World Seal, Ch 31: Rewards of Battle (Patreon)

The essence from the two Voidborn burned around Sam as he stepped out of the gate at Portal.

The gate crackled as it bled away the chaotic energy that had gathered around him from the lower region of the World Seal. Runes on the massive arches burned so brightly it looked like the sun was rising above the city.

When they dimmed again, a look at the sky revealed that it was barely dawn.

As soon as the gate closed, his avatars gave him a nod and vanished into the distance. They had work to do, especially now that he knew where Asenya was.

He looked up into the sky, where Silvas was just beginning to descend on the horizon, and he inclined his head. A few moments later, the moon slipped below the mountains to the west.

One of his avatars was at the conclave and could manage the affairs there, so instead of heading there himself, he disappeared.

A moment later he was in the Void above Aster Fall.

His cloak and bracer crackled with essence as he began to refill them. The process accelerated as he drew in the ambient energy of the Void.

It would take a little while, so as he worked he reviewed the fight with the Avatar of Blood and the Voidborn, his thoughts rushing like the wind.

There were more dangerous beings in the World Seal than he had imagined.

Now that he had met Blood, he realized how much the First War was still present on Aster Fall.

It had never really left.

All of the Flaws, the Breakings, the damage to the World Seal… they were waves of battle echoing through time.

The war was just being fought on a different scale.

It was suppressed, but not stopped.

He breathed in the energies of the Void as he tried to relax. The chaos winds rustled across his skin.

He knew where Asenya was now and Blood knew a Titan had found his hideaway. The demon wasn’t going to like that, but he probably couldn’t do much about it.

If he could interact much with Aster Fall and the World Seal, he would have done it before.

Blood’s lack of energy was the biggest saving grace, but he couldn’t be sure it would stay that way, especially if the avatar was drawing on Asenya.

Hopefully, it was her passive essence regeneration and not anything more damaging.

Blood was possessive of her, apparently seeing her as a creation that belonged to him, and that should mean he wouldn’t kill her.

For now.

Who knew what the demon might try if he was on the verge of losing her.

Hopefully that meant Sam had some time to deal with him and to free her, but either way, he would have to keep an eye on Blood’s realm to make sure the demon didn’t break the chains he’d woven around it.

That meant one of his avatars would have to stand guard.

It wasn’t going to be easy, but he had enough avatars to make it happen. Or at least he should in a moment.

Khaes had been at the equivalent of Level 561, while Yeria was 495. As Voidborn, they had an enormous amount of essence, even more than Void beasts.

It was the biggest gain he’d had in a while.

Without waiting any longer, he began to absorb it.

It rushed through his essence constellation as thousands upon thousands of new stars began to burn, filling his blood with crackling might and explosive force.

A rush of battle joy flooded his body, making his heart hammer and his bones resonate as his height increased.

He could feel his attributes rising, humming in tune with the forces of the Void as his bones grew denser and his muscles expanded.

He stretched as it crackled through him and ignited new stars in his constellation, swirling around the dark space of the Fifth Star, but there was an enormous amount.

The process continued in a flood of power, even as he considered the Voidborn. It was strange to think how things had come full circle with those two.

They’d been the ones to interfere with the World Core and make his grandfather receive the Battlefield Reclaimer class, which had cursed his family for fifty years.

Now they had died at his hands.

Their actions had finally caught up with them.

Once upon a time, they would have been like gods to him, true demons to break the world, and he would have had no way to stop them, but he had changed so much that now they couldn’t even stand before him in battle.

In trying to damage the World Core, they had created him, bringing about their own destruction.

He wasn't sure if he was supposed to regret their initial action or rejoice that they would no longer cause any problems, so he settled on somewhere in between.

What they had begun, he had finished.

Sometimes evil actions have unintended side effects, just like good ones.

Without them, his life would have been completely different. He probably would have had a normal class and been a Dimensional Mage or Arcane Researcher like most of the Hasterns and grown up in Tower Reach.

Perhaps he would have been as arrogant and blind to the rest of the world as they were.

But it worked out this way instead.

He almost felt like they deserved a memorial, just because they had accidentally done something beneficial, but that didn’t mean they were good, nor that he should forgive them.

