Chapter 27: To Walk One's Own Path (Patreon)

(AN: Since I'm a little ahead on my writing, I decided to release an extra chapter this week. Enjoy!)

Dinner with his grandparents turned out to be the most awkward experience Darian had ever gone through in his relatively short life. After leaving Lucius and Vera, he had gone to the clan repository to finish his errand. It had been a surprisingly simple and straightforward process. He just gave the cultivator in charge of the repository the sealed note his father had given him, along with the list of supplies he needed. The cultivator had told Darian it would take some time to gather everything necessary, and he could return for them the next day.

After that, Darian spent the rest of the day in the clan’s library. He could’ve gone to the training courtyard to spar, or anywhere else really, but he hadn’t felt like interacting with his kin. There had been some whispering going wherever he went, but they otherwise left him alone. He preferred it that way. The idea of socializing with the rest of his clan filled him with anxiety. It hadn’t gone well for him in the past. He might have been a cultivator now, but things didn’t change overnight and he didn’t want to deal with that at the moment.

When dinnertime approached, Darian returned to his house, where he left the Flamebound Gauntlets and Elliot. It wouldn’t do to show up at his grandparents’ house armed, and he didn’t want to risk them recognizing Elliot for what he really was. After that, he headed up the mountain. Since it was mid-summer, there was still plenty of time before night fell and darkness descended.

His grandparents lived in a grand estate, though it would be more accurate to call it a small palace, near the peak of Mt. Wind Dance. It eclipsed any other building Darian had ever seen in his entire life, and gave new meaning to the word “opulent”. It was a three-story edifice of wood and marble, with elaborate designs and detailed carvings decorating the exterior.

The inside was even more luxurious. Silk tapestries hung from the walls, their patterns colorful and eye-catching. Intricate lanterns with light crystals inside them illuminated the place. More designs and carvings decorated the inside as well, though unlike the exterior, these ones were inlaid with jewels and gemstones. A subtle scent, one that reminded him of pine trees on a cold winter’s morning, lingered in the air. As with every building on Mt. Wind Dance, the temperature was warm and comfortable.

When he had arrived, a row of bowing servants had greeted him.

“Welcome, Young Master Darian,” they had all said at the same time.

It had caught him off guard, and he hadn’t been sure how to react, having never been greeted like that before. Thankfully, there had been another servant there to guide him and bring him to the dining room, where his grandparents waited. The servant looked familiar, though Darian could not remember the man’s name. He guessed the man was a personal servant for one of his grandparents, though he didn’t know which one.

The dining room was massive, by Darian’s standards at least. A wooden table long enough to seat twenty, with room to spare, occupied the center of the room. His grandparents stood at one end of the table, waiting for him.

They wore beautiful clothing, a departure from the simple outfits the members of Clan Wind Dance typically wore. Well, for his grandmother Astoria, this was normal. Like Vera, she was the only member of the clan who wore something other than a tunic and trousers on a regular basis. Tonight, she wore a blue gown that reminded Darian of the sky at dawn.

His grandfather wore a long-sleeved white shirt embroidered with blue silk. The pattern on it resembled a flowing wind. He wore plain black pants, which contrasted with the white shirt.

Darian felt vulgar and under dressed in comparison. He wore his usual outfit of a red vest, black trousers, and black boots. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had anything else to wear. Sure, he could have worn the outfit typical to Clan Wind Dance members, but he found the idea unappealing.

When Darian joined his grandparents, they all sat down together, with his grandfather at the head of the table. What followed was a tense and excruciating dinner, with multiple courses. Servants brought them their food, taking away old dishes and putting new ones in front of them with each course. A pair of servants remained in the room at all times, ready to attend to their needs.

Darian neither smelled nor tasted the food. He was too wound up to pay it any mind. The servants could have given him pig slop, and he wouldn’t have noticed.

Silence filled the room, except for the clinking of utensils and the movement of the servants. There were stilted attempts at conversation, but they never went anywhere. Soon, they stopped trying altogether.

