When the call of Eidolon Crucible came in the middle of the night, Tatiana resisted its pull. For several seconds the Skill persisted stubbornly, but Tatiana’s Willpower was enough to endure. Although most of the guests of Randidly’s birthday party likely wouldn’t notice that most everyone had fallen into a deep sleep, this was also a time where Randidly was out of commission; someone needed to remain vigilant in Kharon.

And it turned out that it was a good thing she did so because just as dawn was breaking over the horizon, an Alana Donal dressed in her typical attire of leather armor turned up at Town Hall and politely knocked on the door. Such was the widespread acceptance of the Eidolon Crucible that Tatiana was the only person in the building.

Chuckling softly to herself, Tatiana hurried down to open the wide double doors to the building. Alana Donal would be the sort of person to knock on a front door of a public building…

When Tatiana opened the door, she greeted Alana with a smile. “Good morning. Since I suspect you are here to talk, want to talk a walk with me? It will give you a chance to look around Kharon.”

Tatiana made the suggestion because Alana’s expression was curiously stiff. It seemed something was the matter. And as Tatiana suspected she might, Alana sighed and then released a barking laugh. “Honestly? A walk sounds lovely right now.”

Since everyone was within the Eidolon Crucible fighting against Randidly’s Willpower, there weren’t any of the normal breakfast stands along the long boulevard that led to Kharon’s parks. But Tatiana still had several tiny pre-prepared picnics stored away in her interspatial ring, just in case of situations like this.

It never hurts to be well prepared. Especially when the System is constantly throwing new trials at us… oh, that reminds me, I need to ask Randidly to remake his tests so I can attempt some of them in my spare time...

The path they took was a meandering one, but Alana didn’t seem to mind. Her eyes followed the rolling hills and the impeccably manicured gardens that they passed on their way to their main destination: Lake Kingsley. It was one of the few portions of Kharon’s parks that Randidly had named and built himself. What was most impressive about the lake was the many varieties of brightly colored fish that Randidly had found to populate the thing.

Oftentimes, throwing a few pieces of bread into the lake would cause streaks of rainbow’d colors to erupt out of the lengths depths.

And certainly, Alana’s eyes glimmered as she peered into the water’s depths. So after they arrived at Kharon’s largest park and sat on a bench by the shore of the lake, Tatiana pulled out the basket and offered Alana ham and egg quiches. Alana accepted, the heavy expression still on her face. For a long time, the two women sat and ate quietly while watching the light reflect off the placid surface of the water.

“...right now Kharon is experiencing the Eidolon Crucible,” Tatiana finally spoke, unsure of why Alana had stayed silent for so long. But still, she didn’t mind guiding the conversation forward. “The Eidolon Crucible… It’s… a symbol of our bond to Randidly. We are drawn into a world of psyche and the people of Kharon clash against Randidly directly. Which means that even when people wake up, they will be a little groggy for a while from withstanding his strength. I assume that you came to Town Hall because you wanted to speak to Randidly?”

Alana nodded slowly and raised her gaze from the surface of Lake Kingsley. “Ah. That makes a certain amount of sense. I can sense… something in the air. It’s… ominous. It must be the gathered power of the images of everyone on Kharon. But it’s probably a fact that very few people other than me would detect it, however. I’ve… been sensitive to Randidly’s images for quite some time. But no, although I planned to speak to Randidly after he had a few days to calm down… today I am here to speak to you.”

“Oh?” Tatiana tilted her head to the side, doing her best to hide the brief thrill of shock that she felt. “What is it?”

“I just wanted to confirm that it would be okay to allow the dragons that followed me here to wander around Kharon and the surrounding area,” Alana said with a sigh. “They are young and curious and haven’t been to an actual city before. So after coming to the party last night, they are excited to try more human activities. If you don’t have the manpower to watch them for a while-”

“Oh, by all means. Allow them to roam free. They don’t need babysitters.” Tatiana waved her hand in relief. “Honestly, you would be doing me a favor by doing so. I’ve been trying in subtle ways to make Kharon seem… especially magical and wonderous, and having the dragons walking around the city would do a lot to light that sort spark in people. Let them sate their curiosity as they see fit.”

Alana’s eyes were bright as she examined Tatiana for several seconds. “Interesting. Are you in charge of maintaining part of Kharon’s image then?”

“Not in any official sense or with a designation, but I’m certainly keeping it in mind while making decisions.” Tatiana was surprised how bitter her voice sounded when she spoke. Perhaps some of Alana’s strange mood was rubbing off on her. She gently shook herself and then offered Alana a tired smile. “Sorry, that came off a little bit sharper than I intended. Most of the details of the image of Kharon is left to the people who live here, but I’m a bit of a pessimist when it comes to human nature. So I generally try and orchestrate situations to help the average citizen reach the mental state that Randidly has in mind.”

“He was very lucky to meet you,” Alana said seriously. “This city is breathtaking, both in scope and in the spirit of adventure that has been woven into its core. Randidly is great at many things… but I don’t think keeping all of these plates spinning is one of them. This is you.”

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“The way you are buttering me up, I feel like you have another favor that you would like to ask me,” Tatiana said wryly. “Don’t bother; I’m impervious to charm.”

“Yes well, when is the last time someone attempted to charm you?” Alana asked with obvious amusement in her voice. Her eyes shifted from Tatiana’s face down to her own hands. “You are the left hand of the Ghosthound. You have unparalleled power in Kharon, and its developing very quickly into a very booming economic power. I would think that most suitors would be too intimidated to approach you. When was the last date you’ve been on?”

