“Are you aware of the existence of the Hierarchies?”

Elhume hated himself for twitching around in confusion at the sudden speaker. Out of the gloom of the nearby ridges, the Prophet glided forward. Very purposefully, there was not another soul for miles. For once, Elhume felt glad the figure stuck to shadows, he felt increasingly disturbed when he saw the small mouths where his eyes should be.

Elhume clenched his fists. Frustration, guilt, and a suffocating fear warred in his chest, but mostly just succeeded in making him feel even more miserable than he already did. After the clash with the warrior of Nether King Hungry Eye, he had come out to the badlands to hone his edge. At the moment, every action felt forced. His ease and certainty had been lost, and he knew that the Cult of the Savior would not help clarify issues. “I’m in the middle of training. Do not disturb me.”

“Training? Do you really have the spare time to be improving yourself? Especially when it seems that all have decided to begin targeting the soul of Pine…” The Prophet whispered.

Elhume turned away. Forced himself to turn away even as his fear spiked. “I will listen to you no longer. You have made so many bold declarations of gloom, yet I can still sense my son out there. Suffering, yes, but he is not under constant siege as you have said. And I’ve had time to sit here and reflect on my actions-” Elhume looked down at his hands. He needed help, needed an outside perspective to help him recover.

Yet he couldn’t contact Mae Myrna and he felt too guilty to face the rest of his Patrons, after the slaughter of Wyndaos. The last month had been the worst of his life. And worst of all, he had seen the hints of it in the eyes of Nether King Hungry Eye when he refused to assist.

Elhume forced his words out through gritted teeth. “Was any of this necessary? I kidnapped the Nether Arbiter and forced a war to begin. One which probably would have happened anyway, yet I fired the first shot. And thousands have died, over three weeks afterward. And I am no closer to saving Pine. And… and I’m too weak to even affect the war. All of this… listening to you was a mistake. Just leave me in peace. I’ll find a way to solve my own problems.”

Finally, Elhume turned around. His image of power and unstoppable momentum, all concentrated into his fist, focused around his body. He gathered up all of the potency he possess to shoot poison out through his eyes at the fickle Prophet.

To his surprise, the representative of the Cult of the Savior did not become defensive. He did not reference the prophecy, by which he had claimed all things moved, until they hadn’t. No, the Prophet looked very genuinely at Elhume. Although his features still cloaked themselves in shadow, he could imagine empathy on the face of the Prophet.

“You are right, Elhume,” The Prophet said. “All has not gone according to plan. It is time for a show of faith, from our side. You have your partial key due to association, which will allow you entrance into the Universe Core. But we have a method as well. Follow me now; we will expend our resources so you can see the true state of Pine.

“Then… I believe you will understand. You must cooperate with us, before its too late.”

Elhume wanted to say no. Knew he should.

But he got up and followed the Prophet. If the man truly could bring him to see Pine… then very little else mattered.

*****

Randidly frowned down at his hands. After the brutal training Neveah had put him through with the energy games, he hadn’t expected to brush up against his limits so soon. However, quite a bit more than he had anticipated lurked beneath the surface of the relatively simple patterns of Nether. It became easier once they set up an Engraving to hide their actions from the lifeseal, but not by much.

Next to him, the Nether Arbiter regarded him with a serene expression. “You know, it is already quite impressive that you can manage to capture all of the patterns after seeing each only once. The rest will come with practice; it is as much an art as a science.”

He responded only with a grunt and felt slightly bad about the short answer, but Lowanna took it in stride. She steepled her fingers and waited, content to allow Randidly to continue his efforts. The problem of capturing the spirit of the bonds twisted and turned in his mind as he attempted to solve the issue. After cracking the knuckles across his right hand, he made his next attempt.

Randidly began with Phaea, the bond at least he already possessed. He had a sense of how the final result should feel. His fingers danced in the air, creating the unique pattern of Nether connection that would align two individuals in that first ideology of service. In response, Lowanna created the same. Her wrists were bound by the black wicker manacles around her hands, but the motions of her fingers were impossibly exact. In about three-fourths the time of his own efforts, she had created a polished version.

