The previous dream of heady violence had released Randidly and dropped him back into his body with a perfunctory clatter. Helen’s haunting attempted to do the same, but he reached out with his Authority and clawed at it, desperate to hold onto her consciousness for a few more seconds.

He ripped through the notification in front of her, briefly overcome with desperation to reach her.

Yet despite, or perhaps even because of, his powerful First Authority Seize, the dream scattered even more quickly as he acted. The force he brought to grip onto those moments obliterated them and left them crumbling. He squeezed sand and watched helplessly as it drained through his fingers.

Something ugly and stubborn rose in Randidly's chest as he felt the Path completion recede like a mirage, something prideful that urged him to bring the full force of his Nether Core and images to bear to keep her locked in place. Yet a softer portion of himself interceded, prying open his hands and allowing the ashes to be scattered by the wind.

Drizzle fell across the island, ignorant of how close Randidly had been to throwing his full force behind a fool’s errand. Within the vegetal mass, a mother monkey collected a palm-full of rain and brought it back to her young.

On top of the volcano, Randidly’s shoulders slumped and a long sigh escaped his lips. He looked broodingly down at his arms and blinked at what he saw. The long scratched that Helen had inflicted on his arms within the Path completed remained. They curled, jagged and ugly, across his forearms. Yet with the addition of his Domain to his Soulspace, Randidly could feel the way that the scars on his right arm were the complement to the talons still jutting out from his left.

“Even in the fight, you were thinking of me, weren’t you? Of my reward.” Randidly whispered to his arms. He kept his awareness away from the Domain, which still hummed with her touch. For now, receiving it still felt bitter in his throat. The Rarity had risen and the uses had probably changed, but he wasn’t ready to look at it.

At least, not yet.

Perhaps it was foolish to rush forward with such a scattered and complex heart, but Randidly went back to his Path Menu to distract himself. His eyes scanned through the list available to him, willing to take any Path to move past this moment.

Mantle of the Patron 0/500, Aether Convergence II ???, Puppet Master 0/100, Pain Immunity I 0/250, Cleaver of the World Tree ???, Weakness of the World Tree 0/500, Guilty Conscience I 0/100, Ashes of Illym, the Above-Average Child 0/5000, The Sigh as the Sky Closes 0/15,000, Joy, the Blooming Sun 0/15,000, Creature's Toil II 0/????, Violent Heat I 0/???, Deathwish X 0/5, Weakness of the Grim Chimera 0/500, The Creature’s Apotheosis 0/25000, Architecture of Yggdrasil I 0/????, Piece of the Ideal 0/????, The Throne of Nether Homage I 0/500, Stat Evolution VII 0/100000, Spark of the Origin Beast 0/?????, The Eyelids of the Grey Creature Flutter 0/10,000, Determined VI 0/600, Excavator of the Two Failed Dreams 0/12,000, The Ash that Reigns Above the Open and Closed Sky 0/?????, The Living Soul of the Alpha Cosmos 0/??????, Herald of the Eternal March 0/10,000, The Crown of Four Authorities 0/100000, Peerlessness Through Woven Truth 0/?????, Bubbling Emotional Accumulation I 0/10000

His eyes settled on the Weakness of the Stillborn Phoenix; that had been a point of focus for him previously, even if it seemed small now that Helen craved marks onto his skin from beyond the grave. He stared at it for a long time, still stuck in that strained moment where he wished to use Seize, but knew he shouldn’t.

The island stirred as the storm was drawn inward, the Nether flows that animating this place drawn in toward his wrought state. But that shift brought with it wind, which carried a sprinkle of rain to land on his skin. Randidly blinked. The distraction was enough for him to take a gulp of air and step forward, at least metaphorically. His eyes focused on Weakness of the Stillborn Phoenix. Finishing the Path earned him ten points in Chimeric Indifference on the way, which smelled like something slightly amusing.

Congratulations! You have completed the Weakness of the Stillborn Phoenix Path. You walk forward along the Path, housing impossibility within your capable body. You were presented with the choice to either ground the unpredictable mass that weighs you down or to simply embrace its lack of reality. Perhaps due to how far you have traveled in your Paths, you have chosen to ground the Stillborn Phoenix with a weakness. You walk the lower Path.

A weakness emerges relatively easily, although that settling contains a significant portion of irony. Two strange remnants of Unborn souls swim through the Stillborn Phoenix, cavorting across boundaries that should be impossible to transgress. They play and mutter to each other as they do so, constantly. Their relative disrespect weakens everything you seek to create by grounding the Stillborn Phoenix. Yet your image loves these abandoned spirits that chose to remain as its companions. Because that choice remains meaningful, even if the image begins to bear the costs.

Such is the satisfied suffering of ‘parents’.

Congratulations! Unnatural Capacity (Un) +25! As you continue to refine the Stillborn Phoenix, you will find your image adaptions come more easily!

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Receiving the evolved form of Wisdom as the only concrete reward for finishing the Path was enough to earn a groan from Randidly after the parent line. For a few seconds, his disposition cleared. Which meant he could more gently shift himself into a sitting position and release one more long sigh while looking down at his arm. Deftly, he reached out and guided the Nether flows around the island back into their proper place. No reason to let his mood bog down them all.

