When they reached the eleventh ring of the Sonara, Randidly begrudgingly admitted that he was beginning to fray at the seams from the constant spatial and image pressures. Even Pullas, who definitely possessed a powerful image, had begun to look exhausted as they collapsed on the other side of the golden portal.

I can’t just run myself into the ground, Randidly thought as he turned around to look at the two individuals. They chattered a lot early on in their trek, but had fallen in silence as they blitzed through the last two rings. I need to get there quickly, but I also need to be in a state to accomplish something when I get there. And I have a bad habit of ignoring the warning signs of over-exhaustion…

“Let’s take a break,” Randidly said. He couldn’t help but feel sour at the admission of weakness, even if he knew his attitude was silly.

Pullas collapsed into a heap and released a relieved sob. Xershi composed himself a bit better, nodding several times as he slow sank down to a crouching position. The whine of his engines revealed how close to his limits he had come. Both didn’t manage verbal responses.

Randidly sat down and focused his attention inward, almost amused by their reactions. The eleventh ring seemed to be a more comprehensive continent than the previous rings, given the area to do so by the expanding space contained within the layer. They sat on bare, stony cliffs above chopping red seas that stretched toward the horizon. A quick scan revealed no threats in the immediate vicinity. He took a long sniff for good measure, just to be safe. No strange masses of significance were around them.

Out across the water that the exterior stairwell should be located, but that could wait until later.

For a while, Randidly settled into a meditative stance and just allowed all the strained and abused parts of his brain to float in oblivion. Weirdly, he almost had developed a knack for sinking into oblivion from his time borrowing Solomon’s Penance. So now, he could gently allow himself to drift down below those waves of selflessness at will. Without the consequence of being completely unaware, to boot.

It felt like dipping an overheated body into a cool pond. A massive amount of stress and tension seeped out of him.

Randidly couldn’t help but keep a bit of his attention at the ready for some sign to precipitate the weird dream where he discovered the Torch of Harsh Truths, but this time there was no sign of slipping into a state to sleep. Randidly wondered whether it was because he was prepared for it or because enough time hadn’t passed since the last dream. Or perhaps it was just a montage that would only be triggered when he took certain actions in the real world?

About twenty minutes of partial musings later, Randidly pulled his consciousness back together. His emotional strain hadn’t vanished, but he wanted to double up on his time usage. So he pulled out his Hierarchy of Burden while letting his mind lay idle.

The Vulpis Squad’s new trainees weren’t quite ready for the Hierarchy of Burden to be included in their training and the main portion of the squad was occupied with other things. So Randidly now proceeded alone through the layers. However, he quickly realized that he hadn’t attempted this style of training since all his Stats had evolved and he had become a new lifeform.

In a word, the Hierarchy of Burden felt almost easy all the way up through the halfway point of the Entropy layer. After that he had to flare some inner resistance against the Entropy, but he didn’t hit any roadblocks.

Easy for Randidly, which meant possible without strenuous effort. It was a refreshingly solid exercise, testing some of the physical limits to this new form that still remained hidden. His progress was so simple that he even considered pushing forward into the ivory layer, which symbolized physical collapse.

However, in a rare moment of wisdom, Randidly admitted that stumbling blindly into that training session was likely to strain even his extremely robust new body. And considering the timelimit on the Patron of Feathers, he didn’t want to set himself back any further.

This is growing up, Randidly’s lips twitched. Training responsibly.

He switched his focus to keep himself occupied. Since the Stillborn Phoenix still remained so enthusiastic after seeing the crystalline egg hatched, Randidly focused on that image and began to refine the visual majesty of the Egg of Depression. With the full complement of three layers of a spatial anomaly at his disposal, Randidly incorporated all those elements into the event horizon.

The crackling red electromagnetic discharge. The light bent and twisted until it became a flame and a blade, cutting and burning both at once. Finally the steady, almost invisible creep of energy and motivation, seeping out and being devoured by the black hole. The power the image wielded deepened with each added element. The Unborn Duo flicked around excitedly, delighted to try and mime like they were helping Randidly in the process.

During this refinement, Randidly also felt firsthand what Pullas had meant about the flaws. He had acknowledged her point at the time, but it seemed a minor thing. However, most of the polish on the Stillborn Phoenix’s shape had been rubbed off by the pressure, without him even noticing. There were even some areas that showed particular weakness, almost growing to become flaws in his fighting capability.

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These are potent flaws being smashed against the exterior of the Stillborn Phoenix, which I’m using to stabilize the space. Giant hunks of image echoes. There’s a risk that when polish is rubbed away, forgotten, and reapplied, the image could stay the same forever. Randidly hummed to himself as he began to refine his image. Still, I don’t think I’m the same person I was. And if my images can follow the gradual changes I’m experiencing, the emotional affect will be that much more powerful.

