“Thank you for the information about my Fatepiece,” Randidly said slowly. He memorized that Fatepiece named, repeating it silently to himself. The Hierarchy of Burden. Tsk, I wonder how this relates to being an Alchemist...

But Randidly wasn’t distracted from his main purpose in coming to this place just by news of his Fatepiece; he had bigger fish to fry. “However, finding the other pieces of my Fateset is meaningless if my enemies can continue to track me. Eventually, I’ll be ambushed and they will succeed at killing me. So tell me, Nathaz-who-is-so-sorry, is there any way for you to remove the tracker on me?”

Although Randidly didn’t mean for his voice to rise, he felt a little bit of his anger seep to the surface as he spoke. Yet Nathaz Elosie didn’t appear to notice; he placidly flicked out his tongue and shifted his body amongst the wooden spokes of the room. It appeared that the snake was considering the problem.

“Well… it is not impossible…” Nathaz spoke in his raspy voice after several long seconds of silence. “There are two methods to do it. However… neither is very easy-”

“Just tell me,” Randidly growled, this time allowing the ethereal flames of Weight from his Nether Core to come to the surface. He still wasn’t quite sure the exact role of Weight, but he could feel the heavy pressure he released by virtue of only his existence.

Unfortunately, the reaction he received wasn’t very satisfying. The snake nodded and shifted its head toward one of the terminals. It’s tail lazily unspooled itself from the roof and dropped in front of Randidly, flicking to indicate that he should follow him. So Randidly walked over and stood behind Nathaz as he turned on the terminal.

“To explain, we should start with a base understanding of what I do,” Nathaz said slowly. “I am officially an Administrative Monitor within the NLC; specifically, I monitor actions within the Nexus, primarily looking for changes within the System. But of course, the original System is entirely self-contained and entirely inscrutable. Which was why the Overlay System was created in the first place. Not only does it inform us of what has occurred in the System, but by observing its movements, Monitors like me can also figure out the general state of the System. That is to say, spot and anticipate patterns in the System, using that data to predict changes.”

Nathaz’s tongue flicked out several times. His body undulated slightly and his head began to creep closer to the terminal in front of him. For the first time since Randidly arrived, the cold-blooded creature’s heart rate steadily rose. Randidly frowned at the back of Nathaz’s head. Is he… just getting really excited talking about this…? Must really love his job...

“It is the dream of a monitor like me to witness a comprehensive shift in the under-System- ah, that’s what we call the original System. There have only been three such shifts in the recorded history of the Nexus-” Nathaz turned his head to look at Randidly and appeared to notice the frown of impatience on his face and the flames of Weight that flickered around him.

Hissing lightly, Nathaz turned forward and flicked his tongue out to hit some keys. The terminal display changes, shifting to a complex network of Aether infrastructure. Even Randidly frowned when he was presented with those dense networks of energy connections. “Ah, excuse me. This is about your tracker… ahem. After a few… dangerous incidents that occurred in the Third and Fourth Cohorts, our leader Elhume erected a few stopgaps that utilized the overlay-System to induce a pause in the under-System that required a monitor to approve before the machinery can fully engage. In this manner, we miss less of the very important data points that might indicate-”

“The tracker?” Randidly growled in exasperation for the third time. But although he put up a strong front, he was rather interested in the content that Nathaz was explaining. He just wished the snake seemed a little more reliable about reaching his main point. Surely this amount of background was sufficient…?

“Ah. Ah.” Nathaz’s tongue flicked out several times as he gathered his thoughts. “Basically… I slipped a harmless bit of Aether in the ‘gap’ created as the overlay System paused the under-System. The only notable thing about this Aether chain is that its relatively easy to locate for the Nexus Scanners. As for eliminating it, you have two options. The first… ahem. To complete your Fateset; then the overlay-System will disengage and that piece of Aether will just fall away.”

“And the other option?” Randidly asked. Obviously, he planned on completing his Fateset eventually, but at his current speed, that would mean he would need to survive intermittent attacks from Velio Dunn and his ilk for the next few years.

Less than ideal. Randidly clicked his tongue.

