Path of Stars, Ch 22: Astral Blade (Patreon)

A silver streak flashed through the Void, heading for another part of the lizards’ system. As soon as Sam stepped off the astral thread, he felt the essence from the two slain lizards flowing into his essence constellation. It was a large amount for just those two enemies, similar to what the Outsider giants had and those had been forty levels higher.

It looked like the Void beasts really were rich in essence. From those two, he gained 92k essence and a level. It was a good beginning, but there was a long way to go. The Titan Star announced the results a moment later, combining both the essence and the level for his new attributes.

Essence Constellation (Single Star): 919,205 / 2,000,000.

You gain 137 Strength, 159 Constitution, 38 Agility, 5 Wisdom, 240 Intelligence, 240 Aura, and have 12 free attribute points to assign.

After thinking about it for a moment, he calculated where his attributes would be passively by the time he reached the Second Star and Level 300, and then he put the 12 free points into Charisma again, bringing it up to 837.

He was getting some Agility from essence, and with his battle aura, that was enough, so his choices were really between Wisdom and Charisma. He had a trickle of Wisdom from his levels, and that would be enough with what he’d just added to put him over 1,000 by the time he reached 300. That should be enough until he gained his next class in the future.

He was a little tempted to add the points to Intelligence and Aura, since those were his prime attributes, but there was one very important reason that Charisma might still be better.

The Dream of the Void.

The higher his Charisma, the more quickly he should be able to handle that, since it would require adjusting his sense of self. It would also give him that much more safety in absorbing Outsider essence before the Path was complete, even though he intended to use Wild Balance on all of it.

He glanced swiftly at the improvements and nodded, and then he turned toward the distance where he could sense a couple more Firesail Void Lizards. Far past them, off to the right and closer to the red stars, he could sense several hundred more that were part of the main group, but for right now, he wanted to stick to the stragglers.

Sapphire flames blazed around him as he took a step in that direction. He could have just walked on the chaos winds, but he needed to improve Crystal Passage. It didn’t take him long to reach his targets.

Just in front of him, there were another two Firesail Void Lizards lounging on an asteroid that was glowing with heat. It looked like they’d warmed the surface with their flames to make for a resting place.

Sam’s body turned translucent as he studied them, changing until every part radiated with a pure crystalline flame, as if he had turned into a spirit made of fire. A slight smile tilted his lips as a golden blade formed in his hand and then he flashed forward.

The two lizards were Level 312 and 325 this time, but he didn’t pay much attention to that. Instead, he focused on the patterns of their attacks, which he’d already learned from the last ones. As soon as they saw him, they lunged to their feet and lashed out with huge claws. Two massive bursts of red flame slashed through the air, heading directly for him.

“Let’s oppose fire with fire,” Sam murmured as he lashed out at one attack with the astral blade in his hand. A streak of golden flame shot out from it, slicing the claw attack into two parts.

Then he twisted, his body turning into a streak of sapphire as he held a hand in front of him and pierced straight through the other attack. Waves of flame split apart around him, breaking to either side as he charged forward.

All around him, he could sense the flow of Fire energy that the lizards were summoning. It was concentrated around the spines on their back and in their chests, and it was similar in some ways to the Fire-laden elemental winds that the lizards thrived on, but much simpler. Their innate mana was controlling it and it had just a hint of the age of the Void about it, which was where it drew its strength.

If they’d been facing someone else, it would have been a deadly energy that might have been enough for them to win, but they were facing him, and he was born from an astral flame that was much more primordial than theirs. The flames twisted around Sam in brilliant wisps as they were pushed away by the density of essence in his body.

The stronger lizard lunged forward just then, its mouth opening as it bit toward him. Behind it, the other one was tilting its head back to roar for help. Sam flew forward as a streak of flame and a shimmering sapphire fist slammed into the side of the lizard’s head. Its neck snapped backward as it somersaulted, flying across the Void for a hundred feet.

He was taller than the lizards, but they were longer, and if someone had been watching them fight, it would have looked something like a broadly-muscled man fighting two large lizards whose heads only came up to his chest.

Before the lizard could stand up again, lines of radiant blue-white frost wrapped around it, tightening around its feet and neck. The other lizard tried to bite down at Sam, but it met an astral blade that was rising in the opposite direction in a speeding arc.

A short while later, a translucent Titan made of flame flared with a sapphire light and was gone. Behind him, there were only two lifeless lizards. All of the useful crafting materials were gone as well.

*****

Time passed as Sam floated through the Void, testing out the limits of Form of Crystal Flame as he pushed Crystal Passage to the maximum. Step by step, he traveled around the edges of the Firesail Void Lizards’ territory and sought out one set of beasts after another. He didn’t trust himself to face more than two or three at once, so he was cautious, especially since not all of them were in the lower 300s.

He made a note of the stronger ones and if there were more than two of them over Level 340, he avoided them. He didn’t have a lot of time, so he needed to take the fastest route to gaining essence, which meant not embroiling himself in drawn out battles.

