Randidly had to press his eyes shut and focus on nothingness to give his overwrought Grim Intuition a brief break. The conductivity of the fake Nether and the sheer amount of remnants that were surging forward with various knock-off Amenonuhoko Skills meant that the demand on his senses increased exponentially. So many insubstantial forms were layered on top of one another in the course of their determined movements, approaching but never reaching physical presence. He tried to observe only a few, but the projections continued to overlap one another to the point of being an indistinguishable, gelatinous mass.
Still, the more I watch them, the more useful they become, Randidly thought as he opened his eyes once more and scanned the surroundings. Even while his own maelstrom of natural force sustained itself by grinding against the storm’s continued attacks, he observed his little mimics being summarily smashed to bits by the intermittent force spikes that hammered down on them in a cosmic game of a whack-a-mole.
He watched coolly as their bodies were obliterated, limbs smashed to spectral paste, organs directly annihilated, and whole individuals directly forced to start their attempts again by the ragings of the Grand Pattern. The experience began to take an emotional toll on Randidly, in addition to the mental one. But he continued to watch, scanning for a pattern within the violence.
Even after fifteen minutes of stalling, the combination of information overload and the shifting, varied perspective they all faced meant that Randidly was having a hard time picking out the pattern of their descent, so he could avoid a similar fate.
Abruptly, he turned to the side, because he noticed that one shade was standing very prominently next to him without throwing their body forward. And the shade was looking directly at him.
To his surprise, it was the confident stepping woman that Randidly had followed to reach this point, regarding him with a warm smile. “Thanks for the help. Most new arrivals aren’t as weirdly influential as you seem to be. They join up, but they are so lacking in presence that we barely notice, you know? Which is why so many of us have been stuck here, in the Third Step, for so long.”
Randidly nodded slowly. The woman kept her hair relatively short, hanging in ghastly strands down to her chin to frame her face. He replied, wondering how much awareness she possessed. “...don’t mention it. If I’m being honest, I didn’t even notice that I was influencing you all until you caught up to me. And to get to this point, I followed you personally, your previous path, so I did learn a lot from you as well. I’m Randidly Ghosthound. And you?”
“We don’t have names,” The woman shrugged. “Just the desire to make it to the Fifth Step and escape this hell.”
“So you really are trapped here.” Randidly pressed his lips together and examined the strange fake Nether again. “By the energy of this mountain, I assume.”
The woman tilted her head to the side. Then she moved in several extremely quick box-steps, avoiding several triple wind blades that shot toward her in her version of the mountain. When she had settled, a look of understanding came across her face. “Ah, trapped. You believe that we are dead and linger here, while you are the only one alive. Because none of us have names and we can attempt the climb the mountain endlessly. But perhaps you are just as trapped as us, only you haven’t realized it yet. Or perhaps even if I don’t remember the details of my life, they never existed; what if I was raised somewhere that did not feel the need to name its people?”
“You are remarkably optimistic,” Randidly responded, feeling slightly unwilling to attack the woman’s strange theories, even if he was dubious. He turned his attention back to the front, where the swarm of specters continued to push further up the slope. Some abandoned Randidly’s energy maelstrom in favor of a more mobile approach, while others continued to grind forward as a way to resist the other attacks.
Force spikes continued to blast the bold trailblazers, but the sheer weight of their numbers and their ability to recover eventually allowed them to advance. The strange tingling on Randidly’s skin continued, but now that he examined them more closely, he realized that some genuine connections of Nether were beginning to form between himself and these specters.
Influence +27!
Influence +44!
Likely my own Nether becomes a grounding point that allows them to retain some more of their memories from their previous iteration, Randidly realized as he began examing the budding connections. Otherwise, if they could remember and respond this whole time, they wouldn’t have been stuck here for so long.
“So, the Fifth Step contains the summit?” Randidly asked, changing the subject and turning back to the woman.
The woman chuckled. “That’s one of the only things I remember. And that I’m forgetting something else important. But I know that if I make it to the summit, I’ll be able to remember everything. Maybe I’ll even discover I had a name this whole time, eh? Won’t that make my earlier snark sound like a crock of shit. This Path of Blood is difficult, but the rewards waiting at the top are worth it.”
“Rewards?”
“Don’t be petty. You can probably guess that I don’t remember the details.” The woman grinned. Then she patted her chest several times. “But would I be this sure if something amazing wasn’t waiting for me at the top? Definitely not!”
His maelstrom of force continued to churn around them. Specters were obliterated and reformed, unflinching before their repeated demise. Randidly almost wanted to roll his eyes at the circular logic of the woman, but he supposed he could understand her core motivation. When you slowly forgot everything but this obsession, worrying and dwelling on what you had lost would probably just make the anxiety worse. Perhaps it was mentally healthier to meet even the bad news with cheer.
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That thought brought him back around to the task in front of him. Despite the mental strain, Randidly stretched his senses to their limits once more to watch the prolific shades. He felt his massive Grim Intuition stretching out to cover all the interactions that were occurring. When he felt himself nearing his limits, he twisted his Skills a small amount, to give him an edge.
Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 422!
