(Book 5) Path of Stars, Ch 1: River of Stars (Patreon)

The Path of Stars stretched through the Void. Sparkling colors in a thousand streaks of flame and fury rippled into the distance, flowing past at the edge of Sam’s awareness. His eyes were half-closed, but he was still aware of them. The presence of the stars was as unmistakable as his own breath.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been, but as the thought flickered through his mind, an answer came from the Guardian Star on his hand. The time he’d spent traveling was just over thirty years now. Fortunately, it hadn’t felt like that long.

Instead, it was one long stretch of crafting, practicing with his aura, and studying the stars around him, which whispered secrets at the edge of his consciousness. He’d also spent a lot of time going through the information from the Moonlight Relic’s library, which was all saved in his memory.

With all of that to work on, it hadn’t felt like thirty years. Maybe one or two. If he’d begun somewhere else in the galaxy, it would not have taken so long, but Aster Fall and the Nexus near it were special. Time was dense there and leaving the area was difficult, even with the help of the Path.

Information on the Path had filtered into his mind now that he was on it, and answers to certain questions sprang into his awareness almost as soon as he asked them. Sometimes, the information came after long study, like starlight gathering to form a word, but as he looked down at the platform that was carrying him along now, it was like reading an open book.

The material, the infusion of astral energy in it, and its purpose were all clear to him, as obvious as the runes on a healing scroll. From the rate at which the platform was drawing energy from the stars, which had slowed down to almost nothing over the past month or two, he could tell that he was approaching his destination.

It would take perhaps two more weeks. Then he would find out where the Path led.

The platform also spoke of channeling astral energy to support him, which was why he’d never needed to eat or even really to sleep here. His time had passed in one continuous blur of study, thought, and practice at crafting. If he’d been on Aster Fall, the World Core probably would have assigned him some Traits for that, but out here, he was on his own.

Without other references for passing time, the journey felt like one long dream.

It had been a good way to catch up on a lot of practice with his crafting abilities and the information in the library, but he’d long ago run out of real materials. He’d been conservative and they’d lasted him for the first five years, but since then he’d been forced to take the harder route.

His Componentless Scribe and Elemental Smithing abilities had truly come into their own, since he’d been forced to use them to create everything he wanted for the past 25 years.

Here in the Void, there were really only a few things he could use as a base material, mainly astral ice and fire. There was also the background astral energy, which he was able to convert into those two elements. Creating stone or metal was still beyond him, so for the most part his practice had revolved around ice and fire, as well as his own crystal flame.

He’d become very adept with those elements, something that would make the Astral Guardian happy if he ever saw it. The Cer’Aleth had once complained to him that he’d barely scratched the surface of what was possible, and this journey had helped him to see the truth of that.

It was no problem now to condense crystal flame into a form like sapphire and to use it as the basis for a scroll. He could also do the same with astral ice. Astral fire wasn’t as cooperative in turning into a solid form, but he had made large gains with it as well, primarily in engraving runic enchantments.

A mirror created from astral ice flashed into existence in front of him as he examined his features. It was a tall oval and the edges burned with frozen runes in curling arcs that were as much decoration as they were power. Despite the length of the journey, there was no change to his appearance.

As far as he could tell, he looked exactly the same as he had the day he evolved. If that held true for the future, at least his family would still recognize him when he got back. From what the Astral Guardian had told him, age wasn’t something that affected Astral Titans, at least not physically.

That was small consolation to the mood that hung over him. Despite the time he’d spent here, he still felt the same frustration as he had when he left Aster Fall. It felt like it had only been a week or two since he was pulled away. The study and crafting had taken his mind off of things, but not enough to change that fact.

This Path of the Stars was the promise of ancient history and power, and while at one level he appreciated that, he was still annoyed by the disruption to his plans. He looked around at the blurring starscape as he took a deep breath and let it out again, forcing himself to relax.

Unfortunately, it was unavoidable.

Until the Path was complete, he wouldn’t be able to return, and if he somehow managed it, he still wouldn’t have a solution for his essence imbalance. Over the past years, however, there had been some improvements in other areas.

