Demetrius turned away and looked up. Not at the hole in the sky created by Randidly’s meddling but at the stormy clouds that circled like grey, fluffy wolves. Randidly didn’t press, allowing him to gather his thoughts.

“You know, Nether Gatekeepers don’t exist in the main universe,” Demetrius began slowly. “They were a role created within the isolated universe. To guard… well, even I don’t know the details. A massive gathering of significance, one to rival the power of Pine. A counterbalance made of memories, to restrain his influence. Occasionally, Nether Kings interact with what is held there… but for what purpose, I do not know. If you wish to know more, you will need to go to Wyndaos yourself. As a Nether King, even without a Penance, that is your right.”

Randidly mulled that over. Considering the origins of the Nexus was more widely known at this time, it made sense for Nether forces to make preparations against their environment. But what exactly where they doing remained a mystery. He looked again at Demetrius, who still faced away from him.

He suspected the old man knew more than he said, but didn’t press him. Part of it was out of respect and part of it was because Randidly sensed he would find out in time what the true role of the Nether Gatekeepers were.

“Thank you for answering,” Randidly finally said.

Demetrius gave him a sharp look. “You do not wish to know more? Perhaps about condensing your own Penance? The strongest Nether Kings in existence? Tricks to improve your Nether Weight even further.”

Randidly chuckled. “Well, the particulars of condensing a Penance might be useful to know, but finding my own path has worked out well for me thus far. And besides… the price I pay needs to be deeply personal. Considering some of my own issues, I’m not quite ready to figure out what that is.”

Demetrius nodded. For a while, the two of them simply stood and looked up at the whirling storm. Randidly could close his eyes and feel the wild significance in the sky, mixing with the radiation from Pine and the Aether exhaust from Malloon and creating a chemical concoction that constantly simmered.

There was a pillar of clear sky above the farm, but around that, the storms continued to rumble and spit. The natural patterns of the wind and precipitation prowled around the edges, testing the limits of Randidly’s patterns and finding no weaknesses. Both simply observed the interaction, organic patterns crashing against structure.

The conflict felt oddly soothing.

Their peace was broken by Bogart whipping open the front door of the farmhouse and stomping out into the yard. He had to duck not to scrape his curving horns on the low threshold. He seemed briefly thrown by the changes to the surrounding environment, but soon refocused. Youth made him quick to ignore what wasn’t relevant to his current desire. With a furrowed brow, he stalked across the yard toward where he and Demetrius were standing. “Nether King Hungry Eye! I wish to speak with you!”

Demetrius gave Randidly a mild look. He sighed inwardly but kept his face even as he turned to look at the devil man. “Yes?”

Bogart stopped in front of Randidly and huffed out a breath from his nose. The stench of this air was noticeable. Then he clasped his fists in front of his chest. His muscles were flexed, showing through the rips in his robe. “I wish to offer you the privilege of teaching me to fight.”

“I refuse,” Randidly yawned and waved a hand at the carrot patch. “I’ll be busy with the farm for a while.”

Demetrius kept looking at the sky next to him; obviously, even he wouldn’t say anything if Randidly rejected such a lackluster request.

Bogart seemed thrown by the immediate denial. “I… what? Why?”

Randidly looked directly into Bogart’s green eyes. He needed to test the young man’s mettle; he didn’t fuck around with disciples. He released a wave of his full Nether Weight of almost fifteen hundred. The memory shivered around him. Then his significance exploded around him.

The ground beneath his feet cracked and sizzled. A bonfire of spectral grey flames shimmered across his body. Randidly offered the boy a crooked smile. “Could you handle what I could teach you?”

The words seemed to hang and dance in the air, persisting across time.

Bogart gasped and stumbled backward. Even Demetrius went pale from the force of the words’ pressure. The climate began to distort against the force and the memory began to tremble from withstanding his full descent. His presence became a heavy wait, pulling down all the energy in the surroundings. The pattern began to distort. Dark clouds gleefully forced their way in, blocking off the sunlight. Bogart continued to back away, beads of sweat forming across his face. Randidly reached out and seize him by his ratty robe.

Bogart flinched. Randidly let the pressure drop and pointed down next to his feet. “Don’t step on the carrots. As I’ve said, I have a lot to do.”

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Randidly turned away from the stunned Nether Warrior and looked around the farm. A few light applications of force reestablished the weather around them. The clouds begrudgingly receded again. He unleashed a small aspect of the Grey Creature to vacuum up all the image fragments that had embedded themselves in the carrots. He did this over and over, almost five times in half as many seconds.

If he was going to return to his roots as a farmer, he wanted to be thorough. His produce was going to be the best it could be, incorporating the lessons he had learned from Nrorce and Randy. Already, he could see the combination of the ambient energy in the environment, the increased amount of sunlight, and his cleaning of the fields allowing the produce to flourish.