His unlocking of the class and becoming an Astral Titan was thanks to luck in exploring that old ruin with his father, hard work, and Cerei’s ancient enchantments on the Moonlight Relic.

If he had the same choice in front of him, he would finish them off again.

Left to their own devices, they would cause a Breaking and kill millions of people when they escaped.

They had paid the price for that.

Now, their essence would serve a better purpose.

He turned his attention to the notifications that were waiting as he let the Titan Star summarize the gains. There were a lot of them.

At the same time, a massive hurricane of silver experience appeared around him in the Void, spiraling like a galaxy around him.

The World Core had no trouble reaching him here, and the notifications from it reached him at the same time.

Congratulations, Lord of the Silver Void.

For defeating two high-level enemies, you have gained 32 Levels.

For protecting the integrity of the World Seal and slaying two known enemies of Aster Fall who participated in a previous Breaking, you are granted 15 Levels of Bonus Experience.

You are now Level 468.

You gain 1410 Strength, 1410 Constitution, 940 Agility, 940 Wisdom, 4700 Intelligence, 4700 Aura, and 7050 Charisma.

The increase put him across several important benchmarks. He didn’t even need to look at his attributes to feel the change. Information on them filled his mind as they came to life.

You have gained the Racial Ability: Stellar Rebirth (50,000 Constitution).

Your body has reached a level where it is able to completely restore itself from any damage, no matter how severe, even complete disintegration of your physical being, as long as your spirit endures. This process normally takes a long time, but you are now able to accelerate it by temporarily assuming the form of a star and connecting with the energy of the Void.

You have gained the Racial Ability: Wisdom of the Ages (10,000 Wisdom).

The echoes of the ancient Void are clear in your mind, allowing you to sense the history of objects you touch, where they have been, and what they have done. Your connection to the stars is deeper and your passive essence regeneration has improved.

You have gained the Racial Ability: Aura of the Stars (10,000 Charisma).

Your aura carries with it the majesty of the ancient Void and those who see you know to bow their heads. The radiance of the stars flows through you, entrancing observers. You can manipulate this aura at will. Your innate resistance to mind-altering effects has increased.

They were good abilities that would help him a great deal.

Stellar Rebirth was one of the reasons it was hard to kill an Astral Titan. Only something like a Vos’Rekan that could directly devour his essence would be able to harm him in that form.

He’d already had slow and moderate regeneration from starlight, but this was a much faster version, one designed to heal him quickly if his body was nearly destroyed.

He would sleep as a star, gathering natural energy from the Void until he was healed.

If he’d had it after the battle with the Vos’Rekan, the black dimensional scars would have healed within days or even faster.

The only downside was that he couldn’t do much else while he was sleeping, at least with his main body. His avatars should still be able to move around.

The other two abilities were useful too, but they were only the beginning of the Wisdom and Charisma lines.

The notifications didn’t stop there.

The tone of the announcements changed, becoming more personal as the World Core’s full attention turned to Sam. He could feel it rejoicing.

Guardian, please accept my gratitude. You have done what I could not.

You have given me proof that the World Forger is alive.

Allow me to acknowledge your efforts directly, both for finding her and for killing two enemies who once nearly destroyed the world and killed millions of its inhabitants.

You are granted the Title: Retribution of Aster Fall.

Those who can bring justice to the world are few. You are one who has done it.

Your Trait: World Core’s Favor has become permanent. Any request you have of the World Core will be heard and granted if it is possible within the edicts set by the Builders.

I have little left to offer one of your power, but I can grant you this:

You are granted the Trait: Edict of Law.

You have the ability to appoint officials as Authorities of Law on Aster Fall, granting them special attention from the World Core and its assistance in their Evolutions.

The power of the Title and Trait swirled around Sam from the storm of experience as it settled into his body, and then the World Core continued.

Please rescue her as soon as possible. She is needed. I will offer you all the support I can.

There are a few more notifications for you. I chose to delay them to deliver my personal message.

The World Core’s voice faded away, becoming more distant as it returned to the usual tone of announcements.

Your experience in manipulating dimensional energy to bind the Avatar of Blood has resulted in a qualitative change in Astral Binding.

