For second, Randidly was thrown. Had this been the piece of dramatic theater that Seeker Thunder Wing wanted it to be, an uneasy violin would have begun to play.

The Hierarchy… of Burden? It is a historical object?

Not that Randidly believed he was somehow a unique or special individual, and therefore it was unthinkable that his Fatepiece wasn’t somehow singular in its existence, but the fact that his Fatepiece existed before… was a complicated reveal in its own right. He had originally assumed that Fatepieces and Fates more generally were created by the process of reaching Level 50, but this made it seem that versions of those tools had existed previously. Perhaps some Fates were inherited wholesale from an unknowing, deceased predecessor.

And Seeker Thunder Wing knowing about the Hierarchy of Burden begs the broader question, where exactly do Fates come from…? You are mortgaging the potential you’ve displayed to reach Level 50, but a mortgage requires two parties; what organization is the one that is willing to bet on your potential and provide a Fate to you in exchange…?

While Randidly’s mind was racing through the possibilities, Seeker Thunder Wing continued to speak. “Obviously, most of the functions of the Hierarchies are no longer applicable; the Nexus Reformation completely changed the Aether structure of our environment. Most of the problems were… streamlined so we no longer have to deal with the consequences. But if I had to guess, the Hierarchies still have one intact function… with one, you can access the original Nexus Ways. And Those original Ways probably lead to outside of the Nexus.”

That grabbed Randidly’s attention, both due to Seeker Thunder Wing’s tone and because of the implications of the words themselves. “Is it… difficult to leave the Nexus?”

Seeker Thunder Wing looked at Randidly with something close to pity. He shook his head sorrowfully. “Truly, you are recently come into your strength, yes? To the current population within the Nexus… leaving is impossible. That is why so many struggle to reach the Pinnacle. That same Pinnacle that allows you to create something from nothing also hosts a door to return to the true universe.”

Seeing Randidly’s confused expression, Seeker Thunder Wing scratched his head. “Hah… explaining will take a bit of time. The current Nexus is a closed system filled with tightly layered spaces that are only possible to access with the proper ‘authority’ in the form of Nexus Citizenship. That is the ‘innovation’ given to us by the Reformation. It is possible to absorb portions of the real universe and incorporate them into the Nexus, which is why Cohorts continue to appear. But once you are within the Nexus, it is impossible to leave.

“The first reason is that Elhume locked the door. But even setting aside him, the real danger is the concept of ‘drag’ that I mentioned earlier: the five problems addressed by the Hierarchies. Even if you could step outside the Nexus, without possessing the supreme abilities of having reached the Pinnacle, the drag would annihilate you instantly. It functions in the same way that spending too long inside a Dungeon can make you dependant on its Aether. Except it isn’t just a different density of Aether that you’ve adjusted to inside the Nexus.”

“So this could take me outside of the Nexus…” Randidly said quietly to himself. He flexed his hand and brought the Hierarchy of Burden out of his interspatial ring. He had never really thought about it deeply, but it did make some sense that the Nexus was relatively isolated. But considering that just made him more curious about the presence of the Nether within the Nexus. Did that mean there was a secret Cohort dedicated to just the Nether forces? Was the Great Rift previously part of a Cohort that was ceded to the Nether for the sake of convincing the populace that there was a great foe?

If everything here is purposefully constructed… Randidly thought with a frown. Why is it all so messy?

The more Randidly thought about it, the more confused he became. If there was this great change after the Second Cohort, then the fight against Nether might very well have originally been legitimate. Once the Nexus became isolated, Elhume probably had much more opportunity to capture and enslave the Nether Kings. Perhaps the Nether areas of the Nexus had been reclaimed?

Seeker Thunder Wing chuckled as he watched Randidly sort through his thoughts. “...seems like you have a lot on your mind. But… I must ask, which of the Hierarchies do you possess?”

Randidly considered withholding that information, but ultimately he wanted as many details as possible from Seeker Thunder Wing. And this man just needed an excuse to wax poetic. So, as a show of good faith, Randidly nodded slowly and answered. “Hierarchy of Burden.”

