The tides of the world were not an easy thing to predict, and with three quarters of a ‘normal’ cycle remaining that remained true. Even so, having experienced them at their height twice, Anton was familiar enough to begin putting together a general layout. The important parts were where it affected systems he knew and cared about. Thus, the section of border closest to the alliance by a direct line was where he started.

There was additional information from the upper realms, specifically in relation to the staging grounds for the last invasion. While it seemed to have been an irregular schedule, it was still useful. Chikere in particular had also shared some insights into the matter, as she had returned to the lower realms at a similar time to the invaders. Then there was what little had been squeezed out of Everheart, either because he was secretive or because he didn’t want to admit to lack of knowledge.

It was no surprise that one of the clearer tides passed right next to Akrys. The planet had obviously had life seeded on it. Though there was some chance of life spontaneously arising on it, it wouldn’t involve so many familiar creatures.

The tides didn’t flow straight from there, however. They flowed through and around systems- never getting close to each other or crossing- but there was a great amount of three dimensional space to consider. At the current moment, Anton could sense a few hundred routes that had to be considered as possible invasion routes. Only a few of them would actually end up approaching the alliance, but they might pass by other inhabited systems. Anton wanted to warn everyone, preferably giving them the maximum amount of time possible to prepare. That included systems that were unfriendly, as there were no valid excuses for the upper realms to invade.

If they had a deal with planets in the lower realms that would be one thing- which was half the case with the Exalted Quadrant. Except even on Ceretos, their occupation had been more of a matter of convenience to extract resources that would have otherwise gone to the Trigold Cluster without getting into direct conflict with them.

From the border, Anton couldn’t predict where the tides would end up… but there had to be some way to know. Unless the upper realms actually traveled the hundreds or potentially thousands of them with regularity to keep up with any potential shifts. That was possible- with a vast population, they could accomplish the task- but Anton hoped there was more to it.

But if not… he could at least trace potential routes back from locations of interest to the border, where they could prepare ambushes along the route. He was personally interested in that, because if he could find a good sun along the path of the tide approaching Weos and Ceretos… well, he could at least cause massive damage. He wasn’t going to guarantee that being in the Enrichment stage would be sufficient to defeat an invasion meant for an entire planet, but he wasn’t going to say it was impossible either.

The important thing was that he could force those able to fight in space to attack him in a location he picked, while forcing those who were somewhat weaker to either stay under the protection of others. Because whether they traveled via ships or protected by the aura of an Integration or Augmentation cultivator, he could disrupt either. Either a few of their group focused solely on defense, or he could wipe out their numbers. And nobody would be chasing him into or through a sun, so he could always flee. Besides, he could fight from a good portion of a system distant, hopefully killing several Augmentation cultivators before they even knew he was there.

And if they sent a Domination cultivator? That was a question Anton had to ponder, but he knew he had to test them. In theory, they would be most weakened by the restrictions of the lower realm, but they might instead have ways to overcome it and maintain more of their power. Two subsequent defeats made sending such a rare power possible. And if the Trigold Cluster instead gave up and didn’t attack? Anton just hoped wherever else they sent their forces was well prepared.

Two of the potential ambush locations were Jinrisa and So’gill. At the very least, Anton knew that cultivators from the upper realms had traveled to those planets. Both had been wiped out at some point in the past, and both were binary systems. Anton had advanced his effective range several fold since the war with the Sylanis Cluster, which meant that he would have power between one and a half stars up to two throughout most of the system.

Of the two, Anton would pick Jinrisa if it was on a useful path. It was the difference between red giants and red dwarfs, and while star size wasn’t everything, it was one of the factors. Total power output was the most important, which was more related to mass. Which ultimately meant that many of the giant stars which were of similar mass or only a few times larger than Ceretos’ star failed to be particularly impressive. Red dwarfs were on the low end of actual stars, however, so they were somewhat weaker if they were typical.

It was also relevant to consider that Jinrisa had been destroyed by the Trigold Cluster, and So’gill by the Exalted Quadrant. There was some possibility of assault by either or both, so he wasn’t going to jump ahead to binding stars immediately. It depended largely upon where their paths led.

And speaking of those paths, they were somewhat meandering, and with them in a weakened state they were difficult to follow at great speed. That reminded Anton once more that no matter how fast he got, he always wanted to be faster. And while he was not going to pretend he could be everywhere and do everything, he would like to maximize his effectiveness. There wasn’t just one place he cared for.

