After polishing his rhinoceros horn and straightening his suit, Octavius Shrike coughed into his hand and raised his chin in an officious manner. Although it was admittedly somewhat… unusual to accept an invitation to a party hosted by someone in a Cohort that he was overseeing… as far as he could tell, there was no rule against it.

Obviously his powers would be greatly suppressed, but he wasn’t there to impart any teachings in that regard. Although Octavius was currently confident he was more powerful than Randidly Ghosthound, he was not sure how much longer that would last. That knowledge was… unsettling, but that was part of the reason that Octavius now chose to attend the party. Developing a good relationship with powerful individuals before they had reached their full potential was essential.

To that end, the reason that Octavius went accepted the invitation was to share information. Randidly Ghosthound needed to be warned that the Swacc family was clearly aware that there was something unusual about his body. Their trap was rather ingenious, but with Octavius Shrike’s help, Randidly would avoid it effortlessly.

Or at least, that was what Octavius hoped for. He was somewhat nervous that it wouldn’t be so simple because although Octavius knew he could protect Randidly, it remained to be seen what could be done for the Earth as a whole.

With his authority as Overseer of the Seventh Cohort, it was entirely child’s play to open a portal to the Earth. Due to their prior interactions, it was very easy for Octavius to key in on Randidly Ghosthound’s energy as well and arrive next to him. The portal opened grandly and Octavius strode through, the awards and merits that were pinned to his chest jingling with the motion.

And he did indeed found Randidly. But Octavius paused, struck by the bleak coldness that hung around Randidly Ghosthound. The image seeping out of the young man was so biting that Octavius sucked in a quick breath. They stood on a moonlight island, a low silver mist pooling in large banks around them. The surrounding area was entirely still.

Randidly had his head lowered, a shadow covering his face. Octavius cleared his throat. “Did… Mr. Ghosthound, are you alright?”

Randidly blinked and looked upward. Almost immediately, the feeling of horrible bleakness faded and Randidly offered a bitter smile. “Just reflecting that power isn’t enough to fight against the System. You need to be smart as well. But I’m glad you came, Octavius. Do you have more information about the Corrupted Invaders?”

Randidly had been holding a strange, geometric sphere of rope in his right hand, but he twisted it abruptly and the thing began to fold in on itself. Piece by piece wound together until it was simply a single woven bracelet that twisted around his right wrist. He crossed his arms as he considered the Overseer of the Seventh Cohort with a startling directness.

Octavius could sense a fair amount of power from the object around Randidly’s wrist, but he didn’t peer too deeply. Such an action would be rude, after all. And this was practically a networking meeting.

Octavius cleared his throat for the second time. His hands felt clammy even as the chilling air began to warm slightly. “Indeed, I do have more information about the interference of the Swacc Family. But first, I would like to apologize for even allowing such a thing to happen. It was under my watch, and-”

“We both know your powers are limited,” Randidly interrupted with a rather insulting amount of accuracy of Octavius’s ability to handle orders from the Nexus Council. Randidly then waved his hand. Again, the lack of respect was slightly irksome. “Don’t worry about it.”

“...ahem. But as I was saying, the Corrupted Invaders that are present in your Danger Zones are powerful individuals, but based on what I can sense…” Octavius paused for a second to scan the surrounding area. He frowned somewhat to sense people that had clearly come from the frontlines to Earth and wondered how they survived on the lower Cohort, but decided to ignore that and focus solely on the natives. “...it is theoretically possible for the people of Earth to overcome the challenges present. Difficult and time-consuming, but-”

“I’ll give them a little push to motivate them,” Randidly said with a sharp expression. Even though most of the chilliness had faded from the air around him, it was still present in his eyes. Rather than the rich and warm emerald that they usually were, the coloration was closer to a frigid mint. “Can you tell me about what this situation really is, however?”

Octavius grimaced. “They got us good, unfortunately. The Swacc Family isn’t going after you directly; instead, they are claiming that your presence and success on the front lines is proof that the Earth is the home to several uniquely powerful images. As such… it managed to push through an absolute antique of a test that hasn’t been used since the Fourth Cohort. And the reason they could do that is the Xyrt Brigade agreed to it.”

Randidly tilted his head to the side and gestured for Octavius to continue. Octavius obliged, despite his annoyance at the slowly growing sense that he was a subordinate reporting to a superior. “When the Cohorts used to be smaller, the Xyrt Brigade needed to recruit much more actively in order to field a sizable enough fighting force. So they would do sudden tests like this, to ascertain the responsiveness and power of a planet.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Of course, the real slick piece of arrangement on the Swacc’s Family’s part is how they got the Xyrt Brigade to agree; by helping them get rid of some of the useless individuals they are honor-bound to support. All of the ‘Infected Invaders’ are truly infected with a powerful image to stabilize them, but they are those who went mentally insane from the training to get into the Xyrt Brigade.”

