Lyra did her best not to yawn. But it was difficult, considering the fact that for the past two days, Kaan Swacc had done nothing but sit at his desk and sketch. And he demanded that Lyra remain by his side the entire time. To amuse herself, Lyra occasionally pretended that she was a puppet and collapsed woodenly to the floor.

Kaan didn’t even lookup. His pencil continued to make skritch noises on the paper in front of him.

On the one hand, Lyra would readily admit that the Special Investigator was quite good at sketching. Although he only used pencil and paper, he had quickly traced out a rather immaculate sketch of a beach. And then a sketch of a volcano exploding. And then of some sort of tired animal that Lyra didn’t recognize, looking up toward a bank of storm clouds that were clearly about to open up and drench the creature.

Then Kaan Swacc drew Randidly Ghosthound. It was almost eerie how well Kaan was able to capture Randidly’s sharp gaze. The rough lines of graphite pierced upward with a murderous intensity. As Lyra looked down at the paper, it was almost like Randidly was standing right in front of her.

And that Randidly considered her an enemy.

Still, Lyra was very, very bored. To the point that on the third day, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. Her little games could no longer hold back her aggravation. “Aren’t you going to do any… investigating…?”

Kaan chuckled but didn’t stop sketching. “Why? So you can sneak away and give him a hint again?”

“Yes,” Lyra replied with not the least bit of remorse. Honestly, the Special Investigator seemed to respond well to such an attitude, because he laughed out loud at her bold answer.

“That’s why I laid the next trap before telling you about the first one. Really, what comes next will be what forces his hand… it was just a matter of getting him to lower his guard.” The Special Investigator turned his toothless grin toward Lyra. “And now he thinks as long as he toes the line, he has until the Epic Danger Zone to prepare. Now that I’ve told you that… until one of the Danger Zones is cleared of Corrupted Invaders, all you are allowed to do is stay here and watch me draw.”

Kaan Swacc then began rather enthusiastically sketching Lyra’s furious gaze with perfect accuracy.

*****

Randidly grinned as he looked at his Status screen: with the completion of his most recent Path, he had reached 1500 Control almost exactly. Although the effect was generally ephemeral, Randidly could already feel the extra sharpness to the way he could manipulate his limbs. To the point that he rather unenthusiastically regarded his left arm.

His Control had reached the point that he could feel the way that his metallic limb was holding him back. It was designed by Randidly not so long ago, but his knowledge of Aether was steadily climbing upward as Neveah raved every night about the techniques she was learning from the glyphs Yystrix left in her tomb. He definitely could increase the fidelity of the Aether apparatus at this point.

Just another task in a long list of things… Randidly could only shrug helplessly as he examined his full Status screen.

Randidly Ghosthound

Class: Lord of the Baleful Wood ()

Level: 60 (84%)

Health(/R per hour): 11739/11739 (4656)

Mana(/R per hour): 11063/11063 (2746)

Stam(/R per min): 8411/8422 (1737)

Vit: 1045

End: 906

Nether Brawn (A): 1000

Agi: 1179

Grim Intuition (L): 1070

Reaction: 947

Resistance: 998

Willpower: 1157

Intelligence: 1052

Wisdom: 718

Control: 1500

Focus: 792

Skills (Soul Skill): Figure of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 23900

Combat: Spear Mastery Lvl 303, Heavy Blow Lvl 134, Iron Skin Lvl 47, Dodge Lvl 140, Block Lvl 77, Calculated Blow Lvl 136, Roundhouse Kick Lvl 97, Idiosyncratic Cut (Un) Lvl 126, Stalemate Breaker Lvl 142, Talon Strike Lvl 131, Counter Lvl 94, Ruinous Drive (Ru) Lvl 73

LoBW Class Skills: Spray Holy Sap (Un) Lvl 27, Sharpness Lvl 149, Earthquake (Un) Lvl 48, Invigorating Call (Humanity)(Un) Lvl 14, Erode Image (L) Lvl 100, Spriggit’s Tinkering (R) Lvl 152, Aether Understanding (A) Lvl 152, Aether Infusion Lvl 47, Volatile Ash (A) Lvl 44, Visualization (R) Lvl 275, Fruit of the Planting of Enmity (L) Lvl 49, Absolute Timing (Ru) Lvl 130, Cycle of the Gloomy Wood (R) Lvl 45, Riders of the Baleful Court (A) Lvl 181, Lantern of Harsh Truths (R) Lvl 145, Sigil of an Approaching Fate (A) Lvl 66, Profound Influence (A) Lvl 21, Reckoning of the Bleak Dawn (L) Lvl 99

