Randidly released a long breath as he looked at the precisely mapped out scenario that Vye had included in her report. The neat lines of movement and patrols that the map laid out completely captured the large convoy of people that was trooping across the grasslands. A few paragraphs described succinctly the size and rather cohesive organization of the grouping, which Vye indicated to be the most impressive fact about the whole thing.

This new threat from bubble cities, the Special Investigator, the Epic Danger Zone the Special Investigator is protecting, the missing memories of Yystrix, whatever crazy plan that Ace is preparing… Seems like my time on Earth is going to be hectic for a while...

“I’ll think about both issues,” Randidly eventually said, pushing himself back from the table. Tatiana made a small note on the paper in front of her and nodded.

Then she took another delicate sip of her tea. “Hopefully, we will receive more information about the convoy in the next few hours as Vye approaches the groups more directly.”

That gave Randidly pause as he was about to head toward the door. “Vye’s going to establish contact? Is she… safe contacting the people from the bubble cities? When they are so obviously aggressive?”

“I also was somewhat doubtful whether such a move was necessary, but you should be very familiar with how stubborn she…” Abruptly, she paused in her speech. Then Tatiana tapped her finger on the desk and then chuckled. “...then again, you also possess that same sort of stubbornness, so perhaps you cannot as easily recognize it in others… well anyway, she should be safe. From our observation, this Blighted Paragon doesn’t appear to have any inkling of the power of images. With the Order Ducis training, Vye will be fine.”

Randidly’s mouth twisted and Tatiana laughed again. “I think the real problem, Randidly, is that you have no concept of the strength of the average person on Earth. You’ve fought too many people from the Nexus. Sure, Vye’s pretty weak in the Order Ducis, but they really are the cream of the crop right now. That amount of strength should be enough.”

Shaking his head but accepting Tatiana’s judgment, Randidly left and proceeded to the warehouse that was housing all the gifts brought by the various factions of Earth for his birthday. The first thing that he noticed when he walked into the room was how crowded it was; there were huge piles of gifts in the dim interior of the warehouse.

Many people included gifts within interspatial rings, but to make the sorting easier, Tatiana had already removed most of such goods and set them out on display. The warehouse was about the size of a football field but it was half-filled by the valuable items that the people of Earth gave to him.

Randidly was about to release a pulse of Nether to thoroughly scan the area when he remembered to keep his Nether activities to a minimum. So, therefore, he simply just concentrated and used Grim Intuition to check out the interiors of most of the gifts that were in boxes. Very quickly, he sorted the gifts into three types and hummed to himself. The ground trembled and several small shoots of vines carefully wound their way up through the floor.

Not that he couldn’t repair it, but it was easier to just avoid damaging the foundation in the first place.

When the roots and vines had bypassed the ground, they began rapidly to swell. Then the vines stretched and split and steadily began to move the gaudy and festive packages. Randidly noted with amusement as he did the sorting that Tatiana had left most of them covered in wrapping paper and bows. So he shook his head and had a series of roots come forward to rip off and collect the trash.

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) has grown to Level 288!

Scratching his chin, Randidly approached the first pile. This was where he put items that appeared to be things he would either use or sell for other valuables. Just by coincidence, the first long package that the roots hefted up in front of Randidly was from the Order Valorem. Already knowing what was inside the package, Randidly rolled his eyes and pulled off the lid.

Slayer’s Darksteel Spear Lvl 76: A weapon of incredible power, the darksteel spear was famously wielded by a slayer to defeat an opponent that was said to be invincible. But before the domineering weight of the Slayer’s spear, none could live long. The blood of an invincible being stains the blade of the spear to this day. +1000 Stamina, +100 Strength. Slayer’s Ferocity IV. Penetrating Blows II. Darksteel Suppression V.

