“How was he?” Demetrius asked. His voice was warm with hope for a positive answer.

Randidly straightened and scratched his cheek. The two of them were packing up crates of apples, carrots, and Ara Fruit and storing them in Randidly’s interspatial ring for transport. Apparently, a market gathered only a short distance away from Jotem’s farm during the mild season. To build their reputation, Jotem suggested they go and Randidly agreed. Plus, it was a good opportunity to gather information.

He coughed lightly. “Well, he certainly was dedicated to fighting. Didn’t complain at all during the sparing. I’ve got him doing some foundation-building exercises now. I’ll check in when we get back. It will all depend on how long he works.”

“He might be a little rough around the edges, but his youth was difficult,” Demetrius said lightly. Then he grinned over at Randidly. “My Liege, I think you will find that he is an excellent student. He has within him the potential to be truly great, someday. He just needs a few nudges… and maybe even some pushes, in the right direction.”

Randidly gave the cheerful Demetrius a long look. The Nether Herald was clearly proud of his grandson. Inwardly, Randidly shrugged. His own estimate of the tenacity of the devil-looking young man was much less rosy, but he supposed that in retrospect, he would have hardly bet on himself as someone who would make it very hard underneath the harsh thumb of the System.

Compared to a young Randidly Ghosthound, Bogart had all the potential in the world

Congratulations! Your Skill Tapestry of Ten Thousand Radiances (M) has grown to Level 579!

Jotem hurried out of the farmhouse in his fancy robe, a pearl of gleaming light in Randidly’s new Pantheon provided senses. The floating individual might only be only half Origin Beast, but he still released near-constant pulses of gleaming energy. What fascinated Randidly were that Jotem’s soft pink light waves were even stronger than his own, although they dissipated much more quickly. He supposed the genuine bloodline carried with it some advantages.

“Companions, shall we depart? With our latest haul, we shall incite a revolution in agriculture! In even the Nether lands, our produce shall be in high demand, sought out to provide the greatest sustenance for the regal and righteous…” His eyes grew unfocused and he began to giggle to himself, lost in the fantasy.

Randidly’s lips twitched. I almost feel like I’m enabling his worst sort of traits… tragically, this won’t end with you becoming some sort of merchant prince, Jotem.

The group set out from the farm, moving quickly through the renovated trench Randidly had improved. But that high quality of life only lasted so far; after about twenty minutes, they returned to the narrow, muddy trench of variable height that characterized most of the travel around Malloon. And the ‘calm period’ might have descended on the area to blunt the wind, but cold sleet gleefully splattered across all of them.

Randidly rolled his eyes at Jotem’s confusion and second-guessing, causing the group to wander around in a circle for about an hour. Pure rage percolated in his chest, but he did his best to remain patient and distract himself by studying the wider effect of the great array he and Demetrius had set up.

When that didn’t work, he squelched his bare toes into the cool mud and just enjoyed the sensation around his feet.

Eventually, they emerged on the right path and followed quite a few more well-trodden paths to sink down into a naturally formed canyon about ten miles away from the farm. Lucky for the miserable-looking Jotem, he had a very centrally located farm. The high stone walls of the canyon blocked the worst of the rain, although the constant winds echoed into an eerie and ever-present moaning. They began to see other travelers, trooping in the same direction and soaked to the skin.

From afar, Randidly noticed the mass of life energy with his new Skill. Its radiation burned out through the stone walls. As they walked closer, the interaction of so many people became a mesmerizing whirlpool of light and color that sprawled across the horizon, blanketing out everything else. He almost wasn’t even ready to head in through a tunnel and emerge in a massive cavern where the bazaar occurred.

Congratulations! Your Skill Tapestry of Ten Thousand Radiances (M) has grown to Level 600!

So many people and ideas compounded the interactions of light. Different hues mixed and blended, seeping through Randidly’s dutifully working mind. Rather than their energy, he tried his best to focus on the physical details.