Though, I’m already causing a near-constant rain. It’s not like I could make it much drearier. Cracking his knuckles, Randidly began to really spend some PP. First 7,500, then 10,000, and then 12500.

Congratulations! You have completed the Piece of the Ideal Path! While on your journey toward the Pinnacle, there are moments that feel outside of time and space. They come from unusual and mundane places; the perfect indentation in a stone on which to step, the waning light of a sunset, the warm contentment of a full stomach. The Nexus is a place where value comes from meaning, potency, shape, and intensity. And on a very fundamental level, your soul tells you these moments possess none of those elements yet are incredibly valuable anyway.

Some have claimed these vital details are related to the messy subject of emotion, but that doesn’t quite feel true either. Not like these moments feel true.

The Path ahead that leads to the Pinnacle is exceedingly long. Only now, at this immense height, can you begin to make out its shape. By climbing you will see more clearly and understand the Path ahead and subsequently learn how much longer you will need to toil. But you make a note to note miss these precious fragments that exist outside of the Nexus’ value System.

Congratulations! Free Stats +300! As you sharpen your image, you will encounter inexplicable bouts of efficiency! The compatibility between the Aether and Nether in your body has naturally increased!

Congratulations! You have completed the Eyelids of the Grey Creature Flutter! Your Path forward takes you into the strange cloud realms in the high mountains, where you are outside yet muffled and enclosed in your vision. The strange contradiction did not bother you in the past, but this specific Path begins to feel ominous. Shade and shadows pulse around you.

Under the high cloud pillars, you locate a vast stone staircase carved into the mountain. It is the only solid thing you can see. From the urging of the agent of survival sleeping in your chest, you turn aside from your previous heading and ascend the stone. As you advance, the whisperings in your chest grow stronger. The stirrings of the Grey Creature grow more profound. The cloud walls fold down in your path but they turn insubstantial as you pass through them, pursuing the answer you feel waiting for you on the other side.

Finally, you arrive at a deep ravine that runs the clouds, curving into obscurity in the distance. Lightning illuminations them briefly, shining and gone within the endless smog. Even your powerful senses cannot follow the strange terrain of water vapor toward its inevitable end. And in this strange, muffled tunnel you feel the Grey Creature stand and stir. With open eyes, it peers beyond the threshold and you understand a truth about your future!

Congratulations! Your Skill The Grey Creature Glimpses Providence (P) has grown to Level 674!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill The Grey Creature Glimpses Providence (P) has grown to Level 703!

You discover in the churning mists, near the edge of your vision, that the brother of a close friend and your mentor wait for you outside of your current retreat! When you depart, they will come for you. Grim Intuition +150!

Shal- and Techetadore? Randidly’s expression flickered for several seconds as he tried to weigh how accurate a prediction this really was. Then his mouth firmed into a line as he felt the Grey Creature humming in support of the notification; it sensed it was true. In a way, it’s a relief to know they are alright. But they were with the Swacc group and Elhume should have taken care of them. Why would they suddenly be waiting for me?

Why would they come for me? At least, Techetadore...

That concern would have to wait until he left, although it worried at the back of his mind even as he refocused. But although the first two Path completions were interesting, it was the third that made Randidly gasp.

Congratulations! You have completed the Spark of the Origin Beast Path! For the longest time, you have felt a strange rising in your Nether Core. As you cross the broken skyline, ascending through an endless rise toward the Pinnacle, you look back on the Path you have taken and examine its shape. It curves gently into the shape of the spine. Your skin tingles as you see it the corpse on which you have traveled.

The same corpse on which the modern Nexus is built.

For there was once a great being, the last of its kind, that labored to make the Nexus a better place. Despite the dangers, it risked its life at the request of a friend to create the possibility of saving their precarious dream.

Unfortunately, the cost proved too great. This being died and its body became nothing but materials. However, within those massive bones remained a hint of that wondrous magic that made this race so valuable. From your current height, you can see down your Paths to the point at which you created a Nether Core. For the base materials, for your early drawings, you carved into bone.

Of course. Of course that’s where it came from. This is all about foundation. Why did I never think about where I created the Nether Core? Randidly’s skin tingled as his Nether Core began to rotate more quickly. Pulses of energy blasted out through his limbs; at first, he thought it was Nether, but Randidly sensed that he was releasing huge fountains of raw life. That Fourth Authority, lurking beneath the surface for so long, began to push up toward the surface.

Due to your travels, you have finally discovered that you carry the spark of that noble soul. Your Paths have proved you are compatible with it. Your body has evolved to the point it can handle its capabilities. Its aura has long seeped out of your, affecting the surroundings. Now, you feel that power spreading within you, finally giving to you the ability to wield it.

Error! Previous Authorities not yet discovered!

Recalculating- ??? Nether Core Rarity increased to Transcendent!

Congratulations! You have discovered The Fourth Authority: Animation Nova!