrowed as she looked at the group that so obviously had been dressed to resemble bandits They were frog people from one of the Danger Zones near Donnyton Seeing some of them here was quite a surprise Considering their sudden appearance along this road Alana regretted not taking the time to head to the nearby municipal headquarters and kick over the anthill I smell a fucking rat

Hand over all your valuables Or die The largest of the armored frog people croaked

Hank stepped forward and patted AlanaÆs shoulder If ya move I know yur gonna burn down the whole area So why not let me handle this

Chapter 1897

Randidly felt his images straining underneath the pressure from the vivid colors Their influence seeped through his skin and fixated on his inner world The hues jostled around him like a rowdy crowd at a live music venue metaphysically elbowing him in the small of the back and leaning against him All three of his images flared doing their best to push back the shining opals and oranges from crowding into RandidlyÆs interior

The process wasnÆt easy Whatever formed the foundation of the colors of this place it rubbed very violently against the edges of his images Soon he felt raw and exposed even before he took a single step through the liquid rainbow RandidlyÆs expression twisted This is a path A Sea of Dreams For having such a lofty name it sure is a rough experience

Randidly took his first step forward and a spike of forest green color slammed against his chest For a brief second his focus clouded Along with the color came a surge of emotion that didnÆt belong to him The impression was vague but Randidly felt like he stood on a snow dusted mountain and sucked in a chill breath He felt the air sharply in his lungs

Liberated That was what he felt He felt unmoored and freed from a great weight standing with the wind whipping around him

Then the sensation passed leaving him buffeted by the colors Randidly rolled his shoulders The emotion polishes the image The vague impressions offer suggestions for improvement without being too specific or critical Also emotional confusion forces you to be very specific in the way you motivate yourself and populate the image with emotion

Alright then LetÆs do this Randidly licked his lips and stepped forward A ruby scythe came at his neck and a hammer of glittering silver smashed at his chest

BA Zeta finished polishing his modular arm saws the glossy brass shining in the candlelight of the basement storeroom Then the mechanisms of its forelimbs folded inward so that mechanical hands replaced the weapons Feeling strangely unsure of himself BA Zeta raised its fingers and drew them across its face The sensitive fingertips perfectly mapped the small dents and scratches that covered the fabricated metal faceplate

Although the material was difficult to damage the last several months had been transformative Zeta would almost expect that its alloy was unavoidably mutated beyond the original brass from which it was cast

However the Brass AutomatonÆs attention didnÆt long linger on its own face There was another that dominated his mind dancing in the corner of his eyes like a make believe shadow so every time it twisted the automaton hoped to see it A face seen through the thin strip of sky perched atop an alley and across several hundred meters of distance Even with high Perception Zeta did not know if it would be possible for another to have seen that face Its lens system went well beyond what was possible for the human eye

A face for which it now proposed madness Zeta didnÆt know how to feel that its friends accepted the strange impulse so easily

There was a knock at the door If we are going to do this we need to do it now

My preparations are complete BA Zeta stood up It walked to the door with its hands still creating a perfect topographical map of its face while recalling a different face and lowered its hands before it opened the door No need to advertise how emotionally turbulent it was

They quickly joined a line of other figures dressed in various affluent outfits In contrast to the trioÆs silence most of the others were talking and laughing excited to be headed to the market They passed through the tight spaces between neat buildings and out into a crowded thoroughfare where stalls had hanging silks in a riot of colors Stooped old women snapped their fingers lighting candles within paper lanterns letting the red and orange and yellow flimsy constructs float up with the sun peeking beyond the horizon

Casually allowing his ocular focus to rise with the lanterns Zeta noted at least fourteen grim eyed guards watching from the nearby rooftops You would be first met with a stern but friendly local guiding you back to Zone SevenÆs public markets but if you insisted on pushing beyond that individual you would quickly stub your toe on a steel plate Their suggestions would become insistence very quickly

Noticing the same thing Zack shifted the sleeves of his robe and flashed several quick hand signs Too many eyes to sneak When we go we just need to go fast

Next to them Todd nodded without raising his gaze his sharpened senses allowed him to witness the discussion through other means The three pushed forward keeping their gait casual as they joined the throng of people for the opening of the market Above them the guards’ eyes flickered as they turned to greet their replacements

The corner of ToddÆs mouth quirked upward He called several of those small pieces of floating wood to his hands and whispered something ZetaÆs nostrils instantly detected smoke Just as quick as he had an inkling as to ToddÆs plan the small bits of smoking wood zipped away The flash and flap of eye catching tapestries and banners did a lot to cover up the strange movement

Even Zeta had some difficulty following the small bits of debris But he didnÆt miss ToddÆs soft words Be ready

Those tiny pieces of wood scattered each finding an object A few went toward some of the paper lanterns one to a wide crimson carpet another to the side of a stall and the most ambitious settled on the side of a building

Like some ominous disease proliferating behind the scenes no sound was made as the ScrawlÆd bits of charred wood carried Mana and spread the contagion of the Scrawl Likely the working was so slight that even a Skill generated to detect other Skills would miss the activity BA ZetaÆs internal engine whirred in its chest as it walked with deliberate slowness

He pictured that face those cheekbones the lonely glitter in her eye

The entire market swayed in unison heads swiveling to look at the side of a nearby building that had abruptly shattered The eyes of the nearest people widened as a huge slab of brick began to crack and splinter off ready to fall down on their heads But just was they were about to panic and shout to warn others of the danger several paper lanterns exploded into massive fireballs A wooden stall collapsed sideways blocking the foot traffic A massive rug shredded itself into a half dozen pieces that spun themselves into fabric stakes that zipped sideways impacting the guards

As the anarchy erupted on the street three cloaks fluttered to the ground their occupants abruptly gone

The race had begun

Chapter 1898

Rather grumpily Randidly exited the Sea of Dreams and returned to the island His body ached and his temples burned with stress and strain Once on top of the volcano he settled back into the core area of the Nether made a few small adjustments to the churning storm of Nether and closed his eyes to pay back some of the seconds he owed to the Penance

For a while he knew nothing Time flowed past the cost of the extra efficiency he achieved on gathering significance

When he woke back up all of the bleariness with which he had left the Sea of Dreams had faded away At the very least the sleep still had the function of allowing him to recover somewhat from mental strain RandidlyÆs eyes were sharp as he looked up at the rotating clouds overhead Earning PP might take a little bit more time than I thought My emotional resolve for the separate images is a bit lacking at the moment Before I nail down that sensation proceeding more deeply in that area is just going to wear me down without much benefit

For a few seconds RandidlyÆs expression turned bitter Walking nine steps forward through the Sea of Dreams had given him firsthand some understanding of some of the fraught experiences of the high tier images As he had to soldier through the strange impressions and vague emotions he could suddenly understand how easy going astray could be

What if you lacked the resolve to pursue a particular emotional flavor What if you couldnÆt find the relentless Willpower to push a certain point of view What if you lacked the correct understanding of how your image could be manifested What if this was the limit of your understanding

Maybe even more dangerous what if you knew what sort of emotional force was required to mobilize the image but you personally had markedly changed since the image had been created What if your values or focus had shifted and suddenly there existed a small incompatibility with the image you had carried with you and refined for all these years

That gap would remain limiting your potential

Luck is important Randidly whispered to himself The road to the Pinnacle was long and there was only so much you could do to change your foundation You needed luck that something tragic didnÆt happen to destabilize your image of peace and healing Or luck not to fall in love and find contentment while nursing an image of incendiary revenge Or to somehow have the tragedy fit perfectly into your images in RandidlyÆs case three images

To have it rip out a chunk of his soul and deepen the hunger in the Egg of Depression To have it feed its darkness

To strike like a bolt from the blue reminding the Grey Creature that even it wasnÆt safe To motivate it to plant contingency plans like seeds everywhere it could

To sprinkle yearning for a better world in Yggdrasil To have the tragedy tempered by the heart of the stern and stubborn woman who would tirelessly spar with him but gag herself when she truly needed help but there was nothing he could do

Randidly closed his eyes and spent several minutes meditating His current work required emotions but that was somewhat different from being emotional He allowed the memories of Helen to recede slightly before he began to work

He examined his inner images also using the Penances ability to perceive the shallow reflected Authorities that his foundation might someday become As always he felt oddly frustrated by the mysterious fourth Authority For the moment he simply used it as extra evidence to examine his foundation and his current emotional state with his image

To his great relief it felt like none of those dangerous emotional rifts had emerged He found small flaws especially in the Grey Creature now that he had reached an amount of power that seemed to indicate he wouldnÆt die suddenly from an ambush but all of it was within acceptable levels

He spared one last glance for the slate grey storm clouds that circled the island and then sat down cross legged at the edge of the volcano He cut off his physical senses of the world and simply reached out and tasted the images and emotions that animated the world in preparation for his own internal examination

Compared to the ripples of energy the waves of emotion were less flashy Randidly sucked in a breath through his mouth and released it through his nose his sensation expanding to follow the subtle interplay of emotion across the whole of Expira and then the Alpha Cosmos Most of that larger emotional space seemed to be dominated by the actions of himself and the Pantheon but he noticed something else that brought a frown to his face

A dense storm of pressure was brewing across Expira

Repressed tensions and frustrations bubbled up in every cultural center that Randidly could sense Kharon was relatively free of the taint of this near feral resentment but he also understood that this was simply because Kharon stood on a particular side of this issue

Buried underneath the more aggressive negative emotions were a lot of individual fears and worries about the future There were clear threads leading from isolated groups creating the vast coverage of this storm He felt the hopelessness and the jealousy that had fermented for so long in a lot of peopleÆs hearts Although he couldnÆt make out the specifics he could also detect the way that so many people needed an easy answer a simple way to ascribe blame

ThatÆs not surprising There were always a lot of people who prefer an easy answer to a complex one Randidly shook himself However this isnÆt my problem

As soon as Randidly thought it he hesitated In a lot of ways it was his problem This issue whatever it may be arose within his world and would affect his Soulspace He had experienced wars in his Soulskill before if this situation went to the worst case scenario he was not interested in cleaning up the mess that individuals who had been empowered by the System could create

Well if it does come to that IÆll intervene But for these normal tensions RandidlyÆs awareness swept through Expira He sought out the familiar vein of Nether running through all these bulging and mutating negative emotional pockets More than anything else what he feared was some hidden architect a lingering hand behind the curtain that made the population of the world dance to the sick tune of their own destruction

But he found nothing these emotions might be becoming extremely pervasive across the surface of Expira but they were simply normal human emotions Their growth felt almost inevitable Their ubiquity spoke less to the uniformity of their source but of some shared viewed held by the population And Randidly both didnÆt want to be the sort of individual who stomped out these mundane emotions through the threat of force and also didnÆt believe it would be very effective

In a way it would probably just unite the antagonism in targeting him Which would be foolish and likely pointless of most people to do but it did seem like a hassle

His eyes cracked his irises flashing emerald His gaze pierced through cloud and distance and arrived at the capital city of Zone 7 one of their closely protected hive cities At the moment three individuals that Randidly recognized were fighting their way through the defenses And although it was an isolated incident Nether was gathering above that area for whatever reason that event would be the fuse that broke the silence on this issue

Despite himself RandidlyÆs heart ached as he saw Todd riding a small wooden skateboard through the air his eyes grey and sightless The lingering image of the Calamity lingered in the wounds scaring him

He forced himself to close his eyes For now let the issues develop I have my own work to do

RandidlyÆs attention turned back to his images and the emotions that animated them

Chapter 1899

Randidly settled into the dark and murky area of himself where his Nether Core existed He relaxed for a short time savoring the comforting hum of its rotation Around him he felt the constant flow of Nether churned outward and running through his veins The Penance rang with a slightly different note achieving a delightful harmony with the lower pitched core

In a way he wished he could remain there for longer simply savoring the reassuring hum of the Nether System that supported his body It felt like leaning against a massive metaphysical rib cage and hearing the even and sure beat of a powerful heart

Then Randidly felt that comparison was slightly strange because the heart was his own Shaking his head he turned his focus to the three foundations of his images

Randidly understood intuitively the emotions that would empower his images but that was putting the cart before the horse He should not adopt those emotional affects in order to pick up the emotions but those should be his affects all the time thereby binding him more tightly to his three images Making that process subconscious and natural would remove one small impediment from him improving his images

Considering how far he still had to go he wanted to get that small distance out of the way as soon as possible

He first conjured Yggdrasil having the massive trunk creaking branches and rustling leaves wrap around him The warm and earthy noises of Yggdrasil were very different from the hum and chime of the Nether Core and Penance but they wove together extremely well into a natural symphony Randidly instantly felt transported to an imaginary temple deep within the jungle Above it the World Tree rose

Randidly felt raw and exposed forcefully opening himself up to sensations so he could examine the whole of his emotional affect with Yggdrasil He felt awe and fear for the wild growth around and for the rugged and unpredictable beauty of nature and life He felt a desire for stability the warm uplifting feeling that allowed the World Tree to gather and purify so much energy to later distribute to the surrounding landing

But Randidly also felt a stubbornness in that image For a few seconds he groped around confused But then he felt the source although the World Tree continued to consume increasingly large amounts of energy and gather it all together the tree still felt that its current form was enough As he was partway through evolving the image and its Skills that resistance to change was still present

He allowed the image to fade and nodded to himself IÆll need to deal with its Skill evaluations before I can pin down the exact emotional state for Yggdrasil Even if I donÆt want to interfere in the chaos of what is coming for Expira it will be useful to take away some of its ripples and force them into Yggdrasil Eventually even this stubborn old tree will bloom like a flower

He turned his attention to his neck image and the one that still left him feeling the most conflicted the Grey Creature He looked at his own face within the armor and the scales the two tails and the familiar eyes of Yystrix

Zack Krum felt like the incarnation of a war god ripping through the hastily assembled first line of defense in Zone 7 The guards stood slightly askew on the high wall around the market the interior of which had been made to look like the facade of the buildings so that the various attendees didnÆt realize how trapped they truly were and were still partially blinded by ToddÆs scraps of cloth when the trio had made it to the ledge

