The applause continued for several seconds until it tapered off, sharply following the movements of Devick.

But the ache in Randidly’s right hand was growing, drawing his attention back down to the state of his body. Blood dribbled out of his shredded knuckles and onto the sand beneath him, compressed by Alymian to the blood of a mundane human. He pursed his lips. Looks like I’ve really grown to rely on my body. Without it, handling the force in my Nether Core is impossible.

I’ve judged Neshamah a tiny bit for how limited her power seemed, but maybe its as much as she can safely handle… I’ll need to do some experiments to find out if I’m about to bite off more Nether than I can safely chew.

Also, the prospect of activating my Authority with this body-

“Well!” The Don brought his hands sharply together. Several uniformed individuals rushed forward with rakes, quickly burying the blood that had dripped on the sand. A woman approached Randidly with a bowl of water and a towel to clean off his hand. He regretted not using Sulfur to strike more, but Sulfur's presence was muted; apparently, Alymian affected him too.

The Don continued to speak. “This is as good a time as any to transition to the bonfire! Mr. Ghosthound, so wonderful of you to make it, thank you for… christening the beach. Undoubtedly it will bring us all good fortune! Maybe even in fifty years, you’ll reach your own Mille, eh?”

“Oh, Don,” This towering, horrifying, true incarnation of Devick turned and looked at the Don. “I just remembered; I feel slightly guilty. Didn’t you have some ritual you were performing? No need to move forward on our account; play out your little skit, if you please. We are all dying to see what sort of declaration you want to make.”

Randidly almost snorted, watching irritation flick across the face of Don Beigon. In addition to the madness, this Devick appeared to possess a keen intellect and cruelty in spades. She sensed weakness the way a shark tasted blood. But the wily old man quickly masked his emotions and released a self-conscious laugh. “Things like this can’t be forced. Since the moment has passed, why don’t we-”

“Okay, okay, beach time everyone,” Devick said cheerily, leading the group down onto the sand and leaving the Don with a stiff expression facing her back. He handed the blood-stained rag back to the employee and watched with bemusement. At the very least, Randidly was impressed by the lack of any sort of violent emotion targeting Devick, because she was clearly antagonizing him. His emotional mastery was certainly worth emulating. Not an iota of his personality’s force was wasted.

Still, one question nagged Randidly: Why was Devick working so hard to antagonize the Don? Was it just because she could? Because she lived to drag others into her own variety of insanity? Or was she targeting him for another reason?

Randidly shook his head. His temples ached and he couldn't figure out what she was doing it, aside from instigating chaos. Right now, his mind wasn’t up to the task of unearthing any more information than that.

Randidly moved down to the beach, but, he rapidly stiffened; His skin then crawled as Devick paused in front of him. Behind him, the workers on the beach rushed to finish completing the bonfire and get the flames started now that the guests marched down the bamboo steps and onto the sand. He could hear the smile in her voice, although her face was covered with that impassive gold mask. “Mr. Ghosthound. I have to say, for as much as I admire what you’ve done here today, one particular thing about you bothers me. Why are you allowing those two slugs to parasitize you? They will bring bad luck. Such things shouldn’t exist. They don’t exist, not truly.”

Randidly frowned; the pain in his hands was getting worse as the last dregs of adrenaline left his body. The ache in his temples grew more demanding. He really wished he didn’t have to deal with this erratic version of Devick while feeling so drained. “Slugs? You mean the Unborn-”

Faster than Randidly could recognize, Devick’s hand was up, wrapped around the base of Randidly’s jaw. The look in her eyes was cruel and all Randidly could think of was the way that he had used a similar grip to rip away Wick’s jaw. A small spark of fire flared in his stomach, urging more Nether to run through his limbs. But that just sent daggers of pain through his muscles and he suppressed his defensive response.

But then Devick dropped her hand and shrugged. “Don’t speak of such things; I don’t like the implications. They don’t exist.”

Brushing past him, she walked toward the elegantly stacked edifice of wood just as the first flames began to flick upward due to the workers’ efforts. A stream of other figures Randidly didn’t recognize walked past him, sparing him a glance then spreading out on the beach. Some stumbled as they moved to the sand. Servers with trays of additional drinks hurried to meet them. Finally, Claudette, Neshamah, and Yust proceeded down to surround him.

“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” Yust observed. His eyes remained fixed on Randidly’s right hand.

But Neshamah had the most violent reaction. As soon as she neared him, she gasped. “That’s why your aura-! Randidly, how the hell did you evolve your Nether Core again in such a short amount of time?!? I didn’t even know the Engraving Guild had a method for reaching Mythic.”

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Randidly offered her a tired smile and a pinch of truth. “This isn’t something that came from the Engraving Guild. Just from a realization when I was trying to master my own Synechdochence. That’s the reason why I’m so late-”

“And even though you were late, it looks like you’ve ended up squandering all your carefully accumulated rest,” Claudette crossed her arms and wrinkled her nose at him, but Randidly knew she was just teasing. Then her expression became serious. “How did it feel?”

