Kai had less than a minute left before the wormhole closed. His heartbeat pounded in his ears; he pushed off some rubble and barrelled towards the wormhole, Hawkin better pull me out if my aim is off, Accept.

Kai closed his eyes as the world slowed. When he opened them he found himself in a dense jungle, surrounded by lush dark green foliage in the thick of night. Light from nine moons laced through the tropical trees to illuminate an Amarok Kitsune the size of a dragon with eyes the colour of starfire, stretched out languidly upon a massive tree trunk. Her fur was snow-white and her three tails billowed in the cool night air.

“Kura?” Kai said, awe-struck. She has a third tail.

“Hello Kai, and yes. I wanted to thank you, this form… It feels familiar. Perhaps from a past life.” She gazed up at the moons. Kai could sense a ferocious aura lurking beneath her serenity that would have made him nervous if he ever had to come to blows with his companion. Her fiery eyes blazed as she locked eyes with him.

“We don’t have much time… my lucidity won’t last… I have forgotten something… something important.” She growled. “Perhaps I will remember in time like you or with evolution,” she said, clearly frustrated, yet she smiled hopefully at him. Just who was Kura, or rather who had she been? What had she forgotten?

Kura stretched out her neck, her pristine white fur tussling in the wind as she sniffed the air. “For now though, give me your blooddrenched beads, I will try to forge something special for you, but it will take some time.”

Kai nodded, however felt a keen loss when the comforting pressure around his neck vanished in a puff of white light as the nine beads disappeared.

“Don’t get yourself killed”—the fire in her eyes danced playfully—“idiot,” she said, grinning.

Kai laughed.

They spoke for a short while before Kura yawned and the blazing fire within her eyes dulled to gentle embers. Tired tired, need rest, speak later.

Rest well, Kai thought as she closed her eyes. After a few moments of silence he glanced at Kura’s stats.

Kura: Apex Mimic Ring (Adolescent)

Rarity: Legendary (Spirit Treasure)

Traits: Voracious Pride, Apex Starforged.

Evolution: 143/10,000 remains and two unique treasures consumed, until adult.

Details: Spatial storage.

He noted that Kura had changed from young to adolescent, and rarity had increased from mythic to legendary. He raised an eyebrow at the 10,000 remains she’d need to devour to reach her next evolution, which was going to take some serious time and culling.

Why do I feel light headed? A bolt of adrenaline surged through him as he remembered where he was and opened his eyes just as he was yanked through the wormhole. It snapped shut behind him as he thumped into the crystalline ground, creating a puff of dust and air that he hungrily inhaled and then coughed out.

Hawkin grasped Kai’s wrist and pulled him up with strength that belied his age. “How did it go?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Kai dusted himself off. “It was not what I expected, but I think it turned out really well.” He lifted his hand for Hawkin to see the Starmetal fox shaped ring.

Hawkin whistled. “A true spirit treasure indeed.”

Kai recalled Kura Soulbinding to him when he crushed the young primal magma wyrm between slabs of rock. “What does Soulbound mean?” The question had been on his mind since he lost his arm; what would have happened if it had been his ring arm? The thought made him nauseous.

“It means the item can not be taken from you by force while you are alive, or rather while your soul is still intact, it will simply return to you in some way,” Hawkin said. Kai was flooded with relief.

Despite his recent excursion, he wanted to return to the Starfor— well I guess it needs a new name now that it’s gone… wonder if that weird tree has a name. That odd tree was one of the reasons he wanted to return immediately, along with absorbing the ambient aura of the cosmos. A crazy idea had popped into his head that he just had to try.

He made sure the rope was still tight around his waist, although if everything went according to plan he would no longer need it in future. He opened another wormhole; it was the last one he could open till the crystals recharged in 10 days.

Kai leapt through the wormhole and glided towards the strange tree. He examined it closely—the trunk was green and surprisingly smooth under his fingertips. Purple stems sprouted from it like fountains; however at the end of every one of them was a shrivelled husk, all except one. This single luminous blossom was breathtaking, each pearlescent petal glittering with azure stardust.

Starlotus Tree (Nymphaea Arbor)

Details: A rare subspecies that has transcended its underwater origins to blossom only in space, provides oxygen in exchange for cosmic aura, which it needs to grow.

Rarity: Legendary (10)

Starlotus Flower (Nymphaea Stellata)

Details: When in full bloom it’s a symbol of inspiration and enlightenment for the Soul.

Rarity: Ancient (3)

Kai grinned, but didn’t dare touch the blossom for fear of disturbing it; he was concerned it was dying and he desperately wanted it to live if it could help him improve his soul or aura traits when it bloomed. Hoping nothing catastrophic would happen, he cupped his hands gently around it and emitted some of his aura. Kai stared at the blossom, come on come on. After a tense moment his aura seeped into the stem and the petals and its colours brightened, then it emitted a small puff of oxygen. Kai beamed, awesome!

Kura did you see that? he thought excitedly, but when there was no response from the slumbering ring, he frowned. Kai navigated away from the Starlotus, wanting to leave it for last. The reach of his aura was limited to 40 feet based on his E-grade Soul, which meant his plan to reform the space island would take some time.

He positioned himself as close to the wormhole as possible and in such a way that he could use Gravity Wave to pull everything towards him, with the corpse of the ancient Starforger at the centre, perhaps the body would become great fertiliser, both for his path and quite literally for the Starlotus.

After several minutes of intense aura usage, he managed to create a swimming pool-sized landmass before his aura was almost depleted and a familiar headache formed. There were still several tons of rock, ice, and earth floating around, but he’d have to build up the island over time.

Beads of his sweat floated into space while he hauled the Starlotus manually to the top of the partially reformed space island and dug a hole, then buried the stump into the ground.

Now he needed to see if everything remained in place when he returned in 10 days, or had floated apart. According to his Apex Explorer trait, he had a chance to both find and create interesting locations. He took one last hopeful look at his creation, a lump of ground, rock and dirt smushed together with a withered stump on-top. He was pretty chuffed with himself and his space island. Kai dived out the wormhole and gasped for breath.

+2 Followers of your path

+200 F-grade Crystals

The more the merrier, Kai groaned, his face full of dirt.