Elder Cultivator

Having watched Liberty break free of its rocky bonds, Anton had no further obligations in Klar for the moment. It was a little bit of a waste to come out all that way for a single event, but not nearly as much as it would have been a short time in the past. As Anton continued to grow in power, his speed continued to increase. Even before reaching Unity he had been able to cover multiple light years per day, and afterwards…

He was a bit faster now. If considering neighboring systems, he could traverse perhaps one or two per day. That would still make a trip back to the core of the Lower Realms Alliance a journey of nearly a month, but Anton thought it was pretty good that it wasn’t closer to years or centuries.

Plus, there was a caveat there. He could travel that quickly between arbitrary destinations, but if he had bound stars along the path he could do much better.

It would take Anton a few days to reach his nearest bound star, at which point Chidi would have already entered the Lower Realms. The inter-realm ships were not quick, which was why they were generally intercepted by speedier replacements, leaving them free to shuttle people back and forth across the border.

If Anton left now, he could catch Chidi long before he reached Ceretos… but because they were going to a central location like that he could afford to spend a bit more time in Klar.

Much of that time was spent not with his various acquaintances- nor, sadly, with his friend Bear Hug- but instead using his significant senses to observe new parts of the system. The makeup of interplanetary species was quite interesting, and the various methods of mobility were being recorded for use by ship designers. It was unlikely that any of the various biological propulsion methods would be directly usable for ships, but they could certainly inform design. At least, that was what Anton heard they wanted the information for.

When he finished some observations, he resolved to spend a longer period in the system building up relationships and helping to spread language when he next had an opportunity. But for the moment, he had an obligation to meet.

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The trip to the nearest bound star was relatively boring, but nowhere near as slow and uneventful as Anton’s first interstellar journey alone. Anything measured in days was fairly trivial, as he’d been raised with more than sufficient patience for such a journey even with little stimulus. Obviously since he became a cultivator and his lifespan widened, he became even more comfortable with days slipping away.

It was a relaxed journey during which he meditated upon the way his greater access to energy changed what he could do- and of course the unique aspects of Unity and the association of others with his stars.

But that was how things were before reaching his bound star. Once there, he used an upgraded version of a previous technique, dropping into the star and vaulting out of the other side, hurtling through subspace at tremendous speeds.

The Lower Realms didn’t have widely usable interstellar teleportation, as it was somewhat more difficult due to differences between the various sorts of energy available. So while Catarina could take advantage of their network to teleport where even others couldn’t, Anton was stuck making use of more primitive methods.

His speed constantly threatened to make him break out of subspace, requiring constant concentration to keep himself connected to the spatial tunnels he formed between bound stars. He had hoped he might step into one and come out another, but it didn’t quite work like that. It would require an even higher level of connection between stars, one that Anton wasn’t certain was wise to strive for.

As it was, he was deeply aware of how distance slipped away, drawing him between one bound star and the next consecutively. Anton was certainly he could squeeze out even more speed if he was willing to push himself, and this was a perfect time to experiment. If he showed up exhausted, Chidi would simply have to wait for him to recover. Anton’s rate of energy intake was greater, but so were his potential stores.

He didn’t yet have full access to the power of his bound stars- and if it was up to him he never would. It was too much power for one person to use responsibly, and he truly hoped there was no crisis that could ever cause him to even think about trying to use such power. The reason was that the power a star put out was in essence its very being- if he could draw upon all of the energy in a star, the star itself would cease to exist. Though of course, even if Anton engaged in an excessive display of energy, he would only slightly diminish one at present. But even that was unacceptable- he wished for anything connected to him to be more

due to that connection instead of less.

Anton wasn’t quite sure if he could reasonably replenish the power of a star or meaningfully extend its lifespan, except for specific situations of instability like the corruption that had been within Klar. Other than that, Anton couldn’t expect to survive more than a thousandth or a millionth of the lifespan of a star to observe his true impact. Anything he did might only accomplish short-term changes, but if so he at least wanted those impacts to be positive. The same was true of his interactions with people, though obviously it wasn’t possible with everyone. Various groups were seemingly determined to be enemies of the people of the lower realms.

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A burst of power went out from Ceretos’ star, a little unnecessary flare to signal Anton’s arrival. He didn’t let the energy go to waste, however, directing it towards various parts of the system that would make good use of ambient natural energy.

He immediately tried to seek out Chidi, and found it to be a much more difficult task than anticipated. He should have been able to find a void, but his descendent must have reacted to his arrival and begun to actively conceal himself. An amusing diversion Anton was quite happy to go along with.

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Threads of energy spread throughout the system, but found nothing. Anton expanded their numbers, widening the threads into flat planes that he swept through the area. He felt some sort of response, but was quite pleased that he couldn’t tell which portion of his energy was being manipulated.

