“So nice to have a chance to talk,” Anton said to Aerona as they sat down at a table. “Obviously this isn’t a great time, but I’m here so…” Anton shrugged.

“Devon has said a lot about you,” Aerona admitted. “Though I wouldn’t have expected being dragged off to a mountain village for lunch.”

“Normally I prefer to be local,” Anton admitted. “But apparently I have business here.”

“I… see?” Aerona tilted her head. “I can’t say I know much about this place in particular.” Then a server showed up at their table. “Ah. I get it now.”

“What can I get you?” the young man asked.

“You’d be Heath, right?” Anton asked.

“I couldn’t allow anyone else to serve someone of your… cultivation,” the man inclined his head.

“Taalay sent me this way. I want to have a chat. But first… I’ll eat whatever you recommend.”

“I see. Spice tolerance?”

Anton stroked his chin. “Let’s go with moderate for today.”

“And the lady?” Heath asked.

“Hello, Heath. Umm… anything like when you visited the sect would be great. Everything was good.”

“Got it. I’ll be back shortly,” he said.

Anton turned his attention back to Aerona. “So. You like my grandson?”

“That’s right,” Aerona found herself more nervous than normal. Talking with heads of state negotiating important contracts was one thing, but this was Anton. Oddly enough, she was more concerned about his family relation than the fact that he was probably the most powerful individual in the lower realms. “Very much. He’s just the right amount of kind and supportive. Once you get to know him at least.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Anton nodded.

“I know…” Aerona stumbled over her words. “I know I might not be worthy of someone like him as I am now. I’m not even in Life Transformation yet. But some day… I will be.”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Anton said. “If you think I care more about the cultivation prospects of my future family than how they are as people, you’ll be quite wrong. Besides, it’s quite clear to me that your main problem is time.” She’d been in mid essence collection for over a decade, which wasn’t a poor showing but it wasn’t impressive either. Anton had seen those with less ‘talent’ achieve significantly, over the centuries.

“I see,” Aerona said. She did her best to calm herself. She was just having a pleasant chat. She knew it really could be. “I don’t really know what to talk about, other than that.”

“Well, I don’t mind talking about cultivation,” Anton shrugged. “But it can be anything really. Cultivation, politics, archery, cute photos of sapient non-humanoids with weapons, embarrassing stories of Devon when he was a little kid…”

Aerona’s eyes sparkled. “What was that last one? And the one before it, actually…”

Anton grinned. “Well, let me tell you all about it…”

As promised, Heath returned with food. Anton’s meal was some sort of chopped tubers roasted with spices of all sorts. Aerona had soup.

Taking a forkful of the food in front of him, Anton began to perspire slightly as Heath watched for his reaction. “It’s good,” Anton said. “Thank you. A bit hot, though.”

“The bread helps balance it out,” Heath gestured.

Anton nodded and tore some off. “Hmm, you’re right. It’s even better.”

“... I’m surprised,” Heath said.

“By what?” Anton asked.

“I was… only vaguely aware of your existence. So partially by you being here now. And the other part would be so easily eating what I put in front of you. Even if he didn’t tell you, you sensed everything on me.”

“It’s not hard to pass over unimportant details if you can read people,” Anton said. “And you’re the kind of person who likes seeing people happy after they eat.”

“Hmm,” Heath smiled. “You’re right about that. So about that chat. Do you need me to perform a task?”

“Just seeking permission for something. Since you’re one of those with influence and I can’t reasonably inform and survey everyone on the planet to ask this.” Anton gave his brief explanation. “And so, I’d like permission to bind your star.”

“... Does it not work as well if you are rejected?”

“I don’t think it’s a factor. I’ve only had one or two situations where I didn’t ask.” Ceretos might technically count as him not asking, but he hadn’t really known how things would turn out there. Ekict was the only exception, and ultimately he’d severed that connection for other reasons.

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Heath just stared at him for a long time.

“Any further questions?” Anton asked.

“I’m just trying to determine if you’re an expert of deceit, or if you really mean it. Because if you are a liar, you might want to bind the star for nefarious purposes and you might need my permission.”

“Oh, good point,” Anton nodded as he continued eating. “Well, try to make a choice by the end of the day, alright? Sooner is better.”

Soon enough, the meal was finished. “Taalay will be disappointed he didn’t come with us,” Aerona said.

“He said it would be better if I came without him.”

“Really?” Aerona asked. “I thought he and Heath were friends.”

“It’s for a show of bravery,” Anton said.

“But- you know he can probably hear us, right?”

“I know,” Anton said. “But I prefer the straightforward approach.”

Aerona’s decades of experience cultivating her social abilities told her that it was true. And she found it quite refreshing. If only more people were like Anton… but then again, it was by virtue of his power that he could afford to be like he was.

Heath came up to Anton before they prepared to leave. “I’ve made my decision.”

“I’m excited to hear it,” Anton said.

