Randidly pulled himself and Pullas out of the memory. The chimes within the Fatepiece run softly, almost as though they were sorry to see them go. One, in particular, released a mournful toll, warning Randidly of the dangers of continuing to look away from his emotional truths. He had justifications enough to ignore it for now.

The duo returned to that land of silver, flowing creatures with soft smiles on their faces. The happiness and strange separated world of the memory lingered with them for a few moments. Of course, the violent emotional affect of the Grey Creature reappeared as soon as he felt the ground beneath him.

Randidly turned his focus inward. I see you, I know how upset you are. It’s not like… it’s not like I don’t understand where all this comes from. I lived through those few years, too.

Why didn’t you do anything? The Grey Creature howled and tore at the inside of his body. Why did you just sit there-

She was my mother. Our mother. Randidly replied, but it sounded like a thin excuse even to him. The Grey Creature stalked back and forth, its impotent fury scalding him from within. But being acknowledged, as usual, robbed the image of its agonizing venom. The pain gradually receded as it settled into gurgling stillness.

He couldn’t help but sigh. It was a problem delayed, but not solved. Still, Randidly was buoyed by the pure smile of joy he had seen on Pullas’s face. He had wanted to help her and had done so. If he was honest with himself, he was quite proud of how far he had come.

He had to prioritize one over the other and he didn’t regret his decision.

Randidly glanced around. The ground around where he had sat with Pullas had been even more thoroughly demolished than his first break. Huge canyons had been carved into the ground and the electrical storm in the sky had dimmed to just a weak pulse of static. However, it quickly became clear that the development of this defensive effort had gone slightly different from the previous one.

Fiona stood about twenty meters away, covered in wounds, with her shoulders heaving. In the sundered ground around her, the bodies of the silver creatures dribbled away through the cracks and disappeared. Xershi was looking at her with an intense gaze that was somewhere between wariness and a crush. “You… who are you?”

“Fiona, obviously.” She grinned, manic and wild, with enough force that Randidly felt that inner light that she sometimes released burning itself into his retinas. He blinked it away, but that lingering phantom made him take Xershi’s perspective extra seriously.

“If you are that strong, why do you need us to help you with this Duulys Ambar?” Xershi said bluntly. “What help can we be to someone like you?”

“Some things cannot be accomplished with power.” Fiona’s light extinguished itself, a torch dropped down a hole in a frozen lake. Her shoulders drooped. She looked over at Randidly and Pullas. “Well, since you are finished with your business, we should move on. Talented I may be, but we shouldn’t push our luck here against another group.”

“Just a moment. Come here for a quick second,” Randidly said, even as he steadied himself. In his inner world, he stared down the wrathful Grey Creature for a bit longer; he would its help for his next impulse. Feeling confident after assisting Pullas, he forcefully recognized it, without looking away for even a moment. Gradually, its pacings became less violent. The emotions swirled down and settled in his chest. Releasing a sigh, Randidly looked at the new allies he would have for this Ascension Pact. His Nether Core began to stir. “We should make this official.”

Xershi, the wild challenger.

Pullas, the organized death fanatic.

And finally Fiona, a powerful woman who oscillated between a thousand volts and a pit of exhaustion.

Pullas cleared her throat, already returning to her previous attitude. “Typically, Ascension Pacts can be very simple. We will all take a similar vow and agree to support one another, after identifying our particular Creeds. Then, by our honor, we will be bound.”

“Don’t worry about the words, I’ll take care of the details,” Randidly growled. He pressed his knuckles into the ground. Already, he began to draw thin lines of Nether in spiraling patterns. Weirdly, he felt a lot of confidence in creating a four-part Nether Ritual, due to the shape of his own Nether Core with its four Authorities. They might not all be activated yet, but their presence had informed his entire development. “I’m a Seeker.”

“I’m a Seeker as well,” Fiona nodded solemnly.

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Xershi gestured to himself and Pullas. “We are Ascenders-”

“Don’t take my thunder, living this moment is definitely a part of the life I want,” Pullas puffed out her cheeks and then turned to Randidly. “But yes, I am an Ascender. One who seeks a life of climbing.”

“We might have different goals…” Randidly said the words slowly, his attention fixated on the movements of significance. He took a deep breath through his nose. Sometimes the energy was sluggish, sometimes it flowed smoothly as the Nether Ritual began to come together under his ministrations. The words themselves were like invisible platforms, leading him steadily upward but arranged in an unpredictable construction. “But- there is meaning when we… become a part of something bigger than ourselves. When we make an oath on just faith, we can build a bridge to impossibility.”

