Echoes of War, Ch 35: Vos'Rekan Approaches (Patreon)

The World Core’s warning was simple, but there was no need for it to explain anything else. Sam knew what those words meant. He just hadn’t expected to deal with it so soon. Vos’Rekan were the lethal devourers of the Deep Wild, and if one was approaching, then everything here was in critical danger, possibly more than it had ever been in since the First War.

Aster Fall was deep in the unsettled half of the galaxy, the Chaos Wild that was the original home of both the Astral Titans and the Vos’Rekan. The giant beasts were rare and the Titans had hunted them for ages to eliminate the risk they posed, but they still existed and there were probably more of them in the galaxy right now than Titans.

The most important question was whether this was the same one that had attacked the relic and the World Core in the past. Hopefully, it was a smaller one, but he wasn’t betting on it. The Will of the Path had told him that an ancient Vos’Rekan was lurking around and sleeping. It was one of the main reasons for the World Limit, so as not to attract its attention. Damaging the World Seal was the other.

“How long until it arrives?” Sam asked, directing his thoughts along the connection to the World Core.

It will arrive in seventeen hours and twenty minutes at the current pace, the World Core replied instantly. Its voice was the more personal one again, which he’d only heard when it spoke about Asenya. It appears to have been sleeping as a moon in a distant star system.

“What got its attention?” Sam asked as his mind raced, considering the options he had available to him. “Was it the World Tree or the fight with the king’s people?”

Vos’Rekan slept deeply while hibernating and only large sources of energy would wake them. Of his recent activities, those two were the most likely to have attracted it.

He’d thought about the World Tree’s signature before he planted it, but it should have been well hidden within Aster Fall’s own aura, obscured among the many dimensions of the World Seal. They were like walls that hid it from view, and while it was young, it didn’t give off an immense level of power. Any energy that did escape was supposed to blend into the Void and be indistinguishable from the chaos winds. Only when it was older would it be overpowering.

As for the battle with the king’s men, that had reached the Fifth Evolution in pure force and there had been sharp flares of Outsider essence from the Passion Gate and the king’s artifacts. He’d been hoping that the Vos’Rekan bones that made up the world’s foundation would hide it, but it might not have been enough.

It is following the emanations of the World Tree, the core confirmed. A twist in the dimensional space of the World Seal displaced the tree’s energy, sending it out farther than should have been possible. It’s like a ribbon stretching through the Void and the beast is following it back to the origin.

Sam frowned. It was bad luck for the tree to be noticed now. He hadn’t expected that the damage to the World Seal would reverse his plan. Instead of hiding the tree’s energy until it was able to help protect the world, it had leaked it out. Despite the threat, his blood burned with the desire for battle.

The very thought of fighting a Vos’Rekan awakened something deep in his inherited memories, sending a roar through his muscles. His aura flared higher like a tidal wave crashing against the world around him, covering the peak of Sun’s Rest in silver flames that could be seen from the valley below. The only question that mattered to that instinct was how strong the enemy was and if it was enough to get a good fight.

He wanted to kill it.

Ever since his Dream of the Void, his memories of the titans’ ancient enemies were clear. They were large and voracious, cunning and impatient, dangerous beyond almost all the other things in the Void, but they were not absolute. The essence it contained would be enough for him to advance an enormous amount.

It was also a rare opportunity. The battles between the Astral Titans and their ancient enemies was one of the most defining aspects of their early history. The clash of racial abilities and essence had given rise to many insights, including natural runes and the laws of the Void.

His knuckles cracked as he forced himself to think about more reasonable things, like whether he stood any chance at all.

“What level is it?” he asked intently. “Is it the same one that attacked during the First War?”

That one had been an ancient Vos’Rekan that was probably at the Sixth Evolution. By the time it arrived, most of the stronger Titans had already gone through the Nexus to investigate the other side, leaving few who could face it directly. It had left the massive scar on the World Core that was still there and destroyed the Moonlight Relic with a single slash of its claw.

