After Randidly had laid down the base Engraving over his new home, he found himself somewhat unwilling to let the moss spirits come to try to grip the island and lift it into the air. While he had no reason to suspect that the Engravings would malfunction, he worried that the presence of Nether would interfere with the substance of whatever the moss spirits were.

Yet after feeling the powerful Nether core that he had been able to establish at the center of his new island… and after seeing the resulting bubble of Nether that strangely caused an ominous mist to hang around his island like it was the base of a villain bent on world domination… Randidly would have felt regretful if he didn’t at least try to lift the thing off the ground. It certainly would make for an intimidating addition Kharon’s skyline if it worked.

Perhaps Randidly still would have decided to forgo the island that had been so thoroughly soaked with Nether, but the moss spirits had been hovering curiously around Randidly’s island during the entire process of Engraving. They listened when he shooed them away, but they quickly drifted back like naughty children and began naturally flowing into the Engravings when Randidly wasn’t paying attention. For a while he stopped them, but then he simply threw up his hands to the sky.

“Fine, fine, it’s your lives you are gambling with,” Randidly muttered. But his gaze was sharp as he followed the flow of moss spirits into the island beneath him. And for a second, his heart dropped out of his chest as the moss spirits had a sudden reaction. But rather than being consumed by the Nether, the moss spirits began to lose their emerald color… and then turned a luminescent silver.

Then they happily continued with their task of gripping the Engravings of Randidly’s home. The ground trembled and shook as the moss spirits dislodged the island from its resting spot.

With a bemused expression, Randidly watched the ground fall away as the island traveled higher and higher. He went to the far edge of the island and looked down. His home was somehow trailing sparkling motes of silver. Sensing that Randidly was finished, Kharon began trundling dutifully forward on its path to the Ogre Ridge. For about ten minutes Randidly studied the process, but even with his ability to detect energy, Randidly couldn’t figure out why the Nether caused the moss spirits to change color.

So instead of dwelling on it, Randidly returned his focus to the ground he had created. My home… Damnit, does this mean I will need to name this place? If I don’t, I bet the people will come up with a dumb nickname…

Still, those concerns could wait until he had renovated the place for real.

As Randidly had wanted the islands as pristine as possible for the buyers, there wasn’t even a shack on the island right now. And sure, Randidly could have thrown up another shack for him to live inside for the moment, but he decided that he had finally grown up to the point that he wouldn’t be satisfied just living in a shack. If this was going to be his home for a while, Randidly wanted to make the space a little bit more comfortable than that.

Of course, who knows how long I’ll actually be on Earth… Randidly winced. The plan was for the resuscitated, original Vualla to pardon the rest of his military service, but he hadn’t heard anything on that front since the original Vualla had left to accomplish her task. She had emphasized that she wasn’t exactly sure how long it would take to replace her body with Ileot’s in the System overlay, but it was slightly aggravating to be unsure whether Randidly could plan on remaining on Earth until the Calamity arrived or whether he had a hard time limit of six months.

“Either way…” Randidly found a spot on a rock next to the lake and sat down to meditate. “There are some things that I definitely need to do before I leave…”

First was helping boost Kharon’s strength by giving them the best facilities and methods to utilize images. Second was to investigate the huge amount of the Creature’s energy that spread out over all of the Zones and find out what she was up to. Third, help Earth transition through the merger of the different Danger Zone worlds to be a part of Earth’s System infrastructure. Fourth, make sure that this serial murder that had probably been raised by Ileot wouldn’t cause problems after Randidly left.

And fifth… Randidly’s mouth twisted. Fifth was to train. There would always more training. No problem was so pressing that training wasn’t just as important.

Although, this list does skip another goal that I have for my time on Earth. Maybe not a goal in the same way as the others, but I definitely don’t want to leave Earth without it. Randidly tugged up on the keyring he had forged the other day and rubbed his fingers across the golden surface of the Philosopher’s Key. I need to obtain the second part of my Fateset before I return to the Nexus, no matter the reason for that return.

When Randidly had arrived on Earth, he had followed the scent of the next piece of his Fate and found the Creature’s energy surrounding it with all the ominous stillness of a tropical swamp. He had cursed his bad luck, but having the Creature influence his Fate made a certain amount of sense. But now, as he sat on his island and traced the connection between him and his next Fate…

It didn’t lead to the Creature. Even though the tenuous connection had originally led directly into the densest portion of the Creature’s energy, the source of his Fate had since moved closer. Much closer. And as Randidly examined the energy signature without the Creature’s energy distracting his Grim Intuition, he knew exactly who it led to.

