The group was an awkward one as they stood in a loose jumble and considered one another. While Edraine and Velio Dunn had struggled to pry open first the Patron of Blades and then Abyss’s cells, the Patron of the Sun and the Patron of Blooms both returned. They seemed to slip easily back into the Sanctum. However, their expressions were unreadable as they watched the two other Patrons being liberated.

Neither offered any explanation of where they had gone or what they had done.

Despite how brutal the work was to release the Patrons, Edraine felt a sense of disappointment as they finished. It was still far away from becoming anything concrete, but she began to feel the tantalizing sensation of a new method of leveraging her image. To her surprise, her time in the Sanctum had been a great benefit to her personally. Having a barrier with sufficient strength allowed her to test out a lot of methods she had only theorized in the past.

Now it just remains to be seen whether anything good will come from liberating these thankless Patrons, Edraine thought as she examined them. The Patron of Blades, a remarkably mild older man with grey hair and a slender build, turned to Edraine and cocked an eyebrow. From his expression, he had read her thoughts and mocked her gently for her skepticism.

Luckily, the rest seemed to be too caught up in regarding each other warily to notice her lack of faith in their abilities. The Patron of the Abyss was a pulsing purple amoeba that both the Patron of the Sun and the Patron of Blooms regarded warily, leaving only Velio to step forward and speak.

“Now that you are all free, I think it’s time to talk about the next steps,” Velio said. His expression began to twist. “As we discussed earlier, there is never going to be a better time than now to strike; the forces of the Nexus are in disarray. Those that haven’t yet will soon begin fighting against themselves to jockey for better position in the aftermath. If we strike at some of the aggregate Aether pumps, we can cripple the Nexus-”

“Touching the Aether lines will draw the attention of Elhume without delay,” The Patron of Blades said quietly. His eyes were intense with an obvious desire to act, but he shook his head at the prospect. “Despite everything else- perhaps because of how he betrayed us, it’s obvious that we cannot face him directly. Without a better plan than hacking at the Aether supply, we should remain in the shadows and gather information.”

“Still, we won’t have another opportunity-” Velio urged, but he was stopped by a raised hand from the Patron of the Sun.

“Truth be told, none of us quite knows what happened back then. We were betrayed, yes, and very quickly Elhume gave the rest of us Patrons up to appease the other factions, but we were not there when the betrayal happened. That’s why…”

“That’s why we still live,” The Patron of the Abyss hissed. Small orange sunbursts of orange light radiated out from its body.

For several seconds, there was a heavy silence. Then the Patron of Blooms cleared her throat. “During my examination of the Nexus, I discovered traces of some of our previously liberated fellows. For whatever reason, the Patron of Feathers’ trail was particularly strong. I believe that before we attempt to plan anything, we should get a better understand of what occurred. Hopefully, we can capture her and figure out the current situation. The Patron of Feathers was there, along with the Patron of Truth and the Borrowed, right at the end of the ritual.”

Edraine cleared her throat and spoke for the first time since they had liberated the Patrons. Her curiosity moved her, even as she tried to find a few concrete details that she could use in the future. “May I ask, what do you think happened?”

The Patron of the Sun’s face darkened. The Patron of Blooms flexed her wrapped vine body. The Patron of Blades sighed.

The Patron of the Abyss answered her. “Elhume must have run out of power. He felt his limits… and considering his pride, likely panicked. So he devoured the Patron of the Borrowed, the weakest of us, and the Patron of the Truth, the most trusting of us, to accomplish his mad desire.”

“Based on the result, he failed,” The Patron of the Sun spat to the side. “Yes, the elhumes were created, and most species began to lean toward humanoid shapes, but something was lost in the breadth of the ritual. That burning potential he attempted to instill couldn’t be mass-produced. Perhaps that is what destroyed his optimism. Because after that, Elhume we knew had completely vanished. What remained was someone bitter and corrupted.”

*****

When those three wind blade orbs hit the ground, Randidly dispersed his wounded shell and sent the remnant blades shooting at the orb directly in front of him. His body flickered as he pushed Dreadful Alacrity to the limit and crossed the distance to hop into another.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

However, this time the consciousness was ready for the gambit. A dozen triple wind blades swooped down and blocked Randidly’s path. In addition, another unexpected force intervened. This was the first time that Randidly had left the path; immediately he felt a stickiness to the air that absorbed some of his powerful bodily vigor when he moved.

Still, none of these distractions slowed him down. His foot touched the ground lightly. Randidly’s mind raced. His right hand cut upward, dragging a blade of natural energy along his fingers. Do you really think I didn’t gain anything from being inside the wind blade orb for so long?

