Chapter 1721

Chapter 1721

The sympathetic bond sizzled... then snapped completely into place.

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Hierarchy of Burden has grown to Level 20!

Congratulations! Your Skill Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 407!

Randidly released a growl of triumph, even as his body was splayed wide by the overwhelming force of electricity coursing through his muscles. Each limb was extended as far outward as his joints would allow, as though his arms, legs, and also tail were trying out for a position as the hand of a clock.

After the electricity forced his muscles to contract in the middle portion, now each individual sell was individually charged through his body. Each muscle strand wanted to contract, but the prevalence of the crimson electrical serpents in his flesh meant that Randidly’s body was forced to extend to its limits.

His limbs strained and Randidly’s face warped in a twitching grin. The sense of pressing against his limits was agonizing but satisfying. His tongue was twisting itself with enough force that he felt a portion tear. Finally reaching the point that he could totally withstand a single layer of the Fatepiece felt like an accomplishment.

Randidly could practically hear his flesh sizzling from playing host to so much electrical discharge. Heh.Reaching this is impressive... but it just makes it even more intimidating that this is only one-fifth of the burden within this Fatepiece... and the least dangerous kind of strain it contains... I do think I can start sharing the burden, perhaps with Helen, but still...

Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Impunity (M) has grown to Level 406!

The most difficult part of this Fatepiece was the next step; he could only activate second layer of the Hierarchy of Burden while the first was completely handled. After hesitating for a few seconds, Randidly summoned the Fatepiece to float in front of him. The inverted pyramid slowly spun, the crimson tip glowing with ambient power. A powerful and complete sympathetic bond existed between his body and that ruby tip.

Randidly’s eyes settled on the crystal, translucent layer of the pyramid. Well, I suppose there is no harm in trying... this next layer... should be some sort of light radiation...?

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Hierarchy of Burden has grown to Level 21!

Almost immediately, Randidly felt the shift in the environment. He had thought that he was already stretched to his limits by the electricity, but somehow Randidly’s back found the ability to arch even farther, sticking out his chest. The sensation was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Randidly simply felt like he was laying in a tanning bed, manufactured sun beating down on him from every angle.

Yet the intensity of the rays he experienced...

There wasn’t heat to this inexplicable exposure, not truly, but it somehow pierced through him with wrathful abandon, searing through his skin and muscles and organs and coming out the other side. Every part of Randidly was being hit and soaked with this radiation. His insides began to prickle and then to sting. Vulnerable parts of himself that weren’t usually damaged were suddenly blasted with a spotlight.

Congratulations! Your Skill Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix (L) has grown to Level 373!

Congratulations! Your Skill Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix (L) has grown to Level 374!

“Obviously not much time has passed for me since I received your message,” Edraine spoke slowly as she steepled her fingers in front of her on the desk. “But... Octavius and I made overtures to some of our contacts that... aren’t quite as happy with the powers that be, but their answers were... strange.”

Edraine slowly parted her hands and rapped her knuckle on the table. “... it’s like they are waiting for a password that we don’t know. There is a secret related to this issue with Velio Dunn... and without being able to prove we are part of the club, we won’t get any further information. These secrets... they do originate from my original time. But I became... part of that horrible Nether Array before the relevant developments, I believe.”

“So we know nothing...” Randidly flexed his fingers anxiously. He tried to be worried about the strange situation regarding Velio Dunn, but his thoughts kept turning back to Expira.

“Well, that’s not actually true.” Edraine leaned back. “We have... some theories. Derived from some of the materials you have obtained from Claudette Beigon. Here, I want to show you a timeline Octavius has established.”

Edraine stood up, moving with such purposeful slowness that Randidly was finally brought out of his own anxieties to look directly at this alternate, aged version of Vualla. As his scrutiny became more intense, he could sense minuscule ripples of power from her that told Randidly that she had definitely not been idle since she had been liberated from her prison on the frontlines.

Her image was deadly, his instincts warned him.

Edraine tapped her finger against the far wall and the ornate hardwood rippled and vanished. In its place was a chalkboard, covered in complicated scribbles and lines. There truly was a timeline across the top portion, while the bottom portion was filled with explanations and arrows, indicating when each event happened.

“The end date of the Second Cohort is a bit... murky. But it was sometime between 270 and 299 years after the Nexus was founded. In fact, several of the official accounts and the ones you got from Claudette contradict themselves and each other. Its as if different portions of the Nexus experienced the shift at different times. Officially, this isn’t an issue; historians simply acknowledge that the first two Cohorts were an extremely chaotic time. Not only were the Cohorts smaller, but the length of time for each was much shorter. The Nexus hadn’t quite realized what it wanted to do at that point.” Edraine gestured toward the middle of the timeline. “However... there are some interesting points about this particular transition. Points that give us clues to what sort of business Velio Dunn might be involved.”

Edraine’s long fingers switched to a point much earlier on the timeline. She tapped a massive tick mark with her nail. “I lost my consciousness at around year 254. I’m a little hazy on the details, but there are few things that I do remember. I was part of a small military family, but we were a subordinate of one of the three main factions at the time... however we were a relatively minor subordinate family and I was young; I don’t remember much about who we supported.

“After the Third Cohort started,” Edraine’s hand moved left beyond the middle portion of the timeline. “The histories all reference “The Two Pillars of the Nexus”. And they call them by name, the NLC and Military High Command. This was the beginning of the modern Nexus.”

“So... one of the main factions was eliminated,” Randidly said slowly. “Were the Pinnacle Seekers more unified back then...?”

With a small smile on her face, Edraine shook her head. “This is a tidbit that we obtained from Claudette’s information; it is completely unavailable in official accounts. But both the NLC and Military High Command were founded about Year 301 or 302. After the Third Cohort began.”

That made Randidly blink. “So all three of the original factions from your time...?”

Edraine shrugged. “Hard to say. But let’s look at other information. Direct references to Yystrix are gone from every historical source we could find, but there are some more general implications prior to the Third Cohort that she was present in the early days. In addition, two huge occurrences definitely can be pinned to the transition between the Second and Third Cohorts: the disappearance of Elhume from the public eye and the creation of Alymian.”

“So before that...” Randidly said slowly. “Elhume... wasn’t stuck within that huge amount of crystalized Aether.”

“Yes. And it makes one wonder.” Edraine gave Randidly a long glance. “After you saw Velio moving freely, even covered by crystal... is Elhume as imprisoned as everyone believes? Or is there another reason for his strange state?”