Randidly took a few seconds to scan the list of Paths available to him. There were some new ones, making an annoyingly difficult decision even more aggravating. But when he looked at his list of Paths, most of what he saw were Paths that he could have taken, but didn’t.

Friend to Humanity 0/100, Mantle of the Patron 0/500, Aether Convergence II ???, the Bell of Doom Tolls 0/600, The Ashes of Ulaat, Patron of Ash 0/1000, Order Ducis: Font of Guidance ???, Humanity’s Torch 0/500, Bearing of a Teacher ???, Puppet Master 0/100, Pain Immunity I 0/250, Cleaver of the World Tree ???, Weakness of the World Tree 0/500, Experimenter IV 0/1250, Guilty Conscience I 0/100, Peerage of the Baleful Court I 0/600, Hands of the Artisan 0/???, Ashes of Illym, the Above-Average Child 0/5000, The Flame the Burns Memories 0/????, Exodus, the Terror 0/1000, Genesis, the Considered 0/1000, Image Cooperation I 0/100, Body Refinement I 0/???, Chimera’s Struggle II 0/????, Spear Mastery III 0/200, Mysteries of the Fiery Emerald Waltz 0/???, Violent Heat I 0/???, Domineering Control 0/500, Sovereign of Violence I 0/1000

Because of so many of the Paths being related to other endeavors, it was quite easy to cut out quite a lot of the options. Some of the Paths Randidly had since very early in his time underneath the System, and therefore he believed the benefits of completing them wouldn’t justify the cost. Others were more focused on his Skills as a leader or relating to humanity as a whole. While Randidly now led a city, he truly didn’t think the Crown that he wore was that sort of Crown.

Other’s Randidly could eliminate because they related to aspects of Yggdrasil, and Randidly wanted to refine his own image before he would consider improvements to those aspects. In addition, it appeared he had obtained some Paths recently due to his focus on incorporating fire and heat into his combat style, but that largely could be set aside now that Randidly had obtained his Stillborn Phoenix image.

Honestly, it feels like I never put enough effort into nurturing my images… there are so many aspects I haven’t explored. Randidly could only scratch at his scalp and sigh. Concentrating on one image seems like such a dream at this point... But I suppose I would have lost a lot of utility...

Finally, there was a group of Paths that were related to his production Skills. Extremely useful, but again not what Randidly wanted for the moment; they would do next to nothing to improve his fighting power. Therefore, the amount of choices Randidly considered to be good ones was quite reduced.

The Ashes of Ulaat, Patron of Ash 0/1000, Peerage of the Baleful Court I 0/600, Ashes of Illym, the Above-Average Child 0/5000, The Flame the Burns Memories 0/????, Image Cooperation I 0/100, Body Refinement I 0/???, Chimera’s Struggle II 0/????, Spear Mastery III 0/200, Domineering Control 0/500, Sovereign of Violence I 0/1000

Ten Paths remained in Randidly’s curated list, and each tempted him in a different way. But of course, he quickly began to cut that list down to size as well.

First, although his Riders were proving every day that they were an untapped resource that Randidly really needed to address, he didn’t think improving them was the best way to spend his time. No matter how amazing this Path was, Randidly didn’t believe completing it would power his Riders up in time for the confrontation with the Special Investigator.

And in an unrelated matter, seeing that Path made Randidly wince as he realized that Tatiana had sent him several pointed messages about meeting with the contingent of Riders that trooped dutifully behind Kharon on its journey to explore the wildlands.

Merchants were ecstatic to have a group that was bringing a seemingly endless supply of monster meat and parts into the city, but Tatiana didn’t like the fact that Randidly hadn’t really given the Riders of the Baleful Court any direction. As it was, they were currently just as much a liability as they were an asset.

“And she’s right about that…” Randidly scratched the back of his head and decided that his training was beginning to slow anyway. Perhaps it was time to deal with some of the issues that he left piled up in Kharon. After he chose a Path, it would be good to have a break from the repeated training sessions. Specifically, Randidly planned on dealing with the presents from his birthday and checking on the status of the Danger Zones with Corrupted Invaders personally.

Even if he didn’t plan on interfering, Randidly didn’t want to be blindsided by any plans that had been laid out in Aether, which others on Earth wouldn’t be able to sense.

Coughing lightly, Randidly turned back to his Paths. In addition to setting aside the Riders Path, Randidly also rather quickly set aside The Flame that Burns Memories and Body Refinement. The former because he wasn’t sure what he would get out of such a Path and the latter because he already had quite a physical advantage. Improving it was something that he wanted, but his fights against Kaan made him realize that learning to control the power he already wielded was the most important issue for now. He still didn’t quite understand how to use his overwhelming physicality to its full potential.