Darian found the whole experience depressing. These two were his grandparents, but to him, they were little more than strangers. In the past few months, he had seen more of them than he had in the past several years. He wondered if they felt as awkward about the situation as he did. The weirdest part was that they seemed to be as stiff with each other as they were with him, as if they hadn’t had dinner together before, or at least not for a long time.

About halfway through dinner, his grandmother pushed her chair back and stood up.

“I can’t stand this anymore,” she declared and left the dining room.

Darian, now alone with his grandfather, wished she would come back. At least with three people, the awkwardness wasn’t as pronounced. With just him and his grandfather, Darian felt like suffocating. His grandfather continued eating as if nothing was amiss.

A few minutes later, his grandmother granted his wish and came back. In her hands, she carried a bottle of immortal wine, of all things, and three glasses. Instead of sitting back down, she remained standing.

Darian felt a sense of deja vu as he recognized the bottle of wine. It was from the “Summer’s Kiss” batch. It looked identical to the one he had given to Lucius and Vera. Had it been a gift from Master Nova? It had to be.

The bottle of immortal wine, more than anything, told him that his grandparents had interacted with Master Nova before.

“We can continue as we were,” his grandmother said. “Or we can drink a little and loosen our tongues, because this silence is killing me. We’re family, damn it. Things shouldn’t be this awkward between us.”

Darian and his grandfather glanced at each other, before they both nodded.

Grandmother Astoria poured herself and Grandfather Darin a full glass of wine each, while she only filled Darian’s a quarter of the way. Enough to help him relax, but not enough to get him drunk. Just what he needed.

Darian and his grandfather each took a sip. Grandmother Astoria had no such restraint and drained her glass dry. When she finished, she let out an appreciative noise.

“I might despise that woman, but I have to admit, her taste in wine is superb,” his grandmother said.

“’That woman?’” Darian asked.

“Immortal Nova,” his grandfather answered. “Your grandmother never warmed up to her.”

Grandmother Astoria snorted, before pouring herself another glass of wine and draining it as well.

“Of course I didn’t. The woman was a brutish thug who cared little for anything but getting what she wanted. If she wasn’t an Immortal, I would have been tempted to claw her eyes out.”

Darian blinked at the vitriol in his grandmother’s voice. He glanced at his own glass of wine, and set it down.

“I think it’s best if you tell me why you wanted me to come here,” he said in a quiet voice. “You mentioned that there were truths you could finally reveal to me.”

“The plan was to wait until we retired to the sitting room,” his grandfather said, swirling the wine in his glass around. “But I suppose we can start now.”

“I would very much appreciate that.” Darian gestured to the entire dining. “I’d rather just get to the point rather than deal with all this. It’s…too much for me. I don’t belong here.”

The sound of shattering glass filled the room as Grandmother Astoria crushed the wine glass in her hand, grinding it to dust. Thankfully, it had been empty. Her hand remained undamaged.

“I told you we’d regret giving in to that woman’s demands,” Grandmother Astoria snapped out.

“Astoria, enough,” Grandfather Darin said, his voice firm. “You’ve made your thoughts on the matter clear. Now is not the time.”

Grandmother Astoria snorted, but didn’t reply. Servants appeared to clean up the broken glass, which they did with speedy efficiency.

“You may all go now,” Grandfather Darin commanded after they finished. “Make sure we’re not disturbed.”

The servants all bowed and then left Darian alone with his grandparents.

“How much do you know about Immortal Nova and her dealings with our clan?” Grandfather Darin asked. “That will tell us where to begin.”

Something akin to panic began to fill Darian. It started out small, but grew bigger and bigger as time went on. He wasn’t sure why he felt this way. All he knew was that his intuition told him that he wouldn’t like where conversation would go.

“Very little,” Darian said. “I know that Master Nova left behind an inheritance. At first I thought only the right person would be chosen to receive this inheritance, but it turned out that it had been left behind for me specifically.” He paused. “So I was right, just not in the way I had thought.” He swallowed. This part was difficult for him to get out. “I also know that Master Nova was the one who sealed my spirit root, preventing me from cultivating.”

