Congratulations! You have finished the Energy Harmonization I Path! Your long Path through the wild frontier has led you to discover the balance of the two energies that have carved such a brutal history within the Nexus. Aether, which exists in shape and emotion. Nether, which lingers in connections and history. These two elements paint the entirety of what lays beyond the mundane physical existence. Upon their spinning wheels, life advances.

Yet what you seek in the unknown expanse is an atavistic attempt to replicate what has only been rumored of in legends: to imitate the Shallah, which produced both energies from the same source. Such a task will not be easy and will test every speck of knowledge you’ve managed to gather thus far.

But waiting on the other side is a reward like no other.

Congratulations! Making preliminary calculations… experimenting with available energies… integrating small-scale experiments… discontinuing obvious failures… checking bodily strain… remaking control group for experimentation… discontinuing obvious failures… attempting new integration methods… calculating results… checking for energy radiation… discontinuing obvious failures…

Expanding pool of Aether and Nether… generating new streams of energy… diversifying experimentation… recruiting additional members of the Pantheon to assist in experiments… discontinuing obvious failures…

Running scans of Randidly Ghosthound’s body… checking for acceptable levels of energy radiation… observing recovery time from energy poisoning… considering likely countermeasures… making environment adjustments… expanding experiment pool… discontinuing obvious failures…

Attempting less reasonable avenues of integration… discontinuing obvious failures… recovering mental faculties… brainstorming other possible options…

Expanding experiment pool even further… zeroing in on small differences in result… discontinuing obvious failures… modifying environment toward theoretical ideal scenario…

It was, Randidly admitted to himself, not a series of notifications that built his confidence in how powerful the result would be. And more notifications kept coming. Apparently, there were quite a few obvious failures that needed to be discontinued. For the next several minutes, he simply sat there and allowed similar and negative-sounding results to spoil out in front of him. Eventually, he grew rather exasperated and reached out to Neveah. How long is this Path reward going to take?

You can probably go through your farming Paths while this wraps up. Neveah responded. What I think is very clear is that the current starting position of both of your energy sources in incompatible with each other. Finding a stable merging point would be best. We will follow that line of investigation, maybe have some better info soon. I promise you, this isn’t easy.

Randidly pressed his lips together, but didn’t respond. His mood had not been improved by pouring twenty thousand PP down the Path and receiving only one free Stat every one hundred PP spent. Obviously, Neveah was right about not especially needing more Stats, but the small boosts given to him by Stats had already proven they paid dividends.

Randidly dumped those new free Stats into Discretion of the Apostate Moirae and then looked at his available Paths.

Mantle of the Patron 0/500, Aether Convergence II ???, Puppet Master 0/100, Pain Immunity I 0/250, Cleaver of the World Tree ???, Weakness of the World Tree 0/500, Guilty Conscience I 0/100, Ashes of Illym, the Above-Average Child 0/5000, Creature's Toil II 0/????, Violent Heat I 0/???, Deathwish X 0/5, Weakness of the Grim Chimera 0/500, The Creature’s Apotheosis 0/25000, Piece of the Ideal 0/????, Stat Evolution VII 0/100000, Determined VI 0/600, Excavator of the Two Failed Dreams 0/12,000, The Ash that Reigns Above the Open and Closed Sky 0/?????, The Living Soul of the Alpha Cosmos 0/??????, Herald of the Eternal March 0/10,000, The Crown of Four Authorities 0/100000, Peerlessness Through Woven Truth 0/?????, Bubbling Emotional Accumulation I 0/10000, Wild Farming I 0/500, Invigorating Presence 0/500, Animal Handling I 0/100

Compared to the ridiculously massive requirements for the Paths he’d been blazing through with his PP Tithe, Randidly now looked at the most recently acquired Paths for his development. Over the past week, he had even developed a new Skill: Ghosthound’s Green Thumb (L), which had already grown to Level 345. His original Farming had Skill had been consumed during one of his earlier transformations, meaning he had to develop his own the old-fashioned way. Yet this wasn’t enough. If he was going to stay here for a length of time and sniff out the secrets of the Second Cohort, he wanted to be an undeniable force in the farming world.

After a sigh, Randidly started putting points into Wild Farming I. Each ten PP used earned him a point in Exquisite Piety. This, at least, helped him cheer up a bit.

Congratulations! You have finished the Wild Farming I Path! You have found yourself seeking to live off the land in the most inhospitable environments. Beyond the limits of civilization you walk and sow seeds. Although you have methods to blunt the worst of nature’s wrath, you still need to find flora that can thrive in these unique environments to nurture to maturity. Through experimentation and hard work, you gradually have gotten in touch with the rugged energy of the wild.

Well, that’s certainly a very pretty way of painting what I’ve done, Randidly’s lips twitched.

