Chapter 1244 (2/2)

Whereas most people had to rely on the slow, awkward empowerment of their image with System Aether and constant mental refinement, Randidly’s Aether was perfectly adjusted to heal and empower his images. The process was extremely natural. So after his image had been forcefully extracted from his body while he was still at the Pontiff tier, on the frontlines Randidly had leaned heavily on his Aether connection to rapidly build up his image to the point that it could be considered at the Master tier.

And perhaps because he had relied on Aether fueled growth rather than accumulation over time, Randidly had still been a little nervous returning to Earth about how much power he would really possess. Almost immediately, this subtle acknowledgment by the System removed that nervousness; he had come home powerful.

Randidly’s mouth twisted as he considered the limiter on the images of Nexus citizens descending from higher Cohorts. Still somewhat tempting to destroy the limit just to encourage the Nemesai to expose themselves… but if I act too hastily, innocent people will probably die.

Also, I’ll have to do some research into that strange resonance I feel from Kharon and Donnyton from my images. Even admitting the fact that although I possess something close to a Master tier image, and three of them at that, those tiers from Tellus only capture an image’s relationship to the physical world. Meanwhile, this weird resonance that I’ve felt with the places on Earth likely indicates that my images have grown strong in another way… Which means that the Nemesai might have that same strength. No need to rush into that decision.

“Is s-s-something w-wrong?” Salazar asked nervously, reminding Randidly that they were still simply standing on the lush ridge. The snakeman’s tongue flicked out of his mouth and tasted the air, as though he was looking for the threat that had forced Randidly to stop.

Randidly rolled his shoulders and shook his head. Very purposefully, Randidly reached out and pulled back his images so they wouldn’t affect the limit on Earth for the time being. “It’s nothing. Just feeling a bit nostalgic to come back after so long away. Come on, let’s go to Kharon.”

Although a lot had changed with the location of Kharon, the secret entrances into the city along the rocky bottom were still the same. A nervous-looking young man that Randidly didn’t recognize gave him a hastily salute as he opened the door and walked into the interior of the moving city. With a nod, Randidly continued past the man and proceeded confidently into the maze of passageways that lined the belly of the grand machine that he and Wendy had built.

“Ah, M-mister Ghosthound…” Salazar said nervously as he glanced over his shoulder at the hallway behind them.

Randidly twisted and looked behind them. A veritable wave of moss spirits was bouncing off the walls and ceiling, ricocheting after the trio in a cascade of color and light. And it seemed like the moss spirits were really enjoying themselves. Randidly turned back forward while keeping his face serious. “Don’t worry about them. I’m sure they are friendly.”

Eventually, with their trailing parade of moss spirits, Randidly brought his two subordinates to the heart of Kharon. So Randidly could alleviate the other anxiety he felt after returning. They walked out onto the thin catwalk in the vast central chamber, striding directly toward the tall pillar of an engine that powered everything in Kharon. Although Randidly definitely wanted to find out how things were on Earth, he came here first.

He carefully walked up to the engine and examined every inch of the dense network of Engravings that covered the surrounding area. With the added benefit of hindsight, Randidly saw quite a few places that could be improved upon. Especially after seeing some of the effortless Engravings that Vualla could create…

That made Randidly shake his head and pull his hand back from the central pillar. It was enough that the engine and engraving were functioning as designed. His machine was still fine, and the burdened on his heart lightened immensely. So then Randidly proceeded directly upward again through the passages to the surface of Kharon, plunging directly into the warm flood of moss spirits as Salazar trailed nervously after him. Zauna seemed bemused but was quite willing to follow him amongst the swirl of harmless sprites as they proceeded forward.

When he arrived at the base of city hall, there was a vaguely familiar man waiting for him; Randidly didn’t remember his name, but he was one of Tatiana’s subordinates. The man bowed and opened the door, allowing the trio to proceed up to the top floor of Kharon’s city hall.

There, Randidly found a full room. Tatiana, Naffur, Heiffal, Vye, and the familiar faces of Kharon’s best forger lined the walls. In addition, there were four aides passing out reports to the individuals who stood at attention as Randidly entered the room.

Randidly’s eyes slid across them all. He was rather amused to see that Heiffal politely took the report and then set it on the ground, clearly uninterested in seeing its content. There was also a nervous-looking Hispanic man that Randidly hadn’t seen before. And based on what Randidly’s Grim Intuition could tell him, this was a representative of the huge new population that had moved into Kharon.

Everyone remained quiet as Randidly carefully surveyed them. Almost awkwardly so, as though they were waiting for him to give a speech. Their eyes were nervous too as they looked at him, taking in his armor and his mechanical arm.

Despite Randidly’s best efforts, Randidly understood that he couldn't completely isolate his images; that sort of control really would take time and experience to develop. Some would leak out despite his best efforts. Perhaps even more dangerous was the presence of Nether in every aspect of his body. That was easier to keep from leaking, but Nether’s tang was thoroughly woven in Randidly now.

Which was also likely the source of the fear he saw in some of the familiar faces.

But this was his home. This was his kingdom. Even if some people feared him, that was simply the Path he took. Randidly didn’t regret it.

Instead of allowing the awkward silence to continue, Randidly coughed lightly and looked to Tatiana. “How are things?”