After drifting above the clouds and enjoying the gorgeous vista for a time, Randidly guided the S.S. Yggdrasil down toward the skyisland that housed Todd’s dormitory. They landed on the dirt ground behind the building and Todd hopped around excitedly for several minutes, still high off of the chase.

Randidly smiled sadly as he watched the kid channel the joy he was experiencing. Behind the two of them, the S.S. Yggdrasil began to smolder and burn away, leaving only ashes in its place. The sun sank toward the horizon, causing the trees to cast long shadows up against the squat and cramped dormitory.

It only took Todd a few minutes to work his excitement out of his young system. Then he slapped his forehead comically, looking up at the sinking sun in something close to horror. “Oh crap! I need my things! The under-auction starts in an hour! We need to get over there before the traffic for the dumb adult Auction gums everything up. Oooo and we can get a good spot at the front, so I can see the expression on Eileen’s face. I’ll just run to my room and then-”

“Hey Todd,” Randidly spoke slowly. He folded his hands together behind his back and squeezed the cool material of his metal fingers in his flesh and blood hand. “Do you think you would be able to head to the auction first without me? There is… something I need to take care of.”

“What? Oh, sure.” Todd seemed disappointed, but he didn’t take Randidly’s words too seriously. He adjusted his oversized glasses and continued talking. “This is definitely my year… seeing that expression on Eileen’s face… hehehe… I’m going to get the Ghosthound’s legacy and found my own city someday.”

Something twisted inside of Randidly at those naive words. Todd’s eyes were so bright… but all Randidly could think about were Neveah’s sad eyes at their dinner, when she had pointed out what he had sacrificed in order to reach this point. Maybe you could grow strong enough to found a city, Todd… but I hope you don’t feel like you need to.

That’s what I’m here for. That’s why Kharon was made.

“Remember to claim the papers my friends arranged for you,” Randidly said lightly. “Maybe it won’t be much… but hopefully you can earn a little bit more to balance out the demerits that they gave you.”

“What, these things?” Todd walked over and patted Randidly’s metal arm. “Don’t worry about me. I may not have a cool arm, but I can handle these tiny details.”

And with that, Todd turned away and skipped toward his dormitory. Once he had gone into the building, the sense of bleakness Randidly was feeling spread up from his chest to his expression. Sighing, he pulled out his Philosopher’s Key and opened a portal. When he stepped through, he was standing in front of his massive mansion. Moonlight spirits spiraled down around him, wreathing him in a shimmering cloak.

A light tap of his foot against the ground threw Randidly up above the three stories and onto the roof of his building, where a layer of soil supported an interconnected copse of trees. In the years since Randidly had last been here, the plant life had grown even more abundant; he truly felt like he had stepped into a forest as he walked through the dense network of trees, roots, and shrubbery. Randidly even saw several pale and dark-eyed birds peering out around branches, regarding his passage beneath their homes suspiciously.

This seed that he planted here was growing quite well.

Randidly found the largest, central tree in the rooftop forest and crouched next to it. He rapped his knuckles against the rutted bark. He could still feel several images grasping for his position. They weren’t the members of the Order Ducis, but other forces that wanted to contact him. Randidly ignored those seeking individuals for now; he had personal business to attend to.

“Why was today so much fun…?” Randidly muttered out loud. “...until it wasn’t.”

Randidly didn’t need to think very hard to answer his own question. He twisted around and pressed his back against the trunk of the tree. He leaned his head back and knocked his hard skull against the wood.

Neveah’s comment had been sticking in his head for a reason. She was right; Randidly had allowed himself to become a force to pursue one particular goal: protecting Expira from the Nexus. Not that he had any choice; such dedication was the only way to achieve any sort of result. It had been the only way for Randidly to improve at such a rapid rate and survive the constant onslaught of threats that seemed to plague him.

Today was fun because he had briefly forgotten about being that force. Being ambushed, being the target of an Entangling Roots Skill… it took him back to a different era of his presence in the System. Before he had learned that he was an experiment in Yystrix’s callous game to flee from her ex-husband. Before he realized how the Nexus was fattening up the people of Randidly’s home planet to either incorporate their most powerful images into its strength or judge the whole of the population as trash.

Before a strange being in the depths of the shaft, on which the Nexus was built, found Randidly and began to call out to him.

Randidly pressed his eyes closed. He had felt briefly human. He had simply lived without thinking about the consequences. It had been a while since Randidly Ghosthound could relax like that.

