Even Raspin rocked a bit backward at that thought Vye pressed her eyes shut fighting with the fizzle of dissatisfaction and guilt and dependency that she as a member of the Order Ducis always felt when the First Calamity was addressed Because of the directive from the Ghosthound not to interfere
Of course the true pressure of that event was in the follow up the anticipation of a Second Calamity felt suffocating even now
Ahem Part of the reason no one can catch up is those forerunners are always improving So long as we have them well we can handle it Raspin continued But his forehead displayed a sudden sheen of sweat Waves lapped on the shore wiping away the already shallow footsteps that the group used to arrive here
For several seconds Vye looked at the rivulets of saltwater thinking that the erosion she witnessed wasnÆt some coincidental phenomenon of the tides but the sneering action of an invisible hand a deliberate and mocking dismissal from a natural world that would gleefully bid humanity adieu A little push from the uncaring abyss a nudge off the edge
Is this how the natural world kills us It hibernates and lurks waiting for humanity to weaken itself And then it pounces when we least expect it
Then Vye blinked The moment passed
Chapter 1910
Dusk curled its fingers shyly around the tropical sea rewarding RandidlyÆs attendees with choppy waves of brass molten gold and crimson before the sky exhaled and passed into bruised purple and indigo Night left the air warm encouraging the party to continue without any pause
Randidly had settled on one of the high branches of the central super tree he had somehow birthed He ignored its gentle prodding with its vines as he sat and looked down across the beach At this distance he could feel the reverberations of the conflux of significance but it didnÆt wear at the edges of his attention
In a word he took a break His Nether Core spun at a constant pace methodically reinforcing his own significance against further erosion
He watched the different groups disperse and mingle with one another as Tatiana moved the night to the game portion bringing out balls frisbees and horseshoes for the attendees to use as they pleased Very soon the younger generation stepped forward and engaged in a superhuman version of volleyball to the delight of the crowd When the actual net ripped from a deflected spike moving with enough force to smash through a wooden door someone from Zone 32 cast an illusion of the net making it higher and impossible to destroy
A crowd gathered as the figures blurred in motion the ball ricocheting and being sent across at a speed close to the sound barrier To get the ball over the higher net the players had to leap to great heights and perform acrobatics They landed in massive blasts of sand before throwing themselves up into the air again participating in a mid air fight
Halfway through a furious volley the game was brought to a screeching halt as a comet of fire ripped across the ocean and shot directly above the action Water fizzled at this low flying projectile and the crowd began to mutter Randidly raised an eyebrow but didnÆt interfere The flames gradually dispersed and revealed a gleaming canary yellow skybike and the grinning Elijah Frank arriving in styleÆ to the barbecue Randidly didnÆt even bother to stop himself from rolling his eyes
Meanwhile the dark lump of Kharon also appeared on the horizon as it silently walked up next to the barge some people would camp on the island but most preferred the comfort of an actual city Of course with the Wandering City came a massive luminous fog bank of floating moss spirits Before Kharon had even arrived they swam their way forward in a massive spectral river green They impacted the sea and beach exploding in an emerald sunburst that had every laughing and dancing amongst the lights
A small tributary split off and made a beeline for RandidlyÆs position on top of the tree They followed the thread between them and had quickly embedded themselves in the area around him They burrowed into the bark and spiraled around the leaves At first the mega tree seemed alarmed with its vines swaying back and forth in agitation But quickly it felt the rejuvenating energy of the moss spirits and it began to hum with pleasure The vines poked at the spirits trying to ascertain their origin
Chuckling to himself Randidly looked down at another figure speeding across the sea Compared to Elijah Frank this one moved without worrying about being noticed in her approach She quickly leapt across the treetops below and then swung up the branches of the massive tree
When she spun up on the branch where Randidly was situated he raised an eyebrow as he examined her Several recent Nether connections pulsed at her back thick and humming with urgency I thought those kids had a lot of significance trailing after them but youÆve stolen the lionÆs share of it huh
Ah youÆve met the Chimera woman then Alana Donal sighed and cracked her neck Randidly wondered why she seemed so different than usual but then he realized that she wasnÆt wearing her typical leather armor She wasnÆt even holding a spear Plus her fingers were vaguely smoking Yes I think most of the attention has shifted In the end the kids donÆt matter as much as the fact that they recognized members of Kharon Academy rescued a known criminal from Zone 7 custody Gives certain groups a lot of grounds for criticism against you
Randidly forced out a laugh as he turned over that information in his mind DonÆt worry on my account I can handle a little criticism
AlanaÆs bitter smile made him pause Randidly cleared his throat and stepped toward her to put his hand on his shoulder She looked down at the hand in surprise for a second before she met his eyes while he spoke Look I know this is about me right They think I should have handled the Expira situation differently So if you need any help please let me know I really appreciate whatÆs been done for me Especially by you Alana Without you Expira wouldnÆt have gotten to this point Your firm resolve held the line when it mattered When the Calamity was prepared to morph into something truly deadly
This time her smile was a lot more genuine Tentatively she reached up and patted his hand Without armor her shoulder seemed surprisingly thin This thank you But you donÆt need to worry about it This is our role right You handle the threats from outside in the Nexus we take care of what’s going on within the Alpha Cosmos Besides arenÆt you just here because you are bored Maybe if you invited me out to fight in the Nexus IÆd let you muck around in politics here
Yea thatÆs fair Randidly winced He coughed once to try and regain his composure When he touched Alana he felt resonance from the connection between them pure and strong A few flashing stills of her image drifted through examples of her treating his actions with a reverence that he very clearly felt he didnÆt deserve
Because from what he witnessed the most he had in common with a religious figure was how ominously silent he was when his supporters had truly needed him And in his mind he had done it for their own good
Smaller threads from Tatiana Donny Sydney Neveah Heiffal
Congratulations Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual has grown to Level 503
He stitched everything together with great care balancing all his hopes and dreams for Expira The more threads he incorporated the more that seemed to swim after them begging to be included by their own connections The working stretched higher and higher beginning to also sink into the ground and sea And as the Nether Ritual took shape around him the island itself got caught up in the working
Randidly grimaced as his body began to ache channeling a vast amount of foreign Nether without letting his own Nether Core alter the flow Especially because of the danger of his image handling Calamities this had to be independent of him He pulled at the mass of significance swirling below and a whole worldÆs worth of history began to follow behind it Without taking control of it Randidly called on his Authority to Seize to pull more and more deepening the working he created