One guard whipped a stun baton around but Zack Krum had already pinched his elbow and folded the joint to bring the weapon to its ownerÆs chest for a brief kiss As it released its sizzling charge Krum sashayed forward to his next few opponents He hip checked on guard off the edge and caught another raising his weapon With a grin on his face he flipped the man into a tumbling somersault several meters in the air

The guard began to scream as he got over his dizziness and realized he was falling off the wall

Zack planted his foot and turned ready to enjoy more Judo flexing but the wall around them was clear A few crumpled forms remained but none capable of slowing them down Zeta had boldly smashed three backward and four more folded underneath precise hits from ToddÆs Scrawled metal bars he usually kept strapped to his side

Todd raised an eyebrow over his creepily inert eyeballs likely noticing ZackÆs enthusiasm for more violence The older teen ducked his head and followed as they leapt over the edge Something between jealousy and protectiveness warred in his chest Yes I know you are more powerful than me even if you are several years younger ThatÆs why I donÆt get why you are so

At a certain balcony three levels down from the top Zeta stopped The automaton landed on the edge and twitched slightly as though unsure how to proceed Zack crashed to the stone ground after hopping off his vehicle and rolled By the time he was standing he rather awkwardly realized that the reason Zeta had paused was the woman was on the balcony pressed up against the far wall and watching the new arrivals with concern

He tried a rakish smile The woman was beautiful with soft lavender hair and pale pink eyes Her arms were crossed defensively across her chest Hello miss DonÆt worry about us we are here to rescue you

Yet just as soon as he finished speaking Zack Krum settled into a crouch The woman in front of him her eyes glowing that familiar baleful grey light raised her hand and conjured a swirling ball of light ZackÆs instincts screamed warning of the danger that she represented Then he looked at the woman a second time past her beauty He saw the shimmering scales on her temples and the horns that curled out from her forehead

She a Chimera Todd whispered perched at the edge of the balcony like a baby bird about to be shoved into freefall by its mother

The light the woman created grew brighter as she prepared to unleash her Skill Todd swayed ZackÆs eyes narrowed that horrible desperation finally finding a target This time he wouldnÆt flinch He took a step forward about to pounce but then Zeta was there its powerful brass fingers clamping onto ZackÆs wrist Wait

The automaton looked solemnly at the woman IÆm sure youÆve analyzed the odds There is no future for you here Come with us leave this place Those distant possibilities we can show them to you With us statistics wonÆt matter as much Even as I say that I feel foolish

Zack looked up at the brass man in confusion What are you doing SheÆs a monster She canÆt really understand you

The System translates language for all intelligent life Zeta responded And human cultural additions to communication are not so important as you believe This being understands

ZackÆs eyes narrowed She

The moon whispered I would be saved by earth bones The womanÆs voice was low and cool like a stream at night She closed her hand and the deadly light vanished She walked up and rapped a knuckle against Zeta That is you

I can be considered bones I am a composite alloy ZetaÆs voice sounded strangely muffled Up close Zack noticed how tall the woman was She towered over all of them a few inches even above Zeta But the brass man and the strange female chimera locked gaze and seemed content to just stare at each other

Yet Zack couldnÆt believe this nonsense He turned to Todd We need

We need to go Todd had already drawn a Scrawl on an extra board and tossed it at the womanÆs feet Zeta tell your new friend that we need to move now before the guards come back in force We donÆt have long

A new voice spoke from above the balcony Unfortunately it is already too late You are under arrest for attempting to free a dangerous criminal Please surrender otherwise I cannot guarantee what follows will not be extremely painful

All three pivoted and looked up Standing on a cloud a man in a sharp Zone 7 military uniform looked down on them with folded arms He had a slightly curved blade at his waist Zack even recognized him

They had been caught by Huang Li the man who wielded the Sky Slaying Sword

Chapter 1900

Zack KrumÆs fingers tingled as he looked up at that stern faced figure A breeze tugged at the edge of his shirt That desperation was back howling with glee at the sudden threat that presented itself in front of him And a true powerhouse no less someone who had fought against some of the best in Donnyton at one of the large tournaments If he could prove himself against this man

Zeta moved first a blurred incarnation of brass as his modular limbs flipped on themselves Without any effort he shifted from a metal humanoid to a clawed metal beast crouching close to the stone to pounce up at the threat Yet even as the automaton moved Huang LiÆs arm countered him by drawing his curved sword and unleashing a ray shining light

Even the speed of it was uncanny ZackÆs pupils dilated Good thing I got the chance to see it before I tried to tangle it up

With a domineering clang that slash overwhelmed all of ZetaÆs momentum and pressed it into the ground Huang Li gracefully raised his blade regarding them all with a cool stare as though implying that non lethal attack was the one warning they would be given The breeze around them began to stir the tension with more vigor

Yes ZackÆs eyes glittered This is what I deserve

The eye of the moon has become clouded The Chimera woman observed into the strained silence Despite the display of Huang Li she seemed detached No possibility of escape exists any longer

As I said Zeta twisted its head around to look at the woman Its limbs folded back to their humanoid variations but it stayed with its belly against the ground The delightful side of interacting with humanoids is they manage to overturn statistics

Zack and Todd acting with unspoken cooperation launched themselves into motion Sprinting like a linebacker Zack dashed directly for the edge of the balcony to throw himself at Huang Li At the same time Todd waved a hand and sent five metal bars and several small pieces of wood spiraling around the cloud riding man ready to strike at the first sign of weakness

Snorting Huang Li slashed again The movement was too fast for Zack to follow but with the prior visual he could at least could see the shining crescent of energy the attack unleashed even now this powerful figure was toying with them

The corner of ZackÆs mouth quirked up Well letÆs make him regret that

The image of an unassuming old man shimmered into place behind Krum That manÆs hands were tinged with a dim golden right but otherwise there were no distinct details in the image projection After a slow step the old man stepped forward and superimposed itself on ZackÆs body His hands became faintly gold and he reached out with those hands to seize the slash

For a moment Zack missed the fulcrum of the attack Blood spurted from his left palm as he struggled to find the anchor of its power Then his Skills activated and guided his force to the correct portion With a great effort of will he bent the attack in on itself and managed to shift it But as he did so Zack grimaced The muscles of his arms bulged with the strain How the hell he didnÆt even manifest an image Why is it so heavy

In the end Zack could only heave the slash to the side barely moving the attack over his shoulder The strike hummed aggressively as though it deeply disapproved of its sudden vector adjustment and then tore up a long strip of the stone balcony on the way to the wall There it cracked the stone supports and shattered a several meters of the railing The passage between the balcony and the interior rooms collapsed

The sky that had previously seemed so clear became clogged with exhaust and metal These combat specified war machines made the helicopter arm variety of drone look like a sweet voiced request not to trespass

Zack cheeks hurt from the wild and joyless smile on his face He could see no possibility to escape so the only option was to put their lives on the line A thrill ran through him Just as he was about to toss himself forward and rip open a path with his own hands the Chimera woman spoke To the left That small red brick building A sliver of potential

You must be insane Zack spat as he craned his neck around Their speed and the gale of a slash behind them made communication incredibly difficult His eyes were wide as he struggled to shout at her while also keeping the formation of the drones in front of him within his view We canÆt just trust you who has been trapped

But of course Zeta was weirdly infatuated with this woman and Todd had too much faith in everyone but himself both veered immediately after she had spoken Muttering curses about taking advice from monsters Zack hurried after them They banked and curved left the maw of the wind on their heels

However The Chimera woman looked up speculatively at Huang Li who neared them more every second This is an impediment One of you humanoids will need to cause chaos to eliminate the certainty of us dying by this wind before we can make it to that building

Ah Even above the wind Zack could hear ZetaÆs apologetic tone In my experience counting overmuch on humanoidÆs abilities to avoid certainties come with unexpected side effects

You stupid Zack snarled even as he pushed his Scrawled board to the limit and accelerated in front of them The wood couldnÆt withstand the energy and disintegrated beneath his feet but he was there flying between his friends and Huang LiÆs power that sought to sever their path to that innocuous red brick building ZackÆs eyes widened and the emerald eyed old man superimposed itself across his body once more

Maybe if you had kept the scale small I couldnÆt undercut you like this Zack thought maliciously as his hands expanded in front of the massive slash He couldnÆt grab it directly but there were huge flows of those support images surging to make themselves useful to Huang Li The very environment provided plentiful aid to the attack And that Zack could affect

He nudged two of those streams of images aside for just a moment and dislodged them In the chaotic friction that followed he tied a brief knot in front of the slash Wind whipped and eddied curling in on itself in a small net The two forces collided and ground against each other with a deafening roar only five or so meters above their heads

Zeta whipped past Zack first Then Todd followed behind more sedately skimming right in front of the blade He even patted Zack on the back for a job well done and was then gone The impediment disintegrated

Going through the motions Zack produced a scrawled board and stepped onto it He could feel the Mana beginning to flow ready to buoy him away to safety

But he could also feel the shift in the slash because he handled those energy flows For the briefest moment he had slowed the attack and the others probably expected that he would have a moment to move when the slash forced its way through However

Huang LiÆs slash feasted on the flows and jumped a short distance forward using that sudden influx of power All Zack knew was the noise of howling wind before the attack landed

Chapter 1901

Zack blinked and coughed feeling the blood coursing down his face and unsure exactly what was going on Pain very enthusiastically coursed through his upper body with his left shoulder feeling like it had been wrenched out of its socket His dyed red vision and the flopping of his stomach briefly convinced him that he had died and gone to hell For his sins he would be punished for all eternity

He closed his eyes his skin tingling and burning At the very least I protected them this time

This idyllic interpretation of the last few contorted moments was shattered as Zack slammed into solid ground and cracked his jaw For several dizzy seconds he just allowed the mechanisms of momentum and bodies to jostle him as he rolled forward He groaned and spat to get dust out of his mouth Blood dribbled out from between his lips

The possibility is just ahead Truly astounding It should not have been possible for us to arrive like this Perhaps there is meaning to human companionship

The sound of the Chimera womanÆs voice reignited some of his annoyance and helped ground Zack Gradually reality dragged him back His vision swam but soon he became aware of the shattered bricks walls around them and Zeta standing at the collapsed entrance to the small building firing several bolts of Mana at their pursuers Todd crouched over Zack and used a bit of cloth to mop up the blood on his face

Zack batted the hand away and sat up Wha what happened

ToddÆs expression was sour I recognized that look on your face you wanted to do something dumb So when I passed by I Scrawled on your shirt Which apologies has no shredded itself to bits dragging you out of the way of that attack But I figured it was a small price to pay for you to stay alive YouÆre welcome

Awkwardly Zack looked down at his bare bloody and dirty chest Somehow he ended up relying on Todd again Unwilling to face his guilt he instead scowled over at the Chimera woman as she wandered down past the entrance to a staircase down Getting here is fine but I donÆt see how we can get out of this deathtrap

As though agreeing with him wind began to shake the building Zeta hurried past and offered Zack a hand which he took to be pulled to his feet All three moved after the Chimera Zack still occasionally shaking his head to dispel some blurriness in his vision

They heard the rest of the building front cave in behind them as they descended into a high ceilinged basement But at the moment none could worry about it They all stood transfixed at what they had found

How unlikely for this to be here Zeta remarked

Compared to the other two images Randidly was surprised to find almost no issues with these emotional affects his familiarity with his sad roots hadnÆt faded at all It would require some practice to work the correct flavor to balance the various elements but that was just a matter of practice That is except for two glaring unpredictable elements that swam around the edges of the image

Randidly glanced again at the black hole The two unborn drifted in the milky light and crackling electricity with a surprising amount of grace considering their ugliness and misshapen bodies They capered about delighting in the strange influences of the Stillborn Phoenix treating this like a game

Of course they basically ignored the reality of the image as they did so They did not want to acknowledge the suction of the Stillborn Phoenix and thereby invalidated the electromagnetic radiation the light radiation and the entropy it created in the surroundings Their existence and independent wills were a constant drain on the power he could wield

Still itÆs not like there arenÆt difficulties with all three of the images I donÆt need to force an answer right now especially since the Stillborn Phoenix loves those ugly slugs Randidly pulled himself out of the Stillborn Phoenix image and then out of his mental projection He stood and stretched looking down at the island The constant Nether had shifted the vegetation to a strange blueish sheen that made the island look partially glazed in plastic But that was the most innocuous of the shifts in the vegetal life

If the island were divided into thirds around the central volcano one third would belong to the training individuals who continued to exhaust themselves and sip from the environment Nether one third would go to the mutated ants and their swollen queen and now a third belonged to the unruly and weirdly intelligent jungle collective Thick vines had woven themselves around the tree trunks so thickly that they hung like physical walls And in the center of that dense area one tree had shot upward to almost double the size of all the others At this point it was almost half as tall as the volcano itself a second sort of monument on this previously nondescript place

As he stared over at it the wide frawns of the tree waved in a way that ran counter to the motion of the wind

Randidly could only laugh at the effect he had just by existing somewhere You know I remember them saying that the second step of improving your image is to exert your will on the universe And not that I wanted this to happen but their is something inherently poisonous about power Once you possess it it taints everything around you

That thought made him shiver Then he thought about the gleaming eyes of Devick which gave him an entirely different sort of chill She possessed an entirely different sort of poison Randidly rubbed his face IÆm safe for now isolated away from time at the bottom of the shaft I just need to make good use of this time to improve So that when I return to the Nexus IÆm ready

Okay thatÆs enough training for now He bounced up to his feet and did some more stretching until his hamstrings and shoulders both pleasantly popped After slapping his cheeks he started sending out messages First to Neveah then to Nrorce and Tatiana and Sydney and a half dozen other important figures in Kharon and in his life

After a few awkward bits of conferring and juggling schedules he arrived on a satisfactory date In three weeks Randidly would be hosting a bbq on his new island NeveahÆs delight seeped through their Soulbond even if she kept her message perfectly polite she was quite happy that he was taking some time off of his own volition