His attack slid upward and impacted the central triple wind blade. For a second he couldn’t find the correct fold in the power and Randidly braced himself for quite a few impacts against Sulfur, despite his cocky earlier thought. But then his force caught and he twisted with as much brutality as he could muster. The wind blade bloomed like a flower, its energy dispersing outward.

Randidly passed harmlessly through its position and flared his remnant natural energy to impact two other impediments. Just barely, he was able to unravel those as well. Practically gliding, he made it through the gauntlet of triple wind blades before they could rearrange themselves. His steps sharpened and he arrived before the wind blade orb. Its dangerous woven blades bunched together to block him from advancing, but he forced his way directly through.

Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Impunity (M) has grown to Level 430!

Once inside, Randidly’s thoughts and movements began to accelerate even further. He needed to accomplish several things very quickly to prevent a repetition of the gradual failure of his previous hamster ball. He needed to gather enough natural to fuel his ability. He needed to insinuate Cutting Tides of Amenonuhoko into the wind blade orb and strengthen his defenses. He needed to nudge the movements of the orb so he began heading up the mountain-

Randidly turned around, only to briefly falter at what he saw; the path he had tread to get here had vanished.

But soon, he pursed his lips in understanding. Perhaps it was just a benefit until I got my legs underneath me. People without my high Stats likely would have been forced off the path long ago by the triple wind blades, or definitely by the bulldozing orbs. And the physical restriction feels almost exactly like 20%- will it increase as I move through the tiers?

Still, his rapidly whirring mind dropped those thoughts as quickly as they floated the surface. He instead focused on the rising disturbance in the consciousness above him. He needed a method to rival that intensity, and he had the smallest inkling of how he could do it. Randidly had seen how Cutting Tides of Amenonuhoko could expand when it was given an established location to use as the foundation. So he spread his natural energy through the orb both as an inner support system and an outer maelstrom that would weaken the attacks before they came.

Of course, the wind blade orb bristled at this; the sharp edges of its wind blades were turned on the maelstrom. But Randidly smiled easily and manipulated the natural energy to become meek and well-behaved before these sharp edges. As the wind blades churned with vicious intent, the natural energy latched onto the momentum. The efforts to destroy the natural energy only swirled it more quickly, strengthening the maelstrom around the orb.

The orb hummed with impotent fury, but Randidly’s emerald eyes just tracked the fixation of the storm howling down toward him. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he took a step forward and began to climb the mountain directly.

His senses wove themselves into the maelstrom. He allowed his sense of self to drift away and just became the mirror image of what lay above him: a consciousness sitting in the middle of a node of natural force. Wind, impact, and natural energy became everything as he advanced forward. His mind hummed with activity as he attempted to keep up with the rapidly developing battle situation around himself.

...

Congratulations! Your Skill Natural Insight (A) has grown to Level 401!

Congratulations! Your Skill Cutting Tides of Amenonuhoko (T) has grown to Level 515!

Congratulations! Your Skill Natural Insight (A) is absorbing your insights! Synchronicity detected!

Congratulations! Your Skill Natural Insight (A) has evolved into Philosophy within the Boundless Deluge (M)! Skill Levels will be maintained. Your ability to recognize patterns has greatly increased. Your touch has the slightest hint of charm to loose natural energy. Effects increase with Skill Level.

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 570!

Randidly cackled; he couldn’t help himself. He had closed the distance between himself and the storm. The feeling of having the capability to resist directly was a good one.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOOM-BOOM

He jogged forward, standing in the middle of his hijacked wind blade orb. His hands and tail were in constant motion, orchestrating the waves of natural energy that resisted the constant bombardment from the storm. At this point, the clouds had darkened to a pure black. It lingered above him like an inkblot. The consciousness at the core was totally focused on Randidly, unleashing a constant rain of triple wind blades.

Congratulations! Your Skill Philosophy within the Boundless Deluge (M) has grown to Level 402!

But Randidly didn’t mind. As he proceeded forward, his understanding of his of the Grand Pattern deepened and he could use his mobile maelstrom to match the attacks from above. Even with the physical restriction from being forced from the path, he made a steady pace. However…

Randidly grimaced at the space in front of him, even as he continued to battle against the constant attacks. Time to step onto the third tier, huh?

A gorge ran through the mountain in front of him. The other side was cloaked in a thin mist. As it had previously, his perception was almost completely blocked. A thin rope bridge swayed across the gap, completely free of wind blades. Even though it stunk like a trap, Randidly refused to back down. He had built up plenty of momentum.

He was ready.

He stepped onto the bridge that divided the second and third tiers.