Nathaz pressed on the terminal again with his tongue. Soon there was an extremely dense construction of Aether on the screen. It was a million 3D puzzle pieces stacked in a pulsing organism. The different pieces shifted and spun constantly, going through several revolutions. After a few seconds of watching, Randidly realized what was on the screen was his own Class, Skills, and Fateset.

This was him. Or at least the him that the System could see.

Nathaz paused the screen. All the movement of the pieces ceased. “Right here. The second method would be to have a skilled manipulator of Aether forcibly annihilate the tracer… but due to the complexity, even the best are all but guaranteed to destroy a portion of your Aether in the process… except if they were to reach in exactly as you found a new piece of your Fateset. At that moment, the overlay System disengages and re-engages. Right then… it would be possible.”

Randidly’s eyes began to glow.

The snake cleared his throat. “If you need an expert, I would be perfectly willing-”

“No need,” Randidly chuckled. “I have this covered.”

*****

Raymund Ballast was at peace as he strode through the portal and stepped onto the Fifth Cohort for the first time. His stomach twinged slightly from the sense of wrongness and warped space he experienced from crossing such a vast distance. But then Raymund was standing face to face with a tired seeming Sergeant, who gestured for Raymund to move off the platform and make room for the next arrival.

The Vulpine took several steps forward and looked up at the sky. An enormous, dark moon loomed over the Aether headquarters. Thin streams of darkness wound their way down to the surface of this planet, showing how even now, the Nether forces were launching a continual offensive as they tried to fold the space inward and collapse the whole o the Fifth Cohort.

This place was about to become a battlefield. But there was no fear in Raymund’s heart, only resolve.

The strange circumstances of the Ghosthound meant that Raymund was powerful. In addition, the Head Drill Sergeant had now agreed to help him search for his brother Techetadore. That, in combination with the very real power that Raymund could wield, meant that it was almost guaranteed that he would find a clue as long as he survived this experience.

Raymund smiled as he looked up at the Nether offensive. Although it had taken a long time to reach this juncture, now that he was here-

There was a flicker in the corner of his eye and Raymund’s blood froze in his veins. He was standing in the crowded landing area outside the military teleporter, where groups of people in disheveled uniforms hurried back and forth with scrolls or parcels or weapons. Several large canvas tents were erected nearby and a few wagons filled with foodstuffs and more tent materials were waiting patiently to be unloaded.

But around the back of one of those wagons, Raymund saw a familiar ghost. Three tails disappeared around the large wagon just as he had noticed them. Three tailed Vulpines basically didn’t exist, aside from Raymund himself, who was the first to be born in six hundred years. But had there been even more tails that Raymund hadn’t noticed on that briefly glimpsed figure…?

“Techet…?” Raymund mumbled. His muscles spasmed and he took a half step forward. His heart ached, thinking about all the struggles he had gone through to get to this point. After another step, Raymund’s body finally began to thaw through his shock. His third step cracked the ground beneath him and teleported him to the back of the wagon in question. “Brother…!”

Raymund’s eyes cut through the surroundings. His new position gave him a better view of the military camp. A long thoroughfare was lined with off duty military personnel who gossiped and stared up at the heavy moon above them with a grim expression. But Raymund ignored those unimportant individuals and continued to search down the long line of tents. At the other end of the path, fully a hundred meters away, a six tailed fox was calmly rounding a corner.

Raymund planted his foot again and accelerated, ignoring the sharp bark of protest by a higher ranking soldier nearby. He wove his way through the foot traffic and stacked crates to the end of the lane and looked down at a meandering road leading into a deep valley. The fox he was pursuing was already at the bottom of the valley, passing into the low hills that stretched out below.

His instincts whispered that this was foolish, but Raymund didn’t listen to that voice at all. He would never mistake those tails; he had previously spent years teased apart by jealousy and guilt whenever he thought about those meaningless appendages. It was only after five years of putting his life on the line without worrying about the passage of time that Raymund now had the perspective to understand his brilliant and capricious younger brother.

The negative emotions he had buried in his heart became a barrier that couldn’t be crossed. Which was why his younger brother grew up even more lonely than Raymund had.

As he raced down across the road and into the low hills, Raymund’s gaze softened. Techet… Apologies cannot convey my regret. I was your older brother. Your auspicious birth was all the sign that the elders needed to lash our entire culture to your cart… and I shouldn’t have turned a blind eye and added my small burdens onto you as well. I should have supported you, not envied you.