When he said that, he watched his grandparents for their reactions. Grandfather Darin remained impassive, but Grandmother Astoria looked away. She crossed her arms over her chest, almost as if she were holding herself. Neither one looked surprised.

“You knew,” Darian said in an accusatory tone, his voice little more than a whisper. “All this time, you knew.”

“Yes, Darian, we knew,” Grandfather Darin said. “Your grandmother and I were there when Immortal Nova sealed your spirit root.”

A storm of emotion filled Darian, one so potent that it felt like it would tear him apart from the inside out. Anger, sorrow, confusion, pain. There were so many, that they all got in each other’s way as they struggled to express themselves. Darian shook, as if he would explode from the pressure. In the end, anger won.

Darian stood up, throwing his chair back. It shattered against the wall behind him.

“Why?” he demanded, his voice coming out as a growl. “Why didn’t you say anything? Why did you let it happen? I thought I was defective when I found out that I couldn’t cultivate. Broken. Do you know how much I suffered because of that?” He sneered. “Of course you don’t. You were never there. You kept your distance while the rest of the clan treated me like unwanted garbage. Yet, you two knew the truth. You knew that I wasn’t broken, that I wasn’t defective. Why did you let it happen? Why keep silent about it all this time?”

He would have asked why they were telling him now, but it didn’t matter. The fact that they had kept something like this secret in the first place was enough to condemn them in his eyes. By the ancestors, they were his grandparents.

“It was part of our clan’s bargain with that woman,” Grandmother Astoria said, still looking away from him. “Everything you suffered? The ostracization and insults? The feeling that you were broken and defective? That wasn’t an unintended consequence of that woman sealing your spirit root, it was the reason why she did it in the first place.”

Darian’s anger evaporated when he understood his grandmother’s words. His suffering hadn’t been a side effect of his sealed spirit root. It had been the reason behind the seal. The idea had been so shocking, so outside his expectations, that it left him feeling numb and empty inside.

His legs felt weak, but he grabbed the table to remain upright. Otherwise, he would have fallen to the ground.

“What?” he asked. “But why would she want that? And why would you agree to it?”

“We don’t know why Immortal Nova wanted things done this way,” Grandfather Darin said. “She came to us, or rather our Honored Ancestors, with a deal. Among other things, she wanted you raised a certain way, and in exchange, she provided our clan with enough resources and rare treasures to ensure our prosperity for centuries to come. Another part of the arrangement was that we would keep the details a secret from you until you received the inheritance Immortal Nova left behind.”

Resources and treasures. He suffered, so his clan could gain resources and treasure. Not only had his kin made his life miserable, but they had profited from it.

Rage sparked to life within Darian’s heart, burning hotter than before. It choked him, leaving him unable to speak. He felt a pulsing within his chest.

“That was the reason why the clan council and our Honored Ancestors agreed to her terms,” Grandfather Darin continued. Darian hated the sound of his voice. He wanted to reach over and throttle his own grandfather. “The reason why I agreed to it was to save your father’s life.”

His grandfather’s words knocked the legs from underneath Darian’s anger. The pulsing stopped.

“What?”

“That woman found Darren right after he was injured,” his grandmother said, picking up the thread of the conversation. “She stabilized him, but he had been injured in such a way that without the right medicine, he would have still died. We didn’t have the right medicine, and it would have taken us too long to find it on our own. That woman did have the right medicine, however. She blackmailed us, using our son’s life as leverage. For this, I will never forgive her.”

At this, Darian’s legs gave out. His grandfather caught him, however, and deposited him onto one of the many remaining chairs. Darian’s emotions were such a jumbled mess, that he didn’t know what to think. This conversation had not gone as he had imagined it would. Though, if he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t known what to expect.

“Even then, I opposed agreeing to that woman’s demands,” Grandmother Astoria said. “Darren did as well, when he regained consciousness.” She threw a glare in Grandfather Darin’s direction. “We were both overruled.”

“I stand by my decision,” Darian’s grandfather said. “And so do our Honored Ancestors.”

