As Randidly climbed the staircase, all of his formidable powers poised at the ready, he was intrigued by the tactile sensation of the material beneath his feet. The tingling of an activated Engraving traveled across his bare sole. Each step caused the surroundings to blur. His first step took him about ten meters up in the air, the second a hundred. By the third, the ground was so distance that it had all been pressed and merged into the interminable flat desert.

All in all, ten steps accelerated him through space and carried him to the top of the ring. Waiting there was another golden portal, which caused him to press his lips together. But he didn’t slow, just trundling forward with the Engraving lent momentum.

Passing through the portal caused another painful round of exposure to the image static, but this was a much-reduced version than the first one. Now that he was inside the Sonara, the worst of it was over. At least, the worst along the middle stairway.

Randidly stumbled through to the other side and was abruptly aware he wasn’t alone. Once more he was in a desert, but there were others clustered around the entrance. His toes curled instinctively down, pinching dirt.

He settled into a crouch and produce Acri. The spear flashed outward, green leaves flaring around the base of the spearhead. His long tail unspooled behind him and flicked back and forth. His images surged to the fore. The space around his left eye began to collapse inward. The color of his hair lightened from black to emerald, with the exception of the gold and silver streaks. His tattoos began to shine with an inner light, the flaring determination of the Grey Creature to live.

After a beat of humming with potency, Randidly felt quite embarrassed. Six other individuals were sprawled out in various stages of leisure in the surrounding area, not at all prepared to ambush him. Two laying individuals, octopi with interesting segmented armor across their tentacles, very obviously tittered at his stiff display.

Randidly took a step back, gradually relaxing and lowering Acri. His image physicalizations dissipated.

A humanoid woman in a long white cape pushed herself to her feet. “Heh, well met stranger. We’ve been waiting quite a while for one such as you. What creed do you follow?”

Randidly looked at her intently for a second. All these individuals felt powerful, but none seemed particularly intent on attacking him. He cleared his throat lightly, trying to politely answer. “My own.”

“Pfft!” A figure Randidly could only describe as a humanoid, mecha liger slapped the metal armor of his knee. The apertures of his red eyes adjusted as he examined Randidly.

The woman’s expression instantly cooled. “Jokes will not carry you very far, inside the Sonara. Just for that, I declare that I will never accept you as a part of our Ascension Pact. Flippancy becomes inconsistency on the battlefield.”

She turned away, her cloak fluttering in a very dramatic manner. Randidly felt entirely bewildered and vaguely insulted. A massive figure who appeared to be made of stacked boulders, shook itself and spoke. “Gwennet, you misinterpret. The boy does not recognize the term creeds. In addition, his sense of humor seems poorly developed.”

Randidly blinked at that unexpected shot at his humor. Meanwhile, the woman in the white cloak whirled around in another beautiful flare of cloth. “How could he not know what Creeds are? He has come to the Sonara-”

The final figure in the group, a meditating woman with long hair, opened her eyes and smiled. Her image shimmered around her. “He is the undefined Ghasthund. A bold explorer, come to this place to save the life of a friend of a friend. He is definitely an ally worth having, despite his expertise at making enemies.”

The two octopi people spoke as one. “A seventh is inauspicious. And even number would be better.”

The boulder individual turned to Randidly. “Boy, welcome to the Sonara. It seems no one has told you about its secrets, so I shall do so, to the best of my ability. The two lowest rings are barren wastelands. But as you climb through the different layers, the benefits to your image begin to accrue.

“Creeds are used so individuals can form Ascension Pacts and climb together. Currently, most of the layers are settled and heavily defended. The only way for us to get a toe in the door is to fight our way up. But doing so alone is almost impossible,” The Boulder spoke slowly. Meanwhile, Gwennet continued to stare suspiciously at Randidly and the meditating woman grinned at him. “Obviously, none want to share our exact purpose for coming to the Sonara. So Creeds cover a few broad categories to give companions a general idea of when the Pact will no longer function.

