Randidly lowered his head and advanced. Rather than walking, he mostly had to raise his leg and swing the foot around to place back down in front of him. He had the physical prowess to overcome his magnified weight, but the combination of restrictions on him interacted in strange ways. His more minute muscle groups that relied on tendons could barely move, leaving the process almost entirely to the bigger muscle groups.

Above him, the sickly red lines crawled across the stone pillars. More and more significance flowed along into his body and toward his new Skill, drawn like iron shavings to a massive magnet. Taking another step, Randidly marshaled more dense Nether to his Willpower and prepared to annihilate this dangerous new Skill before it could affect him much.

Influence +982!

After the enormous burst at the start, the influx of Influence from the mounds began to slow. However, the significance continued to wrap around Randidly and invigorate his Nether Core. The mist thickened as he delved deeper into the final path and the ground sloped up beneath him. His legs trembled slightly from the strain; the additional elevation wasn’t as easy as Randidly expected.

One step at a time, Randidly’s morose expression was the only constant as he toiled.

Thick drops of sweat oozed down to his chin, where they then hung until they were dislodged by the quaking jolt of his footfalls. However, that was the least of his worries; Randidly began to hear and see deformed, twisted infants floating around him, watching him with dead white eyes and vanishing when he turned to regard them directly.

Their forms varied and he couldn’t examine them too closely, but their base form seemed to resemble a fleshy, spectral slug. At their tip, a pinched face of jumbled features broadcast some combination of pain, fear, and bitterness.

This… Despite his extensive experience fighting while in the Nexus, it was an entirely new sort of unsettling to have the seething mist around you morph into cast-aside babies when you weren’t looking. He took another step up the slope; a few drops of sweat fell off his chin. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could sense a fetus chewing on its own fingers to his left. Its mouth sat high in its face, so it somehow managed to chew on the digits while peering balefully between his fingers. Randidly immediately mobilized as much Nether as he quickly gathered. Yea, I do not need this sort of distraction when I reach the summit of this place and find what’s waiting there-

But when he mobilized the Nether, the Stillborn Phoenix began to crackle with powerful electromagnetic radiation. Randidly’s expression softened as he felt the empathy his impossible image had for the cast aside babies that had degraded to become ill will and significance on this isolated mountain.

Are you sure? Randidly thought. The Stillborn Phoenix rumbled affirmatively, the black hole continually devouring light and emotion in the surrounding area. With his next step, Randidly’s foot dispersed a thick clump of mist. As it spread away from the impact, it morphed into a half dozen crying faces that tumbled across the ground. Randidly’s lips twitched.

...and will you be able to… ah, help teach them a bit of discipline?

Influence +904!

Congratulations! Your Skill Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix (L) has grown to Level 425!

To that question, the Stillborn Phoenix could only remain silent. Growling to himself at his misbehaving protege’s, Randidly did his best to ignore the continued appearance of the unborn souls he now carried. He allowed the annihilating bath of Nether to disperse, at least for now. Almost as though they understood they had been spared, they grew increasingly bold in their actions. The hairs along Randidly’s back tingled as tiny hands gripped his skin and skittered through a series of expeditions to investigate his body.

But at the same time, Randidly ponderously shook his head and stopped ignoring the slew of notifications he received.

Congratulations! Your Skill Cursed Fates of the Unborn (M) has grown to Level 29!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Cursed Fates of the Unborn (M) has grown to Level 53!

How the hell am I gaining Skill Levels so quickly? Hopefully its not because the curse on my body is growing stronger…

He ignored the continued stream of notifications and pushed upward through the mist. Pebbles skittered underneath his feet, tiny kickballs knocked around by the slug-like haunts that now played in the corners of his vision. The gradient grew steeper as he continued, too, so Randidly grunted with the exertion of proceeding.

His Grim Intuition sometimes caught the briefest hint of the other shades creeping behind him, including the short and long-haired Devick. But then the Unborn swarmed back and the shades could only retreat, leaving Randidly alone in the mist.

His lip twitched as the Unborn swirled around him with more vigor every second. Are they being territorial about which remnant spirits can be around me?

Luckily, the mist began to thin before the Unborn grew hungry and malevolent enough to devour him, without anybody the wiser about the tragic end of Randidly Ghosthound. The first thing he saw was the grey, crack ground beneath his bare feet. Then the mist receded further, revealing the smooth edges of a pond. Then all at once, the mist rushed away, as though a blow-hard god was sucking in its breath for a massive typhoon-

Randidly sucked in a breath of his own, looking at the space in front of him.

Past the pond was a cliff that seemed to drop straight downward. Randidly walked slowly forward, peering down to the storms and mist that had impeded him in the past. From above, they seemed so thin and ethereal. The Mountain sloped down below and-

“Everything seems so flat and distant,” Randidly said to himself. His voice was instantly carried away by the whistling wind. It was just the massive difference in elevation, but the ground was so remote. The distance minimized the paths he had taken up here until they barely seemed to exist. His entire journey, suddenly rendered irrelevant by the view.

Stolen novel; please report.

Randidly sucked briefly on his front teeth. This was the image that rested like a crown on top of the mountain.

This was the summit.

Eventually, Randidly turned away from the edge and looked toward the pond. An Aether formation surrounded the pound, concentrating the flows of energy into the shallow pool of water. There, subtle ripples wormed their way outward, powering the entirety of the punishment storm that had made his ascent so miserable. In addition, he felt that same consciousness humming around him, now much more amiable than when Randidly was still struggling to climb.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 331!

Randidly narrowed his eyes and followed the ripples to the source. Then he couldn’t help but bark out a laugh: the source of the dangerous storm that had dogged his every step was a fat carp. This brutal taskmaster now observed Randidly from the bottom of the pond, its mouth opening and closing in what was either a congratulatory monologue or a villain’s vicious diatribe.