Darian shook his head, before holding it in his hands. Tonight had been so full of extremes that Darian barely registered that his father had known the truth the entire time as well, and had never told him. He just didn’t know what to think or feel anymore.

“So you all but sold your grandchild to Master Nova in order to save your son’s life.”

Darian couldn’t blame them for that, not really. Compared to his father’s life, what he had suffered was minor. In the grand scheme of things, what had happened to him wasn’t such a big deal. He would have made the same decision, if given the choice. It even made him feel a little better. What he had gone through hadn’t been without purpose or meaning. At least some good had come from it.

Besides, he was still an Immortal’s disciple and heir. Complaining about that was the height of ingratitude. Master Nova had gone through a lot of trouble to secure him in her grasp after finding him. In a twisted way, it was flattering.

“That statement is technically true, but inaccurate,” Grandfather Darin said. “It would be better to say that we sold our future grandchild to save Darren’s life. If we hadn’t said yes, you wouldn’t have been born.”

Darian looked up at him. That didn’t make sense. If he hadn’t been born yet, then how did Master Nova know about him? Wasn’t that why she had gone through all that trouble?

“Then how…?” he started to ask, but then froze.

A thought occurred to him. During the entirety of this conversation, a very important person in Darian’s life had not been mentioned once. A person who everyone in his life never talked about, and who Darian himself knew little about. He had heard about the parts his grandparents, his father, and Master Nova played in this convoluted mess.

Where did his mother fit in?

“That woman came to us looking for a father for her child, a father for you,” Grandmother Astoria said, answering Darian’s unasked question. “She chose Darren.”

Darian’s heart froze.

“Immortal Nova is your mother,” his grandfather said at the same time he realized the truth for himself.

***

Astoria watched as Darian pushed himself away from the dining table and left the dining room without a word. He had a blank expression on his face. She longed to reach out to him, but held back. Right now, she didn’t think he would welcome any overtures on her part. Darian must have felt the same, because he also let Darian go without saying or doing anything.

“What a mess,” her husband said.

Astoria nodded in agreement. She poured herself a third glass of wine, taking Darian’s glass as her own, and downed it. The immortal wine warmed her bones. To her, it tasted and smelled like summer’s bitter end, and the beginning of autumn. An appropriate experience, given their current situation.

“At least Darian knows the truth now,” Astoria said. “We don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“I’m not sure this is any better,” Darian said. “We may have lost our grandson, not that we ever had him to begin with. Even now, after all that, I’m still not certain if we made the right choice.”

Astoria raised an eyebrow at him.

“That’s a change. Aren’t you the one who kept saying that you would still make the same choices, even knowing what you know now?”

“And I would. Our son is alive. That makes all this worth it. That doesn’t mean I think we made the right choice.” He sipped his own wine. “I’m not sure if there is such a thing as a right choice in this scenario. Only which set of consequences we are willing to live with.”

Astoria had no answer for that. Instead, she leaned against the table next to her husband and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked more tired than he had in decades. Despite her anger at Darin for what had happened, she still loved him. He clasped her hand on his own.

“Does this mean you forgive me now?” he asked her.

“Not yet,” Astoria said, before looking straight ahead. “Give me a little more time.”

Darin nodded, accepting her words. The two of them remained that way for a long while after that, enjoying the simple comfort of each other’s presence. Neither one said a word.

***

Master Nova was his mother.

The revelation had hit Darian like a thunderbolt, leaving him in a state of complete shock. His body moved, almost of its own volition, and he left his grandparents’ home without a word. They let him go without trying to say or do anything to stop him.

After that, Darian wandered down Mt. Wind Dance in a daze. He was unaware of his surroundings, with all of his attention focused inward. If someone or something attacked him now, they would find him an easy target.

Mother Nova was his mother.

It all made sense now. Why she would go through all that effort to set up an inheritance for him, one that included a teacher and a pair of servants. He was her son. An Immortal’s son.

Darian thought back to Astra’s words, when he had confronted her about her lies. There was one part in particular that stood out in his mind right now.