The stats were certainly impressive, and Randidly wondered for a short time where the Order Valorem had been able to obtain a weapon forged at Level 76 with an attribute that reached V, but Randidly didn’t even bother to read the details of the spear. Because it was made of darksteel, it was anathema for the type of image-based power that was prevalent in the System.

Still… Randidly picked up the spear and held it above his head. Even from just touching it and allowing his Yggdrasil image to flow around him, he could feel the way the edges of his images were damaged as it came in contact with the inert darksteel. There was a suppressive effect that made Randidly wonder if the material somehow incorporated Nether principles. Might be worth it to keep it around and test it against the Special Investigator to see how he deals with it…

Thinking that, Randidly put the darksteel spear into his interspatial ring and brought more gifts to himself. He felt like a birthday octopus, dragging more packages toward himself with his many roots even as he finished opening the one in front of him. Within five minutes, he had seen dozens of strange gifts, including a watch that was warm to the touch and would show the time at any location he focused on, a very translucent pair of pajama pants that were so soft that even Randidly gasped, another spear that was even less useful than the darksteel one, and a crystal mirror.

All these Randidly tossed into the ‘sell’ pile. He had a second of hesitation as he rubbed the incredibly soft pants between his fingers but ultimately decided to part with them. It was not like he had many chances to wear them anyways. And if he wore them in his usual daily routine, they would be ripped to shreds within a week.

Maybe even only a day… Even as Randidly cursed his rough lifestyle, his root arms brought him more gifts to open.

There was a pair of poisonous daggers, a strange set of candles that contained an oppressive power within them that was obvious even while they were not lit, a fur-lined cloak filled with pockets, almost a dozen interspatial rings filled with various currencies, a well-made iron pan lined with engravings to keep the handle cool, powders and perfumes to increase his charm, and a rather plain iron sword that had a sharp enough edge that Randidly spent a minute or two toying with it.

Then he tested it against Acri and promptly rendered the gift garbage.

Most of those things were also tossed into the sell pile, with a few exceptions. The daggers and the candles Randidly planned on giving to the Order Ducis to see if anyone would want them. And the iron pan Randidly pocketed, thinking that he hadn’t spent the time pan-frying food over a fire in quite some time. Such a meal would be a welcome end to a strange day of chores.

After another ten minutes, Randidly pushed his way through the remaining gifts. Most he planned on selling, but he did find two other items that he had special plans for. The first was a set of six whistles that could pinpoint each other’s location at all times. These Randidly also planned on passing to the Order Ducis for special operations. This way, even if the individual who held the whistle was killed, they could still find the corpse.

As for the other item… he would keep it. It was a personal gift from Alana and her Frost Dragon partner.

Frostscale Glove Lvl 89: A glove made by dragons for their god by carefully selecting the purest and most sensitive scales from the bodies of deceased dragons. While the gloves don’t possess much in terms of defensive resilience, the dragon scales chosen have near-perfect conductivity of energy. In addition, the souls of the deceased dragons who became the materials stay with the gloves, protecting the owner. Mana +500, Control and Focus +40. Frostsoul Revenants IV. Glacial Field IV. Energy Dynamism V.

Frostsoul Revenants IV: Wearer of the glove is capable of infusing his Mana into the souls of the Frost Dragons that were used to create the piece of equipment and summon their specters to assist in combat. The potency of the souls depends on the amount of supplied Mana. In addition, the effect will be greater if the god of the dragons is the one utilizing the ability.

Glacial Field IV: All those other than the wearer of the glove will slowly be affected by the aura of cold that the glove radiates in response to the wearer’s emotions. After prolonged exposure, it is highly likely that those below Level 50 will die.

Energy Dynamism V: Due to the craftsmanship and materials, the wearer of the glove will receive a boost when examining and parsing apart ambient energies in the air. In addition, the wearer can more easily affect the surrounding space with his own energies. The glove will act as a conduit to connect the dragon’s god to the surrounding world.

