Randidly pressed his hands against his chest, feeling the strange resonance that spread through his physical body and then across time. His stomach curled in on itself. He winced as the force rebounded back from the past and hit him again in the present. Most of it was dispersed, but it still slapped against him unpleasantly.

The internal discord shook his Class and Nether Core, but his Class was no longer as weak as it had been in the past. Plus, the impact brought with it a gushing wave of Nether, due to the completed cycle. In the Nexus, surviving a blow from Elhume meant something.

Still, Randidly’s expression was grave as he looked up toward the sky, where the Grand Pattern was just not beginning to recover from the attack. The image was peculiar and pure, but what is really insidious about the arrangement is its basis in Nether. Truthfully, that attack of Elhume doesn’t contain much power in its image. The image is simply a near invulnerable and unavoidable vehicle to bring the hidden core of the attack, an impact aimed at significance.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 438!

Congratulations! Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath (M) has grown to Level 391!

Randidly’s eyes glittered as he replayed the attack he received over and over again. His Dreamcatcher of the Long Night hummed, aiding in the accuracy of his recall, even if he didn’t dare go back and experience again, lest he attracts attention. Luckily the mountain needed a break to recover, giving him time to analyze what he had just experienced.

The more he scrutinized it, the more he was torn between believing the ruler of the Nexus was a genius and that he was arrogant. Elhume’s hidden attack couldn’t even be considered a bloodthirsty strike. Rather than piercing, breaking, or tearing, Elhume aimed to ‘shake’ his target. That simplicity gave it extra power without involving killing intent at all. It had all the destructive impulses of a child hopping up and stomping down on a puddle.

Randidly licked his lips. “...however, when what is drummed is the extremely fragile and unnaturally thin base of significance that the System allows for individuals- even if the energies aren’t connected, all image users rely on that small amount of significance they are allowed to stabilize themselves. Losing that will causing significant damage. Quite the insidious attack. Rather than bother to overwhelm their images, Elhume just shatters their foundation of Nether.”

Crack!

Randidly stumbled, almost falling off the pillar as a chunk of stone came loose underneath his feet and brought his attention back to his current predicament. He grimaced; as predicted, the top of his current pillar was half destroyed in the aftermath, with another large portion sporting dangerous cracks. Small stones rolled and popped down, dropping into the mist.

His Grim Intuition did not notice those stones hitting the ground.

Only when the cracked stone settled, without everything collapsing beneath him, did Randidly release a sigh of relief. Then he shook his head. Hopefully, this pillar doesn’t become relevant later. Because in its current state, breathing too briskly will demolish it.

He set that aside. He could only handle one thing at a time, and for now, he detected the feelers of Nether sliding into the atmosphere above, likely searching for the outcome of Elhume’s attack.

However, feeling the way that his significance had been struck both in the past and present gave Randidly an idea. Taking the impact in the here and now had been like a guitar string being plucked, vibrating all the way from the base up the fretboard. Eventually, it had reached the point that he had met the significance from the first time that Elhume and Randidly had crossed paths, impacting Randidly’s Class to the point that its potential had been squeezed out.

Randidly’s tail rapidly began to flick side to side, gathering as much Nether as he could as quickly as possible. It seemed to embroidery an intricate pattern of Nether into being from nothing. The tentacles in the sky swam forward, seeking the Patrons and the tiny bone charm. His body was still shaky from the force he had just unleashed, but he couldn’t afford to be distracted.

Randidly was not prepared for the concerted attention of Elhume to land upon him.

His tail continued to fabricate the Nether Ritual. Randidly bit his lip. Hopefully, this bone charm ends up being worth the risk. And the Patrons behave themselves in the Alpha Cosmos.

Congratulations! Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath (M) has grown to Level 392!

Congratulations! Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual (L) has grown to Level 434!

If you can affect the past, you overpowered bastard, you can be affected by it, Randidly gritted his teeth as the Nether Ritual began to glow. A memory was extracted and recreated, shimmering in the air in front of him. That moment, deep in his significance, where Elhume had glanced at Randidly in the past-

Congratulations! Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual (L) has grown to Level 435!

The Nether Ritual activated and rose up in the air to meet the tentacles. Randidly’s Nether Core hummed as he channeled the past interaction, willing it to superimpose itself on the current reality. The two forces kissed, tasting each other. The tentacles twitched for several seconds, then twisted and began to wriggle up out of the world of the Grand Pattern. With any luck, they would seek traces of Yystrix, just like Elhume had all those years ago.

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Randidly released a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. “Probably won’t fool Elhume forever, but at least he’s been thrown off the trail for now. By the time he examines the issue more deeply, my Nether Core will have recovered enough to scour away the traces that the Patrons left.”

Also, thank you Yystrix. Your presence in my life is just the gift that keeps on giving...

Feeling a bit better about his current situation, he glanced up at the sky. The previously depleted sea of power that sat and served as the sun in this place was steadily returning without any lasting damage after resisting Elhume on his behalf. Randidly’s eyebrows rose to see no lasting damage from that clash. It certainly seemed like the creator of the gloomy mountain was not a simple individual.