The man nodded, his folded hands held at his waist. “I need to explain my reasoning before I tell you. The options for who you really are range between how you appear- a benevolent figure at least as far as our side in this is concerned- or an equally powerful figure bent on our demise and subjugation. In the former case, I would want to give you my permission, though it would be unnecessary. In the latter, I wouldn’t want to give you my support as you would be deceiving me to achieve your goals. Since that is the case, I am forced to choose the option of standing against you and saying I don’t allow you to bind our star.”

“Fairly solid reasoning,” Anton said. “Did you consider that in the latter case your refusal might be solved by me killing you and removing you from the equation?”

“I did,” Heath said. It wasn’t a terrible surprise to Anton that the man showed no fear of death.

“Well, I have heard your opinion and I respect your logic,” Anton said. “But the vast majority of people agreed already so I’m still going to be binding your star to myself.” Anton looked closely at Heath. “Are you going to try to stop me?”

“I have already given you my logic. It would be foolish for me to fight against you directly.”

“Well, thanks for not poisoning me then,” Anton grinned. Heath didn’t respond. “I’m going to interpret that favorably,” Anton said. Then he turned to Aerona. “Give me a few minutes before we go, alright?”

She nodded. “Sure, what do you need to do?”

“The one thing I’ve been talking about this whole time,” Anton said.

Anton didn’t know how fast he could force a connection to a star. He knew that with Rutera’s star, he’d formed something like half a connection and completed it in just a few moments… but he wasn’t in any rush here. Or rather, he wouldn’t allow himself to rush. Nobody he was connected to was in mortal danger that very minute, so he made sure to be patient and do things right.

The yellow star of Vrelt was not large nor particularly small as stars went. A common type, though not truly in the mid range as far as mass went. With somewhere around two orders of magnitude of mass above it for the heaviest stars and only a single order of magnitude difference for stars smaller than it, perhaps it was on the smaller end after all. Either way, it was comfortable and warm. The bond came naturally as Anton reached out for it. Strength flowed from it towards him… and perhaps the same was true in reverse, not that the star needed him in its current state.

A new conduit of energy settled within him, and the fatigue of his travel began to melt away from him as his rate of replenishment accelerated. Away from bonded stars, he could sustain his peak Assimilation power, but going beyond that had drained him.

“Much better,” Anton said. “Come, Aerona, we need to get you back. And Heath… I understand your caution.” The young man just nodded in return. Perhaps he had nothing to say.

-----

“Message me when you are prepared to move,” Anton said. He had returned Taalay to the Supreme Silver Sect, as the sect head would have access to his forces there. Anton himself would be taking care of the Runic Complex and the people there if there was another attack. In truth, he was going to be aiding the whole front- including the Flaming Shore’s further advancement. Though before that, they wanted to convince the Wavecallers to join them. Anton’s presence might be helpful there, as a sort of inspiring factor. Or a threat, if they did it wrong, which was why he didn’t show himself arbitrarily.

From now on, Anton would be assisting with one of the fronts of the war… and he didn’t intend to be timid about it. The sooner they could secure the transmission formations the better. Hopefully they would be able to taint the information as had already been suggested.

As he was now, Anton could begin picking off enemy Anchoring cultivators… but this was Vrelt’s war. Specifically, their cultivators needed the experience of fighting others, even if it wouldn’t be precisely fair since Anton would make certain that the Trigold Cluster’s cultivators lost. Anton didn’t intend to solve all their problems, but he was planning to make certain they could march forward without fear to take over territory. And he wasn’t above acting as artillery to take out a few strategic targets.

Anton almost wished that the cultivator who’d taken Devon’s arm was still alive, so he could do the same in return. But ultimately, the arm was just an arm. Anton’s senses briefly entered his own chest, where he often forgot a majority of his ribcage had been replaced. Their arms were also very good, though obviously with moving components they were more difficult. It wasn’t the arm itself so much as the fact that it had happened that bothered Anton.

He thought of Jinrisa, the planet whose population was wiped out by it being shifted out of the habitable zone. He wondered if he would turn to such a harsh retaliation, if there weren’t innocents around. Then he shook his head. The main tragedy of Jinrisa was that only a single individual or small group had been responsible for the death that caused that retaliation. Here, the Trigold Cluster’s infiltrators were a significant portion… and they were the ones who would die.

Though Anton intended to save some specific individuals for when the rest of the alliance arrived. Specifically, those who might seal off the planet to prevent Twin Soul Sect reincarnations. Though Anchoring might prevent that already, it was better to be safe than sorry. Then again, Anton supposed he could deal with that issue without formations. Spectral energy as the killing blow should certainly cause enough damage to their souls.

Anton’s fingers twitched, and he shot nearly invisible arrows onto a faraway battlefield. He couldn’t just ignore things happening within his senses, after all.

As for the coming battles, he tried not to be too eager about them. He planned to start with the defeat of those at the top, though he was aware that many of those in the lower ranks were just as corrupt- but less powerful. Even in the best case scenario, Vrelt would come out of this war with a significant population drop. On the other hand, they already had their own methods to surpass Life Transformation with some consistency, so he could see them recovering their numbers quite rapidly once they became part of the alliance.