Chapter 1702 (1/2)

“You expect me to believe,” The officious guard folded his arms slowly across his chest. His polished armor made Randidly very aware of his own clothes. “That Mistress Claudette wishes to meet someone like… you…?”

Randidly’s lips twitched. He honestly wasn’t even insulted; at this point, he could completely understand where the guard was coming from. He considered how he had gotten here as he selected his answer.

Claudette had told him it was probably easier for him to come to the Beigon estate to read the historical records, because she had found them in her father’s library and wouldn’t dare steal them and draw Don Beigon’s attention to their activities. Randidly had agreed without thinking too much about it. He told Nrorce he’d be gone for a few hours and not to wait for his return to eat. The goblin had nodded, but somehow Randidly still would bet that the blue-skinned creature would be sitting in front of a cooling meal once again when he returned.

So he proceeded to some of the upper layers of the Nexus, places where you needed at least Tier 1 Nexus Citizenship to even go. Apparently, the process would be much simpler if he had a higher Citizenship Tier, but to approach the Beigon Estate as a Tier 1 Citizen one was required to ascend literally ten million stone steps. Randidly had taken the teleporter to approach and was shocked to find himself at the base of a mountain. Stones, wisps of mist, and stubby pine trees lined the ascent, which had been inscribed with an Engraving to restrict all Skills and images. All you could do was walk up the stairs.

Randidly’s eyelids twitched. The summit of the mountain was hidden by heavy clouds. He honestly wasn’t even sure he was still in the Nexus any longer. Hum… maybe I should have taken her talk about her identity a little more seriously…

The number of steps was somewhat mind-numbing, but Randidly’s physical body was leagues ahead of even the most talented physical specimens in the Nexus. He had shattered the Stat limit and then remade his body on an atomic level to take advantage of his newfound freedom. So his legs blurred as he propelled himself rapidly upward.

He was a ghost, speeding up past giant granite outcroppings and shadowy ridges that spread outward from the three-meter wide staircase.

Half-way up the stairs, he realized that there was also a growing physical suppression from the surroundings. Mist was steadily rising from the stairs, filling the walkers with a sense of isolation. If he had not been counting, Randidly probably would be completely oblivious to his positioning. At this point, Randidly estimated that gravity was about three times as strong here as it was normally.

And he probably wouldn’t have even noticed the physical restrictions if he had not blown quickly past a group of sweating, grey-skinned humanoids who were clearly struggling to continue. Randidly paused briefly to wonder why they were trying to ascend and visit the Beigons. Then he shook his head.

Everyone has their own circumstances.

He continued upward, moving past more and more individuals as he reached the three-fourths point of the staircase. As the intensity of the gravity was increasing, so was the number of people. They were packed in a wobbly line now, huddled and hurrying up the stairs like war refugees. The mist was thick around their knees, adding to the impression that they were wading through a shallow river. Randidly’s eyes flashed as he kept to the right side of the wide stairs and considered his ascent. Some creatures and humanoids glanced at him as he passed, but most seemed to consumed by their toil.

The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer swimming through mist. Then warm sunlight and the scent of lilacs hit him, leaving him feeling refreshed. He took the last ten steps slowly, rolling his eyes at the fifty or so grunting beings struggling to cross that last distance.

Finally, Randidly arrived at the top and was struck by two things simultaneously. First, the front of the home of the Beigons was a gorgeous thing, combining the heavy and solemn pillars of the Parthenon with the gold and jade inlaid patterns of East Asian cultures. A gleaming metal gate stood closed, covered in intricate and mesmerizing patterns that blended art and Engraving into a product that had Neveah instantly buzzing in Randidly’s subconscious, cooing in appreciation. In front of the gates were gorgeous statues surrounding by trees filled with pink and orange flowers.

Secondly, there appeared to already be a queue for others that had made it up here.

There was a smaller gate off to the left, down a manicured cobblestone path between flowering trees. Fifteen people, all sweating and bedraggled, stood there and waited for a bored-looking guard in white plate armor leaned out of the guardhouse to wave them forward. Randidly hesitated, sent Claudette a message to say that he had arrived, and then just joined the line.

“Next,” The guard called.

A humanoid with bright red antlers stepped forward. He offered an ingratiating smile to the guard and then produced a red-wrapped package with a flourish. The guard folded his arms and the man hurriedly unwrapped the package; within an ornate box was a bowl of some strange kernels. “Ah… this is a humble gift, I offer for the beautiful Claudette Beigon. Please, simply allow her to dine in the presence of this delicacy of my homeland. The alluring smell-”

The guard grabbed the bowl from the antlered man and gave it to a second guard waiting behind him, who sniffed the bowl and grimaced, and then unfolded his arms and waved again. “Next.”

Of the people waiting in line in front of Randidly, nine had come to deliver gifts that they ‘begged to be simply brought into the presence of Claudette Beigon’. The type of gift ranged from an inscrutable painting that was so divergent from Expira’s concept of art that Randidly couldn’t make heads or tails of it to a piping hot bowl of ham and bean stew. Which, even to Randidly’s nose that had been spoiled by Nrorce’s cooking, smelled quite good. With the same dismissive look, the guard took the items, passed it back to his companions, and beckoned the next individual forward.

Randidly glanced behind him as more and more drained and sweating individuals staggered off the stark stone steps and onto this flourishing wonderland. Once they were up to the top ten steps, he supposed it was just a matter of time until they made it all the way. No wonder his expression is so bored. Does he really just sit here and do it every day…?

Of the remaining six people in front of Randidly, four had brought gifts for the Don Beigon himself. These were universally less personal and more… transactional than the gifts for Claudette. The way that one beleaguered centaur with grey mutton chops handed over a ring with one thousand ingots of some specialty steal made Randidly think that this was less about earning favor and much more about repaying debts. He wondered what the centaur had done to require him to pay so much.

But most awkwardly were the two that had come to beg for entrance to Alymian.

“Please,” The monkey with golden fur got onto his hands and knees when his initial plea did nothing to sway the guard. “Please. I must return to Alymian. I… for the briefest moment, while I was there, I found my calling. Yet back here in the Nexus-”

“Don’t disgrace yourself,” The guard leaned forward and spat on top of the bowing monkey, finally showing some emotion. “If you wish to return, pay for a pass. It’s that simple.”

“Please… I’ve already given everything for this chance.” The monkey raised his head off the ground. His lips trembled. “I was so close-”