Randidly sat cross-legged in the center of his floating island and focused on the Nether Nebula in his chest. Below him Kharon was abuzz with activity as the populations of the Wandering City and the Orchard mixed, but Randidly completely ignored the bustle. His entire focus had narrowed to a point within his chest.

In the days since his fight against Kaan Swacc, the Nether Nebula had slowly been recovering. At this point, the density of Nether had returned to the viscous thickness that had even been able to dampen the image of the Special Investigator, when he hadn’t been suppressing Randidly with that infuriating Skill. It might not be Randidly’s peak, but it was close.

Although in terms of dangerousness, by far the strangest part of the battle against Kaan was that Skill that teleported him to a location without Nether...

Still, Randidly set aside the capabilities of the Xyrt Brigade for now; he needed to focus on his current project. During the climax of that fight, Randidly had briefly conjured a… more concentrated version of Nether in the form of a fragile-seeming grey bubble. It was a Nether equivalent of liquid Aether.

But what fascinated Randidly was that mistakenly summoned bubble had held such immense weight that it had both shattered the suppression Skill and then shattered Kaan’s body in a follow-up attack. Now, Randidly carefully examined his Nether Nebula to review the steps that had brought him to that power. Because the grey bubble was a failed product. Instead of conjuring ‘liquid Nether’ Randidly had meant to construct the equivalent of a Fate: Randidly had been aiming to make what he had named a Penance.

In retrospect, it wasn’t a surprise that he had failed to accomplish that lofty goal. Randidly created no basis for this Penance to be formed in his desperate attempt, as a Class provided for a Fate. He had his Nether Nebula, but that was a more organic mass of Nether currents than any sort of actual planned construction. In fact, it might be better to say that it was a miracle that he had any sort of result at all from the half-baked idea.

Randidly had ground the currents against themselves in the heat of battle, trying to crazily power-up in the moment. This decision had forced the density of his Nether to increase by just enough to generate that grey bubble, but it was very close to simply causing his Nether Nebula to detonate and level his entire Soulspace. The pressure had been immense.

Randidly suspected that he would have been able to survive the damage from a ruptured Nether Nebula, but he wouldn’t have been able to go on to beat Kaan Swacc in that condition. Thinking of how close he had come to losing everything was a splash of cold water on Randidly’s dreams of quickly mastering Nether.

Still, even if he had no functional understanding of Nether, that didn’t mean he didn’t have methods to address that. Randidly’s memories were full of impressions of Nether Gatekeepers, Nether Heralds, Nether Princes, and even a Nether King. Of course, the information he could extract from his memories regarding the Nether control methods utilized by the first Nether King was tempered by the fact that the Nether King had been controlled by Aether forces.

But just recently, he had sensed the powerful Nether of a Nether King during its attack on the Seventh Cohort. That gave him two points of data regarding Nether Kings. With that as a comparison, Randidly was able to discover a few things about the way these Nether beings utilized their energy.

While still sitting on the cool stone ground, Randidly brought both of his hands up and pressed the palms together. Due to the decreasing temperature, his metallic limb was pleasantly chilly to the touch. Randidly still wouldn’t trust his metal arm in a fight, but the damage had been steadily knitted together to the point that he was no longer immobilized the limb to protect it. Besides, it had recently been becoming a serious interference with his training.

Once the connection between his hands was established, Randidly released a breath and then gradually pulled his palms apart to create a small space between his hands. Under Randidly’s careful watch, two flows of Nether energy wound their way down his arms to his palms and began to circle each other.

After careful study of Nether King’s using the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night, Randidly had discovered a few patterns in the way Nether was manipulated. The methods to accomplish it were rather complicated, but the process was simple; Randidly simply had to make his Nether currents flow in both directions at once.

Which wasn’t entirely accurate, because to make the process work involved a lot of mental gymnastics to fold the flows back in on themselves in certain specific ways, but it was at least something to work with. Essentially, an ideal Nether current would have Schroedinger's Flow. It would simultaneously flow both directions and neither.

