“Are you not worried about your images being… affected?” Octavius asked again in a low tone.

Randidly smiled wryly and glanced down into the Web below. Beyond the gentle lines of the cables spanning the chasm was the seething mixture of darkness and emotions that had recently caught Randidly’s attention. Even now, the vivid emotions in his body were being thoroughly refined by the Stillborn Phoenix as it inhaled and exhaled. He couldn’t exactly sense the emotions he released earlier, but he did have the impression that those emotions were still connected to him, even as they had embedded themselves in some different flow of Aether and been unknowingly absorbed by a citizen of the Nexus.

The more he paid attention, the more Randidly began to understand how emotion could be just as distinct as the shape of an image. It was an entire arsenal of gleaming weaponry that he intended to practice with until he was extremely proficient.

For now, Randidly looked back at Octavius with a half-smile. “Yes, I’m sure. Believe me, when it comes to filtering energy, there are very few images as efficient as Yggdrasil. I’ll be fine down there.”

“Still, be careful. Like Edraine said, we’ve invested in you. So…” Octavius trailed off, perhaps realizing that he was shifting steadily toward a lecture. Randidly tilted his head to the side, sensing the shape of something more than just Octavius’ instinctual need to control in his stifled urge. But very quickly, Octavius shook his head again. “Anyway, just remember that you need to be back in six days.”

Randidly nodded and then hopped off of the cord. This time, he didn’t use his Skills or his body to accelerate downward. He simply allowed the natural pull of the phenomenon below to gradually accelerate him into the dimly lit shaft. While he descended, he kept a careful eye on the Aether and Nether in his surroundings. Especially after hearing the news that Elhume’s image physicalizations eventually caused him to be sealed within crystalized Aether, Randidly felt strangely restless. Either he was missing something or there was more to Elhume’s sealing than meets the eye.

Although maybe I’m just thinking that because I don’t want to back down from image physicalizations… Randidly mused to himself. But then he shook his head and focused. He had six days. Those six days were what was most important right now. During this time, he had several goals he wanted to accomplish.

First, he wanted to get the Grim Chimera as close to an evolution as possible. That way, while he began training these two hundred recruits, he could begin to think more deeply about the final Skill of the Descent of the Grim Chimera, All Else Succumbs, Yet Time Whirls the Earth. Which. Addressing that critical Skill would keep him on track to evolve his Skillset before he needed to be deployed to the Fifth Cohort.

Second, Randidly wanted to try and recreate that feeling of stability amongst his three images that he had briefly felt in the meeting with Edraine and the other co-conspirators. As he had reflected earlier, it was becoming increasingly clear that he hadn’t given enough attention to emotion as a foundation of Aether. In the past, Randidly had just taken it for granted that it would gradually accumulate. But from an initial observation of the Stillborn Phoenix’s actions, it was clear that Randidly could direct seek to improve his usage of emotions. He would spend a few hours each day studying this phenomenon.

Third, and perhaps this depended mostly on how deep in the Web he proceeded, Randidly wanted to refine his weaving of his Nether Nebula further. As dangerous as it was, he was sorely tempted to proceed into the depths of this place and observe the monstrous amount of Nether below him. Although it appeared at a chaotic mess from a distance, the first-hand account from Roy indicated that the construction was originally very purposeful.

The Nether had been made to create a body or a being. Perhaps even a body for the son of Yystrix and that Nether King, so he wouldn’t continue to dissipate.

Yet it was equally clear that something had gone wrong since the System had been created. Now the Nether simply pooled in a horrifying swamp of significance. Rather than saying the System restricted Nether throughout its domain, it might be better to say that this mass of significance sucked ambient Nether away so efficiently that no one could accumulate much of the energy.

Meanwhile, very few others had a flow of their own Aether like Randidly to ground their significance and keep it from being dragged away. It appeared he had almost stumbled into this benefit.

But whether the accumulation of significance was purposeful or not… Randidly grimaced as he continued to speed downward. It was difficult to know the purpose without observing the core directly. And even if he exposed himself to that danger, it was a toss-up whether Randidly understood enough about Nether to interpret what he was seeing. He might take the risk of going into the depths and discover nothing.

For now, he would simply observe the behavior of Nether carefully.

Fourth, Randidly had gathered quite a pile of PP in recent months. Between his training with the Grim Chimera and improvements to the Stillborn Phoenix, he had almost gathered 750 PP. With the next few days, he hoped he could reach 800 and finish another Path.

And finally… Randidly grinned and gestured sharply with his arm to disperse some of his momentum. He had proceeded quite deeply down into the Web. He recognized the spot where he had been training earlier and allowed himself to drift a little further down. As he did so, he realized that the substance of the walls was changing. Whereas the previous portions of this shaft had clearly been made of some industrial metal… the walls began to look very much like bone. There were no doors, just dark recesses that might lead deeper toward shadowy caves.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Randidly wondered whether calling this area the hollow spine of the Nexus was more literal than figurative.

