At the center of a storm of energy, the trunk of Yggdrasil seeped undulating golden fire. The Engraved runes along its trunk were so bright all of the imaginary animals in the area averted their eyes to avoid being blinded. The massive emerald canopy of the World Tree rustled like thunder. Each leaf released a tiny, perfectly unique, noise. The ground shook as the golden roots began to tremble to withstand the force.

Randidly pressed his fingers against the ground, all the force of his Willpower and person directed at applying pressure to the World Tree. The tendons on his hand bulged past his skin. Every tremor of the ground resonated up through his arms. He could feel the depths of his image’s power slowly begin to stir.

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 444!

Randidly squeezed power into Yggdrasil as best as he could. His mental state trembled as he attempted to apply the pressure from each direction evenly. The connections from his Nether to the burning image around him began to thrum with potent meaning. Randidly almost felt like his body was evaporating from the heat and energy that was released, steadily erasing him from this environment. He gritted his teeth, keeping up the pressure.

Sweat dripped down his brow and across his cheekbone.

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 445!

However, soon he released a breath and began to ease back. All of the gathered energy pulsed through the glittering Engravings on the trunk before flowing through the distribution system of the World Tree and enriching the surrounding environment. Warm breezes spiraled through the small area around Randidly, a frantic celebration of the greenery that survived the intensity of that flare. He leaned back against the root behind him and sighed. “Still… not quite ready yet, huh…?”

Randidly clicked his tongue in disappointment. Of course, he knew that it wouldn’t be a simple thing to empower his images further, but he at least thought that he could manage to evolve his Skills into more powerful versions of themselves with some concerted effort. But maybe he was just overly optimistic after the shift to the Grey Creature.

He left his Yggdrasil environment, returning to the dark and musty shaft of the Nexus. Misty streams of emotion flowed upward while significance was steadily pulled downward. Randidly shook out his joints as he let his strained Willpower ease after the prolonged pressure that he put on his image. Even if he wasn’t ready now, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t succeed eventually. There was no point in exhausting himself immediately.

He could afford to take things slow. At least right now, no one appeared to be aiming to kill him.

Before he continued with image training, Randidly spent some time utilizing his Hierarchy of Burden. His powerful body gradually acclimated to the dangerous crimson electromagnetic radiation that he endured.

After training his physical body some, he returned to his images. He spent some time with his eyes closed, remembering how the two images he had been stretched between had felt exactly like memory, then spent some time experimenting with the fabric Grey Creature and the Stillborn Phoenix to replicate that effect.

He tirelessly adjusted the details of his images, while also testing the limits of the various new Skills of the Grey Creature. In terms of offensive output, the shift was certainly an improvement. And with the comparison to Elhume and Ivlin, Randidly realized that part of the trick to increasing the power of his images was making them seem part of something larger… that didn’t exist.

The slow method would be to do what Randidly was currently doing with Yggdrasil; he could gradually build out a world around his image and have that deepen its foundation. This took quite a lot of time, effort, and experimentation, but the result would be quite solid. However, as Randidly considered the two image fragments, one that had beaten him down and the other that had healed him, he was struck by this inexplicable sense… that if he had turned away from Elhume and Yystrix or walked along that road where Nrorce and Ivlin had been walking, he would have found a surrounding waiting for him.

Humming thoughtfully to himself, Randidly turned to the Grey Creature and the Stillborn Phoenix and began to try and draw subtle notes through their shape that would lead to a similar impression. By surrounding the Stillborn Phoenix with desolation and partially devoured celestial phenomenon, he could begin to see the path forward. But for the Grey Creature… Randidly was stumped.

“You are me… but you can’t just have my history…That seems a bit… narcissistic...” Randidly rubbed his chin as he stared at his own face, surrounded by too wide shoulders covered in armor and ending in claws, even if it was a more human-ish version than it had been previously. Then he sighed and shook his head.

He could only consider it slowly. Not because he didn’t have any ideas about the world from which the image came… but because some part of Randidly didn’t want to face what the Grey Creature had probably endured getting here.

So most of his attention was dedicated toward the Stillborn Phoenix for subtle notes and Yggdrasil for forcefully extending the environment through sheer weight of detail. Time and time again Randidly returned to his Soulspace and sat in silence, listening to the subtle sound of the wind echoing through his interior. Sometimes, he swore he could hear the distant sound of a children’s laughter.

Holding onto the ephemeral sensation of that wind, Randidly went back to churning through detail. It was difficult to add a sensation beyond his understanding to the image, but Randidly did his best to do it.

