Although Randidly could clearly feel that the man was physically fine with Grim Intuition there was meaning to actually asking the man how he was As Randidly expected the man blinked and patted himself several times across his body as though he was searching for invisible flaws in his muscles and joints Then something seemed to click into place and the man moved back toward his sizzling grill
While he worked on the cooking food he took periodic glances at Randidly yes I am alright Please forgive me for my poor manners as the owner of this establishment welcome My name is Helio Udunes What can I get for you
Two plates of whatever smells so delicious Randidly smiled but then he suddenly regretted only ordering two plates his appetite now was truly ridiculous
That thought was all the permission his stomach needed to release another intimidatingly loud rumble His wooden chair vibrated with the noise HelioÆs mouth twitched but otherwise his expression didnÆt change at the slip honestly Randidly was amused to see him struggling so hard not to laugh
Letting the man work Randidly rubbed the back of his neck and turned toward the second of the two messages he needed to address The second message was blessedly short Lyra simply urged him to finally meet with her for dinner as he had promised a few weeks ago She wanted to meet this evening after her match
Which probably means she is very confident about the result since the match is scheduled for 6 P M and she is still willing to get dinner Randidly reflected as he chewed on his lip But her opponent is Hank Has she just accepted that she is going to lose Damnit every time I think IÆve settled and moved past our relationship
But still Randidly was somewhat curious What more could Lyra have to say at this point He had made it clear when he provided her with a Class that she should consider their history buried Being sword and sheath for the Village her support of Yystrix Randidly had labeled her as effectively banished from his life Yet she behaved so insistently now
If this was Lyra from four years ago this sort of reaction would make sense when they had first met Lyra was a rather spoiled young actress She was extremely clever and capable but privilege and inexperience meant that she wasnÆt the most self aware individual This display would simply be her failing to understand the consequences of her actions
But even if Randidly judged her for the decisions she had made he couldnÆt deny that the Lyra that he had met and seen obtain a Class was a much more sophisticated version of the young woman that he knew She also knew RandidlyÆs personality about as well as anyone on Earth did
If she broke the silence she likely thought she had something worth the possibility of earning his ire
Well Tatiana probably has a better grasp on me now Her Skill practically monitors my every move Randidly shook his head sharply Then he replied to Lyra with an agreement Fine itÆs just one dinner I plan on leaving Earth soon anyway so I can just reject any other requests
And speaking of leaving Earth
The third message was from Octavius Shrike Randidly finally received the details he had so long waited for of the situation in the Nexus
Randidly sat at the small wooden table and drummed his fingers as he sifted through the absolutely massive message that Octavius sent him It appeared that the reason the message had taken so long was that Octavius was creating a huge repository of information for Randidly to smooth over his transition into the Nexus proper
The letter would probably have taken up about a hundred pages if it was converted to a book form Randidly felt a deep sense of dissatisfaction as he scrolled through huge blocks of text and skimmed through the extremely detailed bios of famous individuals in the Nexus to look out for His first thought was to forward the message to Tatiana and have her create a more readable version but he somehow sensed that she would not be pleased about that So he resolved himself to speed skimming
Is this proof IÆve gotten spoiled Randidly thought with a sardonic grin
Helio eventually brought over two plates of steaming potatoes onions and cheese and set them before Randidly without a word Randidly began to rapidly eat his eyes searching through the sea of words
the worst part is how officious Octavius writes Randidly grimaced and used his cool metal fingers to rub the bridge of his nose Then he blinked at the empty plates in front of him and signaled Helios to bring him two more This isnÆt a report to the Nexus Council just tell me what I need to know
About halfway through the letter some relevant details about the situation began to emerge The original Vualla had effectively established herself but was in something of a bind due to abandoning her old identity and therefore her previously held Nexus citizenship Octavius lectured Randidly for several paragraphs that he should only refer to her as Edraine from this moment forward This was her new identity
Randidly scraped his fork against the bottom of the second set of plates to clean up any gooey remnants and coughed lightly Then he signaled for four more to be brought to him Helio saint that he was simply nodded
I should come here more often Randidly reflected as he turned back to the tiresome message
Edraine wanted to take one of the civilian positions on the Nexus Council but needed Tier 3 Citizenship to do so Octavius explained that the Citizenship coins Randidly had were very valuable because they came directly from an active Cohort They were needed for her to accumulate Tier 3 Citizenship Therefore they were greatly anticipating his arrival In addition Randidly could discuss the compensation with Edraine directly when he arrived
Then the message continued to explain the escalating incursions from Nether forces the targeted strikes from the rogue Nether King and the low quality of images that were entering into the Nexus from the Seventh Cohort that had the situation in the Nexus rather strained Aside from a few unpredictable and inconsistent appearances there was no central leadership to speak of within the Nexus Different factions within the Nexus had emerged and were making moves to secure a supply of Aether for themselves and their subordinates rather than addressing the ailing System
Basically everything is about to come to blows huh Randidly said softly Helio looked up but then lowered his gaze just as quickly Shaking his head Randidly stretched Well they likely have been doing the same thing for hundreds of years At this rate this can continue for quite some time still
But itÆs volatile RandidlyÆs mouth twisted into a wicked grin A single spark might burn the whole place to the ground
Chapter 1453
Who do you think will win Mrs Hamilton asked lightly as the Donnyton group took their seats She suddenly regretted not bringing tea with her to the seats it would have given her an easy way to hide her smiles
Perhaps because Isabella Cortez had been defeated by the Huangs the young woman who sat next to Mrs Hamilton thought about the question with great care for several seconds Pan just scowled down at the arena and crossed his arms Isabella finally shook her head slightly That Huang Li is obviously very strong But I just cannot imagine Paolo and Kayle losing They have so much experience with battles that I donÆt think that Huang Shou shares
Normally I would agree with you Mrs Hamilton said lightly But there are two important weaknesses to this version of them Obviously one weakness is the fact they are not using their natural weapons At the base level it is almost irrelevant to them But if they face foes with similarly powerful images that small difference will end up being crucial As for the second reason care to guess
Donny and Glendel were absent doing their own preparations for their match later But Kayle and PaoloÆs squad as well as several of DonnytonÆs other powerful squads were filing in around them as Donnyton commandeered a large section of the stands Mrs Hamilton could feel the instinctive delicate threads of rejection from the people of Donnyton around her but she ignored their ambient emotions