“So, the Creeds. First is a Settler. Very simply, you wish to find a place within the Sonara to build a life.” The Boulder said.

The meditating woman waved a hand. “I am to Settle. Anywhere I am blown by the wind. After all, I would not argue with fate.”

“Then there are Seekers,” The Boulder continued. “Seekers are aiming for a particular individual or settled enclave within the Sonara. Perhaps to test themselves, perhaps seeking revenge. Whereas Settlers might peel away from the Pact and take the opportunity to claim their own space, Seekers are known to continue upward until they reach their goal.”

Gwennet indicated herself and the two waving octopi. “We are Seekers.”

“Finally, Ascenders. Many Pinnacle Seekers that managed to scrounge together Tier III citizenship follow this creed.” The boulder person settled down into a crouch. “They simply seek to claim and challenge themselves, not worrying about the destination. Paradoxically, the most and least reliable members of an Ascension Pact at the same time.”

A long metal tongue flicked out of the ligerman’s lips, slithering across his gleaming steel teeth.

“And you?” Randidly squinted at the boulder person. He didn’t really intend on joining these people’s Ascension Pact, but more information was better. At the very least, he now understood enough to be pissed at the Don for withholding information.

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“I am also an Ascender,” The boulder’s craggy face parted in a smile. “So, let us ask again: what is your Creed, Ghasthund?”

“...I suppose I am a Seeker. Like she said, I need to save a friend,” Randidly allowed. This sort of conversation felt strange, after the Nexus. It was too honest and forthright. But perhaps that’s exactly why creed had been made; so individuals haunted by what they had done to survive in the Nexus could form a basis of trust.

The group considered his answer, most of them leaning back and lapsing into their resting postures. Gwennet groaned and raised a hand to rake through her hair. “Well, I suppose we have been waiting here for a few years already, we shouldn’t look any possible assistance in the mouth. Sir, we formally invite you to join our Ascension Pact. Obviously, we cannot simply accept you- please challenge any one of us to a fight to demonstrate your martial prowess. If you perform well enough, you will be accepted.”

“Seven is an inauspicious number,” the Octopi added again, but they seemed more resigned than peeved.

But Randidly shook his head. “Thank you for the offer, but I really wish to spend some time investigating the ring before I proceed.”

Again, the meditating woman’s image glittered in the air around her. She opened her eyes and pointed at him. “He does not wish to join us at all. He considers the outer staircase.”

“Ah, so you have heard some things about Sonara. You didn’t come completely ill-prepared for this venture,” Gwennet folded her arms across her chest. “Sure, the defenses along the exterior stairwell are a fraction of what is waiting on this one. However, space itself is unstable along the edges of these conjured worlds. Would you truly prefer to exhaust yourself climbing alone than taking the direct route with a group of people?”

Randidly pressed his mouth shut and didn’t answer immediately. After all, he had made exactly the same judgment as Gwennet rising to this floor. But now that he had some more context for the groups moving through the Sonara, he wanted to test spatial pressure at the exterior stairwell before he committed to joining some random group. But if he was being honest with himself-

“He thinks yes, he’d rather not trust us,” The meditating woman announced. Randidly gave her a sour look.

“Well then, fuck right off and leave us to our business,” Gwennet snapped. With another eye-catching flourish, she whirled away and stomped back over to her sitting position. The giant boulder person also settled down.

He wavered for a few seconds, but then turned and walked away from the glittering central stairwell toward the edges of the space. As he did so, Randidly felt the eyes of the metal liger man following him.

Once he had opened some space between himself and this waiting Ascension Pact, Randidly accelerated to a sprint and rushed toward the edge of the space. He activated the Stillborn Phoenix and released pulses of energy ahead of him, so he would notice when he neared the limit. As he moved, he wondered how long the group had been waiting here and how long they would wait in order to gather up before climbing the Sonara.

Their patience, and Grim Intuition’s report on their individual capability, gave him new context for how firm the defenses on climbing might be.