Randidly’s eyes stretched open as he witnessed all the attempts. His extremely high Intelligence and Wisdom rapidly began to gather data and make calculations based on what he learned. He created and discarded theories so fast that he buzzed with all the information that flowed through his body. All the while, another part of his attention had to keep his Nether Core and natural energy maelstrom in line, maintain his defenses against the escalating attacks of the storm, now that Randidly had ceased moving forward.
It was not easy. But after witnessing the dedication of the remnants, Randidly did not flinch before the task.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
Congratulations! Your Skill Cutting Tide of Amenonuhoko (T) has grown to Level 531!
However, the pressure from the consciousness above rapidly rose. It seemed unaware of the insubstantial bodies; all it knew was that Randidly had stopped ascending. So it began to apply pressure.
Each second saw another wind blade orb slam against the exterior of Randidly’s miniature storm system and grind itself to dust. Tragically, the consciousness's fury was all for naught. At this point, Randidly had grown extremely efficient in his usage of energy; those attacks usually netted Randidly a very small amount of energy in the exchange. Even when a hundred triple wind blades crashed against the exterior, the repurposed natural force could withstand them.
Whoosh!
The real problems arose when the force spikes cut out a chunk of his storm. They were infrequent, and because of his standing position they could only punch through the edges of the maelstrom, but their arrival meant that Randidly rapidly had to replenish certain flows to prevent everything from crumbling beneath the constant pressure. Mist churned and swirled as the above him, blown by the constant impacts between the two storms.
His eyes flashed. Unfortunately, I can only learn so much from the shades. When they leave the area covered by my energies, they quickly revert to their past, blank selves. Without me supporting them, they become-
It was difficult to be sure of the outcome because the boundary was beyond the point where mist descended to obscure his senses. Yet the conducive fake Nether gave him an extremely reliable sense that the shade’s determined progressed stopped right when they stopped being able to support themselves without Randidly’s reliable significance. Their brief sentience flickered out, leaving them in an eternal repetition of their deaths.
Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 423!
Almost unconsciously, Randidly glanced at the woman next to him. She had been intently studying Randidly’s manipulation of Cutting TIdes of Amenonuhoko and incorporating his abilities into her own attempt. But at his glance. She clicked her tongue. “Oh, don’t give me that look. Didn’t I tell you that this sort of living is fine? I just called it hell because… shit, doesn’t anything you’ve done for a long time eventually become hell? And I’ve been here…”
For a brief moment, the woman’s eyes became cloudy. Then she snapped back to focus, that sharp intelligence cutting through the fog. “Well, a long time. But it’s worth it. That’s why we are all still here, still struggling. Because the summit is worth it. And also… in life, what else is there, truly, but the eternal present and the mountain in front of you that you wish to climb?
“So, are you ready to get going? There’s no rush to through yourself into the jaws of the beast, but I’m sure the pressure you’re enduring by waiting isn’t small.”
Randidly nodded slowly. He ignored the tragic fate of these shades and admitted that the nameless and insubstantial woman was right about one thing: right now, nothing mattered but the challenge in front of him.
He raised his hands and his tail and rapidly began to churn the natural energy he was absorbing from the storm’s attacks. The fog shuddered beneath the force of the tide he was creating, but it continued to stubbornly restrict his senses. No matter what, efficiency is going to become the problem moving forward. I can’t avoid losing quite a bit to the force spikes, even if they don’t hit me directly. So the rest of the currents need to be that much more seamless to make up for the difference.
Randidly’s heart pounded. Most of the effect was hidden by the mist, but small wisps of steam began to waft up from his bare skin. His toes dug furrows into the stone ground as they curled and tensed. His Nether Core whirled and he incorporated thin streams of Nether into the hurricane that he created.
And with the spread of his Nether, Randidly discovered another pleasant surprise.
Wide streams of golden energy flowed up through the ground, not influenced by any restricted external manifestation of his image, but by his inherent aura and the spreading influence of significance. It was such a familiar lever that even Randidly’s Nether could conjure the manifestation of his image. To his delight, he found a seemingly endless well of power waiting in the bedrock of the mountain.
He could only grasp it with the slightest fraction of his normal suction, yet still, a surging tsunami rushed up and flowed into him. The raw natural resources of this place seemed to be unparalleled. There was an extra something within the golden energy, but since Randidly sensed it would not harm him, he ignored it. Force pumped through his body, reinforcing his maelstrom and adding glittering motes of light that spun through the mist. That power became the fuel he needed to barrel forward.
Congratulations! Your Skill the Golden Roots of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 450!
As he gathered all these energies into his Tides, a new change occurred within Randidly’s chest.
Congratulations! You have gathered a large amount of energy and potential! You have absorbed an incredible amount of image remnants!
Warning! Multiple energies are flowing through your body in vast amounts. Please see a Village Spirit to rectify the situation. Different energies often conflict when they are brought into close contact. In the worst case, your Class will be destroyed and your body lost.
Congratulations! Your immense physical body is incorporating the energies without issue! This great accomplishment will influence the evolution of your Skillset Yggdrasil, the Universe that was First a Tree!
Congratulations! You have triggered the second evolution of your Skillset! Immense potential achieved! Image fragments incorporated. Your Skill the Golden Roots of Yggdrasil (L) has evolved into the Aureate Arteries of Yggdrasil (T)! Efficacy of absorbing and coping with energy vastly increases! User will release a natural aura that is extremely conducive to channeling energy. Your body naturally functions as a crossroads of power!