Chapter 1679 (1/2)

Randidly frowned at her words and Neveah continued to speak. Somehow, it seemed this judgment had been building in Neveah for quite some time, and now it finally had occasion to drain out of her. ”Not that it's a bad thing. You've done so much good for the people and places you've decided to protect. But... I'm just worried about you. We are one being, Soulbound, yes? I didn't realize it at first, but I have been becoming more and more fascinated with my own budding humanity... perhaps at the same time that yours was withering below the weight of necessity. Even... please, I don't mean to criticize, but even your relationship with Vualla. You care for each other, yes, but is it nearing something like love? Or do you two simply share complimentary obsessions?

“If she decided to give up her vendetta against the Nexus, would you be okay with it?”

Now Randidly was truly stunned, simply staring at Neveah. She looked back at him, her eyes a dark green and filled with genuine warmth and empathy. His heartbeat quickened, even as the Nether flowing through his veins grew increasingly dense. His Nether Core responded strongly to Neveah's words, but Randidly just felt... bewildered.

Significance slowed in through the windows and doors, seeped up through the floorboards, and steadily wormed its way through the vents. So much was spinning in the air, threatening to warp Randidly’s tail-drawn Nether Ritual with its force.

I’m more… force than person…? But about Vualla...

”I...” Randidly licked his lips. He was suddenly very aware of the multiple ways through recent memory that he had shed his human body and evolved into something... else. But then again, that wasn't what Neveah was talking about; when he faced her accusation directly, he couldn’t claim it was only a recent development.

Even from the beginning of his time in the Nexus, Randidly never quite desired the human comforts that tugged at the hearts of others. All his riches from creating Kharon he didn't much consider; it was only the spirit of Kharon, the sword and shield that would allow them to prosper in the future, that earned his time and meticulous attention. Perhaps some part of him was still that engineering student that had been swept up into the Dungeon and accidentally planted berries in the Safe Zone. He just loved to build something worthwhile.

Neveah spoke again. ”The things you want to accomplish are enormous. I just want to point out... you might be slowly becoming more the force to effect this desired change than the person who hopes for it. It's not necessarily a bad thing... because the magnitude of what you want cannot be grasped with normal means. Just be aware. And be careful, alright? I would be quite sad if my little brother went so far as to sacrifice himself entirely to protect others.”

“Someone has to do this, Neveah,” Randidly responded instantly.

Neveah favored him with a sad smile. “But there’s no reason it must be you, right?”

Randidly’s expression shifted again, between a hundred different lightning-fast emotions. The bubbling anger that Neveah had brought up his relationship with Vualla so negatively. A solemn contemplation over whether she was right. A shiver of very real fear that he was moving further and further away from who he had been before the System had arrived.

But the strongest emotion was... acceptance. Or rather, it was a firm belief that Neveah was wrong; perhaps before it didn’t necessarily need to be him, but with his strange interactions with the being at the base of the shaft, his sharpening images, and his steadily strengthening Nether Core…

Randidly's gaze firmed. If I really do need to become more force than man... if the legend of the Ghosthound is a stronger weapon to strike at the Nexus than Randidly the man... so be it. Whatever it takes.

Absently, Randidly was stunned that the surrounding patrons hadn’t noticed something was amiss with the Nether in the room. They continued about their meals, completely oblivious to the maelstrom of significance that hurtled through them. All that potent meaning began flowing into Randidly’s body, settling into his being.

Neveah sat across from him and probably understood what the changes in his expression meant, and why the Nether was suddenly so agitated, but she said nothing. Likely she knew that she had already said her piece; further arguments wouldn’t help. A few seconds later, Todd happily returned to the table and plopped down in his seat.

Neveah mechanically turned her head and offered a brittle smile at the boy. “So, what’s for dessert?”

Several fruit tarts and creme brulees later, the trio left the restaurant. As they took the elevator down from the top floor of the building and walked out onto the street, Todd paused and pointed upward. ”What the hell are those shitty Scrawls...?”

Randidly glanced upward. The sky was filled with bits floating, meandering, puttering debris. Twigs and scrap metal, discarded garbage can lids and empty egg cartons, a hundred small objects floated awkwardly around above street level, earning looks of disapproval from the workers on the streets who likely assumed it was some prank from the kids of Kharon Academy.

But of course, it wasn't a prank. It was one collective and very genuine attempt to improve by the moss spirits of Kharon.

Neveah quirked an eyebrow up at him and Randidly could only shrug helplessly. ”Maybe... someone is doing a practice for the under-Auction?”

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