Chapter 395 (1/2)

Mrs. Hamilton sipped her tea as the young woman, or what had once been a young woman, stood next to her.

“It’s time,” Lyra said, her mouth curling into a smile. “That idiot is finally starting to move. Took him long enough. It’s not easy to keep the Administrator distracted. We are almost out of time.”

Mrs. Hamilton said nothing, simply looking at the cooling liquid in her cup. There was a lot she wanted to say, about Lyra’s choices, the dangers of the the bets that she was making, about Randidly and the changes he was going through, about the broader changes that were happening due to the System. But they would simply be rehashes of old discussions with Lyra. Although the girl was willful, she had good instincts.

Even though it was difficult for Mrs. Hamilton to let go of control, she simply had to; the other player had the better hand. And it was going to be a long game of poker.

“Are you coming?” Lyra asked, squinting at Mrs. Hamilton.

“...must I?” Mrs. Hamilton asked, surprising herself. But she really dreaded this, in a way, because what they were doing… what Lyra suggested they do…

...was to change this boy’s fate. To interfere in his path. To cause the strength of his ability to incite action to be bent to their plan, their agenda. Mrs. Hamilton was no stranger these days to manipulation, it was her bread and butter. She thrived on using other people by helping them see the path that would benefit both of them.

This was… something else. Was this a path that would benefit Randidly as well….?

“Yes.” Lyra said decisively. “I cannot, and there is no one else that knows the fate of this land.”

Mrs. Hamilton looked sadly at the ground. “...You’re sure?”

Nodding, Lyra said. “It hurts to admit, but the Calamity isn’t fucking around. I cannot go into details, but if we don’t do this…”

In Mrs. Hamilton’s sigh, she shed a weight of responsibility. It was feather light, compared to her other loads, just the small ounce of pure and unthinking trust that a young man put in her to run this town. In a way, she needn't shed this; the actions that Mrs. Hamilton was taking were for the good of the town. She was adjusting them towards a long term course. This was the way that it had to be.

But.... to this small weight of responsibility, it felt like a betrayal. Finally, she was asking him to give up something that he couldn’t easily spare.

‘I’m not going to apologize…’ Mrs Hamilton thought to herself. ‘But… I just want it on record that I will never forget this moment.’

She brushed off her shoulders as she stood, that bit of responsibility falling away. The heavy weight of the safety of Donnyton crushed down on her shoulders, abruptly much more pressing and urgent. Her eyes were cold as she nodded at Lyra.

“Then let’s be off.”

To the Northeast, in a manner that was visible to the naked eye, Aether exploded in a storm, shaking the ground and shaping the sky into a large typhoon.

****

Careful! Neveah’s warning was full of anxiety as the small anchor point became an all devouring black hole, but Randidly couldn’t help but allow the smile on his face to grow ever wider, stretching across his visage like a fault line. There was just… a manic glee to him now, a rightness…

The Aether around him began to roar as his Indomitable Will of Yggdrasil urged it onwards, creating a huge darkening mass of Aether at the center, that continued to condense, becoming more and more compact, more and more refined. Randidly had taken note of Neveah’s methods, but he suddenly found them unnecessary.

Sure, this Aether was filled with strange bits of meaning from Mrs. Hamilton, or Helen, or Arbor, but so what? That was who he was. The image that was going to be the basis of him, the anchor that held his Class together, was not a single thing. He had become many things to many people, learning through his experiences how to use different Skills and fighting styles.

His strength came from his multidisciplinary nature, and his ability to multitask, utilizing the best approach for each situation. He needed that depth in a Class too, if it was going to be the path of his future growth. He needed more than a single golden seed to create the effect that Randidly was aiming for.

“What are you doing?” Lucretia howled, her eyes bulging as she watched all of her carefully arranged layers being absorbed into the old anchor that was struggling to grow by any means necessary.