Chapter 1580 (2/2)

I always felt like I was missing something when I was younger. Randidly spoke quietly to himself, in the emptiness of his Soulspace. Why was I quieter than my peers? Why couldn’t I walk so easily among groups? Why was I always so nervous? Why did I always struggle in social situations? So I think I internalized that I was missing a piece of myself. And if I could only find that piece… I would be normal. I could fit in.

Part of that emptiness was reassured when I met Sydney and Ace, along with my few other college friends… but the hole never really went away. It just took a backseat to the other concerns in my life.

But that… that is the core of the Grim Chimera. The desperate belief that I have the ability to evolve. That someday, I won’t remain helplessly inadequate in a way that others rarely seem to be.

Yggdrasil craved stability, but I also developed desperately wanting to change…

Randidly fingers glowed with the congregation of Nether. Then he began to trace his appendages through the air, leaving sinister trails of darkness in their wake. Within Randidly’s senses, these trails were the purest absence of color, forcing away even the powerful emotions that Randidly subconsciously released from his body. At the moment he had no walls and didn’t bother to utilize a physical medium for his initial attempts; he knew in his heart that he was still finding the shape.

One step at a time… Randidly reassured himself.

But with his impression of the Grim Chimera’s significance in his life, Randidly carefully attempted to solidify these concepts in Nether. The shapes gradually grew sharper and more refined as he continued to draw shapes. Those refined runes were steadily incorporated into his Nether Nebula. Even though Randidly continually was losing his grip on the emotional tether, the improvements to his Nether Nebula added the slightest hint of buoyancy.

Closing his useless eyes and letting his other senses fall away, Randidly only shaped Nether; no threats could reach him here. The automatons didn’t travel past the 90% Nether content line and the surrounding Nether Gatekeepers were more concerned with their own troubles. Time became ephemeral, flowing freely around Randidly.

His fingers flicked back and forth, moving quickly and lightly. He buzzed with burning inspiration.

But soon, he began to approach the limits of his current understanding of the Grim Chimera. He worked the core base inspiration, the shape of the image, the way the image had helped him, and his different Skills into the patterns of significance that he traced through the air. When the shape seemed stable, he practiced upon some metal ingots until he was confident that he was on the right track.

Then those concepts were incorporated into his Nether Nebula, where the patterns of significance for both Yggdrasil and Grim Chimera became tested constantly through the flowing avenues of energy. The incarnation within the Nether Nebula was slightly different than how a core would exist, of course. While the core would be a closed system, in the Nebula these shapes were drawn only from outflows; they were never reinforced by a second revolution of the energy.

For this reason, his Nether Nebula could never truly be his Nether Core. But on the other hand, the constant repetition of the shapes allowed Randidly to observe their behavior closely. He could only see the way that energy would pass through the shapes in the first revolution, but experience with those first revolutions gave him insight into the small flaws in his thinking. The shapes grew more polished and refined, even as Randidly accumulated experience layering the two very different concepts of significance.

Randidly pulled back his lips; that balance was difficult. It was exhausting to refine the shape of both Yggdrasil and Grim Chimera at the same time; they were far too different from each other and the balancing between them needed to be done very purposefully, or he would get nothing from the experience. Randidly hoped that this was akin to balancing on a two-legged chair versus a three-legged stool, so the process would get easier when he worked in the Stillborn Phoenix. But the boat of rosy outlooks hadn’t been what carried Randidly to his current strength.

That honor belonged to practice. So he practiced.

Soon, or perhaps not soon and only soon to Randidly’s impression, the Visage of Obsession called Randidly once more. He paused in his Nether Engraving practice and allowed his attention to be devoured by the canvas. Whereas Randidly’s attention had previously been an inert liquid, he now flowed into the colorful emotional world with attention as shapeless as a gas. But with a wick of focus, he condensed into a solid form to walk forward.

For the first time in a while, a defined landscape had returned to the Fatepiece. The ground was a luminous golden color, feeling warm and kind to Randidly’s senses. The sky had lightened to a hopeful pink. But in the distance, a horrifying grey tower could be witnessed, piercing through both the bright ground and sky.

Randidly floated forward and observed the occasional thin grey root that seemed to poison the color in the Visage and turn everything monochrome. The reach of the grey tower was quite long, it seemed.

Before too much time had passed, while he was still quite distant from the grey tower, Randidly encountered Shal’s projection.

Shal shook his head at Randidly. You are quite talented at foiling my good intentions for you. Why do you refuse to throw yourself into your training?

You are an unhealthy impulse, Randidly replied while silently clicking his tongue. Useful for focusing on one goal, but largely unhelpful otherwise. Let’s skip this part, please. I’ll be quite glad to no longer deal with you and make it to the last projection of this maddening Fatepiece. What sacrifice do you require?

Shal chuckled. If you think I’m unhealthy… heh. Well, this sacrifice is an easy one. To proceed further… you must give up all memory of your name, Randidly Ghosthound.