Feeling her pride and joy Randidly rolled his eyes In the end this is less about a healthier emotional lifestyle and more about variety I can feel it from the way Penance affects me Significance comes from living and breathing in the moment Taking advantage of the time you have And since I have so much time here the best way to facilitate growth is to switch often and throw everything I have into those activities while IÆm doing them

So three weeks of training Randidly rubbed his hands together Then he called up the Hierarchy of Burden and began

Chapter 1902

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 707

Congratulations Your Skill Cutting Tide of Amenonuhoko has grown to Level 730

Randidly released his tight control over the Nether flows no longer trying to contrive every rippling interaction between the elements of his Nether storm and instead simply observed the way the changes spread outward His eyes one emerald and one swirling black followed the varied pattern interactions both breaking down into organic elements and moving together to become something larger

A strange shadow began to stretch across the sky Long spindly fingers of the patterns wormed together like larva squeezing out of a wound Yet somehow this wasnÆt a change in lighting the very character of the rainstorm seemed to stretch into a grotesque caricature of itself Randidly bit his lip tracing the slanting lines of the clouds

Somehow the formerly innocuous storm began to lean back on itself His instincts whispered quietly of danger and wrongness quite like attempts at human animation from the pre System era approaching the uncanny valley All the mundane details of the storm remained the same the heavy layered clouds the precipitation slanting and splattering off the alien trees and the constant feel of the wind against his face

Yet underneath it lurked a wholly unnatural pattern that perverted what a storm was supposed to me It twisted and bloomed a stinking and rotting rafflesia

I can learn a lot from the bone charm but its patterns are dangerous Randidly reflected on his small adjustments

By and large it was an unsuccessful attempt to improve his ominous Nether storm But certainly it was a valuable experience testing his theories Thunder rumbles and blue bolts of electricity danced across the heavy clouds Even the increasingly sophisticated society of ants paused in their vine clearing duties to glance up at the clouds overhead

Randidly had no idea what they saw with their limited sense but they swiftly shifted and trundled their rain slicked bodies back to their mound Their feet moved in unison

Crackling his knuckles Randidly checked his Status screen He had trained without pause for the last several weeks and now there were only a few days remaining until the large barbecue that had been spread throughout the training zone and even to Kharon the one opportunity he would give the Vulpis Squad to cease handling the electromagnetic radiation from the Hierarchy of Burden and relax

However Randidly felt somewhat aggravated as he felt the stretch of training coming to an end If anything he felt like he needed a few more months before he deserved a break He might not have as distinct a goal as when he was motivated by revenge against Wick but he wanted to stay active Those thoughts he kept close to his heart because he knew how Neveah would react but one of his main goals was to improve his Stats and felt quite far away

The Stat Evolution Path cost ten thousand PP Currently Randidly only had a little over two thousand PP even after he sat down with Neveah and began to grind up his long disused Aether and Engraving based Skills Still half as much would likely get him the PP he needed Randidly only needed to use five thousand PP in order to trigger another PP Tithe

Skill growth was slow right now but it would steadily accumulate And if he could increase his Endurance to something useful it would begin to accelerate even further He could push forward with the Hierarchy he could expand his experiments with Nether he could specialize his emotional affects for each image

Randidly looked down at his hands and flexed them He vocalized the secret thought that drifted across the surface of his mind isolated and unmoored A constant remnant of the toils that had brought him here Will I be strong then

Of course he could only catch glimpses of the swirling layers He dare not look any deeper than that the only way to extract the secrets of a Nether Prince was by entering it and consuming it as they had done on the frontlines And Randidly dearly didnÆt want to do that to the last remnant he had of Helen

His eyes ached as he stared at the inky darkness but no tears began to fall from his eyes He simply stared blankly at the glossy surface of the Nether sphere Belatedly he realized he should have brought flowers or something

His gaze sharpened Because he could sense a very familiar sensation hovering around the edges of the Nether Prince With great care he stretched out a hand and brushes his palm against the strange energies radiating from its edge The corners of his mouth curved downward the energies that Randidly sensed were the very same types of radiation that he dealt with through the Hierarchy of Burden

Randidly raised his gaze Do you have any idea why these energies are seeping in around her

Lucretia and the Patron of Blooms stepped out from behind a rock outcropping The Patron of Blooms spoke first her voice rich with faux concern You know that Nether Prince isnÆt truly Helen

After the aching introspection of RandidlyÆs last ten minutes it felt good to loose the reins he kept on his emotions and just burn with fury He might not have nailed the emotional affect for his various images but his efforts had certainly paid dividends in terms of potency His anger became a physical presence towering over the Patron and warping the ambiance of the ridge

The Patron of Blooms coughed to a stop and lowered her gaze With an empathetic glance at Randidly Lucretia gestured for him to pull it back For a second his temper flared again but he knew Lucretia was right and begrudgingly pulled back his fury The heavy pressure in the air vanished leaving the Patron of Blooms with an awkward smile as she stared at the ground

Actually we do know why those phenomena manifest around Nether Princes Lucretia said easily She gently waved at the Patron of Blooms She can explain better than I

RandidlyÆs gaze shifted to the plant woman who shifted uncomfortably underneath his scrutiny Whether it was her desire that he make more Soulseeds or the previous show of temper she was suddenly much more well behaved Ahem Well yes You know Nether Princes are actually a side effect of the Nexus being an isolated universe Elhume made arrangements to gather and recycle the souls and images of the weakest individuals and obviously took great care to ensure that no powerful images could escape his engine even by hiding away in the Tier III area well the attention to these areas meant that there is a small subset of the population that can escapeÆ in death

There are a few very special individuals who usually die early where their soul at the moment of death is more powerful than their image So when the System attempts to gather them they rip through the net A failure on one part of the System leads to a cascading series of failures even I donÆt quite understand the details The soul is too strong to be contained by the weakÆ net sent for them And therefore the image and the soul fall together tearing holes in the System all the way down until they crash into the edge of the Nexus

RandidlyÆs eyebrows rose with something akin to alarm Meanwhile the Patron of Blooms continued her explanation If that soul is weak the impact disperses it Problem solved But if that strange and perfect construct possesses enough integrity it rips a hole through the edge of the Nexus and escapes back to the original universe And the actual Nether Prince that we see The Patron of Blooms pointed to the sphere of darkness dancing with patterns Is a plug of significance the Nexus creates to stop itself from leaking out through these holes

A plug Randidly frowned

Mostly significance donated by the Nexus the Patron of Blooms nodded But of course the base is the individualÆs image it cannot follow the soul to escape the Nexus and is left behind And the Nexus engorges that image with significance to hold the gap Which is why the image eventually refines itself into something truly valuable with the image and the significance And I can already tell that HelenÆs remnant will be quite special

Randidly raised his head back and laughed So even in death Helen left one last fuck you for the Nexus huh

Even if he still felt alone he felt light If Helen tortured to death by Wick could still make trouble for the Nexus what excuse did he have

Chapter 1903

Nrorce sat on the warm sand just enjoying the sound of the tireless ocean expending itself on the shore He couldnÆt deny that the environment of this place was pleasant He came to explore the GhosthoundÆs world in an effort to understand the young man but also as a way to get away from his house so stuffed full of agonizing memories When Randidly offered someone to show him around Nrorce had snorted and left without answering

That departure had been relatively satisfying A small fistful of power that Nrorce had taken for himself Unfortunately he hadnÆt been able to escape the memories as easily as the nagging Randidly As the frothing water receded after each wave he could almost see tiny footprints chasing after the edge

Daddy daddy Look how fast I am The sea can never catch mee

His lips stretched almost unwillingly His body was honest even if his heart ached and tears welled up in the corners of his eyes And even if it does catch you IÆll always save you love

A cool dagger whispered open his chest and slid into his heart Nrorce narrowed his eyes and hunched his shoulders but otherwise didnÆt move as the emotions expended themselves It was not fair to say that Randidly had caused this pain if anything he had saved Nrorce from a slow necrotic death of ignoring the pain until it consumed his soul and left him empty a scarecrow tending his farm

Just the problem was now he had to face that pain every moment of every day

The soft patter of feet on sand distracted Nrorce from his anguish He considered fleeing knowing how Jekyll and hyde the population of this world could be when it came to unexpected non humanoids in their proximity He had already been glared out of several small establishments in the week he had been exploring Expira

If he hadnÆt been able to flare his image and cow most people of this world he suspected they might do worse than stare

But he was high on the dunes above the water and the noise came from below So he stayed still deciding to simply observe Yet what eventually passed below opened his eyes as widely as they would go

A young boy perhaps only ten loped down the beach with larger strides However his posture seemed agonizing He was bent sharply at the waist as he moved so that his torso was perpendicular to the ground Meanwhile his neck curled upward to allow him to see where he was traveling On his back was a massive backpack that was almost double the size of the boy And based on the way it bounced it was incredibly heavy

More than a child he resembled the long striding long necked flightless birds that NrorceÆs daughter always found delightful

His expression was bored but Nrorce didnÆt miss the way he adjusted his feet as the waves came running along the edges and following the receding water back toward the ocean in order to do it again

Even Nrorce couldnÆt really believe he started the interaction He raised his voice and called out to him Kid what the hell are you doing

The boy stopped his feet and twisted his neck around His feet skidded forward through the soft sand He blinked twice at the small blue goblin but quickly began marching toward him Unfortunately for the boy his burden was so heavy that each step he took up the slope of the sand dune had him sliding down just as far After about thirty seconds of just carving away at the side of the dune with no progress the boy took a few steps back got a running start then jumped the five meters up

He landed with a massive explosion of sand that sprayed NrorceÆs face and left him sputtering The dune underneath them trembled a little but didnÆt collapse Nodding to himself in satisfaction the boy took off his backpack and set it on the ground Only then he seemed to notice NrorceÆs efforts to get sand out of his eyes Oh apologies fair traveler You are actually my first customer so IÆm a bit nervous

Customer The goblin wrinkled his nose at the word but the boy had excitedly launched into a rehearsed speech without noticing

I may be a new arrival on the scene of competitive mount ing however I assure you that IÆve trained tirelessly to reach this point The childÆs eyes practically glowed as he looked at Nrorce My legs are strong IÆm good at conversation I have a compass My speeds are far higher than you could manage walking on your own and my company is golden

ArriettiÆs heart sank but they were already dragging him across the sand He didnÆt need an explanation of what the special break zone would entail Again he felt that thrill of panic that he would somehow reveal himself for a fraud in front of these enthusiastic powerhouses Err is that appropriate right now Also considering the strange storm over the island

Now is precisely the right time A woman with small fluttering bat wings pumped her fist For two days we are free from training

The leader cut in as they rounded the edge of the sand beach coming upon a rockier area Plus the storm is actually the greatest boon to the game that weÆve ever encountered The ever shifting nature of the environment means that you need to adjust on the fly Images are dampened Your physical power can only carry you so far

So Arrietti allowed himself to be carried along as the group veered sharply away from the beach and headed deeper into the island They wove around trees the training Overseers laughing and hooting in pleasure The strange pressure of being within the storm continued to wear at ArriettiÆs nerves but he gradually calmed himself

Sometimes you are like a fowl Selene sometimes said to him when he came back to their shared apartment huffing over the dayÆs work ItÆs less than something legitimately bothers you but that you just need some time for your rustled feathers to settle And thatÆs fine

Soon they arrived at the bottom of a low hill where three bowling lanes had been painstakingly carved Their glossy black surface spoke more of obsidian than polished wood but Arrietti supposed they would be smooth enough Strange metal arms curled up from the hill above the lanes but he realized that they were likely canopies with the covering portion removed He had heard that the island experienced a constant rain during the actual training sessions

Gleaming balls of precious metal sat by the head of the lanes gold sapphire and emerald The pins were slightly oversized and appeared to be carved from ivory Silver lines wove themselves in graceful swirls across their fronts

IsnÆt she a beauty The leader asked Arrietti had been inclined to release a begrudging nod of acceptance but his eyes widened as something else caught his attention

He pointed to the top of the hill What are they

Oh the ants The woman with the bat wings shrugged as though ants as large as motorcycles were a common occurrence They own the territory North of this Sometimes they come to watch

Every few seconds Arrietti cast a worried glance over his shoulder at the ants but the Overseers dragged him forward and encouraged him to give the lanes a try Soon he had the gold ball in his hands and stood at the head of the lane

At the very least Arrietti mused They have the good sense to finally be silent when the ball is in my hand

Now that he stood at the lane with the ball raised he could see how the Overseers were right The pressure storm the Ghosthound made with Nether was extremely strange it exerted influence on several aspects of life So it could erode both kinetic momentum and also image power so it was difficult to predict how injecting either into the ball would result Arrietti felt a little more familiar with the environment but still unable to guess how to throw a good ball

So he shrugged and took his smooth steps forward His plant foot was sure and he felt the satisfying flick of the wrist as he unleashed the ball burying just a seed of his image in the object before he released it

The bowling ball seemed to skate sideways toward the gutter zones and ArrietiÆs panic rose again in his chest But then the spin caught the glossy surface they did an excellent job replicating wood in obsidian There was a strange wiggle to its movements due to the storm but the ball smashed the pins in an explosive arrival

A strike

If anything that just made Arrietti more nervous

Chapter 1904

As expected of the Commissioner

On his first ball on a completely new alley

Not even a test throw

Truly that feeble image seed was exactly what the ball needed did you notice how it hit the pins only physically Sublime

Just watching him I feel like a better bowler

The peanut gallery of powerful trainers launched into their usual ridiculous praises causing the fat beads of sweat on ArriettiÆs back to multiply He could imagine SeleneÆs sigh when she saw how sweaty he had become Obviously he had just thrown a ball casually without thought Obviously his image seed had been wiped out by the storm because his image was comparatively weak Obviously his success was a result of circumstance and luck

His eyes followed the movements of some other trainers as they set the pins back up in record time He also knew that admitting his inadequacies wouldnÆt matter theyÆd ignore him and

