While Anton was currently occupied with Izaak and the people of Mazlerth, he couldn’t experiment with his new ideas just yet. He also was unable to visit many places, since he couldn’t leave for months or years just yet. Ultimately, he wanted to make sure Izaak and his family were properly moving along the path before going far. After that point, they could seek guidance from In’istra or Poriza should they need it. It seemed like a good way to promote more interaction, even if it was just a few people. Better for both groups to get along rather than deal with potential border friction.

There were still a few places that were close enough for him to visit. Poriza, In’istra- including Azun, the neutron star- and finally Aipra. It was in the same neighborhood, more or less, though it was obviously a bit more difficult to get to. Same time investment, though.

While Anton could get information on the planet locked in subspace from others, he would prefer to visit himself. So he found a good time after a season’s planting that wouldn’t have anyone that needed guidance for a prime tempering.

It was only a short trip on a galactic scale, one where Anton briefly stopped by Poriza. Their star was of special significance to him as it was his final step towards Enrichment, and he considered what other similar projects he might be involved in. Even though it was barely a red dwarf, as a proper star the planet received much more natural energy- even from a slightly further distance. There were no problems with its orbit, not that such a thing would have been kept quiet. He would be among the first to know.

Anton honestly couldn’t think of many cases where he would ever have cause to change a star from one major state to another except their very specific situation. But perhaps he could help others to modify the properties of their stars in some way to benefit their population as a whole. He just needed to make certain that it wouldn’t be mainly for the benefit of a small group while others were worse off.

Aipra was not far beyond, and Anton was familiar with how to find it. He was aware enough of its path of travel that he could find it without needing to consult any charts- specifically classified ones since Aipra didn’t really want to be found by random people. They chose to maintain isolation, and Anton respected that. But he was also a friend, and he was always welcomed.

A few decades didn’t seem like it should have changed things very much for them, but to Anton it was as plain as day. More and more, they were moving underground. Indeed, why would they bother to deal with the surface when they could keep any heat or energy they produced with them? It wasn’t like there was any sunlight. It did seem they’d had to relocate soil, but that made enough sense.

He went to find his friend Nalini. “How is everything?” he asked. “I must say the planet is thriving even without the input of external natural energy.”

She smiled lightly in return. “That is where you would be wrong. We still have distortion beast attacks, after all.”

Anton couldn’t help but chuckle. “I suppose that’s one way to look at it. They’re nothing more to you than a source of energy now?”

“And other resources,” Nalini nodded. “But we still take their threat quite seriously. At least with our push towards deeper underground the general populace is in less danger.”

Anton nodded, remembering a particularly massive distortion beast that had crashed onto the surface long before. “The planet feels much healthier. Though it’s obviously not my preferred style of growth, it clearly works for you. Speaking of which, have you heard that your communal cultivation techniques were a great boon to some specific communities?”

“We heard of it more or less, through those visitors we allow. But we don’t really know much about them.”

“Well…” Anton nodded. “I suppose they have also been kind of a secret. But I can show you.” He pulled out his communicator.

“You know, I’m just barely beginning to get used to this technology path. We might have developed more of that ourselves except…” She shrugged.

“You were locked into a cycle of mere continuance,” Anton said. “No spare resources or effort available to grow. It’s a sad state to be in. But you know what isn’t sad? These guys,” Anton showed some pictures of the meerkats.

“These are the ones you told me about before?” she asked.

“That’s right.”

“I expected them to look different,” she admitted

Aipra didn’t really have many wild animals of any kind, given the planet’s long term situation. The few things they had besides humans were mostly insects and bacteria. Things it was hard to escape from- and they were necessary in certain manners. Frankly, it was amazing they had survived so long with a barely functional ecosystem, but that was what made them great.

“Wait,” Nalini said. “Go back to that one.” Anton changed the picture. “They’re…” she held her hands a bit apart. “Only this tall?” she asked.

“That’s about right,” Anton nodded.

“... Ok, now they’re adorable,” she said.

“Should have started with something to put them in perspective to begin with, I suppose,” Anton admitted. “Many others have the context to know how big they would be.” Even the grasses they were surrounded by didn’t mean much on Aipra. “Anyway, you can see why they would need cultivation to compete. And the communal cultivation methods are quite good for them. Since enhancing their bodies to a functional degree is a difficult task, they rely more on natural energy.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“It seems their world would be abundant with it. Would that not be sufficient on its own?”

“Yes, but they had to compete with others who had the same benefits.”

“Of course,” Nalini nodded.

“I think you’ll appreciate their nature. Your entire planet works together here out of necessity, but these fellows are the backbone of many diverse groups working together to make something better. While I’d love to say their planet has undergone unification, that’s not true quite yet. Hopefully soon, though.”