Your Ability has improved from Epic to Heroic.

[Heroic Bonus: Astral Binding now has the innate effect of isolating energy within a dimensional space. You may use it to imprison enemies or artifacts within unique realms of your own devising.]

As that notification faded away, the rest of the World Core’s reward arrived, waiting for his decision.

You may upgrade two Abilities or Skills to Heroic.

Make your choices now.

It didn’t take him long to decide on two abilities. He’d been thinking about what he would work on next for a while.

Congratulations, Lord of the Silver Void.

Your Ability: Aura Regeneration has reached the Heroic tier.

Heroic Bonus: Your ability to regenerate auras benefits from your own connection to the Primal Void. Any aura, no matter how damaged, can be repaired over time, as long as you are able to comprehend it.

He’d upgraded the ability so he could help the Astral Guardian recover more quickly. He owed it to him.

It would also be useful for the Moonlight Relic.

The next one was a more basic, but perhaps more powerful choice.

Your Ability: Astral Fire has reached the Heroic tier.

Heroic Bonus: Your flame resonates with the Primal Void, gaining increased strength and longevity. When used with Stellar Conversion, your speed at breaking down other forms of energy and turning it to fuel has doubled. When used for forging, your flames will help to imbue natural laws into the artifacts you create

He’d been tempted by other abilities, including Spell Forging and Astral Construct, but he’d long ago learned the benefit of powerful core abilities.

Enhancing Astral Flame gave him wide-ranging improvements in spell damage, power, and forging, something that couldn’t be gained with more focused abilities.

As those two abilities expanded throughout his spirit, he turned his attention to the next notification that was waiting for him.

You have achieved Level 450 and are able to choose a new Class Ability.

Your current Class Path provides three available branches.

Please choose one of the following Abilities:

Armament of the Stars:

Harness the energy of the Void and Stellar Conversion to create energy-based weapons and armor for yourself. This ability comes with a spatial realm in which to store the armaments you create, so that you may summon them again later.

The artifacts can be controlled as part of your aura, allowing you to deploy a vast number at will.

Sam studied the ability for a moment and then the description faded away, replaced by the next one.

Realm of Silver Stars:

Your realm is your power. Fill it with starlight to reduce your enemies to ash.

Use the energy from Stellar Conversion to create a deadly stellar prison for your enemies, within which you can attack them at will, slowly burning away their energy to nothing.

The description was brief, but it was enough to get the idea.

It was a powerful ability.

Then the third description appeared.

Stellar Infusion:

Bring life to the Silver Void. Gather the energy of the stars and infuse the raw aura of the Void into your creations, giving them the ability to level up on their own.

This ability requires you to infuse the base materials with astral quintessence and the tier-improving potential of Elemental Smithing.

The growth of your creations will use your own aura as a model, so they cannot surpass your Class level.

He studied the description of the last ability and then compared it to the others as he considered the choices in front of him.

He had the feeling each of them contained hidden depths, a secret related to their name.

Armament of the Stars would clearly be powerful in creating waves of energy-based creations to use as weapons or for defense, like summoned blades.

Realm of Silver Stars would most likely work well with his domain, making it even more difficult for his enemies to break out of it.

As for Stellar Infusion...that was the one that interested him the most.

Despite all of his efforts so far, he hadn’t managed to create a golem that could level up on its own.

He wanted all of them, but if he had to pick one he was leaning toward that one.

If he could create golems that could level up, then they would be able to continually grow with him, similar to the Silver Nagas.

It would save him a lot of effort in rebuilding them in the future.

It also had the potential for a high-level army to protect Aster Fall if he wasn’t there, ones that had no other desire except to carry out their mission.

He might even be able to send some of them into the World Seal as scouts or guards, places where he didn’t want to risk his followers.

It was an appealing choice, but he forced himself to consider the other two options to make sure it wasn’t a mistake.

For Armament of the Stars, creating a lot of weapons and armor from the energy of Stellar Conversion would be convenient. He might be able to store attacks and unleash them in a wave or to summon repeated suits of armor to defend himself...

But he didn’t really need it.

