Randidly eyed the gloves that the goblin passed to him. More complex runes glittered along the metal plates that were embedded around the wrists. It seemed that the goblin took this process seriously. Being hired as a laborer came with a uniform. “These… suppress Skill use and images?”

Meanwhile, the continually dead-eyed Claudette grimaced as the admittedly… rank smell of the well-used and sweat-covered gloves wafted under her nose. She held the implements at arm’s length, and it was clear she didn’t consider that far enough “Sir… are these gloves really necessary? I’ll have you know in addition my identity as the daughter of Don Beigon… I’m also an apprentice Pinnacle Seeker underneath the Frost Matriarch. I can assure you that my mastery of my image is immaculate. Such a tool… is redundant.”

“Oh, a Pinnacle Seeker,” The goblin said in mock sincerity. The trio was standing next to a small shed propped up against the edge of the immaculate and glittering rune-covered walls. And literally, the shed was filled with farming equipment. Gloves, boots, hoes, and overalls made the small building feel extremely cluttered. “So you are still seeking the Pinnacle, yes? Which probably means that your control over your image isn’t perfect? So you want to waltz into my farm and jeopardize my livelihood on your word? The word of a woman who didn’t even have the money to pay for a single meal?”

“I didn’t even-” Claudette twitched with rage and once more Randidly had to turn away and hide his smile.

The goblin clicked his tongue and eyed Claudette with blatant suspicion. “Forgive me if I refuse. If you want to walk away from your debt, fine. I’ll work your boytoy plenty. I don’t need a complainer.”

“He’s not my Boytoy!” Claudette snapped. Then the second part of the goblin’s words reached her and she hissed her breath out through her nose in an attempt to breathe fire.

Wondering if he was pushing things a bit too far, Randidly slipped on his gloves and nodded. “I’m really not her boytoy. I actually am seeing someone else.”

“Ah, so she’s the other woman? Well,” Suddenly the goblin looked at Claudette with pity. “Not that I blame you, but be careful. If you don’t set emotional boundaries, a shameless man like this will walk all over you. Anyway, your personal mistakes are your own; either put on those gloves or leave.”

The goblin waddled forward toward a small door next to the shed. Avoiding a growing eddy of frosty air spiraling outward from the glaring Claudette, Randidly hurried after the goblin. He was actually quite curious about the design of the gloves. When he snapped the leather wrist braces into place, the runes connected and activated. Instantly, Randidly felt a strange sense of heaviness settle across his body as the Engraving activated.

He took a few steps tentatively, getting used to the new sensation. With their suddenly more intimate connection, Neveah sensed his wonder and brought her attention to align with Randidly’s they looked in wonder at the bracelets. The Engraving was extremely domineering in its scope. It’s truly… suppressing all of my Skills. Even the passive ones…

Randidly waved his arms, feeling the runes on the gloves activate with a bit more vigor. Of course, the bracelets couldn’t prevent the Skills from functioning within the confines of his body. But the equipment created a thin barrier across his skin that completely disallowed anything related to Aether from proceeding past it.

Guess it’s a good thing that the Alpha Cosmos is inside of me, at the moment, Randidly’s lips twitched. Otherwise… heh.

However, a new tidbit of information became obvious as he continued to walk around experimentally. To compensate for the passive Skills of his body, the gloves generated an equal restriction against him. That is, for all the extra physical power Randidly received from where his Skills could occur, the gloves countered with a restrictive forcefield. He studied the patterns on the gloves, making a mental note to add a version of this to his physical training regimen.

“Careful.”

Randidly looked up in shock. He had been so caught up in examining the function of the gloves that he didn’t notice the goblin’s approach. The goblin was squinting at Randidly’s gloves. “Heh, yea, you definitely have a pretty robust body. Good for farming. But… just a warning; don’t be too lively out there. I didn’t add a heat sink to the runes. The formation is connected to the central weather control I maintain inside of the farm, so powering the Engraving isn’t an issue. But as it has to channel more energy to restrict you… that heat will accumulate. With the materials used for those… theoretically, it could melt through your wrists.”

Randidly reached out and touched the metal plates embedded in the leather gloves. Already, they were quite warm to the touch. But he just flashed a cheeky smile at the goblin. He thought that it was quite unlikely that heat could easily overcome his new body. “Thanks for the warning, but I’m pretty confident in my heat tolerance. By the way, what’s your name? I really admire your Engraving.”

“Nrorce,” The goblin grunted. Then, as Claudette finally thawed enough to slip on the gloves and snap them into place, Nrorce led them to the door in the wall and opened it. Instantly, bolts of white lightning raced up and down around the threshold. A rather cramped and low-ceilinged hallway ran forward, through the entirety of the thick alabaster walls. A powerful electromagnetic field crackled within the area, populated by floating orbs of white lightning.