Immediately, Randidly knew what she was asking about without an explanation. He looked down at his hands and couldn’t suppress a grin. He had won, brutally and decisively. For a brief moment, he had seen shock and panic in Wick’s eyes. “Amazing. Like all the effort I’ve poured into this training was worth it, for that moment when he fell to the ground. A small fraction of the pain he inflicted was paid back-”

Randidly cut himself on. He felt his emotions rising inside his strained body and the trembling through him grew worse. His Nether Core whirred uncertainly. Claudette stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. He couldn’t stop himself from snorting this time when she favored him with a withering look. “...don’t tell me, but you need another nap, don’t you?”

Randidly nodded. Claudette sighed. But he was happy to note that a lot of her tension seemed to have been alleviated.

Despite the pain, he clenched his wounded right hand. And I’ll do everything I can to make sure you have that same feeling of culmination and relief today.

*****

Ozark stood several feet behind Pinnacle Seeker Moonlight Blade as the powerful individual stood at the edge of the light of the bonfire and spoke with one of the independent experts invited to the Don’s party. The two were friendly enough, but from Moonlight Blade’s tone, Ozark knew he was finished with this conversation. “It was a good display of bloodletting, I’ll give the boy that. But outside of the Alymian, can he really rival Wick’s power? It is hard for me to be interested in squabbles between minor characters.”

The other individual, a Tier III citizenship hermit with a body like a flesh mound of mashed potatoes, rumbled his laughter. His whole body quivered with his mirth. “You can feel it, no? It was not just with physical power that the Ghosthound struck. He also has the touch of Nether hanging about him. A dangerous method, but one that can reward the user with quick power-”

“A foolish statement.” One of the retired Military High Command Commandants wandered over to join the conversation. Not the one that Moonlight Blade informed Ozark to watch out for, so he continued to hang back while the more powerful figures discussed. This man sneered at the lumpy body of the first speaker. “You say Nether is a Path to quick power? If that was the case, far more individuals would attempt to create their own Nether Cores. If anything, Aether is the quick path to power, which is likely why Elhume, in his wisdom, saw fit to use it as the basis for the Nexus.”

The Tier III citizenship figure drew himself up to his full, if lopsided, height. “Oh, and you would know so much about Nether Core? Your generation barely had to fight against the Nether forces when they were at their height. They bred like flies. They swarmed toward us, day and night. So yes, it is a quick-”

Several more figures drifted over, interested in the discussion, but Moonlight Blade gave Ozark a look and the two of them walked around the side of the fire. Then they stopped, standing alone in the flicker shadows at the edge of the firelight and Ozark looked at the Pinnacle Seeker questioningly. The wolfman shook his head arrogantly; he wasn’t willing to explain.

Then Actus Suprem Devick, who had been communicating with a harried and exhausted-looking representative from the Engraving Guild, glided across the sand right where they had been about to walk. She made a beeline for the growing group that argued over the relative merits of Nether Cores versus the risk of being punished by the Orthodox Nexus for using them publicly.

When she had gone, Moonlight Blade moved forward slowly, finding a new spot to stand. A servant brought a tray with drinks and to Ozark’s surprise, the Pinnacle Seeker took one. He drank the entire thing down in a gulp, crushed the glass in his hand, and then tossed the broken pieces behind him to mix with the sand and frothing edges of the ocean.

Moonlight Blade spoke softly as the wolfman watched Devick move into the group and dominate the conversation. “Something strange is developing in the Nexus. Those fools… they don’t even notice it. Where has Elhume been for the past several weeks? Why are the Tier III citizenship geezers moving so openly? Where did this Devick come from with such force? I’ve encountered individuals who have completed their image fulfillment before, but none have felt as dangerous as her. Even I- heh.”

Ozark jumped as a wave of bloodlust erupted from the wolfman and practically sizzled against his skin. Then it disappeared and Moonlight Blade patted him on the shoulder. “Thank you for knowing your place. My instincts regarding that woman are confusing.”

For a second they stood in silence, Moonlight Blade feeling much more approachable than usual as he studied the laughing Devick on the opposite side of the bonfire. Ozark licked his lips, he knew that this was an opportunity, both by coming here and to earn the Pinnacle Seeker’s attention. “What…. What do you think is happening? In the Nexus?”

“You think this issue is within a realm where your curiosity has a place?” Moonlight Blade flared his bloodlust again and Ozark hurriedly lowered his head, remembering how cruel this master could be. But it seemed that the Pinnacle Seeker was more amused than anything else. “Well, I do also wish to understand. Do you perhaps have any insight, Mister Tyune?”

Suddenly a figure Ozark hadn’t noticed before seemed to congeal out of the shadows behind them. The mysterious Tyune tilted his head to the side. “You noticed me. Interesting. But why would I tell you? Are we not competing for Wick’s offspring?”

“I’ve heard you love to show off your knowledge,” Moonlight Blade responded shamelessly.

“And I’ve heard you know nothing of manners or flattery,” Tyune returned in a flat tone. But then the strange, waxy-skinned being shrugged. “I suppose there is no harm in telling you; you will not understand the implications of the information anyway.

“Elhume is the cause, but the reason he moved was that his wife died. I do not know the details, but she apparently held some restrictive power on him, even though she had not been seen in two thousand years. She possessed a weapon, or a method, or a key- there are various rumors among the… what was your term? Tier III citizenship ‘geezers’.”