Some individuals had set up crude wooden stalls, while others hawked their wares off of blankets. Randidly saw various raw materials, bolts of robe cloth, foodstuffs, precious gems, and also a few bits of small Engraved wood. Rings, swords, shields, and specialty sashes were also common. Shouts and haggling bounced off the walls, mixing with the low moan of the wind to create a strange soundscape. Randidly could sense another cavern deeper in the cave system with more gathered individuals, but followed Jotem as he wove his way through the anthropomorphic bodies.

He kept his breathing even. Gradually, he got a better sense of the people around him. Which allowed him to notice them seeing him.

Most people paled and avoided his eyes when they saw Randidly’s robe, but at least no one fled. They clearly didn’t like his presence, but there was nothing they wanted to do about it. Jotem eventually found an individual amongst the throng with a silver badge pinned to his robes. The half Origin-Beast glided further, hailing this individual. The look the official gave Jotem made it clear to Randidly that this person would not easily help them with whatever they needed.

So he made sure to walk a bit closer and give the oversized groundhog a heavy look over Jotem’s shoulder. The individual paled and began releasing nervous, chittering laughs. After a few minutes of discussion, a very pleased Jotem returned. “Ah, no environment is more vivifying than an area of commerce! Truly, the ingenuity of the people is on display here. And coincidentally, one of the larger market plots is available; truly, this is our luckiest day! With fortune’s wings on our back, none can predict the heights we will reach…!”

“How lucky,” Demetrius said lightly as he straightened his robe.

The trio walked through the thickest portion of the market. Jotem might be jostled by other individuals trying to make purchases, but everyone parted for Randidly and Demetrius, set apart by the color of their robes. With the resulting quiet, Randidly scanned the surroundings and tried to get an idea of the prices of various foodstuffs. The energy was still a chaotic mess, but he could rely on his nose for some grounding. Since Battywuck hadn’t yet returned with seeds, Randidly intended to check out what sort of stuff grows in the surrounding area.

Particularly, he really wanted a spicy pepper to add to the farm. He took several deep sniffs, searching for a hint of spice. But there were too many things competing for his attention.

They reached an empty and rather extensive plot a short distance away from the main drag. Demetrius and Randidly exchanged a glance and rapidly began to unpack their foodstuffs. They pulled out several trimmed trunks of the lumber cucumbers, bushels of carrots and apples, as well as a jug of squeezed apple juice, and finally some Ara Fruits. Randidly was still adjusting the geography in the surroundings so that wind howled through his harvest canyon constantly, but this was the best batch of Ara Fruit he had harvested.

Jotem waved his fingers. “Please excuse me, I have a few bosom contacts with which I need to discuss business. Fellows, handle any offers thrown our way in the meantime. I trust your judgment.”

With that, he left. Randidly shrugged and looked around. Finally, the sizzling static of the energy around him was beginning to settle. He adjusted the displayed foodstuffs and pulled out a grill from his interspatial ring; he had brought along some of the butchered land walruses as well, to sell as snacks to customers. But immediately, he noticed something ominous. Foot traffic around them had completely dried up. When people would walk down their way, they would pale and run away when they saw Randidly and Demetrius at the stall.

He clicked his tongue in distaste. People really fear Nether Kings. I don’t think I can overcome this with just the small of good meat…

Randidly refocused on the stall just beside theirs. A trio of anthropomorphic preying mantises were selling a strange, tubular object. They stood impassively by, but Randidly understood that their presence was obviously a problem for not just themselves, but the whole row.

He stepped up close to the boundary between their stands and spoke to the largest of these individuals. At the very least, it was impossible to tell if they feared him based on their features. “Excuse me, I’d like to make a deal.”

To his surprise, the smallest of the preying mantises, the one sitting at the back on a canvas chair, straightened and spoke in the voice of an old woman. “Heh. How strange to have a Nether King in our midst. Truly, we are blessed by your presence.”