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 446!

One unintended side effect of these moments of listening was that Randidly gradually grew to appreciate the resonance along the threads that connected his core of significance with the shape of his images. The noises those slender threads released rose and fell as Randidly adjusted the details. So beyond just improving things, he also began ‘tuning’ his images to his significance. From individual instruments, he gradually gathered them all into a symphony.

The effect was immediate. Both in terms of harmony between his images, and the details of each individual one. In the Yggdrasil environment, the heat became sweltering. The World Tree had to be settled at the base of a massive mountain, so hundreds of chilling, ice run-off streams could make the environment livable for the fauna. The flashes of electromagnetic discharge around the Stillborn struck and damaged nearby asteroid belts. And for the Grey Creature…

The darkness Randidly could see in his own eyes grew increasingly heavy as the horror of that image’s history slowly fermented.

Randidly examined himself and felt confident that he had found the right direction. But that only made his expression more serious as he floated in the shaft. I have the right trail… but Velio Dunn’s image was shattered into a single usable shard and I was still helpless against it… if I want to really deliver on my promise to help Claudette, this is far from enough…

All the while, Randidly’s Nether Core continued to spin. Nether seeped more and more deeply through his body and soul.

Influence +17!

*****

Zack Krum stood with his hands folded behind his back. His expression was serious and his fingers were squeezed together until his knuckles were white. The nineteen-year-old was the most powerful current student at Kharon Academy, and although he had not yet graduated from the institution, he was confident that he could survive very well in the outside world. He had no doubts that he could obtain a powerful Class and then his growth over the next several months would be explosive.

And yet…

The Headmistress, Gertrude Collins, sighed and shook her head. “...I’m sorry, but I am denying your request.”

Zack tensed but tried not to let his alarm show on his face. “...considering the current political situation, it doesn’t make sense for me to remain at Kharon Academy when there might be… listen, if you approve this special dispensation for me to join the Order Ducis-”

“You aren’t ready for the Order Ducis, Zack,” Headmistress Collins looked at him with heavy eyes. “You are strong yes, but you haven’t yet cleared the Kharon Labyrinth. You know that is one of the prerequisites for the special dispensation. But even aside from that… your scores in the Squad based exercises are fine, but… only fine. You are strong and powerful, but that isn’t the only aspect that is important. The Order Ducis agents will be required to act independently in the field. In addition, you have a responsibility to fulfill as a member of the Order Ducis; you will need to lead and protect civilians-”

“But isn’t it better to have me out there than to have no one?” Zack argued. His hands behind his back began to shake. “And… no offense, but Kharon Academy’s Squad exercises… you just get random other students placed into your group. Some of my members purposefully-”

“Do you think panicking civilians will be any easier to handle?” Headmistress Collins raised an eyebrow. “You are strong, Zack. But you aren’t ready. And in this case… my decision is final.”

Zack was rather numb as he departed the Headmistress’s office. He walked through the ornate hallways of the Kharon Academy administration building, walking out to the wide plaza with a gushing fountain. He flicked his wrist and produced a skyboard, drawing a hasty Scrawl and shooting up into the air.

The cool night air finally woke him up. As the Calamity approached, so did winter for Expira. Slate grey clouds hung low over Kharon and its Sky islands. Zack spat out his words into the frigid wind. “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

He soared out from the Skyisland and followed a thin trail of emerald moss spirits that spun a road for him through the darkness of the night. Zack reached up and scratched furiously at his fuzzy orange hair. As he whizzed past several residential skyislands, he saw many people gather in small groups and discussing in quiet voices. Everyone was talking about one thing: the coming Calamity.

The President of Zone 1 repeatedly made claims that Kharon and the other Zones were fear-mongering, but no one was willing to take that chance, not after surviving the initial arrival of the System. Kharon relaxed its entry requirements and patrolled the periphery of the Zones, picking up anyone who sought sanctuary.

The populations of Bubble Cities flooded toward more populace areas, afraid they would be found and executed. Across all of Expira, anyone with any sort of prophetic Skill warned that they felt a horrible danger approaching. No one could discern the details of the Calamity, but it was approaching.

“Shit…!” Zack said again, his eyes watering from the cold as he continued to accelerate on his skyboard. The world was walking toward a precipice… and here he was, staying in one of the safest places on Expira.

He couldn’t stand it. He wouldn’t.

His gaze firmed into a scowl. He would do something about it. Even if he lost his place at Kharon Academy because of it, people were in danger.