Nrorce didn’t leave the mysterious depths of his cottage for three days after the visit from the other members of his race, even to cook meals. The home remained still and silent, as though the floppy-eared goblin had crawled into a coffin and died.

For the first day without supervision, Randidly had learned enough about the activities of the farm to keep things on track. The snide commentary and sniffs were not a necessary component. Plus, he allowed some of his stress to slide off his back as he realized he was not being observed. He threw himself toward his preparations. During the day he trained and kept things on track around the farm and at night he adjusted the Engraving.

On the second day, as Randidly harvested more of the crops that were steadily ripening, he decided to try his hand at cooking. He hadn’t been idle while Nrorce had prepared the food, although he had been distracted by his own concerns. So he stooped down and rolled up his sleeves in the cramped kitchen of the goblin.

Randidly ended up being… quite surprised by the results.

The best that could be said about Randidly’s attempts was that the result was ‘fine’. Not that he had ever considered himself an excellent cook, but he was aghast how spoiled he had become just from staying with Nrorce. Suddenly, all he could taste when he ate the stew he made was the way he hadn’t taken advantage of the natural flavors of the ingredients.

Each swallow felt like a transgression against all the labor he had poured into harvesting the ingredients. So Randidly resolved himself to take cooking more seriously on his next attempt.

Secretly, he held onto the hope that he would not have to do so.

On the third day, Randidly left the farm to return to the shaft. He experienced several weeks there, accumulating Nether and perusing through the information that Octavius had supplied about image refinement. However, the introductory texts he had given Randidly just made him snort in derision; there was nothing within the books that Randidly wouldn’t have been able to guess just from the label of ‘image refinement’.

Then again, that makes a certain amount of sense. Randidly thought to himself as he floated in the darkness of the shaft and very gradually sharpened the details of his different images. If there was a trick to it, the process wouldn’t be so widespread yet accessible. In the end, it’s like any sort of general skill for organization or design… there are best practices, but no rules that can ensure success. Experience, effort, and vision are the best tools in an image refiner’s arsenal.

So if I want to help Claudette in a meaningful way...Randidly could only grimace at that thought. Without shortcuts, he would likely need more time to compensate. But even then, if Randidly couldn’t make his own image overwhelmingly powerful-

Again, he silenced that thought. Worrying was a waste of time. But because his mind was wandering anyway, he ceased trying to study image refinement or improve his own image for now. Instead, he pulled out another one of his Fatepieces that he hadn’t used in a long time.

The Dreamcatcher of the Long Night was the most obtuse of the Fatepieces that Randidly had obtained thus far, allowing him to relive certain meaningful moments in his past. Unfortunately, the scope of useful memories he had was somewhat limited by his own experiences; there was a conductivity to Nether that allowed Nether beings to sense when he incorporated a bit of their past into the memories. As such, Randidly had been only able to go back and fight against foes such as Kaan and Ileot Swacc, who were powerful but were ultimately countered pretty directly by his abilities.

In addition, he had faced them without any powerful Nether Beings in the area.

However, Randidly had made a recent discovery. Wherever the Nether King currently was, that being could no longer sense his activation of the Dream Catcher of the Long Night. Because he wanted to take the risk to observe the movements of Nether, he had flitted into a memory and then out again… but he had realized that he hadn’t sense that shuddering recognition that had happened previously.

Probably the Path to the Pinnacle isolated the Nether King from certain influences in the Nexus.

Whatever the justification, Randidly was finally able to return and observe the complex interaction of energies during the complex struggle between the Nether King and Commandant Wick. Randidly couldn’t afford to deviate much from the original memory; the high-powered individuals involved meant that the mental strain quickly accumulated if he did not simply observe the situation. Plus, he dare not antagonize anyone too powerful, in case they also had ways of observing the phenomenon.

However, with his improved understanding of Nether, the truths that Randidly could glean from observing the movements of Nether were much larger than during his original observation. Even just being under that fractured space in the Fifth Cohort sent his Nether Core spinning wildly, accumulating as much Nether in an hour as it usually took him a month to gather.

Congratulations! Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath (M) has grown to Level 250

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 347

...

Congratulations! Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle (M) has grown to Level 355!

Congratulations! Your Skill RIght Hand of the Nether Polymath (M) has grown to Level 270!

After Nether came spear practice and after spear practice came more body refinement with the Hierarchy of Burden. Then, feeling content with the amount of Nether he had accumulated and still mentally exhausted from the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night, Randidly returned to the farm to rest. To his surprise, his nose perked up immediately when he walked onto the farm; Nrorce was cooking dinner.

The goblin didn’t speak through the whole meal. But by the end of it, he looked Randidly up and down and squinted. “...if you are gonna use the kitchen, make sure you clean the dishes up properly afterward.”

Randidly hid his smile and nodded. At least for now, he was content to let Nrorce continue to calm down before he offered the old goblin help, assuming from the conversation he witnessed that the goblin’s planet was running out of Aether. The prospect of swallowing another planet… was unpleasant, but it wasn’t so unpleasant that he was unwilling. He just needed the right opportunity to broach the subject.

Randidly was about to launch into an explanation of the changes he made to the Engraving when he received a message that made him frown.