A trumpeting peel carried over the small hill cutting off the panic inducing cycle of his thoughts When he raised his gaze his eyes bulged to see that the number of ants on the top of the hill had multiplied while he had thrown the ball he could see at least a hundred new ants their carapaces suddenly seeming quite serrated and intimidating standing in orderly rows above the bowling lanes

Two rather slender ants with oddly shaped pincers raised their heads and released another clear trumpet blast from their mouths It was difficult to see the movements of the ants from the lower elevation but the whole formation began to shift Then from between those two unique ants came a third ant that seemed to settle over the scene like morning mist

The typical ants had a dark reddish brown carapice But this one had a creamy pink exterior that seemed to glitter It had wings long translucent wings but they appeared so delicate that it flapped behind the ant like a gauze cape rather than implements of flight Compared to the other ants its limbs were more slender and delicate its eyes closer together above a mouth with smaller mandibles

It looks like an antÆs attempt to make itself look more human Arrietti was struck by this sudden thought as he looked at its delicate and purposeful steps It descended down the hill the two trumpet ants remaining behind but a burly and oversized ant with curling horns acting as a guard

That ant huffed dangerously and shook its head from side to side seeming to look for an outlet for its aggression

The lead ant reached the bottom under the watchful gaze of all the powerful individuals and serenely drifted forward Its wings undulated softly Its thin limbs carried it up to the place holding the bowling balls It reached out with a foreleg and picked one up After testing the weight the ant moved against the crowd parted and allowed it to walk up to the front of a lane

After a decidedly haughty glance at Arrietti the ant scuttled forward and threw the ball awkwardly sidearm down the lane But to the watchers surprise the side arm thrown ball rapidly began to adjust its vector until it slammed into the pins and knocked down nine

Immediately the trumpeters began a waxing note of victory The hundreds of ants started slamming their feet up and down with such ferocity that Arrietti worried that the hill would collapse on top of them But just as the ants seemed willing to work themselves up into a fever pitch their bowler screeched in fury and waved its forelegs aggressively At once the other ants all fell silent Its guard released a plaintive huff

Rubbing its antenna together the bowling ant waited for the overseers at the end of the lane to clear away the knocked over pins and then easily picked up the spare with another sidearm throw Then the ant tilted its head to the side and regarded Arrietti once more with a fixed stare

And rumored to be the richest too And with incredible political influence And known to teach other individuals and swiftly make them much more powerful than they had been in the past Sydney began listing things off and raising fingers as she spoke Then she narrowed her eyes at those raised fingers as though an answer waited within the thin digits Honestly just having a connection with Randidly Ghosthound puts you in contact with Kharon the Order Ducis and a lot of the original leadership of Donnyton People might even be tempted to go out for it for job reasons

Neveah reached out and put her hands on Tatiana and SydneyÆs shoulders Her violet eyes danced And with the three of us weÆd probably whittle down to a list of excellent candidates You are half of my soul after all so I canÆt have you spending the rest of your life with someone boring or mooning after someone who doesnÆt even notice you are gone

IÆm not willing to do that Randidly shook his head emphatically

Ah really Neveah released an aggrieved expression IÆve actually already thought of a good candidate What about that cloud sculptor from that greek Bubble City And from all accounts sheÆs absolutely radiant

IsnÆt she a bit old for Randidly SydneyÆs lips twitched

Neveah considered that SheÆs in her mid thirties or was before the System arrived But she came out of her bubble relatively late and with how much time Randidly has spent in time dilated areas

The two continued to animatedly discuss this womanÆs compatibility with him Tatiana patted Randidly on the shoulder as he stared at them with a pale face Relax and let them have their fun In the end I would be the one who had to plan such an event and IÆm having a stress headache just thinking about all the arguments weÆd have to have to narrow down the applicant pool If anything you are too juicy a target for something like this Fame and power comes with a price

I really Randidly shook his head again but now a small smile was starting to form on his face At the very least these conversations had distracted him from the lingering dissatisfaction he felt about the Vualla situation I really donÆt know how to feel when you call me too juicyÆ

Do you know how many times a week men contrive to put themselves in my path Tatiana said Or they cast Skills or hexes related to love on me from afar and try to draw me toward them ItÆs tapers off while Kharon is moving but every time we stop a few more manage to finagle themselves aboard the Wandering City The worst sort of cockroaches Most of the time they are selfish and I donÆt mind crushing back their image to teach them a lesson but some are well meaning TheyÆve seen me from afar and have been carrying a torch for a while And IÆm just the mayor of Kharon Randidly you are the head of the Dragon

Sydney joined their conversation too even though her expression is reluctant Even now the world changed and the System human beings still love the mystery of a fantastic life different than our own A peek into the orbit of a specialÆ being We even have words for it your Nether has a magnetism that canÆt be replicated All the things youÆve accomplished all your victories your interactions with other worlds and the Nexus go to anywhere on Expira right now offer a young woman a hand and tell her that you can change her life for a night I think youÆd very rarely find someone who would say no

RandidlyÆs heart twinged for a second only partially because of what the three women were saying to him but because he abruptly felt how right they were Not about his appeal to the average woman on Expira which was a prospect he didnÆt dare consider too deeply but the way his whole being was affected by what he had accomplished People saw him differently

His mundane actions were part of a pattern

In a way I always considered myself a maestro His eyes widened and unfocused His Nether Core rapidly accelerated building to something profound That I manipulated the patterns and the energies originated from me But itÆs not that simple I am the pattern The way I move and breath and act and feel All those aspects are part of a pattern

ThatÆs why the Nether King seemed to birth those organic swirls without effort Because it was the pattern incarnate a moving symphony of cascading organic brushes If I can achieve that

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 683

Congratulations Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath has grown to Level 675

A tremor ran through his Nether Core One of the shadows within it began to stir if I can integrate that fully then I think IÆll finally figure out how to keep improving my Nether Core

Chapter 1905

Sydney knew that awkward not a smile expression on RandidlyÆs face She had spent far too much time knowing him watching him grow to miss how ill equipped he felt to deal with this conversation regarding his romantic desirability Even though he had taken a lot of steps forward as he adapted to the System and grew in confidence he hadnÆt transformed into an unrecognizable form

At moments like these the old Randidly peaked through all the Stats and Levels and images and it made her both happy and depressed His pained reactions hadnÆt shifted that much

Yet in the next moment a change came over him Randidly relaxed All the tension he carried in his arms and shoulders vanished He raised his head and his eyes were piercing emerald and he projected palpable confidence The air around them seemed to swirl inward as though he was breathing in and the force of that action tugged them nearer to him SydneyÆs eyes widened it was as though their teasing conversation had triggered some sort of womanizing transformation in Randidly

With a fluid grace that seemed impossible even to SydneyÆs empowered senses Randidly pivoted and stretched a hand out toward Neveah His grin was winning and assured Let me change your life At least for a night

Neveah snorted but willingly took his hand YouÆve already done so when my soul was secreted away inside of a Raid Boss are you confident that you can do it again Here with no preparation

RandidlyÆs grin widened Sydney could feel the air around him change again an outward pressure instead of an inward tide That energy flowed through their hands going from Randidly to Neveah However even witnessing this transfer Sydney was unable to truly understand what he was doing Meanwhile Neveah sucked in a ragged gasp Oh Oh oh Of course Of course Why the hell didnÆt we see it before

Both of us are a bit limited Randidly said slowly Still holding NeveahÆs hand he offered a small bow to both Tatiana and Sydney ThatÆs why friends are important to help you notice when your perception is insufficient

Neveah and I need to do a bit of last minute investigation Randidly continued His eyes flicked back up to the sky He had deactivated most of the furious storm that had thundered above the island in the past few weeks but low wispy clouds slunk across the horizon as though just waiting for his bid to return Tatiana if there is anything you need let me know But be careful Someone else is going to try and make a storm of this party

TatianaÆs face shifted I assume youÆve heard about the situation with Alana

What happened with Alana RandidlyÆs face creased into a frown Then he shook his head Well if anyone can take care of herself it would be her ItÆs just the significance

There are massive worms of it Neveah whispered Her face had gone unnatural pale Slithering toward us even now Their mouths are open and they

Heh The apple doesnÆt fall far from the tree I guess Randidly bared his teeth at the sky You want to take a bite Ah what is this Someone is wielding a luck based Skill against us I think they will find the scales on which I operate arenÆt so easy to tip

Huang Li stepped forward The Chimera woman wiped out an entire city in the Northern portion of the Great Sea At least four thousand dead I was in the area noticed the loss of life managed to subdue her before she could wander around and continue her killing spree And at the time I noticed her strange innocence she seemed to hold no guilt over the killing On the journey back she seemed genuinely surprised that taking life was bad She said

A Chimera running wild in populated areas is a tragedy But something weÆve seen before The conservatives think we will let them start marginalizing a score of worlds just because this latest monster shows humanoid intelligence AlanaÆs mouth twisted

But Huang Li shook his head slowly I should have led with this She told me that she had been raised to view humanoids as disposable Some of Zone 7Æs other agents went to investigate and corroborated the ChimeraÆs story A certain subset in the FrogpeopleÆs world had found the innocent and intelligent Chimera and understood how she could be used She was taught to slaughter humans and then deliberately released into that area of the Great Sea where there would be very little oversight If I hadnÆt happened to pass by the death toll might be closer to a hundred thousand before it was discovered

That number rang out in the grey cell for several seconds Even with all the liberated Bubble Cities they had lost far too many in the arrival of the System to sniff at a loss of a hundred thousand lives

A terrorist attack Alana huffed out a disbelieving laugh From a non human group

Raina sighed Her glossy blonde hair and its pink stripes felt garish next to the grey of the cell ThatÆs why they called me To persuade the culprits to reveal any outside influences As far as I can tell there are none This was really just a malicious group of frogpeople who primed and released a Level 99 Chimera with the idea that it should kill a certain human

We were busy hiding the Chimera here until we could figure out how to handle the situation Huang Li whispered Now the jailbreak has become an enormous news story The actions of the trio from Kharon Academy just took us by surprise

Alana licked her lips How lucky for the conservatives Several times in a row Oh did you say one particular human

The Ghosthound GhostÆs tinny voice released the unsurprising answer The Chimera had been taught to harbor deep resentment for the Ghosthound And as far as we can tell it just didnÆt know humans enough to tell the difference between them

Alana closed her eyes again Her brain ticked through the branching future paths with a mechanical precision TheyÆve begun spreading the information about this Chimera through the news channels then

Raina nodded The usual group of talking heads are doing much fist slamming over the lack of security on Expira and the rise in crime since the portals opened Much of it is pretty direct attacks on the Order Ducis for failing to police the works of the Ghosthound Considering the business opportunities the portals represent they would keep up this refrain for long but right now they are broadcasting a constant low thrum of alarm with System Skills Even individuals who donÆt regularly consume those sorts of news programs will absorb it just by proximity to those who do by that point it will be through the basic human pattern of mirroring their peers and they wonÆt even be able to sense a Skill at work

They will need something else though Alana said slowly A nail in the coffin to silence the opposition And based on their sudden luck

Today is the first day of the GhosthoundÆs bbq Ghost chirped Based on my observations a lot of bodies are heading to that event A lot of different races will be there If something were to happen then I suspect the conservatives will beat us to establishing a World Government And one that discriminates very overtly against anyone but them

Chapter 1906

Randidly quirked an eyebrow as Sunan dashed back and forth carrying the small serving plates and tongs one armful at a time to their place along the long table Next to Randidly Sam shrugged with an exhausted expression His eyes remained fixed on the saddle the kid wore even while helping set up I really have no idea He just got it fixed in his head that the coolest characters in stories are the mounts Haah youÆll understand when you have kids of your own Sometimes you just gotta hope the fixation passes

The sun had worked its way up toward the sky hanging directly overhead so it avoided the lingering screen of storm clouds completely and just beat directly overhead Even with the breeze coming across the island the heat was still a physical presence humming against all their backs Hearing their conversation Sunan paused in his work and regarded the three men very seriously Couriers are the mounts of information and substance Mail is the glue that holds society together This counts as training

Then he returned to his tasks Further down the beach Selene and Tatiana squatted next to the smoking pits and poked around the food should be done soon based upon their loose schedule Most of the other attendees for the barbecue were either on the beach on the opposite side of the island or enjoying a cocktail morning on the moored barge For now not even the workers who were going to help manage the event had arrived

Randidly and his companions had the beach to themselves Which only served to emphasize how strange Sunan was

Nrorce clicked his tongue and shook his small head at the rushing kid but Randidly was surprised by how warm the goblinÆs expression was Honestly kids will dig up pet peeves you didnÆt know you had All the while displaying less sense than a hedgehog carrying an armful of balloons But thatÆs why

The goblin’s words cut off abruptly as Sunan came hurrying back picking up more silverware from the pile and carrying it by hand back over to the serving table With surprising delicacy Sam patted the smaller figure on the back as Nrorce continued to be unable to finish the sentence Then he gestured with his chin and the three left Sunan to his work

Part of the bratÆs energy comes from the fact you are watching Randidly Sam grunted Kid grew up on stories of you With us gone hopefully he will tire himself out a bit and get bored Maybe even play with some children his own age Besides brought something special from DonnytonÆs distillery

As the trio wandered toward the treeline Sam produced a heavy glass bottle with a glossy black label Nrorce harrumphed in approval as Sam popped the heavy topper off and took a sip for himself The goblin went next making Sam look like a disapproving choir director with a full gulp of the amber liquid They were on the giant vegetal collective portion of the island so Randidly eyed the vines suspicious as the plant matter withdrew slightly to allow them easy passage into the maze like palm tree trunks

He didnÆt think the vegetation would lure them in to consume them considering he was amongst them but you never knew what vines were thinking And he made a mental note to keep some of his attention on the trees to protect the less powerful guests at the event

The last thing he needed was to birth another blood drinking plant being Although the Patron of Blooms would be over the moon at the prospect