He straightened and rubbed his chin. First the carrots, then I’ll experiment a bit with the Ara Fruit. After that, I should look around in the surrounding area to find what sort of natural wildlife thrives in the storm. Maybe there are some monsters I could raise for meat? Actually, I wonder how big a territory Jotem owns-

“Please, Nether King.” Bogart got down on his hands and knees. “Just give me a chance. I- I need power. Teach me how you fight. So that I don’t need to sit back and watch as my grandfather is pushed around by a world that doesn’t know his worth.”

Pursing his lips, Randidly turned back to Bogart. “After your lackluster request earlier? Still no. Let me teach you a single lesson: Your actions carry weight and significance. Your history is made. Despite that, you feared vulnerability and made a flippant request. You… clearly could not carry the responsibility my tutelage required.”

“You… please… give me a chance…” Bogart trembled.

Randidly walked away from him without looking back. Perhaps Demetrius felt the significance of the moment because he didn’t attempt to speak out on his grandson’s behalf. Instead, Bogart had to sit in the moment, feeling the Nether King moving away from him. Behind Randidly’s back, he felt the young man lift his head. His face crinkled with fear and a vicious anger that demanded retribution.

His fingers dug into the dirt. The muscles of his arms flexed.

But in the end, he lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut, shame and fear eventually overwhelming his rage. Also behind Randidly, Demetrius gave him another mild glance. Sighing, Randidly paused in his departure. “However, I will give you a test. You see those Arakis Beasts over there? If you manage to catch all three of them at least once, without getting bitten, I’ll give you a few pointers.”

Bogart blinked once or twice, gaping at Randidly’s back. On the other side of the field, the three Arakis Beasts raised their small heads and gave Randidly very pointed glances. He ignored them; they had the instincts to know what he would do to them if they would not comply.

Perhaps Arakis meat was tastier and more lucrative a foodstuff than Ara Fruits. That threat would keep them in line.

The devil-looking young man flung himself to his feet, looking like he intended to immediately dash across and seize the Arakis Beasts right now. The tiny monsters, no larger than a racing dog, hissed at him. But before the chaos of chase could ensue, Jotem poked his head out the front door. “Mr. Nether King, Armel has broken the chains of his slumber! And requires fresh and pure groundwater.”

Randidly glanced at Bogart. “Get the bucket.”

“And you heard him,” Demetrius folded his arms within the torn sleeves of his robe and fell into step beside Randidly as they walked to the house. “Make sure it is both fresh and pure.”

When they were inside, a distracted and vaguely affronted Bogart behind them, Demetrius bobbed his head in a quick bow. “Thank you. I will not forget this favor.”

Randidly waved a hand and both turned to the issue of the injured servant. Jotem helped prop up Armel and the middle-aged individual took several deep breaths, still quite pale looking. However, the duo walking in the door made Armel’s eyes widen and glaze over with panic; likely, two powerful Nether individuals were not what he needed to see to comfort him right now.”

“Please, we mean you no harm, Armel,” Randidly said slowly. He released a bit of his Yggdrasil image, but subtly. Just to release an aura of warmth and growth into the room. Almost visibly, Armel seemed to relax under its influence. His breathing slowed. With even and unhurried steps, Randidly came and stood by his side. He produced a well-preserved raspberry scone from his interspatial ring and offered it to him. “Here, try and recover. When we found you… well.”

“A terrible scourge had plundered your hands and eyes. You must tell us which devil afflicted you so.” Jotem unhelpfully supplied. At the memory, Armel’s face darkened. At that time, Bogart stumbled back into the room with the bucket. The recovering man gulped down a glass of water then sipped his way through the second one while nibbling on the scone.

Finally, Armel seemed ready to talk. He looked around at them all, fear and indignation clear in his expression. “I… I don’t wish to involve you in my business. If my master finds out I am alive, he will- obviously, I had heard some rumors about his… tempers, but-”

He blinked several times. “I apologize, my story is a heavy burden I don’t wish to foist upon my benefactors. Thank you for saving me. Suffice to say… I was the servant of a prominent man in Malloon. And… for the most minor of excuses-”

“I was there at the party, Armel,” Randidly interrupted. “I saw. We all know Drane Swacc and his vindictive nature. We are not his friends.”

“You saw!? For such a minor thing, I was-” Armel shuddered. “I tripped, but I swear it was not my fault.”

“His errand boy Coppun pushed you from behind. It was all arranged,” Randidly said. He cracked his knuckles one by one, watching shock and anger lap in waves across the man’s face. When those emotions settled, he leaned forward. “Drane arranged this. What we want to know is why. Do you have any idea why he would suddenly want to eliminate you? Did you see anything strange right before that party?”

“Not right before, but-” Armel bit his lip. “A month ago, I was doing a special mission for Mr. Swacc. Trying to obtain a particular color of silk for the sash he had made. I returned rather late and walked to his study just to drop it off, but Mr. Swacc was having a meeting by candlelight with a woman.”

“All this to hide an affair?!?” Jotem shook his body.

Armel waved his hands. “No, no, not like that. Just… there were candles on his desk. But it was a woman recognized. She is the associate of the Fistmaster, Elhume. The one they call Mae Mykna, the Sword of Truth.”