Randidly hummed to himself as raised his hands and flicked his fingers. The motions were meaningless, but he felt oddly… empowered as he guided Aether out around the training area in a complex pattern like he was a composer keeping time for the symphony. He tried to keep the individual Aether flows extremely bare, but because of that, it was hard even for Randidly to make sure the superstructure he was slowly erecting would fit his very exact specifications. He pressed his eyes tightly closed and leaned forward, splaying his fingers out in the air.

Within the penthouse apartment that Randidly had commandeered of their Alpha Cosmos housing building, one flesh and one metal fingertip guided the energy in a complex swirling weave that hung in the air. Outside, a much grander reflection began to emerge. His heart began to thump in his chest. His image physicalizations flared to life as the feeble streams of Aether kept trying to wander off of the paths chosen by Randidly.

From Yggdrasil he took the vast Control, from the Stillborn Phoenix he took an almost obsessive Focus, and from the Grim Chimera he took the unwavering Willpower. The thin flows of Aether soon began to connect. The system began to flow forward, building up momentum to sustain itself.

The smaller version dissipated, leaving Randidly solely grasping the convoluted mess that coiled in on itself above the oblivious recruits. Then he released a breath through his nose.

At this point, Randidly and Neveah had basically utilized all the tricks they were able to decipher from Yyxtrix’s gift in order to create a vast Engraving that covered their area of the Rally Station. In theory, the Engraving should be capable of suppressing those within for increased training efficacy, keeping outside actors form being able to peer within the formation, and defending against unwanted intruders if someone were to force the issue. So now it was time to get a little aggressive with Randidly’s training methods.

Randidly couldn’t help but grin as he pulled away even more of the Aether he was manipulating. What remained was gossamer and trembling emotion, barely Aether at all.

Congratulations! Your Skill Aether Manipulation has grown to Level 252!

Randidly released another slow breath through his nose. He could feel the way that his intense focus was gradually warping the surrounding space around him. In his chest, his Nether Nebula began to accelerate as it pumped Nether throughout his body. There was a groaning from Randidly’s physical torso as that innocuous grey bubble in the core of the Nebula slowly began to grow.

The idea for this had actually come from Edraine, when she had been talking about methods to earn Nexus Citizenship coins. One common tactic employed by those of the Nexus to improve themselves was to expand their image, having it take up the space of an entire world. Then they began to purify it at that larger size so they could later compress it again and achieve a superior image. She explained to Randidly that this was the generally acceptable final stage of reaching the Pinnacle.

Randidly had his own spin on this technique.

Gradually, Randidly’s Nether Nebula slowed its rotation. Then it stopped and began to spin in the other direction. After a second of internal rumbling, a tide of Nether surged outward through those carefully drawn pathways and filled the atmosphere of the Southern portion of their training area. Almost instantly, the entire area darkened as the chaotic energy dominated the sky.

Those thin trails of emotion became the guild that drew the Nether down the paths of least resistance.

The energy gushed like the fallout of a broken dam, frothing and crashing unpredictably for several seconds as it engorged the trails left by the Aether. Randidly’s expression tightened. More and more Nether blasted out of his body, gleeful for the scent of freedom after the long pooling within his Nether Nebula. An inexplicable tremor ran through Randidly’s hands as he tried to continue his gentle guidance.

Very purposefully, he had constructed the framework for the Nether system in the sky above the training area. So as the divergent flows bucked and crashed against each other, it was in a space that wouldn’t impact the average training session. But even Randidly didn’t expect such an explosive reaction from his Nether. With gritted teeth, he widened the scope of the Nether currents so some of the excess exuberance of the energy wouldn’t smash apart the whole structure. More of the sky darkened, but his creation remained stable.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 321!

Randidly couldn’t help but smile as he struggled to retain control of the Nether ecosystem that he had unleashed in the sky. Each individual flow was like a bloodthirsty eel, struggling to escape Randidly’s tight control and descend toward the befuddled individuals looking up at the sky from below. Heh… my excuse of having Nether present in the training grounds to create exposure for the elites… looks a lot better when it seems like I have control over the whole process…

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 322!

A bead of sweat oozed down his brow and then lightly traced the outline of his cheekbone. His whole body was tensed to continue the struggle. And Randidly might have continually fought and forced his will upon the Nether until it submitted, had not Helen coincidentally climbed the tower to speak with him and moved within the area Randidly had given over to the Nether.

At first he was horrified, especially as the Nether paused and then forcefully ripped itself out of its previous moorings to rush toward her. The Nether spiraled around Helen before Randidly could stop it. And he knew that the presence of his Aether in the air and Helen’s body would largely blunt the caustic effect of normal Nether, but-

Randidly blinked. Then he narrowed his eyes. After studying the suddenly meek Nether around Helen and the Nether that furiously tried to push its way forward to touch her, Randidly could only sigh. That’s right, Nether is the energy of connection. Trying to build a system without any connections is impossible; individuals naturally serve as the mooring points.

Feeling somewhat hesitant, Randidly lowered the writhing Nether System down onto the training area proper, allowing it to interact with the recruits. He could feel them stiffen as their bodies suddenly adjusted to the sudden sense of pressure now present in the air. Even if his ambient Aether that filled the air and this Nether were compatible with each other and prevented the worst reaction, it was still an alien sensation to most of the recruits.

And in that brief pause, Nether rushed forward and created an entirely organic network of flowing energy by using the various individuals as waypoints. The energy became even rather obedient; as long as it was flowing from one person to another, it didn’t mind the direction it traveled.