The bottle felt cool when Nrorce begrudgingly passed it over having taken a second gulp for himself Randidly hefted it feeling the weight sensing the swirling notes of significance and image that had been lovingly layered into the liquid For a product of Expira he was impressed by the effort The distillery clearly had the process down and cared about each bottle they produced

He lifted the glass bottle and allowed a little of the whiskey to seep onto his tongue His eyes glazed offer He tasted toffee and warm hearth and coffee beans and notes of vanilla and citrus rind Warmth spread outward across his tongue and then crept down into his throat For several seconds he felt beyond himself sitting somewhere warm and safe wrapped in a wool blanket looking out at a snow covered wonderland A ghost of an image possibility flickered in front of his vision

Randidly took another sip careful not to look too hard the force of his attention would destroy the small image the liquor contained Nrorce smacked his lips Good stuff

Small batch Everett the guy who does all of their mixtures nurtured this one for almost five years You can feel his care in every sip Sam nodded He snatched the bottle back as Nrorce reached out to take it from Randidly And it cost me a pretty penny so letÆs not guzzle it eh How much liquor does your body need anyway

Sam nodded slowly Then he scowled over at Nrorce who had just finished the last few drops He grumbled and produced another bottle The goblinÆs eyes brightened and he rubbed his hands together HereÆs to not regretting finishing the bottle If I had nursed it imagine how long it would take before we brought out more

What is the purpose of the human gathering The chimera woman asked The four of them sat on a small boat powered through the water on the Scrawl across the wood The sun smoldered overhead Todd sat in the back toying with a few more pieces of driftwood Zack sat in the middle eyeing the horizon Ever since they had returned to Expira he had been on edge expecting an ambush around every turn

If Alana Donal hadnÆt been there when Huang Li caught up with them

Zeta who had been positively enthusiastic about every interaction with the strange creature since they had escaped nodded emphatically at the question For many weeks I have considered this question As far as I can tell humans derive social energy from each other while in close proximity Some are better at this than others but all need exposure to each other in order to maintain normal functions

And that can also be through sex The Chimera said with the delight of a child who had finally found out how to drive the peg into its proper hole

Zeta hummed and swayed causing the boat to rock Ahem No I do not believe that is always accurate This barbecue is primarily social interaction while sex involves the exchange of biological fluids for pleasure

Zeta donÆt talk like you understand sex Zack shook his head his tone carrying a moderate amount of scorn

Then you have had sex The Chimera whipped her pale eyes around to focus on Zack His skin tingled ever since she had casually attacked a group of people they had encountered in the countryside and the combined force of the trio had barely been enough to halt the violence he couldnÆt quite meet her gaze Even Todd had withdrawn into himself

I have but it was just Zack tried to think of a way to describe how anxiety inducing and sweaty his first time having sex had been One problem had been the thick summer heat another was his partner had done it before but was still quite inexperienced and kept saying things like well when my last boyfriend did it Æ and worst of all he had been hyper aware of the noises of their breathing and the bed squeaking while their bodies pressed together Considering how high the Perception was of the average student at Kharon Academy there was no way the entire school didnÆt know what they were doing

Just remembering that night made Zack flush red

Notice the shift in skin hue Zeta pointed at Zack This indicates arousal

The mere memory allows for that arousal to return How fascinating Will one of you engage in sex with me IÆd like to experience it The moon whispers that tonight would be an excellent opportunity The Chimera looked innocently around at them all At the back of the boat Todd choked back a laugh

Zeta made that strained humming noise again seemingly too overwhelmed by this prospect for its machinery to properly transition All the while the current continued to carry them forward Zack hoped they would make it to the GhosthoundÆs barbecue as soon as possible

Chapter 1907

The nose of their canoe cut into the sand jolting the occupations and sending the tail end of their vessel drifting sideways on top of the lapping wave A quick cut of ToddÆs hand sent a shudder through the sea vessel lifting it out of the water and carrying them onto the flat portion of the rocky beach

The Scrawl shimmered and dissipated

The Chimera woman hopped out first falling to her knees and pressing her forehead into the sand in the direction of the water Thank you mother sea for bearing us to this location I will miss your salt and your curves An auspicious voyage

By the time Zeta had scrambled out of the canoe to join her the woman was peering up at the low hills above the beach She pointed at some movement Are those enemies Shall we sing a song of slaughter and dance amongst their corpses

Those appear to be local fauna There is no need to sing any songs related to violence Zeta hummed and his eyes clicked as the lenses shifted to provide better vision

Zack clambered down onto the sand following the ChimeraÆs pointing finger with his gaze Along the edge of the thick tropical forest a line of ants marched in unison rubbing their forelegs to produce a strange sonorous note Some of the ants even swayed their heads in unison as though this was some sort of celebratory parade Rubbing the back of his neck he turned back to the canoe and offered Todd a hand The younger kid ignored the help and clambered over the side but Zack tried not to take it personally

Hopefully that Chimera doesnÆt lose her cool and try and go on a murder spree Especially not here on the GhosthoundÆs island Zack adopted a comical grimace

Yet ToddÆs sharp reply cut right through his attempt at humor IsnÆt that exactly why we brought her here So someone else would handle this problem we created Shit could we blame him if the Ghosthound kicks us out for forcing him to address this

The words were sudden and violent ripping open the space between them and leaving the gash hanging in the air for several seconds Zack tilted his head to the side Todd are you alright I know youÆve been quiet since Zeta suggested we head here but I just thought thought you felt like I do That this Chimera is partially insane and is infecting Zeta with it The Ghosthound will solve this why wouldnÆt he help us

Why would he let the Calamity kill so many people Why does he do anything ToddÆs response was shrill and raw gooey with hidden emotional bleeding For the first time in a long time Todd looked up and met ZackÆs gaze with his own still atrophied and grey ZackÆs eyes widened unprepared for the way that ToddÆs strange outburst would trigger all of his own anxieties

Why couldnÆt I step forward to help Why did I let you hold down the Patron of the Grey alone

They just stared at each other for several long seconds breathing heavily Then without addressing what just happened Todd shook his head and walked past Zack in the direction of the departing two

A vein throbbed in his temple this was a PR moment No need to get into a purposeless fight Kent swallow the rest of his fury and offered a thin smile Ah apologies for that Here let me get you another

Feeling very gallant imagining the positive way others would view him acting so magnanimous considering the circumstances Kent stepped forward up to a waiter and took a glass of wine Then he turned and took a step back toward the woman to offer it to her

The dock cracked beneath him His foot slipped through the shoddy construction and he ended up collapsing onto a knee awkwardly And the motion meant that he threw the contents of the wine cup in the womanÆs face

Wine dribbled down her nose and lips highlighting her strong cheekbones and expressive mouth She smirked at him and then spoke with a raised voice Now sir just because I accidentally spilled on you that is no reason to vindictively

Stop A tired looking man with a military haircut stepped next to the woman elbowing her in the side She pouted and stumbled sideways but said nothing Then the man stepped forward and offered Kent a hand My sincerest apologies Sometimes Hydie here takes teasing a bit too far Are you alright

Kent took the hand and then straightened his suit with a huff once he stood He felt the sweat beginning to pool in his armpits and shook himself so the perspiration wouldnÆt stain the linen He thought the man looked vaguely familiar but couldnÆt place him Maybe he had applied to the Order Scutum Some of KentÆs temper leaked into the words ItÆs fine Just please control your woman in the future Just because you chose her doesnÆt mean the rest of us want to deal with her nonsense

Both the man and the woman raised their eyebrows The womanÆs smile remained in place but it remained increasingly sharp They regarded Kent in unnatural silence as the rest of the party continued around them as though suddenly transformed into cutouts of people still and ominous

Unwilling to be dragged into any further conversation with these two Kent turned away More boats were arriving and loosing their people onto the already crowded pier while the initial group sluggishly shifted inland The prospect of the whole thing collapsing underneath the combined weight of the arrivals didnÆt seem so farfetched considering his foot just punched through the wood The less time he needed to spend here the better

Kent navigated his away around tight discussions curled his lip up at an offered drink from a demi human with purple skin and jutting molars and kept heading in the direction of the head of the Order Ducis

He couldnÆt see Naffur any longer due to the press of bodies but Kent had a good memory Alright letÆs remain positive Solid first impression We share the same goal protecting the sanctity of humanity As long as I can show my sincerity

Kent squeezed through a tight space between two groups and then swayed to a halt having rather abruptly reached the edge of the pier He scowled Naffur had vanished And right as he turned to head back down the pier a hand pressed in the small of his back and pushed him off the edge

He was so thrown by the purposeful malice that he simply spun as he fell toward the water being greeted by that long haired woman who had spilled wine on his suit earlier winking at him Then he hit the placid waves and produced an enormous splash

Chapter 1908

MeatÆs done Selene pulled off plastic gloves and tossed them into the trash can Several workers began to dig up the roasted meat and bring it to the butcher to be cut She nodded to Randidly and Tatiana Just need to spread it out on the plates Hungry people usually will handle the rest on their own even without serving utensils Now I need to go and figure out why my boyfriend is sweating like heÆs related to the three dozen pigs we just smoked

Both Randidly and Tatiana waved as the woman strode purposefully away toward where Police Commissioner Arrietti sighed and stood so dangerously close to the living plant third of the island that a few vines had been surreptitiously creeping closer to him

Randidly raised an eyebrow at Tatiana She certainly has a lot of personality IÆm surprised she ended up with someone like Arrietti

Tatiana clicked her tongue Not you too You know despite how he looks and acts well how he looks and acts most of the time heÆs extremely competent at his job Essentially everyone on the police force looks up to him It just so happens that heÆs the only individual who hasnÆt noticed his own worth For that reason and because he obviously doesnÆt notice how many women make passes at him SeleneÆs rather protective of him But enough about gossip do you really want to be on the serving line

Yea The patterns coming together running here from all over Expira are fascinating ItÆs much easier to see them up close when IÆm submerged in them Randidly looked up at the sky The remnants of his storm continued to linger around a distance halo of smog that hung across the edge of the horizon Meanwhile the day here only became hotter Plus you know I love being a small part of events like this

I do I really do Very prince dressed as a commoner sort of vibe Tatiana shook her head IÆm just worried that your presence will grind the food line to a halt Or cause a few famished individuals to be so overcome with awe that they forget to grab food and just stare only later to succumb to heatstroke You know I hate disposing of bodies for you

You have a lot of worries Your boss probably doesnÆt pay you enough Randidly joked with a grin

Tatiana responded with a hollow laugh as she turned away The worst part is that no matter how much my boss pays me his capital is large enough that he doesnÆt even notice the missing cash Stealing from him feels more like a chore than anything else Even though I do do it just out of habit

Snorting Randidly watched Tatiana go without calling her bluff He knew that she deserved a raise and made a mental note to give her one The only awkward part was that she handle that portion of the finances He needed to figure out how to surprise her with it because he didnÆt want to use her to give her a surprise

Humming to himself Randidly turned and faced the nervous looking group of Order Ducis applicants and volunteers from Kharon Academy that had been trying very hard to seem like they hadnÆt been listening to his and TatianaÆs entire conversation He waved a hand and picked up an apron from the pile Fill in around me at the table Tatiana told you your assignments right LetÆs go around and everyone say your names then letÆs get started

The introductions were less painful than Randidly had anticipated even though he had suggested them on a whim Although most of that was because the momentum of the activity helped distract all the food servers from his presence Plus using that lull Randidly began to weave the significance of his presence and his actions through the surroundings He stopped leaning so heavily on his physical senses and sank into the constant humming layer of Nether that lay beneath everything

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 690

His touch was light as he spread out his feelers through all these individuals giving himself a broader range to experience the arriving patterns He kept the connections loose and the bindings almost imperceptible afraid of somehow altering the trajectory of the lives around him by tying them to himself

The other aspect of this activity was using himself as part of the pattern He was still a bit stiff but he gradually felt the knack of incorporating patterns in his natural movements He saw and felt the ways he moved through the world and shifted the surroundings In small situations like this he could still have a high degree of influence

Ripples of Nether connecting and sharing started arriving in denser and denser clusters

His evolved Focus Exquisite Piety played a pivotal role in this adjustment as well He could pour his attention into the pseudo ritual perhaps even relying on that innate faith that Sydney had pointed out that he possessed as he set it up He leaned into that relying on his own certainty to prop up the spread of his intended patterns

Soon he had a giant conducive bowl of Nether around him that would absorb and transmit information to Randidly Nether Sensation Honestly the effect seemed too good

The humming of the Nether bowl cut off abruptly as the strain finally became too much The pseudo ritual collapsed leaving Randidly only to feel through his skin

Congratulations Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep has grown to Level 704

I can see why that broken Master pursued so many Paths and patterns Even now in my own body I feel like IÆm midway through the Path of Blood again glimpsing the edge of the working but unable to quite catch it Randidly opened his eyes and looked down at his hands the serving plate in front of him was empty He had no idea how long he had stood still and savored the pattern that worked around and through him This world even for all the evil and selfish people is an amazing place

Some small inkling brought RandidlyÆs gaze around He met the dull eyes of a familiar face just now walking up over the sand dunes Todd the young kid who had been bullied at Kharon Academy and taught Randidly how to create a Scrawl The greyness in the eyes was unfamiliar but the features hadnÆt shifted that much

Distance didnÆt matter Randidly still rode high on the flow of Nether The press of physical bodies provided no obstruction to the firm connection between them

But in the next moment the emotional gulf between the Todd that Randidly remembered and this one hit him like a gut punch This young kidÆs faith had been shattered Randidly felt the boyÆs pain and the blame and the deep deep sadness that he carried with him The Nether between them snapped into place and Randidly could practically see the arch of his journey He could feel the agony and confusion that it had taken to reach this point

Todd expected Randidly to be a hero but he had allowed the Calamity to ravage Expira

Something within Randidly curled away from this responsibility but as soon as he noticed he firmed his resolve and lifted his chin He wished he hadnÆt done that but Randidly would do the same thing again in order to teach Expira what it would need on the off chance that he could no longer protect the planet

Yet Randidly felt a turbid bubbling in the pit of his stomach The lance of ToddÆs accusation crossed the distance between them and struck at his heart

