Chapter 1908

Chapter 1908

“Meat’s done,” Selene pulled off plastic gloves and tossed them into the trash can. Several workers began to dig up the roasted meat and bring it to the butcher to be cut. She nodded to Randidly and Tatiana. “Just need to spread it out on the plates. Hungry people usually will handle the rest on their own, even without serving utensils. Now, I need to go and figure out why my boyfriend is sweating like he’s related to the three dozen pigs we just smoked.”

Both Randidly and Tatiana waved as the woman strode purposefully away, toward where Police Commissioner Arrietti sighed and stood so dangerously close to the living plant third of the island that a few vines had been surreptitiously creeping closer to him.

Randidly raised an eyebrow at Tatiana. “She certainly... has a lot of personality. I’m surprised she ended up with someone like Arrietti.”

Tatiana clicked her tongue. “Not you too. You know, despite how he looks and acts... well, how he looks and acts most of the time, he’s extremely competent at his job. Essentially everyone on the police force looks up to him. It just so happens that he’s the only individual who hasn’t noticed his own worth. For that reason, and because he obviously doesn’t notice how many women make passes at him, Selene’s rather protective of him. But enough about gossip- do you really want to be on the serving line?”

“Yea. The patterns coming together, running here from all over Expira, are fascinating. It’s much easier to see them up close, when I’m submerged in them.” Randidly looked up at the sky. The remnants of his storm continued to linger around, a distance halo of smog that hung across the edge of the horizon. Meanwhile, the day here only became hotter. “Plus, you know I love being a small part of events like this.”

“I do. I really do. Very prince dressed as a commoner sort of vibe.” Tatiana shook her head. “I’m just worried that your presence will grind the food line to a halt. Or cause a few famished individuals to be so overcome with awe that they forget to grab food and just stare, only later to succumb to heatstroke. You know I hate disposing of bodies for you.”

“You have a lot of worries. Your boss probably doesn’t pay you enough,” Randidly joked with a grin.

Tatiana responded with a hollow laugh as she turned away. “The worst part is that no matter how much my boss pays me, his capital is large enough that he doesn’t even notice the missing cash. Stealing from him feels more like a chore than anything else. Even though I do do it, just out of habit.”

Snorting, Randidly watched Tatiana go without calling her bluff. He knew that she deserved a raise and made a mental note to give her one. The only awkward part was that she handle that portion of the finances. He needed to figure out how to surprise her with it, because he didn’t want to use her to give her a surprise.

Humming to himself, Randidly turned and faced the nervous-looking group of Order Ducis applicants and volunteers from Kharon Academy that had been trying very hard to seem like they hadn’t been listening to his and Tatiana’s entire conversation. He waved a hand and picked up an apron from the pile. “Fill in around me at the table. Tatiana told you your assignments, right? Let’s go around and everyone say your names, then let’s get started.”

The introductions were less painful than Randidly had anticipated, even though he had suggested them on a whim. Although most of that was because the momentum of the activity helped distract all the food servers from his presence. Plus, using that lull Randidly began to weave the significance of his presence and his actions through the surroundings. He stopped leaning so heavily on his physical senses and sank into the constant, humming layer of Nether that lay beneath everything.

Congratulations! Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle (M) has grown to Level 690!

His touch was light as he spread out his feelers through all these individuals, giving himself a broader range to experience the arriving patterns. He kept the connections loose and the bindings almost imperceptible, afraid of somehow altering the trajectory of the lives around him by tying them to himself.

The other aspect of this activity was using himself as part of the pattern. He was still a bit stiff, but he gradually felt the knack of incorporating patterns in his natural movements. He saw and felt the ways he moved through the world and shifted the surroundings. In small situations like this, he could still have a high degree of influence.

Ripples of Nether, connecting and sharing, started arriving in denser and denser clusters.

