Chapter 2000 (Patreon)

ToC: https://www.patreon.com/posts/23899958

Holy shit, 2k chappies. And also, two days ago was LoRG's fifth birthday. I made the first google doc 2/18/2017. Insane, right?

I'll get to some celebratory stuff next week. For now, I do want to try a slightly different schedule. I'll be doing one chapter a day for this week, just to see how it feels. Also, I want to transition as quickly as possible into the next bit.

And everyone, I don't say it enough, but thank you so much for joining me for this wild ride.

Soon, Randidly grew more used to his body. At the very least, the physical components felt extremely comfortable. His Stats becoming the building blocks for a new form meant that the form felt natural. Once he spent some time easing himself into the experience, the lapses vanished.

Action had become completely intuitive. Randidly had an urge to seek out Charlotte Wick, to fine-tune the new body with a few spares.

Randidly’s smile was filled with bitterness. Well, we will spare you that chore, at least right now. You aren’t quite ready to really bear the mantle of my knight. But you would have been foaming at the mouth for a chance to spare with me right now, wouldn’t you Helen?

Neveah hung around for a bit to confirm that he was alright, but satisfied herself and returned to the Alpha Cosmos, to help damage control there. Which allowed Randidly to look at the few follow-up notifications that he had received from the System in the wake of the transformation.

Congratulations! The constellation of your Stats has successfully aligned! In a near miracle, your form has condensed into a tangible new lifeform. You have earned yourself a new Attribute. You have made history in the Nexus! You are the first individual to create new life! Free Stats +1000!

Error, disconnected from Overlay System. Please see your nearest Village Spirit for rewards. In addition, you have received a special message from the creator of the Nexus!

Dear Cherished Ally,

It is through your actions and those of many like you that the Homunculus Project can advance! Only by pushing the boundaries of what is possible can we finally achieve the dream we in the Nexus have long worked for. We need more visionaries like you. Please, I invite you to seek me out directly, so that we can discuss your findings and use them to try and save my son Pine.

Sincerely,

Elhume Yule.

For a second, Randidly froze as he read the letter. That name at the end made his skin crawl. His long fingers had no difficulty tightening into heavy, brutal fists. But as he reread the message from Elhume, it became clear that it was likely a premade announcement from before things changed at the end of the Second Cohort. This was still when Elhume wanted to save Pine. This was probably even before Elhume had created humans.

Still, why does it say I’m the first to create new life in the notification, Randidly frowned. Is it a mistake? Was Elhume’s act before the current version of the System- but then why would this message be prepared for this eventuality? That was clearly the goal…

In the end, this strange relic of an ancient mission posed more questions than it answered. A picture of a positively cooperative emerged looking at this; it made it possible to understand why the Patrons felt so betrayed by his current attitude. So Randidly moved to a much more pressing issue: his new Attribute, Muse’s Reverie.

When he closed his eyes, he could feel it. Stamina had always been an endless sea of warmth that floated in his heart. Mana became a cool whirlpool that calmed his emotions. Meanwhile, Randidly found a small wisp of prismatic white energy that glittered and moved freely through his person.

He tried to prod it and activate it, but the will-o-wisp fragment just squirmed and flitted away. Periodically, the wisp released pulses. In those pulses, an almost Nether Ritual-esque circle flared to life around the wisp. Infinitely complex patterns curled outward in dim lines. But then it vanished until the next pulse generated the phenomenon.

Frowning, Randidly opened his eyes and looked at the question marks that denoted its regeneration. It seemed like he wouldn’t be able to figure out its effects until he had gathered five of these Muse’s Reveries. However, he somehow sensed that this wasn’t a matter of time. Something specific was required to earn a point in this Attribute.

More work, Randidly cracked his jaw and looked at his positively sprawling Status Screen. So many things to work on.

Randidly Ghosthound

Class: Lord of the Baleful Wood (x5)

Level: 63 (96%)

Health(/R per hour): 26815/26815 (20209)

Mana(/R per hour): 19352/19352 (7016)

Stam(/R per min):19696/19696 (4917)

Muse’s Reverie: 1/5 (???)