“Truly? That is… perhaps unfortunate,” Seeker Thunder Wing grimaced. “As far as I know, that is the most difficult of the Hierarchies to activate and utilize. Even I wouldn’t be confident in handling its drag…”

“You keep referring to drag,” Randidly said suddenly. He crossed his arms. “But I’m not sure I understand what you mean…”

“Yes, some background would be helpful for you.” Seeker Thunder Wing nodded. “As I said previously, this relates to the state of the Nexus before the Reformation. The layering of space and the Citizenship Tiers didn’t exist; in fact they couldn’t exist because the requisite framework hadn’t yet been engineered. The Nexus at the time was sprawling and complex, with most of the secrecy at the core of the endeavor relying on other individuals simply not being able to locate the important secrets.

“There is some scholarly disagreement over the true goal of the Nexus, but most agree that Elhume found a key of some sort that led to the homeland of the Shallah,” Seeker Thunder Wing said. “Whether the goal is to recreate that location or find a way back to the original homeland of the Shallah people… it is sufficient to say that Elhume began seeking power. But the accumulation of such power, especially during the First Cohort, was extremely slow. There simply are limits to how quickly one can improve without infrastructure. To get around these limits, Elhume used his significant capabilities to modify the environment to suit the changes he wanted, but these methods were haphazard at best. Yet even with haphazard methods, there was some success.

“Hence he was able to manipulate the environment more easily, but the Pinnacle was still far from his grasp. And in the meantime, the drag-”

“Wait,” Randidly interrupted with a frown. “Hasn’t Elhume already reached the Pinnacle?”

“True, but most agree that Elhume was able to reach that height due to the remnant of the Shallah that he found.” Seeker Thunder Wing smirked knowingly. “He relied on an external source and could create the System through that inspiration, but due to that same catalyst, Elhume might very well be considered the furthest individual from reaching the Pinnacle; his first experience made a natural passage to the Pinnacle much more difficult. Of course, that was thousands of years ago. He has clearly neared that precipice once more. But anyway, the five large issues of the early Nexus-”

So Elhume only made it to the Pinnacle due to the birth of Pine? Randidly thought inwardly. But quickly he focused on the Seeker and listened to his explanation.

“The first is the problem of how expansive the coverage of the System is. As more Cohorts were added, the energy cost of having those new areas covered rose exponentially. Elhume had to warp space itself so that his infrastructure could exist, which generated a lot of anti-matter discharge. Nasty stuff, eats through images even worse than Nether. To deal with that byproduct, he created the Hierarchy of Margins. That Hierarchy was the prototype of the layered, citizenship system that is now in use. It essentially could create a side dimension into which all the anti-matter was dumped.

“Next, there was the problem of dealing with time. Elhume didn’t want to wait too long for results, so he experimented heavily with time dilation during the early years. It is very common in the current Nexus, but those days were different. His experiments revealed that time was essentially a finite resource. Or rather, for someone’s time to be accelerated, someone else’s must be slowed. But it was extremely difficult to control where the effect manifested. It operated on a principle that no scientist of the time could grasp. Hence the creation of the Hierarchy of Current. The individual given the Hierarchy was immune to time adjustments of any sort and made sure that the right areas were and weren’t affected. Frankly, the user of the Hierarchy of Current had more control over the Nexus’ time than even Elhume himself.

“The third problem was perhaps the most innocuous, but it was actually the problem that almost destabilized the Nexus. This is… actually, this is an area that I was very interested in. I have quite a few publications addressing the need for the third Hierarchy. The Nexus in those days was much less centralized: nether of the Orthodox factions existed. In addition, Elhume rarely addressed those people who survived his System and arrived at the Nexus. Everyone was left to their own devices. And they started to be driven mad by the same goal that plagued Elhume, but for different reasons.

“That is, how was one supposed to know when they had reached the Pinnacle? Due to the various interferences, the System was less comprehensive in those days; it couldn’t detect anything close to an image strong enough to reach the Pinnacle. Our forebearers had the example of Elhume, but he refused to speak of his experience creating the Nexus. So there were many individuals who believed that the heights they reached truly were the limit. Hence the creation of the Hierarchy of Will. It was a test, to determine whether someone had truly reached that hallowed place.” For a split second, Seeker Thunder Wing turned wistful. “It is said that while this Hierarchy of Will wouldn’t help one reach the Pinnacle, it still let someone reach that height. How wondrous that must be…”

After a few seconds, Seeker Thunder Wing sighed and continued with his explanations. “The fourth Hierarchy is the most… difficult to explain to those that were born into the current Nexus. It is the Hierarchy of Karma. Are you… familiar with the term Karma?”

