Acri hummed in pleasure as Randidly moved smoothly through the various spear forms. When the party waited for him below, this was how Randidly chose to calm his mind. Like his earlier practice with the spear, he didn’t imbue his image into the motions at all. His movements might try an emulate the spirit of the image, but he simply relied on his physical gifts to practice creating that feeling.

With just the physical movements as the guide, Randidly’s mind wandered to the details of the image. With vicious brutality in every strike, Randidly truly became the Grim Chimera. And while he was there, he could see the way that light reflected off the serrated and sharpened interior of his talons. He felt the coarse and slightly porous texture of the bloodstains on the bone spear.

The skin of his torso was so soft that it seemed to whisper as he moved. And as that skin traveled toward his appendages, that skin became corrupted and toughened to something close to leather. The body of the Grim Chimera was a balancing act of dualities; it was several parts that had been stitched haphazardly together in the name of survival.

As Randidly cut the air with enough violence to create gusts of wind swirling around him, he realized that his earlier attempts to bring the Grim Chimera to some sort of perfect harmony weren’t necessary. Part of the Grim Chimera’s charm was the tenuous lease it possessed on life.

So his movements started to reflect that almost… wildness of the Grim Chimera. The raw way it approached every problem seemed into the powerful blows of Acri.

Congratulations! Your Skill Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality (A) has grown to Level 260!

Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Avoidance (L) has grown to Level 240!

But of course, Randidly was not alone on the island. This practice was also to test another problem he had discovered recently in his spearmanship.

Still breathing evenly, Randidly slowed in his motions with all the unhurried necessity like a freight train fast approaching a sheet of ice. There was an almost dangerous amount of momentum contained in his body as he gradually ceased his practiced and arrived, steaming, at a stop. The essence of the Grim Chimera began to fade from around him, along with the small whirlwinds that he had produced with his spear strokes. Then Randidly glanced over toward the other figure who joined him on his floating island. “So? What do you think?”

Helen’s scowl was something to behold. It had all of the hard lines and blank certainty of conviction as the worn relief of a primitive god of slaughter carved into a mountain range. “...I honestly don’t know. I don’t think… I can give you advice on improving your spear form any longer. This is… troubling.”

Randidly quirked his eyebrow up. With frustration visibly wafting off of her, Helen shook her head. “Well, I’ll be blunt; your form is actually quite bad. You’ve picked up quite a few brutally simple movements that broadcast your attacks to any foe who is paying attention. In addition, the way you hold your spear and manipulate it has shifted in some very… inefficient ways that I cannot figure out.”

The more Helen spoke, the more Randidly frowned. But then he released a long breath. “If it’s as bad as that, why are you confused?”

“It’s your body; it’s hard for me to gauge how powerful it has become,” Helen admitted. “I say you now move more inefficiently, but, perversely, your speed has definitely gone up by adopting this style. Whereas a ‘perfect’ spear form would utilize the pathways of air resistance to your advantage, you have started to simply… blast through that resistance. Generally, I would say that you are relying on your raw physical gifts to compensate for a lack of control, but… There are benefits to the rough approach. Without relying on my image to compensate for the difference, I can’t keep up with your attacks any longer. Ignoring the air resistance the way you do gives you a lot of… unexpected power and acceleration.”

Setting Acri on the ground gave Randidly time to hear and consider the subtle notes of frustration and disappointment in Helen’s voice. Acri rolled around happily after the brutality of the prior actions, completely oblivious to the hanging tension around the two people.

Helen had come to Earth to be Randidly’s knight, yet what happened was Randidly was had left her further and further behind. In the raw mix of anger, resentment, yearning, and awe in her voice, Randidly could feel the internal struggle that she was going through as she struggled to come to terms with her usefulness to him.

Because now, her superior familiarity with the spear was no longer enough.

Yet Randidly could also sense that this wasn’t a battle that was his to fight with her. He would not slow down his growth for her, and she would not ask him too. She was not someone who would value soft and consoling words that he could give her as encouragement. So it was up to Helen to find the equilibrium between them.

All on her own. Because that is the first step to her finding her resolve to catch up to me in strength.

So Randidly gently set that issue to the side, which seemed to happen altogether too often lately. Instead, he hummed and considered the problem that Helen had outlined after watching his spear movements; his Skills and Stats were approaching the physical limit of the world. No longer was he confined to typical human movements and that had created some unexpected consequences.

Randidly was now at an interesting point where image and ‘realistic’ efficacy started to run counter to each other. Because obviously Randidly could choose to keep refining his spear control to take advantage of the natural forces of the universe rather than simply shattering them in a display of the Grim Chimera’s raw power. He had plenty of Stats in Control to handle that sort of training.

But then he would be losing the brutal, natural power of the Grim Chimera in his movements. The rough and unnatural peculiarity of its existence would start to fade. Because the Grim Chimera struck on instinct. It was purely a creature of necessity that survived by fighting and using stitched together parts.

Previously, the perspectives of the current world and the world of Randidly’s images had existed in a curious balance that he took for granted. But now he had a slight headache as he considered how difficult it would be for his image to continue to improve at such a quick rate. Because his image, as long as he continued to follow this path, would begin to run counter to the natural laws of the world. Another force to struggle against as he refined himself.

Which was perhaps another reason that even on the frontlines, there hadn’t been an excess of extremely powerful images. The only other option was switching the image of the Grim Chimera to be more in tune with the world, but at this point…

Randidly shook his head and sighed. One more weight on the shoulders won’t matter; what’s one more world I’m struggling against? I bear the Inscrutable Mien and drag in my wake the Implacable Price. If Yggdrasil is really a Universe that was First a Tree, it will eventually need to support its own natural laws anyway.