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For example, both In’istra and now Akrys were a great distance from Ceretos. On the order of several hundred lightyears, to be specific, but in nearly perpendicular directions. In’istra was slightly closer to Akrys, if he was able to find another route to travel… but without a number of bonded stars along the way, he wasn’t certain if it would be faster.

Anton wasn’t certain if he wanted to bond stars just to travel. Then again, he’d already bound most stars of systems he wanted to protect, so however many he managed would simply be a bonus. He wasn’t quite certain how many stars he would have available within that time. It could be as low as fifteen or twenty, or as high as… well, sixty-eight was the maximum limit. Because the next two primes were thirty-one and thirty-seven. Breaking away from the core principles of the One Hundred Stars at his current point would come with potential dangers he had no interest dealing with.

It was far too early to tell if he would or even could reach the Domination equivalent at any point in the future, nor was he certain if it would be one or two primes. So he would bet on a smaller number, and be conservative at first. A few ambush locations, and potentially a route to complete a triangle between his favored systems. He would also undoubtedly find more cultivators whose systems he wanted to protect, but as it was he knew his best option was to make sure everyone was ready to defend themselves. And potentially each other, but only if they could make a good prediction of enemy routes.

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The information known about Vrelt was limited, but Devon had exactly what he needed. Specifically, planetary size, mass, and a vague estimate of the power of their formations. The third one would be the most difficult to test, but size and mass were easy to find. There was information on a vast quantity of planets available, so finding one that met his needs was easy enough.

Devon didn’t have the dedicated disciples of Anton and Ty, so he simply waited for a good opportunity to travel towards one, being dropped off along the way. He had the ability to survive in space and travel between systems on his own, but he wasn’t as fast as the newest ships. Most likely he never would be, even if he continued to work on his speed- because the ships would also improve.

His grandfather was able to rapidly replenish his energy within a system, but for Devon it would be a slower process. And with the same movement techniques not quite fitting him, that was just how things turned out. But even Anton had been impressed by his new sensory technique… so now he had to make that work. He wasn’t a young man that needed the approval of his grandfather, but he was mature enough to recognize that he still wanted it. Success was also good for his own personal validation.

So here he was, alone above a planet of similar size and mass to Vrelt. It was easy enough to keep an orbit above the planet, though the atmosphere it had trapped was breathable enough. At the very least, it would be easier to convert the natural air there into something he could use than refreshing what was in his own lungs. But he needed to work from where he was, because that was the actual distance he was going to make his real attempts from.

The first few tries were… underwhelming. Spreading his chains down towards the planet added a significant distance. Having worked with a much smaller one previously, he couldn’t even reach halfway around. Instead, he failed with the initial four chains from his starting point. The power he had simply fizzled away.

After a few tries, he spent longer gathering an initial surge. It almost worked, reaching about halfway. Though that seemed discouraging at first, Devon knew it would become more stable once he could connect them on the far side. He didn’t strictly have to form four at once like he was attempting, but he knew that he was going to have to put in the work now or later. Here, nobody was around to see him fail. He had plenty of time to himself to accomplish the task, so whether it took weeks, months, or years he was prepared to stick through with it until the end.

-----

Chikere squeezed her fist tightly, opening it to a small pool of blood. The squeezing was strictly unnecessary, as it tightened some of her artificial pores while opening others, but it felt right. She went back and forth between her natural and artificial arms in her practice, to the point she sometimes forgot which was which. They were both her arms, and that was good.

One she subconsciously and thereafter consciously modified to allow herself to get blood out of the arteries and smaller blood vessels. That wasn’t supposed to happen, but if it was going to happen on purpose she wanted it to not cause damage. She wasn’t supposed to hurt herself, after all. That was no good.

But she had to have this blood. Because that was the only part of her that still believed in swords. She turned her palm outward, letting blood drip out of one of the creases in a thin line. Just that tiny amount was barely a blade, but she had more blood inside of her. More than she was supposed to, still. Even so, the resulting blade was even thinner than a rapier or other thrusting blade. It was basically a flattened needle, giving the impression of edges on its side.

She swished it lightly, cutting through a few stray stones. It hardly meant anything that something so weak as them was severed, but she still found satisfaction in cutting something on purpose, and not feeling sick afterwards. A hundred blades was going to be hard… but that was what she wanted. Maybe more, because she was going to need so many of them to perform every possible movement in combat and see which ones really were good or bad. But for the moment, she’d start with a few flicks of her wrist and some thrusting motions. She wondered if Agom could defeat her as she was… quite possible, because she didn’t know if her upper energy was working correctly or not. Though she supposed blood didn’t make blade shapes on its own, did it?