He was here to maximize his strength and as the essence poured in, it was like a conduit from the ancient Void was opening within his soul. All around him, he could feel the stars burning brightly, their essence roiling with a flame that sprang from the first days, when time drifted like idle smoke on the haze of a nebula.

For the first time, he felt like he was on the true Path.

The astral Void resonated around him, its essence flowing through his muscles as it merged into his inner constellation. He could feel the concepts of the Void echoing with his essence as runes flickered in his mind. The strands of power that connected his essence constellation sang with the call of the Void as they grew denser. Runes flickered in his spirit from essence star to star, flashing with concepts he’d seen in his dreams.

At the same time, he could feel the presence of the other Titans around him, their memories and the paths they had walked in the Void. He felt where they had passed by a star and touched it, leaving a handprint, and in the distance he could sense where they had been born, close to the heart of the galaxy.

Time blurred as he continued, stepping from one thread to the next as he continued his hunt. He didn’t always find the right opponents, but with each that he defeated, he became more capable.

In terms of the Void and the heritage of the Titans, he had long been under the most basic level of strength to walk the stars. Now, with such a field of essence in front of him, he was slowly correcting that.

Without Crystal Passage and the astral blade in his hand, it would not have been as quick, but the blade was formed from a powerful innate ability and its cutting ability was far beyond the Third Evolution. All he needed to do was to get close enough to use it. It gave him an offensive strike that was much higher than his level indicated, and he made the most of it.

With the next few groups of Void lizards, the process was much the same. He searched until he found two or three of them and then attacked swiftly.

After that, however, it started to get a little more difficult. Half a day had passed as he sped around the system and even with his best efforts the lizards had still managed to send out many roars for assistance. Whenever they arrived to investigate, Sam was long gone and, as a result, it was making the rest of the pack nervous and increasingly angry.

There were hundreds of Void lizards across the system and eventually a roar that was so powerful it shook the elemental currents raged across the red stars. It left a wake of trailing flame behind it like an echo, which spread outward as it diffused into the Void.

Sam paused where he was gathering materials from the latest pack of lizards and looked up with a frown. The distribution of essence in the system was changing as all the condensed points that represented the lizards began to move.

Almost as one, they began to pull back toward the red stars at the center of their system. He grimaced, since it meant things were going to get harder from here on out. It had already been difficult enough to find small groups alone. He swiftly finished gathering the last materials and then he disappeared in a streak of crystal flame, heading for a nearby astral thread as he continued to search.

Over the next half day, he managed to find two more groups of stragglers with three lizards each as they were heading toward the inner system, but that was all. Eventually, he stood in the Void and studied the large red stars ahead of him. If he went any farther, he’d be sure to meet more concentrated packs of lizards, probably ones of four or five strong and some that were closer to Level 400.

He rubbed his chin with a frown as he glanced at his gains so far. So far, he’d defeated almost twenty lizards. He’d gained another ten levels, which wasn’t bad, but even more importantly, the lizards had a lot of essence. None of them had been over Level 330, but he’d made some significant strides.

He might have started out weak as a Titan, and he probably still was, but these lizards just so happened to be the right level for him to hunt. Despite that, his expression was serious, since he wasn’t done yet. The summary of his notifications rang in his mind.

Congratulations, Titan. You are now a Level 248 Astral Artificer.

Essence Constellation (Single Star): 1,498,427 / 2,000,000.

You gain 877 Strength, 1,015 Constitution, 242 Agility, 50 Wisdom, 1,548 Intelligence, 1,548 Aura, and have 120 free attribute points to assign.

The lizards had averaged around 34,000 essence each. It was a bit less than the first two, but some of them had been just over Level 300 and there was a big difference between those and the ones that were in their 320s and 330s.

He assigned the free points to Charisma again, which brought it up to 957, and then he nodded as he evaluated the other changes. His height was continuing to increase with his essence. He was up to 60 feet tall now, and his horns were another seven feet.

He’d made an incredible amount of progress in short order, but the easy part was over. It would be more difficult to hunt the lizards from here on out, now that they were aware of him.

If he’d had more time, he could have just waited for them to relax again, or gone off in search of a different type of Void beast, but the lizards were the only ones close enough that would let him stick to his timeline. If he wanted to keep hunting them, he was going to have to go deeper into their lair.

He turned to look into the depths of the red star system as he flexed his hands, testing out the new strength in his body. It was too bad he hadn’t done this type of essence hunt before. If he’d had this progress in his essence constellation back then, he would have been able to fight on equal footing with the soul wraith, if not kill it. The thought made him feel a bit more confident about heading to Alora’s home.

This was what the Path was supposed to be. The strength of the Void was infusing him.

It was also what the Will of the Path had intended when it sent him here. His essence just hadn’t been stable enough to benefit from it until now. For his own strength, the best thing would be to just keep doing the same thing until he reached the Fifth Star or higher, however long that took, but he had concerns that couldn’t be set aside and promises to keep.

