Hours later, still mildly tipsy from the excitement of the encounter. Randidly studied the note that Abiodun had given to him while he stood at the open flaps to his tent. Although the content was vague, it did a lot to cool Randidly’s outlook for the day.

I think it’s time we talk. Meet me below the Great Rift in three hours.

“You don’t have to go,” Abiodun rumbled. Then he folded his arms across his broad chest. “Lady Iellaya will stand behind you in this. There is a present threat of Nether attacks. Going to the Great Rift at a time like this… it is a bad idea.”

“No, I should go,” Randidly said quietly. Emerald fire danced around his fingers and consumed the note in a heartbeat. Ash spun around his hand and drifted down to the ground. “There really is a lot for us to talk about.”

Congratulations! Your Skill Ignition of the Emerald Essence (L) has grown to Level 142!

“Cail Tweocs is a member of the Xyrt Brigade, and also has close ties with Lord Miln. If this is another attempt to take your life-”

Randidly raised a hand. “Believe me. I wouldn’t put myself in danger if I wasn’t sure.”

Which isn’t true at all, a more pessimistic portion of Randidly thought sourly. Are you sure about Vualla? And you still kissed her. And now you keep thinking about kissing her again. And despite you putting on a stern face… aren’t you only going to meet him in order to find out what she is?

Are you dancing on the palm of Ileot Swacc even now?

Abiodun’s eyes continued their eerie, independent waxing and waning. “...I suppose you must certainly be sure then. At the very least, I will be patrolling the surrounding area during your meeting. If there are any energy reverberations… I’ll know something is wrong and proceed to your position immediately.”

Forcing a smile, Randidly said. “So now I’m deserving of the VIP treatment now that I have a body, eh?”

Abiodun’s face didn’t even twitch. “Please remember that we have made a considered investment on your behalf, several times. An investment from which we haven’t yet seen any yield. You will forgive me if I find your callous disregard for your life rather disturbing. And if it makes me pessimistic about your usefulness to Lady Iellaya”

Eventually, after several more stern warnings, Abiodun left. Some part of Randidly wanted to use the intervening two hours before his meeting to train his images, but the combination of the tingling buzz from kissing Vualla and the heavy weight of the meetings that lay before him kept Randidly’s focus consistently distracted.

Now was not a good time for growth. Some part of him was simply waiting. Waiting to understand the magnitude of what he had done by kissing Vualla.

You followed your emotions, Randidly thought tiredly to himself. You followed the clear beauty of a moment where, despite staring a daunting truth about her own existence in the face, she turned to me and lifted her chin. She had an unrelenting strength that made me just… let everything else go.

Randidly pressed his eyes closed. But now it’s time to find out the truth. I’m just… surprised that it is happening this smoothly. Who would have thought that Ileot Swacc would be the one to seek me out…? But I think that it definitely confirms that he still has some skin in the game.

Time crawled by, apparently free of the web of tension that knotted across Randidly’s chest cavity. The moments plopped like heavy stones, creating chaotic ripples through him. Even when there was still an hour remaining until the appointed time, Randidly couldn’t take it anymore. He huffed out a breath and hopped lightly to his feet. After checking every inch of his equipment, Randidly calmly left his tent and began to head toward the Great Rift.

The further he got from his tent, the more his legs accelerated. The ground around him began to warp and blur.

But as he was walking, his attention was tugged toward his right hand which now was conspicuously uncovered. Also… was there meaning to giving Vualla her own Fate…? Or I suppose the important question is whether there was any danger to doing so. Even when Vualla touched it, the Fate was largely unresponsive. Yet to have both Fates so close together…

Then Randidly’s eyes flashed. Also… the older version of the Fate’s wound was similar, but not exactly the same. And it possesses none of the budding crystallization that is slowly healing this iteration of the Fate… who exactly was the original Vualla…?

Of course, this question was exactly why Randidly was willing to take the risk of meeting Ileot Swacc. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that without the aura of the term ‘Duplicator’, Randidly would do his best to keep interactions with a powerful member of the Nexus like Ileot to an absolute minimum. And only have them in environments where he had a much more reliable safety net than Abiodun.

Capable he may be, but this was a whole order of magnitude beyond the vice-Commander in one of the many frontlines.

Even a day ago, Randidly’s response to the invitation would have been extremely different. The feeling of Vualla’s lips on his own, the warmth and the electric current that froze their physical bodies for the brief moment while the emotions ran rampant, and the newfound course of Randidly’s life all meant that he refused to miss this chance.

Perhaps because Randidly feared the worst. And if Vualla was truly a puppet of Ileot, Randidly wished to find out as soon as possible. Otherwise…

Randidly shook his head and accelerated forward. The ground began to fall away and seethe beneath him as he moved toward the edges the land controlled by Aether forces.

