On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

The next morning I woke to find my lower body prickling with the energy of aether. The flow was not strong, but I could definitely detect it, and it was spreading throughout me, up to my lower chest. It was a bit like feeling pins and needles, just without that unpleasant sensation, instead it was warm and somehow relaxing.

“I guess the training might be having an effect, that or my Territory is funnelling me more aether.” I muttered, before grabbing a rice ball from the fridge for breakfast. My muscles ached a bit from yesterday’s jogging, but it was not unbearable. Starting the day with exercises in visualisation and then aether manipulation and trying to feel my Chakras, I passed a quick couple of hours. It was hard to be certain, but it did seem to me that the warm flow of energy was moving just a little better when I visualised it, as opposed to leaving it be.

Once this was done I scanned my emails, and was pleased to see the first order of work had arrived from Hayato-san. It was a huge pile of debugging and event testing, probably enough to last me a solid month or two, normally. I briefly regretted asking for as much as he could give, but I needed the money, and hopefully with my newly earned Astral empowerment I could whizz through it. There was no time like the present, so I figured I might as well start. Opening up the first of the documents and the debugger, I began to scan it quickly.

Several more hours passed as I worked, only pausing to take a few swigs of iced tea every now and then. It was progressing very well, time that I would ordinarily have taken to check terminologies and research libraries unnecessary, as my memory seemed almost effortlessly sharp. My hands flew over the keys, brain working quickly, and I estimated I had done well over a solid days' work already, and to a high standard at that. As I was about to move to another file the doorbell rang.

Opening my door I found it was the courier delivering my fitness gear from Amazon.jp. After exchanging a few pleasantries I moved it into my room, taking up an annoyingly large amount of my scant floor space. Once everything was unpacked, I decided I’d do a bit more work on my assignment, as seeing it made my heart twinge at the amount I had spent.

I squeezed out another few hours of extremely fast work before I started feeling mentally exhausted. I’d probably done a solid eighteen to twenty hours of work at my prior pace in just under six hours. At that rate if I had enough work coming in I could actually earn a decent living… and would it increase further as I gathered more level-ups to buff my stats? There would have to be an upper limit though, in terms of how fast the computer itself can be used. I wonder just how far I can push it. Fourfold the speed, fivefold?

In any case, it was time to have a quick meal and then try out my new equipment. As I started boiling water for a cup ramen, I had another thought. Wasn’t it important to eat the right sorts of food to improve muscles when working out? Damn, I bet the proper food is expensive too…

With a shrug I figured I could worry about that later. I’d test out the equipment first and see how well I could do. At first things went very smoothly, so I had to increase the weights to a bit past the beginner level. Even this didn’t strain me too badly so I increased it a bit further. After an hour or so I was drenched with sweat, my muscles burning, protesting at my hubris.

“Damn, this is harder than I thought.” I gasped, setting down the dumbbells I was using. Though if you looked back at the me of a week ago I doubt I’d have been able to last five minutes with such hard training.

I couldn’t face doing any more work for the day, so I decided to continue with my Chakra visualisations. Settling down into my chair I closed my eyes and revelled in the absence of strenuous exercise. After several hours, I had again made little progress, not sure if it was merely my imagination whether the flow of heat was increasing or not. As I was just finishing up I felt a little popping deep inside of me. I paused for a second, but couldn’t notice any immediate difference.

Oh well, I probably just imagined it. Yawning I headed to bed. It had been quite a productive day, yet also a tiring one.

********

Waking up early again my body was lightly buzzing with heat. It felt nearly as strong as the time a couple of days ago when I had returned to the Boundary. Warmth had pooled in my lower body, but was slowly spreading upwards, only to fade away as it reached my upper torso. Referring back to the data I had gathered on the Chakra network it seemed the flow was moving between my upper nodes, but as they were not developed it wasn’t working well.

Still, if I continue to gain aether at this rate I should have enough to return to the Boundary today or tomorrow. That’s definitely faster…

Another couple of hours of tough exercise followed, but this time the flow around my base Chakra felt faster. It was still sluggish, but instead of trying to push thick treacle it was now like trying to move water through a pipe that was too small, some would flow easily, but the rest would be backed up. I felt a few more of those weird popping sensations, and began to feel a little dizzy, so I decided to take a break.

I went for a jog to loosen up, just around the block, waving to the few of my neighbours I saw out and about. When I returned, having worked up a bit of a sweat, I spent another hour working out with my gym equipment. Once this was done and I was exhausted, it was time to do some more work. None of my emails were pressing, and after snapping off a quick reply to one my sis had sent asking my opinion on the merits of Tokyo universities, I settled down and began debugging. It’s good to dream, but can she really afford it? I had a hard enough time making ends meet, it was a real grind…

Time passed quickly and my progress was swift as ever. By the time I was done, several more solid days’ worth of work had been completed, and it was still only late afternoon. Since I had worked well, I decided it was time for a treat, so I took a cold beer out of the fridge. I had bought a few packs on my jog this morning, figuring I should return the favour to Watanabe-chan should the occasion arise. Taking a sip, I sighed in pleasure. My new schedule was packed, yet somehow I ended up with more free time than before. I guess that shows how much of my time my work usually takes up. Taking a few more gulps I let the feeling of contentment suffuse through me, and then decided to do another workout.

