The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound

The flying serpent curled around Randidly’s island and rested its head on the edge of the stone ground, allowing the three people on its head to step off onto the island. Up close, the serpent truly just looked like an enormous adder, with a triangular head and diamond patterns in silver and blue across its body. It was long enough that it wrapped three times around Randidly’s rather sizable floating island. Although there was no image from it, Randidly could recognize the significant physical power that it possessed.

Since Randidly had experienced the limit imposed by the System, he could see that this massive serpent was pressing up against that veil of physical strength. To see such a powerful being acting so docilely said a lot about the people riding it. So Randidly shifted his attention to the three figures that hopped down off of the adder’s head.

The first was the familiar form of Octavius Shrike with his straight back and prominent rhino’s head. Following him was a humanoid with grey skin that Randidly initially interpreted as being quite young but after looking at the strangeness of his features for a while Randidly wasn’t so sure whether his initial impression was correct. The man might just be wrinkleless, not young. It reminded him disturbingly of Ileot Swacc.

But quickly Randidly’s attention moved past them both to the figure that leisurely strolled forward behind them. The first thing that Randidly noticed was that he couldn’t seem to catch any sight of the final figure’s body; every location that skin should have been located was releasing a constant buffer of steam that shrouded his physical form. As soon as it left his body, the steam dissipated into nothing, but more was produced to keep him shrouded.

Of course, the steam might just be his body, Randidly thought to himself. And I guess the Smog Clan is this man being cute.

Aside from the steam he released, the figure was wrapped in a dark khaki trench coat. He also wore a hat that somehow combined a masquerade mask, a visor, and a bandana. It had sharp corners in the front but was loose in the back. Portions of its fabric fell down to cover what normally would be someone’s ears, but it only veiled more steam.

Octavius turned to the steaming individual and gestured back toward Randidly. “Captain Quill, this is Randidly Ghosthound, the Commander I was telling you about.”

“Indeed? He truly is as… singular as the rumors have said. Truly, a specimen worth developing…” Captain Quill said, considering Randidly. His ‘look’ was intense; the being’s focus had a palpable presence.

For a few seconds, Randidly felt a chill as the gaze of that misty man looked at him, but then he received a message from Octavius that calmed him down. Relax. He’s just complimenting you because he doesn’t remember who you are. Remember, your greatest weapon during this investigation is the fact that the Xyrt Brigade is very sure of its own superiority. Don’t give him reason to reconsider that.

While Randidly was reading the message, Captain Quill glanced around. “Whose island is this? I quite like it. The ambiance… mmm. Oh, are these energy life forms intelligent?”

Captain Quill extended an arm and a mist-shrouded limb reached upward toward the moonlight spirits that were hovering nearby. After a second of hesitation, they floated down and began to dance through the Captain’s mist freely. Gradually, more and more flowed downward when it was clear Captain Quill wasn’t a threat.

Seeing no negative reaction from the moonlight spirits, Randidly released a low breath. “It’s my island, Captain Quill.”

“Indeed? Well, I hope you won’t mind if I set up a temporary command center here while we handle the clean up on this planet. Thank you for your assistance.”

That earned an annoyed twitch from Randidly, but ultimately, he supposed it was more convenient for him if he knew where the Xyrt Brigade members were while on Earth. Still playing with the moonlight spirits, Captain Quill reached into one of the pockets of his trenchcoat and produced a curved pipe that was such a dark brown that it appeared almost black in the dim light of the night.

He shook it lightly and a small ember appeared to light the pipe. The being of mist moved the pipe to the place where a human would have the mouth and very obviously took a long drag. The ember flared briefly brighter as Captain Quill pulled oxygen through the flame. Then he moved the pipe away, ruminated for several seconds, and blew out several impeccable smoke rings. The moonlight spirits found it delightful and began to zoom through the rings as fast as they could.

Randidly just blinked.

Captain Quill twisted his torso and Randidly had the distinct impression the misty man was smirking at him. “I know what you are thinking. ‘Why smoke…?’” Captain Quill took another deep pull from the pipe. This time when he blew out the smoke, Randidly could feel him use his image to nudge the smoke, causing it to come out in the form of a falcon.

Not willing to be outdone, a hundred moonlight spirits formed together and transformed into an eagle that was just a little bit larger than the falcon. The moonlight eagle surged forward, talons raised in challenge.

The smoke falcon beat it’s nonliving wings and was eviscerated by the moonlight eagle. Captain Quill chuckled. “For the irony.”

Then he glanced around at Randidly’s island and pointed to a spot near to where Randidly was standing. “Wuva, what is that?”

The young-looking being with grey skin stepped forward and peered at what his Captain indicated. The ‘what’ in question was the pile of shattered training spears that still was covered by an ambient cloud of Mana from the failed Living Engravings. For several seconds, he very seriously studied the broken weapons on the ground.

Then he turned back to his Captain. “It appears to be the shattered byproducts from some very sophisticated if clumsily made, Engravings.”

“Indeed? Mr. Ghosthound let me give you a word of advice.” Captain Quill turned his head to look at Randidly. And again, Randidly felt the slightest bit of a chill. He had never thought to ask whether such Engravings would attract attention from the Xyrt Brigade.

Clapping his very real feeling hand on Randidly’s shoulder, Captain Quill spoke in a gentle voice. “The quality of a man can be determined by his home. A messy home… well, you don’t need me to elaborate, right? Just a few minutes each day builds a lifetime of habit. Oh, Wuva, what is that over there?”