To Randidly’s surprise, Ileot was already standing there at the edge of the Great Rift when Randidly started traversing the broken ground, fully a half-hour before the agreed-upon time. Again, Randidly’s eyes flashed. Truly, it seemed like the meeting was just as important an event for both of them. Which implied that Randidly would have some leverage to get the information he wanted out of Ileot.

It was just a matter of figuring out what Ileot’s goal was.

As Randidly hopped over a deep fissure in the ground, he studied Ileot. Currently, Ileot was wearing the same slight, hairless form that he had taken when he used the name Cail Tweocs. Which made Randidly wonder whether this was his natural form, or that Ileot felt no need to reveal what he looked like to Randidly. Either way, there was, unfortunately, no way to leverage what he looked like for more information.

Ileot Swacc still didn’t turn as Randidly began to rapidly stride forward, flexing the muscles of his legs to make each of his steps cover a dozen meters. It was only when the two figures were right next to each other, both looking into the vast darkness above them, that Ileot Swacc cleared his throat.

“You came quickly. Good. I suppose that means you understand how important an issue this is.”

Randidly slowly nodded. “...yes.”

Ileot gave Randidly an amused look then continued to pipe up in that high-pitched voice of his. “Heh, you are probably wondering why I invited you here. Or rather, you are probably wondering what my game is. And who I am. The truth is, I am not Cail Tweocs. I am not a member of the Xyrt Brigade. My true name is-”

“Ileot Swacc,” Randidly said softly. Some part of him considered hiding his knowledge, but there didn’t seem to be any real point to doing so. And Randidly was quite looking forward to Ileot’s face when he revealed that he knew who he was.

Ileot’s gape didn’t disappoint. “Eh? Am I truly so well known that you have heard of me…? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised-”

Randidly spoke again, interrupting a line that seemed to be veering toward boasting. “Ileot Swacc, the Duplicator. Who… who duplicated Vualla, an ancient warrior.”

“Ha! Truly, you have caught me by surprise with your knowledge,” Ileot rubbed his chin. “This will go much easier if you already know this much. Yes, with Aether that Lord Miln borrowed from the frontline, I duplicated Vualla. I created a replica that was supposed to quickly make back the invested Aether… or at least return the Aether in a more potent form that would make up for the lost efficiency. And yet…”

Ileot's face twisted into a leer. “That didn’t happen, did it? The project was largely a cover to explain my existence without revealing that I was here to study you… but it seems that this project has cost me quite a lot without netting me any benefits.”

Clenching his fists, Randidly tensed up as Ileot’s eyes burned with naked avarice. As soon as their gazes met, Randidly felt a physical weight settle on his shoulders. The air around them stilled and the ground underneath Randidly’s feet groaned ominously. A split second later it cracked, a hair-thin branching crack revealing the strain from Ileot’s gaze was a physical presence.

The moment stretched between them, a rope rapidly fraying as two forces pulled at it without budging. Then, just as Randidly was marshaling his Willpower to activate his own images to resist Ileot’s overwhelming force, all of the pressure in the air faded. Ileot Swacc sighed.

“However, I do not blame you for how things turned out. Rather… it would have been a miracle if things went as I had wished them to go. No one knows better than I how… temperamental a power I possess. So if you came here afraid I would seeking vengeance… You can relax. In fact… I would much prefer for you to think of me as an ally.”

The Grim Chimera immediately wanted to rip Ileot Swacc’s face off for so casually asking to be thought of as an ally when Ileot was clearly aiming for Randidly’s body, but Randidly restrained that impulse. Although he largely agreed that the notion of being an ally with Ileot was nonsense, that didn’t mean there wasn’t value in keeping things civil between them.

When he spoke, Randidly’s voice was cool. “As long as our interests align, I don’t think we need to remain antagonistic toward each other.”

Apparently Randidly’s phrasing didn’t escape Ileot’s notice, but the hairless man just smirked. “Indeed. Such a relief to hear. And I can understand that it will be difficult to build trust between us, but I would like to take the first step and build our relationship by sharing two truths.

“The first I’ve already given to you,” Ileot held up a finger and leaned forward. “As I said earlier, I am not actually a member of the Xyrt Brigade. And let me tell you, they would not be happy to hear that I said that I was. They… hmph, even to their elders, they are a group of entitled little shits. Not that they are all so powerful as to threaten me… but there some among their number even I would avoid. So me admitting this to you can be considered an act of good faith.”

While Randidly was slowly digesting this first piece of information, Ileot held up a second finger. “And the second thing… I would like to tell you the story of Vualla, and why I chose to duplicate her. Then, afterward… we can finally talk business.”