Congratulations! Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual (L) has grown to Level 699!

A shiver seized Randidly. Right at the end, significance began to quicken on the word impossibility. A grin tugged at the edges of Randidly’s face to feel the energies swirling around him, combining and splitting in complex patterns.

An absolutely insane, of the level he hadn’t seen moving since the encounter with the Nether King, amount of significance began to rush toward the group. Creating the Ascension Pact here with a Nether Ritual had an unintended side-effect with the word impossibility; they tapped into a gushing vein of significance that ran through the core of the Sonara. Randidly wasn’t sure if it was just the lingering history or something more current, but he gladly corralled that force to create a more comprehensive bond.

The ground in front of him began to tremble and smoke, hosting the coalescing energies.

Pullas and Xershi just seemed to nod along with the words, but Fiona immediately lowered her gaze from whence the extra significance flowed down to strengthen the Nether Ritual. Her eyes widened. Randidly made a private note of that, be he couldn’t spare her much attention.

The working rapidly grew more complex. Randidly felt his brain begin to heat as he tried to stay abreast of its developments. Patterns and intricate shapes spun and unmade themselves in an endless dance of intricate parts.

“Let’s each,” Randidly forced the words out through gritted teeth. “Say an impossible task we will aim for as we climb. I think that will bind us, more than a vague Creed.”

Congratulations! Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual (L) has grown to Level 710!

Congratulations! Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath (M) has grown to Level 844!

His Nether Core began to wobble underneath the strain of containing the forces. The energies had condensed enough they had a physical form, between the spot where he leaned over and pressed his hands to the ground.

His images stepped forward, relying on his significance to intervene in the process. They each had their roles to stabilize the working. The Grey Creature was the drive and the fire. Yggdrasil eased the transition and added some much-needed balance. And finally, the Stillborn Phoenix devoured all the extra, leaving a streamlined purpose.

Somehow, the gushing tide of significance was growing. Even Randidly’s senses were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the energy. One part of Randidly urged him to be careful because he was clearly missing something either about one of his companions or the Sonara itself.

But he instead offered a fatalistic grin; he was committed at this point.

Pullas went first. “I’ll discover a perfect death.”

Xershi snapped his fingers, even as Randidly struggled to manage the blast of connection that wrapped themselves between the four figures. “I’ll climb all the way to the top and discover the purpose of this place.”

Fiona’s eyes were gaunt and on the ground. Randidly continued to frantically weave, designing and projecting the Nether Ritual. He could barely remain conscious, being bludgeon by more and more Nether. Each breath left him reeling. Seeing she wouldn’t speak first, he cleared his own throat. His mind lodged on the first impossible task that occurred to him. The words tumbled out of his mouth. “I’ll… grow strong enough to survive the forces that enclose a universe.”

That brought Fiona’s gaze snapping upward. Then she began to laugh. “Well, isn’t this a merry crew? Fine then, I will bind myself in the same way, even if I’ve the shortest to go. An impossible task-- I will… meet and forgive my husband, Duulys Ambar.”

The four promises spun together. Randidly released a low groan, barely able to control the Nether Ritual even with the help of his images. It swelled and ballooned upward until it seemed to fill the entire ring around them. The movement of energy tugged along the wind until a whirlwind howled on every side.

Notifications began to pop up in front of Randidly.

Synchronicity detected! Due to the approach of a great accomplishment, your Skill Precise Nether Ritual is evolving!

Recalculating…

For a moment, Randidly felt the seething fury of the Grey Creature fixate on the misbehaving energies. Glad for any sort of target for its wrath, its emotional intensity rapidly shot upward. It urged him to use the First Authority to Seize control of the situation.

A small smile danced across his face. Sorry buddy, not this time. Nether Rituals don’t work that way.

Despite a veritable bomb of Nether swirling and condensing in front of Randidly, he released his grip on the energies. For a second, the tight sphere bulged and warped as though it could only collapse underneath its own force. But the connections between Randidly, Pullas, Xershi, and Fiona drifted down across the surface. Immediately, the unstable Nether Ritual transformed.

The sphere was a seed. Ripples of energy spread outward, blasting away the wind. Finally, Pullas and Xershi noticed that this Ascension Pact was quite unusual. The seed sunk into the fabric of existence and began to sprout.

Meanwhile, Randidly looked at the final notification in front of him.

Congratulations! Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual (L) has evolved into Yearnings of the Nether Heir (P)! Skill Levels will be maintained.