Of course, the first real order of business for Randidly Ghosthound was a nap. In more ways than he could count, he was drained to the limits of his endurance. So a long nap, one that finally allowed Randidly’s physical body to rest and settle back toward equilibrium.

Because he had not been able to take even a second break while he was locked within the pod, resisting the steadily learning Aether constructs. If he had… he likely wouldn’t have been able to escape so easily from the bindings.

So Randidly laid down next to Vualla and slept, letting his internal merge and settle.

At his core, he was still Randidly even after his images had been allowed to grow independently of him; they still were born of the same shared history. Randidly was still the boy who had sat alone on his bed while he listened to his mother’s drunken laughter in the other room. He was still the boy who followed Sydney across state lines, only to surrender her to his new best friend… and then he was the same young man that kept Sydney’s illness a secret despite the fact it created a rift between him and Ace.

He was still the same man who learned from Shal’s knee and then returned to Earth to plant the seeds that would become Donnyton. He was still the one who lost his temper and hurt Tessa, his ex-girlfriend.

He was still the one that returned to Tellus twice, once to fight for Shal’s honor and the second time to fight for the Fate of the planet. And he had won both times. Not alone, but he had rapidly grown to the point that he could affect the outcome of the contests. Hell, from the way Shal talked before he went through the portal to Nexus’ trial, it was only due to Randidly shifting Shal’s perspective that this outcome became possible.

Randidly was still the same man who, with a growing sense of responsibility and the weight of his prior Soulskill’s collapse on his conscious, returned to Earth and analyzed Donnyton’s characteristics. He found them wanting. So he destroyed their confidence and cast Donnyton aside, switching to the Order Ducis as the main vehicle for the influence he wanted to have on Earth.

He was the man who created Kharon, the moving city. He was the one who would guard the Earth from themselves, creating an influence that would stand apart from the established practices. He was the blade that hung above the Orders, watching for the inevitable slide toward the abuse of power.

Very few of Randidly’s actions earned him goodwill from the people he left behind. But he felt relatively confident in his choices on Earth. There was a reason for all this, and that was the terrible existence of the Nexus that hung over all their heads. Because they prodded Earth toward a doom, Randidly had no choice but to grow callous in order to prepare to buckle the yoke thrust upon them.

But he was also the man who had killed Ki-Kunot because he was distracted and sure of himself. And that continued to temper his outlook.

That was the man who Randidly Ghosthound was, slowly being woven back together from the three core images that formed him. That history had set them on a path, and now they returned, having had the opportunity to follow that path on their own.

From Yggdrasil, Randidly earned the trait of kindness in the broadest sense; kind in the way nature was kind that if you weren’t tragically unlucky, you could make a life in the wild. Also from the World Tree, Randidly learned about steady growth and progress. He learned about the importance of a strong base that could support a world. Because of Yggdrasil, Randidly had an endless desire to live.

From Ignition Essence, Randidly earned his faith in the impossible. Although he sometimes didn’t know how some goal would be accomplished, the Ignition Essence was the endless nuclear reactor that powered Randidly’s drive forward. He also learned how danger and beauty could walk together as one from the fickle and aggressive image.

The newest arrival, the Grim Chimera, brought with it less new personality traits but more accurately license to finally unleash parts of himself that Randidly had long buried in his heart. His natural aggression, buried by a childhood alone and the fixation that he had for Sydney. Defiance, buried inward as Randidly’s childhood logic steered him away toward rebellion and toward slow sedition.

But the Grim Chimera was not a patient creature, not when it didn’t need to be. And perhaps that was the greatest strength that the Grim Chimera brought: an absolute certainty in his own judgment. Self-confidence earned from a life of surviving. Or in Randidly’s case, years of struggling not to be turned into a tool or killed.

These personality traits were like wide bands of colors, slotting together to form Randidly. In his dreaming state, Randidly watched the idly was they wrapped closely together, lively eels of energy that wove themselves through his Skills and Class.

Forest green and gold from Yggdrasil. Emerald and scarlet from Ignition Essence. Grey, black, and a dark purple that looked like the sky at dusk from the Grim Chimera.

And when the colors finished weaving themselves together, Randidly’s eyes snapped open to see the bland canvas of the tent on the frontlines.

Once more, he was whole. He sat upward and brought his not metallic hand to his face, closing his eyes for a brief second with the fingertips of his pointer finger and ring finger. In a way that hadn’t been true before, he was finally recovered from the ordeal. Everything inside of him finally settled back to its full recuperated state.

...now we just need to hope that Lady Iellaya was right about Lord Miln taking it easy for a while, Randidly thought idly. Then he glanced at Vualla and couldn’t stop the small smile from creeping across his face. Shaking his head, Randidly stood and stretched.

“God, it feels fucking good to have a body again. A body that can move,” Randidly muttered. Then his eyes widened abruptly. “Does that also mean that once more…?!?!”

Randidly checked his Skill. Absolute timing told him he had been asleep for a little less than six hours.1

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Timing (Ru) has grown to Level 101!

