Chapter 1612 (1/2)
“You…. what are you trying to say?” Lay’mel Tuuellethe spat into the communicator. His fingers gripped the metal edges so tightly that blood wasn’t able to flow into his extremities. He stood at the edge of one of the observation platforms of Military High Commands base on the Fifth Cohort, barely even noticing the struggle that played out across the sky.
Velio Dunn’s laughter was grating through the communicator. “Heh, Lamel, do you truly miss me so much after such a short amount of time part? But I’m sorry, I don’t wanna play around right now. Believe me when I say that I am very interested in how the Ghosthound survived in the shaft… but I ain’t coming. The currents around the Fifth Cohort are deep.
“I’m gonna wait a bit and see if I can catch a big fish. Don’t contact me again over this matter.”
The line went dead and Lay’mel looked at the communicator with the intent to reach through and strangle this bastard that had routinely mocked, harassed, and humiliated him. He had endured so much just to keep the fickle mercenary happy. And suddenly all his suffering became meaningless. But the former Drill Sergeant also knew that he was powerless.
His fingers slowly loosened on the communicator. His head dropped to his chest.
Compared to Velio Dunn, Lay’mel was nothing. He was simply a tool of the Swacc Family that would be discarded when he outlived his uselessness. His eyes steadily reddened as he was continually infuriated by how unfair existence was.
Power… Lay’mel’s thoughts were filled with bitterness and spite. If I was only born lucky enough to seize power...
A large metal hand clapped down on Lay’mel’s shoulder, waking him from his turbulent emotional state. After blinking, he looked into the eyes of Evick Swacc, a thuggish humanoid who gummed a cigar from one side of his mouth to the other while he grinned at Lay’mel. When he spoke, smoke wafted outward from his lips and stunk of rotten meat.
“Relax, my crew will be more than enough to handle Randidly Ghosthound.” Evick slapped Lay’mel’s back several times to emphasize his statement and then nodded to the dozen or so similarly grimy and well-muscled humanoids standing around them. “Besides, better not to rely on an outside force. This is a Family beef, so a Family man like myself will be more than up to the challenge.”
Lay’mel opened his mouth to point out that because Randidly had survived several encounters with Dunn, there was no way that Evick would be able to handle him, but stilled his tongue when he saw the lines around Evick’s eyes changing. Evick had seen the conclusion that Lay’mel was jumping to and didn’t like it one bit that a fucking tool like Lay’mel dared have such an offensive opinion.
Lay’mel swayed slightly, only a single step away from triggering violence. But luckily, he possessed enough grace to survive the tempestuous Swaccs.
Lay’mel nodded meekly, earning a guffaw from Evick and several more slaps with a little extra venom. A couple of Evick’s thugs chuckled along with their boss as they watched Lay’mel with cruel eyes. Compared to an actual member of the Swacc Family, Lay’mel was nothing.
But inwardly, he had some anticipation toward the moment when this group tried to ambush the Ghosthound. No matter who ended up dead… Lay’mel would rejoice.
*****
As soon as Randidly began putting PP into Glimpse of the Shallah, he felt a pinch of regret in his heart. The total cost for the Path was 20,000 PP. Which was a little under half of the amount he had remaining. But even so, Randidly resolutely poured his PP into the Path, earning himself a free Stat every 50 PP spent.
Yet as he added more and more PP, the rewards changed; they grew quickly less respectable. After the first 10,000, he only earned 1 free Stat for every 100 PP that he spent. And in through the entire last 5k… Randidly only earned a single free Stat point. The experience had him pressing his mouth into a thin line as he finished the Path.
Congratulations! You have completed the Glimpse of the Shallah Path! In the expansive wilds, some of history’s secrets are buried more deeply beneath the shifting sands than others. The wheel of time spins and those who ride it are convinced they forge a new Path, even when all patterns follow the same arch. For the individuals who have climbed to the heights you have now reached, their ears may sometimes catch whispers of the wind, which hint at the race that started everything.
They call themselves Shallah, and out of reverence, we do the same.
The current Nexus plays with the broken pieces of the great discoveries and inventions made by the Shallah at their height. Or at least, that is our belief. Only by digging out the artifacts of their works out of the sand can we hope to glimpse, even briefly, the power they once wielded.
Yet beyond the hints of their capabilities lies another question; what happened to them?
Congratulations! For completing the Path, you have received a rare chance to grasp at the secrets of the Shallah! Depending on your compatibility, the effect will differ. Please be prepared…
The notification in front of Randidly began to swirl and droop as though it was a creation made of wax that was left too near to a roaring fire. At the same time, Randidly could sense the complex network of Aether constructs forming in front of him. Just like Ulaat’s ashes, reaching into this swirling notification would grant him the opportunity to be tested.
But unlike Ulaat’s Path… Randidly grimaced and felt his palms begin to sweat as he examined the interlocking pattern of Aether that appeared in front of him. This power… shit, these aren’t Aether principles that its using… And even the complexity...
The emotions rising in his chest forced Randidly to pause and release a breath; it truly had been too long since he experienced genuine fear.
Simply observing the swirling notification birthed an instinctive sense of weakness into his heart. His Grim Intuition was absolutely convinced that this Path had revealed to him a higher existence. The Path he was now treading was extremely dangerous. And when Randidly recognized the danger, he had a small thought.
How had he triggered this Path?
Still, it was a little late to spend much time pondering the origins of the Path, now that the swirling mass of energy floated in front of him. The potency of this Path began to steadily warp space as he allowed the Path completion to stall out in front of him.
Resolve quickly hardened in his eyes. Even if he was afraid, Randidly would not take a step back; even from the beginning, he had grown because he was always moving forward. That was a lesson that had been beaten into him by Shal.
Randidly’s eyes were bright and gleeful as he raised his right hand and stuck it into the notification. He didn’t know what he would find, but he would step confidently into the unknown. As soon as his hand sank into the dense energies, a wave of sticky darkness exploded outward to blanket all of his sensations. Even the acute emotional sense that Randidly had developed in the shaft was instantly smothered.
After a chaotic sense of vertigo, Randidly’s senses snapped back into place. He was standing on a thin strip of grey stone floating in a vast abyss. The stone beneath his bare feet was cool. He cast his gaze around and soon fixated on some movement on his right.