“It is better if all work towards a common goal,” she agreed. “I am glad they are making progress, at least.”

“Speaking of which… the information should have come to you, but there are certain new groups involved in the wider lower realms. None should know about you, but that might not remain the case forever.”

“It is likely not a concern if we are found. We have nothing of value for people to take.”

“The only issue would be the Trigold Cluster. They might just wipe you out anyway. Or, well, try,” Anton corrected himself. “I doubt they would find it easily achievable. But you should be aware of what they have been working with.” Anton explained the mold, and how it was used.

“That particular thing shouldn’t be an issue here. Low natural energy, terrible growth environment…” Nalini shook her head. “But we also couldn’t afford to have a plague of any sort.”

“Nobody wants to deal with that,” Anton agreed. “Now then… have any interesting insights into your cultivation?”

Anton wasn’t sure how long it would take Nalini or any of the others on Aipra to reach something like Enrichment. They still had so little natural energy to work with, comparatively, but their unique cultivation style made it possible to reach their current post Life Transformation state. A slight growth in global natural energy might propel them further.

The actual insights Nalini had weren’t at all compatible with Anton, but that didn’t make the discussion pointless. He could still learn something from her thoughts on the cold void, just as she could learn from his fire and light. Both were still archers, though their styles were quite far separated, developing into their own paths. Even if they didn’t grow stronger from their interactions, they were still enjoyable. Which was good enough, between friends.

-----

The first scouting efforts had been delayed out of an abundance of caution. The Trigold Cluster must know by now that their ships had gone missing, but they might not know why. They were hopefully still unaware they’d been caught and compromised, revealing their own locations to people who would very much like revenge, and more.

But after close to a year- which was fairly quick on the timescale of cultivators- Varghese found himself heading towards one of their systems as part of their first scouting teams. The ships weren’t the best scouts the Lower Realms Alliance had, but they were the best ones that had made it all the way out to In’istra. While such things were shared easily, the distances made things tough.

According to what they had studied, however, they should be good enough to avoid detection if they stayed far enough from the enemy. And if they happened to stumble upon someone dangerous… well, that was mainly what Varghese’s presence was for. He wasn’t a long range cultivator like Anton, and his senses weren’t really any better than their best ship scanners.

But he could fight, and he needed to be physically close enough to bind stars for a future campaign, if it came down to that. As he was still early in his progress he had few to spare, but he’d already added Poriza’s star and Azun to his list so he felt comfortable with the available options.

Poriza’s star wasn’t anywhere near as close knit to him as it was to Anton who had been responsible for turning it into a real star. Instead, it was barely average for him. But Azun… Varghese had been training with magnetism from a very early point in his cultivation career. That particular star had offered him significant insights and empowered him in that area. He hadn’t actually ever had the chance to make full use of what he’d learned yet. He only had theoretical practice.

They were headed towards Poerava, one of the southwesternmost systems under the control of the lower realms Trigold cultivators. It had a red dwarf and some dense rocky planets, but most importantly was said to be fairly unpopulated. The information they had said it was a mining system, and while security of some sort was to be expected given the value of the resources involved, it wasn’t going to be similar to a highly populated system. Probably.

That was partly what they were there to find out. Upon entering the outer bounds of the system, they didn’t detect any far roaming satellites or sensory formations. They slowly drew closer, the pilots calculating a trajectory that would bring them where they intended with minimal active momentum changes required near occupied planets. Active engines would be one of the easiest things to detect.

For their first and furthest pass, Varghese didn’t find he learned nearly as much as the various sensors on the ship. But that was fine. If they didn’t need him, everything would be best.

They flew past several times over the course of weeks- always waiting until they were far out of expected sensory range to make maneuvers. On the fourth pass, they were getting more detailed information about the actual arrangement of structures down on the planets, but the sensors picked up some defensive formations as well. It was unclear if they had detection elements, but for the moment it was decided that getting closer was not a good idea.

Overall, the first trip was boring. Which was exactly what one wanted on a scouting trip. Excitement only meant finding dangerous information or getting caught. Varghese was mature enough to be happy with the results, but also practical enough to know it wouldn’t last indefinitely. Either here or somewhere else, they would eventually be coming into direct conflict with the enemy.

One practical thing they learned was that they could likely go beyond the system without fear- they didn’t have any signs of a large fleet that could try to flank anyone. They might have a small number of fast ships, but that wouldn’t be as big of an issue. Of course, the best option was to not be spotted and have to worry about such things in the first place. The next step was to check out the other handful of locations that could potentially bar their way further in- though if even a few of them were open it would provide plenty of options to flee, if they had to.

Personally Varghese would prefer to wipe out anyone who spotted them, but it might be better to not reveal his existence or abilities if not required.