Thankfully a distraction emerged Through the crowd Randidly saw a strange monster woman with which he felt a certain kinship in the same literal way that the Alpha Cosmos was his body she was a part of his Nether Core foundation But weirdly she began to raise her arms and shriek as they made eye contact

As with Todd the currently sensitive and raw Randidly felt directly impacted by the significance between them However the woman came with a confusing array of images and aggression Her primary bond seemed to be to the long shadow that Randidly cast across the Alpha Cosmos than any direct interaction

But thatÆs the thing isnÆt it That shadow is me RandidlyÆs eyed glittered as the force of that womanÆs image spread out a grey scythe preparing to sweep forward and lash out at him Wind began to stir and the rising image quickly caught the attention of the powerful individuals on the beach Some twisted around marshaling their own image Bodies swayed wanting to move but kept still by the sheer number of people crowded on the beach

One in particular a man who had apparently been enjoying the party so much that he had leapt into the sea without taking off his linen suit now shoved his way through the crowd to interpose himself between Randidly and the woman In the process he knocked several people to the side An attack A non human attack

Randidly scratched his cheek at such a dramatic response He the Moirae of Ripples deftly reached out at the power that woman aimed at him and just smoothed it away leaving the air placid as the surface of a swamp

The wind died The truly powerful individuals sent a meaningful glance at Randidly as they sensed the edges of what he accomplished but then continued on without addressing what had happened Meanwhile most people hadnÆt noticed the quick shift They were concerned with more mundane matters

Hey asshole One woman got up off the ground brushing sand off herself She jabbed a finger at the man with the soaked linen suit What the hell do you think you are doing

Randidly set down his serving tongs and took a step back As much as it would be painful he needed to speak with Todd

Chapter 1909

His feet felt heavy and his gait felt slow But even more than Randidly the surrounding people seemed to be drifting inflated versions of themselves Every motion was overdone and exaggerated all their significance and connections awkwardly tied into their expression in a partially self defeating machine

You know I wonder what the Nether King saw he shook his head slightly When he looked at me Did I seem this inept

Walking through the emotionally charged crowd felt to Randidly like he was leaning forward and grinding his way through a sandstorm Even after the framework of his Ritual shattered from the strain he still felt overexposed to the elementsÆ of Nether His eyes had been opened and it would be difficult to ever not notice its presence

Especially here on Expira where he didnÆt restrict it to a thin layer

Another part of the discomfort was the tightly pressed bodies who often didnÆt even notice Randidly and buffeted him in their desire to get some more food Part of it was the lingering confusion and fear from that strange monster womanÆs display even if Randidly had wiped away all of the kinetic and image ripples that she had produced for a brief moment she had rung with a clear and aggressive note of violence

Still his own Nether Core continued to churn creating an increasingly comprehensive film of Nether that he wove around his person so he didnÆt need to rub up against the constant cacophony of pattern interactions With that in place he moved a little easier slipping through the crowd with quick steps

However waiting on top of the sand dune were only three individuals not four

Mr Ghosthound sorry for the trouble A red haired young man offered Randidly a half bow considering him nervously as he straightened His eyes flicked to the monster woman This we well we are in a bit over our heads

Randidly nodded slowly as he looked them over The monster woman still regarded him with a crazed intensity but after her initial show of force had been so thoroughly quashed she seemed intelligent enough to know that further attacks werenÆt going to be effective Up close Randidly could sense the significance queer being dragged behind them all lingering like the scent of sulfurous mud being tracked through the barbecue

Tossing a match amongst these few could still blow up this whole event

Still he didnÆt address that Instead Randidly cleared his throat and asked Where did Todd go

The youngest member of the party had vanished while he had been walking through the crowd The automaton lifted its head Ah how embarrassing Sir Ghosthound It appears he has departed before you arrived IÆm sure he sends his warmest regards

He feared you Upon a black moor you stood watching as the grey maggots wormed their way up through the damp soil and ate the farmersÆ crops Suddenly the monster woman spoke Her voice was low and husky Such a blight the insects were Mindless and ravenous Yet even as the people found their vegetables ravaged and began to starve you did nothing but brood The subject of those thoughts hangs like a storm above him

This earned a long glance from Randidly Partly for the strange way she spoke and partly for the sudden politeness as she addressed him after her earlier attack but also because he had felt her reach down and pull that information out of Nether Looking at her curling horns and features he realized that she was one of the Chimeras that had sprung up on Expira A direct result of the creeping strangeness of his own existence evidenced in the isolated universe that was his body

A small frown grew across his face Do all the Chimera possess this ability to access history and connection A natural connection to Nether Which likely means as the presence of Nether in my own capabilities becomes looming Chimeras will remain a threat to the people of Expira as they further develop their own abilities

I wonder what the final count of Bubble Cities is Dmitri muttered to himself

there are just more talented fighters out there Every time there is a clear front runner the world eventually catches up Kouella finished

Raspin snorted Ha So you mean to say that any of these new talents can hold a candle to Alana Donal Or the Sovereign of Ghosts Or break through DonnyÆs Aegis TheyÆve been on top of their game for years Because the Ghosthound jump started their growth giving them a permanent edge So the more power they give to the Cortez siblings the less competitive advantage Donnyton can wield

The head start edge isnÆt permanent Vye interjected

Ah in denial of reality eh Raspin looked at her with gleaming eyes Much to her disgust he took a large bite of his pork ribs before continuing to talk The sauce gleamed on his lips Maybe there used to be different training methods or efficiencies but weÆve been experiencing the System here for almost seven years WeÆve figured out how it works Now there might be minor disputes over methods but training efficiency has reached an all time high And if you started now you might narrow the gap due to diminishing returns on Skill Levels of the people in front of you but is exhausting yourself to close that gap worth it Easy to empathize with the people that just want to leave security to the Orders and go back to normal life

ItÆs not about being the best fighter Kouella pursed her lips ItÆs about protecting yourself About being ready for another shift

ThereÆs also the matter of images Vye added finding this train of conversation quite off putting Even if people might not have the Skill Levels that the early people have earned a powerful image can easily make up that difference

Eh Maybe for a bit But you know people tend to figure things out We found the best training and IÆd bet you anything we will soon find the best images After that there wonÆt be much variety people will just choose the proven one that they like the most Raspin finished chewing and sucked the sauce off his fingers You can sorta see the way it would work with those Class lighthouses through the arches Those who wish to spend their lives chasing the back of someone with a headstart will just emulate a powerful individual with a similar Class IÆm not saying there isnÆt a lot of talent of the newer fighters Just donÆt try and say they can easily catch up

I think the reason we are arguing Dmitri raised his gaze and brought it back down just as quickly Yet when he spoke there was a quiet intensity that Vye felt mirrored in her own heart Is because if too many people start thinking like you and finding training to be pointless the next Calamity will gut us

Even Raspin rocked a bit backward at that thought Vye pressed her eyes shut fighting with the fizzle of dissatisfaction and guilt and dependency that she as a member of the Order Ducis always felt when the First Calamity was addressed Because of the directive from the Ghosthound not to interfere

Of course the true pressure of that event was in the follow up the anticipation of a Second Calamity felt suffocating even now

Ahem Part of the reason no one can catch up is those forerunners are always improving So long as we have them well we can handle it Raspin continued But his forehead displayed a sudden sheen of sweat Waves lapped on the shore wiping away the already shallow footsteps that the group used to arrive here

For several seconds Vye looked at the rivulets of saltwater thinking that the erosion she witnessed wasnÆt some coincidental phenomenon of the tides but the sneering action of an invisible hand a deliberate and mocking dismissal from a natural world that would gleefully bid humanity adieu A little push from the uncaring abyss a nudge off the edge

Is this how the natural world kills us It hibernates and lurks waiting for humanity to weaken itself And then it pounces when we least expect it

Then Vye blinked The moment passed

Chapter 1910

Dusk curled its fingers shyly around the tropical sea rewarding RandidlyÆs attendees with choppy waves of brass molten gold and crimson before the sky exhaled and passed into bruised purple and indigo Night left the air warm encouraging the party to continue without any pause

Randidly had settled on one of the high branches of the central super tree he had somehow birthed He ignored its gentle prodding with its vines as he sat and looked down across the beach At this distance he could feel the reverberations of the conflux of significance but it didnÆt wear at the edges of his attention

In a word he took a break His Nether Core spun at a constant pace methodically reinforcing his own significance against further erosion

He watched the different groups disperse and mingle with one another as Tatiana moved the night to the game portion bringing out balls frisbees and horseshoes for the attendees to use as they pleased Very soon the younger generation stepped forward and engaged in a superhuman version of volleyball to the delight of the crowd When the actual net ripped from a deflected spike moving with enough force to smash through a wooden door someone from Zone 32 cast an illusion of the net making it higher and impossible to destroy

A crowd gathered as the figures blurred in motion the ball ricocheting and being sent across at a speed close to the sound barrier To get the ball over the higher net the players had to leap to great heights and perform acrobatics They landed in massive blasts of sand before throwing themselves up into the air again participating in a mid air fight

Halfway through a furious volley the game was brought to a screeching halt as a comet of fire ripped across the ocean and shot directly above the action Water fizzled at this low flying projectile and the crowd began to mutter Randidly raised an eyebrow but didnÆt interfere The flames gradually dispersed and revealed a gleaming canary yellow skybike and the grinning Elijah Frank arriving in styleÆ to the barbecue Randidly didnÆt even bother to stop himself from rolling his eyes

Meanwhile the dark lump of Kharon also appeared on the horizon as it silently walked up next to the barge some people would camp on the island but most preferred the comfort of an actual city Of course with the Wandering City came a massive luminous fog bank of floating moss spirits Before Kharon had even arrived they swam their way forward in a massive spectral river green They impacted the sea and beach exploding in an emerald sunburst that had every laughing and dancing amongst the lights

A small tributary split off and made a beeline for RandidlyÆs position on top of the tree They followed the thread between them and had quickly embedded themselves in the area around him They burrowed into the bark and spiraled around the leaves At first the mega tree seemed alarmed with its vines swaying back and forth in agitation But quickly it felt the rejuvenating energy of the moss spirits and it began to hum with pleasure The vines poked at the spirits trying to ascertain their origin

Chuckling to himself Randidly looked down at another figure speeding across the sea Compared to Elijah Frank this one moved without worrying about being noticed in her approach She quickly leapt across the treetops below and then swung up the branches of the massive tree

When she spun up on the branch where Randidly was situated he raised an eyebrow as he examined her Several recent Nether connections pulsed at her back thick and humming with urgency I thought those kids had a lot of significance trailing after them but youÆve stolen the lionÆs share of it huh

Ah youÆve met the Chimera woman then Alana Donal sighed and cracked her neck Randidly wondered why she seemed so different than usual but then he realized that she wasnÆt wearing her typical leather armor She wasnÆt even holding a spear Plus her fingers were vaguely smoking Yes I think most of the attention has shifted In the end the kids donÆt matter as much as the fact that they recognized members of Kharon Academy rescued a known criminal from Zone 7 custody Gives certain groups a lot of grounds for criticism against you

Randidly forced out a laugh as he turned over that information in his mind DonÆt worry on my account I can handle a little criticism

AlanaÆs bitter smile made him pause Randidly cleared his throat and stepped toward her to put his hand on his shoulder She looked down at the hand in surprise for a second before she met his eyes while he spoke Look I know this is about me right They think I should have handled the Expira situation differently So if you need any help please let me know I really appreciate whatÆs been done for me Especially by you Alana Without you Expira wouldnÆt have gotten to this point Your firm resolve held the line when it mattered When the Calamity was prepared to morph into something truly deadly

This time her smile was a lot more genuine Tentatively she reached up and patted his hand Without armor her shoulder seemed surprisingly thin This thank you But you donÆt need to worry about it This is our role right You handle the threats from outside in the Nexus we take care of what’s going on within the Alpha Cosmos Besides arenÆt you just here because you are bored Maybe if you invited me out to fight in the Nexus IÆd let you muck around in politics here

Yea thatÆs fair Randidly winced He coughed once to try and regain his composure When he touched Alana he felt resonance from the connection between them pure and strong A few flashing stills of her image drifted through examples of her treating his actions with a reverence that he very clearly felt he didnÆt deserve

Because from what he witnessed the most he had in common with a religious figure was how ominously silent he was when his supporters had truly needed him And in his mind he had done it for their own good

Smaller threads from Tatiana Donny Sydney Neveah Heiffal

Congratulations Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual has grown to Level 503

He stitched everything together with great care balancing all his hopes and dreams for Expira The more threads he incorporated the more that seemed to swim after them begging to be included by their own connections The working stretched higher and higher beginning to also sink into the ground and sea And as the Nether Ritual took shape around him the island itself got caught up in the working

Randidly grimaced as his body began to ache channeling a vast amount of foreign Nether without letting his own Nether Core alter the flow Especially because of the danger of his image handling Calamities this had to be independent of him He pulled at the mass of significance swirling below and a whole worldÆs worth of history began to follow behind it Without taking control of it Randidly called on his Authority to Seize to pull more and more deepening the working he created

The Nether felt alive in his hands Or rather his grip on the connection to the whole of Expira was so vital that even contact invigorated him The story of this world that had once existed outside the System had been waiting for someone to begin telling it Now it lent its Weight to the Nether Ritual

Congratulations Your Skill Precise Nether RItual has grown to Level 529

However his series of steps to reel in more Nether proved too effective Randidly rocked back on his heels almost falling off the branch of the supertree as he attempted to channel it Too many streams of Nether wound themselves together at once each single thread thickening to a rope and then knitting itself into a fishermanÆs net dragging along a whole slew of other connections As the Nether Ritual continued to sprawl outward piling up into the sky and digging down into the sea Randidly quickly had to admit that his Willpower wasnÆt enough to support all the significance

A strange luminance began to glimmer along the edges of the flows a strange sort of gorgeous friction as meaning rushed at ever faster speeds to create an edifice to Expira

