The monkeyÆs mouth stretched wide and revealed a mouth full of rotten and broken teeth Of course My precious world relegated to a fucking Dungeon After everything I sacrificed but what did I expect That is the way of the Nexus to toss aside all those angels and devils who are deemed no longer useful
For just a second a ripple of raw fury spread insidiously outward through the image of timelessness Instantly Randidly was back on his guard But just as quickly the monkey sighed and that poisonous rage disappeared from his image Everything returned to its original immaculate state And strangely the liquid Aether eased up around Randidly flowed away from him Drop by drop the monkey absorbed all of the Aether in the surrounding area until they were standing alone amongst the partially stained bone piles
Youngster it seems you are aware of some things in the System But I want to warn you do not trust it in the least The monkeyÆs milky white gaze was intense as he stared at Randidly Please listen to my story My world was part of the fourth Cohort We slew the First Calamity We overcame the Second Calamity We endured the Third Calamity And then
The Third Calamity Randidly blurted out Can you tell me what it is
Even if this particular bit of knowledge was all that Randidly gained from this strange interaction it would be more than enough to justify the risk he had just taken
Of course you canÆt use that to justify the risk blindly taken in retrospect Randidly winced But at least it will have a definite benefit
Rather patiently the monkey nodded despite the interruption to his story He opened his mouth but no noise came out Panting his grin spread wide once again Heh do you think you can stop me now from saying this The Third Calamity is a lesson
After heaving out a loud sigh the monkey continued But Randidly couldnÆt help but notice that the inky black creature that was eating into its side had grown marginally larger He could resist the restriction of the System but it had cost him It is surviving a year as though you had failed the Calamities Aether becomes incredibly sparse across the world Without a reliable source of energy strong individuals need to monopolize a high Level Dungeon and periodically clear it to gather the reward Otherwise they will suffer from Aether Deprivation and weaken It was designed I learned later to keep the worlds hungry To add ferocity and viciousness to the images
Randidly nodded solemnly If what the System was really looking for was a strong image it made sense to continually refine these images in different ways It was just unfortunate for the System that Randidly was a direct counter the Third Calamity which was a relief One less thing to worry about at least for the time being
But I canÆt forget about OctaviusÆ warning that some things may be changed due to the fact I caught their attention with Tellus
Randidly gestured to the monkey IÆm sorry for interrupting Please continue your story
The monkey chuckled In fact he seemed to gaze at Randidly with a good deal of kindly nostalgia Heh no need to worry I was in your position in the past So desperate to protect my homeworld but as I said none of it matters Because even though I surpassed all but the fourth Calamity and was promised peace for my world look at this Millennia later my world has been chopped up and suppressed down to a Dungeon My people have regressed to the level of monsters
I know that a change was made in the distant past but the fourth Calamity that I encountered was to join the Great War It is exactly this war effort that the System was designed to further There on the frontlines I was required to fight against the invaders for one hundred years I was daunted but I resolved myself to pass this test and earn freedom for my world
But there was a problem Time on the battlefield was strange The creatures of Nether seemed to interfere with my perspective I returned after what I believed to have been almost a dozen years for a break only to discover that five days had passed in my test In fact I believe that the System incorporates some of the NetherÆs power to create the functioning Dungeons Or perhaps Those are worlds that have been abandoned and are slowly being consumed by Nether If so my world
Again the monkey gritted his teeth The darkness in his side flared higher Shaking his head he finally said Suffice to say I failed I returned home wounded as you see Poisoned by Nether It was considered to be my failure After so much success in my word it was a bitter result to have failed the Fourth Calamity The final time I was credited with was one year out of my hundred I was not even close
Still I had earned full citizenship rights in the Nexus over the course of my adventures My wound would kill me eventually but I could use my strength to suppress it and retire to my homeworld in peace As I could feel myself slowly aging and dying I at least comforted myself with the knowledge that my world would be safe
As I grew weaker it seemed that time was slipping further and further away from me At first I would close my eyes and a few weeks would pass But soon every blink seemed to capture years in that brief darkness
The monkey looked sadly down at the wound in his side His expression was bitter This strange power of Nether it was slowly taking away my understanding of time You might not know this looking at me now but I was a powerful warrior that grew out of an artist My image was always to make an eternal and enduring piece of art and strangely Nether gave me a small clue into that truth Even if my physical Strength has been consumed my image well you can feel it now canÆt you I sense it on you
Suddenly the monkeyÆs smile became almost apologetic In fact that was the only reason that I came out assuming you were one of my people due to the similar image If I hadnÆt sensed that I might have
This time as the monkey trailed off his eyelids began to flutter Randidly jolted into wakefulness Ah your name is Chulroon isnÆt it
Once more the monkeyÆs eyes opened wide He smiled at Randidly Ah yes it is You found my chisel correct
Nodding Randidly produced the glove and offered it to Chulroon With great care Chulroon took the item He cradled it in his arms like a favored grandson smiling down at it with crinkled eyes
Ah yes Chulroon hummed in pleasure Then he looked up at Randidly As I was saying time passed quickly But my wits werenÆt gone I began to realize that something was wrong with my world Most others wouldnÆt notice it but I had almost reached the pinnacle of the Nexus I felt as the quantity of Aether in the air slowly dropped
At first I assumed it was a mistake on my part Or perhaps my own weakening led to the Aether losing its robustness in my world It was after all my image that overcame the Calamity But hundreds of years passed and it grew worse and worse Due to my failure I had been largely cut off from the Nexus so my wound couldnÆt hurt the supply of energy to other individuals But I did understand Aether
A suspicion began to grow in my heart A suspicion that everything that the System had promised for passing the Third Calamity was a lie
Chulroon slipped his hand into the glove His aura instantly sharpened into something towering and deadly The timelessness quality swirled into something closer to inevitability Randidly felt like he was standing at the lip of an abyss as Chulroon whispered his next words Which was fine I have been betrayed before But I knew one thing for sure If my suspicions were true I would make the Nexus bleed for this
Chapter 1000
Chulroon walked slowly toward Randidly his hands raised There wasnÆt any aggression in the movement so Randidly simply watched But he couldnÆt help but notice that there was a slowly growing circle around the inky tentacles on his side where ChulroonÆs red hair faded to white and began to wither
Which is why I gathered all the strength I could muster and sealed myself away taking care to make the method of freeing me abundantly clear However ChulroonÆs face turned bitter It turns out that my preparations were inadequate I did not foresee that my coffin would slowly break down flooding the surrounding area with caustic liquid Aether I suspect my people noticed too late what was happening These bones