Birds chirped and fluttered around the open windowsill. Summer was in full swing, generously transforming the entire environment. Warm beams of light slanted down into the conference room, transforming the drab green carpet into a rich emerald walkway that glittered with possibilities. The Acting Head Teacher of Kharon Academy was currently finishing her report, her voice high-pitched with anxiety and frustration.

Tatiana chuckled and looked around the table at the other leaders who were attending the meeting. Most also had small smiles on their faces. “I mean, what did you expect? They are children; honestly, it’s surprising that it took so long for them to create a petition like this. Convincing them to have a semester of school without a sanction dance for a few years can be considered a major victory.”

Despite the very human reality of this situation, Gertrude Collin’s expression was stubborn. “Even if it… improves morale, considering the fact that enrollment is up to thirty thousand and we are still struggling to recruit enough teachers… just considering the problems of location alone… young Mister Moss hasn’t finished the Engravings to create the newest expansion, so… ALSO, if we consider how much money such an event will cost-”

“At least in terms of money, Kharon won’t have any problems.” Tatiana waved her hand. The room was warm, despite the drifting breezes from the open windows. Gertrude’s resistance was somewhat sweet, but she was missing the point; the status quo will never last. Inevitably as Kharon Academy grew, more and more resources would need to be sent to less… pertinent areas.

That was a universal problem of human civilizations and it certainly wasn’t with it to fight that trend over a winter formal.

Tatiana cleared her throat. “We’ve finally reached an agreement with Zone Seven. They will be sending one thousand talented teenagers to learn from us for three years and are rewarding us quite handsomely for our trouble. And that is on top of Kharon Academy’s usual tuition. All this is due to the tireless efforts of the newest member of our Council-”

Gertrude narrowed her eyes and leaned forward with her palms against the table. “But if we used this money instead to-”

Tatiana raised her hand. “Gertrude, they followed Kharon Academy Precepts. They successfully convinced 65% of the Academy’s population to sign it. It was brought before the Prefects and unanimously approved. We cannot do anything but acquiesce while remaining true to Kharon’s Spirit.”

To keep the young woman from dwelling too much on the dark side of her zeal to give the children better lives, Tatiana turned to Ajax. She tapped her fingers against the glossy surface of the mahogany table around which they all sat. “What are the reports from the Order Ducis? Have we heard any news about the First Calamity?”

Ajax nodded. “The Alpha Cosmos’ Pantheon released an official announcement that something… malfunctioned when Expira and the Alpha Cosmos were connected by the archways. However, things are apparently now back on track; based on their estimations, the First Calamity will arrive during the winter solstice.”

“Their estimations, or their own preparations, I wonder…?” No one responded to her low voiced statement, but Tatiana was used to it. The few individuals she shared her private theories with were slightly uncomfortable with the prospect of the Ghosthound taking over the System wholesale. Especially when it now seemed like a destructive Calamity would truly be arriving soon to Expira.

Tatiana set aside her pet theories and did some mental calculations. “That’s… a little over four months. Hum. Well, it will have to be enough.”

Commissioner Arrietti sighed. “A shame it’s taken so long for this trial to arrive. We’ve had five years to start squabbling again. People are growing complacent.”

Which is exactly why it’s paradoxically a good idea for a Calamity to appear soon...

“Speaking of which,” Tatiana looked over at him. “How did the communications with Zone 1 go?”

Commissioner Arrieti’s heavy face creased into a frown. He was an extremely polite man, but at these meetings, he laid bare his true emotional responses to the various other ambassadors. “Keh… well, I’m hoping they change their tune soon… but they still insist that we release Elijah Frank into their custody. They claim that legally, we cannot be considered part of the original Zone treaty. They no longer are saying our lack of Zone status precludes us, but rather… ahem, that our ‘transitory wanderings have deprived Kharon of its ability to claim the sanctuary benefits of stationary population centers’.”

Tatiana glanced at Ajax. Ajax snorted and shrugged. “They’ve definitely sent more skimmer bikes to tail us in the last few months. It isn’t enough that they would try to use force, but a clandestine operation? Definitely possible. But Hydie Mordath is more than capable of holding down the fort, believe me. Even thinking about giving her an annoying job gives me an inexplicable spree of bad luck these days… I’d hate to see what happened to a group trying to plot a prison break under her watch.”

The final member of their council set his tea down on the table. Huang Shou crossed his arms and slid his hands into his sleeves. “Zone 1 is certainly true to its roots; it is a country that prides itself on its ability to ignore its own history and therefore repeats its own mistakes.”

“Too true.” Tatiana’s smile was sharp and brittle. She glanced around once more. “Well, that’s probably about it, right? So let’s move on to the final issue. In regards to Theodora Greyman’s proposal-”

Tatiana briefly froze. For the first time in a long time, an old and valuable Skill spoke to her. She could feel the threat that was looming over the Ghosthound’s head, as well as the knowledge that the threat would even reach them here. At the window, birds continued to flutter their wings and chirp. The sunlight was still warm and heavy.

She knew in her bones that the idyllic peace was about to be shattered.

“Send out an alarm, ground the entirety of Kharon’s Driftlands,” Tatiana said. “Brace for impact. And send out an emergency announcement on all channels; something big is coming. If the Zones push back, call it a Calamity Response Drill. Maybe this is exactly the reminder that Expira needs right now.”

*****

Randidly’s fingers continued to scrawl out his Nether Ritual. At this point, he was moving his hand quickly that the tips of his fingers were literally smoking from the friction. Randidly suppressed the urge to giggle and kept working. He desperately pulled more and more Nether through his Nether Core, but he truly was running dry. His foundations weren’t stable enough to attempt this project in such a short time frame.