Once that had finished I began my mental exercises once more, and after an hour or so I felt that the amount of aether I could visualise moving slowly through my base Chakra had increased. It was a very difficult thing to describe, as I was not merely visualising it, instead it felt like my very consciousness was being directed through my imaging and that there was actual warmth flowing through. Anyone else would probably think I was imagining it, but I had the advantage of knowing what the feel of aether was in the Boundary. While the feelings were definitely vastly more muted here on the Material, it was still comparable.

With the training came more popping feelings, and this time I felt some higher up in my body as well, and though it was hard to detect, if I concentrated really hard I could feel the flow of heat moving higher up my body and beginning to pool around my lower abdomen. The total warmth I felt was probably enough to enter the Boundary again, should I wish it, but I decided to err on the side of caution.

Fighting that big zombie was a bit too risky for my taste. I have to make sure I have aether for emergencies. I’m getting used to my new life now, so I’d hate to have it cut short by carelessness. I’ve already made a few small mistakes which could have been fatal… no, from now on safety first is my policy!

The next day proceeded in pretty much the same fashion, with me alternating work, physical exercise and visualisation. By the end of the day the warmth around my base Chakra and my lower abdomen was quite pronounced, and trickles of it were moving around various other parts of my body, weak but noticeable. With this extra aether to use in emergencies, I decided it was time to enter the Boundary once more. Focusing my aether, my consciousness shifted with a blur and I was standing in the wider Boundary version of my apartment.

My Anchor was still there, now joined by two long, slender silver needles stretching up through the roof. As I watched I could see the faint glow of ether on them. To the side was a large white cube, maybe three metres on each side. Looking at it silvery letters scrolled across my vision, proclaiming it a Rank 1 Silo.

Checking my store of ether I was impressed to find it was a bit over a thousand. It seemed that the Ether Spires really did increase what ether I could gain. I immediately invested it in the Spawning Spire Rank 1, which began to build. I did notice that I had a new option available to me as well, Ghouls. I’m guessing that they must have been the zombies I killed the other day then…

Picking up my spear, which had remained with me in my Territory, I exited my apartment and climbed up to the roof. My Territory extended outwards for a hundred metres, only broken up by the buildings within it and the land surrounding them, which had not been made mine. “First thing’s first. I want to consolidate all of the buildings within my Territory under my control. It seems a bit risky to have gaps like that. Who knows what trouble it could cause?”

Spear in hand I crossed over to the neighbouring building. It didn’t feel like it was a Territory, but there was some resistance to my control. I booted open one of the doors and entered, only to find myself tanged in sticky spider webs. It was rather unpleasant. Cutting through it with the sharp knife-blade of my spear I continued in, eyes adjusting to the gloom only lit by the strange dark unlight that pervaded everywhere in the Boundary. Swarms of fist-sized spiders scuttled out of one corner, making me shiver.

Damn, I hate spiders. Still, better them than dogs…

On the large web opposite was a spider of sickening scale, the size of a small pony. Compound eyes gazed at me emotionlessly, and it let out a long hiss. Several smaller spiders came out from the shadows, still large but only the size of cats.

I should have saved this one until later. Readying my spear I leapt to the side as the larger spider reared upwards on its hind legs and unleashed a gobbet of green venom. It sailed past me, sprinkles of it catching me and burning with a stinging pain. Behind me the wall was dissolving, acrid smoke rising.

Remaining at a distance suddenly seemed a bad idea. Rushing in I stabbed my spear at one of the smaller spiders, impaling it. Legs twitching in its death throes, poisonous liquid seeped out, causing me to gag. The second smaller spider tried to bite me but I pivoted away and brought my foot down hard on its back, shattering its body into hideous goo.

The larger spider was coming for me, scuttling across ceiling webs angrily, spitting more poison. Smaller spiders were accompanying it, also firing small drops of acrid venom. I defended with my spear and dodged the best I could but it was impossible to avoid them all and I was taking damage, my body going slightly numb, warmth within diminishing.

“Screw this!” I declared, channelling aether. At my will flame erupted, and the webs around me all caught fire. The shrill squealing of spiders surrounded me, as the fist-sized ones dropped to the floor, smouldering. Thick smoke filled the air and the large spider leapt at me, back legs on fire. It was fortunate I was already moving away from it, as it hit the ground in a squeal of snapping chitin, in range of my spear...

One thrust and it was done, the spider dying under my blow and turning to ether. The last of the webs had burned away, so I staggered out of the room, coughing out dark smoke and nursing some light burns. My Territory had not quite swallowed up the building I had entered but it was now closing in against the walls. Judging by that, I guessed there were still other foes remaining inside.

Just hopefully not more spiders. While they hadn’t proved that hard to defeat, they were adept at causing mental damage, if nothing else. Besides, getting hit by a big glob of venom seemed a terrible plan as well. Steeling myself, I moved over to another door and kicked it open, spear at the ready once more…