He looked down at his hands, which no longer had obvious talons. They looked strong and powerful, but except for the golden hue to his skin, they were more human than they’d been since before his transformation. It was an effect of his Battle Aura. Once he’d learned to control it a bit better, he’d found he could make small changes to his body like this, as well as to his height.

Since his second Racial Evolution, his height had reached 25 feet, but manipulating his aura allowed him to compress that to about 8 feet. His mastery still wasn’t perfect, so it felt like he’d stuffed himself into a sack three sizes too small, but it worked. His hands were easier to change, since the talons were only one part.

It had been the stars passing by that gave him the insight he needed to develop his aura. The Toa’an method that had been recorded in the relic was close, but it wasn’t perfect for him, and by watching them, he’d reached some important insights. Things had started to fall into place when he saw how starlight stretched into the distance and shrank, depending on which way he looked.

He didn’t need to shrink himself here, however, since his height was irrelevant in the vastness of the Void. The platform he was on had plenty of space. He’d found that he could expand it to a vast distance if he wanted to, far beyond a mile. Whoever had built it, size hadn’t been an issue for them.

He dismissed the mirror with a gesture, letting it dissolve back into a mist of icy particles that he compressed into a shining blue sphere and tossed to the side. It landed on top of a pyramid of perhaps two hundred similar spheres with a pleasant chime. That stack was his latest effort at turning astral ice into crafting materials.

Purifying the ice and concentrating energy into it wasn’t a problem any more. His attributes after Evolution were more than enough to allow him to force hundreds of points of essence into a sphere in an instant. Each of those spheres was Epic-grade material, similar to a natural treasure of ice. What he was studying was how to best utilize the concept of ice itself.

His study of the relic’s library had led him into interesting areas, many of which he still hadn’t tapped, even after thirty years. There was another stack not far away where he’d combined astral ice with crystal flame, and another past that where he was trying to get astral fire to freeze. So far, he’d only managed to trap some flames inside a sphere of ice, where they burned out eventually. It didn’t like the idea.

He interlaced his fingers as he stretched, letting his bones and muscles crackle with ambient astral energy. The stars here were constantly bombarding him with power, some of which he converted to essence, but there was always a small amount that built up around him like a cloak, causing wispy motes of starlight to drift around him and to crackle across his skin like lightning.

In terms of essence, it wasn’t much of an increase. He’d only gained a few attribute points over the years, for a total of 2 to Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Aura, as well as 1 to Charisma. It was infinitesimally slow compared to hunting Outsiders, but the most interesting feature was the Charisma gain, something he’d never seen from his essence before.

He could tell that the attribute gain wasn’t part of the Path, but rather the natural fostering of the stars toward his race. If he spent long enough in the Void, his height would probably continue to increase and he’d eventually reach his third Racial Evolution. At the same time, his Charisma would probably balance.

As far as he could tell, that was the slow way to power. If it continued at the same rate, and factoring in that his Intelligence and Aura would continue to increase as well, it would take him something like 12,000 years to gain the Charisma he needed.

After figuring that out, he’d tossed the idea away.

If the 210 factor of difference between Aster Fall’s time and the wider galaxy held true, which was the estimate that the Guardian had given him, that was more than 57 years that would pass at home before he could return. That wasn’t something he planned to allow. His hands curled into fists, the lack of talons a reminder of the people he’d left behind.

The Path was the faster way.

It had to be.

He let the crackles of astral lightning on his skin dissipate as he looked toward the front of the platform. He’d discovered a communication point there in his second year. It was a tracery of runes just below the surface. While it seemed functional, all of his efforts to activate it had met with defeat. As far as he could tell, it was meant for emergencies, or perhaps to contact whoever had built the Path.

Nonetheless, he once again walked toward it and began to study it, going over the runes. The platform itself was an energy construct, like an enchantment that had taken form, and it had a number of subordinate parts embedded in its structure. This was one of them. Altogether, it formed an intricate and pleasing design that resonated with the stars.

