Chapter 1024 (2/2)

To her solemn vow, Randidly replied with a bunched eyebrow look of disgust that someone would give the maggots they found at the bottom of their too-old can of trash. It was an expression that said he didn’t believe her; how could he believe her, after all that she had done.

Lyra’s smile became increasingly strained and hollow. How proud you are, Randidly Ghosthound. Did you truly expect me to choose to believe in you when there was so much evidence to the contrary? When I had experienced first hand how powerful the Yystrix is? The fate of your lovely world was at stake. IS at stake. I just-

Randidly reached out and touched her shoulder. And Lyra couldn’t breathe for a split second. Randidly had… reached out to her?

“Alright it’s done,” Randidly said simply. His arm dropped back to his side. After cracking his neck, he walked over to a side table and poured himself a glass of water. “It will take a few minutes for Nathan to get over here. Now that you have a source of Aether, it should be easy for him to make you a Class. After that, you owe me an explanation”

Lyra pivoted away from Randidly slowly like a weather vane nosed North by a strange wind. She wasn’t sure what her face was doing. It felt so heavy and stiff. There was a buzzing in her ears. So she turned her attention inward and felt carefully around the highly organized internal Aether constructs that were her constant state of existence. Most of her Soulspace was filled with the dense script of Aether with which the System was built.

And there, at the corner, was the small area where her human self hadn’t been completely consumed by the rules of a Village Spirit. It was that strange, almost misplaced portion of herself that had given Lyra the idea of giving herself a Class in the first place. It was that portion of herself, Lyra liked to believe, that still believed this world was a beautiful place.

It now had a small trickle of Aether dribbling in to congregate in that area. Unlike the bright violet color of the System’s Aether, this Aether was a much more innocuous thing. It was almost translucent, but it was filled with motes of gold, emerald, and black. The new Aether spread slowly in constantly shifting shapes through the available area, almost exploring.

In her Soulspace, the Aether flowed toward the small tendril of Lyra will that she had sent out questing toward this strange new energy. And it responded instantly, swirling around her will and forming a kaleidoscope of light and warmth.

A tear rolled down Lyra’s cheek. That’s me. I have… a part that’s me.

“I-I can tell you about Shal now,” Lyra volunteered without turning around. “While we wait. I trust… I trust you won’t back out now that we’ve come this far.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Randidly said rather gruffly.

The tear had rolled down over her cheekbones, past her lips, to settle on Lyra’s chin. It hung there, stubbornly sticking to her jaw. Desperately, Lyra wanted to reach up and wipe the tear away. But she simultaneously didn’t want to stop being the girl who was crying and didn’t want Randidly to notice that she was the girl who was crying.

It truly is a terribly selfish thing I’ve done, isn’t it? Lyra wasn’t trembling. She was just standing still and looking away from Randidly and listening to the small noises that his bare feet made against the ground. And yet that’s what being human means to me, I suppose...

So she spoke into the air to keep the terrible silence from hanging between them. “You should have heard about it within the Dungeon… but the System is a machine designed for war. Overcoming the Second Calamity demonstrates a depth of strength that finally means you might be valuable to the Nexus… so you are given the opportunity to prove yourself. That is the challenge that Shal attempted.

“The details are rather simple; at least as far as the current rules go. You fight the preserved spirit of ten fellow challengers who also failed. Such is the cost you pay by attempting it, that a portion of you be preserved to test future generations.

“Shal ultimately failed the test, but he was rewarded for what he was accomplished. He defeated eight of those that failed previously. You can think of this reward as receiving a commission in the army; when he eventually is taken to the front lines to fight against Nether… he will have subordinates. Representatives from other worlds who will fight under his direction.”

Randidly sighed audibly. And when he spoke, it was clear that most of his antagonism toward her had been forgotten for the moment. “That’s a relief. Heh, so even Shal wasn’t good enough for the System, huh? That probably means I have my work cut out for me. Do you know how they preserve a portion of you for the future?”

Lyra knew what Randidly was wondering. Whether he would be able to attempt the challenge without revealing to the higher-ups in the System what he was. “Unfortunately, I do not know.”

On this one thing, at least, both Randidly and Yystrix agreed; giving the System unfettered access to another Aether Crossroads was not something that could ever be allowed to happen.

Which was exactly the last mission that Yystrix had given Lyra before that ancient being had disappeared from Earth. Which was at least half of the reason that Lyra had gone to so much trouble for the information about Shal to tempt Randidly. Which was the final lie that squirmed in Lyra’s stomach like a suicidal tapeworm.

If we are connected like this… I can find you no matter where you are. Another tear wound its way down from Lyra’s eye to slowly traverse her cheek. So that if the System ever discovers you and tries to control what you hold in your chest… I can kill you.

Even as Lyra tried to put words to this horrifying truth, her mouth remained still. Because Lyra could see the terrible accusation that would be waiting in his eyes if Lyra revealed this last secret: that Lyra was working against Randidly with the Creature.

But was that really the case? Lyra was just… insurance for the worst.

“...there is one more thing,” Lyra said softly. Her mind pushed away that secret and refocused on the information she meant to give Randidly. Lead with the good news, then follow with the bad. “There was a… change, for Shal’s world. Unfortunately, even I don’t know the details. I can only tell what I was able to discern from investigating directly… it seems that after the challenge, Shal has gone under the wing of someone very powerful within the Nexus. And because of that… Tellus is proceeding directly to the Fourth Calamity, completely skipping the Third.”

“What…?” Randidly asked.

Lyra shook her head slightly. She felt a slight movement on her chin; the tear was still stubbornly hanging there. Its twin had bypassed her cheek and was now hurrying to join the first. So Lyra didn’t turn around. “Even I… am unaware of the particulars of the Fourth Calamity. It is essentially the recruitment, as far as I can tell. I am… I don’t know more. But what I did learn was the name of the individual who oversaw Shal’s challenge. The same individual who interceded on behalf of Tellus.

“His name is Illeot Swacc. In the Nexus, he is referred to as the Duplicator.”