Chapter 1678 (2/2)

Randidly felt very clear differences from his experiences at Selene. No one here seemed grateful or thankful toward him. All Randidly felt from these rich and affluent members of Kharon was resentment and fear.

Keeping his expression even, Randidly carefully unwound his tail from around his waist and brought it down underneath the heavy table cloth. He expertly directed a flow of Nether through the appendage and concentrated it at the tip; although he had never done this before, his dexterity with his tail was sufficiently high that the act posed no problems. He began to weave a Nether Ritual that would screen their table from scrutiny.

Congratulations! Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual (L) has grown to Level 289!

The lazy, coiling of the motions of his tail unavoidably altered the way Randidly Engraved, but after spending all day observing and practicing the all-encompassing method of Scrawl, Randidly felt a bit more comfortable simply accepting those strange idiosyncrasies. They shaped his meaning in subtle ways that he didn't truly understand, he simply didn't have enough experience, he embraced those changes. The Engraving subtly transformed.

Congratulations! Your Skill Scrawl of the Ghosthound (L) has grown to Level 175!

Congratulations! Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual (L) has grown to Level 290!

However, Randidly quickly encountered a problem and paused in his work to chew on his lip. Obviously, if he completely isolated their table, the restaurant staff wouldn't be able to keep serving them...

Sensing his confusion, Neveah slid her own bony tail beneath the table and drew on Randidly's Nether to add a few very precise markings to the interior of the Ritual. This is a subject matter that I have some experience with. It is possible to tie the effectiveness of such Rituals to particular associations, but is an extremely precise business; honestly, you'd be better at it than me. If you could sample the spirit of our wait staff and coalesce it into a specific runic sigil...?

Randidly rolled his eyes at how blithely Neveah passed the extremely troublesome task to him but went about his work without complaint. The Stillborn Phoenix stretched its influence outward and took small, hopefully imperceptible bites of the images of the appropriate people. Then Randidly carefully pulled those bites before they were devoured by his image. Which wasn't as difficult as it would have once been; since applying the concrete manifestations of the Hierarchy of Burden to the image, its behavior had improved immensely.

Perhaps it sensed that it was gradually approaching an avenue that might result in its actual birth. Such a prospect left it quite willing to pass on small meals like this.

Ultimately though, the final conversion wasn't smooth; Randidly simply didn't have enough knowledge of these individuals to make a perfect key that they would subconsciously activate off of their presence. Even with his experience creating his own Nether Core, much of what he did was guesswork. But when his tail added the final, flourishing rune to the Engraving, the effect was immediate.

The feedback from Nether was immediately positive; the Nether RItual worked.

Randidly could tell that he hadn't done so well with the maitre de, but their waiter seemed to experience a passing absentminded expression when he approached them, as though the rind of the Nether Ritual briefly robbed him of his purpose. Meanwhile, the surrounding gossipers seemed to be abruptly lost as their gaze swam through the restaurant, searching for the table that had just been present. Feeling slightly vindictive, Randidly studied Neveah's robust keying arrangement for several seconds and then put his own spin on it. When an outside force attempted to use their own Willpower to focus on their table, they would walk directly into the all-consuming hunger of the Stillborn Phoenix.

Randidly’s Egg of Depression was only too happy to extract a stiff task on those foolish enough to wander within its allotted area of influence.

Several of the more determined starers finally shook themselves and turned away, an obvious expression of dread on their face. Which allowed Randidly to grin and turn back to enjoying the meal, with his tail subtly tying itself back around his waist.

Eventually, the group had eaten and laughed their way to dessert, with Randidly forced to rein in his own appetite when he noticed that the much smaller Todd was attempting to keep up with the inhuman amount of food that he and Neveah put away. The waiter explained that they had several dishes, both listed in the sleek menu provided and in a display upfront. Todd hoped to his feet and announced he would go examine their choices.

Which finally left the 'brother and sister' alone.

Randidly tilted his head to the side. ”What is it? You've been giving me a look all night.”

”This might be strange to say, especially coming from me,” Neveah began slowly as she pushed her hair behind her ear. ”But... Randidly, what do you want?”

Randidly frowned. ”What do you mean, what do I want? I'm guessing that you aren't talking about what I’m craving for dessert.”

”No, I'm talking about life. What are you reaching for?” Neveah said.

To Randidly's surprise, his Nether Core began to spin more determinedly in his chest. So he bit back his gut reaction and pondered for a bit. There was meaning to answering this question, although he wasn’t quite sure why…? Perhaps it was his presence in Kharon, perhaps it was his proximity to his Nether Core, but he felt the tightness in the air.

How he responded was important.

So slowly, Randidly did his best to vocalize what existed in his heart. ”I want to accumulate enough strength to protect this world, and others, from the Nexus. With Edraine and Octavius and Vualla... we want to gather enough capability to force a change in the entire Nexus. So that planets filled with lives won't be exploited, used, and then discarded. And since I need power to lend weight to my voice... I want to be strong. That’s why I train.”

Neveah tapped her finger on the table. ”...It's just something that I've been thinking about recently, but... Randidly, your desires center around other things. You want power, yes but only to screen your Alpha Cosmos. Rather than a person... these days, seeing how you steel yourself and throw your mind into crucible after crucible, you are more force than a living, breathing human.”