Time seemed to accelerate for the current Randidly. But at the same time, it receded like a shy tide. He barely noticed its passage as he threw himself into his training. If not for Absolute Timing, he might have been completely drifted away into the satisfying actions of improving himself. The mental clarity gifted by the Fatepiece left him sharp, but it also left him smooth.

He glided forward on that smoothness, barely noticing his surroundings. He passed easily from one moment to the next, without the slightest hint of friction or hesitation.

His abilities with isolating Nether Rituals grew more sophisticated with repetition. Without Skill Levels, he could only rely on examining the results, but it was clear that his creations now lasted for longer. He could lose himself for a month and still return to himself to find the Ritual intact. Randidly wondered if he should expose himself more to the emotional attacks to force growth, but his current rate of growth seemed fine to him.

So he continued to train. He glided forward, gradually accumulating significance and experience in equal measure. The Nether around him was rich with emotion and nuance, carrying with it the weight of history. Yet even with his accumulation, he was uncannily smooth, cutting through everything.

His focus on details became overwhelming. Randily often found himself lost in the minutia of his improvement. Yggdrasil, the Grim Chimera, and the Stillborn Phoenix continued to sharpen their details. They grew strong.

He improved in other areas as well. Spear usage. Image details. Emotional control. Nether utilization. In all of these areas, he improved.

Sometimes each training session took a whole day, sometimes they stretched to fill an entire week. Without really noticing it, these training sessions pushed the time Randidly had spent in the depths upward; he had suddenly been here for a year.

I’m improving quickly, I believe… but is it enough…? To that question, Randidly had no answer.

He was stronger, yes, but it was not enough. The foes waiting for him in the Nexus were even stronger than the current him. So he buckled down and trained. His resolve continued to fold itself into smaller and sharper forms. That resolve cut through everything to push him toward his goal.

Of course, improving his Engraving for the Nether Core took up most of his time. His epiphany guided Randidly to create a shape that mobilized the surrounding Nether, but he destroyed the result all the same and tried again immediately afterward. His useless eyes traced the curves of Nether upon the bone wall and realized his mistake.

What he had discovered about himself was the core, but it wasn’t the whole. Everything he had considered in the past was relevant. It was ‘significant’. The larger shape had been located… now it was just a matter of establishing the relevant context.

Which, once more, brought him back to training. The repetition would have once been tiresome, but he couldn’t even stop himself at this point. His emotions continued to seeth within his chest, empowered and volatile.

From effort inevitably came results. As the Engraving for his first image gradually took shape, his thoughts moved to his other two images. And in addition, Randidly began practicing the Nether art of layering. His Nether Core would need to incorporate all three of these forces. So to get ahead of problems down the line, he practiced the layering.

Due to his smoothness, more and more time was lost. Wrapped in his Nether Rituals, he was safe from distraction. The only reason Randidly eventually surfaced was that he felt that familiar plateau arriving before him. It was no longer so simple to spot the increased proficiency from practice.

So he produced the Visage of Obsession and stared into its swirling colors. He was buoyed further by those colors until he arrived in front of a familiar figure. But the rough strokes that had once been Lyra shifted to draw a new form.

Ki-Kunot, the leader whose fiery passion reminded Randidly of himself when he had finally understood the System, the bird-woman he had killed inside of a Dungeon on Expira, was waiting for him upon a grey plain. She greeted him with a stern glance, as though asking what took him so long. Randidly almost chuckled, but just gestured for her to inform him what he would sacrifice here.

The separation between the world and the Visage of Obsession. Ki-Kunot responded in a light voice. It will proceed more quickly if you view it directly… but now it will steadily advance, whether you are viewing it or not.

Randidly pressed his lips together. As long as one aspect didn’t run unchecked, that was almost a benefit. And the sacrifices…?

To Randidly’s relief, Ki-Kunot shook her head in denial. No, they will not be automatically deducted. Those steps will always require your express assent. But this step will further eliminate your sense of time. The fog of the Fatepiece will cling to you always. To that end… Your Skill Absolute Timing will also be blocked.

So this is the cost of proceeding halfway through the Fatepiece… Randidly grinned at Ki-Kunot and nodded his assent to this sacrifice. And just like that, he was back floating in the gloomy shaft. Emotional currents washed around his Nether Ritual. Yet what he noticed immediately was that at the edges of his perception, the colors began to swirl strangely. Tingling motes of silver and navy blue flashed. Yet when he focused on those areas, the deviations rapidly normalized.

Randidly clicked his tongue silently and dismissed the Nether Ritual. Then he released his hold on his emotional tether, intent on going deeper. As for how long…

Randidly abruptly realized he had simply been blankly floating downward for at least a minute. Without his Skill… time was becoming increasingly runny between his fingers. He felt a great deal of pity for those inside of his Alpha Cosmos who would proceed through this length of time normally, but he needed to trust them to maintain their edge in the meantime.