RandidlyÆs breath hissed between his teeth as he saw the accelerating movement and saw the moss spirits sense it too rising up into the air to follow the flow They provided the physical representation of the strange luminance Reaching inside himself Randidly found his sturdy Yggdrasil image and brought all those Nether flows through it It acted as an expanded highway of energy lessening the ache his physical form had to endure

But soon as the Nether Ritual swelled to dizzying heights and distant depths even Yggdrasil began to tremble underneath the significance that swirled into him

Below the people cooed in awe as the emerald lights rose to join the stars Meanwhile Randidly pressed his Nether Core to its limits to support more and more support structures a framework to handle the huge amount of significance that had arrived Already he could feel the original form straining and bending underneath its weight and he reinforced the structure as rapidly as he could

This is a hope A prayer Randidly trembled as his mind began to throb with the mental strain He worked frantically having to eschew understanding and rely on intuition to create space for the force that poured through him as both his body and Yggdrasil could barely endure A bridge built toward nothing hoping that on the other side Expira might find hope Whatever Expira becomes whatever choices these people make let them not forget how difficult it was to walk the Path to reach here

How the small struggles on Expira are just a prelude to a bigger danger

He raised his hands and felt his skin tingle with the rapid passage of Nether The world around him spun He looked up and couldnÆt even see just the tip of what he had made Then he lowered his gaze trying not to collapse Due to the queer luminosity that accumulated from so many gathering flows of Nether the core glimmered below It sank and settled in the depths of the planet as it began to activate

And Randidly Ghosthound smiled spent and collapsing because for a brief moment he felt small before the whole of humanity’s accomplishments This history that he had just channeled had meaning

So long as he protected them for long enough this world would grow strong

Chapter 1911

The individuals came in groups of two or three driven by the strange shift they had all just felt in the world and also due to their shared desire to protect the future of Kharon The meeting had originally been scheduled for after the weekend but the rapid progress of events made it clear they needed to reach an understanding now

The strange working wrought by Randidly was just an extra twist on an already hectic week

Derek Moss and Hydie Mordath came first him scanning the small clearing within the forest and her dragging out some logs to make impromptu seats His eyes flicked around searching for threats

The lack of present enemies and the echoing sounds of laughter below proved to be an unnerving combination

Vye arrived next slipping out of the darkness her footsteps covered by the continuing revelry happening on the beach below Elijah Frank chased after her his hair windswept and his chic white jacket stained by dirt and leaves He tried several times to draw her into a conversation but she pointedly ignored him Tatiana her secretary Wolfram and Naffur came soon after followed by Selene the goblin Nrorce and Commissioner Arrietti The former two were engaged in a heated debate over the proper way to raise high quality meat

Considering how high quality the barbecue had been Derek salivated a bit to imagine even tastier food

Alana Donal and Hank Howard came and then Sam and Regina Mrs Hamilton and Ghost were surprise arrivals because they hadnÆt made an appearance at any of the barbecue events Heiffal came with Raymund Ballast both releasing an oppressive physical aura that had Derek Moss rubbing his chin

Looks like it really is worth it to train on this island He mused

The final group was also something of a surprise Not due to their presence because no one would deny their connection to the Ghosthound and their contribution to ExpiraÆs fate Mostly it was because of how unsure they seemed to be about whether they should be included

Zack Krum looked around His expression wasnÆt exactly defiant but to DerekÆs eyes it looked like the young man was ready for a rejection He was poised to flinch away from any harsh words We didnÆt well I felt the pull of something here that I donÆt really understand If we are bothering anyone

That strange sensitivity from the GhosthoundÆs working it looks like we will have to investigate who exactly has access to it Derek shared a glance with Naffur whose pursed lips told him that the younger man was thinking the same thing

Of course not Alana spoke confidently She smiled with unusual brightness as Todd who flushed and ducked his head a little at the affection

Next to her Hank Howard leaned back against a tree stump and gestured vaguely Take yur seats YouÆve done more than earn it

Even I One whose fingers have soaked in pools of innocent blood The Chimera woman seemed puzzled as she looked around After I snarled at the Ghosthound earlier

Ha The cowboy grinned at the Chimera Then his whole disposition shift death rode in his eyes his guns at his sides suddenly weighed down by the lives they had taken His aura became suffocating Even Derek couldnÆt help but shiver You goofed for sure An ant picking a fight with a titan ThatÆs just youthful spunk But ta your other question do ya think any of our hands s clean girlie

The Chimera bowed deeply to Hank Howard and then she Zack Krum Todd and the Automaton joined the group Tatiana stood and cleared her throat The fact that all of you were guided here means you both care about the state of Expira and that you possess the requisite sensitivity to be even more proactive about it However letÆs start by touching on this new sense that we can all tap into My connection gave me a bit of extra insight that IÆd like to share

Again much of his current training capability seemed to be capped He wanted to improve his Nether understanding but that was a slow process of experimentation He wanted to improve the emotional affect of his images but the bits of space that prevented them from aligning perfectly werenÆt problems he could brute force his way through He wanted to continue through the Hierarchy of Burden but his unevolved Endurance meant that he still couldnÆt endure exposure to true entropy for very long

Yet Randidly didnÆt feel bothered by the lack of easy Paths forward If anything the small break for the barbecue and some of the conversations he had gave him patience Or as Sydney would point out they gave him faith that as long as he kept working an answer would come

Even if that answer was just him accumulating enough PP to trigger the next Soulskill Tithe

So he worked He practiced Skills pushing himself to his limits He wove smaller Nether Rituals almost skittish about being dragged along with the massive ritual that now wove itself into the fabric of Expira Despite the headaches that resulted he continued to try his hand at the Hierarchy of Burden Raymund and DiOrtho continued to toughen themselves up meaning that almost the entirety of the electromagnetic layer was handled when he made his attempts That decreased the difficulty but it wasnÆt enough

After a particularly dizzying bit of exposure to entropy Randidly woke up and shook his head Heh canÆt wait until the recruits get around to handling the light radiation

He arched his back enjoying the satisfying cracks Then he hopped to his feet and continued training

Days passed into weeks A month had flown by since the barbecue had occurred and then two Randidly lost himself in the familiar activities feeling the edges of his Nether perception sharpen his emotional affect strengthen and his body toughen

In the broader Expira a confrontation was brewing Yet Randidly sensed it without interfering Because at the same time he felt his supporters moving against those forces He had given them this whatever he had made of Nether Until they asked for further assistance it would have to be enough

In the end the breakthrough Randidly had been searching for came from an unexpected place after serving as the core conduit during those frantic moments of the Nether Ritual Yggdrasil had experienced a shift Gradually the energy pumping through the powerful tree began to change its composition

Perhaps under normal circumstances the energy pressure wouldnÆt have been enough After all Yggdrasil had already gone through a dozen refinements to reach this point The volume of energy it handled was stupendous Randidly had pressurized and pulled vast amounts of energy through that massive trunk in the past He had forcefully elevated a few of the Skills by searing them with power

Yet in the end it was the irrelevant act of the Nether Ritual that turned out to be the key Randidly had planted something into the core of Expira although he hadnÆt intended to do so at the time He simply needed support enough to ground the massive flows of force that had begun to run through his body

A small act but the planting became meaningful Now gradually the World Tree began to germinate A seed had been pressed into the soil and that changed everything He took a deep breath gathering energy through him and around him funneling into Yggdrasil to help it take that last step

Congratulations Your Skill the World Tree Sips from Every Realm has grown to Level 713

Randidly sat on the lip of the volcano with his eyes closed steam wicking off of his torso and pulled away by the tosseling wind In his image energy pulsed with his beating heart becoming incendiary to the point that the trunk of Yggdrasil seemed to shimmer and melt A core of plasma ran through the massive tree squirming and seeking the slightest weakness to break out of its shell

Randidly licked his dry lips A few more drops of energy managed to squeeze their way into the core of Yggdrasil and join that contorting core of plasma Small cracks formed across the bark yet still the tree remained firm

In a battle of stubbornness RandidlyÆs eyes danced Not even you can beat me Yggdrasil

Nether and Aether spun together constricting his Soulspace even further With the prospect of an evolution so close he refused to back down

Chapter 1912

As it turned out his images were just as stubborn as Randidly was

Three days of teeth grinding torture later Randidly felt himself nearing the moment of sublimation Thick beads of sweat dripped down his temples and ran along his jaw The dirt ground around the lip of the volcano around him began to smolder from the ambient heat produced by his body A muscle spasmed in his back from the period of prolonged tension but he couldnÆt spare even a moment to relax it away

But the worst of it was the soul wracking pain as he forced Yggdrasil beyond its comfort zone Far beyond to the point that the image itself began to sustain damage As the powerful bark of the World Tree ruptured the collapse of the image dug claws into the soft matter of his brain leaving him slightly trembling in a way that he hadnÆt felt in a long time His awareness became hazy and flickering at the edges Yet he gritted his teeth and continued to compress his energy he knew that growth required sacrifice He had spent his entire time under the NexusÆs thumb learning how little you could accomplish by taking things easily

If you donÆt move forward you will stay in place and regrets will catch up to you RandidlyÆs eyes were bloodshot A few more drops of superheated energy were forced within the trunk of Yggdrasil That near living conglomerate of energy shook itself doing its best to break out of the shell inflicting more agony on him in the process

Warning Your image

Within the sphere of his image Randidly felt a massive rift burst open along the sides of the World TreeÆs bark The swirling Engravings along that torn area began to flash crazily as energy and air forced themselves out through the divide and widened the hole Soon RandidlyÆs Soulspace was filled with a thunderous crackling roar reminiscent more of a wildfire devouring an entire forest than the transformation of a single tree

But in the face of YggdrasilÆs stability he had no choice To overcome the sturdy and reliable foundation he had built he needed force

Recalculating Please visit your nearest Village Spirit Failure to do so will result in weakness and death

Synchronicity detected Your Skillset Yggdrasil the Universe that was First a Tree is evolving

For a moment right as a dozen more fissures opened on the trunk and spewed out golden light and heat Randidly sobbed His head pitched forward and he couldnÆt help the gulp of hesitation The pain was existential making him simultaneously delirious and desperate The haziness crept into his thoughts That seething being of plasma within the World Tree forced its way outward leaving the image feeling vaguely hollow

Yggdrasil seemed to break fire out through a dozen holes the forces of stasis and change perfectly balanced

But Randidly raised his head again and squeezed with his Willpower one last time The plasma began howling out of the cracks in the bark the friction and force of its passage forever altering the World Tree And begrudgingly the Skillset evolved The sensation of release splashed across his face and left him blinking

Congratulations Your Skillset has evolved Partial evolution Skillset will retain the same name Incorporating elements of upheaval and magma into the Skillset The roots and branches of Yggdrasil dig out into the fabric of the universe weaving itself even more closely to the essence of existence Life and destruction sit within YggdrasilÆs seed

Congratulations Your Skill YggdrasilÆs Unruly Ichor has evolved into YggdrassilÆs Plasm Animus Beyond just carrying the nutrients and energy required for the World Tree the userÆs bodily fluids now carry a hint of the primordial spark that gave birth to life Healing significantly increased Damage inflicted on enemies who touch the blood is vastly increased for a few seconds after leaving the body Resistance to foreign influences slightly increased Blood has a small chance to try and flow back into the wound providing extra resilience for a short time

He waited The flames across the transformed hellscape gradually dimmed and went out The heat vanished leaving carbonized wood and animal carcasses that represented a frozen bleak version of the World Tree

Yet within the ground the heart of life beat with great force But no urgency This was the cycle of things for life to give way to death In time it would reverse Dawn would come and the sky would open

RandidlyÆs awareness briefly flicked to his Nether Core where his Nether Penance sat He was running low on the stored seconds but he resolutely turned back to the wreckage of his previous image He had no choice but to build up a debt to the Penance if his image would remain stubborn

As the heat and ferocity dissipated a wind brushed across the surface of these carbon statues and began to pull away bits of ash In an altogether more lonesome rustle some trees with tenuous grips on structural integrity gave way and collapsed Soon new smaller clouds of ash dominated the area masking the hollowed out forest with an ashy fog

More sweat dripped down RandidlyÆs forehead Again he didnÆt dare look away from that solid core that gathered itself He simply waited

All at once the seed of Yggdrasil spread its influence Golden tendrils shyly wandered away from the heart sipping from the various charred tree corpses popping up beyond the soil only long enough to absorb the energy it required Meanwhile underneath the soil that core began to swell with glittering gold and emerald writing that spoke of a different world

Randidly sat with his legs folded beneath him and observed The trickle of energy became a gush pulling more and more of the previous force and warmth and vital energy that Yggdrasil contained into the whirlpool that was the seed of the World Tree Its growth continued but slowed to a glacial pace

RandidlyÆs eyes glittered Mostly the runic sigils across that beating heart deepened The story told by Yggdrasil strengthened itself pulling from the demolished previous image and creating something truly compelling

As his vigil continued the Stillborn Phoenix and the Grey Creature both visit They bore Nether laden bits of images and sprinkled them through the burned field allowing them to sink into the soil and join that swirling reality that began to be born within Yggdrasil Tiny pieces were slowly teased apart and reincorporated to deepen its power

His expression tightened A tremor ran through the seed

A thin verdant tendril wormed its way up from the core It squeezed between the powerful waves of energy and circumvented the remnants of the original Yggdrasil trunk that had embedded themselves into the ground The sprout poked itself out of the dirt edged aside a chunk of charcoal and tasted the air for the first time Two pure leaves spread quickly giving a space for ash to alight

The ground rumbled Golden and emerald light became a physical force that surged up through the stalk and forced itself into the sprout However not a lumen of this energy was displayed all was devoured by those two innocent seeming emerald leaves

Now Randidly reached out the touched the image His Soulspace rose in response

Congratulations Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil is evolving Detecting influences

A third small green leaf unfolded to join its two brothers A small dust devil of ash began to swirl around the sprout

