Blessedly, Octavius Shrike responded very quickly when Randidly reached out for information regarding the mysterious Velio Dunn. Honestly, that should have been the sign that the content of the message was not good news. Randidly’s expression quickly turned serious as he read through the message.

Don’t become involved with this man under any circumstances. Do not attract his attention. From what I gather, he claims to have originated in the Second Cohort, but some records indicate he was active even before then. Reports are conflicting, but there are two easily ascertainable facts: he is overwhelmingly strong and has a nasty habit of killing individuals with high potential.

His behavior is notoriously erratic, but in the past several hundred years its been relatively common for larger factions to hire Dunn to fight against talents from rival factions. All of those individuals have died tragically in their combat.

Let me emphasize once more: Overwhelmingly Strong.

Upon reading that message, Randidly very decisively replied to Superintendent Xeruth to tell this Velio Dunn that he was very busy training the recruits and couldn’t meet with him. Suddenly, some of the Superintendent’s sudden backbone by reporting this message made sense: it wasn’t that he was no longer afraid of Randidly, but that he was just as afraid of this new arrival. He dare not fail to pass on the message.

Randidly pressed his lips into a thin line as he looked down at the callouses on his hands. It seems like the sharks are already gathering. Heh, but I suppose this wouldn’t be the Nexus if there weren’t dangerous individuals lurking everywhere. I was pretty lucky to have come so directly under the military’s wing… at the very least, access to me won’t be easy for two more months…

But after I head to the frontlines...

After releasing a breath, Randidly considered his next move. At this point, there were simply so many areas that he wanted to improve that he wasn’t sure the best way to proceed. All of his images needed attention, as well as his subtly accumulating problem with how much Nether density he possessed. In addition, he had a plethora of tools available to him that gave him an overwhelming number of possibilities. All three of the Fatepieces he now possessed were relatively interesting, although the Visage of Obsession appeared to possess some latent dangers.

For the moment, Randidly opened his menu to put himself out on a limb and send a message to a brief acquaintance. Randidly believed it best to get the ball rolling on that front as quickly as possible. He scrolled through the individuals whom he had recently encountered, his eyes glazing over as he looked at the unfamiliar and complex names; there simply had been too many random individuals within his sphere of influence at the funeral.

Some of the naming sense of these Nexus citizens are a bit… Randidly rubbed the back of his neck. Then again… maybe I don’t have room to say anything...

But after searching for five minutes, Randidly’s emerald eyes began to glitter with a growing suspicion. He returned to the beginning and checked through the difficult to read names with a bit more care. But it didn’t end up mattering.

In terms of messaging, the System was extremely helpful in its construction. It made a note of all other Aether beings that passed near you, allowing you to go back and contact these individuals any time you wished. However, when Randidly looked for the name of Neshamah Rex…

She’s not here, Randidly pursed her lips. It’s possible that Neshamah isn’t her true name, but I feel like that isn’t the case...

Randidly could think of two other explanations for this absence. The first was that he had met a double who was simply posing as Neshamah at the funeral. But that seemed unlikely, considering the very real and very sophisticated organization of Nether that Randidly had witnessed around her body. He didn’t sense within Neshamah the same harmony that Randidly possessed between his own Aether and Nether, but Neshamah clearly had been able to balance the very different energies within her body.

Plus, the artistry with which she had balanced her Nether...

The second explanation was that she could somehow block the System from displaying her name or sensing her person. Considering her use of Nether, that wasn’t such a surprising realization, just a bitter one.

Does that mean that she will be the one to reach out to me regarding usage of Nether? Or… Randidly’s mind stirred toward the recruit who bore the name Rex. Annoyance creased his features. Either way, he didn’t have a good ability to seize the initiative for this method of improvement. He could lay some groundwork to communicate through the recruit, but…

Randidly sighed. “And learning to utilize Nether is definitely the way I can completely transform myself… still, no reason to be down about it. There are plenty of other ways to train.”

After sending a message to Helen regarding an arrangement for the recruits, Randidly returned to his position sitting on the floor. He spared a glance for Sulfur’s continued efforts but shook his head and turned away; no need to open that can of worms again. His armor was surprisingly testy about this issue. So once more, he closed his eyes and sank into the realm of his images.

Randidly stood on a thick branch of the world tree, his hand on the ancient bark. Beneath his fingers, golden runes sparkled and seethed with secrets about the universe. But Randidly turned away from that light and looked toward the deep darkness in the surrounding canopy. The emerald leaves released their constant tinkling notes. And although the invisible wind around the World Tree constantly rustled the leaves, there were some places within that layered darkness that stood completely still.

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From within those deep shadows, a figure stirred at Randidly’s gaze. With a hiss, the figure slowly walked forward until Randidly could just make out the details of his image through the haze of layered leaf shadows.

The Implacable Price of Exodus possessed relatively normal if dirty, legs. But above its waist, its torso erupted into a dozen arms that ended in sharp nails. These brutal limbs stretched in every direction, like a blooming flower. Those hands constantly seemed to be reached and grasping, seizing the ambient life energy in the air for itself. THe knuckles were gnarled and misshapen. Of course, this image was extremely small in the grand scheme of the World Tree. But still, it was a rather constant drain.

