“The boy’s Class is literally Poltergeist,” Headmistress Collins held her head in her hands, her elbows spread outward as a hastily erected support structure. Naffur passed the pureed potatoes across the table to Tatiana and followed up with the sweet and savory honey-sriracha drizzle. Tatiana thanked him with such softness that Police Chief Arrietti’s enthusiastic consumption of mutton covered the words. Derek Moss regarded his food with the intense stoicism of a man who had heard similar complaints from his girlfriend for quite some time, and realized that his attempts to ‘assist’ were not required or even wanted.

After a deep sigh, Headmistress Collins continued to speak there her fingers. “As a Class, it’s excellent; it came with quality Skills, too. He learned Skills for wall walking, short-term invisibility, some weak telekinesis, the projection of intelligible whispers, and the ability to inflict fear on a nearby target who observed his other Skills. Obviously, we’ve had problems with students using their Class’s abilities against each other and in immature ways in the past, but I can already tell it’s only going to get worse. One of our professors was driven to hysterics before we realized what was happening. And when I called him into my office, he asked me how he’s supposed to get better without using his Skills. And I have no idea what to say to him-”

Arrietti dabbed his lips with a napkin. “Perhaps just one more mutton steak. Truly, the meat has been roasted to absolute perfection, Mr. Nrorce. You are a meat savant. The wood must have been hand-picked… this lingering flavor…!”

Randidly’s lips twitched as Gertrude Collins unleashed an explosive sigh. “I’m even considering creating a new special area. A student-run haunted house. He can hone his Skills now against the fools who voluntarily want to test their bravery, but for Halloween, it can be a huge event. Yet even with extra consideration, I take a single look at him and know that he’s gonna push boundaries.”

Tatiana shook her head. “A young man with the ability to walk through walls is going to find the justification to use the ability. The combination of youth and capability makes fools of us all. No wonder it feels like you’ve been so busy recently. If you need any help, please let me know.”

Gertrude flashed a brief and bright smile. “Yes! Thank you. I know it’s not so bad. So far, he hasn’t done anything directly against school rules. So long as he can at least stand by the Kharon Academy Code of Conduct, the best I can tell I’ll just try and not dwell on the things he’s done and we just haven’t caught him doing.”

Naffur set down his fork. “If you need any help tracking him down, just say the word. At least for now, Vye is hanging around Kharon. Even catching a ghost would be a breeze for her.”

“By the way, Naffur,” Tatiana said as she pivoted in her seat. “Are you still handling that Randidly fanatic?”

“The what?” Randidly blurted out. Most of the people at the table grinned. Only Nrorce had a blank expression, which he had been wearing since Randidly’s subordinates arrived for the dinner.

He had taken Randidly’s request for more guests in stride, but he remained aloof while the rest happily chatted.

While Naffur seemed hesitant, Tatiana gladly jumped in to supply the details. She stabbed her fork into the vegetable medley for emphasis “Obviously it’s been an issue since the founding of Kharon that you have a strong influence on the population, Randidly. To the point that there is a plethora of products and memorabilia based on you, including soaps, cologne, and trading cards. Obsession finds an outlet, right? But always the most problematic has been those who claim to teach your fighting style, because a certain amount of people starts to believe them and will accept ridiculous tuition fees to learn.”

Randidly glanced sideways when he caught a bit of movement; Derek Moss lowered his head toward the table and flushed.

“...typically, we simply send an Order Ducis agent, widely regarded as true representatives of the Ghosthound, and challenge the leader of this school or martial academy. Most of the people are delusional about their own capability; they probably saw you fight at one point and received a Path for their troubles. The Stat gains of such Paths are generally high and the final Skill is Rare or above, inflating their heads. However-”

“Perhaps only one more mutton steak.” Commissioner Arrietti smacked his lips. “This pesto is simply sublime.”

Nrorce passed over the serving platter without the slightest twitch in his expression. Derek Moss was trembling and Miss Collins distractedly patted his back, a woman left speechless by the gulf of embarrassment a man could sustain in his chest. Naffur continued to speak. “However, the agent lost. Not to some trick, but this Alonso Trey is genuinely quite strong. He wields his spear well and has access to both plant and fire-centric Skills. The emphasis is a little off, but he’s a passable Randidly knock-off.

“Now that the challenge failed… we are a bit unsure of how to proceed. In the meantime, Trey has advertised all across Kharon and gathered almost a hundred students. Despite being somewhat rough around the edges, he doesn’t mislead his students or commit tax fraud. Considering the circumstances, it would be easiest just to let it pass, despite the fact that he’s shaping the view of the Ghosthound, however…”

Tatiana giggled. Randidly’s eyebrows slowly rose as most people at the table, even the embarrassed Derek Moss, spared him a look. “What is it?”

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Naffur licked his lips before speaking. “Trey has commissioned almost a dozen bronze statues that purport to show Randidly Ghosthound, in various famous moments in Expira’s history. Honestly, the scenes and poses are relatively accurate. There’s just one problem.”

Tatiana slid a piece of paper across the table to Randidly. “Here is a sketch that I made in passing. Whenever I’m in a bad mood, I find that looking at it reminds me of you, which brings me a deluge of cheer.”