“I don’t know the full answer,” Astra said. “But I think I know a part of it. Senior Sister Nova had left our sect decades ago to search for a suitable successor for The Nine Gates of Destruction. Fate must’ve smiled on her, because she found you. Your spirit root is one of the purest fire spirit roots I have ever seen. It’s so pure, that if you had tried to practice a technique of a different element, you would have been slower than average. You are the equivalent of a rare natural treasure. That’s why your progress in The Nine Gates of Destruction is so fast. You were born to be a fire cultivator.”

Master Nova hadn’t come across him by chance while looking for a successor to the technique she had created. He wasn’t some rare find for her. She was his mother. She gave birth to him. If he wanted to be cynical about it, he could say that instead of finding a successor, she had crafted one. That was why he took to The Nine Gates of Destruction so well. From a certain perspective, he could say that he was made for it.

It also explained why Darian’s father had been so secretive about his mother’s identity before. Master Nova had wanted to keep her dealings with Clan Wind Dance a secret from him, until now that was, and that included who his mother was.

When he saw his father again, the two of them would have a long conversation about honesty.

What about Stella?

She was the closest thing Darian had to a mother, and he had long suspected that she had some kind of connection to his actual mother. Did she? Was Stella some kind of spy or servant sent by Master Nova to keep an eye on him? He wasn’t sure. Stella had remained as silent about his mother as his father had. Maybe she knew nothing, and he was blowing things out of proportion. But if that was the case, then why hadn’t she said so?

Questions buzzed around Darian’s mind, filling his head until it felt like it would burst. He just didn’t know what to think anymore. A lot of things he thought he knew about himself and his life turned out to be lies. Truths he had taken for granted had turned out to be little more than illusions. The foundation of his world view had turned out to be sand.

He didn’t know who or what to trust anymore. Master Nova had manipulated his whole life for her own purposes.

Had she ever cared about him? Or was he just a means to an end for her? If so, what? What was the goal here?

As Darian walked forward, facing an existential crisis, he felt a familiar presence ahead of him. He stopped and focused on the present. Astra sat before him, watching him with a calm expression on her face. He looked around. They were in front of his house. In his daze, he had managed to walk all the way down Mt. Wind Dance without realizing it.

Astra remained silent. She continued watching him without saying a word.

“Did you know?” he asked her. “Did you know that Master Nova was my mother?”

“Not until recently,” she answered. “When I found out, I wasn’t happy, to say the least.”

He stared at her, unsure if he could believe her words. His trust in everything was shaky right now.

“Then why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It wasn’t my place,” she said. “I thought it would be best if you learned it from Senior Sister Nova herself,  or at least from your family. However, I would have told you if they had put it off for too long. One way or another, you would have learned the truth.”

Darian nodded, accepting her words. Trust had to start somewhere. Astra seemed like a good choice right now. She had been mostly upfront and honest with him from the beginning. Mostly. Even then, the lies she had told him were a result of Master Nova’s instructions.

He grasped that thought the way a drowning man would grasp a lifeline thrown in his direction. He needed to believe in something, anything, right now.

“Why?” he asked. “Just, why?”

Astra gestured to his house.

“Join me on the roof for the rest of this conversation. It’s a beautiful night, and it would be a waste not to enjoy it.”

Darian looked up. The night had fallen and the sky had cleared without him noticing. Astra was right, however. It was indeed a beautiful night. The stars shone like gems against the backdrop of the deep blue sky. The crescent moon looked like the silver eye of a goddess as it started to open. It would be a waste not to appreciate it while he could.

Together, Darian and Astra jumped onto the roof of his house and positioned themselves at the highest point. That wasn’t saying much. His house wasn’t the biggest or most elaborate on Mt. Wind Dance. Compared to the small palace his grandparents lived in, it was a hovel.

That suited Darian just fine. He didn’t need fancy clothes, an army of servants, or some grand house to live in.

Neither Darian nor Astra said anything for a long while. It was a warm night. Even the wind did little to cool things down as it rustled through the trees, stirring their leaves.