It was a deep-sapphire dragon scale glove. Just from touching the glove, it felt refreshingly cool on Randidly’s hand. Flipping it over, he slid his right hand into the glove, savoring the almost silk-like feeling of the delicate dragon scales over his fingers. In the dim light of the warehouse, it looked rather unassuming. But Randidly suspected that in any sort of light, his right hand would glimmer and gleam wildly.

Doesn’t really match the rest of my aesthetic, but this third ability… if the effect is really that grand... Randidly flexed his fingers.

None of the abilities granted any sort of Stats, but Randidly was rather contented with the effects that they had. Since he was performing miscellaneous tasks anyway, tonight he could go through and try out the different effects of the glove.

Besides, he didn’t miss the numerous references in the text to the god of the dragons. Randidly wondered what Alana had been telling them. It felt like it was some sort of betrayal to not at least examine their offering, all things considered.

With the first pile dealt with, Randidly turned to the second pile of gifts. These were primarily raw materials and rare items given from the various smaller villages and organizations across the six Zones. Tatiana had made it clear that no gifts were required to attend the birthday, but if the guests insisted, regional curiosities would be more than enough. Which meant that several villages shipped out literal metric tons of valuable materials like Lightning Soul Cedar planks or Deep Jade Limestone when they couldn’t come up with anything creative..

In addition to the building materials, there were also elemental sources, body parts from rare or interesting monsters, and carefully prepared specialty exports from the various regions. And as Randidly looked at this second pile… the image of the home that he would build on his floating island began to gradually fit itself together.

However, Randidly turned away abruptly before his mind wandered too far. While diverting, this was a task that would need to wait until Earth’s current crisis was resolved. He would mention the project to Tatiana, but do his best not to let too much of his free time get sucked into the planning.

But even as he thought about keeping his response casual for now, Randidly also knew that his floating island manse needed to be something of a symbol to the people of Kharon. His image, and by extension the image of the rest of Kharon, would change based on the form his home would take. And on a more personal note… Randidly had never really built his own home in his entire life.

During his stay on Earth, he basically made do with whatever was convenient. On Tellus, he followed Shal around. On the frontlines, he had a tent with a special color to designate his status. But none of them were homes he personally shaped. This would be the first time he had that power and influence.

Taping his cheek idly, Randidly turned to the third pile. It wasn’t so much a pile, as a single sloppily wrapped gift. The gift that Ezekiel had delivered.

Randidly opened the box and looked down. As he laid eyes on what was within, the rope on his right wrist shivered. A long memory chimed from within the Fatepiece, but Randidly didn’t need any assistance remembering what this was. “Are you fucking serious…?”

With trembling hands, Randidly began to reach for the comic book within, but hurriedly stopped and removed the glove from his right hand when ice began to form around him on the box. With his emotions in turmoil, his new glove had enthusiastically responded with wave after wave of frigid energy. But right now, Randidly didn’t want that sort of reaction at all.

Reverently, Randidly lifted the book and sighed. It was Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing Volume 1, exactly what Randidly Ghosthound had asked to receive on his 12th birthday. His mother hadn’t batted an eye at the time, but Ezekiel Ghosthound knew a little more about the gift and promised Randidly that he would get it for him when he was older. For now, it was hard no.

Randidly had planned on giving his father the cold shoulder during his birthday party in punishment for the refusal, but his father hadn’t come to his birthday party. Or home at all. It had taken a few days, but both Randidly and his mother realized that this was not one of Ezekiel’s usual moods. That was the year that Ezekiel Ghosthound walked out on the family. In the broader trauma of that incident, Randidly had completely forgotten about his father’s promise.

“How did you even…?” Randidly asked the comic book, as though it would answer him. The warehouse around him was completely silent. In the dark, he pressed his forehead against the cover. After its exposure to his new glove, it was pleasantly cool.

After a long sigh, Randidly sat down and began to read the comic book. He had waited years for this gift from his father. So he was determined to enjoy it.