Chapter 1527 (2/2)

Randidly released a breath and scratched behind his ear. He had always known that Elhume and his System were designed for a singular purpose and that purpose had very little to do with respect for life. But Randidly had never really considered the effect that would have on those in power. From what he understood, the current Nexus was essentially a society that developed without any interference from Elhume; the original creator hadn’t been active in the day to day operations since the Second Cohort. Therefore, he had been willing to just assume they were typical bureaucrats.

But of course, living and benefiting under such a cruel system would warp even a saint.

I had assumed that Commandant Wick’s madness came from his experience on the battlefield. Suddenly, Randidly felt very cold, even standing in the middle of his tastefully decorated penthouse dwellings. But it might be better to assume that everyone at a certain level of influence gains that sort of cruelty. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of our twisted System and clamber up to that position in the first place.

Without much of a thought, Randidly reached out and touched against the organic flows of Aether and Nether that spiraled around him, filling up the whole of his training area. By now, whether consciously or not, the recruits and Randidly’s various subordinates had fully accepted the energy flows around them. Perhaps now that the deficiencies in acclimation had been adjusted in the recruits, Nether flowed more evenly between recruits and their trainers. He could sense them, all determined to hone their abilities and improve their power.

Those at the top prosper because of those at the bottom, Randidly thought rather sardonically, feeling the way that those energy flows that passed through the surrounding individuals returned inevitably to him. Here, he was the harsh taskmaster who gained the most benefits. But unlike the individuals from Military High Command and the NLC, Randidly remembered the bargain that had been struck.

In exchange for their support, they had his protection.

Randidly opened his eyes. “When is the funeral for the Commandant?”

“Two days from now,” Heiffal replied after consulting a scroll in his hands. “There will be a service in the Outer Realm where Commandant’s descendants lived.”

After a slow nod, Randidly spoke again. “Let’s not worry about what the recruits do while they are out in the world; we might have the manpower to keep track of them, but… there are dangerous forces in the Nexus that we won’t be prepared for. No reason to get into a blind fight. Better to just wait and screen problems as they make their way back to the Rally Station.

“In addition… lets up the training. Quite a bit. Since they are going to have a day off… let’s give them exhaustion worth resting for a day over.” Randidly’s eyes glowed emerald. “I’ll adjust the suppression array so it’s closer to my level. In addition, I’ll increase the amount of ambient energy I’m releasing. Helen? Find the opportunity to reward two more Darkstar Coins to appropriate recruits. Ideally, choose someone who will use the coin before the break day.”

“I know someone who would use it almost immediately,” Helen shook her head. She tapped her nails of her right hand against the hard surface of the table. “The problem is letting him have the chance to genuinely earn it… the kids a fuckign nightmare. Very much a young and pissy brat. But I do have a few ideas.”

Randidly barred his teeth. “I just need the chance to appear before them one more time. And we might need to adjust the challenge rules to make sure that things last long enough that they can perceive my images and not just my body.”

“...I thought you weren’t going to use your images in those challenges,” Helen spoke slowly with an aggrieved expression on her face.

Randidly couldn’t help but chuckle. “Ha. Generally, yes. It will be primarily a physical demonstration. But I… heh, you will have it rough in the confrontation, sorry Helen.” She sighed in an exaggerated manner and Randidly continued to speak. “But I will need to address this situation directly. I’ll make a small speech after the challenge. We need to handle this somewhat carefully.”

“How?” Heiffal asked.

Randidly flexed his hands. “By reminding these elites that being a part of something matters. That integrity and justice are their own reward. That if any one of them puts their own benefits above the lives of the people in the Fifth Cohort-”

“Randidly,” Helen rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to beat around the fucking bush. Scare them shitless with a demonstration and then talk about how important it is not to be tempted to taking a bribe from outside forces. We get it.”

For a second, Randidly froze. Then he chuckled; Helen certainly had a particular way of viewing the world and that view didn’t include platitudes. “...well, that’s an extremely blunt way of viewing it. But I suppose that’s right. Alright, any questions? If there’s nothing else, I’ll head to adjust the array.”

Heiffal and Helen nodded and went about their own work. They would likely have their own preparations to make so that the next two days would be absolute hell for the recruits. But Randidly had to admit that it appeared these recruits absorbed lessons best when exhausted. It had been their methodology thus far and he didn’t think he would change now.

With quite a bit of longing in his face, Randidly looked at the plate that was completely devoid of boar meat. I guess I’ll need to take the time to roast another boar… and then hide the finished product from Helen...

After his two subordinates departed, Randidly used the Philosopher’s Key to open a portal to the core portion of the suppression array. It was located in a stone room underneath the individual training pod area. With his experience working with his own pod, it was rather simple for Randidly to increase the suppression.

Currently, recruits were left without any Stamina and thus had to use their images in an environment that had a low, ambient amount of Nether. That was the source of the suppression. But it was quite easy to both increase the ambient Nether and also add an additional bit of Engraving that would noticeably increase the gravity in the area. Randidly’s test subject was himself, so he sat in that enclosed stone room toyed with the various settings.

His own pod mostly targeted his usage of image, so he had never gone all out to target physical movements.

Congratulations! Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 310!

Randidly’s face was illuminated only by the soft glow coming from the Engravings that ran across the floor beneath him and the walls around him. He soon grew curious about the limits of his own body and pushed to the limits, earning an unconscious growl from his body. After enduring the combined suppression for a few minutes, Randidly deactivated the array and upped the effectiveness even further. Then he pumped the Engraving full of Aether so it operated at maximum efficiency.

This time, his body practically shuddered as it withstood the force. The increased gravity and polarized air pressured him from every angle. His image physicalizations naturally emerged to resist the effects. Randidly grinned down at the bulging veins along his chest and arms. I might have broken the System limit on physical strength, but that doesn’t mean that I’m completely unstoppable with just my body. That’s the limit of investing overmuch in only the physical-

Inside Randidly’s chest, while he was enduring full strength physical suppression, the Grim Chimera stirred. The rough scar tissue that covered the Grim Chimera began to crack and tear, just slightly.

Oh? This might be… Randidly’s grin widened.