But the more he sensed the differences in the image of Kharon after five years, the more Randidly couldn’t ignore his role in shaping the city. Some of these problems he needed to leave in the capable hands of Tatiana… but others he needed to address as quickly as possible. He understood too much about the way power and ideas worked. He felt too keenly his own power, but in terms of image and in terms of influence. Randidly couldn’t be unaware of the way he was a force for Kharon.

Randidly bowed his head. He sat there for several seconds, examining himself. He even activated Ruin is Inevitable, Yet this Too Shall Pass, stretching his consciousness through the network of Randidlys to reassure himself. He felt thousands of versions of himself, all having managed to reach this moment of reflection, leaning against this very same tree.

Congratulations! Your Skill Ruin is Inevitable, Yet This Too Shall Pass (T) has grown to Level 323!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Ruin is Inevitable, Yet This Too Shall Pass (T) has grown to Level 349!

Randidly scanned the hearts of these alternate selves, even as he could feel them scrutinizing him in turn. None of them held regret. They just were in various stages of reflective contemplation, finally seeing the figure of ‘Randidly Ghosthound’ through the eyes of Neveah.

When he finally raised his head, his right eye glowed emerald and his left darkened to a forest green that toed the line to cross into absolute darkness. No longer did those seeking him have difficulty locating his image; now they recoiled in horror from the intensity of what they found, as though burned by the contact. Randidly ignored the watchers and still focused inward on himself, toward the middle figure of his three images. Heh. That Skill name… Ruin is Inevitable, Yet This Too Shall Pass… in the context of the way I’m transforming myself… isn’t it a bit ominous…?

Yet Randidly let that thought go. Instead, he spoke to the Grim Chimera. “And you… of all the images, you were my humanity, weren’t you? That’s why you always trailed behind the others. That’s why your Rarity grew more slowly, no matter how many images I stuffed into you.”

The Grim Chimera remained silent. Its two tails flicked back and forth behind the manifestation, causing Randidly’s own misbehaving tail to sneakily unwind itself and begin to flick back and forth in response. But Randidly didn’t mind, he just continued to examine the details of this image.

“But you are about to evolve again,” Randidly finally said. He flexed his hands. “After my body was remade, beyond the basis of what I once was… the humanity at your core is probably going to be diluted even further. To the point of being unrecognizable to the original version of myself. This… will be that final step. I… will truly be a force. One that will stop at nothing to evolve and accomplish this task I’ve set myself.”

Neveah’s face appeared in his mind’s eye. I would be sad if my little brother sacrificed himself entirely to protect someone else.

The Grim Chimera nodded slowly; it agreed that this evolution would be a step away from Randidly’s humanity. The points of light in its swollen stomach began to shine with increased intensity. The acknowledgment was the final sign that Randidly needed. He clenched his right fist. His vacation was over.

Randidly stood. Then he walked slowly to the edge of his rooftop forest. To his surprise, when he arrived there, the roots beneath his feet were steadily shifting. They twisted upward without him even activating Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil, forming a thorny throne. Randidly blinked twice, feeling a bleary consciousness within the forest acknowledging him as its master. For the display, he was grateful. As long as he didn’t need to use his Skill, the wood wouldn’t burn once he stopped supplying Mana.

So he climbed into the chair and leaned his chin against his right fist. He stared out into the night and spoke quietly. “Come.”

A group quickly accepted the invitation for an audience and appeared in front of Randidly. Randidly’s gaze flickered; in truth, this was two groups that had come together. And honestly, they were a strange combination. The Pantheon of the Alpha Cosmos’ System and the Nemesai of Expira stood together in front of Randidly.

“We want to talk about the Calamity,” Lucretia said quietly. “We have a few ideas… but since you’ve returned, we want to run them by you first. We weren’t sure… whether to limit the scope of the attacks or not. And in terms of predictability… there are pros and cons to making the actual problem a surprise or not.”

Congratulations! Your Skill Revelations of the Atramentous Threshold (T) has grown to Level 395!

Randidly was struck by a sudden premonition as Lucretia finished speaking. If he did not intervene now, changing up their plans to ease the danger for Expira, Todd would suffer in the Calamity. Perhaps the experience would not be fatal… but that bright-eyed boy would be forever altered. His optimism would suffer a huge blow.

Randidly tapped his finger against the root throne and examined the feeling. He couldn’t tell if it was paranoia or a true prophecy. And if it was true…

Would he change his mind?

Randidly closed his eyes. “Send me the information. But first… there is something I need to do.”