One thing Velvet felt like she should have researched before things got to the current point was the Chaotic Conglomeration’s history with void ants. However, considering the reactions had been unease instead of instant aggression, she thought it would likely work out.

It was too bad the Chaotic Conglomeration didn’t have computers. There were many methods for libraries to document the information contained within them, but there was nothing as good as simply having relevant information appear in front of you. That said, she did ask the twins to look into anything related to the void ants if they got the chance.

Velvet’s presence was actually unnecessary beyond the current point. She could certainly continue to help convince the Spirit Slicing Sect to accept their conditions, but she wouldn’t be involved in actually disseminating any information. That was all the others.

Rather than being troublesome, Velvet found it quite freeing. With nothing pressing on her time, she could relax. At best, she needed to oversee the transportation of void ants and eventually return the ship.

Until then, she chose to spend time with Runa without mentioning anything about void ants. The easiest thing for two cultivators to do was train together, and since their combat styles were similar enough sparring was actually quite useful.

The two faced off in a small arena. They didn’t need much space, so it was better to conserve the energy used by the defensive formations to a smaller area. It was unlikely either of them would cause serious injury to the other even without, but the certainty of formations helped them go all out. They had some effects even against voidsteel, though they had to be specially made.

Velvet wielded her two voidsteel daggers against Runa’s one. She knew her friend wasn’t limited to the single weapon, so it must have some sort of advantage. When they began, she realized Runa’s defensive energy was extremely light. As Runa ducked and dodge Velvet’s attacks, she sliced only irrelevant quantities of energy away. Meanwhile, Runa cut away a greater portion of Velvet’s energy.

Realizing she would be worn out, Velvet adjusted to match, maintaining only enough energy to keep her movements at top speed. She wasn’t looking to turn things into a long brawl, but Runa didn’t make it easy to target anywhere vital. Even without enchantments, the durable robes that Runa wore could entangle a voidsteel blade, potentially entrapping it or even breaking the brittle metal.

Velvet made full use of her two blades, threatening Runa with both and forcing her to stay on the defensive. However, she soon discovered why her friend chose her particular fighting style.

Runa was continuously pushed back… until she struck out with a kick. Velvet sensed her energy building up and reached out to counter with one of her daggers, preparing to cut away the energy… but none extended beyond Runa’s robes. Velvet’s blade skimmed along the surface, causing only a few tears- and then the kick hit her side.

Velvet had only barely ramped her defenses back up, so she was only tossed to the side instead of properly obliterated by the kick. But Runa didn’t let up, following after her. Her dagger cut first, flicking in front of Velvet’s chest… and then a fist struck her ribs.

“I win,” Runa declared.

“Mostly,” Velvet agreed. Though she made sure to draw attention to one of her daggers pressed into Runa’s left armpit. With a solid thrust she could have still pierced through the robes… though she’d been a bit slow. In some scenario, both of them were heavily injured by similar results. “How often do you find yourself facing off against similar techniques?” Velvet asked.

“Almost never,” Runa admitted. “But it’s important to know how to deal with things. The blades don’t carry energy well, but cutting apart defensive energy leaves people vulnerable to even a simple fist. You can even temporarily nullify enchantments if you do it right.”

“I’d do better with an enchanted dagger,” Velvet said. “But I suppose that’s more threatening.”

“It’s a viable option,” Runa admitted. “It might make people less wary of the voidsteel. Either can be just as deadly.”

Velvet nodded. She had some idea of that already… but the ability to cut apart energy was too precious to ignore. She could cover a much larger area with two blades, especially important when fighting multiple opponents. Though if she managed to sneak up on someone, she rarely ever needed two to kill them in a surprise attack. It was good to have options, though.

-----

Based on what Anton knew, getting proper embassies established with Xaphiot and Airus happened several hundred times faster than the Trigold Cluster. Then again, they hadn’t even been trying for the latter. And it was only a couple factions within the whole great power.

In short, they really weren’t comparable situations at all. But Anton was glad that both had happened. It would have been quite reasonable for the two planets to be xenophobic considering their entire reason for living underground. And unless they were particularly good liars- good enough to throw off literally all of Anton’s insight- that was how things were.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

It seemed like an awfully long way to the next known inhabited system, but Anton suspected there were many more. They just weren’t on this one specific path. After all, the stars weren’t simply packed into a single flat plane. Anton was going to have to expand his explorations after he finished filling out the greater shape he intended to trace.

Not that he had to worry about that in the next year. Or ten. It was going to take quite a long time, and he was quite content with that.