And he didn’t dare look up toward the approaching shockwave, afraid of the harsh reality of what he would see. It was overwhelming enough to feel even his Grim Intuition disintegrate during his attempts to sense the lethality of the chaotic wave.

Despite the proximity of the Frost Matriarch’s glacial pillar as maintained the icy barrier, Randidly’s skin was turning red from the heat. His heart was beating too fast, his blood was heating more quickly than her ambient image could disperse it.

In a way, his overly robust cardiovascular system reaffirmed how powerful Randidly’s body was and gave him a bit of confidence in his plan. But at the same time…

RUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEE!

The strike from Elhume’s hand annihilated even the chaotic void space with its passage. Aether and Nether seemed to ignite each other endlessly in their collisions, infected by Elhume’s furious emotions. The resulting wave blasted outward, covering several hundred meters a second.

“Someone needs to buy me two seconds,” Randidly said. To his own ears, his voice sounded hollow and faint. He braced one hand against the ground as he continued to carve the body of his array. He didn’t even have the spare time to look up at the oncoming doom. Steam wafted from his shaking shoulders.

Congratulations! Your Skill Left Hand the Nether Oracle (M) has grown to Level 309!

Congratulations! Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 424!

“I can-” Helen began, but she was thankfully pushed to the side by Seeker Three-Tails and Seeker Dusk Jackal. Their billow auras thankfully convinced Helen to stand down.

Randidly couldn’t didn’t have a spare moment to throw a thankful glance toward these two, but he felt the two Pinnacle Seekers glance at each other. Almost all the distance between Elhume’s original strike and their current position was devoured by the chaotic grey destruction. Then the two Pinnacle Seekers turned forward and flared their images. Powerful, sharp figures exploded upward and lashed out at that oncoming wave.

Force met force and the attacks of the Pinnacle Seekers cut deeply into the spreading wave. A half-second passed, bought by their initial strikes. But as soon as they pushed that roiling force backward, more destructive energy began to close in from the sides. In another .2 seconds, the images began to falter and fade from the engulfing tide of destruction. Ambient energy from the shockwave corroded their details and stained their meaning. The edges of the images’ shape began to be smudged. There was a horrible squelching noise, like bare feet in cold mud, as the images began to melt before that wave.

With the two Pinnacle Seekers' efforts, they had endured for 1.4 seconds. Randidly’s trembling intensified.

Elhume’s attack was fueled primarily by emotion, but it was emotion on a scale of intensity that left Randidly shaken. Or maybe he was simply shaking because he was so, so close and his body was sluggishly struggling to finish the Nether Ritual.

.5 more seconds… His fingers were a burning, smoking, shaking blur.

Randidly’s eyes were bloodshot and he couldn’t remember the last time he took a breath. At the moment, his confused and overstrained body didn’t even know whether it was time for him to inhale or exhale. The two powerful attacks from the Pinnacle Seekers faded away like a glass of bright cranberry juice poured into a lake. All of their abilities were diffused in a split second. The horrible wave surged forward and smashed against the edge of their ice globe.

BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

CRACK!

Instantly, the walls shuddered and fractured underneath the vicious pressure. Cracks snaked outward through the thick layer of ice. Light refracted the slanted and broken bits of ice, making the scene outside of the safe harbor provided by the Frost Matriarch seem even more chaotic. But from the abrupt spike in the ambient cold of Randidly’s surroundings, it was clear that she was furiously throwing herself against the energy that was repeatedly brutalizing the ice globe. The cracks spread to cover every surface, held together by only the piercing image of ‘frozen’ that the Frost Matriarch maintained.

Randidly released a breath and coughed as he looked down at the hasty Nether Ritual he had created. This will have to do. No more time to spare...

By the end of it, Randidly was relying entirely on instinct as he shaped the Nether Ritual. There was the barrier, the Nether infrastructure that would maintain and strengthen the barrier, and then his body in between them, catching the energy that couldn’t be completely screened by the barrier and preventing that energy from destroying the functional apparati of the Nether Ritual.

But honestly, perhaps it was better that everything was done entirely by instinct. Nether was the energy of amorphous connections between individuals and of the weight of context and history. Clearly defined shapes were not Nether’s forte.

When the ice barrier cracked audibly for a second time, Randidly dropped to his knees and pressed his hands to the ground. His Nether Core was currently running on fumes, but he had set a sufficient amount of Nether to the side before he had started. That energy gratefully escaped his body and flowed through the runes of the array.

Flames of Nether Weight flickered to life along his arms, steadying Randidly for what was to come.

As the ice was cracking and shuddering its way toward a total collapse, the precise Nether Ritual began to glow. A seemingly flimsy barrier flickered and stretched to cover the whole of their little frozen lifeboat. The shockwave changed targets from the ice wall to this flimsy barrier and ground its dangerous emotions and radiation against the new arrival. The barrier flexed slightly, but most of that destructive force was first insulated by a layer of space and then transferred directly to Randidly’s body.

Congratulations! Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual (L) has grown to Level 266!

“Keh…!” Randidly began to tremble and vomited up a mouthful of blood on the ground. At the same time, his images gratefully took over the lion’s share of the effort from his Nether Core. As soon as his body was injured, his powerful Health Regeneration, empowered by his images, began to knit him back together.

But the first backlash was honestly the most manageable. What followed was a series of endless waves of destructive force that sought to tear his body to shreds. Randidly gritted his teeth and did his best to endure.

Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Impunity (M) has grown to Level 367!

Congratulations! Your Skill Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix (L) has grown to Level 319!

Congratulations! Your Skill Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 343!

Congratulations! Your Skill Grit of the Ascendant Bane (T) has grown to Level 407!