Congratulations! Your Skill Lancers of the Baleful Crusade (L) has grown to Level 325!

Randidly narrowed his eyes as he looked toward the horizon. He licked his lips. With his Wisdom reaching 1000 in total, it barely possible for him to taste the fluctuations in Nether rolling off of the Nether Herald that his forces faced. They were having a tough go of it, even with all the growth that the Lancers had experienced.

Against the Nether Herald, only the elites were of any use amongst the Lancers. The rest were fodder.

But with a sigh, Randidly turned away. My presence here needs to be minimized as much as possible. I am, after all, only standing in for Raymund Ballast right now. If they later wish to argue that I must have been present in order for a Nether Herald to be overcome… my best defense is for a second Nether Herald to have been defeated by the troops without my intervention…

In the grand scheme of things, the concern about his assuming the identity of Raymund was a small issue. Truthfully, the only reason that Randidly bothered to construct this plausible deniability was Commandant Wick; he seemed like the type of man to take rejection personally. His mood would definitely fall to find him sneaking around on the frontlines. And the Commandant might very well be willing to use Randidly’s transgression against him in the future, should it suit his purposes.

Randidly allowed himself one last glance toward the battle. Plus… Vizzeret is right. The amount of power I can impart to you is limited; you need to discover your potential on your own. Both the newly minted Vulpis Squad… and also my Lancers…

And with that, Randidly did his best to put the issue out of his mind. Instead, he turned to the Paths that he currently had available to him. The list was almost too large to parse apart.

Friend to Humanity 0/100, Mantle of the Patron 0/500, Aether Convergence II ???, the Bell of Doom Tolls 0/600, The Ashes of Ulaat, Patron of Ash 0/1000, Order Ducis: Font of Guidance ???, Humanity’s Torch 0/500, Puppet Master 0/100, Pain Immunity I 0/250, Cleaver of the World Tree ???, Weakness of the World Tree 0/500, Guilty Conscience I 0/100, Hands of the Artisan 0/???, Ashes of Illym, the Above-Average Child 0/5000, The Flame the Burns Memories 0/????, Exodus, the Terror 0/1000, Genesis, the Considered 0/1000, Image Cooperation I 0/100, Body Refinement I 0/???, Chimera’s Struggle II 0/????, Mysteries of the Fiery Emerald Waltz 0/???, Violent Heat I 0/???, Sovereign of Violence I 0/1000, Deathwish V 0/5, The Pursuit of Alchemy 0/750, Weakness of the Grim Chimera 0/500, Weakness of the Stillborn Phoenix 0/500, The Shadow Beyond the Threshold 0/???, The Chimera’s Metamorphosis 0/2000, Greater Nether Core 0/???, Primordial Might 0/????, The Passion sans Shape I 0/???, Architecture of Yggdrasil I 0/????, The Trace of the Ideal 0/???, Physique to Break the System 0/1500, Glimpse of the Shallah I 0/?????, Emotional Evolution I 0/500, Breath of the Imaginary Firebird 0/1000, The Throne of Nether Homage I 0/500, Stat Evolution IV 0/10000

With over fifty-thousand PP remaining, Randidly could still cut a pretty thick chunk out of all the Paths before he ran out of gas. His eyes glittered as he considered his options. For now, he decided to not spend the 10k PP to evolve another Stat; the random selection of Rarity still unnerved him.

Considering that he wanted to create an even larger Stat differential from his fight against the Nether Herald… Randidly ignored all the Paths relating to images for now. Which left him with a manageable list of Paths.

His first choice to finish was Physique to Break the System, which cost 1500 PP. To his surprise, even adding PP to the Path was relatively lucrative; every 100 PP earned him 5 free Physical Stats. A 20 PP per 1 Stat was a ratio that he hadn’t received in quite a long while. These Stats he happily split between Dreadful Alacrity and Nether Brawn, at a 4 to 1 ratio.

Congratulations! You have completed the Physique to Break the System Path! You have walked higher and higher in your pursuit of the Pinnacle. Countless miles have disappeared beneath your tireless feet. Yet as the altitude increases, the air grows thin. The natural arrangement of the environment has steadily become cruel. By risking the wrath of the elements, you have discovered that within the Nexus there exist some invisible and unspoken laws. You had the choice and knowingly chose to transgress one such unspoken law. For that, you have both been given terrible power and a crippling weakness.

But there are no wrong Paths toward the Pinnacle, only users too weak to follow their Paths to the ending. So as you walk, have confidence in yourself. This Path will surely lead you somewhere, even if you encounter resistance as you proceed.

Congratulations! You have gained the Skill Lessor Aether Inoculation (M)! +20 to all Physical Stats!

Lesser Aether Inoculation (M): A skill that shows your complex relationship with the Nexus and its sources of Aether. It is mildly more difficult for Aether constructs to affect your physical body or track it. Effect slightly increases with Skill Level.