Come to Military High Command immediately. We need to converse.

The sender was Commandant Wick. Randidly narrowed his eyes as he examined the small message for hidden meanings. He hadn’t spoken to the Commandant since the man had offered him a position in helping with the Fifth Cohort… but out of fear that the Commandant sought to control him, Randidly had just gone directly to the fighting without asking to be deployed. He had even briefly used Raymund Ballast’s identity in order to do so openly.

This message was an unwelcome return of a dangerous existence into his current plans. At the moment, he was technically unassigned. As such, the Commandant was his superior in name but he wasn’t deployed. But Randidly couldn’t justify refusing the Commandant outright. So he gave an explanation to Nrorce and received a profoundly uninterested stare in return, then proceeded to the Nexus.

The buildings of Military High Command were as heavy and unwelcoming as Randidly remembered, cut out from the heavy granite in one of the lower levels of the Tier 1 Nexus. The guards in front of the broad doors gave him a sharp salute as he passed through their midst and proceeded onto the marble flooring. Compared to some of the other military members around, Randidly’s steps were quiet; his bare feet muffled most of the sound.

But if anything, he felt like the silence of his steps only drew more attention to him. Several tall bestial humanoids turned to regard Randidly as he walked forward. His muted steps marked him as different, as an other. In comparison to the sharp clip of boots, he was soft and gentle.

Considering these were the sort of people that condoned the actions of Nexus, Randidly found some solace in that obvious difference.

He proceeded down into darker and heavier hallways, filled with fat pillars and brutal suits of armor. Then, in one of the darkest corners of Military High Command, he arrived at Commandant Wick’s office. He rapped sharply on the darkwood door and then waited for almost two minutes, anticipating the icy treatment. Only when he heard the call of ‘come in’ from the interior of the office did Randidly push open the door.

The massive, furry, bear-form of Commandant Wick was just as Randidly remembered him. His heavy eyes might show a few more glimmers of the lurking madness held within by his tight reins of control, but otherwise, Commandant Wick seemed none the worse for wear for his confrontation with the Nether King. His uniform was impeccable, even as he leaned over the work on his desk.

“Sit,” The Commandant said simply, pointing toward a chair of polished bone that sat over to the side of the office. Randidly’s skin prickled at the proximity to the powerful Commandant; he was definitely short of those powerful Speculum, but he was still a monstrous foe for someone of Randidly’s caliber. So he seated himself in the cool chair without much comment.

Commandant flicked his wrist and brought a feathered quill to several more pieces of parchment, continuing to do paperwork while Randidly waited just a few meters away. For his part, Randidly was honestly somewhat relieved that the Commandant was doing this. He knew Commandant Wick was a stickler for rules and had been rather leery of his reaction to the way Randidly had deployed himself without consulting his superior officer into the Fifth Cohort. But considering that the Commandant was using these petty delaying tactics to get back at him… it seemed that the powerful member of Military High Command didn’t take his actions as seriously as he had feared.

After about ten minutes, the Commandant pushed himself up with his heavy arms and walked over to sit in a more comfortable chair near Randidly. As he settled himself, the bear humanoid scanned Randidly closely. “Hum…. you’ve gotten stronger once again. Interesting.”

Randidly cautiously inclined his head. He wondered how much the Commandant had into the growth of his Nether. Or perhaps he just noticed the sharpened and refined images?

Commandant Wick continued speaking, seeming to have just added the compliment as a fleeting thought. “There are two things to discuss. First… your Elite Squad is performing admirably. Even the other Commandants cannot help but give begrudging praises to all of the members. Heh. And please allow this grandfather to thank you for whipping my emotional grandaughter into shape… you’ve impressed upon her an aspect of your image, yes?”

“Yes,” Randidly agreed.

“An unruly, unreliable power in her hands,” The Commandant folded his heavy hands in his lap. “Still, not without concrete benefits for warriors at their insignificant level, however. I appreciate the advantage you have given her. I will not forget this favor.”

Not that I’ll tell you this, but… she earned it. Randidly thought.

“Which brings me to the second topic.” This time, Commandant Wick leaned forward and regarded Randidly with heavy eyes. Although he tried his best, Randidly couldn’t help but feel his pulse quicken under that constricting gaze. “You… I have heard rumors that you have begun pursuing the daughter of Don Beigon? Even going so far as to infiltrate his compound to profess your love for her?”

“Uh…” Randidly blinked several times. He had been prepared for another offer to have the Commandant reinforce his power or a forceful ultimatum. But this…

The Commandant chuckled. “No need to be shy. Men older and wilier than you have fallen for that girl’s charms. But I wish to support you in your courtship of her. Her father… is particularly irksome. I think he could stand to learn some humility.”

Meaning you wish to use me as a weapon to antagonize Don Beigon… Randidly pressed his lips together. And likely cast me aside when I affect him enough to draw his ire…

“What… what sort of… support…?” Randidly managed to spit out.

Commandant Wick’s wide bear mouth spread wide in a grin. “I might look like this… but let me assure you that I have as many descendants as I do because I am quite the lady’s man when I make an effort. I have arranged for a demonstration… one that will make your sincerity and determination clear to Claudette Beigon… and her father.”

Randidly genuinely had no idea what to say.