Uncommon Metabolism (Un): 1747

Egg’s Illusory Plume (L): 1312

Primordial Nether Juju (M): 2597

Dreadful Alacrity (A): 2832

Grim Intuition (L): 2656

Predictive Synapses (A): 2532

Chimeric Indifference (R): 2186

Grey Monarch’s Authority (T): 3084

Cognition of the Aberrant Alchemist (T): 1460

Unnatural Capacity (Ru): 2557

Discretion of the Apostate Moirae (P): 3804

Exquisite Piety (M): 3082

Nether Sphere

Fang of the Primeval Betrayal (T)

Weight: 1101 (+61) (+70) (+52) (+49) (+80) (+63)

Connections: 5,310,909,443

Scope: 50,000

Influence: 2,302,966

Synechdochence: 127%

First Authority: Seize

Second ???

Third ???

Fourth Authority: Animation Nova

Skills (Soul Skill):  Figure of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 435,750 (Next 600,000)

Combat: Heavy Blow Lvl 234, Block Lvl 327, Calculated Blow Lvl 349, Roundhouse Kick Lvl 197, Idiosyncratic Cut (Un) Lvl 226, The March of Ruin and Valor (L) Lvl 601, (Domain) Mournful Sea, Helen’s Pernicious Riptide (T) Lvl 833, Smothering Inevitability (L) Lvl 201, Animus Diffraction (M)(U) Lvl 434

Moirae of Ripples (P): Cutting Tide of Amenonuhoko (T) Lvl 900, Unpredictable Eddy (L) Lvl 725, Dragon Queen’s Sinister Tongue (T) Lvl 689, Philosophy within the Boundless Deluge (M) Lvl 860, Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) Lvl 941

LoBW Class Skills: Earthquake (Un) Lvl 148, Spriggit’s Tinkering (R) Lvl 457, Aether Understanding (A) Lvl 436, Aether Infusion Lvl 47, Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) Lvl 699, Fruit of the Planting of Enmity (L) Lvl 49, Cycle of the Gloomy Wood (R) Lvl 45, Lancers of the Baleful Crusade (L) Lvl 751, Armory of the Nether Damned (L) Lvl 301

Kismet of the Evolving Creature (P): Chimeric Impunity (M) Lvl 725, The Wandering Deity Demands (T) Lvl 410, Grit of the Ascendent Bane (T) Lvl 553, Maelstrom Entity Approaches (T) Lvl 470, The Ashen Doors to Pandemonium Unlock (M) Lvl 501, The Vindictive Chimera Smites (M) Lvl 420, The Wrathful Calamity Rends (T) Lvl 656, The Grey Creature Glimpses Providence (P) Lvl 674

The Stillborn Phoenix: A Star that Prayed it would be Reborn (P): Piercing Gaze of the Egg (L) Lvl 569, The Tug of Tragic Silence (A) Lvl 378, Wicked Waltz of Tartarus (T) Lvl 672, Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart (T) Lvl 528, Volatile Breath from Beyond (T) Lvl 740, Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix (L) Lvl 425, Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold (T) Lvl 720, The Twin Lingering Shadows of Misfortune (T) Lvl 930

Aether Skills: Aether Detection Lvl 356, Aether Manipulation Lvl 302, Living Aether (R) Lvl 265, System Interference Lvl 88, Aether Surgeon (Ru) Lvl 104, Lesser Aether Inoculation (M) Lvl 363

Crafting: Architecture of the Primordial Ways (M) Lvl 700, Touch of the Ghosthound (U), Scrawl of the Ghosthound (L) Lvl 275,

Yggdrasil, the Universe that was First a Tree (P): The World Tree Sips from Every Realm (T) Lvl 719, Aureate Arteries of Yggdrasil (T) Lvl 599, Yggdrasil’s Plasm Animus (P) Lvl 416, Marred Yet Reliable Foundation of Yggdrasil (T) Lvl 702, Dawn Opens the Sky and Reality Stirs (T) Lvl 450, Darkness Withers the Horizon and the Waiting Carrion Grins (T) Lvl 525, Spirit Realm of Marshaled Endeavors (M) Lvl 756, The First Tree Suffers Only Fealty (P) Lvl 890

Auxiliary: Yggdrasil Soul Seed (R), Inspiration (R), Burning Footsteps Lvl 223, Cooking Lvl 101, Aether Connection (A) Lvl 21, Soul Bond Lvl 503, Nether Modification (U), (Domain) Crossroads of the Alpha Cosmos Lvl 561, Connection to the Alpha Cosmos (U), Ghosthound’s Acute Nether Nose (M) Lvl 1000, Precise Nether Ritual (L) Lvl 663, Left Hand of the Nether Oracle (M) Level 861, Right Hand of the Nether Polymath (M) Lvl 821, Soulful Vigor (L) Lvl 440

Randidly rubbed his chin. As he did so, Raymund Ballast walked over the edge of the crater and looked around. Spotting Randidly, he lithely descended through the smoking and sundered ground to stand next to him. Apparently, being set up in the middle of the crater was actually quite good for Randidly’s social life.