Randidly winced at the sarcasm in her voice. He turned to the small Preying Mantis, which was about half his size. “Let’s not beat around the bush; our presence here scares away customers from the whole row. Since there are multiple of you, I was hoping I could hire one of you to man our stand and let us leave. We will give you a small percentage of anything you sell and you will no longer need to worry about customers noticing us and fleeing. It’s a win-win situation.”

“And if we refuse?” The old woman tilted her head to the side, a harsh edge to her question.

Randidly ignored it and shrugged. Disrespectful she might be, but for whatever reason, it didn’t trigger any anger. He wondered why that was, even while answering. “Then we will stay here and try to lure customers in, despite our presence.”

The old woman tsk’d and hopped up onto the wall between the two stands. “A peaceful response from the Nether King? Well, for that I will at least take a gander at your wares. You- wait, what is this? Why didn’t you water these more?!”

She skittered directly across and plucked up a carrot. Randidly blinked. “Water them more? They were growing fine, so-”

“Pah, feel the surface. The hardness, the wide-open pores, trying to devour any water that might drip-” She shook her head, almost sadly, as she cradled the carrot. “Well, your soil appears to be of extremely high quality; this is a fine carrot. Yet that makes the small imperfections all the more apparent- oh, and these, these fruits, these have been watered too much. These sorts of fruit have the same amount of sugar per fruit. When you water them this much, the size of the fruit swells but the flavors is diluted- is this juice from your fruit? Have your servant pour me a cup.”

Randidly blinked several times, surprised by the sudden eruption of criticisms from this random individual. It would have honestly been quite refreshing to have someone so unconcerned with his fake-status as a Nether King, had she not been walking across the surface of their stall and squeezing everything.

But he supposed the real reason he didn’t respond to these barbs either was an immediate intuition she was right about the produce.

“Grandma,” One of the other preying mantises pleaded. They offered Randidly a nervous bow. “Please, excuse her behavior-”

“Boy, if this Nether King was like the others, he would have set up an array around this place and slaughtered us all. The fact he is here proves he doesn’t mind minor quips like this old lady’s.” The old woman waved her hand. Then she gave Demetrius a pointed look. “Now step to it, bellhop. I’m thirsty.”

Demetrius looked at Randidly. Randidly shrugged; he needed to go back and test what the woman was saying, but if she was right about the watering, he could improve the quality of the produce by another tier. For that, he was willing to endure her rather cavalier attitude. Demetrius popped open the bottle of apple juice and poured out a cup while she continued her tour of the stand.

“Oh, these are quite good. These too.” The old woman nibbled on an Ara Fruit and then kicked one of the large lumber cucumbers. She hovered around the wood for a little while. “You know, bringing these here is foolish; better to take them directly to a major city. Wood of this size is in high demand everywhere, all of the time. Very few individuals can produce it reliably. And a government will give you a better price than a private buyer. And they won’t fucking dare to simply seize it. Not unless they plan on eliminating you. Are you easy to kill, Nether King?”

That’s why I didn’t even react to her attitude at first, Randidly felt a sympathetic pulse from one of his two remaining cores of negative emotion. She’s violently furious about something, something unrelated to me. The bitterness in her felt so genuine, I just let it pass.

Demetrius passed over the cup. “My liege is named Nether King Hungry Eye. Very few individuals in the area even have the qualifications to think about killing him.”

“What a fucking weird name,” The old preying mantis muttered. She brought the cup up to her mandibles and drank the liquid. After finishing the entire cup in a single gulp, she burped loudly. “Quite tasty. I’ll have another, thank you very much. Actually, we agree to your terms. We will run your stall for you… in exchange for ten bottles of the apple juice. And I will also allow you to try a few of our Zhixu plants. What do you say?”

Randidly smiled pleasantly. Time to barter her down a bit. He once more began setting up the grill. “I have a counter offer, but first a question. How do you feel about meat?”