If it was that one, they had problems.

A group of defenders and a few younger Titans had lured it away into the depths of the Void and fought it at great cost, leaving it injured, but not dead. It was still out there in the Void somewhere. One of the main reasons for the World Limit was to prevent attention from the thing while the World Core recovered.

The only way to deal with that ancient Vos’Rekan right now would be to ask the Astral Guardian and a coalition of similar beings to step in. The risk to them would be extreme, even if they were at the Sixth Evolution. Like the Astral Titans, the Vos’Rekan were a Primordial race. Their strength was far beyond the power of the younger races one to one. Aster Fall had been founded on the bones of a similar one, and it was the size of the entire planet.

If this one was only the size of a moon, there was a chance he could deal with it. The desire to try crackled across his bones.

The other reason for the World Limit was to protect the World Seal. The dimensional fluctuation of Fourth Evolution and higher energy was able to tear holes in it when uncontrolled. That meant they couldn’t fight nearby. He’d have to follow a similar tactic and lure the Vos’Rekan away, so they could have a good battle in the Void.

It is not that one, the World Core’s words were like the advent of good luck and sent a surge of battle intent through Sam’s bones. It is a smaller one around Level 520, but no Vos’Rekan that remains in the Void is weak. It is about five times stronger than you, and its racial abilities are much more advanced. It will be difficult for you to fight it and survive.

Sam took a deep breath as his aura flared again, creating a blinding silver light across the peak of the mountain. To those below, it looked like the peak had suddenly come to life like a second sun. The news that it was a smaller Vos’Rekan made him want to leap off the planet and head straight for it.

As long as it wasn’t the ancient one, he had a chance.

Either way, he couldn’t let it get close to Aster Fall. A Vos’Rekan’s nature was to devour energy. Its presence here would damage the World Seal and possibly cause a Breaking on its own. The Dimensional Convergence would almost certainly spin out of control.

Once it arrived, it would definitely notice the World Core and the Nexus, as well as the life on Aster Fall. Its instinct would be to eat everything here. The only reason it hadn’t come here before was probably because it hadn’t noticed.

The Chaos Wild was deep and Aster Fall was well hidden in a dead zone that had once been the domain of the Vos’Rekan whose bones made up the planet. There was little here to attract these beasts, and there weren’t very many of them.

“Is this the only Vos’Rekan that has come by since the First War?” he asked. “They’re rare, but it’s been a long time.” Given how long it had been, it was unlikely that this was the only one.

I carefully balance the energy of this space to prevent attention from outside, the World Core replied, but this is the third time a Vos’Rekan has approached in the last 120,000 years. The other times required the intervention of the Council of Nine and several Astral Guardians. Each visit led to a Breaking on the planet.

This Vos’Rekan appears to be the same one that approached 42,000 years ago. It stalked the outskirts of the system for hundreds of years and devoured three Astral Guardians before it was driven away. It must have been near the end of its hibernation cycle when the tree’s energy was released.

Sam nodded as he looked up into the sky where the stars were just beginning to appear. Vos’Rekan could sleep for that long and more. Their bodies would turn into something nearly indistinguishable from stone. It was no surprise if this one had hidden as a moon. It was a common habit for them.

Since it had history here, there was someone he needed to talk to. The Astral Guardian wouldn’t be able to interfere without damaging the World Seal, but he’d been guarding here for about 10,000 years in Aster Fall’s time, and two million years in the galaxy’s timeline. He should have some ideas on how to shield the world.

If Sam hadn’t been there, it was likely that the core would have notified him instead. Perhaps it already had. He might not be able to help directly, but knowledge was also power.

Sam scanned across the relic, locating his family on the First Layer, and then he looked quickly at the options that were still waiting for him from Level 350. He needed to deal with that and then the essence he’d gained from the spirits. The choice of which ability to take was more important than ever. There were deep secrets in all three of them, ones that definitely touched on the laws of the Void, but he needed one that would help him against the Vos’Rekan.

