Eventually, Neveah overworked her mind and was forced to take a break from studying the expansive Engraving that Yystrix had carved into the stone floor of her tomb. At that time, she traveled to Randidly’s mist-shrouded island and asked him a question.

“What are you going to do about the Creature’s missing memories? Would you like my help looking for them?”

Randidly, who had been experimenting with Living Engraving again as an only partially-successful distraction, set aside the piece of metal in front of him and turned to Neveah. After rubbing his chin, he replied in a low voice. “I’m… of two minds about this. On the one hand, if we assume that the Creature really did do this to help me, I have a feeling she arranged safety precautions for the memories like with my Fate piece that meant only I could access them. And also… If this was all a trap to get me to access the memories, these poor fools might give me some extra information before I expose myself.”

Neveah frowned. “True. But those memories are still powerful. Leaving them out there is dangerous.”

“Definitely less dangerous than the Creature herself acting erratically on Earth.” Randidly shook his head. “And it’s true, the memories… I bet they are powerful. But I think the most dangerous portion of them is the information they contain, not any inherent power. And before the Calamities arrive, I doubt many people from Earth will be able to escape from the planet.”

“And as long as the knowledge is here on Earth, the danger is unlikely to reach extreme levels,” Neveah clicked her tongue. “Perhaps. But also. You…”

“I’m exhausted,” Randidly admitted. “All that built up tension for nothing just left me feeling drained. And with the birthday coming up in two days… I just can’t spare the attention for the memories right now. I’ve even been thinking about taking a nap-”

“Randidly, you are not exhausted,” Neveah said softly. “You are mourning.”

To that, Randidly found nothing to say. Neveah eventually leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek before leaving him alone on his island. Well, not alone. Acri and Sulfur was still out exploring the island. But still…

Randidly waved his hand and the mist above the island parted and gave him a view of the sky above him. It was a clear, chilly night, resulting in a dazzling array of stars hanging across the dark overhang of the universe. The moon was only a sliver, rapidly waxing, but it was still a lovely presence in the visage. It felt very close to how his heart felt, rapidly shrinking away to nothing.

It did him good to study the beauty of the sky for a while. It was a much more effective distraction than the half-hearted attempt at living Engraving. And Randidly wanted anything but to be reminded of the lonely darkness of that cavern where Yystrix’s body now lay.

Yet he couldn’t help himself. His mind continued to slowly spin, turning over and over the many things that Yystrix had briefly referenced in her story. But right now, as he looked up toward the sky, Randidly’s memorized replay of her letter stopped at a very different point than it did usually.

Age brings with it... the knowledge that you will eventually cease to exist

Randidly’s emerald eyes glowed. He had always known that truth, he supposed. The System had never felt qualms bringing him face to face with his mortality. But the issue had seemed less… pressing since Randidly had started growing stronger. That was simply the way that existence underneath the Nexus worked.

Most of the causes of death in the old world were things you couldn’t prevent. At least now, becoming strong would enable you to fight off most of the ways you would die. As evidenced previously by the Creature and Ileot Swacc, you would be granted something very close to eternal life by the System.

But it turns out that eternal life was extended, but equally illusory. Ileot Swacc was currently trapped by Vualla’s duplicate in a fate worse than death and Yystrix seemed to have been critically wounded by Elhume when her husband finally located her. And she had some of her memories ripped out during the attack…

That at least was a concrete reason to find the memories quickly, Randidly reflected. To see if those memories contained any hints to what Elhume was currently seeking. And whether any of those goals would place Randidly or the Earth in danger.

Yet that was not the only reason that Randidly was fixating on the phrase and his own knowledge about his death. No, the real reason was that there was a slight stirring in his image when he had heard that phrase for the first time. Some portion of Illym, the soul that fused with Ignition Essence, was roused to wakefulness as she heard that sentiment.

Randidly’s lip curled in amusement. You want me to acknowledge that I can die before you are willing to evolve to the next version of yourself. Well…

After thinking about it for a minute, Randidly went off to seek some expert help. He needed someone who could pose a credible threat to him and right now he was feeling quite excited by the prospect of danger. So much so that some part of Randidly knew that it was problematic, but he overlooked that for now.