After a few minutes of sprinting, Randidly’s expression changed; he still hadn’t encountered the edge of the space. He planted his feet and pressed himself forward with more vigor. His speed rose, until the sand and the rock outcroppings blurred past. He even smashed directly through one in front of him, not even bothering to avoid.

It took ten minutes for Randidly to feel the limits of the space. He decelerated until he stood and watched the familiar inhale and exhale. Luckily, the stairwell never completely vanished. As it folded inward, the inside banister was still visible at the deepest point. When space inflated outward, perhaps three-fourths of the stairwell was fully revealed. He pulled a breath through his nose as he mobilized the Stillborn Phoenix to try and stabilize the space and froze. A thread of unfamiliar Nether significance entered his nose.

He pivoted, looking behind him. “Interesting. It’s pretty rare that someone manages to sneak up on me, especially while moving at such fast speeds. Why did you follow me?”

“Just as rare to find someone who would notice me.” The air rippled and the metal liger humanoid stepped sinuously out of nothing. Randidly’s eyes narrowed a fraction; if not for Nether, he really would have missed him. His stalker grinned. “What are you giving me that look for? If you want to fight, I will. I’m curious about the man with an undefined word. And your physical speed is something else.”

“I’ll only ask one more time. Why did you follow me?” Randidly kept his voice low. Flames of Nether Weight began to seep past the edge of his skin. His heart began to pound. In a way, he hoped this being would refuse to answer. A fight now would let him go wild.

“Pah, Ohwahu was right, you have no sense of humor.” The metallic being sniffed. His gossamer-thin silver cat ears twitched. “Relax, alright? I am Xershi. I was waiting with them for an ungodly amount of time because they promised me they would eventually climb. Yet they continue to dither here. You come here and immediately seem intent on climbing; that is the sort of Ascendant Pact companion I desire.”

“I’m not interested in making a Pact with you,” Randidly issued an immediate denial.

Xershi grinned, his metal tongue lolling. “Yes exactly! This is why you are the perfect companion!”

Because I don’t want you around? Randidly thought sourly, but he didn’t vocalize the thought. Instead, he unleashed a fraction of his First Authority and Yggdrasil’s Dawn Opens the Sky and Reality Stirs. He was at his most regal. “My business is my own and I don’t intend to linger. I’m not here to make friends, just to save a friend.”

“By all means, I’ll be right behind you, so long as you climb,” Xershi remained cheery even in the face of the pressure.

Which, Randidly supposed, made some sense. If this figure were average, he wouldn’t have earned Tier III Nexus citizenship and come to the Sonara. Hell, this being might have trained for years in preparation. Randidly didn’t want someone following him. But he also understood that there might be benefits from Xershi.

…even if this guy is definitely the least reliable of the six.

“I will not be your umbrella for the spatial pressures. If you try to leech off me, I will lash out, then and there,” Randidly’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t trust this enthusiastic stranger; too often in his past Nexus experiences, the friendliest beings were the most dangerous. A presence with more understanding of the Sonara was useful, but not necessary. Yet his instincts were convincing; Xershi didn’t mean him harm.

When he looked in the metal man’s red eyes, all he saw was a genuine desire to climb. And that unbridled enthusiasm triggered a response in the Grey Creature. Those swirling emotions that Randidly had been corralling for the last week didn’t slow down, but their flows did begin to twist into more understandable channels.

“No sweat, I can handle myself.” Xershi nodded several times.

Sighing, Randidly mobilized the Stillborn Phoenix. Light turned runny and dripped into his eye. Are you really sure you want a companion like this?

The Grey Creature didn’t answer, simply joining the image physicalizations and activating its Chimeric Impunity to help resist the pull of space. But Randidly knew that while all his images were singular and lonely, the Grey Creature sat in the darkest hole of isolation. That was why it was born.

“Fine then. Just keep your distance,” Randidly grunted. “And I plan on moving fast. If you fall behind, I’m not going to slow down.”

“I’d be insulted if you did.” Xershi beamed.