Struck by a sudden idea, Randidly wove a new Nether Ritual as he was falling. The shape was extremely familiar. Nether Beasts surged forward from his movements, but Randidly didn’t care. He allowed the Stillborn Phoenix to manifest directly in his left eye, rapidly devouring the emotions in the surrounding area. With its surging size and unstable power, it rapidly blasted away all the Nether Beasts that approached Randidly.

Which of course drew more ire, but Randidly didn’t much care. His focus was on the woven Nether between his fingers.

He finished the Nether Ritual with a flourish. The connection bridged across time and space, connecting Randidly with Vualla. He felt her heat and her shock, replaced quickly by delight as she realized it was him. He smiled, enjoying the familiar sense of power he could feel from her image. She was certainly as impressive as always; she hadn’t been slacking in his Alpha Cosmos.

Around him, the Stillborn Phoenix continued to grow. The core of the black hole had grown so that the entire space around Randidly’s head was being bent and devoured in its maw. In the shaft that usually was only disturbed by emotions, a new horrifying wind was being born. It drew its fingers silently along the inside of the bone, seeking purchase to seize and devour.

Yet just as quickly as the delight flashed in Vualla’s heart, it was replaced by worry as she examined his state. Randidly… what’s… why do you feel so strange…?

My Fatepiece requires some self-sacrifice, Randidly replied awkwardly. Their connection expressed meaning directly to each other, but he understood from Vualla’s deepening confusion that his expression was ambiguous. He sent her a pulse of warm confidence. Don’t worry. The effect is temporary. But I… we might be here for a while. Is everything… alright…?

Heh. Randidly’s heart broke slightly as he felt Vualla set aside her significant worries and affect a cheery outlook through their connection. She easily changed the subject. These two recruits of yours Randidly… where the hell did you find him? With all the time you’ve given me, they are going to be monsters when we leave here.

Great. Thanks. I couldn’t… Randidly trembled and raised a hand to press against his chest. The surroundings snapped back into focus. How long had he been sinking downward…? His surroundings were filled with a sea of furious Nether Beasts. But the Stillborn Phoenix had taken this chance to swell until Randidly’s entire body was hidden by the warped space. His Nether Nebula was spinning furiously. I… I couldn’t do this without you. But I need to go. Stay safe.

You too. Came Vualla’s reply. Then Randidly ended the Nether Ritual and seized onto his emotional tether. He gritted his teeth for several seconds as he grew used to the pressure from the significance below. He was now at 82% Nether content in the air. And considering the increased distance for the change in percentage, he had fallen much deeper than he had originally intended.

Randidly glared around him. The Stillborn Phoenix had been running rampant while he was distracted, but Randidly swiftly pulled that wild energy back inward. Hundreds of Nether Beasts surrounded him now and they surged forward, perhaps believing that the shift was a sign of weakness. Hydras and minotaurs and enormous slimes and krakens lashed outward at Randidly to slaughter this interloper.

But his movement was one of preparation. With Randidly’s malicious smile, thick blades of gravity began to slash outward in every direction, shredding all of the nearby Nether Beasts. The Egg of Depression was like a machine gun before a herd of pigs, ripping through flesh faster than they could even realize what was happening.

Another small change occurred within the core of the Stillborn Phoenix as it reached out and devoured the surrounding Nether Cores. It seized upon something precious and began accumulating it within its own core.

But then Randidly suppressed his wild image. He sensed the surrounding area in a single moment; more Nether Beasts were converging, but he had time before they gathered. Randidly raised his hand and created a Nether Ritual to isolate himself. Then he sat down and meditated.

He had a new problem: he had proceeded so deeply into the shaft that the significance below was stealing away his Nether more quickly than he could produce it.

Yet Randidly’s newfound smoothness also prevented him from panicking. He began to manipulate the Nether inside of his Nebula directly, having it form a certain pattern that he had developed for his Nether Core. The Nebula was heavy, but Randidly sharply pulled the energy to suit his will.

The shape was not fixated on a physical medium, but Randidly’s time refining the structure of the Engraving hadn’t been wasted; even its merest form began to hint at the power it could eventually wield. Gradually, the influence the significance below could wield on him fell to a weak tug that Randidly hadn’t experienced since about the 50% Nether mark.

Then he rolled his shoulders, disassembled his Nether Ritual, and began to drift through the middle portion of the shaft as he gathered himself once more.

He had thrown himself into both the attack with Stillborn Phoenix and the restructuring of his Nether Nebula without thought, but in retrospect, he could feel how mentally exhausting both of those tasks were.

So he drifted, simply allowing time to pass.

The Nether Beasts had drifted away, not finding the source of the disturbance while his Nether Ritual hid him. Randidly studied the nearby Nether Beasts. The creatures here were definitely more intelligent than the manufactured version, but at the same time...

At some point, he yawned and stretched. Break time was over. Time to return to training.