Randidly’s emerald eyes were locked onto the two thin flows of Nether between his hands as he began to work. The process was awkward at first, but Randidly didn’t mind that. If anything, he was glad there wasn’t an immediate surge in his Nether density; he still wanted to head into the Dungeon soon. He was slightly wary that some strange force was going to strike soon and make his training session unable to occur.

Due to his wandering mind, Randidly felt the flows collapse. Gently chiding himself, Randidly focused and tried it again.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 222!

Time and time again Randidly lost control of the Nether flows and everything to nothing between his palms. But to reach this point, Randidly had gone through tens of thousands of practice hours to hone his Skills. When he failed at this new task, he simply reflected on what went wrong and made another attempt. His Willpower surged forward and began to fold the Nether once more.

His gaze never wavered.

Each time he failed, he proceeded a little further. He was a little bit more adept with the way he could manipulate Nether. Randidly began to twist while folding the flows to avoid direct conflict between the same flow as he wove it together in both directions. When it became apparent that his current method was fundamentally flawed, Randidly just grinned.

Rather than trying to draw up a new method from scratch, Randidly just began to experiment. Since it seemed that his folding strategy wasn’t the right answer, he didn’t become bitter. Instead, he used it as a lesson; learning to utilize an entirely new energy wasn’t easy. So his intense Nether exertions became more of a thought experiment. Framed in a new way, a lot of tension went out of Randidly’s shoulders. With that more relaxed approach, Randidly began to play.

If the Nether flows he wove together were doomed to collapse, perhaps he could create a shifting flow that could only reach the omnidirectional flow for a brief instant before separating? Randidly tried it.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 223!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 224!

Just as quickly as he had thought of it, Randidly attempted it and then tossed that idea to the side. The implementation of the idea was more difficult than just accomplishing his original goal. So instead, Randidly tried to design a way to gather three woven Nether flows together so that they would collapse inward toward each other. Perhaps they could balance each other out, like his images could against Kaan Swacc.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 225!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 232!

This idea was a better one than the prior attempt, but again, Randidly quickly realized his ability to manipulate the Nether wasn’t quite deft enough for what he wanted to accomplish right now. Nether Sensation’s Skill Level was increasing, but it was rough sledding.

But life requires hard work. This won’t slow me down. Randidly hummed to himself. He checked the time, then returned to the practice. Even if it was just Skill Levels and familiarity, the accumulation mattered. The steady motions and repetition of moving Nether flows would someday be the basis for Randidly’s strength.

He tried new things and made mistakes. When he ran out of ideas, he played and experimented with Nether. Slowly, he grew more comfortable while utilizing the energy directly.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 233!

Of course, he couldn’t do it all today. With a yawn up toward the slowly emerging stars above, Randidly stretched and straightened. Working on his ability to manipulate Nether was an ongoing project. Besides, he had a hands-on demonstration of Nether that was long overdue.

After idly combing his fingers through his hair, Randidly activated Nether Ritual and reached through time and space for Vualla. As he did so, he kept his touch light; because of Vualla’s situation, he didn’t want to interrupt her during something important. But the Xyrt Brigade training was, without a doubt, a process meant to break most of its applicants. So he was determined to reach out and once more provide some mental sustenance to her. Randidly wanted to give Vualla every advantage he could so that wouldn’t happen.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 165!

As he activated the Skill, Randidly kept a close eye on the way the Nether spun itself together and became a prayer. It was especially annoying to see that the base utilization of the Skill could weave his Nether better than he could. But looking at it, Randidly had a few more ideas about how he could adjust his own methods in the future.

He had been too forceful in the past, Randidly noted while he watched the Nether Ritual rise upward to build the connection. He had to remember that Nether wasn’t as certain as Aether. It was built on connection, but also on faith. It was an amorphous energy that rarely possessed a definitive shape.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 166!

