Chapter 1526 (1/2)

Randidly rubbed the bridge of his nose as he walked out of the training area and looked up toward the sky. Low clouds hung overhead, slowly building into a rainstorm. A cool wind brushed Randidly’s cheek. I guess it’s better that I realize now that this is becoming a problem. My personal significance turns out to be nothing compared to how much a group can accumulate…

But I suppose that makes sense. Nether is the energy of connection. When it is shared, it flows much more efficiently. My Nether Nebula should be able to continue grinding away for a little while longer, although it might not be comfortable. Which means I’m once more faced with the problem of figuring out how to make a Nether Class…

Randidly pursed his lips as he thought. Three ideas came to mind for proceeding forward. The first was relying on his recently acquired Fatepiece, the Visage of Obsession, to try and intuit how a Nether Class would work by staring at the Visage. It was, after all, a rather strange Fatepiece designed to remove preconceived notions and solve problems.

However, two things stopped him. First, he was wary of the fact that its usage could only be delayed, never stopped. That, combined with the hints that there would be a price for using it while Randidly was in the middle of it, meant that it wasn’t an option that he would easily choose. Plus, it would undoubtedly be more effective to use that method once he had more information regarding Nether.

With more legitimate understanding, having an epiphany would be exponentially more likely.

Therefore, Randidly focused on the other two ideas. The first was proceeding more deeply into the hollow ‘Web’ at the core of the Nexus and seeing if he could perceive the edges of that horrible mass of significance that was present below. Randidly was even more curious about that significance after his current experience with Nether Sickness. Perhaps the reason why the Nether he could sense was so stagnant was because that half-formed baby was stalled out in a similar way? Its body couldn’t withstand the significance that was being given to it?

That thought caused Randidly to shiver. Perhaps what was currently happening with his Nether Nebula was closer to what happened to Elhume’s body. The uncontrolled weight of his own significance might eventually suffocate him.

The other idea was to contact Vualla. She should have been deployed to the Fifth Cohort and would be fighting against the Nether. Not only could Randidly reassure himself about the state of Vualla, but he might also be able to observe Nether forces there and intuit the way Nether could be used. After all, his ability to understand Nether had increased quite a bit since he had last been exposed to true Nether forces.

Even seeing a Nether Beast might be inspiring. Randidly felt an odd temptation to capture one and try and understand it, although he was slightly wary about how close that would come to experimentation on a live subject.

Nodding to himself, Randidly stretched. Then he gestured lightly with his hand and began to form the familiar Nether Ritual. With his Nether seeming to reach the limit of Nether density he could achieve, it was somewhat more difficult to shape it as he wished. But Randidly was in no real rush; the recruits probably wouldn’t throw another chunk of significance like that at him for another few weeks. So if he shaped slowly, so be it.

He took his time making the ritual, really focusing on the details of its construction. And although the material was slightly misbehaving, Randidly also observed the way that his intent flowed perfectly through the branching weaves of the ritual without any entropy. Honestly, he wouldn’t really have described the process like that before now, but now that he experienced the thicker Nether, the connection was just so overwhelmingly superior that he couldn’t help but be shocked the fidelity of intent.

Maybe the reason it’s so difficult to control is that it’s so much more like me, Randidly thought wryly as he put the finishing touches on the Nether Ritual.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 180!

When he finished, he instantly activated it. The sensation of tunneling through space and time to reach Vualla was slightly intoxicating. In a way, Randidly felt like his consciousness was truly traveling through the intervening substance of the universe, rather than just arriving at Vualla like he usually did. The journey the Ritual took was as roundabout as usual, still as secretive-

Two eyes like inverted white triangles against a black backdrop, perfectly even along the edges, with a small blue orb floating in the middle-

But as soon as he felt the vertigo and the Nether Ritual turned strange, Randidly hissed and ripped the woven Nether in front of him to shreds. The connection was barely flickering to life when it was already destroyed. Even still, Randidly staggered back into the training area and spat out a mouthful of blood. His head began to pound as he unsteadily allowed himself to settle down on his haunches.

In the split second that the Ritual had almost connected to Vualla, Randidly felt a sudden and overwhelming pull sideways. Or rather, the thread of his Nether had been caught up in an immense whirlpool of Nether that engulfed the surrounding area. Randidly had then ripped through the fabric of the Nether Ritual, but not before he briefly connected with the incorrect target.

The Nether King looked at Randidly for the briefest fraction of time, seemingly just as surprised as Randidly had been to see each other. Then, without any hesitation, the Nether King had lashed out with a pitch-black lance of significance. The weight and casual power of the attack had been what inflicted most of the damage on Randidly and left him with a lingering headache. His Nether Nebula buzzed, but honestly, it began then to pick up speed; that attack had loosened some of the tightness Randidly was experiencing.

As his body and Nether Nebula rapidly began healing from the blow, Randidly directed a wry smile at the ceiling fo the training area. He used his foot to close the door behind him so no one would wander upon him like this. Next to him, the blood he spat out sizzled on the ground. “Shit… I should have seen that coming…”

Although the Xyrt Brigade might not be familiar with Nether Rituals, there was no way that the Nether forces didn’t utilize them. Perhaps the entirety of the Nether army’s communication was based on the fabric of Nether Rituals. He was a fly that had wandered into a massive web and was foolish enough to be surprised when the spider turned up. If the Nether King hadn’t been so shocked by the connection or Randidly had been a hair slower in severing it...

With a sigh, Randidly shrugged that thought off. Because he still had more important realizations to face.

“Although its shape and the flow of its Nether are entirely different…” Randidly muttered. “That… I’m almost positive that Nether King in the Fifth Cohort is the same one I briefly interfered with at the frontlines. Everything that happened since then… all of the Nether attacks... Am I responsible for those…?”

The muscles around Randidly’s heart tightened. The figure of Ki-Kunot briefly flickered in front of his gaze. Then he remembered the grainy texture of the wooden handle of his shovel as he dug graves along the Hallat River. His emotions, which the Stillborn Phoenix was refining every day, seethed and roiled like a boiling cauldron in his chest. Each was a serpent shocked awake by a loud noise, alarmed and aggressive. But eventually, Randidly pressed his eyes closed and shook his head. He refused to allow himself to go down that Path.