Chapter 1692 (2/2)
Congratulations! Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 426!
A rumble from his stomach finally pulled Randidly’s attention back to the physical world. Chuckling, Randidly tossed himself to his feet and wandered out of the room while scratching his back. No one else was back yet, so he wandered out alone into the Web and headed upward to the more populated portion of the Nexus to get some food.
Eventually, Randidly entered one of the middle-tier housing areas and settled on a half-underground little building on the outskirts of a commercial district. Randidly walked past ax wielders casually leaning against their weapons and chatting and a crystal shop filled with floating psychics.
But when he left the street, suddenly he was very aware of the silence. Stepping down a few steps through the round doorway, Randidly was given the immediate impression of a hobbit-hold. Heavy stone tables filled the cramped room, which was deserted except for a dark-blue skinned goblin who looked up and waved in a universal ‘sit anywhere you’d like’ signal.
Randidly settled himself on a surprisingly plush booth, enjoying the feeling of the dirt between his toes in the cave-like room. The goblin wandered over, toying with his droopy ears. Randidly raised an eyebrow at his empty hands. “Do you… not have menus? This is a restaurant, right?”
Rather than answer immediately, the goblin yawned. Then he waved his hand. “No menu, no menu. Just whatever the cook is hungry for. Do you want a small or a large portion?”
Randidly began to wonder if this place was a bad choice. “Who’s the cook?”
“I am,” the words dragged off into another long yawn.
“Then I’ll have a large,” Randidly eyed the goblins small body as the man ambled away toward a door at the far side of the restaurant. His stomach rumbled again and he felt vaguely like he should just leave, but he decided to give this fellow a chance. Besides, don’t all talented individuals have weird quirks? Maybe I’ve stumbled upon a hidden gem…
It was just hard to believe that to be true, considering how deserted the restaurant was. And aside from the crystal shop, the surrounding area had been rather sparsely populated...
Either way, Randidly shook himself and focused on other things. He took inventory of his current goals. For the long term, Randidly needed to continue training his abilities with Nether and prepare to evolve the Grim Chimera. More short term, he needed to successfully capture a planet, even if it was just a small moon, and incorporate it into the Alpha Cosmos. This would both prove it was possible for the Nemesais’ worlds and also provide the materials necessary for Expira’s First Calamity.
In the meantime… Randidly had a few other things on his plate. One was the recruitment of Nether Gatekeepers into his Alpha Cosmos, both as a repayment to that first Nether Gatekeeper and also to learn more about these powerful Nether Beings at the base of the shaft and the Universe Devouring Beasts.
That thought made Randidly grimace. When it comes to my Nether Core, time will strengthen it gradually, but understanding is also important… pah, I just don’t really want to reach out to either the Engraving Guild or Neshamah....
Bah, but evolving my Nether Core blindly feels a bit foolish… I’ll have to ask the Nether Gatekeeper what stage his Nether Core is at…
In addition, remaining in the Nexus allowed time to pass for others; which was only important for two reasons: the final results of Randidly’s Elite Squad in mopping up the remnants of the Nether King’s forces and also because of the request made of him by Claudette Beigon.
The former he was optimistic about due to Raymond Ballast’s growth, but the latter he hesitated over. Due to various personal reasons that Randidly didn’t understand, the blonde-haired student of the Frost Matriarch seemed to have no choice but to request that he, an unknown quantity, be the one who refined her image. Perhaps because of his acknowledgment of his hitherto trampled humanity during his time on Expira, he was much more swayed by the abject vulnerability he remembered in her solemn gaze when she had made the request.
Randidly grimaced. I should at least look into the issue… the experience with working with another image will be useful. And at this point, I feel confident that I can survive an ambush from Velio Dunn and his ilk… its just those top individuals… those Speculum… who have the power to decide my life and death…
Haaaah, somehow, I suspect accepting her request will make another enemy… the question is who that will be...
After sniffing casually, Randidly’s expression perked up and he looked toward the low door to the kitchen with a light in his eyes; something was beginning to smell quick good. He drummed his fingers on the table, but it seemed like the food wasn’t quite ready yet. Then, for the first time in a while, Randidly opened his Path screen.
Combined with some of his leftover PP from his previous Soulskill Tithe, Randidly had 7805 PP available to him. Which was quite a lot, but considering it would require 30,000 PP for him to reach his next Tithe, it was really just the first in several long steps. For now, he had to earn PP the old-fashioned way. Still, two new Paths had appeared in his list of options that caught his eye.
Fiber of the Nether System 0/5000, Spark of the Origin Beast 0/?????
Randidly twitched slightly looking at them. Both are obscenely expensive… but the Fiber of the Nether System seems to be related to my focused research into Nether Arrays. It will take most of my PP, but I definitely don’t want to waste much more time on this issue, considering that Expira’s time is now tied to my physical body…
As for the other one… I have to assume it’s due to my time in the shaft…? It seems like there certainly is something to the Nether Gatekeepers stories about the Universe Devouring Beasts…
And maybe even… a survivor of that great race is what calls to me from the base of the shaft…?
Randidly’s musings were interrupted as the blue-skinned goblin kicked open the door to the kitchen and carried out a massive tray toward Randidly’s table. Immediately, Randidly wanted to shed tears of joy: the entire tray was smoked meats.
To his surprise, however, the goblin plopped down at the table after setting down the tray. But the goblin’s words perked Randidly up again. “This will be our first course. Enjoy.”
Randidly licked his lips. So this is what you meant by… whatever the chef is hungry for...