Chapter 1280 (1/2)

Randidly’s Nether Gatekeeper core had resembled a nebula when he left the frontlines and returned to Earth. There was a dense core at the center of the nebula, surrounded by a disk of more sparsely populated energy that spread out over Randidly’s Soulspace. Slowly, that energy was brought inward, a strange gravity transforming the outer portion into the dense core portion while additional Nether energy was pulled out of his Nether Wells to replace the outer portion at a rapid pace. In this way, the Nether nebula gradually expanded while also becoming increasingly heavy.

With the assistance of the formation that gathered Nether and made it simpler to increase Nether’s density, the area covered by the outer portion of the nebula had shot rapidly upward in the last few days. Especially so after Randidly used the principles he had seen at the frontlines to improve the function of the formation.

Since then, Randidly made a few small tweaks that further streamlined the process of Nether gathering. Around the swirling core, Randidly’s Soulspace became a sea of Nether currents that helped bolster his already significant Strength.

Congratulations, your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 113!

Of course, the really important changes were what was occurring at the core of that sea of Nether. Because that core had begun to rapidly condense even further than it had been previously. And as the core condensed, the pull that it exerted in the surrounding area became immense.

The final result was an abrupt contraction of his Nether sea as the core and the nebula grew smaller and more dense very rapidly. Continually cracking and recovering, most of the impurities and extra space of the core were eliminated; all that was left was weight. That weight pulled on the other portions of the core, gradually cracking flaws and slowly reinforcing itself.

The cause of the abrupt change was the same thing that the Grim Chimera had noticed while it had gone to the stadium. As Randidly and others interacted, even if just slightly, connections were formed. If those connections were important, all that added weight of meaning would slowly gather in his Nether core, transforming it.

While the Grim Chimera had experienced this to a lesser degree, what really accelerated the change was Randidly’s ongoing struggle to accept even his own justifications for letting so many people die. He spent quite a bit of time thinking about it over the last few hours. From what he had heard from Tatiana, others were also considering what Randidly’s actions meant for New Earth.

The result was that the connections and events of the past day were becoming more and more meaningful to the world and to Randidly. And although he didn’t quite understand the details of how it happened, Randidly’s ability to utilize Nether was jumping upward as a result.

He was still within the spectrum of the Nether Gatekeeper tier, but he was starting to understand that the semi-intelligent beasts of Nether Gatekeepers he had encountered in the past had not been even close to the pinnacle of their strength.

Randidly stretched his jaw as he looked up at the star-filled sky. I suppose that Aether needs to affix itself in space, creating a detailed and coherent image to grow more powerful. Meanwhile, Nether is mainly concerned with the passage of time… as time passes, these connections and moments of importance become more plentiful and the Nether density naturally increases… Without how extreme my recent circumstances were, there would be no way that I could have reached the density of a Nether Gatekeeper so quickly…

For several hours, Randidly carefully rotated the Nether in his body. The faster he moved the energy, the more quickly Nether could be pulled inward and collapse slight flaws in his Nether core. The heart of his energy grew heavier and heavier as those flaws were healed. Yet as the speed of rotation increased, Randidly endured a strange pain. It seemed like all the tumultuous emotions he had endured on this night were highlighted even further.

As he forcefully evolved the power of his Nether, he could not escape the pain that had brought him here. The importance became all-consuming. Doubt and fear pulled at Randidly’s emotions. In the eyes of the world, the image of Randidly Ghosthound had been forever altered. Randidly bitterly wondered if he would be forced to make this decision again in the future.

Yet he continued to whirl his Nether, almost ambivalent to the tempering of emotions that he experienced.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 114!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 129!

When the sun finally rose, Randidly stopped the strange emotional torture. His Nether slowly settled into his chest. He could feel that the progress forward was becoming more difficult, but he could still improve further before reaching his limit.

It seemed he had a habit of creating especially meaningful connections with people. Lucretia would tell him that he created Karma far too haphazardly with people. Yet that had never been his intention…!

A few small noises below drew Randidly’s attention. Kharon’s activities had never really calmed since its arrival at the Ogre Gorge, but as morning arrived the bustle exploded to new heights. Bodies and crates of supplied wormed through each other's way with seemingly no logic to them. To equip the flow of ogres to Earth for survival in the mountain ranges, Kharon was operating at full capacity to produce hoes, shovels, hand axes, and pickaxes made with superior metal. To make a new home, the rugged mountain range would need to be shaped into something a bit more hospitable.

The merchants of Kharon were salivating. They met with individual families and provided as many tools as they needed in exchange for a portion of the mineral rights for the area that the family would claim. Randidly was slightly worried about whether the practices were predatory, but he knew that Tatiana would have thought of that issue and addressed it.

Besides, the ogres were not an easy people to bully.

Yet Randidly could only watch for so long before he was pulled away from the mesmerizing flow of people. It was an uncomfortable thing, but Randidly wanted to make a few visits today. There were a few entities on Earth that deserved his attention before he started profoundly focusing on his two current goals: figuring out what the Creature was up to and preparing for his own birthday party.

So Randidly removed his Philosopher’s Key from his belt and slid it into the air. The tightly wound strings of karma thrummed lightly as he searched for several minutes before finally finding his desired target. Then he pressed the key forward and opened up a door to cross the distance to his first visit.