Descent of the Grim Chimera (M): Chimeric Avoidance (L) Lvl 244, Cursed Appetite of a Wraith (L) Lvl 275, Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality (A) Lvl 265, Reaper’s Mantle of Catastrophe (L) Lvl 122, Molten Fang of the Pariah (L) Lvl 209, Man is Proud, but the Chimera Takes (L) Lvl 200, The Chimera Weeps as Man Mourns (L) Lvl 157, All Else Succombs, Yet Time Whirls the Earth (M) Lvl 161

The Stillborn Phoenix: A Star that Prayed it would be Reborn (P): Piercing Gaze of the Egg (L) Lvl 210, The Tug of Tragic Silence (A) Lvl 135, Cosmic Necessity (M) Lvl 223, Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart (T) Lvl 209, Tide of the Void (L) Lvl 202, Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix (L) Lvl 263, Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold (T) Lvl 267

Aether Skills: Aether Detection Lvl 201, Aether Manipulation Lvl 219, Living Aether (R) Lvl 163, System Interference Lvl 88, Aether Surgeon (Ru) Lvl 104

Spells: Yggdrasil Soul Seed (R), Inspiration (R), Burning Footsteps Lvl 23

Crafting: Potion Making Lvl 73, Farming Lvl 34, Analyze Lvl 29, Refine Lvl 106, Extract Lvl 92, Architecture of the Primordial Ways (M) Lvl 253, Experienced Creator’s Ingenuity (A) Lvl 68, Touch of the Ghosthound (U)

Yggdrasil, the Universe that was First a Tree (P): Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 196, The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 242, the Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 199, the Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil (L) Lvl 241, the Inscrutable Mien of Genesis (M) Lvl 252, the Implacable Price of Exodus (M) Lvl 219, Reign of the Eidolon Crucible (L) Lvl 226, Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) Lvl 287

Auxiliary: Sneak Lvl 56, Acid Resistance Lvl 22, Poison Resistance Lvl 21, Sewing Lvl 11, Digging Lvl 9, Cooking Lvl 101, Clockwork Mastery Lvl 30, Aether Connection (A) Lvl 21, Soul Bond Lvl 135, Chef’s Palette Lvl 36, Nether Modification (U), Child of the Rain (Un) Lvl 59, Engineering Savvy (R) Lvl 154, From Darkness, Genesis (R) Lvl 17, (Domain) Crossroads of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 190, Connection to the Alpha Cosmos (U), Nether Sensation (L) Lvl 196, Nether Ritual (A) Lvl 164

At least in terms of Skil Level, the Stillborn Phoenix didn’t need to feel inferior next to his two other Skillsets any longer. If anything, it was currently benefiting from all the increased emphasis it received due to his impressive capabilities when it came into being. Yggdrasil took quite a bit more time and effort to reach the current Skill Level because the Randidly of that time had been a little bit…

...In over his head. Randidly laughed without humor at the thought, considering his current circumstances. After finishing the Path, Randidly still had 492 PP remaining, but he was again torn between Spear Mastery and Sovereign of Violence. Feeling much better about his abilities with more Control, he decided to wait a day or two before deciding.

After thinking that, Randidly’s first impulse was to spend some time training his other images to get a few extra PP. He took about an hour each day to go over Grim Chimera and Yggdrasil so he wouldn’t lose any potency with them, but largely his efforts had been toward the Stillborn Phoenix for almost three weeks. The other images were relatively stable, and Randidly hadn’t wanted to upset that.

Yet Randidly also didn’t forget that he had resolved himself to go help with some of the issues in Kharon that he had considered not as important as immediately improving his training prowess. It happened before the burst of Control made him feel invigorated. But with the ghost of a headache still lingering Randidly had to admit to himself that he needed a break.