He found it unfortunate that the upper realms could be embroiled in wars that they could not assist with directly… but then again, the lower realms contributed quite a few people as they ascended. Even though Assimilation was a valid alternative path, most still chose to ascend instead. The exceptions were those places that didn’t believe there was a place for them in the upper realms, preferring to remain in solidarity with their own planets.

Or in the case of the original Sylanis Cluster, mostly because they wanted to lord their power over others. Different intentions, similar results.

As for Ratna visiting the Scarlet Alliance, Anton saw that as ultimately a good thing. His brief conversation with her had confirmed that they at least did not need to be enemies. And as far as people like that went, it was valuable enough. Her affection for her nephew Durff was likely genuine. Anton wondered when he would have an opportunity to meet the man. They were making more ships that were capable of the journey, though they were currently avoiding any sort of less official reasons to transport people.

Ascension cultivators wishing to meet those they left behind was one thing, but someone who had never been to the lower realms with no important business wasn’t high on any list.

As for the other direction, Anton heard they had done some tests. It was difficult for lower realms cultivators to adapt to upper energy without properly ascending themselves, but it hadn’t proven dangerous except that they would be weaker for the duration of their stay. They were still running tests to determine if it would be reasonable to carry any sort of Assimilation cultivator. Anton had even more reasons than most not to leave the lower realms, but it could still be risky for others.

-----

Sometimes, Anton found himself doing things that others might think was a waste of time. Not all others, of course, as everyone had specific curiosities. He knew that many astronomers would be interested in studying the same system as himself… though perhaps not for quite the same reasons.

Anton looked upon a brown dwarf, almost a star but just short of an important threshold to ignite sustained fusion. Around it was a large disc of cosmic dust that might eventually settle into planets.

He wanted to know if he could transform the brown dwarf into a star. But not simply by adding mass. He already knew that he could do so- he’d done it for Poriza, after all.

There was no particular reason Anton needed an answer to his question. He simply thought the brown dwarf was somewhat sad, but he didn’t want to turn it into a star while at the same time making it lonely.

Anton knew that stars didn’t have feelings- Maheg excepted- but that didn’t mean he didn’t care. He liked things as they were, but thought they could be a bit more.

He was a firm believer in Enrichment. So he thought he would do… something.

Adding energy directly was a bit of a difficult subject. He could throw natural energy at a star all day and do nothing more than disturb its surface. As an Enrichment cultivator he might do a bit more when he was serious, and it was an awfully small star… but there was a significant issue. Anton wasn’t at his maximum strength. In a binary system, if he had a proper star bound he might be able to slowly build up a star such as this, but he was at a fraction of his power currently.

But sitting around wouldn’t get anything done, so Anton gave it his best attempt. He set himself into a nice orbit up close, then began to pour out his power. He doubted he would have enough energy to destabilize it even if all of it went into one place, but making things even would be more optimal if it happened to work.

He infused his energy with his desire for the star to be something more, like he did when trying to bring plants to grow. However, normally he wasn’t the only thing feeding into even a simple planet. He relied on… well, stars. Even though he was drawing upon his other stars for the task… his energy simply drained away with no apparent results.

Anton spent a full month trying to infuse the brown dwarf with the power to be more, but achieved nothing. He intended to move on, but he decided it would be a shame to not at least catalog it. Actually, Matija and her whole community would yell at him if he didn’t take proper readings and a good scan of any star he stopped at. Usually, that was all he did, but this time he left a note.

“Feel sorry for this guy. Just short of being a proper star.”

Someone would read the note. He wasn’t visiting stars at such a pace that the entire community couldn’t keep up. The scans he could do with hand tools were limited in quality, but the time people needed to spend analyzing that information was more significant. Either way, Anton was far from the only explorer they had- he was just the most comfortable going far away from their already explored territory. The rest were being more thorough.

That was a wonderful goal. But Anton just went where he wanted to, wandering along the general path he had chosen to stars that looked the most interesting for whatever reason.

He named the little star Karse. Like all the others he visited, he would remember it. Maybe he’d even bind a nearby star and return at some point, to try to give it another boost.

There was no point to his little distraction, but if everything he did was only striving towards the goal of ‘cultivation’, then he wouldn’t be cultivating for anything. Except perhaps power itself, but that was Anton’s least favorite reason for cultivation. Though others might argue that the purity was beneficial, in some way.

Just because he was one of the strongest individuals in the lower realms didn’t mean Anton believed he’d always be right about that. Maybe they knew better. But Anton also didn’t have to care. He was enjoying the current age of peace in the lower realms. He hoped it would stretch on forever, instead of breaking with the next cycle.