He could do basically the same thing with his artifacts and the stored spells inside. If he needed more than they held, he could upgrade them.

It was the same for the second ability.

The Realm of Silver Stars was an interesting concept, but it felt like it was the foundation for a domain, one that would open more fully at the Fifth Evolution.

That was the natural progression of the Fourth to the Fifth Evolution, where the concept became a domain, but he had skipped over it with his racial advancement.

While it would be nice to reinforce his domain, it wasn’t necessary. He could strengthen his domain the natural way, through a better understanding of his Law of Primal Runes.

He also had the Void of Silver Stars enchantment in his bracer that he had used to trap Yeria. He didn’t need another one.

Stellar Infusion was the most promising

He would have to see, but he wondered if he could apply it to the golems from the relic.

They were products of an artifact that he controlled, but he would probably need to redesign the Chamber of Caelus to work with it. He would also need to supply the chamber with astral quintessence for the golems’ construction.

That idea led to another, where he considered if he could entirely repurpose that chamber to create astral constructs as well as the Elemental Orders.

If not, then when he had the time, he would make a new one on Silverguard.

His aura improvement at the Fourth Evolution enabled him to create golems more easily and to speed up the engraving of the runes in the materials, so this would be a natural improvement.

He also had the feeling that Stellar Infusion was not so simple.

The idea of imbuing life into a construct, even in a limited form that allowed it to grow to match himself, was a very complex law.

It felt like there was a spark of something close to astral chaos in that ability...or at least something that would show him the corner of it.

Without hesitating any longer, he made his choice.

Congratulations, Lord of the Silver Void.

You have gained the Class Ability: Stellar Infusion.

A large part of the experience swirling around thundered through him as the ability settled into place.

It flared to life with a brilliant silver flame in his mind, one that seemed to be changing from moment to moment, as if all the mysteries of the Void were held inside.

He felt a connection to the Void through it, one that resonated with the increase in his Wisdom and all his other attributes, somehow a part of them and beyond them at the same time.

Creations made by your hand now have the ability to increase in level based on their experiences. This ability can be applied to previous creations as well.

The description announced itself in his mind, and two important points stood out.

One was that it used the term creations, and not just constructs, which implied it might work for his other artifacts as well, if they were suitable.

The other was that he could upgrade his current golems, which he hadn’t expected.

He’d already made them with astral quintessence as the base material, so it wouldn’t take too long for him to infuse them with his aura and grant them the new ability.

There was one final notification waiting for him and he gave it his attention, even as he finished absorbing the last of the essence from the battle.

You have gained 13,201,499 essence.

Essence Constellation (Fourth Star): 19,521,280 / 30,000,000.

You gain 18,859 Strength, 22,002 Constitution, 5,501 Agility, 33,003 Intelligence, and 33,003 Aura.

It was an explosion of force swirling through his essence constellation, igniting swathes of stars that burned so brightly his body released a corona of force.

It was so powerful that the chaos winds bent away from it, curving around the force of gravity and essence that he was emitting. Anything that came close to his skin ignited and was incinerated in an instant.

He burned in the Void.

From the world below, there was a new star visible In the sky, blazing with a brilliant silver light.

He let the force echo through him as he adapted to the essence.

His height increased again, his body crackling as he reached 1200 feet tall. His horns curved like crescent moons in the sky, gathering the stars and lightning between them.

As the changes calmed down, he let the new energy flow through him for a moment and then he got to work.

First he glanced at his attributes.

STR: 64,525

CON: 72,210

AGI: 24,450

WIS: 10,038

INT: 112,344

AUR: 112,344

CHA: 14,125

His Intelligence had massively increased, which allowed him to have 22 mental divisions. That meant his true self and 21 avatars.

It was seven more than he’d had before.

Without any hesitation, he began to create them.

He’d also reached benchmarks in his racial abilities again, unlocking them in a crackling chain of growth, but he would study them in a moment.

Even as starlight spun around him and began to take on his form, his gaze turned to Silverguard.

He owed a debt to the Astral Guardian, and now that he’d reached Heroic in Aura Regeneration, it was time to see if he could pay it.

After that, he'd find a way to help Asenya.