Tatiana looked at Alana with some genuine suspicion. “Did Naffur put you up to this? He is always sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. And enough beating around the bush, I can tell that a strange mood has seized you; what is it that you want, Alana?”

Chuckling, Alana leaned back and took another bite of quiche. “How long will Kharon remain here? And when it moves, do you know where you will head?”

Tatiana tapped her finger rhythmically against the wooden bench beneath her. “Probably only a few more days, although the business owners have already made it VERY clear how convenient it is for them when they can set up permanent supply chains. But on this issue, I don’t think Randidly will back down; Kharon is the Wandering City. That’s what it is. As for the direction… toward the Wildlands. They are expanding faster than ever. We have a few Order Ducis agents out there, but we want to try and make contact with as many bubble cities as possible to avoid… accidents.”

Alana finished her current breakfast pastry and looked in askance at Tatiana. After she received the nod of permission, Alana picked up another and rapidly devoured it. Then she licked her fingers and sighed again. From her tight expression, Tatiana gleaned that they were finally getting to the real reason for this talk. “If possible, I’d like Kharon to head towards the settlement of the Frost Dragons. They would… appreciate seeing Randidly.”

When Tatiana quirked an eyebrow, Alana sighed and continued. “I’ve been trying to keep this mostly a secret, but… the way I established a relationship with Wivanya… was by convincing her of Randidly’s exploits. I told the dragons stories about him, using my Soulskill. And essentially-”

“Oh, my,” Tatiana covered her mouth with her hands, her mind whirring to life. “Did you… no the look on your face confirms it. You established a religion based on him, didn’t you? Bahahah! Oh! I need to be there when you tell him… his expression… hahaha…”

*****

Congratulations! Your Skill Reign of the Eidolon Crucible (L) has grown to Level 226!

When Randidly awoke, it was to grogginess and swirling silver mist. It took some time for him to slowly settle from a fuzzy consciousness down into clarity, but that made a certain amount of sense. He had proceeded directly from his exhausting bouts with Illym into an image fistfight with the people of Kharon, requiring Randidly to dig very deeply in order to overcome the images he had helped sharpen.

Still, it put Randidly in a good mood; after all, the people of Kharon were growing stronger. And it seemed that the party for his birthday hadn’t injected any desire to slack off in regards to training. They were ready to fight at any time.

As he stood and stretched and looked at the light of early morning that was filtering through the silvery mist of his island, Randidly’s first thought was to return to training. Like the people of Kharon, he could not slack off right now. The Earth was quickly approaching a series of very difficult challenges. The test from the Xyrt Brigade, then whatever the Nemesai still had left up their sleeve, and beyond that loomed the First Calamity…

They were rapidly running out of time to prepare. What came next would be the actual fight to preserve Earth’s existence.

In terms of his own involvement, Randidly figured that he wouldn’t need to move against the special investigator until the Epic Danger Zone had revealed itself. Depending on how long the individual Zones would take to clear, Randidly believed he had at least a week of intensive training.

A part of him was tempted to use a Dungeon in order to extend that time. But another part of him still believed that the best encouragement toward progress was necessity. Especially when he was so productive in the few hours of practice last night, he didn’t want to think too deeply about avoiding the looming time commitment in case his resolve wavered as a result.

It was an option, but one he would consider later when he understood where he stood more fully.

After glancing around, Randidly spread his arms and allowed the surging black flames of Nether to cover his body. He could feel the thick energy swirling around him, slowly seeping into the surrounding air and ground. It was dense and heavy. It contained within it all of the meaning he carried with him, built up from memories stored in his chest. Luckily, his island had already been completely soaked in the Nether energies; a little more wouldn’t hurt anything.

Growling, Randidly maintained a tight leash on his Nether and cast a glance around. Practically hearing Tatiana whispering in his ear, Randidly chuckled dryly and communicated with the moonlight spirits on the island to carry him a little distance away from Kharon. In his entire time returning to Earth and experiencing such huge growth in his Nether due to various meaningful encounters, he had never completely let loose and tested his limits.

It was about time he figured out exactly what he could accomplish with Nether.

In addition, Randidly considered this a roundabout way to improve Ignition Essence. After all, the large amounts of Nether he produced resembled flames when he allowed the energies to seep out of his body. What was really happening was that a lighter than air, semi-liquid substance was produced in the brief contact between Nether and air. This substance clung to Randidly’s body but fluttered in a convincing imitation of flames.

But in terms of image… it certainly LOOKED like flames. And perhaps seeming the upper limit of Randidly’s Nether power would provide some sort of inspiration that he could then use to adjust Ignition Essence’s visual effect.

To be entirely sure he wouldn’t cause any lasting damage in an important location, Randidly moved deep into the mountains North of where Kharon was stationed. Then he took care to avoid the growing ogre settlement that filled the Nordawn range. Eventually, Randidly found an empty ridge in the Northeast periphery of the range, filled with Level 70 Razor Eagles.

They watched him apprehensively, but Randidly didn't bother with them. If they wanted to be here for this, that was their decision.

He released a breath. And then the Nether Wells in his chest began channeling vast amounts of energy. His Nether nebula spun, faster and faster. The shadowy flames rapidly grew and darkened, staining the very air around him.

Randidly could feel the System Aether in the air shiver and sizzle, shying away from him. He grinned wildly and continued to accelerate the production of Nether in his body.