Likely due to one Authority being active and the others remaining undiscovered the First Authority had crept into most of his Nether Which made it easier for it to form some connections and much more difficult for it to form others Likely that horrible avaricious seizing aspect that had spread through his Nether was why all the animals had been driven from the island Only plants and insects didnÆt mind the shift in significance
However with the Penance active that influence was curtailed down to one fourth its previous power
Randidly blinked One fourth
His attention zeroed in on his Nether Core In addition to slightly increasing the rate at which he accumulated significance it also helped frame Nether in a way that made it easier to detect subtle differences in energy flows So he could feel the grasp of the First Authority and beyond that he found three more slight flavors that appear in disparate notes around his core These unnamed Authorities were more difficult to understand but the feelings they gave him were distinct
Yet Randidly still felt wary Obviously one is based on the same desires that birthed my images One for Stillborn Phoenix and one for the Grey Creature But where did this final Authority come from Is it possible itÆs from the Penance itself
Was that why Solomon had given it so freely
Chapter 1894
Randidly spent almost a day wrestling with the issue of this mysterious Fourth Authority During that time he mobilized all of his powerful mind and delicate senses to comb through the notes and flavors of his internal world He even found and eradicated a few lingering notes of DevickÆs madness that had somehow managed to survive his first few purges
On the subject of the Fourth Authority however he achieved exactly nothing
He couldnÆt feel any connection between the dimly sensed Authority and the Penance They were a part of him not some passenger from the Penance If anything this only made him feel worse if the Authority didnÆt come from a foreign influence he had no idea why it would be a part of his Nether Core
His next theory was that perhaps it was related to his other Skillset the Moirae of Ripples He had used that pseudo image quite a bit in combination with his Nether Skills after all Especially recently However that made even less sense Authorities came from the foundation of his Nether Core Solomon had mentioned it and RandidlyÆs intuition told him the same thing And as powerful as Moirae of Ripples was it hadnÆt even been imagined when he had made his Nether Core
This Fourth flavor wasnÆt exactly unfamiliar but he couldnÆt see how his Nether Core had been founded on it
Still his failure to identify the culprit from his vague senses wasnÆt exactly surprising Trying to understand the source of his authority based on the vague sense was like studying shadows to figure out the tactile sensation of rubbing fabric
Randidly did his best to put it out of his mind As it turned out the Penance was a useful tool for this he felt conflicted and vaguely anxious when he closed his eyes and accepted the owed oblivion but woke up cool and tingling from paying a few hours’ worth of deferred seconds He even went so far as to go under for another few hours building up a bank of paid seconds that he could rely on through the early portion of his training
Examining his refined Nether closely he could feel the subtle difference in depth that using the Penance generated After humming to himself and staring down at the grey cooling surface of the lava of the volcano Randidly reached into the Penance and shifted the payment up to two seconds per every sixty
The effect was immediate but relatively small Randidly clicked his tongue he might have doubled the amount of time he paid to the Penance but it was still an insignificant portion relative to how much time remained his own However due to the thickening of the currents he could weave Randidly left increased Penance intact and moved his attention away
He meant to begin building a schedule for himself on this island but his attention was drawn by some movement at the edge of his sphere of influence Randidly twisted to look out at the growing behemoth riding the sea waves and his lips twitched
Randidly only had to look at the group from the Vulpis Squad and feel their image to understand their intentions They had lashed together several barges setting up a basecampÆ right outside of RandidlyÆs Nether storm which extended above twenty meters beyond the beach into the surrounding seas There they staged several excursions into the Nether environment where their images were constantly weathered by the heavy presence of Nether
Seeing that this was exactly the point Randidly didnÆt bother to try and attune the Nether to their image which wouldnÆt have been difficult considering that their image partially came from him And increasingly he played a larger role in their collective image However he had noticed their regular activities a few days ago before he had banked up some time for the Penance now he couldnÆt help but gawk at the blossoming bobbing shanty town that sprung up on the edge of the storm
A lionÆs share of the new arrivals were from Kharon and the Order Ducis who appeared to have negotiated with Heiffal and the Vulpis Squad to be part of the training session Groups came from the Wandering City on Scrawled bits of driftwood that were soon repurposed to extend the barge and create small shelters But what fascinated Randidly was the trickling arrivals of smaller groups
They came in ones or twos with unfamiliar images but with a distinct trail of significance that they followed to reach him They were strong stronger than Randidly expected to find amongst unfamiliar individuals who hadnÆt been trained by anyone that he knew Yet the weirdest part was the way they were connected to him without him even knowing due to his far reaching influence on Expira
Due to his capabilities with Nether he could prevent the item from latching onto him Yet also he could sense that time was required for it to build up a chargeÆ of its horrifying attack He did his best to penetrate the structure and understand the mechanisms before it was armed once more
Skill Levels came slowly compared to the frantic struggles he had engaged in over the last few weeks However what Randidly gained was understanding Understanding of energy ripples understanding of Penances understanding of the way that images and connections could be blended together
Also a distant understanding of the way the Nexus cleaved the two energies apart in a mysterious effort that had led to several strange side effects
But he didnÆt rush Because for the first time in a while Randidly had time to improve slowly
Sam growled and threw up his hands This piece of shit
He tossed the headpiece of glittering leaves to the side It clanked noisily off the workbench and fell to the floor somehow managing to cut a deep divot in one of SamÆs favorite hammers as it fell to the ground Buzzing like an overstressed steam engine he bent at the waist and swept the item off the ground Then he tossed it over to a bin at the far end of the room filled with similar attempts
All very high quality higher than anything Sam had made by relying on the materials on Expira But not high enough
Muttering quietly to himself Sam went to the sink and rinsed his hands under the faucet His connection with Ozark had continued with the other party giving meandering instructions and vague explanations of materials that led to this a headpiece worn by a powerful wolf that could benefit an image
Recently those nagging messages and requests for status updates had stopped Sam thanked his lucky stars that the Ghosthound had chosen to go into isolated training so he now had some space to breathe and think about the project