Grinning viciously, Randidly walked out of the tent and put his hands on his hips. Knowing exactly about the passage of time couldn’t be underestimated. Especially considering the fact that they were on an active battlefield…

Randidly glanced up at the sky. Since Lady Iellaya had driven them back and weakened the Nether forces infringing upon the Aether’s land, the blue veins had withdrawn somewhat from the air. They no longer transformed the edges of the Nether army into a forest of spectral algae. But certainly, the Nether army wouldn’t stay passive for very long.

But still…

Randidly rubbed his forehead. “So many fucking things to check…”

The first thing he did was open up a Skill description for Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil, which was the evolved form of Infinite Fingers of Yggdrasil.

Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T): A powerful Skill that allows the user to channel the near-infinite energy of Yggdrasil and create powerful roots and vines to attack the target. As long as the user can sense the target, plant matter can extend near infinitely to chase. In addition, it is possible to extend roots from any dirt, stone, plant matter, or object that the user has touched in the last twenty-four hours. Mana cost decreases with Skill Level. Damage vastly increases with Skill Level. Limits on range ludicrously increase with Skill Level.

Nodding to himself, Randidly’s eyes focused on the line about any object he touched in the last 24 hours. He turned around as he spun the possibilities slowly in his mind. But there was simply so much other reflection to do. Returning back into the tent, Randidly lay himself down next to Vualla and entered into his Soulskill.

With a light pop, Randidly found himself standing in a familiar office towering like a titan amongst two dozen Spriggits who stood around wearing brightly colored party hats. As he suddenly appeared, they all leaped back with gasps and shots, scrambling backward in order to avoid whatever calamity had suddenly descended upon the office.

But as the crowd of Spriggits parted, Randidly was given a straight path forward to view a single individual who was sitting primly behind a desk. In front of that individual was a cake covered in lit candles. Her cheeks were puffed out, as though she was about to blow out the candles and make a wish.

Due to Randidly’s arrival, Wendy could only sigh. The candles wavered but didn’t go out.

“Happy birthday to me, I guess,” Wendy grumbled. She pushed the cake to the far side of her desk, as though the whole ordeal now disgusted her. Her gaze on Randidly displayed a clear irritation. Likely because he had promised to visit quite soon after he had brought her back to his Soulskill. “I suppose you’ll be wanting something, yes? Maybe a mechanical planet that has the ability to shrink? Or better yet, a perpetual motion machine that also generates energy and can play the piano? Well, I’m not interested in such trivialities any longer.”

Randidly’s smile was forced, even as he felt a thread of irritation at the obviously hostile reception. Not that he could blame her; he had broken his word. “Look, Wendy, I know I promised to check in more often and provide you resources for your research, but I was… removed from my body for a time. This is the first chance I’ve had to rest somewhere safe.”

“Uh, huh…” Wendy said skeptically. Her thin face wrinkled up as her paranoia demanded that she be suspicious of everything that Randidly said. Randidly waited.

Eventually, she sighed. “Well, that’s fine then. I believe you. But this is a private event. I’ll be perfectly happy to have a normal discussion with you… as soon as you schedule one with my secretary. For now, I’m sure you know this building well enough to see yourself out.”

Although her words were still grumpy, Randidly could easily tell that this was just Wendy reacting to the suddenness of his arrival, not the fact that he had come altogether. Which is why he smiled confidently and leaned forward. “But it’s your birthday. Surely-”

“You can’t seriously expect me to believe you remembered it,” Wendy said with a shake of her head.

Randidly didn’t even bother to lie. “But does it matter if I brought a gift?”

At her core, Wendy was a simple woman who was motivated by her curiosity and desire to understand the world. Beyond that, she was simply a stubborn scientist. There were a few seconds where suspicion and desire warred across her face, but the victor was obvious from the beginning.

“Well….” Wendy said slowly. She stood up from her desk. “I suppose… you’ve come all this way… and if something was enough to bind you… it must have been troublesome… and about this gift…?”

Chuckling at her sudden change of heart, Randidly stretched his hand forward. He wasn’t sure about both whether it was possible, or his chances of success in a short time frame, but he had faith that the result of his efforts would be a gift that Wendy would find fascinating.

Nether roped together once… and failed. But on the second attempt, the pieces intertwined perfectly and set… and a pseudo-Nether core appeared in Randidly’s palm. The small thing appeared like a royal blue marble, already warping the surrounding air with the energy that it threw off. It might be a very much watered down source of Nether, but it was still an energy that reacted very violently toward almost any substance.

And it was something that Wendy had never seen before.

“Just something I picked up in my travels… I would treat it carefully,” Randidly said with a small smile. “It releases a powerful energy field that will neutralize and corrupt most normal energies and substances…”

Wendy’s eyes were sparkling as she took step after shaking step forward. Her fingers flexed and trembled as she stared at it. “It’s so pretty…”

Randidly closed his hand. “I just hope you could answer a few questions I have about the current state of the Soulskill… I’ve been away for seven months, after all.”