As if they were responding to his thoughts, the chaos winds of the Void surged closer as he continued to absorb the essence from the latest lizards. Streams of elemental energy sliced through the area, rushing with furious currents as they responded to the new density of essence that was gathering. Two of the flows, one for Ice and one for Fire, began to ripple as they brushed past him, reacting with his innate affinities.

A curtain of frozen flame stretched outward in the path of the wind, flowing like liquid mana. The elements were combined together in a way that he’d never seen before. It felt like they were hot and cold at the same time, their energies twisting inward as they froze and outward as they burned, but it was like two sides of the same coin. Shards of frozen fire flew away from the curtain like teardrops scattered through the Void and swirling eddies and brilliant points of light rose and fell inside of it like an aurora. The curtain stretched like a glowing band of ink through the darkness and lasted for quite a while before it faded away.

“A manifestation of the Void,” Sam murmured as he glanced at it. It was something he’d seen in the memories of the Titans, but he hadn’t expected it would appear here. It left him puzzled, temporarily pulling his attention away from his hunt.

When essence condensed strongly enough around a Titan, their inner affinities could give rise to manifestations of power around them, similar to how lightning formed in a cloud and auroras covered the skies of a world. It was the result of their strength changing the Void.

He was still only at the First Star, so it was rare that he would cause something like that, so it was probably due to the amount of essence he’d absorbed in such a short period. Astral flames were curling around his skin like coiling dragons and burning more fiercely than usual.

More importantly, however, manifestations were a sign of a Titan’s nature. This was a glimpse of his future and seeing it gave him an idea that was very tempting.

He’d been working on freezing astral fire for a while, but he’d never found the right way to do it. Seeing this effect now brought those ideas rushing back. At the same time, the runes he’d seen while balancing essence with Alora also filled his mind, when he’d been trying to make chaos from essence, and it stirred a concern that he’d had for a long time.

Namely, that he still didn’t understand crystal flame, at least not in the way that the Astral Guardian had been pushing him to. He barely understood it despite a lot of effort, and he wasn’t sure if he would ever see it in the same way as the Cer’Aleth did.

“I wonder...” he murmured as he watched the curtain of light. Then he spoke to the Titan Star. “Do you think I can merge crystal flame with the principles of the Void? And then make it work as a Titan ability?”

Possibly. The star’s response was indeterminate. All abilities are basically innate spells that arise from your bloodline. New Titan abilities were clearly created at one time by your predecessors. If you want to do the same, it will depend on your understanding.

Sam rubbed his chin. Crystal Flame wasn’t a Titan ability, which was why he wasn’t sure it would work, but it was a racial ability, which gave him a certain depth of experience with it. As long as it resonated with a law of the Void, which it probably did, he might be able to bring the two together.

Titan abilities were things that Titans had made over time from energy and concepts that were native to their race, so there was nothing stopping him from creating one of his own, nor from evolving a racial ability in his own way. It would be his own version of that art.

If it worked, it might even improve his attunement to the Void. Creating any Titan ability meant relying on the most primordial nature of their race.

His version of crystal flame came from his subclass, but at the moment he was dependent on the Astral Guardian to update it for him. If he could make it his own, he might be able to create his own path in the future, just like Spell Forging was pushing him to do for his main class. Then he would be truly independent.

What was more, he was still at a low enough evolution that a merger between basic concepts was possible. If he waited much longer, he might develop crystal flame on a path that would be ineffective for him.

Besides that, crystal flame was the product of a different race, not something from the Astral Titans. Although it definitely had some connection to the Void, it was less likely to resonate with it effectively.

Sam studied the remnants of the manifestation and then a brief smile flashed across his face. It would either work or it wouldn’t but it was definitely worth a shot. He even knew how to get started on it.

A golden blade of fire appeared in his hand, but this time he let it form more slowly than he’d ever had before, sensing the flow of astral energy that shaped it. The astral blade ability was attuned to the stars and to fire, and it was the perfect place to begin.

He traced the flows of energy, sensing how they came from him and the Void. Then in his other hand, he created a blade of crystal flame, trying to mimic the same structure. A blur of sapphire blue appeared, twisting into the shape of a sword as it condensed, but as soon as he tried to wrap the concepts of the Void into it, which were what gave the astral blade its strength, the crystal flame exploded. A wash of heat and bits of frozen crystal sprayed across his face.

He chuckled as he brushed the dust away, and then he looked ahead to the red stars near the center of the system. That was where the lizards were gathering. If he wanted to find more, he was going to have to head deeper into the heart of the system.

The essence he’d gained so far gave him some confidence, but he would have to be ready to escape if needed. As for the crystal flame experiments, he could work on them on the way. The golden blade shone brightly in his hand as he stepped onto an astral thread that led toward one of the giant red stars.