Randidly nodded and spoke slowly. “I’ve had some interactions with it, yes. Karma… the force that… connects us. And there is a certain… magnetism to it. Karma makes certain that destiny leans toward certain ‘appropriate’ outcomes. The outcomes that you’ve earned with your prior actions.”

Surprise flashed in Seeker Thunder Wing’s eyes. “That… is a remarkably succinct description of Karma. Which demonstrates that you understand how complex, frustrating, and useful Karma can be. But let me ask you something… should Karma exist?”

Randidly opened his mouth to answer but then furrowed his brow. He titled his head to the side and pondered for a while. “...I actually have no idea. Are you asking me if Karma’s existence is positive thing for the universe or if Karma is naturally occurring?”

This time, Seeker Thunder Wing nodded emphatically. “Hah, it seems I revealed too much with that question. It is as you might suspect: Karma does not naturally occur in the universe. It was one of Elhume very first adjustments to the Nexus, creating the connections of Karma that wove between individuals who brushed up against each others’ lives. But that wasn’t even the original goal; Elhume was concerned with making sure an individual had access to Paths that would help them advance. In the early days, the System could generate Paths, but sometimes they would be… strange or unhelpful. Generating a web of Karma helped those Paths lead individuals in the right direction. Their actions determine their Paths, guided by the hand of Karma.

“But there was a problem with Karma, as well. It functioned on the principles of perfect justification. If someone deserved something, that individual would eventually receive their just desserts. But what if a perfect individual came along? What if someone acted with ideal righteousness, moving their their life and generating more and more positive Karma?”

Randidly blinked. “There’s a tipping point, isn’t there? If one gathered too much positive Karma-”

“Karma would warp everyone else to elevate this Chosen One to an existence akin to a God.” Seeker Thunder Wing shook his head. “Even I don’t know too many of the details; it happened between the First and Second Cohorts. But the Hierarchy of Karma was made to deal with this ‘ideal’ individual. It was simply a blade; a sword that could cut through Karma and kill anyone who threatened to warp the fabric of the Nexus. As far as I know… it only had to be used once.”

Randidly pursed his lips and considered that. Hearing Seeker Thunder Wing speak, he realized for the first time how… complicated the establishment of the Nexus was. The current shape was the throne of a dangerous despot, but that throne hadn’t always been so dominant. And considering that their cabal planned to move against Elhume, it was useful to learn this background information about the Nexus.

After all, if they grew too powerful, Elhume might very well turn these Hierarchies on them.

“And so,” Randidly said finally. “The Hierarchy of Burden.”

“Indeed,” Seeker Thunder Wing nodded. “Perhaps… the most mundane of the Hierarchies. But it was also the most simplistic of the problems of the early Nexus. It was a question of spatial stability. How could the truly powerful individuals move or act when their very existence was enough to wound the fabric of reality?

“In the current Nexus, space heals as soon as its damaged. An image gouges deeply the battlefield, but only leaves scarred land after it departs. But that rapid spatial recovery just a function of the Nexus Reformation. In truth, in an area that isn’t invigorated by the Aether structures of the Nexus, that damage would normally linger. For example, consider you hold a flame and are standing in a forest. Say you use that flame to light a tree on fire. Even if you pull away the flame, will the fire on the tree extinguish? Of course not.

“And after the tree has burned to cinders, will another quickly grow in its place? Also no.” Seeker Thunder Wing Shook his head. “You have damaged the fabric of space with your image. For a while, that space will remained damaged. If too much damage accumulates, a Void Zone is created, where even a powerful image would struggle to survive.”

Seeker Thunder Wing pointed toward the Hierarchy of Burden in Randidly’s hand. “That Hierarchy was the primitive tool used to heal space. But it is not technically healing. Powerful images had marred the space, left remnants that continued to destabilize the area after the image had vanished. Rather than healing… the Hierarchy of Burden gathered all those remnants onto the bearer and forced them to endure them. The owner of this Hierarchy is essentially a martyr for the Nexus.”