Chapter 1017 (2/2)
“Although each cycle of threats grows increasingly powerful… they don’t realize by just how much the next tier of threats will grow. They don’t understand how far we are from truly facing a Calamity. They don’t understand that beyond the tests and the trials is an endless machine that will suck and suck until humanity has been reduced to a husk of itself and the terrible war machine will move on without a care.”
And as if I were doing its bidding, I have given you images. Randidly thought sadly. I am smelting the exact ore it needs to wage war against the mysterious Nether… but I cannot simply let you walk toward that future unarmed, can I?
“For the second time, Erickson Steel, what do you fear?”
Randidly’s voice rang out over the crowd and out further than that, into the winding streets beyond. It echoed past he abandoned and hastily deconstructed stalls that lined the paved streets of the Erickson Steel compound. It even wandered out beyond the walls of Erickson Steel, to the silent Riders who watched their lord marshaling his forces.
Randidly spread his hands. “I have given you images; as some of you are now realizing, these are a great weapon. It is the will to strike with the essence of Skills without relying on the System. It is seizing our own small portion of the vast power that humanity can possibly access. It is a small thing, one entirely dependant on yourself. You, each of you individual people of Erickson Steel… images give you the chance to control your own fate. To pioneer your own Path into the future.
“No matter how great the threats become, with images you possess the capability to surpass the danger. No matter their Levels, monsters become nothing but fodder to fuel your growth. As you sharpen yourself to a point, soon you will be able to cut through the thin walls of the System. You will become more powerful than you can imagine. Even more powerful than I am…
“Suddenly, perhaps someday in the future, you will find that you hold the world in your hands. In the old world, there were limits to individual power. Here, with the System… I am less sure that such limits exist. Aether, the energy of all life and movement, animates us. Images are the raw utilization of that energy. Perhaps even the creator of the Nexus itself is working with the same Aether that we possess. Therefore… it's clear that we are far from the limit of how that energy can be used.
“We can be so much more than this. Before the sort of power that could create the entire System, what are monsters? What are Levels? What meaning do the blind machinations of the politically corrupt have? All of these small concerns are insubstantial before capability.
“And that’s what scares you, Erickson Steel. Even if you don’t open your mouths to speak, I can read that fear in all of you. I can see it in your stillness.”
Licking his lips, Randidly allowed the crowd to consider that. The resonance in his chest was causing the muscles of his chest to twitch.
“You fear me. All of you. You fear what I represent: The fact that you could possibly have my strength if only you tried harder.
“It is the oldest and greatest fear: that you aren’t good enough. If you had been stronger, you wouldn’t have to cower in your friend’s blood and sneak away while a monster was devouring someone else. If you would have been smarter, you could Level up a Skill faster and you wouldn’t have to watch your family slowly starve while you struggle to provide food for your children.
“You fear that every death is your own failure. That your lack of growth is due to some inner deficiency. You fear that your potential is great and your performance is subpar. That the reason the world hasn’t been saved is that you haven’t done enough.”
You fear me because… I am you. You fear failing to live up to expectations… because you are me. The resonance almost took on a life of its own, traveling through the strange capillaries in Randidly’s vast Soulspace, spreading to take up an entire corner of the area. The Crown of Upheaval and Gloom was shaking so hard that Randidly couldn’t help but worry that the Skill was going to be damaged by the process. But he could not stop now.
“This is why I gathered you all here. You are the best and brightest of Earth. You struggle with feelings of inadequacy. You fear failure. And I have to admit, that fear will not leave you. As you grow more powerful… as you walk further down this Path… the abyss of failure only grows more hungry. It will nip at your heels constantly. There is no escaping it; someday you will fail and give credence to those deeply hidden fears.
“But that’s fine. Because to escape fear was never our priority, just like we will not be like the other governments and groups active in the Zone. Because the universality of that same fear is exactly why we toil, Erickson Steel. Everyone fears that they will fail. Because as long as we torture ourselves with these fears and continue to walk forward… others can follow.
“Because every drop of sweat and blood we put into advancing humanity forward, of seeking the limits of our own power, mean its that much easier for the generation that will follow us to seek even higher heights. We will be the beacon of this world’s potential, Erickson Steel. We will be the lighthouse to guide them forward.
“It will be a long and lonely Path. We will not be thanked. As I have been after my own progress, we will be feared and underestimated. We will be vilified and ostracized. We will be treated as strangers and as nuisances. The only gifts we will receive will be threats and rumors.
“But even so. But even so, this is a Path that I have chosen. Despite my fears… I continue forward. That’s my choice. That’s how I deal with my fear.
“It’s time for your choice, people of Erickson Steel. There are three responses to fear. The first is to ignore the fear and pretend like it doesn’t exist. The second is to run from the fear. And the third is to face it.
“What I’m asking of you is harder still than facing your fear. Because you cannot extinguish it. You need to harness it. Make it your fuel and engine. It is the coal and it is the long steel rails toward the horizon. It will be the cold, sharp iron on your throat and the constant companion that whispers from your shadow. It won’t let you sleep. It won’t let you stop. That’s what we need. Your fear will become your compass to rush toward that darkest chasm of impossibility.”
For the final time, Randidly paused in his speech. “Because, Erickson Steel, will we ever escape if we don’t surpass impossible? I believe that the System will always show us higher and higher threats. We cannot escape by following its rules.
“And ultimately, where do your priorities lie? In the comfort of an easy life or in the constant grip of a difficult truth? Which leads to the Earth in which you want to live?
“So, Erickson Steel, one final time, what do you fear most of all… and what are you going to do about it?”