When he then roused himself and glance over at Helen, he found that she was now looking at him with a remarkably solemn expression. Seemingly, her earlier frustrations had been overcome while Randidly considered his own problem.

“So will I be able to fight against the First Calamity when it comes?” Helen asked.

After hesitating for a small moment, Randidly shook his head. “Probably not. I don’t think there will be any complications from you participating, but I think the Earth should learn to handle its problems on its own. I hope that Calamity shakes off the rest of the doubts that they have about the danger the Earth is in.”

She nodded and paused for a few seconds of time. When she spoke again, however, Helen’s eyes seemed to shimmer with a crimson light. “But of course, I’ll be able to participate on behalf of the Order Ducis against these… corrupted invaders? Quite an unusual threat that has suddenly appeared on the planet.”

Inwardly, Randidly chuckled wryly. Was Helen using a sales tactic of starting with a large ask and then becoming more reasonable to get him to agree? Maybe he had left her alone with Tatiana for too long; the two were as thick as thieves. But honestly, it didn’t much matter; Randidly had planned on Helen helping to resolve this problem quickly. “Of course. We aren’t extremely pressed for time… but we definitely don’t want to miss the window for the benefit if the danger will remain on Earth either way. You’ll be responsible for smashing to pieces any defenses that were likely designed to stall a typically developing world.”

“About fucking time you let me stop playing around. I swear, when you aren’t around to spar, I’m driven out of my mind by boredom.” Helen rolled her shoulders.

This time, Randidly chuckled aloud. “We will see how much longer you can say that for. The people of Earth are growing stronger. Maybe someday soon, someone will be able to beat you in a direct confrontation. That would certainly inject some tension into your life, right?”

Helen snorted, but as she quickly changed the subject, Randidly realized that the same thought had already occurred to her. And that she was unwilling to dwell on it for a moment longer than necessary. “How was the party? Have the people of Earth begun to listen to you?”

That made Randidly twisted his mouth. He glanced down at the pitch-black metal of his left hand, flexing it to cause lines of white light to flare to life across the dull surface. As Randidly focused on his swirling inner nebula, shadowy flames of Nether flickered to life across his knuckles. “They currently listen to my power. Which is fine for now. But this Epic Danger Zone and the direct interference of the System… it means someone has noticed something about me. Rather than continuing to lure those forces to Earth… I’ll probably need to go to the Nexus to stop the Earth from becoming a battleground.

“Which means I’ll be leaving Earth, for who knows how long. And as the impression of my power fades… people will stop heeding the warnings that I left for them. Even though I don’t doubt the Order Ducis will remain the most powerful group for a while even without me, that won’t stop some of the other Zones from testing the limits. Especially since we have no idea what kind of Zone is about ot connect to Earth, or what sort of governments will be revealed in the new bubble cities… I can’t just display power; I need to teach them a lesson about power. Which is what is happening now.”

“Will it work?” Helen asked. It was clear from her tone that she didn’t think that it would.

Randidly showed his teeth. “Probably not. Which is why I’m being a bit heavy-handed this time.”

*****

“Obviously we don’t want to actually meet the Ghosthound,” Delilah told Tim. As she spoke his name, a shadow of fear skittered across her features, but then it passed and they continued on her way. She skipped quickly ahead, forcing Tim to jog to keep up with her on the winding forest path that led out the back of the children’s haphazard wooden castle. A gaggle of older and larger teens followed closely behind. “Have you met him? Don’t do it. He is one of the most horrible… he’s the devil incarnate. Hiding from him is impossible. Once he grabs you, he won’t let go. So we avoid him. BUT! We obviously need to go to his party!”

“Err... “ Tim glanced around, still slightly unsure what he was doing here. After introducing herself, Delilah had promptly begun barking out quick orders to the other kids, without waiting for Tim’s answer to her offer to crash the party. Tim’s arrival served as some sort of signal that the plot was beginning. She seemed to take his acceptance for granted. “Why do we need to go to his party?”

Delilah abruptly stopped, requiring the rest of the scampering column to skid on their heels in order to prevent them all from smashing into each other and collapsing into a pile of gangly limbs. She turned around and regarded Tim with a beaming expression of pride. “Aha! I knew you looked smart. Because all the adults have emphatically said that there will not be a birthday cake because the Ghosthound doesn’t like them. But it’s a birthday! Of course there is a cake. Which means there must be a secret cake!”

“Uh…” Tim wasn’t sure if he shared Delilah’s confidence. “But also… why did you invite me…?”

“Weight to moss spirit ratio,” Delilah turned around and started skipping forward again just as abruptly. “I told them to bring me the scrawniest kid with the most moss spirits around him, and that turned out to be you! Just a surprise you are so new here. Seems like they really like you.”

Scrawny? But I’m bigger than you! Tim thought with a frown. But then his other questions reasserted themselves.

“But why-” Tim opened his mouth to continue the line of questioning, but they rounded the side of a low hill and walked into a small clearing in the trees. The words died on his lips as he saw the rather strange mixture of crudeness and care that only projects completed entirely by children possessed.

A slapped together wooden vessel sat in the middle of the clearing, reminding Tim of vague memories of boats he had seen in the past. The bottom was flat like a raft, but it was large enough to fit two squat shacks and a tall mast that seemed entirely without purpose.

“Our ship,” Delilah said fondly.