He appreciated that she assisted, without him even having to ask. The Nether Arbiter had more kindness than most of the teachers Randidly had thus far in his System experience.

A simple comparison between the two workings revealed the flaw; Randidly’s lacked some vital element. The animating spirit didn’t exist; his bond was all structure, no life. After having been working on this issue for almost three hours, he understood what Lowanna would say; he had forgotten the story. He waved a hand and dismissed his efforts. All around, the military housing complex remained quiet as Homwell’s celebration continued late into the night. Devick meditated in the corner, working her way through the darkness she had taken from the lifeseal.

As much as he could with the constant thrum of the lifeseal against his Nether Core, he had peace to work.

Randidly pressed the thumb and forefinger of Sulfur against his eyes; as always, the artificial arm felt blessedly cool against his skin. He hummed to himself, feeling the flow of Nether within his body. He could feel the quality of the energy he produced shifting, just slightly. The specificity of the weaving had eliminated some of the few lingering impurities he suggested. But also, focusing on the specific bonds added… texture to the energy.

It added a sense of history to his Nether Core, developed alone by a desperate young man. The organ growing within Sulfur matured, coping with all the changes. Randidly felt his body taking tentative steps toward a complete overhaul of the way Nether moved through him.

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However, it came down to the question of story. Randidly felt confused as to why Phaea still felt off to him, but then it clicked. Randidly opened his eyes and looked at Lowanna. “Can I see Maala again?”

She suppressed a smile. Her fingers became twitching spiders at the end of her arms, moving with the grace and speed of a much smaller nervous system. The vicious, coiled binding of Maala came into existence with only a second. In its crouched and malignant posture, Randidly saw how it would function, snapping shut upon the soul of a target.

She says story, but its about purpose. Or rather, about being able to imagine the working’s place in the world, Randidly studied the bond with half-lidded eyes. Story… another sort of image. Having absolute faith where the bond would fit into the hierarchy. Knowing its origins and meanings… Heh, which is why this bond-

Congratulations! Your Skill Yearnings of the Nether Heir (P) has grown to Level 1050!

Instead of the Maala, Randidly created another Phaea. But with the awareness the modern Phaea came from the shape of Phaea, but the spirit of Maala. More than his other attempts, this one had been conjured almost immediately.

The bond glittered in the air, projecting an air of purity, but edged with the crumbling decadence of an abandoned city. This was the way he had been taught Phaea from Demetrius, although he hadn’t really considered the strange notes at the time. Pursing his lips, he made another attempt. Yet this time, he shifted his focus. Not the modern version, but the original. He became an individual and he poured his thoughts on service into the bond. To the recipient, he would pour out his entire existence in order to protect them.

The rotations of his Nether Core accelerated. This Phaea seemed lit by an inner animus, but it was a dim thing. Randidly bit his lip, examining the result for several seconds. Definitely, the flaw in the first one is due to the way the usage of Phaea has shifted… it becomes tainted by the way history has been twisted. Yet this second attempt isn’t enough… I need a more concrete focus.

Congratulations! Your Skill Yearnings of the Nether Heir (P) has grown to Level 1051!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Yearnings of the Nether Heir (P) has grown to Level 1059!

Randidly glanced sideways. His lips quirked up immediately; in the corner of the room, Devick sat with a horrid scowl on her face. She looked like a bug sat on her nose and she planned on squishing it by folding and squeezing her entire face on top of it. She honestly looked damned cute.

He felt a pang of protectiveness as he considered the transition between the past and the present; he genuinely liked this Devick. She had his stubbornness, her refusal to concede. Her leanings toward obsession burned brighter than his, but she also possessed a fickle sort of generosity and kindness that he got too stuck in his training to ever demonstrate. Her heart hadn’t yet been become pot marked and scarred.