He had to hurry, since the closer the Vos’Rekan got to Aster Fall, the more dangerous it would be to the world and his family.

Dominion of Stars would increase his army’s strength, and if he had legions full of Silver Nagas who were able to fight, it would be a good way to attack the Vos’Rekan, but right now their strength was not on that level. Taking them into the fight would be leading them to their deaths. Even if the nagas thought it was glorious, that wasn’t something he could do. Right now, they would just be more things for the beast to devour. Enhancing his aura was good, but he could also enhance his allies by giving them better equipment.

Construct of the Stars was promising and it would let him build a better golem army in the future, but he didn’t have time to make any right now. Most importantly, he could already build golems and infuse them with astral energy. He also had Elemental Smithing and Componentless Scribe to reduce the cost of materials. An upgrade would be nice, but it wasn’t unique, so he crossed it off the list too.

That left him with Avatar of the Stars as the only option that he could use immediately. The innate understanding that came with the ability told him creating the avatars took a huge amount of essence and some time, but he could make one in about an hour.

What was more, they could use equipment just like him, including scrolls and other artifacts. He had hundreds of pieces of spare equipment and thousands of scrolls in his cloak. They would also have almost all of his abilities and could even combust auras for more energy. There was an incredible amount of potential in them.

He made his choice without hesitation.

The whirlwind of energy from the World Core sprang up around him instantly, even faster than usual, as if the core was also trying to hurry him along. The clouds tore apart above the peak as the dark Void appeared, its depths blazing with millions of points of silver starlight. It stretched into the endless depths of time as silent winds howled and the stars burned.

He could feel the truth of it, and he knew that this ability was coming from the Void itself rather than the World Core. It was a manifestation of its higher laws, The core was just acting as the guide. Astral energy and concepts borrowed from the stars descended in steaks of blazing light as the new ability was engraved into his spirit.

There was already an array of stars in his body that came from his class, but as this ability joined them, they suddenly doubled and then tripled, their number increasing dramatically. At the same time, he felt mirror images of his mind forming and disappearing, as he suddenly understood how to split off a copy of his thoughts into a form of its own.

He took a deep breath as he felt the changes settling in and then he picked a distant star that was shining in the Void above as he disappeared in a streak of silver light.

When he reappeared, he was standing in the Void above Aster Fall, near where he had spoken to the Astral Guardian the last time. An intense silver glow sprang up from the Titan Star on his hand as message runes began spiraling into place in front of him. As he worked on creating the communication spell for the Guardian, he glanced through the rest of the notifications that were waiting for him, the ones he’d been reviewing when news about the Vos’Rekan interrupted him.

There was only one that really mattered.

Congratulations, Lord of Silver Stars. You have gained 2,170,814 essence.

It was a huge amount, just under twice what he’d gained from the first fifty spirits. He had to admit that hunting Outsiders was exceptional for essence gain, especially now that he could balance it innately and didn’t have to worry about losing his mind. They were much richer in it than the equivalent level of Void beast, closer to the Primordial level than any other beings that he’d seen.

Essence Constellation (Third Star): 2,912,535 / 10,000,000.

You gain 3,101 Strength, 3,618 Constitution, 905 Agility, 5,427 Intelligence, and 5,427 Aura.

It was a large gain in his strength, about 25% more than he had before the hunt, but he’d already absorbed the essence stars while hunting. The World Core’s estimate had been based on this level. If the Vos’Rekan was five times stronger than him, he could only hope that the new ability would be enough.

As an afterthought, he tossed the thirty free attributes he’d gained a few minutes before into his Charisma, which added a bit to everything else.

