The rest of the conversation with the Patrons was more of the same. Or, if anything, the Patrons quickly got on each others' nerves and began to snipe at each other more than they provided actual information; no wonder they split up so quickly when left to their own devices. Soon, Randidly dismissed them all and returned to his own Skyisland floating above Kharon. He put his chin in the palm of his hand and examined the star-filled sky.

Randidly didn’t trust the Patrons entirely, especially about their knowledge of Elhume’s abilities. Even after he helped defend against Elhume’s attack against them. His emotional senses might not be the sharpest, but he felt how conflicted each of them was in regards to this powerful individual who ruled the Nexus. In their own way, each Patron held a raw wound in their chest that continued to linger; they had fought by Elhume’s side for the sake of accomplishing a dream for too long to escape unscathed.

Even now, they didn’t understand what exactly had happened to make Elhume abandon them. With that question unanswered, he wouldn’t completely trust them.

Especially because Randidly didn’t quite believe Elhume could have so easily killed so many of the Patrons back then without assistance. Even if he had become increasingly dominant since then, everyone agreed that the Second Cohort Elhume was much more mortal. Randidly couldn’t catch a whiff during their talk, but he worried about a rat.

Still, at least he had a few answers about what happened at the end of the Second Cohort. Plus, he was at least reassured that they were behaving. He could use his deeper influence over Nether and significance in the Alpha Cosmos to find remnant traces of the different Patrons’ movements. Since he didn’t notice anything suspicious, he could at least relax about the presence of Patrons.

Randidly rubbed his eyes. One worry down. A half dozen to go. What a fun life I lead.

During his conversation with the Patrons, Claudette had sent Randidly an invitation to visit the Beigon Compound and have a last discussion in preparation to attend the party. However, that wasn’t until the following morning. Which left Randidly with enough time to focus on his Nether Core.

He produced his Philosopher’s Key and created a portal down to the depths of the Kharon. He found the humming stone room, the tiered stone rings, and that central pillar that bore the carvings of Randidly’s deepest core. Shadows congealed in the corners, but as soon as he took a breath, all that accumulated power flowed into him.

Influence +76,901!

Influence +14,226!

Influence +901!

Randidly chuckled as he looked at the notifications. A valuable boost in Influence. But compared to devouring the Master’s connection to his Paths, a bit of a letdown. Stealing significance from others is honestly much more efficient than allowing it to accumulate on its own.

Ha! Back in the early days, I needed to constantly deny that I was a Heretic Devour. And yet now, I’m toeing the line a bit.

His Nether Core hummed with pleasure as it spun and pulled all of the accumulated power out of this room. As the darkness receded and the core area returned to its original state, Randidly was surprised to see that two names marked along the walls; two individuals had managed to make it all the way through the Kharon Labyrinth and leave their mark since he had been here.

At first, Randidly smiled to think of the people of Kharon growing more powerful. Then he saw one of the names and scowled powerfully. Alonso Trey’s name featured very prominently along the one wall, with a complex-looking scrawl below the name.

He took a steadying breath and then climbed next to the central pillar to make himself comfortable. He refused to let that presence distract him. He sat cross-legged next to his Nether Core and allowed his mind to drift. His worries and distractions fell away, leaving the reassuring flow of energy in the surroundings. Ripples in a dozen different varieties bounced off the walls of the enclosed space. Although he sat down to begin the Nether Core transformation process, he paused to examine the energy flows a bit more closely.

So Randidly took a few minutes to trace the energy curling through his core area and out through the labyrinth. He was surprised to find that there was a whole network of energy and airflow through the ventilation system of the place that created a strange resonance with the entirety of Kharon Academy. He hadn’t intended it this way, but the significance that pooled here wasn’t idle.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 439!

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 399!

The more Randidly examined the phenomenon, the more serious his expression became. My significance is actively benefiting the students of Kharon Academy. As long as they stay here, they will have a much easier time accumulating their own significance. Will it be capped by my own Nether density, or could they continue to improve beyond me, I wonder…?

Not that Randidly intended to abruptly cease becoming more powerful. But he was intrigued by the mechanism by which the process worked. Either way, Randidly understood enough about organic Nether systems to nudge the energy flows into more efficient patterns. Suddenly, he was glad he had spent so much time studying the Weight enhancement arrays. Almost from nothing, a very basic ritual formed around Randidly’s body. Air whipped past his face as he pulled the flows of force into new arrangements.

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The process required a bit of force from him to eliminate all the sluggish and inefficient flows and then shift the critical paths. Randidly flexed his hands, pushing his Nether Core to spin with higher and higher speeds. Then everything snapped into place; his Nether Core began to resonate with the creation.

Randidly opened his eyes and grinned. “Interesting. Not only will this help the students develop significance even faster, but I’ll also accumulate Influence here more efficiently? But significance might be fine within the Alpha Cosmos, but if more people from Expira want to connect to the Nexus.”

