“This is…” Tatiana pressed her lips together as she looked down at the golden-edged paper that was being presented to her. Her own signature at the bottom seemed to be laughing at her quick acceptance of Randidly’s suggestion. “I certainly didn’t expect to see this used so quickly.”

Zack Krum, the student’s chosen representative, bowed slightly. The two of them were alone in Tatiana’s office. Golden rays of sunlight walked confidently through the windows and enthusiastically warmed the carpet between them. “I know it is quick… but this was something we all agreed upon. Fully 80% of the student body supports this.”

Tatiana suppressed a smile. Yes, despite his other failings in social interactions… one cannot deny Randidly has a flair for the dramatic… Even though I suspect he doesn’t do things like this purposefully...

She scanned the proposal briefly. “So… you want to make a holiday. But not just for the Academy… but for all of Kharon.”

Zack Krum hesitated, then nodded with enough force that his ginger curls bounced across his head. “We… we wished that we didn’t need to impose upon everyone… but considering all the options… there just didn’t seem to be a way to pull it off without involving the whole of the Wandering City… we think that will be part of the… uh, entertainment value. That everyone can participate.”

And of course, children are born with a little bit of narcissistic naivety… but I don’t hate it. Tatiana nodded calmly, trying to strike the right balance between adult seriousness and cautious acceptance. Having the kids parade across the sky would certainly alleviate some of the constant grind of Kharon’s wanderings.“So, have you thought about the name for this holiday?”

Zack Krum’s eyes brightened. “We want to call it… The Running of the Ghosthounds.”

*****

Congratulations! Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual (L) has grown to Level 366!

Congratulations! Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle (M) has grown to Level 342!

“Fuck, I’ve got a headache,” Randidly muttered to himself in the depths of the shaft, allowing his Nether Ritual to dissipate between his fingers. The ritual gradually came to pieces in front of him without the powerful force of his Willpower animating it.

Four months had passed since he had left Expira and returned to training in this misty, dark interior of this bone esophagus. And he had improved quickly when he pushed everything aside and embraced the study of Nether. For the past few weeks, the scale of his Nether Rituals was such that he had basically reached the limits of the area; he could extend the scope to include everything that he could sense in his surroundings, which had earned him the constant irritation of the Nether Gatekeepers meditating below.

Which meant that there were two months until the announced date of the Calamity on Expira. Lucretia was getting increasingly pushy, so it was time for Randidly to stop practicing and leave the shaft. He shook himself and glanced downward at the Nether Gatekeepers. Briefly, he entertained the thought of approaching them about joining the Alpha Cosmos, but Randidly reasoned that they might be a little miffed about his Nether Rituals at the moment.

After I head outside for a while, months or years will pass, Randidly grimaced at the obvious animosity the Nether Gatekeepers released as they noticed his examination. Hopefully, they will forget about my training and be more willing to talk…

Randidly slapped his hands against his cheeks to wake himself up a bit. Then he mobilized his significance within him, working the Nether within his body into a frenzy. His Weight shrouded him, filling out aura like an extra layer of inflated muscle. He kicked at the air and accelerated upward, moving with much more ease than he last left the shaft, despite his headache.

He blew past the porcelain guardians and then the representatives of the Engraving Guild, who were still talking quietly where Randidly had met them previously. He gave them a brief nod and continued to accelerate upward, only slowing down as he approached the door into that strange twilight neighborhood where Edraine had set up her base.

Both Edraine and Octavius were busy with other things, so Randidly gratefully returned to ‘his’ room and spread out on the palette there. He closed his eyes and stretched even further, earning pops from his shoulders. I guess I should have just recovered by sleeping in the shaft, but there’s just something particularly great about sleeping on a bed…

Besides, a few hours won’t make much difference, in the grand scheme of things…

But despite the ready ease that his body relaxed, his strained mind didn’t behave so obediently. Despite, or perhaps because of, the all-consuming exertion he had embraced for several months, finally taking a break from the training allowed his thoughts to confront something that had been nagging at him for a while. Randidly opened his eyes and sighed. Assuming I eventually gather enough power to protect my Alpha Cosmos, to change the way the Nexus functions… What is it that I’ll do then? How will I spend my time?

Randidly’s mind drifted to those early days, growing plants in the Safe Zone and then in that valley that would eventually expand to become Donnyton. I suppose… Farming and Potion Making were the two things that I actually enjoyed… Maybe I could just…

And like magic, something about the memory crouching next to a dirt field with the warm secondhand heat of the sun coming off of the soil just eased something in Randidly’s heart. His flitting mind settled and clear. Randidly sucked in a deep breath and by the time he breathed out, he was completely asleep.

When he woke up, it was to a bunch of waiting Skill Level Up notifications.

Congratulations! Your Skill Soulbond has grown to Level 156!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Soulbond has grown to Level 356!

For a second, Randidly just stared at the enormous column of notifications in shock. Then he could only shake his head and chuckle. Maybe I’ve been driving myself too hard. My work here in the Nexus is important… but I’ve been putting too many things on hold… Randidly’s mind drifted to Vualla, before he snapped back to the notifications. ...and that has hurt me. But like I told Todd… even if I fail, that’s not the end of things. That’s why I’m driving the people of Expira so hard.

So I don’t always need to be the heroic force.

Plus, Randidly could immediately feel the way that his heart had eased and allowed him a more intimate connection with Neveah when he began to think about himself. Now with just a thought, their bond crossed the distance between them and established a connection. Without even a message, they could rapidly exchange insights about Engraving. More than ever, the two of them were working together.