The foxman offered Randidly a salute. “Your transformation seems to have adjusted your physique quite a bit. You look very dashing, sir. The picture of military leadership,”

Randidly couldn’t help a wan smile. “Well, thank you for that, although entirely unnecessary. More than anything else right now, I just need a-”

He caught himself, right before he said break. The Vulpine’s expression stayed entirely neutral. Despite the lingering headache and his sense of dissociation after the shift, Randidly felt a pulse of empathy. His features softened. “Hey, Raymund. I just want you to know, we are heading after the Patron of Feathers right now, but investigating the situation with Techetadore and Shal is the first thing we will do when we return.”

The fox man managed a tight nod. From the stiffness, Randidly guessed that Raymund knew just as well as he did that problems seemed to follow them around everywhere; by the time they returned from the drill, some new threat would have reared its head. Life would make fools of any planner.

Just as Randidly was resigning himself to acquiescing to the demanding mistress of necessity in the future, he felt something stir in his chest. A pure and genuine desire to help Shal stirred up his heart. More than that, Randidly felt his spine stiffening as he thought about all the times that powerful forces in the Nexus forced him to dance to their tune. He had been dragged from one crisis to another too many times.

In his mind, he saw again that Moirae, his face stretched in a Chesire grin. In one hand he held a tongue of hungry flame and in the other, he white-knuckled the handles of rusty silver scissors. It was time for Randidly Ghosthound to start nudging this fucked up train wreck in the direction he wanted.

“Seriously, Raymund. When we get back, first thing,” Randidly’s chest filled with heat. His long fingers curled. “And if something gets in the way, I’ll tear every impediment to pieces.”

Raymund nodded more easily this time. “I appreciate it, sir, but you know-” The Vulpine’s face crumpled and his breath hitched. “I… the shame I feel when I envision speaking to Techet is a heavy burden. As his older brother, I have failed him, time and time again. What if I’m still incapable of protecting him? At the very least, so long as we are busy… I can distract myself.”

Randidly thought of Shal. He thought about what his journey must have been like to the Nexus, without an Aether Crossroads to fuel him. How the years of training and refinement that went into his images were almost instantly overmatched by the ancient monsters of the Swacc Family and their resources. How his achievements were masked and belittled. How he must have struggled, alone, in a place where he knew no one. Where he had no support system.

Randidly wondered how bleak the world must have seemed, for Shal to accept the Armaments.

In a way, Shal had been chasing something his whole life. First truth about his family, then Lucretia, then to protect his father’s legacy, then to prove himself, and finally to protect Tellus. Steadily and through constant grit, he had managed to achieve those things. Yet those successes had propelled him past those goalposts and into a featureless future.

You know, if I ever manage to subdue Elhume, Randidly’s gaze briefly flickered. It might have been his imagination, but he thought the prismatic wisp of energy began to pulse more frequently in his body. Will I run into the same problem? Will I know how to live when the Alpha Cosmos doesn’t need me?

Blinking, Randidly pulled himself back to the present, to the subordinate that showed vulnerability to him. He cleared his throat, thinking both of Techetadore and Shal. “The truth is… I don’t think what Techetadore needs is someone to protect him. More than that, he just needs someone who is there for support. None of us can do this alone.”

“Perhaps,” Raymund bowed his head.

A ghost of a smile flickered across Randidly’s face. Heh, and if Shal heard me say something like that-

“Ah, there is one other thing,” Raymund shook his head. His steely self-control had returned. “While you were in the midst of your transformation, the energy discharge attracted the attention of Military High Command. Kyl MacDuul stopped by, with a message from our glorious Actus Suprem. She requests that you visit her before you head up to the drill.”

For a second, Randidly felt dizzy. But that same heat and clarity he felt earlier rose in his chest. Some foes, you can’t avoid. But you can keep their presence from casting a shadow on your decisions.

Randidly chuckled. “Well, alright then. After a quick nap, I guess it’s time to go see Devick.”