After switching and touching up the less worn Yggdrasil and the Grey Creature as well, Randidly opened his eyes. Pullas noticed immediately and brightened. “Mr. Ghosthound, is there any chance we can head to the base of Moonren before we ascend further? She controls the eleventh floor. We’ve corresponded by letter, but since we are here-”

“You are free to do whatever you want,” Randidly shrugged as he got to his feet.

Her expression fell. “So you don’t wish-”

“Told you,” Xershi chuckled. Then he refocused on Randidly, almost warily. “So… are we leaving immediately?”

Randidly wanted to say yes. However, he looked at both Pullas and Xershi, at their obvious limpness even after the break time. Some part of him argued very persuasively that waiting for strangers to recover while the Patron of Feathers suffered was foolish. Extremely so. But another part felt oddly comforted by their presence. It had been so long since he had genuine companions that weren’t really subordinates. Besides, they had gone from the sixth floor to the eleventh in an hour, which caused their exhaustion. Even considering how the rings grew in size, they could spare a little bit more time to linger here.

“...not immediately no, but we still won’t head to anyone’s base.” Randidly exhaled as he said the words. He looked around for any usable materials, but the rocks in the area were quite bare. Below, the red waters crashed tirelessly against the cliffs. “Hum, well I have some materials on me. Let’s stay long enough to have a meal.”

Xershi shrugged. “I mean sure, eating is generally nice, but not when the only thing we have is dried meat or cheese. I’d rather just subsist on energy directly. I’m tired of field rations.”

Almost annoyed, Randidly gave him a sidelong glance. For better or for worse, Xershi was a being that spoke and reacted immediately, without a single moment of reflection. With his right hand, Randidly reached out toward the sea, searching its depths. “No, I’ll be cooking.”

A bit of a distance out from the shore, Randidly found some fat, many-toothed eels. The First Tree Suffers Only Fealty transformed some of the water into root manifestations, squeezing the bewildered eels and rapidly carrying them up to the surface of the ocean. Meanwhile, both Xershi and Pullas looked at Randidly with skepticism.

“You’ve had formal chef training?” Pullas whispered. “You do not seem the culinary type.”

Randidly shook his head and behead the eels that shot out of the water toward him. He produced a table from his interspatial ring and considered their bodies. “Not formal training, no. But I’m pretty decent at cooking for small groups.”

“Ahem. Well, it’s just…” Pullas chose her words carefully. “Idylla is filled with individuals who have encountered walls in their image improvement and devoted himself to other pursuits. I’m just slightly unsure… whether your attempts will suit my taste.”

Now Randidly was genuinely annoyed, turning and giving the blue-haired woman a long glance. She raised her hands and took several steps back. Xershi stepped into the middle of the two, rubbing his belly. “Well, I’d love to try your food. Nothing like a good meal above the sea, before we start on an adventure.”

Randidly growled softly and turned back to work, realized he had gotten that habit from Nrorce, and couldn’t help a smile from breaking out across his face. But he turned away, so these two didn’t see this private moment of bittersweet joy. He produced wood from his interspatial ring and stared a fire. His hands moved smoothly through the motions, using the knack he had learned from watching Randy to suck away any stain from other images in the ingredients. Then he slit open the bellies and pulled out the innards. His knife moved back and forth, slicing off the filets.

“Oh, I’ve wanted to ask for a while,” Xershi sat down and looked over at Pullas. “What’s that weird light you make? What exactly is your image about? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Of course, I quite enjoy explaining the particular details of my image.” Pullas smiled tentatively, even if she kept shooting Randidly worried glances. “I find it both helpful for my own pursuits and fulfilling. Ahem, the seed of its genesis was planted when I was very young-”

Xershi held up a hand. “Please, short explanations only.”

“Context is the most important quality in life,” Pullas frowned. “Without context, all the minutia and shades of subtlety will be lost on you-- what? Don’t make that face at me. Hmph, hmph. I don’t wish to be an archetypal person, but I would point out that I am the only one of us who has reached the image fulfillment stage. As such, perhaps you should take a note from-”

“Short. Explanations. Only.” Xershi said again, this time raising his fist and waving it around like it was a rallying cry ringing across a battlefield. Randidly glanced over at the two of them briefly but focused on the food. While the fire rose to the right temperature, he dug around in his interspatial ring and found some carrots and lemons. The meal would be simple, without any grains. Nothing he had on him had rich enough natural energy to match these vivacious eels. He pulled out two pans and began to heat the first for the eel fillets.

Pullas’s shoulders sagged like a deflating rubber kickball. “You are almost insufferable. Okay, I do admit there is some value in being able to succinctly deliver an idea to your listener. So, my image is… it’s more of a holistic philosophy than the concrete shapes others possess. I’m focused on having a good death.”

Xershi took several beats to absorb that. He tilted his head to the side. “...do you mean having a good life?”

Pullas puffed out her cheeks. “This is exactly why context is so valuable.”