Chapter 1389 (2/2)

That was Randidly’s resolve; to let Earth solve Earth’s problem. Still, Randidly had a sudden idea about how he could use these bumbling users of Nether. One that would be immensely more satisfying for the fury he felt upon witnessing their actions. Besides… it is my fault if the people of Zone 1 have an advantage because I warned everyone else away from the deviant Paths…

Releasing a breath, he forced that anger down. Randidly looked at the world more fully. The Order Valorem, predictable bumblers that they were, also had some dabbling in Nether, but it was nowhere near as sophisticated as Zone 1’s attempt, likely due to the individuals standing at the center of that squad. Richter, despite the damage to his body, was clearly able to channel the Nether in a slightly less damaging method than the people of the Order Valorem.

Those miserable wretches were essentially drowning their Soulspace without even knowing it.

After making a mental note and sending a message to King Phirun, Randidly set the issue of these Nether users to the side; he did want to think a little bit further about how to teach children to be powerful.

But even after throwing all of his brainpower into the issue for another fifteen minutes, he came up against the same roadblocks that teachers had been railing against for generations: how do you encourage creativity? How do you nurture determination? With what lessons can you cultivate confidence and resolve?

Part of what formed the basis of images were the stories, to Randidly’s mind. So much of his early growth was only due to imagery that he had heard from old mythologies. So it was somewhat important that children have exposure to the stories that gave meaning to the images surrounding them. But how does a child learn to differentiate between what matters and what doesn’t? How could they learn to identify the key thread? That was a sense that came with experience.

Experience was not an easy subject to teach.

Randidly would readily admit that it had taken him until recently to identify the core desires that animated his images. Getting here had not been an easy path.

Although I might have had more time to think if fewer forces were trying to kill me or take control of my body...

With those thoughts swirling around in his head, Randidly began to plot and plan. What he needed was a draw on unaffiliated individuals to the Kharon Academy, one that pulled people with the stories and experience, as well as the social clout to hold the attention of youths, into the city. Housing wouldn’t work for that caliber of individuals, not the least of which because Randidly specifically wanted not just the people of Kharon.

Yet money and influence were always the draws that worked. Or if not money, the objects that even those with a lot of money couldn’t buy. Randidly’s mind drifted to the very valuable and strange materials Kharon had begun to collect as it traversed the newly opened borderlands.

A little cliche… but what better location for a grand auction than a wandering city…?

Sitting on his island, Randidly unleashed a grin. He stood and stretched, working the kinks out of his body. It was almost time; his joints seemed to ache with the inaction that had afflicted him for the past several days. He was ready to face his problems and crush them.

Yet there were a few more loose ends that had cropped up. In his examination of the area, Randidly had also found a few other things of note.

First, he had found Acri assembling a veritable dragon’s horde of bones, seemingly completely obvious to the need to bring them back to Randidly. At least Acri seemed to be shrinking back toward a more reasonable size, which was a blessing.

Second, his Grim Intuition stumbled across Ace earlier, entirely on accident. Had he followed the scent of Yystrix’s memories, Randidly had no idea how long it would have taken him to find Ace. The man had taken to disguising his energy like no one else Randidly had seen thus far. But when Randidly looked at the Refuge to see the way they trained their soldiers, he found Ace there, bold as brass, talking to the head of the guard.

Seeing him let Randidly confirm that he possessed the memories, but his condition made Randidly snort involuntarily. From just looking at Ace, it was clear that Yystrix’s memories rejected him. He was suffering from extremely apparent mental fatigue from repeatedly trying to access them and just being rewarded with agony. And it seemed that Ace considered it some sort of training because Randidly sensed himself periodically subjecting himself to the baptism of the memories’ rejection.

Randidly also followed Ace to the weapon that he had slowly been creating. He found his father there, an uneasy participant for the diabolical undertaking. Yet even Randidly was taken aback by the ominous tingling in his spine as he looked at that fleshy egg. It had grown to the size of a minivan, a pulsating ovoid of blood and agony. All of Randidly’s humor was wiped away as he saw the negative emotions that his former best friend fed into this egg.

Just what the hell are you trying to hatch, Ace?!

The third thing Randidly saw in his earlier scan was Sydney. He didn’t mean to spy on her, not truly, but after seeing how far Ace had fallen, Randidly couldn’t help but turn his attention to Sydney. He found her sitting at the bedside of her subordinate Drake, the man still bedridden by agonizing pain due to the strange mutation that had occurred in his Soulspace.

Sydney’s back was to the open window and her face was in shadow. Randidly could only see her expression due to Grim Intuition. He couldn’t help but feel his mood soften as he saw her there, alone in that hospital room with the unconscious Drake.

It reminded Randidly of old expressions he had seen from Sydney. When he had seen her standing up at her bedroom window, looking out at night into darkness.

Randidly wrote Sydney a message. For a bit, he hesitated before sending it. Because as Randidly looked down at the words he had sent to Sydney, there was no way that he could miss that this message, while certainly a genuine expression of how he felt, would be toeing the line of Randidly’s thoughts on noninterference with Earthly problems. This was him taking action and pushing toward a safe resolution.

Still, the point of that interference had always been keeping his image free. This would, in no way, spread his image and endanger the planet for the Second Calamity. Or perhaps, more importantly, Randidly was finding that he wasn’t sure how he felt about remaining completely aloof after seeing Sydney’s expression.

“I’m not a god. I’m just a man. And after seeing her like that. Even if we haven’t spoken in so long…” Randidly whispered to himself. Yet still, he hesitated.

What this action would do was involve Randidly in a rift that he had helped to create. And staring that fact in the face made his heart ache.

“Stories might be told about individuals…” Randidly chewed on his lip for a second and then shook his head. With a firm nod, he sent the message. He hefted the Philosopher’s Key and felt through the air to create a karmic connection to Acri’s trove. He spoke softly to himself while stepping through the portal. “But it’s the societies that bring those stories to life. I hope that Kharon… can someday hold some lovely stories. Stories… with a little bit more generosity and heart than mine.”

If he was going to break his non-interference policy, there was no reason to flinch. As long as his image didn't spread...

What does it say about me that I could look sixteen thousand deaths in the face, but one expression of an old friend has me stepping forward to help...?

After sweeping Acri’s bones clean, Randidly contacted Neveah. The wheels in his mind began to quickly turn. Bit by bit, Randidly worked out the shape of what he wanted. It was time for them to kill Kaan Swacc. And throw out all the trash in the process.