Chapter 1529 (1/2)

Randidly rolled his eyes at the opening line of Neveah’s message. As a more social person, despite being a Bone Wyrm, she wasn’t a fan of the way that he had handled the governmental situation on Expira. Still, the rest of the message was more serious so he carefully read every word.

Contrary to expectations, Expira has been rather peaceful in your absence. Perhaps a peacekeeping and temperamental overlord was more aggravating than helpful. Most of the Zones are spreading outward in a queer mirroring of colonialism, seizing large tracts of land and resources. There are some small disputes, but there is simply so much land that the Zones won’t bother with confrontations over it. Similarly, most bubble cities have aligned themselves directly with a Zone. With Kharon patrolling the unexplored areas, civilization has a chance to rebuild itself.

I must say though, if Expira plans to run through the history of Earth at an accelerated pace, I’m a little anxious.

Speaking of which, thank you for asking how I am. I appreciate your newfound focus on emotional balance; I can sense it through our connection and it’s helping me ground myself. So I’ve been… better. After hearing your description of what likely caused Roy to take his own life, I believe I’m slowly coming to terms with it. Feeling like your actions are meaningless can destroy someone.

There was a big piece of news recently: Donnyton announced that it will soon be moving. They will maintain a presence in that original valley, but your original town is growing a bit too small for their operations. And I think they want to avoid the growing tensions between themselves and Franksburg for control of Zone 32. So they claimed a large river valley near the equator and are currently recruiting people to join in their move.

Zone 1 is low-key thrilled. The presence of Donnyton always aggravated them, even now that Greyman is no longer President.

I’ve made more progress on Yystrix’s legacy. The current section I am working on appears to be related to the Nexus Ways. It is a fascinating look at the way they used Aether to mimic Nether’s ability to connect, but it honestly seems not very useful considering your Philosopher’s Key. Therefore, I plan on switching again soon to try one of the few remaining areas I haven’t addressed.

In other news, I’ve made a new friend. I believe humans call our relationship pen-pals? So I’ve never met this individual, but we communicate semi-frequently about trivial matters. It is quite the novel experience.

Finally, concerning your questions about additional physical suppression… please stop. You have a problem. You are straining your physical form to the point that it damages your images! That cannot be healthy.

But, to my mentally sick Soulbound companion, below is an Engraving that I believe will achieve the desired effect.

Best wishes,

Neveah.

Randidly grinned and scanned quickly through the Engraving. His eyes rapidly brightened. The Engraving essentially took principles from Randidly’s own experience as the Alpha Cosmos to restrict individuals even further. It would forge a weak energy sympathy between the body and a larger structure: in this case, the whole of the Rally Station. Thereafter, a portion of an individual's effort would be directed to moving the entire Rally Station and therefore largely wasted.

Sensing that he was steadily approaching the required suppression to force the Grim Chimera image to evolve, Randidly flexed his fingers. Heh, Grim Chimera, do you really want me to pile on the physical necessity to push you to the next stage of your evolution? Don’t say I didn’t warn you… This will not be pleasant.

Randidly hopped to his feet and walked to the window of his apartment. He still had about twenty-four hours before he needed to release his recruits to attend the funeral. Therefore, he also had time before the planned Darkstar Challenge. As long as he pushed himself to the limit, there was a chance that he could evolve the Grim Chimera before the challenge.

And a dominant Grim Chimera was exactly the image that could scare the recruits into behaving during their time off.

Nodding to himself, Randidly moved to his personal training area and began adjusting his Engravings to incorporate Neveah’s idea. The training pod was becoming quite cramped with all the layered Engravings, but it was still possible to fit everything he wanted.

Congratulations! Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 312!

But right as he was about to head in and strain himself, Randidly had an idea. He quickly sent Helen a message.

*****

“Should I say congratulations… or condolences?” Overseer Helen teased. The mercurial flow of her expressions as she was speaking was almost petrifying; despite the fact that she knew she shouldn’t stare so openly, Charlotte Wick could not tear her eyes from the features of the feminine goddess in front of her. She could barely even breathe. This hairless humanoid was simply that perfect.