Chapter 1543 (2/2)
So his Nether progress mainly consisted of continued observations of the Nether System in his training area. As it continued to develop, patterns were emerging that Randidly could identify and extrapolate to broader truths about Nether. In his estimate, five years of such observation would be very beneficial to him.
...but five years was too long a timeline. People wanted to kill him now.
To increase the effectiveness of such observations, Randidly poured a bit extra Nether into his Alpha Cosmos to establish a similar organization there. But he needed to be careful about how much significance he accumulated; the grey bubbles continued to be a strange, pseudo physical strain on his Nether Nebula.
Randidly rolled his shoulders and slapped his hands against his cheeks. “Even if there isn’t any easy Path forward, I’m still progressing. I’ve gathered quite a lot of PP again. Soon I’ll be able to take another Path. And about 1000 PP beyond that should be the next tithe from the Alpha Cosmos…”
Randidly probably wouldn’t be able to earn that much PP before the three-month time limit was up. But hopefully, his actions on the frontlines would gather a huge amount of PP to him and accelerate that process…
Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Timing (Ru) has grown to Level 172!
Randidly glanced toward the window. Checking the time, the recruit tournament would begin soon. Although Randidly wasn’t going to be helping with the administration, he should begin to pay attention to the recruits; some of them were starting to show serious potential. Plus, Randidly needed a little bit of a break to refine his thoughts regarding All Things Succumb, Yet Time Whirls the Earth. He had decided that he was finally prepared to address the Grim Chimera’s ultimate Skill.
Yet just as Randidly walked through the door, he stalled out in shock at the message he had received. His hand reached for the doorknob and missed. A split second later, Randidly forgot about his plans to leave as he reread the message. Instantly, a grin covered his face.
Did you miss me, Randidly?
I don’t know why you would, when I’m an objectively ignorant fool. I’ve been so busy I couldn’t even manage to send a single message to you. My bad. I’m not so good at this, you know.
Randidly couldn’t help but chuckle; the message was from Vualla. Although he couldn’t reach out to her with his Nether Rituals, the messaging would work when she was in Aether controlled space.
I did feel you try to reach out to me previously, but the Xyrt Brigade been rather constantly active since we came here, destroying these Nether nodes as quickly as we can. It’s gotten better since the new Commandant came to the frontlines to assist us, but it’s still quite rough. I could use a nap. Some of the people trained with me have been slaughtered right in front of me. The Nether Gatekeepers we have encounter are… different.
They aren’t just cookie-cutter beings. They have individual traits and the equivalent of Skills. When pressed, they can transform into a super form that will last for a few minutes. But before we identified this capability, we were getting ambushed by it every day. Heh, some bastard even dared to rip out my intestines. Not that it was serious, but certainly a cavalier way to treat a lady, right?
Gradually, Randidly’s excitement over hearing from Vualla disappeared. His expression grew serious. His three images pulsed with tightly controlled fury. If Vualla mentioned a wound to him, then Randidly knew that it was much more serious than she let on.
But what I wanted to tell you is that the upper echelons of the Xyrt Brigade are scared. They hide it well enough, but it’s clear that they haven’t fought against Nether like this. Especially because we haven’t yet been able to figure out why the Nether King is sneaking around setting up these Nether Nodes. A lot of our resources are put toward destroying them, but the upper echelons won’t commit to eradicating them completely.
Some of them are beginning to suspect these nodes are simply a distraction. But no one has any idea what they are supposed to be a distraction from. The opposition currently has the initiative in the Fifth Cohort. This Nether King is making the Nexus seem like a much more mortal foe, eh? It doesn’t help that after the previous leader of the Xyrt Brigade was killed, there has been a lot of infighting behind the scenes.
If the Nether doesn’t kill us soon, we might just fucking do it ourselves. I get that what I want to see is a dismantled Nexus, but it’s frustrating that it feels like I’ll be on the frontlines of those losses.
But in other news, I’m more powerful than ever! Want to spar? We are being sent back to the Nexus to debrief and rest for a few days. I’ll come find you, even if you try to hide~.
Stay safe. I’ve heard some strange rumors about you. The Xyrt Brigade doesn’t know what to make of you. But they deeply fear Commandant Wick.