He’d sent many messages home over the past years, using the message structure that the Astral Guardian had given him, but he’d never received an answer. He’d expected that, but hopefully they had received them. From their perspective, it had probably only been two months, although it could be longer or shorter since that 210 ratio for the flow of time wasn’t exact.

Hopefully, everyone there was all right.

Time passed as he looked into the streaking stars at the front of the disk, his mind wandering as it often had over the journey, until the Guardian Star’s voice woke him from his reverie.

Guardian, we are arriving at the end of the Path.

Below his feet, the platform began to glow with a bright light that illuminated the nine-pointed silver star engraved into the surface. He could feel the stars around him coming into focus as their speed dropped to almost nothing. A few moments later, a silver curtain of light formed in front of the platform and they approached it at a sedate pace.

The platform slid through the surface with a shimmer of energy that washed over Sam’s shoulders, striking comfortable sparks from his skin. It was made of pure astral energy woven into an enchantment and it resonated with his blood. It was evaluating the platform and him, making it clear that it was here to guard something, but it only hummed peacefully.

Then they were through.

The streaking stars resolved into a shining field in the distance, millions of them in a thousand colors that flecked the darkness like the dreams of an age. He could feel each of them like a needle pressing against his skin, their energies unique and present in a way that he’d never felt before.

As they flickered, it felt like the galaxy was spinning with them, drawing him forward to fall into an endless Void.

Sam shook his head, pushing the feeling away as he looked around. Only then did he realize that he was floating alone in the Void. There was nothing above or below him except empty space. The platform that had brought him here was gone, but he felt the presence of an ethereal silver band on his wrist that hadn’t been there before.

A quick scan told him that all the materials he’d been working on were stored inside, including the message gem that the Guardian had left for him and his other items that had been scattered around. The platform seemed to have transformed into some type of dimensional artifact. Besides that, the curtain of silver light behind him was the only marker that he was still in the same area.

In front of him, the stars were drawing him forward like a thousand beacons. As soon as he turned his attention back to them, an image began to form, flowing together from different strands of light as it took shape in the Void.

At first, he thought it would be a person, but it wasn’t. Instead, a young star formed in front of him. Sparks of astral energy and streams of crystalline fire spun throughout it, slowly rotating in a vast spiral around the burning silver center. His eyes widened as he realized what it was.

It was him.

That was his essence constellation spiraling in front of him. As soon as he realized that, a powerful and ancient voice rang in his mind, echoing from the field of stars in front of him like the weight of eternity.

Why do you build?

He’d thought the World Core’s voice had power, but this was so much more vast that it was like comparing a pebble to an ocean. It wasn’t one voice, but the voices of all the stars joined together. Their existence pressed down on him like he was a speck of dust. The Void shook with each word.

“What...who are you?” Sam forced out slowly, his curiosity spiking at the same time as a sense of wonder filled him. His words came easily. The pressure from the voice was there, but it wasn’t hindering him like he thought it might.

Something here spoke to his bones, including the question that the voice had asked. He didn’t know what was at the end of the Path, but he hadn’t expected this.

I am the combined will of every Astral Titan who has walked the Path. The voice echoed again, pressing around him. Sam Hastern, you have reached the level of a Single Star, but you do not know our history.

There was a certain amount of judgment in the tone, as if the voice had expected better.

“How did I even become an Astral Titan?” Sam shot back, his temper flaring after all of this time. There hadn’t been anyone to talk to on the way here except for the Guardian Star, and now that he’d finally met someone or something, his anger at being pulled here was coming out. “What did you expect? You’ve kept too many secrets!”

All will be revealed. There was no hesitation in the voice, nor any reaction to his anger. Its words rolled across the Void. Follow the Path and see our history, all that has come before. It is the first step in your Ascension.

In front of him, the stars began to flow forward, or perhaps he was falling toward them. The star that was his essence constellation filled his vision as he merged into it, his senses expanding outward into the Void. His awareness of his body, time, and space faded away as he became the star burning in the dark.

Just like during his Evolution, there was nothing around him. It felt like he was at the beginning of creation.