His evolved Focus, Exquisite Piety, played a pivotal role in this adjustment as well. He could pour his attention into the pseudo-ritual, perhaps even relying on that innate faith that Sydney had pointed out that he possessed as he set it up. He leaned into that, relying on his own certainty to prop up the spread of his intended patterns.

Soon, he had a giant conducive bowl of Nether around him that would absorb and transmit information to Randidly Nether Sensation. Honestly, the effect seemed too good.

The humming of the Nether bowl cut off abruptly as the strain finally became too much. The pseudo-ritual collapsed, leaving Randidly only to feel through his skin.

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 704!

I can see why that broken Master pursued so many Paths and patterns. Even now, in my own body, I feel like I’m midway through the Path of Blood again, glimpsing the edge of the working but unable to quite catch it. Randidly opened his eyes and looked down at his hands; the serving plate in front of him was empty. He had no idea how long he had stood still and savored the pattern that worked around and through him. This world... even for all the evil and selfish people, is an amazing place.

Some small inkling brought Randidly’s gaze around. He met the dull eyes of a familiar face just now walking up over the sand dunes: Todd, the young kid who had been bullied at Kharon Academy and taught Randidly how to create a Scrawl. The greyness in the eyes was unfamiliar, but the features hadn’t shifted that much.

Distance didn’t matter. Randidly still rode high on the flow of Nether. The press of physical bodies provided no obstruction to the firm connection between them.

But in the next moment, the emotional gulf between the Todd that Randidly remembered and this one hit him like a gut punch. This young kid’s faith had been shattered. Randidly felt the boy’s pain and the blame and the deep, deep sadness that he carried with him. The Nether between them snapped into place and Randidly could practically see the arch of his journey. He could feel the agony and confusion that it had taken to reach this point.

Todd expected Randidly to be a hero, but he had allowed the Calamity to ravage Expira.

Something within Randidly curled away from this responsibility, but as soon as he noticed he firmed his resolve and lifted his chin. He wished he hadn’t done that, but Randidly would do the same thing again, in order to teach Expira what it would need, on the off chance that he could no longer protect the planet.

Yet Randidly felt a turbid bubbling in the pit of his stomach. The lance of Todd’s accusation crossed the distance between them and struck at his heart.

Thankfully, a distraction emerged. Through the crowd, Randidly saw a strange monster woman with which he felt a certain kinship- in the same literal way that the Alpha Cosmos was his body, she was a part of his Nether Core foundation. But weirdly, she began to raise her arms and shriek as they made eye contact.

As with Todd, the currently sensitive and raw Randidly felt directly impacted by the significance between them. However, the woman came with a confusing array of images and aggression. Her primary bond seemed to be to the long shadow that Randidly cast across the Alpha Cosmos, than any direct interaction.

But that’s the thing, isn’t it? That shadow is me. Randidly’s eyed glittered as the force of that woman’s image spread out, a grey scythe preparing to sweep forward and lash out at him. Wind began to stir and the rising image quickly caught the attention of the powerful individuals on the beach. Some twisted around, marshaling their own image. Bodies swayed, wanting to move but kept still by the sheer number of people crowded on the beach.

One in particular, a man who had apparently been enjoying the party so much that he had leapt into the sea without taking off his linen suit, now shoved his way through the crowd to interpose himself between Randidly and the woman. In the process, he knocked several people to the side, “An attack! A non-human attack!”

Randidly scratched his cheek at such a dramatic response. He, the Moirae of Ripples, deftly reached out at the power that woman aimed at him and just smoothed it away, leaving the air placid as the surface of a swamp.

The wind died. The truly powerful individuals sent a meaningful glance at Randidly as they sensed the edges of what he accomplished but then continued on without addressing what had happened. Meanwhile, most people hadn’t noticed the quick shift. They were concerned with more mundane matters.

“Hey asshole,” One woman got up off the ground, brushing sand off herself. She jabbed a finger at the man with the soaked linen suit. “What the hell do you think you are doing?”

Randidly set down his serving tongs and took a step back. As much as it would be painful, he needed to speak with Todd.