Chapter 1515 (1/2)

Randidly hummed to himself as raised his hands and flicked his fingers. The motions were meaningless, but he felt oddly… empowered as he guided Aether out around the training area in a complex pattern like he was a composer keeping time for the symphony. He tried to keep the individual Aether flows extremely bare, but because of that, it was hard even for Randidly to make sure the superstructure he was slowly erecting would fit his very exact specifications. He pressed his eyes tightly closed and leaned forward, splaying his fingers out in the air.

Within the penthouse apartment that Randidly had commandeered of their Alpha Cosmos housing building, one flesh and one metal fingertip guided the energy in a complex swirling weave that hung in the air. Outside, a much grander reflection began to emerge. His heart began to thump in his chest. His image physicalizations flared to life as the feeble streams of Aether kept trying to wander off of the paths chosen by Randidly.

From Yggdrasil he took the vast Control, from the Stillborn Phoenix he took an almost obsessive Focus, and from the Grim Chimera he took the unwavering Willpower. The thin flows of Aether soon began to connect. The system began to flow forward, building up momentum to sustain itself.

The smaller version dissipated, leaving Randidly solely grasping the convoluted mess that coiled in on itself above the oblivious recruits. Then he released a breath through his nose.

At this point, Randidly and Neveah had basically utilized all the tricks they were able to decipher from Yyxtrix’s gift in order to create a vast Engraving that covered their area of the Rally Station. In theory, the Engraving should be capable of suppressing those within for increased training efficacy, keeping outside actors form being able to peer within the formation, and defending against unwanted intruders if someone were to force the issue. So now it was time to get a little aggressive with Randidly’s training methods.

Randidly couldn’t help but grin as he pulled away even more of the Aether he was manipulating. What remained was gossamer and trembling emotion, barely Aether at all.

Congratulations! Your Skill Aether Manipulation has grown to Level 252!

Randidly released another slow breath through his nose. He could feel the way that his intense focus was gradually warping the surrounding space around him. In his chest, his Nether Nebula began to accelerate as it pumped Nether throughout his body. There was a groaning from Randidly’s physical torso as that innocuous grey bubble in the core of the Nebula slowly began to grow.

The idea for this had actually come from Edraine, when she had been talking about methods to earn Nexus Citizenship coins. One common tactic employed by those of the Nexus to improve themselves was to expand their image, having it take up the space of an entire world. Then they began to purify it at that larger size so they could later compress it again and achieve a superior image. She explained to Randidly that this was the generally acceptable final stage of reaching the Pinnacle.

Randidly had his own spin on this technique.

Gradually, Randidly’s Nether Nebula slowed its rotation. Then it stopped and began to spin in the other direction. After a second of internal rumbling, a tide of Nether surged outward through those carefully drawn pathways and filled the atmosphere of the Southern portion of their training area. Almost instantly, the entire area darkened as the chaotic energy dominated the sky.

Those thin trails of emotion became the guild that drew the Nether down the paths of least resistance.

The energy gushed like the fallout of a broken dam, frothing and crashing unpredictably for several seconds as it engorged the trails left by the Aether. Randidly’s expression tightened. More and more Nether blasted out of his body, gleeful for the scent of freedom after the long pooling within his Nether Nebula. An inexplicable tremor ran through Randidly’s hands as he tried to continue his gentle guidance.

Very purposefully, he had constructed the framework for the Nether system in the sky above the training area. So as the divergent flows bucked and crashed against each other, it was in a space that wouldn’t impact the average training session. But even Randidly didn’t expect such an explosive reaction from his Nether. With gritted teeth, he widened the scope of the Nether currents so some of the excess exuberance of the energy wouldn’t smash apart the whole structure. More of the sky darkened, but his creation remained stable.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 321!

Randidly couldn’t help but smile as he struggled to retain control of the Nether ecosystem that he had unleashed in the sky. Each individual flow was like a bloodthirsty eel, struggling to escape Randidly’s tight control and descend toward the befuddled individuals looking up at the sky from below. Heh… my excuse of having Nether present in the training grounds to create exposure for the elites… looks a lot better when it seems like I have control over the whole process…

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 322!

A bead of sweat oozed down his brow and then lightly traced the outline of his cheekbone. His whole body was tensed to continue the struggle. And Randidly might have continually fought and forced his will upon the Nether until it submitted, had not Helen coincidentally climbed the tower to speak with him and moved within the area Randidly had given over to the Nether.

At first he was horrified, especially as the Nether paused and then forcefully ripped itself out of its previous moorings to rush toward her. The Nether spiraled around Helen before Randidly could stop it. And he knew that the presence of his Aether in the air and Helen’s body would largely blunt the caustic effect of normal Nether, but-

Randidly blinked. Then he narrowed his eyes. After studying the suddenly meek Nether around Helen and the Nether that furiously tried to push its way forward to touch her, Randidly could only sigh. That’s right, Nether is the energy of connection. Trying to build a system without any connections is impossible; individuals naturally serve as the mooring points.

Feeling somewhat hesitant, Randidly lowered the writhing Nether System down onto the training area proper, allowing it to interact with the recruits. He could feel them stiffen as their bodies suddenly adjusted to the sudden sense of pressure now present in the air. Even if his ambient Aether that filled the air and this Nether were compatible with each other and prevented the worst reaction, it was still an alien sensation to most of the recruits.