Randidly walked over and hunkered down next to the pond. “So it was you the whole time? Well, I can’t say I didn’t benefit, but I really want to fillet you for how hard it was to get here.”

The carps mouth continued to move. Randidly suspected it either bid Randidly come try to get a bite or meekly accepted its fate as a meal.

Suddenly, first one and then a dozen strange ripples emerged from the edge of the pond. The briefly forgotten Unborn crept to the edge of the water and dipped their malformed toes into the liquid. The carp stirred for the first time, its tail flicking fitfully.

Congratulations! Your Skill Cursed Fates of the Unborn (M) has grown to Level 101!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Cursed Fates of the Unborn (M) has grown to Level 123!

Are you sure about this? Randidly asked his Stillborn Phoenix again. If anything, it made him more nervous to see the Unborn reacting to something other than Randidly; it meant they didn’t necessarily need to just haunt him. His image responded confidently that it could devour these Unborn anytime it wished, but doing so would be a pity. Randidly shook his head but ultimately stayed his hand once more.

He was dubious, but the Stillborn Phoenix had always been quite reliable when it said it could handle issues.

While he was considered, the Unborn grew bolder in the exploration of the water. Some flitted to the edge to peer over the edge of the summit and the minuscule seeming mountain below, but most dove into the pond. Their slug-like bodies transformed into graceful worms with sharp-toothed mouths. Randidly couldn’t look at them directly, but he observed them swarm toward the carp.

The placid consciousness grew agitated. The carp opened his mouth, either to unleash its ultimate finish move it had developed after training for a thousand years or just to burp, but it wasn’t fast enough; the Unborn began rapidly devouring this creature.

Influence +50,106!

Randidly’s jaw briefly dropped. He couldn’t suppress the impulse to look at Unborn, which made them melt and recede. The quivering carp heaved a sigh of relief. But then Randidly raised his gaze toward the vast blue sky and the feeding frenzy continued with renewed enthusiasm. These Unborn can devour other significance and turn it into my Influence?

Influence +14,993!

Congratulations! Your Skill Cursed Fates of the Unborn (M) has grown to Level 150!

By now, Randidly was only a few Influence short of five hundred thousand. Which meant he could either choose to upgrade his Nether Core or weaponize these Unborn to absorb an obscene amount of Influence, thereby increasing his Weight permanently.

But as soon as that thought occurred to Randidly, his expression grew cloudy. He pursed his lips. Ideally, I could allow these strange spirits to develop, but there are two problems. First, there is the matter of Devick. If she still exists somewhere in the Nexus, would she have some power over me if I keep these as part of my Aether and significance? And secondly, there’s the matter of the curse Devick left. Devouring this strange carp, which seems to be the controller of this Path, is one thing, but if I don’t find and slay the Master of the entire Mountain-

A pop pulled Randidly’s attention to the side. The familiar figure of the bearded man who had introduced Randidly to the Grand Pattern suddenly appeared on the summit next to him. In the pond, the Unborn reacted to the arrival of this strange by furiously swallowing the few remaining tidbits of the carp. However, they didn’t eat its flesh, just sapped something vital from it. A ghastly, depleted, grey carp remained as they retreated.

Influence +2,101!

The bearded man looked around and then boomed out a laugh. “Ha! Ahaahaha! You made it to the summit! This is better than I could have hoped for! You-”

Randidly’s leg twitched as the Unborn scurried up the back of his calf, congregating in a massive spectral mass behind his lower back. Their small fingers tickled his sides as they peeked out around to view this interloper with suspicion.

However, what had interrupted the bearded man was the arrival of another bearded individual, this one looking like he had used a few more years cultivating his facial hair and his dignified aura. In addition to his leonine visage, his presence immediately affected the patterns on the summit.

The Unborn’s fingers sharpened and dug into Randidly’s side as they looked at that man.

The newest arrival surveyed the summit in but a moment, before snorting powerfully and unleashed a blast of the Grand Pattern. His furious eyes turned to the first arrival. “If you think that this strange helper will be able to- eh?”

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 332!

The new man blinked at Randidly, who waved a hand and used ripples to weaken the Grand Pattern blast until it lapped harmlessly against him. His eyes narrowed as he studied this powerful figure. So, considering the reaction of the Unborn, you are the Master, huh?

“Perfect,” The man with the lesser beard grinned. Then he gestured grandly. “No reason to delay. I officially contest the Path of Blood.”

His shout echoed across the summit with a surging momentum, but otherwise nothing happened. Randidly was unsure of what he was supposed to witness, but both of the bearded individuals seemed stunned by this lack of development.

“You-” The bearded man looked up toward the sky. “How- my remnant consciousness has been devoured? Impossible!”

As surreptitiously as possible, Randidly reached down into the pond and grabbed the carp; no matter what was going on, he needed to draw the Master out into a fight in order to confront the curse Devick had created. It only took a glance to note that both were similarly restricted by this are: they could utilize the Grand Pattern, but couldn’t manifest their own images. And under those circumstances, Randidly was very confident in his ability to endure and survive.

Plus, based on how antagonistic the two seemed to each other, so long as Randidly had some leverage-

As soon as he touched the carp, Randidly realized he had made a mistake. Just like with Devick’s shades, a large portion of his Nether unspooled and flew up to fill the sky. The dizzying rush made him sway and almost collapse. He was unsure of the details, but Randidly surmised that he had now, somehow, claimed ownership of the Path of Blood.

Both of the bearded men swung to face Randidly in the very next moment. From their expressions, they had sensed the same thing he did. Neither seemed very pleased with this development.