In addition, he could feel the consciousness in the sky, questing down toward Randidly, asking for some understanding. Randidly did his best to keep a smile from stretching across his face and nodded at the consciousness’ query. “Yes, the unexpected arrival made it difficult for the both of us. I do not mind allowing some time to pass so that we can recover.”

The consciousness was almost too straightforward; it immediately flared with sly triumph, as though it had pulled the wool over Randidly’s eyes. After all, it would be extremely simple for him to brute force his way through the rest of the Fourth Step, which it did not want. He could feel the consciousness looking down on him for not realizing this.

But inwardly, Randidly was smirking. Sure, I don’t mind refraining now. But do you really think the things that threatened me before will continue to hold me back? You must not have been paying close enough attention to my growth speed…

Before any of that, Randidly truly needed a rest. He had wrung every drop of his potential out to weaken Elhume’s fist before it landed. His Nether might have been replenished, but his body and mind were completely spent. So he happily closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift. Small motes of light spun around, reinforcing his image physicalizations as he did so. He hadn’t taken much physical force, but his physicalizations had experienced the foundation rupturing attack and now sensed a new avenue for improvement.

By the time Randidly had recovered to his peak condition, most of the energy in the sky had returned. Once more, the sun blazed down with enough intensity to cook the average person. However, only now was the consciousness beginning to move all that natural force into the Grand Pattern. It would take a while longer before its unending wheel of attacks was once more ready to test him.

However, Randidly was glad of this extra downtime. His attention turned inward to Yggdrasil. His hair steadily lightened to emerald and his veins were blindingly bright as he emphasized that image through his physicalizations. I might be getting more efficient in the utilization of natural energy, but these pillars won’t let me connect to the power in the base of the mountain. But if I can start taking energy from the sunlight-

Randidly’s emerald hair began to flutter. His first attempts were ineffectual, but he opened up himself to the beating radiance from above. It wasn’t true sunlight, obviously, but that didn’t matter with images. The shape and emotion were all that counted.

*****

Almost immediately after they arrived, the Patron of Blooms looked around at the sky with an excited expression. “This place… how interesting! What an unexpected world! And the Nether- well, I simply must introduce myself to some of my descendants, I’ll be back quite quickly, I’m sure.”

Then she was gone, leaving Edraine rubbing the back of her neck. She turned around and opened her mouth to tell the rest of them not to wander off, but the only individual who remained was the Patron of the Sun, who held the withered body of the Patron of Feathers. Feeling her intense gaze, the Patron of the Sun offered Edraine an awkward smile. “I’ve already had my fun here. Better give them some time to learn the rules. Although honestly-”

There was a glimmer in the Patron of the Sun’s eyes as he looked toward the horizon. “You don’t need to worry about the Patrons. This place is special for a lot of reasons, but the largest one is that so few people have chosen a Patron. I suspect that their actions will be much less selfish than their personalities would indicate. This place… is reminiscent of a home we had in the Second Cohort.”

Edraine harrumphed, not sure if she believed him.

****

Glendel sat up from his bed. With a gesture, a Four-Armed Beast King condensed on the roof while a Thousand Foot Shade Viper coiled in the bedroom around him. The sudden appearance knocked a lap from the end table, where it shattered on the ground. Glendel didn’t even bother to look; a glittering crown settled on his brow, releasing a ghastly radiance that empowered all of his ghosts in the surrounding area.

For several seconds, he simply sat there, unable to determine the source of that strong feeling of danger that gripped him. His heart continued to pound and his hands squeezed handfuls of his sheets. He kept his voice low and confident. “Who goes there? Why were you observing me during my slumber?”

The crown flared with power when he received no answer. The Shade Viper raised its head, its eyes trained on the corner, based completely on intuition. On the roof of Glendel’s house, the Beast King pounded on his chest and roared with enough force to wake the whole neighborhood. If this was another renegade Chimera infiltrating the town-

Glendel’s image blasted outward, trying to grasp the smallest flaw in the other’s deception and rip it away. As soon as he sensed the threat or was incapacitated, a ghost would alert the Squad on duty. But the spectral hand of sovereignty he possessed could find nothing.

His expression tightened. Without any other recourse, he simply sat and stared toward the corner. He refused to slacken his guard. Even without proof, he trusted his instincts.

It was instinct that informed Glendel he should recommend moving to Donnyton to Regina and the other survivors from the hospital all those years ago. It was instinct that kept him alive a hundred times during the fights to defend Donnyton. Even against the First Calamity, it was instinct that allowed him to quickly discover the core area and eliminate the growing Patron of the Grey.

So he waited.

Other individuals noticed his image pulses and came to visit, but the strange vigil of the Beast King on the roof gave them pause. Ultimately, they turned away and went back to their sleep. The neighborhood on Donnyton’s Western slopes quieted again.

But Glendel didn’t blink.

“A superb dedication. A sharp intuition. Kind eyes.” A purple amoeba finally revealed itself in the corner of the room. Its image as it drifted forward was so vast that Glendel mentally prepared himself for a fight to the death. But the words of the amoeba surprised him.

“Choose me as your Patron. Let us fish long dead monsters from the Abyss.”