As Randidly continued his examination of his Path options, he summoned some of the purple-black energy of Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold. Everything seemed to be highlighted and enhanced so that he could parse apart the options even more easily. His eyes narrowed.

The Ashes of Ulaat were something that Randidly had retained for a long time, but it still didn’t feel like it was time to delve into his history. In addition, Chimera’s Struggle seemed to be the continuation of Chimera’s Grude, which already had cost 1000 PP. It would be one thing if it was another 1000 PP Path, but Randidly expected the cost to grow since it included a numeral. So that option was set aside due to the expense.

For a similar reason, Randidly agonizingly decided not to pursue the Ashes of Illym, the Above-Average Child Path. On the one hand, he believed that if he could learn more about Illym he could create a large change in his Stillborn Phoenix image. In his mind, this would definitely increase his power. More information would give him more outlets for the wild emotion at the image’s core. But 5000 PP simply was too much of a commitment for Randidly.

Excluding the Tithe from the Alpha Cosmos, it would take him anywhere from six months to a year to finish the Path even with the lead of PP he already had. And for the moment, the change in his fighting prowess would be very small. Which meant that there were only four options remaining.

Image Cooperation I 0/100, Spear Mastery III 0/200, Domineering Control 0/500, Sovereign of Violence I 0/1000

Randidly looked at those four options for a long time. The moon began to rise above the edge of the horizon, a small crescent of light to illuminate the night. But even if the moon was a crescent, the Moonlight Spirits came out in hordes, spiraling upward toward the source of their namesake as though channeling a mysterious powerful down toward the floating island. It was enough to distract Randidly from his Paths.

Tsk-ing to himself, the first Path that Randidly set aside from the final group was Image Cooperation. Although Grim Chimera and Yggdrasil would probably benefit most from that Path, he didn’t think the Stillborn Phoenix was quite ready for it. His work on solidifying his new image was a long way from complete.

The effect it could wield was powerful, but that was because it lacked much of the utility of his other images. It was quite easy to fashion a good hammer, after all. But even if Randidly would use a hammer for the moment, he knew that wouldn’t be enough against the truly powerful people in the Nexus.

The other elimination was Spear Mastery III. It would provide a benefit, but one that Randidly believed would be marginal. Especially because only one of his three images involved spears in their fighting potential.

The final decision was much tougher. Randidly had an intuition that Sovereign of Violence might hold the key to controlling his physical gifts enough to gain an edge. But there was no guarantee of that. It might even lead Randidly to a Skill that he would need to grind before he could see tangible benefits. And certainly, he had access to some good training partners with Dreamcatcher of the Long Night, but it still would take valuable time.

However, Domineering Control wasn’t perfect either. Mostly for a very silly reason; Randidly was secretly worried that the Path would upgrade his Stat to Domineering Control. And for others, it would sound strange that Randidly was worried about that happening, but it would mean his Control Stat, his main and most reliable Stat, would not be able to be upgraded into a rarer version of the Stat but a rather plain sounding Domineering Control.

Domineering Control was obviously valuable, but was it as potent a jump as Nether Brawn and Grim Intuition…?

Randidly could help but chuckle. “God, I sound so spoiled right now…”

After chasing his thoughts back and forth for several minutes, Randidly ultimately decided that Domineering Control was the better choice. Partially because he could finish it immediately, but also because Control was always the avenue that Randidly would use to grapple with his ridiculous physical abilities. Sharpening Control right now would help him in the long run either way.

Especially when the next Fatepiece will cause me to lose Control on Level ups, Randidly grimaced. When he started pouring his PP into the Path, he was rewarded with 1 Control every 10 PP he spent. And very soon, he finished the Path entirely.

Congratulations! You have completed the Domineering Control Path! Although the Paths have become increasingly rocky, your gait has not been disturbed in the slightest. Through a combination of instinct and savvy planning, you create a superior Path amongst all the lessor choices. This is the Path of those who have chosen Control as their ultimate goal.

Of all the Domineering Paths, this is the one least traveled. The route is littered with weeds and broken stone. As you continue upward, you cannot help but notice the bodies of those who attempted to reach the Summit before you and failed. They died like dogs in droves. The history of the Nexus is long and all of their names have been forgotten.

Remember, there are no shortcuts to power. Only transactions.

Congratulations! Due to your Level being 60, +120 Control! In addition, +1 Grim Intuition, +1 Reaction, +1 Focus, and +3 Control per Level!