He found Helen working with Valor Rend in a training room, the younger man barely able to stop Helen’s vicious series of powerful image attacks that she so casually unleashed. The entire arena was swirling with the Tides of Blood and Valor could barely keep his feet on the ground, let alone mount a credible defense. Rather than being any sort of real challenge for Helen, it seemed like this training was designed to push Valor to his limits.

And based on the bone-deep weariness that Randidly could sense radiating off of the man, he suspected that they had reached the point of diminishing returns in that regard.

Randidly released the rather tight reigns on his image that he usually maintained while in Kharon. The chilling gaze of the Grim Chimera swept through the area. Helen immediately pulled up from a vicious series of thrusts that were digging deeply into Valor’s thighs despite the man’s frantic guard. With a sharp flip of her wrist, the Tides of Blood rippled and then began to disperse from the arena.

Gratefully, Valor collapsed to the ground and took several very deep breaths while staring up toward the ceiling.

Grinning, Randidly walked out toward Helen. “Having fun?”

Helen’s expression was bitter. “I have been very busy these past few days, Randidly. Constantly asked to give some pointers to weaklings. Its insufferable. Is this really the best that Earth has to offer?”

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As she asked that question, Helen glanced rather disparagingly at Valor, who was only now staggering to his feet. He even had the good sense to ignore the look, give Randidly a thankful nod, and then hurry out of the training room.

Randidly chuckled. “You know he’s not the best right now, but he likely will be right at the edge in a year or two. He came late to the party. There is a lot he will learn by being here and training with the Order Ducis.”

“Hmph. If he’s lucky,” Helen said, but it was without venom. She then began to bend at the waist and twist to bring her fingertips to the opposite foot to warm her body back up. “But since you’ve come here with that kind of ominous expression on your face… seems like Earth’s best really has come to fight me. About damn time.”

Randidly winced, but did not deny what she was saying; Helen’s gaze was as sharp as ever. Instead of replying, he reached to his chest and tugged at the edge of Sulfur. The living armor complained, but gradually acquiesced to being peeled back off of Randidly’s skin. The Engravings carved into his shoulder and back, the ones that connected his metal left arm to his flesh, were strangely luminous as he tossed Sulfur to the side. In addition, Randidly sent Acri a mental image that he shouldn’t interfere in what was to come.

“How serious?” Helen asked lightly as she continued to stretch her legs. Randidly could already feel the air begin to churn around them as the Tides of Blood flowed into the dome of the training area.

“Serious,” Randidly said just as lightly. None of his images mobilized themselves, but he quickly sank to the core of his Soulspace and immersed himself in the swirling nebula of Nether that he found there. “I will just be fighting with my physical body… but I don’t want you to take it easy because-”

“No worries, I’ve waited for the chance to smack you around for months.” Helen hissed. The surrounding air turned immediately crimson as her powerful image pressed them deeper and deeper into the Sea of Blood. Then she spun a spear deftly and leveled it at Randidly. “Don’t blame me when I break you and your pride.”

“I wish you would,” Randidly said in a rough voice. And he truly meant it. The numbness of his emotions was slowly passing, leaving him in a bubbling cauldron of confusion, rage, and sorrow that threatened to destabilize dangerously at any moment. And being in his Nether Gatekeeper core demonstrated that the weight of the Creature’s death was already causing noticeable improvements to Randidly’s mastery of Nether.

Something was gradually changing in Randidly’s heart, and the shift was not a painless one.

Both moved at the same time. Both charged directly toward each other. Helen raised a spear while Randidly casually moved his hands to meet it. Nether leaked out from his silhouette like poison, corrupting the surrounding air.

Helen’s thrust was sharp, but Randidly slapped it to the side with his metal palm and stepped forward to close the gap between them. Seeing that the Tides of Blood couldn’t bind Randidly’s Nether empowered body, Helen instead relied on the flows of energy to accelerate her own movements. With the combination of Tides of Blood, her passive Skills, and her Stats, Helen bridged the gaps between their physiques. Just as quickly as Randidly stepped forward, she stepped back and brought her spear across in a sweeping motion.