I was supposed to have strength enough to make your life easier. But I just…

Beyond the hills was a bubbling creek. Beyond that creek were a few sandy ravines. Raymund ignored the surroundings and chased. As the pursuit continued, he loosened more and more of the limitations he had placed on his physical Skills. Very soon, he was moving at his full speed, still just barely moving fast enough to catch glimpse of Techetadore.

And in his wake, Raymund left a trail of sundered ground and destroyed vegetation. The physical force he mobilized was no joke. Yet no matter his desperation, the distance didn’t shorten at all.

It was only when they began traveling up a low slope to a snow-covered mountain that Raymund felt a flash of hope. There, standing only fifty meters above him on the slope, was Techetadore. He looked down on his older brother, his familiar impish grin on his face. His six red tails flared out behind him.

“T-Techetadore…” Raymund was breathing heavily, but not from having to run after his brother. He took another step and the distance between them was cut down to only five meters. Raymund sniffed; it wasn’t an illusion. This was his brother’s scent…!

“Sorry bro, I didn’t notice you were behind me.” Techetadore laughed. His eyes crinkled at the corners. Although so much time had passed in Raymund’s experience, his brother was so achingly familiar that tears welled up in his eyes. Raymund took another step forward, still barely believing what his senses were telling him. After worrying about his brother and the mysterious message about Gabriel Swacc for so long… this reunion didn’t feel real. It was difficult to even breathe-

Techetadore’s hand flicked sideways. Raymund’s eyes widened. Then he blinked.

His torn and blood esophagus bounced across the mountain road until it rolled to a stop in a ditch.

While Raymund’s mind was floundering to understand what was happening, Techetadore stepped forward. A strange image rose up within his younger brother’s body, more powerful than anything that Raymund had ever sensed before. More powerful than even the Ghosthound or Lady Vualla had been able to produce. When Techetadore thrust his palm forward, Raymund couldn’t muster a response through the thick crust of shock that had seized his limbs. This was all too much, too soon, with too little sense to the scenes that Raymund was experiencing.

The blow hit him in the breastbone and collapsed his chest cavity. All that remained of his lungs and heart were mushy goo. Raymund collapsed forward; before Techetadore, all of his confidence had become nothing.

He hadn’t even recognized a threat until the moment he was dying.

“Sorry bro. That image of yours is just a bit too similar to mine for comfort,” Techetadore said, still cheerily. He crouched next to his brother and patted his cheek. “If things were different… well, hopefully, they will be different soon… Haaaah… I’m getting tired of this farce…”

The remnant muscles in Raymund’s body were seizing. His vision was going hazy. Somehow, he seized on this lack of breath. So long as he could breathe, he would finally be able to understand what was happening-! He could speak and ask Techetadore…!

So Raymund raised his hand. His consciousness was fuzzy, but his powerful Willpower mobilized in his hand to steal the breath from the sky-

Techetadore kicked Raymund’s forearm and shattered the limb. Then the six-tailed Vulpine clicked his tongue. “You tenacious bastard… What did you-”

Before Techetadore could continue, there was the sound of a new arrival walking toward them. “Ah, Cain, you’re back. Did you manage- Ah, by the spear, did you kill someone…? Such an action will accumulate inauspicious karma…”

Raymund’s head rolled weakly backward as Techetadore straightened and laughed. “Ah, Commander Shal, you’re too stuffy. Isn’t death inevitable in this world? Besides, you know that it would only mean trouble if someone knew what we are doing here. What would the population think if they knew that the Nexus had been domesticating Nether Kings for one thousand years…?”

“You… bah. Well, the blood is on your hands. Return with me. The operation is about to begin.”

So the two left, letting Raymund slowly cool on the ground. After that first effort that was interrupted by Techetadore, his Willpower was ebbing. Everything steadily grew darker around him, as though the lights of the world were being lowered. A buzzing filled his ears.

I regret… my own failure to protect him… Raymund could find no energy in his body to curse his fate. Rather, what he felt was remorse. This… whatever the current Techetadore has become… I bear a share of the responsibility...

Raymund closed his eyes. On that mountain some distance away from the main base of the Aether Forces, his body began to cool.