Chapter 1997

Chapter 1997

Randidly nodded as he steadily considered the information provided by Don Beigon. The massive drill loomed in the sky above them both, a heavy reminder of how extensive a journey this could become. He wavered about asking more but wanted to keep some indebtedness for any other developments in the future.

“For the record,” The Don cleared his throat. “All this information is secondhand. I have not traveled very deeply into the drill. Some of the individuals holed up there are quite... peculiar. They don’t take kindly to deals.”

Randidly snorted. But then he gave the Don a flat look. This extra tidbit hadn’t cost him any indebtedness at all, but it wasn’t a good idea to allow him to just volunteer things. “I thought we had an understanding about how this discussion would play out.”

The older man looked aggrieved but kept his mouth shut. Randidly chewed on his lip; the Don definitely wanted something particular, but his senses informed him that Claudette’s father wasn’t trying to harm him. Something deeper was at play.

Randidly pressed his lips together. He didn’t have all the pieces he needed to move, but he was unwilling to linger if the Don was playing some long game with his carefully chosen responses. He still hadn’t forgotten when the Don attempted to sell him off to the Nether King. When Randidly moved to stand, the Don tilted his head to the side. “Ahem, I admit that I’m speaking out of turn once more, but I- well, consider this a freebie. Can I offer you some advice?”

Randidly considered that. He almost said no, but then wondered if the Don wanted him to say no, so he would walk into some trap. Plus, he had said it would be free. Inwardly, he shook his head at his own paranoia. God, I just prefer fighting. Outloud, he said “Yes.”

Don Beigon smiled. “If you truly intend to climb up through the drill, do not define your word until after you finish your journey. It’s almost surprising that none have thought to wait before you, but perhaps other citizens had been just told about the power they could obtain once their ideas disseminate freely through the Nexus. None waited more than a few minutes.”

“Why wait to define the word?” Randidly frowned.

Don Beigon licked his lips. “It would be shortsighted, but what if you created a half-baked image about killing one particular person and used that for your word? In the end, if you were seriously threatened, you might as well. And suddenly these cautious, skittish, conservative old beings would have a glaring weakness their peers would be eying. Think about it.”

Per the Don’s words, his debt didn’t decrease at all, even though there was a lot of merits contained in that suggestion. Randidly pursed his lips, but he couldn’t deny how interesting an idea this was. It made him realize that he wasn’t the only one who had made his hay by subverting the rules of the System. After nodding to the Don, he left the room and shut the door behind him.

Almost immediately, a shadowy figure condensed in front of Randidly. His features were obscured by the shadows, but his limbs were long and capable. His eyes were demurely aimed at the ground. “Mr. Ghosthound, allow me to show you out of the compound.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Randidly regarded the figure coolly as he withdrew his Alchemist’s Passport and drew the key through the air. Obviously, the other’s image and power were tightly suppressed, but this was the same individual that had previously revealed naked bloodlust. His gaze remained intently on the top of this man’s head. With the added benefit of Tier III citizenship, he could glimpse a portion of his power.

More powerful than the current Charlotte Wick. Randidly realized. Certainly more self-contained in emotional affect, despite the earlier display. Perhaps it was even purposeful, to test me. And I don’t believe for a second that this is Don Beigon’s most powerful subordinate.

The head of the key nosed apart the carefully restricted space, revealing an escape route. Randidly stepped and whooshed through the flaws in the Beigon Estate defenses. In a moment, he had crossed the folded space and returned to his root dwelling on the Fifth Cohort Rally Station.

He looked at the ground for a short amount of time, considering the things that he had learned about the drill from Don Beigon. At the very least, he had a destination in mind and understood some of the major dangers. It was unfortunate that he couldn’t corroborate any of the man’s claims, but he suspected that the debt would reveal if the Don lied. The only other individual Randidly could think of to fact check was Devick, but-

Randidly grimaced. The fact she now calls her Actus Suprem, and our most recent interactions, mean that its probably not worth the risk. For now, it is good news that at least its possible to move to the location indicated by the Patron of Feathers. With two notable difficulties: getting past Elhume’s observation on the middle levels. And then, of course, some old Nexus monster has probably laid claim to the floor in question...

But that makes me wonder- where exactly will this tenuous connection lead? How is it related to that horrifying bone charm? What exactly afflicts the Patron of Feathers?

Randidly groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose as his mind sputtered for several minutes and came up with not a single answer to those questions. As usual, learning more information about the Nexus just meant he could ask better questions and STILL not have satisfying answers. He would need to start moving soon, considering the Patron of Feather’s deteriorating health, without quite knowing what he was getting into.

He possessed more capability than at any point in the past. Yet the long shadows of the threats in the Nexus continued to haunt him.

Still, there were a few things that Randidly could do to prepare. He could continue to advance, he could train, he could learn.