“Why did she do this?” Darian said. There was no need to elaborate on who he meant. “I can understand why she would go through the effort of bargaining with my clan, though I don’t like how she held my father’s life hostage to get what she wanted. She wanted a successor for The Nine Gates of Destruction, even if she had to make one herself. I can understand that. I don’t like it, but I understand it.”

As he talked, Darian gesticulated with his hands, as if trying to grasp the answers from thin air.

“What I don’t understand is everything that happened afterwards. Why all the lies and deception? She even kept the truth from you, her junior sister. It doesn’t make sense. If she wanted a successor, why not raise me herself? She had the means to do so.” He gestured to the rest of Silverwood Vale. “Instead of raising me openly, she left me with Clan Wind Dance and built a secret realm for me to find later on. Why? Why not bring me to the Dawn and Dusk Sect? Or why not raise me here herself?”

“I can answer that last question at least,” Astra interjected. “After I found out the truth myself, I did some snooping. I also questioned one of the people who had been there during the negotiations. Your Honored Ancestors forbade Senior Sister Nova from stepping foot on Mt. Wind Dance. They didn’t like the way she had conducted herself, and while they were willing to agree to her terms, they wanted her nowhere near their home.” She snorted. “After hearing about what happened, I can understand why your grandmother despises Senior Sister Nova. The first message your mother sent to your clan was, and this is a direct quote, ‘I have Darren Wind Dance. If you want him to live, give me what I want.’ Thankfully, subsequent messages cleared things up. Otherwise, there might have been a war.”

Astra chuckled at that. Darian stared at her. The more he heard about Master Nova, his mother, the less he liked of her.

“Knowing Senior Sister Nova,” Astra continued. “She ignored your Honored Ancestors and sneaked onto Mt. Wind Dance wearing some kind of disguise. She never did like leaving things to others, and she wouldn’t let others stop her from doing what she needed to do.”

Darian stared at her for several long moments, before he decided to ignore that last sentence. There were only so many things he could handle at once.

“In that case, why leave me here?” he asked, wanting to move on. “She clearly had something in mind for my upbringing, so why do it in such a convoluted and roundabout way? She sealed my spirit root, asked my family to hide the truth from me, and engineered events so that my own clan would ostracize me. Just…” He paused struggling to express just how angry and confused and frustrated he felt. “…why?”

Astra sighed.

“I know part of the answer,” she said. “And I have an idea for the rest of it. I will tell you, but later. That isn’t the most important question right now.”

Darian stood up, unable to remain sitting still.

“What do you mean?” he demanded. “How could it not be important?”

Astra floated up until their eyes were level with each other.

“I said it wasn’t the most important question right now,” she said, putting emphasis on the last two words. “What’s important is what you’re going to do from now on.” She poked him in the chest. “You’re at a crossroads, young Darian. Senior Sister Nova set a path before you, but that doesn’t mean you have to walk it. If she had a purpose in mind for you, that purpose doesn’t have to be yours. She influenced and manipulated your life until this point, but can still make your own choices.”

Astra stared at him, her brilliant eyes blazing white.

“The question you need to ask yourself right now, young Darian, is this. What are you going to do? What will you choose?”

Darian stared at her, unable to muster up an answer.

“Will you continue as you were?” Astra asked. “Will you choose a different path? Will you give up cultivation altogether and become a farmer in some far flung land?”

“No.”

The word slipped out of Darian’s lips. He said it without thinking about it. Astra didn’t respond. Instead, she just raised her eyebrow and waited for him to continue.

“No, I will not give up cultivation,” Darian said. “Maybe this is a result of Master Nova’s manipulations, but I don’t care. I want to be a cultivator. It is what I am. It is who I am. It is who I choose to be. There is no other path for me.”

Astra nodded.

“There we go. That’s a start. Now then, let’s take this one step further. Will you continue as you have? The Nine Gates of Destruction is a superb technique, but it isn’t the only one out there. You can start over with another fire cultivation technique.” Astra paused. “I suppose you can practice one with a different element, but I don’t recommend that. You really are suited for fire techniques.”

“Is that even possible?” Darian asked. “Starting over with another cultivation technique?”