Randidly’s mouth twitched as he looked at the milquetoast effect of the Skill. Mildly and slightly, huh…? But despite that… isn’t this Skill actually quite good for protecting the Alpha Cosmos? In addition-

Congratulations! Your Skill Lesser Aether Inoculation (M) has grown to Level 2!

…

Influence +4!

Congratulations! Your Skill Lesser Aether Inoculation (M) has grown to Level 39!

Randidly’s mouth twitched for a second time in a short span. And it turns out that there are already so many Aether Constructs trying to restrict or track my body that the Skill Level is just going to shoot directly up huh? Well, I’m not going to complain about additional PP…

I’ll need to contact Nathaz soon to see if there is a concrete effect...

Congratulations! Your Skill Lesser Aether Inoculation (M) has grown to Level 40!

Randidly ignored the flood of notifications and turned to his next Path Choice: Greater Nether Core. Unfortunately, the Stat payout for this one was not as generous. He only received 1 Willpower and Focus for 100 PP. But since the Path cost 2000 in total, he still received 20 of each.

Congratulations! You have finished the Greater Nether Core Path! Amongst those brave travelers from the Nexus, extremely few have had the hubris to label their attempts at Nether Cores “greater”. Those who have fought the original forces of Nether understood how meek their pale imitations were and those that came after didn’t know about the true heights that a Nether Core could reach.

But you are a peculiar individual who has understood the original ferocity and heritage that is contained in a true Nether Core, although you haven’t yet seen its blazing influence. Perhaps the fact that you have wandered out on this Path is also some form of hubris. As you stand alone in the vast darkness of the night, neither moon nor stars possess enough radiation to reach your position. You have truly reached one of the remote stretches of the wilderness!

You are lost in an abyss. The Path only exists because it has led you ‘here’.

Error, unable to properly calculate the reward for finishing the Path! Please see your Village Spirit for more information!

Randidly grinned at the notification. I never thought about this before… but are Village Spirits the tech support staff of the Nexus…?

Although Randidly didn’t receive any additional stats from finishing the Path, he was still in a very good mood. Partially because he continued to receive Skill Level Up notifications for Lesser Aether Inoculation, but also because of the notification he received right after finishing the Path, which was likely his true reward.

Weight +100! Scope +100! Influence +100! The potential of your core significances have increased!

A free 10% increase in my capability is probably worth much more than even 1000 Stats. Plus, that vague reference to potential… Randidly reflected seriously on the flow of energy around his Nether Core. After his PP was sent, he wanted to spend some time improving the energy flows with his new Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae. But in the current moment, he moved his eyes again to the Paths available to him. After twisting his mouth a bit, he was torn by several of the options available to him.

Congratulations! Your Skill Lesser Aether Inoculation (M) has grown to Level 163!

After a bit of thought, Randidly activated his Ruin is Inevitable, Yet This Too Shall Pass Skill. Immediately, her understanding spread out through an entire alliance of Randidly’s, with each of them choosing a different Path and sharing what they could of the results. For whatever reason, the Path completion notifications had the effect of scrambling some of the information between parallel lives, but he could at least get the sense of his options in this manner. And immediately, two stuck out to Randidly.

Of the two, Randidly chose the Ashes of Ulaat Path first. He poured his PP into the 1000 cost Path and received 2 free Stats every 25 PP he spent. These free points he then dumped into Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae.

Congratulations! You have finished the Ashes of Ulaat, the Patron of Ash Path! Your Patron has long since betrayed you and been reduced to dust by the force of your conflict and his schemes. Yet within his ashes, significant power lingers. If you immerse yourself in that power, you can experience the memories and trials of Ulaat, incorporating his images and growing even more powerful.

However, be warned. The might of a Patron is not to be underestimated.

After reaching this point the Path, Randidly felt his consciousness float through darkness and encounter a pile of smoldering embers. With an unreadable expression on his face, Randidly stuck his hand deep within those glowing coals. As the flood of images and mental tests ran up his arm to overwhelm his mind, Randidly immediately used the raw power of his Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm to smash the tests to pieces.

Randidly sighed as the Path splintered and collapsed. At this point in my growth, I would easily be able to overcome you, Ulaat. But although your image isn’t of much use to me any longer…

Perhaps as a side effect of the image preserved in stasis by the Path, Randidly found Ulaat’s significance deep within his ashes. Ulaat was a man who gained power at the cost of his own planet and his heart was ever-after wracked by that suffocating guilt. What Randidly now adroitly removed from the ashes was that deep and significant desire to protect his home planet.

Even to this day, that thread remained painfully pure.

The suppressed thread of Nether from a deceased Patron spun into Randidly’s body and assimilated with his Nether Core. The effect wasn’t immediate, but Randidly could sense how thick his Nether was becoming.

Congratulations! You have successfully incorporated Ulaat’s image! Resistance +100!

And now… the other Path that earns a strong reaction from the other Randidlys…

Randidly pressed his lips together and looked long and hard at the Glimpse of the Shallah Path.