The message spell took shape between his hands as he locked onto the Guardian’s particular subdimension. When he released the spell, it sprang out in a geometric web of silver lines that shone like polished gemstone. It was the same framework for the spell that the Guardian had taught him long ago. An instant later, it sank into the Void as it created a communication channel. It didn’t take long for the Guardian’s voice to reach him.

Sam Hastern? You just contacted me not long ago. The Guardian’s voice was full of surprise. If we speak too frequently, there’s a chance it could destabilize the Seal. My presence here makes the dimensional space unstable when it’s open. But you wouldn’t reach out to me for no reason. What has happened?

From that, it was obvious that the World Core hadn’t told the Guardian about the Vos’Rekan yet, so Sam’s words came quickly as he explained it in brief. As soon as he mentioned the problem, the Guardian’s reaction made the entire communication channel shake with a dramatic reaction and he had to reach out to stabilize it.

Despite that, the Guardian wasted no time on frivolous things. His words poured out in a condensed wave that carried layers of meaning in an instant. As soon as they reached Sam’s mind, they unfolded and it felt like he’d had a full conversation.

“I know the records of this beast,” the Guardian said. “It is one of the calamities of the Void that is recorded as having nearly destroyed Aster Fall and the World Seal in the past. It is also why a stronger rank of Astral Guardians was appointed. Originally, we thought a simple watcher would be enough, but three beings at the early Fifth Evolution Guardians died to this one. It is incredibly dangerous, even to me.

“I am at the peak of the Fifth Evolution and I have a small chance of driving it away, but it would be difficult for me to kill it. There's a good chance that I will die trying. The tenacity of a Vos’Rekan is legendary. I will prepare to stop it, but if I take action here, it will undoubtedly break the World Seal. It is already too close for me to fight it safely.

“With the current Dimensional Convergence, the results will be disastrous for Aster Fall. Thousands of Flaws would open across the world at once, unleashing everything they hold inside. If I were at the Sixth Evolution, it might be possible to both stabilize the World Seal and drive it away, but I haven’t taken that last step. I am still searching for enlightenment into the deeper concepts. Those who have are few in the galaxy.

“While I can summon help from the leader of the Cer’Aleth, my people, it will not arrive in time. Even the races of the High Nine usually only have one being at the Sixth Evolution. Those at the peak of the Fifth like me are almost as rare. It has been too long since this beast attacked, and we do not have the forces to deal with it.

“Waiting for it to arrive before I act is impossible, however. It’s a situation that has no good solution. If I act, I will break the World Seal, and if I do not, the beast will break it anyway. No matter what, I’ll have to take action before it comes close enough to devour the world. A Breaking is a better option than the complete destruction of Aster Fall and the Nexus.

“If you want to save your world, the only chance is to drive it off before it can damage Aster Fall. If you can lead it far enough away, I will try to help. I will wait for you. This is how you can save your world, but the risk is extreme and you are not likely to survive. This was never the path I planned for you.”

“It may not be what you planned,” Sam replied as flames poured away from his shoulders and along his cloak, creating a burning field in the Void, “but it is what I choose.”

His destiny was in his own hands. Battle intent filled his spirit as his blood roared.

A massive wave of astral energy gathered around him, forming into a blazing silver halo as he looked in the direction of the Vos’Rekan. Only twenty minutes had passed since the World Core warned him about it. It was still distant enough that he had a chance to move it before it destroyed Aster Fall.

He was working against time both with the Vos'Rekan and the Guardian. On one side was complete destruction and on the other was a Breaking that would ruin the world for generations.

Silver energy flowed across his skin like a river of stars, surrounding him in crackling power that made the Void shake as a golden spear formed in his hand. As he locked onto his target, his blood felt like it was boiling. The ancient memory of an Astral Titan chasing a Vos’Rekan through the heavens came to him. It felt like he was merging with it, his mind returning to the early days of the Void when life and death were balanced on claw and blade. The stars around him crackled, their points brightening.

Then he stepped onto the path between the stars and was gone, leaving only a faint outline of a golden titan behind.