I’m not sure if this is possible, Randidly spoke from the core of what he had become, from the labyrinth beneath Kharon Academy, the physical spot where his appreciation for unique and lonely individuals emerged. But I want to make sure the world never hurts you so badly you need to become the version of Devick I first met in order to survive. I swear I’ll pour everything in my power to smoothing your Path. I swear that you matter, even as a projection. And that even if you are tempted by the embrace of madness, I’ll do my best to balance the scales toward stability. Toward facing your problems whole and without fear.

Congratulations! Your Skill Yearnings of the Nether Heir (P) has grown to Level 1060!

Randidly’s fingers moved without conscious thought. By now, his Nether Core understood the shape, he just hadn’t had faith in a process he had mimicked without significance. Yet as he stood opposite Devick and allowed his emotional intuition to replace the stiff shape he had been chasing after, it all clicked.

His Nether Core resonated so powerfully that he felt the lifeseal responding, outside of their Engraved area.

When the bond came into being, the Nether Arbiter straightened. The shape hadn’t changed, but this Nether bond was alive in a way Randidly could feel tingling up and down his arms. Because making the bond did not simply connect him to another, it was a concrete adherence to something older and more powerful. He offered himself up, becoming one of many individuals who had poured himself into the service of another.

He felt his Nether Core exult in recognition. That groove in existence had been long worn by his predecessors and he benefited from their efforts. Randidly’s breath began to quicken as his Nether Core began to shift. The base began to rotate slowly, not an addition to the funneling of energy, but a new alignment of his entire being. When Devick accepted this bond, he would truly be altered on a fundamental level; a part of him would always exist to bring her joy and peace. And in exchange for those efforts-

The Arbiter flicked a finger and the Phaea dissipated without a sound. The motion was so direct, he missed how the annihilation was accomplished. Randidly gasped and sat back, blinking and shellshocked. His significance swirled, worried and confused by the sudden lurching sense of weightlessness. Before the process had been completed, he had been wrenched back to his previous state.

Even through the pause he had placed upon his image, the Stillborn Phoenix pulsed with sympathy. It had learned a thing or two about missteps over the past few days.

“That was beautiful,” Lowanna said in a quiet voice. Her eyes locked onto the position where the bond had hung before she had obliterated it. “...but to be honest, I am teaching you these bonds with a very specific result in mind. The Phaea you already possess isn’t that big of a roadblock, but the purity and truth inherent in that bond you just created… well, you may choose to create that bond again, if you wish, after you’ve heard me out.”

Randidly pressed his lips together. He still felt shaken, but he had spoken with ancient beings about prices many times in his existence. The knowledge was definitely worth it, but he never liked this part of the exchange. “What did you have in mind?”

“The three bonds coexisted for millennia. Probably longer; even I don’t know the scope of the original universe.” The Nether Arbiter raised her head. Something in the way she spoke caused the significance in the area to stir. Again, Randidly could sense the lifeseal growing antsy from their activity. The absence of color of her manacles somehow deepened, vicious and hungry against her pale wrists. “But inside the Nexus, really there were two schools: Nether Warlords and Nether Priestesses. Between these two groups there were many who entered into Toosah bonds, but largely amongst those of the same ideology. Each became motivated by accumulating power until the whole system tore itself apart in the civil wars.”

She leaned forward. “I propose we try to create balance. We would need two individuals and a large population between them. I think, based on your power and the force of you, Nether King Hungry Eye, you would be the Nether Warlord in my ideal arrangement. You would dominate the people with Maala. Then you would need another of equal power, one who embraced sacrifice. They would be your Nether Priestess, giving Phaea to each individual below you.”

Randidly eyes widened as she saw it. The pulse of significance quickened. A structure of above and below to create a solid foundation. “...and then we would create Toosah between the Warlord and the Priestess. Less of a hierarchy, it would become… a cycle of service and fealty.”

“Balance,” The Nether Arbiter whispered. “Perhaps a whole new beginning for the Nether people.”

Congratulations! Your Skill Yearnings of the Nether Heir (P) has grown to Level 1061!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Yearnings of the Nether Heir (P) has grown to Level 1074!

Congratulations! For daring to imagine a new Nether regime, +1 to Muse’s Reverie! Attribute now at 1 of 6!