Congratulations! Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 426!

A rumble from his stomach finally pulled Randidly’s attention back to the physical world. Chuckling, Randidly tossed himself to his feet and wandered out of the room while scratching his back. No one else was back yet, so he wandered out alone into the Web and headed upward to the more populated portion of the Nexus to get some food.

Eventually, Randidly entered one of the middle-tier housing areas and settled on a half-underground little building on the outskirts of a commercial district. Randidly walked past ax wielders casually leaning against their weapons and chatting and a crystal shop filled with floating psychics.

But when he left the street, suddenly he was very aware of the silence. Stepping down a few steps through the round doorway, Randidly was given the immediate impression of a hobbit-hold. Heavy stone tables filled the cramped room, which was deserted except for a dark-blue skinned goblin who looked up and waved in a universal ‘sit anywhere you’d like’ signal.

Randidly settled himself on a surprisingly plush booth, enjoying the feeling of the dirt between his toes in the cave-like room. The goblin wandered over, toying with his droopy ears. Randidly raised an eyebrow at his empty hands. “Do you… not have menus? This is a restaurant, right?”

Rather than answer immediately, the goblin yawned. Then he waved his hand. “No menu, no menu. Just whatever the cook is hungry for. Do you want a small or a large portion?”

Randidly began to wonder if this place was a bad choice. “Who’s the cook?”

“I am,” the words dragged off into another long yawn.

“Then I’ll have a large,” Randidly eyed the goblins small body as the man ambled away toward a door at the far side of the restaurant. His stomach rumbled again and he felt vaguely like he should just leave, but he decided to give this fellow a chance. Besides, don’t all talented individuals have weird quirks? Maybe I’ve stumbled upon a hidden gem…

It was just hard to believe that to be true, considering how deserted the restaurant was. And aside from the crystal shop, the surrounding area had been rather sparsely populated...

Either way, Randidly shook himself and focused on other things. He took inventory of his current goals. For the long term, Randidly needed to continue training his abilities with Nether and prepare to evolve the Grim Chimera. More short term, he needed to successfully capture a planet, even if it was just a small moon, and incorporate it into the Alpha Cosmos. This would both prove it was possible for the Nemesais’ worlds and also provide the materials necessary for Expira’s First Calamity.

In the meantime… Randidly had a few other things on his plate. One was the recruitment of Nether Gatekeepers into his Alpha Cosmos, both as a repayment to that first Nether Gatekeeper and also to learn more about these powerful Nether Beings at the base of the shaft and the Universe Devouring Beasts.

That thought made Randidly grimace. When it comes to my Nether Core, time will strengthen it gradually, but understanding is also important… pah, I just don’t really want to reach out to either the Engraving Guild or Neshamah....

Bah, but evolving my Nether Core blindly feels a bit foolish… I’ll have to ask the Nether Gatekeeper what stage his Nether Core is at…

In addition, remaining in the Nexus allowed time to pass for others; which was only important for two reasons: the final results of Randidly’s Elite Squad in mopping up the remnants of the Nether King’s forces and also because of the request made of him by Claudette Beigon.

The former he was optimistic about due to Raymond Ballast’s growth, but the latter he hesitated over. Due to various personal reasons that Randidly didn’t understand, the blonde-haired student of the Frost Matriarch seemed to have no choice but to request that he, an unknown quantity, be the one who refined her image. Perhaps because of his acknowledgment of his hitherto trampled humanity during his time on Expira, he was much more swayed by the abject vulnerability he remembered in her solemn gaze when she had made the request.

Randidly grimaced. I should at least look into the issue… the experience with working with another image will be useful. And at this point, I feel confident that I can survive an ambush from Velio Dunn and his ilk… its just those top individuals… those Speculum… who have the power to decide my life and death…

Haaaah, somehow, I suspect accepting her request will make another enemy… the question is who that will be...

After sniffing casually, Randidly’s expression perked up and he looked toward the low door to the kitchen with a light in his eyes; something was beginning to smell quick good. He drummed his fingers on the table, but it seemed like the food wasn’t quite ready yet. Then, for the first time in a while, Randidly opened his Path screen.

Combined with some of his leftover PP from his previous Soulskill Tithe, Randidly had 7805 PP available to him. Which was quite a lot, but considering it would require 30,000 PP for him to reach his next Tithe, it was really just the first in several long steps. For now, he had to earn PP the old-fashioned way. Still, two new Paths had appeared in his list of options that caught his eye.

Fiber of the Nether System 0/5000, Spark of the Origin Beast 0/?????

Randidly twitched slightly looking at them. Both are obscenely expensive… but the Fiber of the Nether System seems to be related to my focused research into Nether Arrays. It will take most of my PP, but I definitely don’t want to waste much more time on this issue, considering that Expira’s time is now tied to my physical body…

As for the other one… I have to assume it’s due to my time in the shaft…? It seems like there certainly is something to the Nether Gatekeepers stories about the Universe Devouring Beasts…

And maybe even… a survivor of that great race is what calls to me from the base of the shaft…?

Randidly’s musings were interrupted as the blue-skinned goblin kicked open the door to the kitchen and carried out a massive tray toward Randidly’s table. Immediately, Randidly wanted to shed tears of joy: the entire tray was smoked meats.

To his surprise, however, the goblin plopped down at the table after setting down the tray. But the goblin’s words perked Randidly up again. “This will be our first course. Enjoy.”

Randidly licked his lips. So this is what you meant by… whatever the chef is hungry for...