The Path Completion reward for the Achieving a Mille Path still blinked in front of him. He focused his mind and called up his Status screen. He looked down through his list of Stats. Uncommon Metabolism (Un), Egg’s Illusory Plume (L), Primordial Nether Juju (M), Dreadful Alacrity (A), Grim Intuition (L), Predictive Synapses (A), Chimeric Indifference (R), Grey Monarch’s Authority (T), Intelligence, Unnatural Capacity (Ru), Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae (P), and Exquisite PIety (M).

One of these things is not like the others~, Randidly hummed to himself as he claimed the reward. A strange tremor went through his body as his finger clicked the button.

Congratulations! You have selected your Stat Intelligence to evolve. Detecting synchronicity with other parameters... searching for resonance... calculating final Rarity...

Congratulations! Others have made it to this threshold, but have been unable to survive the transition! By eschewing your previous anchors, you have opened yourself to new possibilities. Your new anchors are generating a new, unique Attribute that you and only you will possess.

There are infinite possible failures and a finite number of successful arrangements of anchors. Such a balance is deceptively delicate. Proceed with caution.

Incorporating influences...

Images flashed in front of Randidly’s eyes. His Stats became anchors, smell impressions that kept him at least conscious. Distantly, he mused that the heat was becoming unbearable, even for his strange energy form.

He saw his blood, the red blood cells flooding through thick veins, bringing life to his limbs. He saw an egg of darkness, surrounded by spectral feathers that wreathed and protected it. He saw an ancient, tribal totem, a being covered in tattoos, its body sleek and powerful and so, so intent. He saw a murderer, twitching from stillness to bloody fulfillment faster than an eye could follow. He saw a hungry chimera curled in a dark place, opening an eye at the exact moment prey wandered past. He saw small sparks racing up and down the spine, a body moving in anticipation of reality. He saw a different chimera, one that endured violent elements and trudged forward without slowing.

All the moisture had been driven from his form by heat. Which meant there was nothing remaining to prevent the flames from exploding outward and filling the entire space.

BADUMP-BADUMP-BADUMP!

The anchoring images spun around him, his mind rushing through them. He saw a massive pearly throne on which a grey being with long arms and longer fingers sat. He saw an alchemist staying up late into the night above his worktable, eyes gleaming with the possibilities hidden in his next idea. He saw a figure flicking through a grimoire, memorizing the contents with just a glance. He saw a slender creature plucking at the threads of fate, weighing and measuring their worth. He saw a man in a white robe, bowing his head before an incandescent light-

Randidly’s chest, or some remnant of his physical form, sputtered and collapsed underneath the pressure of his heartbeat. Blood sprayed forward into the mixture of ash and bone and flame, but gravity seemed to forget about the crimson and emerald blood before it hit the ground. The liquid split into two perfect serpents, one red and one green. They began to swim through the murky stew that Randidly Ghosthound had become, one strengthening and one weakening. The heat pulsed and swayed, held in check by these arrivals.

Randidly tried to breathe, but nothing happened. So he stopped that. He simply burned, fully and without hesitation.

Error... dissonance detected... recalculating...

BADUMPBADUMPBADUMPBADUMP-

Attempting to correct-

A woman groaned in his ears. He saw her hands, ending in metal gauntlets, desperately trying to keep the essence of him from leaking out between her fingers while the anchors were being prepared. Yet even while burning, he sensed something was wrong. His existence, with all of its new Stats, was a key that slipped into a lock. Yet when they tried to turn, something caught. The door in front of him remained shut.

Randidly- A voice, Neveah’s, reached him as he burned. It was full of pleading. The rest of her words were lost in the crackling flames. Randidly felt the two serpents weakening. Their refinement process continued, but they were running out of power. The moment had dragged on for too long-

What was strange was that he didn’t feel fear. If anything, the roar of the flames began to sound like laughter.

Yet Neveah’s call made one of his anchors began to hum. A Stat image flickered again in his mind. In a second, its struggle had ballooned outward until it dominated his awareness. Randidly saw that Moirae, drawing his fingers across the strings. The figure looked up and smiled at Randidly. “I no longer have the patience to follow Fate’s meandering Path. If we are burning, let’s burn it all down with us.”

Warning- Altering anchor is highly dangerous. Please see-

The Moirae snapped his fingers and generated a shivering tongue of flame. Randidly watched, transfixed. A wicked smile sewed itself across the being’s face as he lowered his hand and all the threads began to burn.

Congratulations! Your Stat Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae (P) has shifted! Your Stat has changed to Discretion of the Apostate Moirae (P)!

Randidly burned and his Stat image burned. He smiled at the feeling. Energy rushed through him, funneled into and through his body. His anchors transformed.

The key squirmed. The lock began to turn.

Congratulations! You have condensed a Fourth Attribute! Attribute set as Muse’s Reverie (???). Set at 1/5! Regeneration set at 1 per (???)!