Rolling his eyes, Randidly took the paper. He choked when he saw it, despite having prepared himself for the statue to be ugly.

The face seemed to have been airbrushed, his cheekbones sharpened and his jaw strengthened to the Greco-roman ideal, but the true problem was the body. Below a vaguely Randidly face was an overly muscled bodybuilder's torso. The artist had taken an air pump to each muscle. Despite being a sketch of a statue, the swollen biceps seemed only an instant away from an explosive flex. His pecks jutted proudly forward. His forearms seemed to house steel cables and pulsing veins. All in all, this version of Randidly was almost double the size of the actual version.

In addition, his hair was weirdly spiked, making him resemble some sort of character from a pre-System fighting video game more than an actual person.

Tatiana had to use both hands to cover up her giggles as Randidly’s expression flickered from shock, to disbelief, to horror, and then finally settling on a vague disgust. What the hell does this guy have against me…?

“How many of these has he made?” Randidly finally managed to say.

Even the previously morose Miss Collins snorted at his tone. “Almost twenty. One by every entrance to the compound, as well others sitting very prominently in each courtyard and several above the training spaces. As though muscle-god Randidly has to observe the disciples’ every move to ensure they soon look like him.”

Randidly groaned. Commissioner Arrietti patted his stomach. “Oh, there is only one mutton steak remaining? Well, I don’t want to be a rude guest and leave scraps that need to be cleaned up. I suppose I could find room for such a delicate piece of meat.”

My chest in these statues looks almost exactly as juicy as these mutton steaks… Randidly thought darkly as he watched Arrietti happily begin to eat.

Derek Moss seemed to be steadily regaining composure as the focus shifted from him. But he also seemed sympathetic to Randidly’s discomfort. So after clearing his throat, Derek asked. “So, Mr. Ghosthound, what have you been up to lately?”

Randidly blinked and looked around at the table. His groan seemed to have broken down a wall he hadn’t really been aware of and now their the eyes of his closest subordinates glittered with curiosity. Even Commissioner Arrietti paused in his enthusiastic eating to look at him.

This is what it means for us to become closer. To shift more toward friends, Randidly felt the transition happening slowly, or at least starting to, in their hopeful expressions. And suddenly, he could see where he had gone wrong in the past. I might have checked in with how they were doing in the past, and I also might have worn the consequences of my own adventures on my sleeve at some point, but I never willingly opened up to them. I was always distant. And since I was the superior, when I failed to make that step, they respectfully gave me some space.

He released a breath and pondered. The loss of Helen had hurt him more deeply than he had been prepared to experience. But at the same time, he missed that camaraderie. And he knew that the loneliness he experienced in the Nexus was only going to get worse. So he opened his mouth and tried to explain.

“Well, the big thing is preparing for Claudette’s… well, essentially a coming of age ceremony. Her father, Don Beigon, wants to marry her off for a political alliance; the only way to avoid it is for her to have sufficient strength to demonstrate she can defend herself from the dangers of the Nexus. But considering the sort of foes we will probably have to face…”

Randidly trailed off. Commissioner Arrietti spoke into the silence. “Heh, we understand the odds of standing up to the System well enough. But you are exhausting yourself anyway, yes? No matter the odds?”

The assertion took Randidly by surprise, then he laughed at the accuracy. “Ha. Maybe. Yes. I’ve spent the previous few months doing some last-minute training on a very special Mountain. They called their focused method the Grand Pattern, which was just a very pretentious way of describing minute control of energy and understanding of how different energies interact with each other. Useful, but not nearly as profound as they claimed.

“I proceeded up through the Mountain, testing myself against different manifestations of these energy attacks. Oh- afterward, I absorbed about half of the training areas on the Mountain when I finished; you’ll notice them sitting on the dark side of the moon. I haven’t had the chance to utilize the Sea of Dreams, but it should strain the shape of an image. Meanwhile, the Path of Blood is mainly focused on enduring the energy patterns with your body. But anyway, some various things happened, but I managed to learn a lot and grow stronger due to the mountain. It’s just a matter of whether it will be enough…”

For a split second, Randidly frowned as his mind followed the complex difficulties that were waiting for him at the Don’s party. But then Miss Collins raised her hand, distracting him. Then, when she didn’t immediately speak, he said. “Uh, yes?”

“You were rewarded with the ability to take away the training Paths for completing the Mountain?” She asked.

Randidly licked his lips. He felt a small prickle of guilt. “Well-”

Before he could even answer, Tatiana shook her head. “Let me guess. You destabilized the Mountain, got involved in some inner conflict, and then took advantage of the chaos to steal two of the training Paths.”

Randidly frowned. “You make it sound like I am an opportunist, but believe me, my presence was the only reason that they were able to wound the Master-”

Naffur snorted. “Does that make it better? You are an agent of chaos.”

“Kharon is a city that I founded,” Randidly huffed, somewhat playfully. “If I really was an agent fo chaos, none of you would have jobs.”

“Even a broken clock is accurate twice a day,” Miss Collins observed. Then the entire Kharon contingent broke out in laughter as Randidly frowned at them.

Watching everything, Nrorce tilted his head to the side.