It only took about a hundred more meters of dropping for the violence of the emotions in the air to double from Randidly’s previous training spot. In addition, the pulse of Nether in the air continued to thicken to surprising levels. Even the air was heavy and cloying down here. Without the intermittent lighting along the walls, the shadows seem liquid and contaminated, constantly bleeding outward and into each other in some eternal deterioration toward true darkness.

At his current position, Randidly landed lightly on a cable. But this time, he was unwilling to satisfy himself with swaying on these cables while he trained. He released a breath and reached out for the tiny microbes that were present on almost all surfaces. And to his shock… he found almost nothing in the surrounding area. Nothing lived on the stark walls of the shaft. Nothing crept along the rusted metal cord of indeterminate quality underneath his feet. Instead, he found the only occupant of the area a wafting hint of an image. Something ancient and horrifying. But like the shadows constantly pooling around him at this depth, the image seemed to vanish when he looked at it directly.

More than ever, Randidly was quite sure that the Nexus had been built on top of the body of an ancient beast. Which made him wonder if there were still such massive beasts wandering around in the area. The prospect was somewhat exciting. Especially after seeing how that primordial scent that remained suppressed any sort of bacteria from growing.

It also reminded him that his view of the Nexus had been extremely limited so far. If possible, he should explore a bit more in the future...

Still, Randidly let those thoughts go. Even if the walls weren’t helpful, his skin had plenty of options for Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil. Very soon, thorny vines were wriggling off of his body and grabbing onto the cable beneath him. From there, the vines expanded and grew, weaving themselves outward until they covered about the outer 75% of the Web and left only a small portion near the middle completely unblocked.

Randidly studied the result carefully, varying the tightness of the weave until he was satisfied. Near the edges, the vines were extremely close together, allowing less of the emotionally volatile Aether to pass through. Meanwhile, near the open space in the center, the Aether was much thicker. Plus, Randidly created a single vine across the center hole, where most of the Aether now gushed.

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 318!

Even then, Randidly wasn’t satisfied. For about fifteen minutes, he studied the roots and vines he had created, watching for any mutations due to the ambient emotions. Or even due to the relative prevalence of Nether in the area. After that time passed, Randidly had to conclude that there really was some serious pollution to the energy in the air; the bottom portion of the vines he created was turning vaguely bronze. But Yggdrasil vigorously protected its image against those emotions, leaving Randidly relieved. A little discoloration was fine, for his purposes.

Then, Randidly began working on the final goal in this six-day training operation: bringing out Helen, Heiffal, and the eight hundred other frontline soldiers under his command for training with this emotion-laden energy. Both to get a wider sample of the effects, but also to make sure that when Randidly showed up as a Drill Sergeant, even his subordinates would impress the recruits.

Although, if the recruits are anything like the people I saw… Randidly shook his head. Helen will tear them to pieces.

Then he began to train.

*****

“Charlotte, come here.” Commandant Wick growled, sitting before his personal garden and sipping tea. Without a sound, he set his small cup down next to his bamboo mat.

A small blue bird tweeted a soft song and flitted around the edges of the garden. The humidity that he kept his garden meant that Charlotte’s Wick neck was slick with sweat. She didn’t let any of the discomfort show on her face, however. At his summoning, Charlotte stood from her prone position and walked back to crouch near to the Patriarch of the family. Although the Commandant didn’t turn around, Charlotte could tell that he was pleased by her behavior.

Or rather, the lack of the bone-shaking dread she sometimes felt around the Commandant meant that he was relatively pleased.

For a while, he sat and she crouched in silence. Adding constant musical accompaniment, the bluebird flitted around the garden. Meanwhile, the Commandant’s eyes were on the prize of his garden: the twelve bloom amethyst lotus. The soft gradient of its brilliant petals glittered in the false light of the garden as the twelve thin stems stretched elegantly upward from the base of the bush. After humming to himself, the Commandant raised a finger. A leaf withered on one side of the bush, falling quickly away.

“Are you prepared for the training?” The Commandant finally said.

Charlotte kept her head low while she answered. “Of course Patriarch.”

He nodded slowly with the expansion and contraction of his lungs. “Good. Very good. But even considering your current image… you should have no trouble distinguishing yourself from the rabble, even if they might have some minor associations with characters of actual note. Still, there is something else. The Head Drill Instructor… I would like you to become close to him. By any means available to you.”

Even though she had thought that she was prepared for anything, the Commandant’s words still took her by surprise. For a split second, her words caught in her throat. “You want me to-”

“Foolish girl.” The words were uttered with a forceful derision that lashed across Charlotte's face with all the sharp burn of a whip. Flushing with an emotion between humiliation and fear, she was barely able to suppress a whimper; she knew weakness now would only earn her additional punishment. Pressing her fingers to the ground, Charlotte did her best to hid her shaking hands.

Eventually, the Commandant’s displeasure subsided. “He would have no interest in your flesh, girl. Even if he is a minor character in the grand scheme of the Nexus, he shows much more promise than someone like you. I just wish for you to befriend him. Make him understand the benefits available to him, should he profess his loyalty to the Wick Family. His image… interests me.”