Anton supposed that Chidi was actually the first among them to reach such a late stage, though whether or not his second tier of Negation was actually equivalent to Domination and now Unity was difficult to discern. Though from what he had heard, Chidi’s father could find it difficult to battle him even in single combat.

Energy spread out from the star in waves, Anton focusing on any minor disturbances. He found some, but they were merely curious distortion beasts at the outlying edges of the system- no doubt attracted by his own activities. The Lower Realms Alliance had ways to deal with their intrusions, but since he was responsible for drawing them in Anton also felt obligated to drive them off. A surge of energy scared off some of the distortion beasts, but others remained.

Anton had to pull out his bow, taking shots that dipped into the subspace where distortion beasts primarily lived. Anton didn’t need to clearly understand their anatomy if he could simply annihilate it, and flames imbued with spectral and ascension energy burned the creatures from some sort of center outwards. For all their viciousness, Anton considered them beasts driven by their instincts. He preferred to not have to kill them, but they were too dangerous to let remain near civilized areas if they could not be chased off.

Though he was sidetracked by the prospective trouble, Anton’s efforts had not been in vain. He detected an area where energy flowed differently, and was eventually able to focus in on a particular point. Once he focused, he got a brief glimpse of Chidi… and then all of his energy that entered a certain region simply disappeared.

Even so, the signs were close enough. Anton flew towards the distant outpost where Chidi was currently staying, and eventually his grandson- with a couple extra generations in there somewhere- revealed himself.

The two of them had never interacted much. Chidi had been born in the upper realms, where Anton could not go, so for centuries their only contact had been through videos or other messages. Only with a stable method to travel between realms not during the Tides of the World did they have the opportunity to meet for pleasure.

“People say you remind them of Chikere,” Anton commented once he was actually face to face with the other man. “But I don’t see it.”

“Really?” Chidi tilted his head.

“Aside from being excellent with swords, I fail to see the comparison. And that would be like comparing Anish and Fuzz for both being fire users.”

“I never got to interact with Anish,” Chidi commented.

“Right. Well, he’s one of many family members you have here in the lower realms.” Chidi only had his parents, one sibling, and Alva in the upper realms- and since the latter had no partner or children, that was the end of his relatives.

Chidi nodded, an expression Anton knew was only for the sake of others. “I have heard there is much anticipation for Devon reaching Unity.”

“It’s a difficult process, even if the tales told of me don’t show that. Devon has the talent, but it’s hard to say.”

“Tell me about it. Unity. Negation is obviously far removed from both that and Domination, but I might still learn something.”

“And this is where you differ most from Chikere. She would have demanded a spar first.”

Chidi smiled, his face lighting up, even spreading as far as his closed eyelids. “She certainly would have.”

A few minutes later, the two of them were sitting and drinking tea. Anton thought that even the most basic products had sufficient quality for anyone but the greatest tea snobs- anything that didn’t was quickly driven out of the market by more passionate producers. Tea hadn’t been something he particularly interacted with in Dungannon, but he’d grown to love it in the Order.

“Unity is just what it sounds like,” Anton said. As he did, he thought of a different way he could have found Chidi. He reserved that idea for later. “It’s about becoming one with things outside of the self. I always chose a path of promoting relations with others, even in Essence Collection.”

“And before you cultivated, I have heard. Alva had much to say about you as her grandfather. Even though Janina had died not long after she was born, she recalled the joy you brought to the family.”

For the first decade, the memories of death had been sharp- and painful for at least another century beyond that. Now, Anton simply retained fond memories. “It is the most good I can do for the world. People need a place to belong, both with people and with what they do. Everyone can become an important part of things, if given the opportunity. Forcing people into a position they don’t fit, however, isn’t much fun for anyone.”

Anton went on to describe the connections he felt to the people as a whole. Turilia was a particularly special example of that, as it was part of the former Numerological Compact and had hivemind cultivators there. Perhaps ironically, that meant he revealed few needs that were not already known… but the desires of those not part of the hivemind still came through. Nothing individualistic, but providing opportunities for those with strong passions was made simple with widespread cooperation.

Not that hiveminds were necessary. The Lower Realms Alliance was excellent at such things. Not every system was precisely as developed as they might want to be, but they could get help from neighbors if they communicated their needs.

People still had to deal with cycles of pain and loss, grievance over deaths of loved ones. There were also other pains, such as loss of employment or failures to advance, but those were temporary. Either way, people were ready for the negative circumstances that came upon them- far more often through misfortune than intentional actions of other humans. Some still made mistakes or had ill intent, but the Alliance strove for perfection, even if they would never reach it.

Chidi then discussed Negation. More than a rejection of the world or powerful energy, it was an acceptance. He didn’t force anything to stop, but balanced the flow such that nothing happened, at least for a time. It was an understanding of both himself but the world around him. And both Chidi and Anton were highly interested in seeing how it would affect him.

So they would be moving onto sparring soon. Just not as the very first thing after meeting up.