Congratulations! Your affinity with nature has increased! You stand at the center of a whirlpool of different energies existing in harmony. Due to your familiarity with patterns, the energies stay pure and independent, even in close proximity. Synchronizing with your Fourth Authority, Animation Nova… Incorporating aspects of your Skill Soulful Vigor…

Congratulations! You have gained the Skill Farmer’s Hearth (Un)! Uncommon Metabolism +20!

Farmer’s Hearth (Un): The home and workspace of the farmer becomes a holy area for growth and development. The energies of the farmer create a constant aura of warmth that seeps outward into the surrounding field. The effect increases the longer the farmer has worked the land and known the animals. All living things cultivated on the farm will be slightly healthier and more resistant to corrosion and disease. An infinitesimal portion of the farmer’s abilities will be added to the resulting product. Effects and area covered by the Skill increase with Skill Level.

Randidly whistled to himself. “Okay, this is more what I’m talking about-”

A new notification popped up, interrupting his small celebration.

…Congratulations! You have finished the Energy Harmonization I Path! It is not possible to determine an exact reward, however, it is possible to calculate the greatest launching point for the Energy Harmonization II Path! Please gather and Level up the remainder of your Fatepieces! Please unlock your remaining Authorities!

The ideal balance can be struck at the moment you aim to condense both your Great Fate and your Penance: you Fate will be Penance, your Penance will be Fate. The combination will anchor you and allow you to integrate both Aether and Nether into a single form!

Congratulations! Incorporating Skills Animus Diffraction, Aether Understanding, Aether Infusion, Aether Detection, Aether Manipulation, Living Aether, Aether Surgeon, Aether Inoculation, Aether Connection, Nether Modification, and Soulful Vigor! Yearnings of the Nether Heir, Left Hand of the Nether Oracle, and the Right Hand of the Nether Polymath will be maintained independently, due to their high Level and integral role in your development.

Congratulations! Skills combining…

Congratulations! You have gained the Skill Tapestry of Ten Thousand Radiances (M)!

Tapestry of Ten Thousand Radiances (M): Your affinity for energy has grown to the point that each individual manifestation has its own unique hue in your mind. The world then exists as a constant, living, undulating network of life and color. As in all things, you can sense entropy lurking around the edges, biting off bits of these vivacious colors. Yet you can reach out and stroke the threads, stretch out a hand and feel the pulsing warmth of a world alive, press your face against the fundamental cascade of reactions on which all of conscious life floats.

You have developed a preternatural gift for understanding and viewing energy in its base form. You have a deep intuition as to the purpose of movements within energy and their causes. It’s easy for you to predict reactions between energies. Utilizing different energies within tight bounds occurs more easily. Negative reactions between energy are greatly diminished. You have a special ability to convert energy from one form to another. Effects grow with Skill Level.

Randidly sucked a breath in through his teeth. His nerves ignited in a blaze of light, color, and heat. The room around him was a humming, seething ant hive of activity, as energy marched back and forth in a dizzying series of rivers. Each gleamed and hummed with all the light and power of a lava flow, minuscule in the grand scheme of life but just as suddenly blinding as though a cave dweller had been teleported to the surface of the sun.

Congratulations! Your Skill Tapestry of Ten Thousand Radiances (M) has grown to Level 2!

Congratulations! Your Skill Tapestry of Ten Thousand Radiances (M) has grown to Level 3!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Tapestry of Ten Thousand Radiances (M) has grown to Level 79!

Neveah’s thought reached him. Your Farming Path actually gave them a bit of inspiration. Everyone agrees the transition period for both your Class and your Nether Core is where we should aim for the next series of experiments; right now too much is conjecture. You should have received your reward in the meantime. Like it?

Congratulations! Your Skill Tapestry of Ten Thousand Radiances (M) has grown to Level 131!

Randidly blinked several times. The more he became used to the crimson and tangerine light in the room just around him, which he belatedly realized was just the heat coming off of his body, the more he began to sense life and energy in the farm at large. The ground positively bubbled with the presence of bacteria and smaller plants, all of which became burning firebrands of emerald in his senses.

And once he could sense the area covered by the storm and felt the screeching friction of air rushing past itself, spitting off bright globules of energy in every direction-

Congratulations! Your Skill Tapestry of Ten Thousand Radiances (M) has grown to Level 200!

Yup, Randidly thought back at Neveah. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. Sensing his mood, Neveah withdrew. Gradually, Randidly became used to the new awareness. Or rather, it wasn’t a new awareness, but a new way of viewing energy. These were all energies that Randidly had been aware of in the past.

Just now he began to see how they were integrated into an entire system. The connections existed everywhere. The old saying was correct with energy as it was with people, no man is an island.

“Best way to get over an obnoxious new sensitivity is a good distraction,” Randidly muttered to himself. He opened up his Path screen, but immediately regretted it; the small bits of energy that were tied together to create the System interface made him slightly nauseous. Closing his eyes only helped a little, but he kept them shut and pressed the button to add points into Animal Handling I Path.