Hidden amongst the myriad of joints that attached to the torso was a massive, fanged mouth and two bulging eyes. All in all, the figure was a shadowy monster that lurked within the World Tree. Its existence wasn’t necessary, but it had woven itself somehow into the fabric of the image.

Randidly didn’t conveniently have any image fragments to grind up and sprinkle through this Skill to improve it, but he didn’t think he needed them for this transformation. He was somewhat inspired by his interaction with Commandant Wick; truly, the greatest monsters did not look their parts.

This many-armed visage was a beast. The grand villain of the world tree… was much more sinister than that.

Randidly walked forward along the branch, enjoying the sensation of his bare feet against the bark. As he neared the Implacable Price of Exodus, the image hissed once more and took a step deeper into the shadows. Randidly ignored the Skill’s warning and continued forward. As the monster withdrew further, Randidly snorted and simply reached out and seized the Skill directly.

Compared to me… Randidly showed his teeth.

As soon as he touched the image, his hands began to blister and sizzle. In truth, the Implacable Price of Exodus was an extremely dangerous concept that Randidly had managed to conjure within himself. It possessed the power to even damage its fellow images. Which was why Randidly fully intended to weaponize it further.

Congratulations! Your Skill Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix (L) has grown to Level 306!

Heh, Randidly grinned at the squirming monster in front of him. It was clear that the creature wanted to use its many arms to push Randidly away, but didn’t want to exacerbate Randidly’s pain by creating more contact points between them. You think something like this is enough to scare me? You should know me better than that. And that kindness of yours… you are a natural disaster and you feel pity for those that are steadily destroyed by your existence. Your power is almost regretful.

That is what we need to change.

Although Randidly didn’t have new-image fairy dust this time, he had a reliable source for this transformation; the Alpha Cosmos. He hadn’t been particularly involved in the Alpha Cosmos in quite some time, which was a testament to how stable things had been since Yystrix was no longer around to periodically invade.

However, that didn’t mean that life in his Soulskill was perfect. There were heroes and villains, self-righteous monsters and quickly forgotten saints. To generalize greatly, the Alpha Cosmos was rife with individuals struggling with their own humanity. Occasionally, Randidly would give himself a break by just watching the people within the world going about their lives.

Before him, the Implacable Price of Exodus whined as its form began to melt and shift like wax before a furnace.

Perhaps the original prototype for this sort of character was Alta Bounty, who sought to destroy the Alpha Cosmos for the sins of its creator. She was an individual who had sacrificed everything to achieve her goal. And she had felt such destruction was justified the entire time. Because she had truly believed that there was no other way to escape the cycle of pain.

That was why she had been so dangerous. That was the crazed certainty Randidly had seen within Wick. That was the monstrous rationalization that he wanted to be at the core of the Implacable Price of Exodus.

As his hands continued to sizzle against the Skill’s skin, Randidly steadily built an altar to the hubris and narcissism of humanity.

Of course, Alta wasn’t the only such individual. There were hundreds of people who had hurt others within the Alpha Cosmos because they believed that the ends justified the means. There were people who sold their family or their bodies or their souls to accomplish their goals. Sometimes these journeys were brutally short, other times they were painfully extended. Either way, there was a thick layer of bitterness that accumulated in the dark places of the Alpha Cosmos.

Not to say that this was the dominant emotion. Currently, the Alpha Cosmos was doing quite well. There were bright spots of hope that periodically would cleanse some of this bitterness, just as there were times that the light of hope would falter and dim before the harsh weight of reality. Such was the balance of the human condition.

Such was the weight of a true world.

Randidly channeled that bitterness, that helplessness, that craving for change. He also pulled from outside the Alpha Comos, drawing from the determined figure of Kaan Swacc. The man who was so sure that Randidly had been a Nether spy that he would stop at nothing to try and eliminate him.

For several minutes, Randidly was a conduit to these complicated and dangerous emotions. That holy sense of necessity made motivations irrelevant. It was a towering monster that demanded obedience and silence. During that time, he didn’t panic or really react to those emotions. He allowed them to rage within himself, lashing out against him but doing no permanent damage. And gradually, they began to organize themselves. The stronger, more volatile ones settled to the bottom, hiding in the depths.

Randidly opened his eyes. The monster in front of him was gone. Instead, Randidly was holding the shoulders of a lovely young woman with gold skin like she was constructed from pure metal. She had long lashes as she slowly blinked, consciousness and understanding blooming in her eyes.

Then she gave Randidly a deep look as he released her.

Meanwhile, Randidly looked at her back, where strange lengths of metal stretched back into the darkness behind her. The way they were arranged made it seem like she was held in place by some sort of restraint, but Randidly knew that was a lie. Those were her greedy arms, made as inconspicuous as possible.

A second after he released her, she pulled herself back into the dark places of the World Tree, quickly vanishing. Randidly shook his head lightly. That figure… is now something that genuinely believes destruction is the answer. She will be an unstable element within the image… but that is why it will become powerful.

It was a risk.

Randidly took it without hesitation. He would walk without regrets toward the Pinnacle.