“You wish to bring Lady Iellaya along with you to the Nether Prince?” Ileot Swacc’s brows furrowed as he considered Randidly’s request.

Randidly nodded. “Yes. I owe her quite a lot. She’s helped me get my feet under me here at the frontline. I think that it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t try to share the benefit of the Nether Prince with her now. She is my benefactor.”

Honestly, Randidly’s reasoning for bringing Lady Iellaya was quite a bit different than what he revealed to be Ileot Swacc. Partially it was to pay her back, but that wasn’t the primary reason that Randidly wanted them both in whatever the Nether Prince was. No, the reason that Randidly wished for Lady Iellaya to come was that he was swiftly realized that they would need a significant screen to mask what Randidly was doing by creating a whole new Class and Fate for Lady Iellaya.

Especially now that the Grim Chimera was so steeped in Nether. Hiding that was… difficult.

In the two days since Randidly had started focusing on incorporating adding the aspect of self-growth into the shapes on Yggdrasil’s trunk, he had only rarely taken breaks. But during those breaks, he had often casually used Grim Chimera moves while practicing, forgetting that Nether was now in every aspect of that image.

It was honestly quite problematic. It certainly upped his available power of image, but tensions on the frontlines were simply too high for him to produce Nether in any significant capacity right now. And the reaction between the two energies when Randidly used a Skill made those notes of Nether into something more significant than what the term notes could contain.

The new changes to the Grim Chimera were a double-edged sword. Because although it made him severely restricted in using the Grim Chimera’s Skills, having that image as a focus made it much easier for Randidly to manipulate Nether. HIs Nether Ritual abilities shot up by 20 Skill Levels over those two days, just because his focus was suddenly through the roof. His touch was deft and sure where it had felt like he was grasping in the dark previously.

Some part of him wished he did have quite a bit of spare time available, so he could thoroughly investigate the situation on Earth.

And hell, the situation in his Soulskill. He had checked in a few times, but Azriel emphasized the need for her to familiarize herself with what was going on before she could answer any definitive questions.

Still, Randidly was rather confident that he could rely on the Grim Chimera’s new discovered affinity very heavily for both condensing his own Fate and for creating Lady Iellaya’s Class. But while Randidly could sneak away into the badlands to move his Nether reverberations as he worked on himself, Lady Iellaya was a bright star amongst the Commanders.

When would she have the chance to go somewhere that reverberations of Nether would be dismissed as nothing dangerous? Especially because Randidly wasn’t sure how much time it would take to complete a reshaping of her Class and Fate. Even if she could sneak away for a brief time, if the Nether forces attacked while Randidly was working, it wasn’t like they could stop halfway and pick it up again later.

He would literally be laying her soul bare. That sort of surgery was unpredictable enough already without interruptions midway.

Yet despite Randidly’s worries that Ileot would disagree with him, Ileot seemed to take the news in stride. “Hum. Well, it isn’t impossible. Lord Miln plans to reserve another spot for a young protege of his, but having four people go into the Nether Prince won’t diminish its potency that much. Still…”

Ileot gave Randidly a disappointed look. “You did not choose to bring Vualla? I had thought the two of you had grown close. And you haven’t inquired at all about her status from me… Well… I will inform Lord Miln of your decision.”

Randidly opened his mouth to tell Ileot’s departing back that he and Vualla were close, but he forced his jaws to snap shut. Vualla’s existence as a weird, reflected existence was something that tormented Randidly on a daily basis. Yet what could he do? Knowing that there was time before the effects arrived alleviated it somewhat, but it remained a source of anxiety.

There was so much going on that Vualla’s eventual fading was one of Randidly’s lessor concerns. Honestly, it didn’t make much sense, but Randidly felt much more guilty over how little time they had spent together over the last week than Vualla’s eventual fate. They spent more time together when fighting against the Nether than when they were training.

Yet Randidly did his best to reassure himself that this was just his anxiety. Vualla was just as serious about gaining enough strength to defeat the System as he was. She threw herself into training with the same wild abandoned.

They both sought the impossible. Normal methods would not carry them there. Normal training wasn’t enough.

This was a truth that made them unhappy, but they both understood it. And that understanding did a lot to bridge the space left between them as they trained in solitude.

Still, the memory of that dazzling smile that crossed Vualla’s face when she had realized that Randidly was growing an orange tree for her still remained. And while the fruit wasn’t technically an orange, Randidly had carefully changed it so that it was a sweet and tangy citrus. Not exactly orange juice, but close enough-

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“Oh! Hello Cail.”

The words drew Randidly’s attention sharply upward because it was clearly Vualla speaking right outside his tent. After Ileot greeted her in his piping voice, Vualla stormed into Randidly’s tent with a heavy frown. In fact, she was practically glaring at him as she raised a flask that was filled with his fruit juice.

Despite her expression, her timing was perfect to calm the ripples across his heart almost immediately. Before Vualla could speak, Randidly cut in with a sly smile. “Did you miss me?”

“Bah. You know I did,” Some of Vualla’s determination seemed to fall away, but then she shook her head and raised her flask once more. “But this isn’t about that! It’s about this fruit that you gave me. I was just spending some time with some family and I finally had the chance to try the juice you made. And you know what? I gained sixteen Perception and twenty-two Control from drinking the juice! That is thirty-six Stats from a single fruit!”