Not that handling these issues will be a break, but still… Aggrieved, Randidly stuck to his earlier promise and went down to Kharon proper from his mysterious island. The city was as bustling with shouts and smells as it normally was, although Randidly didn’t miss that the industrial center was especially humming with activity. From one of Tatiana’s reports, he had heard the mountain range they were crossing had particularly rich deposits of enhanced that coal that allowed Kharon’s furnaces to reach an unprecedented heat in only thirty seconds.

For a while, Randidly watched the human and ogre laborers heaving up vast quantities of the powdery mineral while Kharon crouched between two peaks and allowed its passengers to harvest. Then he activated Grim Intuition and made a beeline for Tatiana’s current position in Town Hall.

As though Randidly had scheduled his arrival through Tatiana’s assistant, she had just finished brewing a pot of tea and offered Randidly a cup when he arrived. Which somehow made Randidly feel somewhat guilty that he hadn’t thought to inform Tatiana of his impending arrival. Resolving to better at communicating his intentions in the future, Randidly sat down on the leather couch in Tatiana’s office and enjoyed the rich smell of orange wafting up from the brewing tea.

After taking a sip and humming in pleasure, Tatiana gestured and an unfamiliar aide brought a stack of papers to Randidly. For a second, Randidly’s eyes sharpened as he searched his prodigious memory for any hint of this person who worked with Tatiana. Not that Randidly knew everyone, but generally he recognized those around the government of Kharon.

Perhaps sensing, Randidly’s focus, the man flinched visibly and pulled his limbs close to his body as though he was trying to hide from a predator. Only after coughing awkwardly and bowing did the aide offer Randidly the packet again. “Ah… apologies. You are just as… imposing as the rumors, Mr. Ghosthound-”

“That’s enough, Charles. I’ll call you back in after the meeting,” Tatiana said. The aide immediately fled from the room. Then Tatiana’s gaze slid sideways to Randidly’s relaxed posture. She arched an eyebrow. “It seems your aura has grown stronger.”

Randidly tilted his head to the side. Then, belatedly, Randidly realized what she was talking about. “The ambient Nether…?”

“Yes. I’m honestly surprised you noticed he’s new; he came from the refugee group we picked up yesterday. Capable and hardworking, but I wanted to see how someone completely uninitiated with images would react to your influence. Considering how much he was trembling… I think it’s safe to say that your aura is still a problem.”

Sighing, Randidly shrugged rather helplessly. “...I’m aware. In the short term, I don’t know if there’s anything I can do… But that’s for later. For now, I’m here to try and help with anything in Kharon that needs my touch. I went to watch a bit of the coal harvesting-”

“Your assistance with mining might get us moving sooner, but its good to give the laborers some exercise.” Tatiana waved her hand. “Hum… but if you want something to do, there are a couple of issues I need your decisions on. And of course, you still need to go through the presents.”

“I plan on heading to deal with the presents after this meeting,” Randidly confirmed as he slowly exhaled.

Tatiana grinned at him. “Happy birthday. But in terms of decisions… there are two things. First, the children of Kharon have somehow developed a secret method of Engraving that vanishes after it is used. It’s how they created that flying ship that crashed in the Glowstone Ballroom. I cannot decide whether to try and obtain this ability… or more specifically, how much effort is worth it to obtain it.”

Honestly, that at least piqued Randidly’s interest. An Engraving that was consumable…? Yet Randidly was a little curious how exactly Tatiana would go about obtaining the Skill. If she referred to it as a ‘secret’ method, the children were likely hiding it from people...

The second issue was much less whimsical, however.

Tatiana tapped her finger on a single sheet of paper sitting in the center of her desk. “We’ve received a report from Vye. Likely you’ve been too caught up in your training to notice, but we are currently quite deep into the borderlands and have been encountering quite a lot of refugees in the past twenty-four hours. Vye confirmed the source. When the barrier was removed, one of the bubble cities went on a warpath. At the moment, it has found, raided, and subjugated two other bubble cities. We estimate that the resulting caravan currently has almost half a million people.

“Vye also dug up some information on the leader. His name is Howard Boltmer, his Class is the Blighted Paragon. He ruled his suburb of Moscow harshly, but with relatively few other blemishes to his name. But considering he has so many followers and is so immediately aggressive… how should we deal with him? Kharon should arrive in front of the convoy around lunch time tomorrow.”