Before Wuva could walk over and examine the box in question, Randidly spoke up. “Ah, that is also mine. It’s… paperwork I will need to eventually address.”

Despite the fact that Randidly couldn’t see Captain Quill’s face, he could feel the disappointment and sense of almost paternal worry radiating off of the leader of the Xyrt Brigade Clan. “Young man, never put off work that could be done today until tomorrow. That… well, I suppose it is your own decision. Ah, by the way, please keep in mind that we are here to help save your planet. While we are in different branches of the military, both of us fight for the Nexus. So please, if you have any problems, bring them to me. Do you have any questions?”

About living a life of virtue or about the Nether King above…? Randidly thought with more than a pinch of wry humor. Then he glanced up toward the sky, where the Great Rift was steadily being forced backward. “Did you… eliminate the culprit?”

“You are more observant than you let on, Mr. Ghosthound.” Immediately, Captain Quill’s tone changed. The harsh military discipline in his voice spoke of an entire career on the battlefield. His shoulders bore a physical weight that was an image that had no shape, only deadly purpose. The friendly figure who had been present earlier vanished. The soldier Randidly had expected now stood in his place. After Captain Quill took another puff from his pipe, he prompted his aide. “Wuva?”

Wuva brought his heels sharply together and straightened his spine. “The initial clash against at least three score Nether Heralds indicated that there was a Nether King commanding them from the rear. One of uncommon power. Our forces eventually overcame the Nether defenses, but not before the Nether King had escaped. In addition, it was clear from our investigations that the Nether King had broken enough of the System’s defenses that it was able to witness the general structure of the System. Whatever its true goal was, it now knows a much more efficient route than boring through the System infrastructure available in this world that hasn’t yet encountered a Calamity.”

“There you have it.” Captain Quill said calmly. “A capable foe that has eluded us. Now, if you have no further questions, I don’t want to keep you from your work. Besides, Wuva and I will just need to oversee the cleanup operation to make sure no Nether Heralds descend to your planet. Shouldn’t take more than a day or two.”

Feeling strangely like he had been dismissed, Randidly nodded slowly. Then, when Captain Quill began to give Wuva orders to erect a dwelling in the middle of Randidly’s island, Randidly drifted over toward the box of paperwork that Tatiana had sent for him. After standing around and looking at the Xyrt Brigade duo for a while, Octavius Shrike came over and stood next to him.

“Paperwork won’t attract attention,” Octavius pointed out.

Randidly could only sigh and pick up the box in resignation. I was just getting the knack for Living Engraving too… well, at least they should only be here for two days.

*****

The guard’s footsteps echoed down the long hallway. When another person rounded the corner to face him, the guard froze up for a split second and then belatedly reached for his Mana pistol. But when he recognized the other person, the man relaxed with an awkward chuckle. “Ah, Cale. Is it time for the shift switch already?”

The new arrival shook his head. The light in the hallway was from the floor, so the shadow of the man’s large nose stretched up across his face. “Nah, they changed up the schedule. Created whole new transition shifts to add extra protection to Mjolnir. Or so they claim. But there is definitely something fishy going in the underground warehouses-”

“Not so loud,” The first guard visibly winced and looked around. “You know what I think? It’s because of the impeachment proceedings. President Greyman is afraid of losing power and is tightening her grip on Mjolnir.”

Cale grunted in agreement but didn’t comment on the politics of it. “Hopefully a new president will set more reasonable expectations for this place…”

“Heh, you think? No matter what happens, nothing will change for us. Every President will want Mjolnir as a weapon,” The first guard moaned. Then he shook himself. “Anyways, I need to go inspect the silo. Let’s play cards sometime we both have a shift off.”

“Sure,” Cale responded, walking past the first guard and down the long hallway.

By that time, Acri had finished chewing through the ventilation grill. Taking advantage of humanity’s strange habit of not looking upward, Acri’s three-meter long, soccer-ball thick body slid silently out and across the roof, having enough length to bridge across the hallway and back again to support its significant weight.

Even though he had slimmed himself down and removed his eye-catching foliage to sneak into the compound, Acri was rather uncomfortable. This was much more difficult than it had thought it would be.

Acri’s three pyramidal heads were only a few inches behind the guard, sniffing him for the scent of blood. Slightly disappointed that the being below it was just a man, Acri pulled its heads upward and contented itself to keep its bulk above the man’s head.

Eventually, they reached a heavily armored door. The man dutifully provided a retinal scan, a fingerprint scan, then entered in an alphanumeric password to open the door. Acri slithered along the ceiling and following him into the room.

As soon as it did so, it sensed the thousands of pseudo-Raid Bosses below. Trembling with anticipation, Acri waited for the man to perform a perfunctory investigation and then departed.

Then Acri began to feast.

As an afterthought once all the Raid Bosses had been devoured for their experience, Acri gathered up all of the remnant bones that he could. Because of the strange composition of the Raid Bosses, they only dropped a marble-sized bit of bone that had functioned as their core. Which was convenient for Acri, because if they were any larger it wouldn’t be able to transport all of them.

As it was, Acri still had to hollow out a portion of its body and stuff them inside. Then, feeling bloated and that these marbles were a rather pathetic gift for Randidly, Acri resolved to find more high-Level monsters. So it dug its way through the wall and slithered away, the blaring alarms of the Zone 1 base fading behind it.

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