Chapter 1010 (1/2)

Hours later, Randidly stood on the roof of the Erickson Steel building with his eyes closed. His Aether Detection Skill hummed at full capacity, feeding him constant information about people, structures, and materials in the surrounding area. Periodically, Randidly released pulses of charged Aether, granting him an almost omniscient view of the surrounding miles.

Slowly but surely, he was creating the final details of his moving city plan in his mind. Although he could gather plenty of materials within the Dungeon, he didn’t have any exact information regarding the physical situation in the outside world. Therefore, he had to estimate based on his admittedly acute memory.

Most of the general details he had remembered correctly, but Randidly still wanted to go over the specific state of reality with a fine-toothed comb. What he was doing was already rushing a rather intricate and complicated project with an extremely aggressive timeline. So he had to at least do plenty of due diligence to ensure that any small mistakes would be covered by the larger umbrella of preparation.

Twenty-three and a half more days… Randidly’s eyes opened. After he had finalized and stored the details in his head, he briefly slid through the almost redundant divide between himself and his Soulskill. Unlike how Randidly didn’t truly exist in his Soulskill until he wanted to possess an avatar, because his entire body was the Soulskill itself, Randidly’s real body still stood on Earth while his attention was focused inward. So he quickly found one of Wendy’s aides and passed on the very exacting details that she had demanded.

Still, it wasn’t that he wouldn’t be safe in Erickson Steel. Honestly, with his Physical Stats, most people would have a hard time hurting him even if he didn’t do anything. But he was expecting a visitor. One Randidly didn’t want to be surprised by.

Then, on a whim as he was hurrying to leave, Randidly made sure to tell the aide that Wendy should keep her schedule open a week from now. All deadlines would be pushed back a day to allow for it.

Then Randidly was back on Earth, turning slightly to smile at the lovely young woman who had condensed on top of the building next to him. As always, terrible timing.“You are a day early, Lyra. We had a deal.”

“And I figured you would have plenty of time to decide, considering how long you were within the Dungeon.” Lyra shrugged, her hair shimmering as it swayed around her shoulders during the casual motion. “But if you prefer, I can come back tomorrow.”

“No… you are right, I’ve made my decision. But I do have a to ask a question first. And I won’t take no for an answer.” Randidly said lightly. Purposefully, he forced himself to relax. Aether Detection ceased its constant scanning. Randidly looked at Lyra, into her violet eyes, and let all the other methods of discernment he possessed fall away. Some things were worth doing the old fashioned way.

The eyes were the window to the soul, and Randidly peered through to see the inner workings of Lyra.

“Was that Dungeon arranged for me?”

Although Randidly was relying on solely his eyes, his gaze was no longer that of a simple individual. He wore a Crown and his inner world was illuminated by the emerald flame of insight and innovation. The weight of his attention took on an almost irresistible quality. If someone who was less unusual than Lyra was on the receiving end of that look, it might have knocked them unconscious.

But Lyra bore it stoically. There was no tightening in the lines around Lyra’s eyes at the question, just an easy smile of acceptance. There was no guilt there, but there was responsibility.

“...Yes, in the spirit of honesty.” Lyra said finally. “But I would point out that Yystrix simply located that variant, hiding within his own Aether. The meeting between you was arranged… but you are both actors who control your own fate. The words and stories that were exchanged were your own.”

Randidly couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly at that, thinking of the Touch from Beyond Skill that he had possessed, rather obliviously, for several years. But at least she had been honest about their involvement. That was one test that she had passed.

Still, Randidly’s lip curled upward. “I thought the Creature had been… absent from Earth. Since she tried to take over my body, as I’m sure you recall. So then how did it manage to arrange this? Are you trying to tell me that it somehow predicted I would be looking for a high-Level Dungeon on the banks of Lake Apollo.”

Lyra shook her head sharply. “No… of course not. She’s gone from Earth, for now. She didn’t put the Dungeon in your Path-”

“You just said-” Randidly began, but Lyra pointed to herself.

“-I did. I had the information left from when Yystrix and I were in contact. There were several such variants that the Creature discovered in her travels; she made it her job to study such things. Considering your reluctance about our deal… I wanted to give you a taste of how dangerous the Nexus and its ilk really are. What better way than to put an individual who had been crushed by the System before you?”

Randidly regarded Lyra for several seconds, letting that information slowly percolate through his mind. To Randidly’s senses, Lyra appeared completely honest. He wasn’t sure which was the more intimidating truth: that she was deceiving him and the Creature was still around or that she was honest and had been hiding the capability to somehow arrange for him to enter into a very specific Dungeon.