Humming to himself, Randidly pulled out the materials on Nether Cores that he had received from Claudette. He began to read the short portion that described Legendary Nether Cores.

When a Nether Core evolves to the Legendary Rarity, you develop access to the Synechdochence Attribute. The System represents Synechdochence as a percentage that represents how effectively you can wield your own power from a small quantity. If you have a single pinch of your Nether, Synechdochence allows you to wield the force of your entire Nether Core with that pinch.

Therefore, Synechdochence often becomes an extremely divisive stage in Nether Core development. Multiple strategies have been used to take advantage of it. Weaker individuals have an easier time here; the less developed your Nether Core has become in earlier Rarities, the easier it is to wield 90% of your power with just a pinch of Nether- you just have less force to throw around.

And considering the power of a Mythic Nether Core, this method makes a certain amount of sense.

One common misconception about this stage is that it vastly increases the power an individual wields. Unfortunately, Nether does not work in this manner. Rather than being able to wield six pinches of Nether at 50% power and generate 300% of the force of your Nether Core, you can only wield 50%, with the whole of your energy or with just a pinch. Nether is the energy of connection and sympathy. These energies blend freely with one another if used in a small space.

Scope might be the Attribute that determines the length of a user’s reach, but Synechdochence determines how quickly your power weakens as you leave the core area of effect. Please also note that when you attempt to evolve a Legendary Nether Core to Mythic, you will receive bonus Scope in addition to Weight. For this reason alone, it is worth it to put a great deal of effort into increasing your Synechdochence percentage.

Randidly read through the surrounding paragraphs, but none of them seemed to add anything relevant. The process of evolving a Nether Core was relatively simple, after all: you pushed it to the next stage and learned how much your efforts were worth. Randidly took one last glance at his Influence Tracker; it sat at a little over 1.5 million.

More than enough. And the acceleration of accumulation seemed to indicate that he could actually reach a higher total within a year or so. But time right now was in pretty strict supply and sitting in the shaft with just the Alpha Cosmos wouldn’t gather him enough for a long time.

“Let’s do this,” Randidly said aloud. The Nether of his Nether Core spiraled inward, contracting into a tight funnel. The flows of Nether that had gone through his body turned sluggish and then twisted to head back to the core. The enhancement rituals that Randidly had done to empower his Nether Core flickered and then faded, forcefully oppressed by the accelerating deluge of Nether that congregated around his core.

Randidly raised his head as he gathered all of the dense Nether that he could wield. Most of the time, that energy was spread out between the maelstrom around him, his Nether Core, and also his physical body. But now, all of those disparate strands came surging back.

He hissed out a breath as the Nether seemed to turn molten, burning its way through the outer portion of the Nether Core and searing new patterns into the central pillar. The previously dark central chamber of the Kharon Labyrinth filled with illumination. Then the pain came, radiating through his inner space. His muscles trembled as he tried to suppress the convulsions running through him.

The previous transformations had been uncomfortable, but nothing like this-

“Damnit,” Randidly growled out. His Nether continued to accelerate, the maelstrom of energy folding itself over and using the friction of its passage to remake his Nether Core. His significance honed itself, becoming sharper and more pressing. As Randidly released another shaky breath, he began to understand the shift. His sharpened Nether Core was designed to leave a mark on the significance with its presence. Its edges cut and its shape would bleed into the surrounding significance.

This was Synechdochence.

Congratulations! For Influence above 10, Weight +10!

For Influence above 50, Weight +10!

For Influence above 100, Weight +10!

For Influence above 250, Weight +10!

For Influence above 500, Weight +10!

For Influence above 1000, Weight +10!

For Influence above 2500, Weight +10!

For Influence above 5000, Weight +10!

For Influence above 10,000, Weight +10!

For Influence above 50,000, Weight +10!

For Influence above 100,000, Weight +10!

For Influence above 250,000, Weight +10!

For Influence above 500,000, Weight +10!

For Influence above 1,000,000, Weight +10!

For reaching the requisite Influence, the Rarity of your Nether Sphere has increased to Legendary! For reaching the Runic Rarity, you have unlocked the Attribute Synechdochence.

Congratulations! Your Nether Core has gained the Attribute Synechdochence! Initial Synechdochence set at 5%!

Due to your accomplishments, Synechdochence recognized at 13%! Increase the fineness of your Nether Understanding in order to increase this number!

Randidly’s lips twitched as the seething storm of Nether around him began to settle down. I might have guessed this, but all the work I’ve done to increase my Weight means that my Synechdochence is low. Haaah, 13%...

Then his eyes flashed. Steadily, a new awareness of the way his Nether could be leveraged was tingling at the edges of his consciousness. But when it comes to learning to control energy, I’m quite confident in myself. Before long, that number will be shooting upward.