Chapter 1387 (2/2)

He stood there and released a quick pulse of the Grim Chimera. That baleful determination to survive stirred the surrounding air. He raised his taloned claw and bone spear into the air. But just as quickly as he manifested his image, he released it and the pressure dissipated. This was a trick he had seen by watching some of the various members of the Smog Clan as they came to report to the captain.

In the seconds after Randidly reigned his image back in, he felt very disappointed in the approximation that he had managed. The speed with which he released and pulled back his image couldn’t compare to the members of the Xyrt Brigade. But, that was probably the value of the training. The training that even now, Vualla was being tortured by in order to grow stronger.

First thing I’m going to do once the Xyrt Brigade leaves is connect with Vualla and heal some of her mental strain- wait, damn, a Nether Ritual will draw out Kaan Swacc… and I doubt he will give me enough time to heal Vualla. So I need to deal with him first…

While Randidly was reflecting, the tent flap opened to reveal the rather stoic looking aid to Captain Quill, Wuva. He scanned Randidly critically, then spoke in a precise manner. “Your execution of your image is sloppy… but I can tell it is just from lack of practice, not because your image is weak. You are quite impressive, Randidly Ghosthound. I will make sure that fact is included in the report.”

Wondering if he had made some sort of long term mistake with this attempt, Randidly nodded slowly. “Thank you, Wuva. Is… ah, Captain Quill in? Can I talk to him?”

Wuva nodded and gestured for Randidly to follow him. But as he led Randidly into a remarkably large entrance hall, complete with a distinguished portrait of Captain Quill giving a look like his face was literally smoldering, Wuva continued to speak. “Something that might help you is to create what we think of as a template for your image. Keep a weaker, dormant version of the image around you that you just bring to life when you need it. The only downside of that being that individuals who try to manage two different images can sometimes shoot themselves in the foot for their other image, but for you…”

Wuva glanced over his shoulder at Randidly as they climbed the stairs. There was a hint of a question there and Wuva’s eyes were surprisingly sharp. Randidly smiled awkwardly and shrugged.

Chuckling to himself, Wuva continued to climb up the stairs. “Well, anyway. Stick close behind me. This can get tricky.”

Setting aside the issue of a staircase inside of a tent, Randidly was left flatfooted when they reached the top of the next landing and a hallway stretched to his left and right for about a hundred meters each way. The maroon tent took up only about a basketball court’s worth of space on Randidly’s island. This strange mansion that Randidly found himself in seemed to be large enough to fill his entire island.

Despite the clear violations of the laws of physics, Wuva confidently walked down the hall. Following him, Randidly started looking around with his senses other than his eyes and quickly had a better picture of where he was.

Congratulations! Your Skill Aether Detection has grown to Level 207!

It’s a giant labyrinth, Randidly thought in awe as he glanced around him. Without using his eyes, Randidly could see the way that an Engraving was warping space and his preception to convince him that he was moving even when he wasn’t. And as Randidly continued to follow Wuva, he realized that the way they were proceeding through the house, walking through drawing rooms and then pulling out a book in a bookcase to reveal a secret passage, was a password to deactivate the surroundings.

It made him wonder how difficult it would be to force his way through such defenses.

So when Randidly finally stepped through a doorway and found Captain Quill puffing away at his pipe, what really happened was he finally had followed Wuva and made it through the defenses of the tent. Before addressing Captain Quill, Randidly turned and took a long look over his shoulder at the Engraving that he left behind.

Captain Quill glanced up from a few pieces of paper that he held with his smoky appendages. “Ah, Mr. Ghosthound! What a pleasure, what a pleasure. Truly, what an auspicious time for you to arrive! I was about to head to dinner. Perhaps you could join me?”

Randidly showed a small smile. “Thank you for the invitation, but no, there’s no need for me to stay for dinner; I’d like to get out of your hair as soon as possible. I just have a few questions-”

“About why I haven’t got out of your hair yet, correct?” Suddenly, the sharper version of Captain Quill was there. He released a huge orb of smoke that somehow maintained its structure as it floated forward. “Mr. Ghosthound, there are some things that are best discussed over dinner.”

“I don’t wish to waste either of our time, Captain Quill,” Randidly said slowly. Some part of him knew it would be easier just to accept the dinner invitation, but there was something about Captain Quill that reminded Randidly about some older, distant relatives from his youth. Somehow he doubted that dinner would be a ‘simple’ affair, even if he knew that Captain Quill would very likely claim it was such.

Captain Quill looked at Randidly in silence for ten seconds. Wuva stood next to Randidly the entire time with a straight spine. He was more ornament than a person. Finally, Captain Quill sighed. “Fine then, son, let’s speak about the state of Earth. I know why you are here. And I cannot deny that we have remained on your planet for longer than I anticipated. But there is a very good reason for that.

“We’ve found quite a bit of Nether on your planet, Mr. Ghosthound.” Captain Quill’s focus never left Randidly. “Some of it in some very… unusual places.”