Randidly didn’t bother to dodge. His Nether core spun dangerously in his chest and every pumping beat of his heart circulated more of the energy through his body.

In a way, Randidly wanted to see how much of an advantage Nether alone was.

A huge gaping maw appeared around the head of Helen’s spear, her image empowering the attack further. It crashed into Randidly’s side, causing him to grunt and take a step to the side. The arena floor groaned dangerously. Despite the fact that a lot of the image was dissipated by Nether in the air, purposefully not using any image to contest it still made the impact a heavy one.

Several sharp lacerations ripped across Randidly’s chest. For the first time in quite a while, Randidly bled. The crimson drops fell to the ground and sizzled as the powerful properties in his blood corroded the reinforced metal ground.

Randidly laughed aloud. His emotions were buzzing in his chest in time with the beat of his heart, which was sending jolts of light pain through his wound.

Then he planted his feet and took another step forward. Nether swirled even more tightly around his core. Helen raised her spear and thrust it forward.

Randidly ducked sharply under the blow faster than even he expected to. Her response was to bring the butt of her spear around but Randidly dodged that too and swiped with his hand, more like a cranky bear than a human. But the casual attack still ripped through the shaft of Helen’s spear and sent her stumbling backward.

Which opened up enough space for her to unleash an even larger attack by one of the spectral monstrosities that inhabited the Sea of Blood.

Randidly’s vision was red and he wasn’t sure if it was from Helen’s image or just from his rage finally being given space to swell. He just stepped forward and raised both of his hands to grab the bloody, spectral jaws that were attempting to swallow him whole.

BOOOOOOM!

His hands struggled for a second to find a grip, but then Randidly gritted his teeth and allowed his feet to skid slowly backward as he directly engaged the attack. His left arm held back the upper jaw, while his right kept the bottom of the jaw from snapping upward. The muscles and Engravings in his arms strained, relying on raw physical Nether Brawn in order to handle the assault.

Of course, Helen wouldn’t let him futilely strain like that for long. She acquired another training spear and suddenly shot out of the murky Tides of Blood to Randidly’s left.

Randidly’s whole body spasmed as he pulled at his physical presence, demanding more power. The veins along his arms stood out grotesquely and pulsed with the beat of his heart. His emotions were erupting. Gradually, a small quantity of Aether began to flow along with the Nether in his body, supplementing its power.

“DAMNIT!” Randidly roared. He strained and twisted, but Helen was only a meter away and he couldn’t triumph over the combination of the Skill and image with just his body. Narrowing his eyes, Randidly changed his tactics.

His hands flexed and the teeth he was gripping shattered. Rather than overpowering the entire jaw, he was forced to resort to cheating to get out of this. In that brief moment of hesitation while the images teeth shattered, Randidly stomped forward into the mouth, avoiding the closing jaws. Then he erupted in Nether, ripping the interior of the Skill to shreds with raw energy.

It annoyed him that the effect was only so exaggerated with the boost from the small amount of Aether, but since he didn’t use any image, Randidly supposed it was fine.

Then Randidly brought his hand up just in time to catch Helen’s thrust. But an image or a Skill empowered the tip enough that it cut his right palm to the bone. His blood rapidly corroded the tip of the spear into a useless state, but Randidly snapped the offending weapon in half just to vent some of the heat that was circulating through him.

“Sloppy,” Helen said with a grimace as she looked at blood dripping from his hand.

Randidly stomped once and then twice. The second stomp he timed so that the metal ground beneath them cracked and shattered right as Helen was preparing to open up some distance between them. There was a secondary dirt floor below, but both were now floating.

Although Randidly was shooting like a zooming cannonball toward Helen.

But Helen produced another spear and was buoyed safely out of his path by her Tides of Blood. She floated then in the air above him as he landed, looking down at him surrounded by a crimson vortex.

“Are you really taking this seriously?” Helen asked.

Nether swirled through Randidly’s body. His grin was wide as he waited for her to attack. With every circulation, the small pinch of Aether seemed to be even more fully integrated into his body. The aura that Randidly released caused the nearby stone ground to bubble and warp.

“I’m just warming up,” Randidly hissed.