Ezekiel Ghosthound. Who was currently in Zone 1, soaked in the Creature’s energy but at least not producing any of it. Yet when it came to his father who had a Class that demanded that he kill something each day...

Randidly could sense his Fate, too. As he reached out, a name came back to him. The Dreamcatcher of the Long Night.

Dreamcatcher… Randidly pressed his lips together. A coincidence that the last birthday gift I remember liking from my father was a dreamcatcher…? This feels like the sorta thing that will be a hassle to unpack...

Tapping his cheek with a finger, Randidly wondered whether it would be worth it to make a pit stop in Zone 1 to obtain his Fate from Ezekiel. But there were a few problems with that. He had no idea what the process for obtaining this Dreamcatcher from Ezekiel would even be. In addition, he was hesitant to move against someone who clearly had dealings with the Creature before he understood what the Creature was currently up to. Randidly had walked into enough of the Creature’s traps in his day.

More than either of those reasons though… Ezekiel was currently in the area where the inaugural football game would be played. Really seems like everyone is obsessed with football these days… maybe I should see if I can disguise myself as a player and sneak into the game…?

Chuckling, Randidly shook his head almost sadly. As slightly amusing as such a situation would be, especially when he would end up being impossibly capable at whatever position he chose to play, Randidly felt like he couldn’t interfere with the football game. Looming over every decision Randidly made about preparations while on Earth was the fact that he had been present on Tellus as it overcame the Second Calamity; his image or images heavily influenced by him couldn’t be used to overcome the Second Calamity.

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There was obviously time before that trial arrived, but images he didn’t have a hand in raising also needed time to grow and develop on their own. He couldn’t just be present until the 11th hour and then duck out. So even though it seemed like something sinister was going to happen at the football game, Randidly wouldn’t interfere directly. It was already enough that Naffur and a few applicants to the Order Ducis was going. And even that might be too much assistance for New Earth to learn that it should be growing on its own.

Well, none of the Order Ducis share my image. Although they’ve trained with the Grim Chimera a lot, mostly they trained against the oppressive power of my images… not to copy the specific details. Randidly shook his head. Without more information about the limiter placed on him and his images, he wouldn’t risk having the Earth fail the Second Calamity due to his touch.

After that, Randidly stood and stretched. Then he began training his Ignition Essence Skills. The peace of Randidly’s home was ripped apart by emerald and orange flames.

But Randidly supposed this was exactly how he liked it. Even if he made this place comfortable, what he really needed to do was make his home durable.

*****

Valor Rend tried his best to keep his face even as he slowly made sense of Naffur’s order, although he couldn’t help but want to pump his fist in excitement. “Sir… are you… ahem, sure this is necessary?”

The five representatives of the Order Ducis, in civilian clothes, were standing across the street from the stadium where the first football game would happen. Even though the game wouldn’t be until tomorrow, the area was already teeming with people happily drinking beers and talking excitedly about the return of football. The stadium was currently open so that anyone who wanted to go out onto the field and play a pickup game could do just that.

As someone who had grown up in the United States, Valor had played quite a bit of football in his youth. He had even played on his college team, even if they hadn’t been very good. So now to have it back, with superhuman athletes who had extremely high Stats…

And for Naffur now to suggest that they needed to have someone disguised as a member of a team for the game…

“Look around, do you see how thick the presence of the Order Valorem is?” Naffur’s gaze was sharp, flicking around quickly and picking out the guards. Valor turned and followed Naffur’s gaze to the many pairs of guards who watched the excited populace with cold eyes. “Yet… Why do even I feel like this place is dangerous? Something is definitely going to happen here, and I doubt its just going to be as simple as a massive bloodbeast interrupting things. So we need someone on the field. Playing the game will be distracting, but it will give you plenty of sightlines toward the exists.”

Valor tried to force out a chuckle as he looked up at the building in front of them. “It would need to be a huge bloodbeast to threaten this stadium. They built the stadium to last.”

“Kharon is much bigger,” Naffur replied perfunctorily. Then he folded his arms and nodded to himself. “Hum. The fact that you’ve played football will be a help, but its a shame there isn’t time to get you any related Skills… I’ve already talked to someone from the West Providence Vipers who has pulled some strings. You’ll be one of their backup Wide Receivers. They are defense and running focused team, so there shouldn’t be any problems with you blending in on the sidelines.”