Chapter 1913

The slow widening of those leaves and the lengthening of the stalk became everything in his awareness The last few grans of his mental perseverance drained out of the hourglass but he held onto the image with all his might Time turned liquid flowing quickly around the exhausted and blurred edges of RandidlyÆs awareness His perception followed the World TreeÆs minute growth upward in his mind he saw that small little plant as a fist raised against the sky

It was a challenge A promise A dream

A whole new world emerged in the contours of its leaves

Incorporating influences

Congratulations Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil has incorporated elements from Fruit of the Planting of Enmity Cycle of the Gloomy Wood and Stalemate Breaker Evolution forming detecting image Recalculating

Congratulations Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil has evolved into The First Tree Suffers Only Fealty Skill Levels incorporated new Skill Level set at 830 Range of Skill influence greatly increased User may transform non plant material to resemble roots in the usage All materials are subject to the will of Yggdrasil Damage done by the Skill has slightly increased The more often a material is targeted by the Skill the more easily it assumes the shape of roots When the target is plant matter that recipient will experience several minutes of massive growth when the Skill ends before the life force becomes too much for the mundane item and it burns itself to ash

The ash mist began to roil and seeth bowing to that tiny green fist

Gasping Randidly came back to his body Yggdrasil continued to settle and shift inside of himself but he could no longer maintain his focus His mind had persevered to its breaking point and now he collapsed into a heap At this point even Sulfur steamed just from absorbing the ambient heat that he had been throwing off for the past

Randidly groaned Seriously I was in there for a month No wonder the Penance aches with need

Feeling helpless he allowed himself to slip into that no manÆs land of the Penance his awareness swimming deeper into nothingness Within that oblivion he rapidly stabilized his Nether Core and recovered his mental acuity recovering several days later to the thin island of sunlight that fell down through the eye of his Nether storm upon the top of the volcano

He immediately checked his Soulspace again Yggdrasil had grown revolving slightly upward into a graceful sapling with branches forking out at fixed intervals Each branch was only as thick as two fingers but already they began to cloak themselves in emerald leaves The tree was not yet a size for its bark to darken but there was a strange light to the being the golden and emerald stories that it told were somehow woven into the fabric of its physical state Looked at directly it simply seemed a tree but from the corner of your eye a viewer would feel an irresistible pull to look directly at it

Telman Slate The Progressive The massive man announced his origin with a rumbling voice before proceeding into his question The Zones and independent states are in a wrestling match for political power right now how important do you think it is to agree to a worldwide treaty and how do you see the role of the Order Ducis in that process

Naffur groaned inwardly but for an entirely different reason than from the first question despite his affable exterior Telman Slate came at him with metaphorical teeth The Order DucisÆs silence while most of Expira suffered from municipal extremists unresponsive protectors and wandering refugee groups still reeling from the Calamity or from the lingering Chimeras within Danger Zones was a point of heavy criticism It turned out that the Ghosthound had been prescient with his creating of the Wandering City but for the worst sort of reasons

Expira was unsettled Current estimates put at least one half of the population within wandering wagon trains looking for places to found cities and most just encountering discrimination

As the leader of the Order Ducis this is my decision to make Naffur nodded slowly to acknowledge the question while his thoughts moved a thousand miles a minute He ran over the familiar arguments in his mind but he still came away with the same conclusion

The Order Ducis could do more It could take a more active leadership position and push Expira in a positive direction It could create safe areas for cities to be founded by refugees it could help repurpose collapsed Bubble Cities to house immigrants from other worlds But to do that we would need to grow The loose framework we have now is not equipped to be the compass by which Expira will move forward We would need support systems communication specialists political experts local connections and public relations teams Then we would need a larger frame of management to govern all that

And its hard to believe that the spirit that the Ghosthound wants to cultivate can survive with so many people Or we would grow too slowly to match the needs of Expira while trying to instill that spirit in every hire

Naffur cleared his throat LetÆs address the elephant in the room first the Order Ducis has no plans at this time to take on new responsibilities on Expira We oversee and police the Orders many of which are doing great things to improve the lot of the average individual living in Expira We do support a Worldwide Treaty the current gridlock is by and large the result of the lack of agreements between political entities But it will not come from us

Tellman Slate sat down without asking a follow up question which unnerved Naffur more than the womanÆs shrill inquisition earlier After that most of the questions were easy they addressed the newly promoted Orders and when the next batch of probationary Orders would be scrutinized

But at the end of the press conference Naffur called on one of the unfamiliar men at the back of the group on a whim You sir at the back WhatÆs your question

How long will it take for the Image Virus to cripple Expira

The man looked grimly at Naffur a strange defensiveness in his posture and ambient emotions Without an introduction the words he tossed out were stark against the stretching silence

Naffur titled his head to the side unsure about the question IÆm not sure what you are talking about

Right now there is a virus out there infecting and weakening images The man shook himself and then pointed a finger at Naffur And if you mean to tell me that the Order Ducis doesnÆt know a thing heh Do you think we are sheep If you keep playing dumb IÆll have no choice but to expose you as the culprits DonÆt think the Ghosthound can save you from the truth

Chapter 1914

Annie squinted at the horizon surrounded by the rugged beauty of the snow capped mountains The first signs of snow sent a tingle through her body like calling to like But for now the powerful wind through the Nordawn Mountain Range dragged leaves and twigs through its high passes leading to strange rivers of airborne debris that whistled past their cabin However she spotted a few dark smudges clambered up one of the nearby passes Their slow speeds made her roll her eyes and turn to go back inside

To think my instincts picked them up Ugh what a waste Annie mused as she sauntered back into the building to her family But still better make some preparations to properly entertain so many guests

DozerÆs massive form was hunched over the stove where he deftly flipped over pancakes and removed the steaming items to a waiting plate This plate he placed in front of Delilah who sat at the table with a morose expression on her face She made no moves to apply her usual liberal helping of butter and syrup to the pancakes

For a brief moment a look of genuine concern flashed across AnnieÆs face She felt her daughterÆs pain and confusion keenly But then she covered it up and loudly walked out of the entranceway kicking off her boots and draping herself across her daughterÆs shoulders Why so glum cookie

No reason Just bored Delilah said quickly but she flinched as she spoke As though before that moment she had been so sunk into a funk that she hadnÆt even noticed her motherÆs return to the cabin Annie cracked her jaw as she reached across the table and blithely stole the proffered pancake Her daughter remained inert quickly returning to whatever fretful oblivion that she occupied

Annie leaned forward Seems like youÆve got something on your mind I get that you donÆt want to talk about it with me but how about you tell Mister Pancake

Annie happily used a fork to sculpt out two eyes and a misshapen mouth Then she flipped around the plate and proudly displayed her masterpiece

DelilahÆs soon to be teenage attitude still thrived in her body even if the rest of her was somewhat preoccupied she immediately pushed back from the table and rolled her eyes Moom ThatÆs kidÆs stuff And really IÆm fine Just thinking about stuff Look at dad He thinks about things all the time but you never badger him about it

Dozer pivoted and gave Delilah a mild look A ghost of a smile flitted across the girlÆs face Okay okay you badger him sometimes

What are you thinking about Annie replied generously ignoring the implied jibe at her and her own sorrow that her daughter didnÆt know how to appreciate art She added syrup to the eyes and mouth and began to eat Mister Pancake

Just well maybe I shouldnÆt enter into the fighting tournament next month DelilahÆs eyes went back to the table Maybe I donÆt know I can wait until next year I really feel like my image is near an evolution and I donÆt want to force anything

Annie arched an eyebrow When her daughter said I donÆt want to force anythingÆ something was definitely wrong So she cleared her throat and cut to the chase I know what this is actually about You are worried about the fact the tournament will be on the GhosthoundÆs island yes You think he holds a grudge against you

DelilahÆs face whipped up Then she tried to pretend she was just yawning Oh what No thatÆs

Well itÆs true Annie announced She jabbed her chin forward even as she earned a mild glance from Dozer Randidly Ghosthound really does hate you and has been purposefully torturing you for years

I knew it Something between fear and excitement warred across DelilahÆs face as she forgot that she had previously been trying to play it cool

Annie nodded full of sympathy the picture of motherly care DozerÆs expression twitched slightly I know cookie it must be rough to have such a constant figure hold a grudge against you But I also know why heÆs being so petty and what you can do about it

Delilah’s head whipped around again her tiny eyes bright What

The sun sank toward the horizon allowing the shadows and wind to run rampant Yet due to its sturdy walls the cabin remained an idyllic retreat full of warmth and comfort It was exactly the sort of thing that provided an excellent escape from the stresses of civilization She had a hard time imagining anything more dangerous than a flying cougar reaching her up here

Annie took to standing at the window with her tea watching the sunset and sighing without actually observing the beauteous natural like some war wife waiting for her partner to return home from the front

Finally a knock sounded on the door and a delighted smile crossed AnnieÆs face About damn

The only warning was the crunch and spray of splinters She hopped lightly to avoid the massive cleaver that ripped horizontally through the previously sturdy wooden walls demolishing the side of the cabin and ripping the furniture to shreds She broke out of the wooden roof and then spun midair to avoid several thrown daggers that glinted in the half light She alighted on the top of a nearby pine tree the powerful wind whipping her hair around

Dozer is going to be in such a mood when she sees this Annie felt a pang of regret Somehow it will be my fault

Yet that was for later Now she could give herself over to the dance

A sly smile spread across her face as she looked around in the twilight and saw a dozen cloaked figures waiting around her on the nearby slope They stood in the shadows of trees and on top of stark rock outcroppings blending into the grey in the low light The largest of the figures straightened and laid the massive cleaver across his shoulders Well well such late callers And so many of you as well Certainly my husband wonÆt appreciate the liberties youÆve taken with the architecture

One of the figures wore a thick golden medallion the only outward differentiating feature amongst them He gestured and several others leapt forward without even bothering to respond to her Annie sighed and got to work

A bow bloomed in her hand as she settled into a crouch A white blur became an arrow as she pulled back the bow and fired three times barely pausing to aim As soon as the projectiles left her bow they swirled into a winter wind dispersing and reforming into loping white wolves then ran toward their targets

The group responded quickly They pulled out knives daggers and needles and shifted trying to maintain their encirclement Their physical Stats were clearly lacking but they had at least trained heavily for this

Annie flitted sideways and fired a volley at the distinct figure right as the first cloaked individual slashed at a white wolf with his dagger The weapon passed harmlessly through the forehead of the wolf in a burst of snow and the suddenly returned arrow struck an individual in the throat Annie pursed her lips as she rolled and avoided another throwing knife the noise of the arrow meeting the target wasnÆt very satisfying

The cloaked figure with the massive cleaver interposed itself between AnnieÆs volley and the one with the medallion It was violence incarnate swinging its massive cleaver with a solid enough image but the arrows thundered against the weapon and sent him sprawling back

But the medallion wearer just chuckled at their lack of success

Annie raised an eyebrow as the victim of her arrow got back to its feet Mannequins Acceptably creepy

We are the Order Patricide The medallion wearer said He raised his arms as though he were giving a monologue in a community theater production of Sociopath And we need an example Annie of Donnyton We will not kill you but after we infect your image with weakness you will likely wish we had

Annie snorted She reached into the air and her Fate condensed a glittering pure white fur cape The cloth settled around her shoulders with a familiar chilling tingle How delightful But donÆt start complaining if you donÆt like what happens when you force me to bare my fangs O Silent Night

Her Domain activated drawing the clouds and winds together with snow flurries to blot out the surroundings Her cloak rustled whispering that a life would end tonight For Annie and this strange puppeteer there would be no escape And AnnieÆs eyes were alive with glee

Chapter 1915

The pine needles rustled as AnnieÆs wind swept across the mountain top It came like some single idea decorator outlining and highlighting everything with a dusting of ice The snow intensified as she continued her subtle battle movements shimmying out of the way of thrown projectiles and rushing directly toward the largest of the puppets the figure with the large cleaver

From the shadow of the pine trees a hatchet whipped toward AnnieÆs back She paused pirouetting elegantly and dispersing her momentum completely as the attack whizzed only a hair away from her and leveled her bow at the perpetrator She pulled the string back an extra inch upgrading the shot from a casual shot to a deadly one

A clear twang precipitated the release of the ivory bolt It streaked through the intervening distance crashing into the puppetÆs pelvis and forcefully ripping its way through Bolts tumbled out and twine snapped leaving the puppet unmoored at the waist flopping around on the powder covered ground But Annie had already turned to face the next challenger

They rushed at her in twos and threes through the whirling flurries the puppet maestro striking at her blindspots while she engaged with the replaceable parts But Annie was the chilling wind in deadly motion pivoting firing and advancing

Her attackers moved with enough speed that she only fired a few arrows before she had to let her bow disperse and enthusiastically engage them in melee combat Or to be frank Annie purposefully kept her arrows on a delayed timing so she didnÆt completely demoralize this man before he let her have her fun

Let me shred them a bit

Without her bow Annie grasped at the snow laden wind that swirled around them and pulled two daggers of ice from nothing The puppet thrust a stiletto at her but the tip was lost in the billowing folds of her fur cloak as she leaned back Her left arm snapped up sheering through the construction of its arms and leaving the puppet weaponless Then her right arm sliced down cutting through the puppetÆs thigh and leaving it to bury its face in the snow

Two more puppets lashed out but Annie swam between their inelegant attacks her weapons carving their limbs and leaving them also squirming on the ground With raw physical Stats it was easy to overwhelm them without even breaking a sweat

In front of her the largest puppet with its cleaver took a stance Again the smallest image seeped out of its cloak hinting that this puppeteer might have the capacity to develop into someone truly powerful someday

However today was not that day Today was a silent night with everything buried beneath the relentless snow

Annie feinted a dash forward and the cleaver wielder took a step back as he tried to keep up While its cloak was still swaying Annie drew up short one of her ice daggers becoming a crossbow and the other morphing into a bolt She fired into the puppetÆs face before it could react The bolt exploded in a sphere of ice large enough that it encased its entire torso The ice lollipop fell to the ground unable to move Its cleaver clattered to the ground snow steadily burying it