In addition, Randidly could suddenly feel a few extra motes of significance settling within his Nether Nebula as the energy system around him made its path back through his chest before spreading out once more. Randidly watched the entire process with half-lidded eyes. The goal was to mimic the expansion of images with Randidly’s Nether Nebula. He would use this time to examine the way that Nether moved on a broader scope, hopefully providing him with enough insight into Nether that he might make some headway with a Nether Class.

Perhaps sensing that Randidly was largely done with his working, Helen ascended the rest of the stairs to Randidly’s penthouse. She knocked on the door and then opened it. She peered around with interest, clearly sensing the movement of Nether. “Is this another training method for the recruits or is it just for you?”

“...both. But it will require direct attention on my part to weaponize the Nether to mimic the effects of an actual Nether Beast,” Randidly rubbed his chin, examining the way that the Nether was behaving below. Perhaps based on significance, some of the original flows were thinning while others were thickening. Eventually, smaller Nether flows became obsolete and new ones were organically born between individuals standing near each other. Randidly allowed the Nether to do its work. Instead, he glanced at Helen with a half-smile. “Also, did you enjoy that demonstration? You stabbed that recruit through the heart. It’s rare I’ve seen someone get under your skin like that.”

Helen rolled her eyes. “That kid needed to learn a lesson… but I don’t quite think it will stick. No matter how closely he comes to death, if he doesn’t die, he will continue to believe he is invincible. A stubborn fool. If we don’t kill him, a Nether Gatekeeper surely will.”

“I’ll work Nether into his training chamber.” Randidly nodded. He had allowed Helen and Heiffal to head the training of the recruits, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been paying attention. And over the past five days, DiOrtho Vant was both the recruit who had improved the fastest and the only one that hadn’t had their attitude turn for the better in the disciplined environment. “Twenty-four hours to start, and if he comes out without learning his lesson, we can just leave him in there for a week. Any thoughts of revenge… heh, those reflection chambers will keep him honest.”

“Maybe,” Helen just shook her head, her long braid bouncing against her back. “But remember that we don’t have to just worry about him: according to Octavius’ report, Vant’s backer is one of the most ancient amongst the recruits.”

Randidly pursed his lips. “...a blood-drinking psychopath who rose to prominence in the Third Cohort. Certainly, an unsavory character who would raise a descendent to think he was invincible, not caring about the consequences.”

“Make sure you think about the consequences before you punish him too harshly.” Helen jabbed a finger toward Randidly. “I get it, Randidly, I really do. You are getting restless, staying here and training the recruits. But don’t bite off more than you can chew. The rest of us won’t be able to survive it.”

Randidly waved a hand in irritation. But the reason he was irritated was that Helen was right. Sitting for the past few days on the Rally Station… knowing that Vualla was about to be deployed against a Nether threat that had killed a Commandant, one of the most powerful individuals within the military structure… it made him feel like he was wasting his time here. Randidly craved the chance to fight and work off the nervous energy that was filling him.

It didn’t help that the Stillborn Phoenix’s emotional refinement meant that his emotions were becoming quite powerful. Both with his images, but also just for normal living. All power came with a cost.

Randidly forced himself to calm down. In front of him stretched two and a half more long months of training these recruits. And he would gladly take that time for his own training, but he also craved more perspective about how he fit into the existing power structure of the Nexus. After the fight with Kaan Swacc… Randidly had definitely made some serious improvements. That transformation wouldn’t be complete until he had finished the Grim Chimera’s metamorphosis, but he was strong.

Exactly how strong? Well…

Randidly shook his head and then refocused on Helen. “Was there something else?”

“Yup.” Helen walked over to the table. Randidly had rather casually roasted some meats this morning, mostly a massive boar he picked up while he had been within his Alpha Cosmos, and had been steadily snacking on the result while he had worked on his Nether system. She picked up a piece and confidently popped it into her mouth. A second later, her expression brightened and she took a few more. “We got another scroll, requesting a meeting. But this one is from Commandant Wick himself.”

That had Randidly’s attention. Suddenly, he wished he had delayed activating the grand Nether array for a few more days. Remembering that tightly controlled madness that he had briefly witnessed in the Commandant, standing over that metallic being that had his physical form destabilized to the point of being an ooze, the skin on the back of Randidly’s neck prickled. “...was the request as the acting head of the military efforts in the Fifth Cohort?”

Helen shook her head. “Only as a doting grandfather, according to the scroll. But he would like a full tour of our training facilities and the opportunity to talk at length with you right after the first inter-Drill Sergeant skirmish. Seems like he’s hedging his bets. The only reason we’ve been able to expand so freely is that everyone thinks we have his support, right?”

“Right.” Randidly rubbed his chin. Well, it wasn’t like he planned on hiding what he was doing here. But he did wish he would have had some more time to act without anyone noticing. But Randidly supposed that was impossible; he was the head Drill Sergeant. As the Fifth Cohort became more of an issue, he would come under more and more scrutiny.

Honestly, the fact that outside forces had remained quiet for the first week was quite a blessing.

“Oh, there is one other thing I forgot.” Helen, now holding an armful of Randidly’s smoked meats, said as she walked toward the door. “That other Drill Sergeant, Banum Volopposett, stopped by to pester to meet with you. He says the Engraving Guild is very interested in learning about some of the runes you used. They are willing to assist with your experiments if you are willing to share your insight.”

Randidly snorted; Yystrix’s Engraving methods were one of the few advantages he had. If they came with Nexus Citizenship Coins, he wouldn’t mind it. But otherwise…