“Yes. It isn’t easy, and you’ll have to give up all the progress you’ve made so far, but it is possible. Thankfully, you’re still in the Foundation Establishment stage, so there isn’t much to lose.”

Darian thought it over. The idea was tempting, as angry as he was at Master Nova.

“If I did that, I would have to give up being Master Nova’s disciple, wouldn’t I? I doubt she would want to keep me as a disciple if I gave up practicing her technique, even if I am her son.”

“Maybe?” Astra said, phrasing it as a question. “She is just as likely to disown you as she is to praise you for having the guts to stand up to her. Hell, she might do both.” She puffed her chest up. “It doesn’t matter. If she does disown you, I can be your new Master. I may not be an Immortal, but I am still at the Nascent Soul stage, and I am also a member of the Dawn and Dusk Sect. Best of all, we could still use the resources Senior Sister Nova left behind to help with your growth.”

Astra grinned at him.

“What do you say? Master Astra has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” Her smile softened. “Regardless of your choice, you have my full support. I say this of my own volition, not because Senior Sister Nova asked me to look after you. I love you, and I want to see you prosper.”

Darian looked away, his cheeks heating up. Astra’s words touched him, and he realized that he considered her family more than he did Master Nova, who was his mother. After all, he had never met the woman, as far as he knew. In a few short months, the cat spirit beast had carved a place for herself in his heart.

To cover up his embarrassment, Darian chuckled.

“As tempting as that is, I have to say no,” he said. “Besides, I think Auntie suits you better than Master. Don’t you agree?”

Astra pouted at this.

“I guess,” she said, before her expression sobered. “Does that mean you’ll continue to practice The Nine Gates of Destruction?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

At this Darian gave her a sharp smile.

“Because I’ve decided that I don’t care about what Master Nova wants from me. I will follow my own path regardless. If what I do aligns with her goals, fine. That works out for everyone. If not, then who cares? As I told you before, I will use the resources Master Nova left behind for my own benefit, not hers. And I still want to punch her in the face.”

He raised his fist in the air and looked up at the stars.

“I will become strong,” Darian said, as if swearing an oath. “Strong enough to stand by my loved ones as an equal. Strong enough to protect them. Most importantly, I will become strong enough to become the architect of my own fate. Nothing and no one else will decide my path except for me. My choices will be my own, and mine alone. I will become strong enough to defy fate, to defy the heavens themselves.”

He turned towards Mt. Wind Dance. If Master Nova was here somewhere, he wanted her to hear what he said next, loud and clear.

“Are you listening, Master Nova?” he shouted. “You don’t get to decide my path! I do! I will take everything you left behind, and make it mine. You may have created The Nine Gates of Destruction technique, but I will make it my own. I will use it to challenge you. No, I will use it to surpass you! Do you hear me? I will surpass you!”

When Darian finished, he felt more exhilarated than he ever had in his entire life. He panted, as if he had just gone through an intense round of training. His body tingled. The night echoed with his words, before falling silent again.

Astra burst into laughter.

“Oh, by the Great Cat Spirit,” she said. “That was beautiful. I loved it.”

Her laughter became uncontrollable after that. Darian’s cheeks flushed with heat. He had gotten so caught up in the moment that he had forgotten that she was there. Hopefully no one else had witnessed his display.

Actually, no. It didn’t matter. Darian would not take his words back, and he refused to feel ashamed.

“I know you may not want to hear this right now,” Astra said when she managed to regain some semblance of control. She wiped her eyes. “But you really are Senior Sister Nova’s son. I can’t wait until you two meet. The results will be entertaining, if nothing else.”

“I’m glad to be of some amusement for you,” he said, before shaking his head. “I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day, and tomorrow will be busy. If I am to surpass Master Nova, I need to start with the special training as soon as possible.”

“Very well, young Darian,” Astra said with a chuckle. “Have a good night.”

***

Stella smiled as she listened to Darian’s words. It took courage to challenge the heavens, to let the world know of one’s intentions. More than that, it took courage to openly declare that one would surpass an Immortal. She was so proud of her son.

Her smile turned savage.

That said, he was centuries away from even thinking about challenging her.