Surveying the lightning-filled tunnel, Nrorce cackled a bit then favored Randidly and Claudette with a wide smile. “Ehh… not to be blunt, but you might want to… ahem, void your bowels before proceeding through the barrier. This energy field rids you of any lingering images… but also can have a strange effect on the body. Feel free to go beyond the shed and relieve yourself-”

Before Claudette could open her mouth and finally vent the frigid fury she had been nursing for almost an hour, Randidly stepped forward and confidently walked into the passageway. White lightning quickly lashed out and hit his body… but he continued walking without the slightest hitch.

Barely at the first Level of the Hierarchy of Burden…tsk, tsk… getting me excited for nothing. Randidly proceeded through the passageway and then turned around. Nrorce looked at him in shock for several seconds before muttering to himself and hurrying forward. He lowered his head and kept his limbs tightly pressed against his sides. But even with his preparations, the tiny, blue-skinned goblin buzzed like a kicked beehive as he rushed forward.

Nrorce huffed out a breath and shivered when he passed through the long tunnel. After giving Randidly a wary glance, both turned and waited for Claudette to follow. To both of their surprises, she proceeded forward in a manner much more akin to Randidly’s walk than Nrorce’s frantic run.

Nrorce sighed with obvious disappointment in a way that made Randidly wonder if he was something of a pervert. Then the goblin pointed to some farming equipment leaning against the interior walls. “You, take those. Go through the East field and till the soil a bit. Then walk through the South and North fields, examining every plant, understand? Rip out any weeds. Kill any bugs. And you…” Nrorce scratched his head as he looked at Claudette. “Well, come with me. I’ll have you refine some spices.

Suddenly, Randidly scratched his cheek as he watched the other two’s departing backs. He had been left alone on a farm. A breeze rustled the grass in front of him, dancing ahead down one of the dirt tracks that led around the periphery of the fields.

Well, let’s not think too deeply about it. Randidly picked up a hoe and walked vaguely toward the West field. The entrance to Nrorce’s massive farm they had used was to the South, so for now he moved past the South field and headed to the Northwest. To his right, Randidly could make out a well-to-do country manor on a small hill above the fields. That was likely where Nrorce was currently taking Claudette, into his home.

Aside from the four main fields in the cardinal directions, Randidly also sensed four miniature special spaces between them. Two were animal enclosures, one for a monstrous form of bears and one for a feathered, flightless bird that looked like a pheasant. The one in the Southwest that Randidly walked past now was a place with several small orchards clustered together, while the one opposite was an herb garden.

Nrorce certainly has all his bases covered… no wonder he is such a good chef, Randidly reflected as he allowed his senses to expand. He takes this process very seriously…

Randidly continued to walk through the blue-greenery, admiring the various strange fruits that he saw hanging from branches in the orchards. But the more he looked, the more Randidly realized two facts that made him abruptly glad that he had come to this place.

In a way, his typical habit of not thinking about money had led him to a unique opportunity.

First, due to the runes that stripped away the typical overlay System, the pressure the Nexus applied in the area was somewhat lax. Therefore, the usual thin layer for Nether was able to expand somewhat on the farm, perhaps to three times its normal thickness. That wasn’t as wide as the depths of the shaft, but Randidly could remain here and train with Nether usage while allowing time to pass in the Nexus.

Specifically, he wanted to allow time for his Elite Squad to earn its merits and also to get a response from Claudette regarding his requests. Plus, since he had his Pantheon running an imitation System within his body, so he would still receive Skill Level Up notifications.

Secondly… and this was truly what stopped Randidly dead right as he was about to walk into the Western field, was that he discovered an ancient and completely organic Nether Array humming beneath Nrorce’s farm. The flows of energy were inconsistent and tattered, which was the reason that he hadn’t noticed it from a distance. But as he walked across the farm… the currents of Nether in the surrounding area quickly became clear.

The whole of the farm was connected by the significance of Nrorce’s purpose in becoming a chef. Perhaps the existence of the Nether was a bonus reason why the food turned out so well; all of the ingredients were grown with this harmonious bond that multiplied the effect when they were cooked together. This was truly a pollution-free environment.

And that meal was definitely worth a little bit of work, Randidly patted his stomach with a smile on his face.

And without any external Aether or images being allowed into the area, the sheer length of proximity had slowly adjusted Aether and Nether within the barrier to be neutral toward one another. That was the real reason that an organic formation of Nether could occur. And looking at it, Randidly realized how long Nrorce had worked here, honing the art of his cooking. Truly, it was admirable.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 344!

When he reached the West Field, Randidly licked his lips. He immediately got to the physical task of hoeing the soil, but that barely took any attention at all. Instead, his mind was carefully examining the organic Nether Array beneath his feet. Despite the fact that it was quite the accomplishment… the thin and raggedly flows quickly earned his pity.

Since I’m here laboring anyway… Randidly eventually reasoned with himself. There should be no harm in just… polishing up the Nether flows, right? It’s the least I can do.