The Nether Ritual activated. Randidly’s will reached across space and time to find Vualla. For an extended second, there was no response and Randidly abruptly felt chilled by the reality of what might have happened to her in the Xyrt Brigade training. But then the familiar warmth of her presence could be felt through the ritual. Stifling a sigh, Randidly gently reached out to ascertain Vualla’s current situation.

This time, he at least didn’t find that her image had been ground down to almost nothing. But there was still… a sense of fragility to Vualla as he felt her current image. But rather than her being shattered, it was more akin to seeing an old friend who had lost an unhealthy amount of weight since you had last met. Vualla’s image of destruction was gaunt and starved to his senses. Yet as Randidly felt her using it, he couldn’t deny that this slow starvation had made the image pure and focused.

From what Randidly could tell, Vualla was currently engaged in some sort of training. Her body was sweating and her image was raging at its full strength. Randidly didn’t dare extend his perception outside of her body, so he simply pressed his hand through the ritual to her back and passed on a little bit of warmth, to let her know he was there. Then Randidly withdrew.

Within a few seconds, he had received a message from Vualla stating that she would be done for the night in two hours. Which gave Randidly the chance to take Tim and Delilah out of his Alpha Cosmos and home for the night.

As soon as Randidly came and landed outside of Lucretia’s training area, he sensed that something was wrong. The air was rife with the scent of violence and the oppressive weight of tension. Although all the tents and banners looked fine, Randidly carefully scanned the surrounding area. He didn’t need to look for long; One look at the swollen face of Delilah made it clear who had likely instigated the trouble… and been punished for it.

Randidly slowly glanced around at the surrounding tents. The children who lived here with Lucretia hunched their shoulders and turned away from him as he glanced around. Likely they were wondering whether they went too far by fighting with Delilah. But in Randidly’s mind, this was probably a good lesson for Delilah. Knowing that there were kids her age who were just as strong as she is would probably help ground her in the future.

So, although Randidly could tell that something had happened, he didn’t bat an eye and simply smiled as he collected Tim and Delilah. Contrary to his expectations, Delilah didn’t say anything even after they left his Soulskill. When Randidly escorted them back to the Moss’s apartment, she stayed completely silent and then proceeded directly to her room.

Tim stammered an excuse about her being tired and then fled. Rolling his eyes, Randidly left the apartment and went to the Order Ducis offices to talk with Derek. He found the man bent over a tall pile of paperwork, looking more like an office drone than a probationary member of the most powerful Order on Earth.

Derek looked up sharply as Randidly walked into his office. “Something happen?”

Randidly shook his head. “No, I just wanted to ask you something. Soon, I plan on going into a Dungeon for a few months to train. In order to make sure Tim is ready for the project, I’d like to take him with me. Of course, I’ll make sure he is safe during that time. And if you don’t want him to age strangely through a Dungeon-”

“But… Tim can’t go into a Dungeon. He doesn’t have a Class,” Derek pointed out. And from his heavy tone, it was clear what he thought about his son getting a Class before his 16th birthday.

I cannot believe that arbitrary choice we made in Donnyton has basically become a universal standard for Classes… Randidly chuckled. “True, people without Classes cannot enter or exit a Dungeon alone. But individuals can be brought along into a Dungeon if they don’t technically try to enter. However, I do think that there are some… costs to bringing individuals without Classes into a Dungeon.”

Once again, Derek’s gaze was sharp. “Like what?”

Randidly coughed lightly. He didn’t think they would stay in long enough for Aether to become an issue for Tim, especially if he was in Randidly’s Alpha Cosmos the whole time, but even so… “Well, Delilah was raised mostly in a Dungeon. It is an… unusual existence. Without a significant amount of life experience to act as insulation against the isolation of the Dungeon...”

“Ah.” Derek blinked. Then he began to rub his chin. “Ahhh….”