As his hands tightened into fists, Valor did his best to resist the urge to smile. This is my chance. This game… I can feel it too. Something’s going to happen. And we, the Order Ducis, will be here to protect everyone…

Naffur glanced sideways at him and gave Valor an amused smile. “Don’t get too excited, Rend. This is professional football, even if it’s a little bit hurried right now. There are materials waiting back at our hotel; you’ll need to memorize the playbook before the team walkthrough tomorrow morning.”

*****

Antonio stayed at the window, looking up toward the large island drifting behind Kharon, even as he heard the sounds of the door to his house being unlocked. Then he heard the door click shut. He took a long sip of his drink and studied the roiling mist around Randidly Ghosthound’s new home as the sound of soft footsteps slowly neared.

The door to the study swung open. “I’m surprised you called me. Have you finally decided that its worth it to settle in Kharon?”

“Something like that,” Antonio said as he turned away from the window. His face split into a proud smile and he spread his arms wide. “It’s really so good to see you. Come here and give your father a hug.”

Lila, Antonio’s daughter, walked forward while rolling her eyes to be swept up in Antonio’s arms. They hadn’t spoken to each other since the fall of the Chosen, so the reunion was a welcome one. The Chosen’s favorite method of applying pressure had been capturing family members, so it had become something of a habit for families in the service of new Chosen to pretend like they didn’t know each other until the cruelty of their new master was assessed. When Antonio and his fellows had settled in Kharon, most had continued to carefully adhere to this principle, even when they were assured this was a safe place.

Antonio was no exception. He had already been tricked too many times in the past.

The two took a few steps back from each other, both with warm smiles on their faces. Antonio picked up his glass of whiskey and returned to the window as his daughter said to his back. “So what was it? Did the party we had yesterday really mean that much to you? You are certainly growing soft in your old age.”

Antonio chuckled. “Of course not. It was a nice gesture, of course… and a nice excuse to break out some of the moonshine we smuggled out. Won a lot of brownie points with the people who were already here with that alcohol. But… no. That’s not why. I called you here… because I realized a stark difference between the Chosen and Randidly Ghosthound. It has made me feel… ill at ease, but that Kharon can be our home if we want it.”

Looking out the window, Antonio stared up at the ominous floating island above them. Motes of silver energy spiraled down in its wake. Weird bolts of navy blue lightning forked through the murky mist around the island. With the mist present all by the largest details of the size and shape of the Ghosthound’s home were masked.

Lila tilted her head to the side. “...then it was meeting Randidly Ghosthound that did it? Everyone said he seemed a little unassuming for all the rumors the people of Kharon tell about him.”

“Unassuming… misses the point. Randidly Ghosthound has definitely built a special place here… one that I think we still barely understand. We just don’t have any contest for what the world is like outside of Chicago and this moving city.” Another navy blue bolt of lightning curled around the floating island of mist. Antonio pivoted away and looked at Lila. “Have you seen his new abode?”

That had Lila raising her eyebrows. “That’s what convinced you to trust him? The fact that he built an evil flying fortress that seems like it was lifted directly from a bad sci-fi film?”

Antonio licked his lips. He hadn’t really put the feeling that made him willing to finally contact his daughter into words, so he was having a bit of difficulty. Although the transition was awkward, he did the best he could. “Why did the Chosen do such terrible things to us?”

For a second, Lila’s gaze flashed with several complicated emotions. “Dad, if you’ve been having nightmares again-”

“Its not about that.” Antonio waved his hand. “No, it’s just…. The Chosen always oppressed us because when it came down to it, they weren’t so different than us. They learned the rules of the System just a little bit more quickly… and they used that small advantage to take control of the entire city. But Randidly Ghosthound…”

Antonio looked back out the window. The mist-shrouded island drifted behind Kharon in the Southern sky, truly looking like the hideout of a villain that came from a fantasy film. “He doesn’t need to oppress us. Because we are truly nothing to him. Could we… ever threaten that…? Even if we had time… could we ever become as strong as Randidly Ghosthound? Why would he bother to torture us if there was never the slightest chance of growing enough to threaten him?”

“Dad…” Lila’s voice sounded troubled, but Antonio didn’t turn around. He just looked upward at the naked symbol of Randidly Ghosthound’s superiority. Navy blue lightning twitched and snapped. The low rumble of thunder followed.