Finally, Randidly opened his mouth and his words weren’t sharp and dangerous. Honestly, his voice displayed a surprising amount of vulnerability when he spoke. “It’s… dangerous to get into the Xyrt Brigade?”

“Very much so. They expose their applicants to… almost infectious images in order to make very sure that their operatives can resist something akin to a Nether King’s corrupting influence.” Then Octavius clasped his wide hands together. “But that’s just background; you asked about the benefits and costs if you do not succeed within the time limit. Really, it’s simple. In addition to those failed applicants as cheap workers for this deal, the Xyrt Brigade is offering up an amalgamation of their homeworlds for the Epic Danger Zone. Currently, the Xyrt Brigade provides a very generous amount of Aether to those worlds, per the agreement the applicants signed when they joined the Brigade. If Earth succeeds, the valuable raw materials of those worlds and that generous Aether allotment will become yours.

“Of course, if you fail to succeed before Earth becomes its own planet… the Xyrt Brigade will abdicate its responsibilities to provide Aether to those planets. Rather than a source of Aether, those worlds will become a constant drain on Earth, reducing the ambient Aether to something survivable… but much more restrictive on growth.”

Randidly tapped his jaw. Each motion was measured and heavy. “And this is all to get my attention, right? Well, they have it. What have they arranged so I won’t simply brute force the issue myself? They should be aware of my abilities.”

Arrogant to say himself, but he is not wrong… To Randidly’s words, Octavius nodded. “Indeed. Part of the old testing system is that a special investigator of the Xyrt Brigade will be present to look for exemplary elements. Which, considering your status as a Commander on the frontlines, you will qualify.

“His actions are bound so long as you don’t do anything to attract his attention, but if you move… he will be within his power to ‘test’ you. And let me assure you, that this is not a good thing: the special investigator is one Kaan Swacc. Unless you somehow managed to overpower him directly, there isn’t a shred of hope that this man will find your actions worthy of entrance into the Xyrt Brigade. Essentially, I suspect that he is here to beat you into submission and make sure the Earth fails the Xyrt Brigade’s test.”

“And how strong is he?” As Randidly Ghosthound asked the question, his eyes once more sank into that terrible coldness.

“Stronger than Lady Iellaya, at least. But it is difficult to tell exactly where he sits in the hierarchy of the Xyrt Brigade. So that’s why… I’ve pulled some strings for you. I believe that although its impossible to get around this test entirely… if you come with me to the Nexus tonight, we can get an advantage in the larger war. I’ve arranged for us to meet with someone from the Xyrt Brigade; with your strength, it will be simplicity itself to impress them. From there-”

“Isn’t there an easier way to impress the Xyrt Brigade right in front of us?” Randidly smiled again. And with each word, the temperature in the surrounding area dropped. He uncrossed his arms and flexed his hands, both metal and flesh. A dark haze seemed to hang around his body. “How will the Xyrt Brigade react if this special investigator that they sent gets killed? They seem like a rather rough-edged bunch, considering their training methods.”

Octavius’s mouth worked for several seconds before he could speak. “Well… you are right that they would see his death as the weakness of the investigator, rather than something worthy of retaliation… but the Swacc Family… no, no, no, besides that, there is practically no chance that you would be able to fight Kaan Swacc on equal footing.”

Randidly didn’t even bother to reply. He just smiled. The temperature had reached the point that frost began to creep across the ground. The haze around Randidly darkened. The silver energy that wreathed this place seemed to be swirling slowly around with the momentum of Randidly Ghosthound’s murderous thoughts. The mist crept in low tendrils toward Octavius’ feet.

“Besides, I’ve been monitoring the situation on Earth very closely since you’ve returned. You’ve… I’ve been very impressed by the temperance that you displayed, largely not interfering with the affairs of the planet. Is this not similar to those situations? Although you are powerful, your presence is the cause-”

“This and that are different,” Randidly said softly. “I let the Earth deal with its own problems… but this is a foreign entity coming to my planet… but I’m glad you brought up what I’ve let occur on Earth for the past several weeks.

“People have died because I haven’t acted. I could have prevented so many deaths. And there are problems that I know about, even now, walking around on the surface of the Earth. If I wanted to, I could eradicate them before they hurt people.

“But I won’t. Because I don’t need an Earth that is safe from these small dangers, I need an Earth that is prepared for the Big Danger that I know is coming. But I won’t lie to you; it has been a certain kind of torture to know that there are so many problems I could solve and I let them go. I try to distract myself with training, but…”

The Ghosthound’s smile stretched even wider. The shadows in the silver energy swirling around him started to look like a cackling monster. “Having something worth fighting is just what I need to vent some of this frustration right now.”

“He is stronger than you know,” Octavius said darkly, but Randidly Ghosthound just laughed.

And this time, Octavius Shrike felt genuine fear as he started to feel the powerful waves of Nether that were emanating from the young man in front of him. The haze had transformed into tongues of shadowy flame. Octavius’s image shrank back before the Ghosthound’s dark light. “Good. It’s really been too long since I’ve pushed at my limits.”