“Would have been more if you waited longer,” Randidly nodded at Vualla. “But I compensated for some of that by forcing energy into it. That’s why growing the fruit devoured so much; It takes a lot to condense those Stat points.”

“So you knew about this effect?” Vualla blinked at Randidly. “Then why aren’t you growing whole orchards of these things? You could sell them.”

“Want me to set up a rickety stand along the supply track and sell glances by the nickel?” Twisting his mouth, Randidly shrugged. “It’s not so easy as that, unfortunately. Making them exhausts me for several hours, for one. And also the fruits don’t benefit me nearly as much; I have to wait a while for their energy to grow much more potent before it’s worth it. Infusing images might help that happen faster, but… Isn’t working on images and Skill Levels more important that Stats?”

Vualla seemed to consider that. “...and also having more Stats doesn’t lead as quickly to growth as having better images or more Skill Levels does. Because it doesn’t help you achieve Paths. If all it would do is help raise up some subordinates. Oh! Maybe you could start a cult, like Lady Iellaya.”

When Randidly snorted in response, Vualla seemed immensely pleased. “Ha! Who knew you really are a support-from-the-sidelines sort of character. You can trip Nether Beasts up with roots and then brew me fresh fruit drinks for when I come back gloriously victorious from battles against Nether Gatekeepers.”

“Didn’t we just talk about how exhausting it would be for me to make those fruits full time?” Randidly rolled his eyes. “And jesus, you have defeated so many Nether Gatekeepers by now, it must be almost boring to fight against them.”

Randidly didn’t miss the split second where Vualla froze and the smile slipped from her face. But just as quickly she recovered herself and smiled prettily at him. “Well, even if it is exhausting, won’t you do it for me?”

“Nope.”

“Alas! My love for citrus goes unfulfilled!” Vualla brought her hand to her forehead and feigned swooning.

Randidly’s smile slowly faded away. Studying Vualla, he wondered if he should ask why she had reacted so strongly to what he had said.

But as if their thoughts were on the same wavelength, she lowered her arm and said more seriously. “...but honestly, it’s still damn hard to fight them. So hard that… that I’m worried I’ll lose next time. That these victories were a fluke. Maybe that’s why… I rushed over here when I gained so many Stats at once. It’s been a while since there has been much of a change to my Stats. And I just thought…”

“That you wanted to see me?” Randidly smiled cheekily.

Vualla threw her hands up in the sky. “Well, obviously that. But-...no, you’re right. It was that the whole time.”

Although his heart was pounding, Randidly forced his feet to move forward until Vualla was only a short distance away. As though this was a rehearsed play, Vualla stood completely still, letting Randidly approach. It was only when Randidly put his trembling fingers on her chin that Vualla moved. She looked up at him and then stood up on her tiptoes, so their lips met again.

It was warm and Randidly didn’t want the moment to end.

Yet they eventually parted, as they always had to. But Randidly did make a mental note that maybe he could condense a couple of fruits for Vualla, to try to give her an extra boost. Yet another part of Randidly knew that Vualla would probably refuse his fruit next time, for the same reason that he hesitated to give her one now.

She would be afraid of becoming reliant on those fruits to grow. She was afraid of being weak and afraid of becoming strong in the wrong ways.

“Bah, you can only joke when you finally manage to kill a Nether Gatekeeper of your own. It’s a bitch.” Vualla brought her heavy gauntlet down on Randidly’s shoulder.

He grinned at her. “What’s worth having is worth working for. Don’t slow down on me now.”

“You either. I’m so far ahead of you already. It’s quite lonely.” Then, waving over her shoulder, Vualla left.

Randidly immediately returned to his image world, where he began to do further work. Already, some of the effects of incorporating the aspects of Levelable Engraving were showing. It was a small percentage of the whole tree, but the more seeds that Randidly planted, the more shapes slowly began to weave their way upwards, heading toward the apex of the World Tree.

The date that Ileot had given Randidly for the opening of the Nether Prince was three days from their conversation, so Randidly planned on using the entirety of that time to sharpen his Yggdrasil image. After that, he could begin the final preparations for condensing a Fate the night before.

So during the small breaks of those days, Randidly would meditate and use Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil to strike at the short Nether patrols that continued to harry the Aether forces. He didn’t rush, but very smoothly his experience reached 99% of the way to Level 50.

Which meant that he could focus more fully on helping Ignition Essence burn through the last tight knot of memories, and create more shapes across Yggdrasil for the Akashic.

Not that Randidly had known for sure that it would end up this way, but it was soon becoming clear that both would finish in time for Randidly to work prior to the invitation to slip into the Nether Prince. Which meant that Randidly had a decision to make: which of the two foci should be his first priority…?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Randidly chose Yggdrasil. The shapes sprawled across the myriad branches were now spiraling upward through the trunk and mixing together in unpredictable ways, meaning that something was building to a climax.

Besides, Randidly still didn’t fully trust the memories of the hiltless blade. So if Randidly could improve his own power by working on Yggdrasil first, so much the better.

With that in mind, Randidly once more brought up his Path screen and prepared to part with a significant chunk of PP.