Soon after finishing that thought, Ovid lost consciousness, his body continuing to advance towards the depths of the river.
The silver-like liquid was truly opaque, the night sky littered with stars was completely covered, yet one star shone through, it’s warm light tenderly embracing Ovid’s body like a blanket.
Each person at birth would be assigned a constellation at birth, with twenty-five in total, the star they are assigned to will never change.
The celestials bodies are finite, its’ massive store of power would become exhausted over time. One could imagine the power of the stars weakening as time passes, and more individuals became masterful at the art of utilising mana.
Due to this, scholars were required to create various manuals in order to both conserve and utilise the star’s energy.
While it could not be said that the earliest masters of mana would have benefited immensely from the lack of competitors due to the unsophisticated nature at their times, it was no coincidence that there were far more saints in the years before the Julian Empire, even without the advancement of knowledge.
However, though Ovid did not possess any manuals, he was no one of this world, thus, the star shining upon him was entirely unique and had never been utilised by any other individual, it’s intensity far greater than what anyone else would experience in this day and age.
As the light continued to shine on Ovid’s body, the mana within his cells became further agitated, causing Ovid’s skin to turn red, it’s surface beginning to sizzle slightly.
It was rather fortunate that the temperature of the river at the lower depths was no different than the coldest parts of the world, cooling down Ovid’s body. Resembling a sword’s tempering, Ovid’s blood vessels repeated erupted, before the cold liquid would bring relief.
Yet it’s relief was brief, as the liquid surrounding Ovid only brought calm to the surface of his body and Ovid’s organs, at this time, was still burning.
At the surface of the river, small, insignificant waves began to form, as the liquid was extremely heavy, the circulation caused by the transfer of heat from Ovid’s body into the surrounding liquids nearby must be at an unbelievable degree.
Time passed, and Ovid’s organs had become completely molten, his insides no different than that of a pile of cooked flesh. Despite it being enhancements from the blood Ovid had consumed, the power of a star was too overwhelming.
Perhaps only monsters like Alexander, who had an inhumanly powerful body, or Julia, who was the strongest of dragons, could bear the onslaught of the full might of a celestial body.
The starlight continued to shine, in fact, it’s intensity increased many folds, the gentle embrace now more akin to brutal and messy strangulation.
It was at this time that Cai Hua finally arrived before Ovid, his pores occasionally leaking out blood, causing his white robe to slowly turn crimson, and his appearance to become very pathetic.
Cai Hua’s expression, upon noticing Ovid’s state, turned apathetic or perhaps focused as he checked Ovid’s vein.
Staring up toward the skin, Cai Hua’s eyes peered through the silvery like water, directly staring at the blazing star that Ovid had been connected to.
Why had the light continued to shine, even though Ovid was clearly no different to a dead man?
Suddenly, a powerful vibration shook the river, causing a ripple.
It was a minuscule ripple, but a ripple nevertheless.
The reason why Ovid was still alive, was due to his heart, which was still beating vibrantly.
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Cai Hua’s eyes widened as he realised this fact, but gradually, his face turned to one of sorrow.
Even if Ovid’s heart was still undisturbed, no medicine in the world could completely heal a person’s inner organs, even if Ovid had full accessibility to the old emperor’s collection of treasury collected over 60,000 years, Ovid would still possess no chance of recovery.
At this point, Cai Hua wondered if it would be better to leave Ovid’s body in the river so that it would remain cool, or to bring it out for burial.
---
Surrounding Ovid’s consciousness was a profoundly dark place, though it did not give off an aura of eeriness one would expect, but a sense of familiarity and warmth.
Before long, a small red dwarf floated towards Ovid, causing him a great deal of shock.
Back when Ovid was attaining his Master’s degree, he had chosen to study the patterns of a celestial body, a small red dwarf, a mere few dozen light-years away from Earth.
The star in front of him was exactly the red dwarf Ovid had been observing.
(That’s right, I made Ovid a person that major in astronomy for a reason!)
The red dwarf infront of Ovid was somewhat petite and the heat radiating off the star was quite pleasant, like the hot water containers Ovid used when the weather turned cold. Furthermore, the star’s surface was really even, aside from a solar flare that was erupting from its surface, causing it to look like a yarn ball, making Ovid feel that this star, was a little… cute.
The star bounced somewhat, leading Ovid through the darkness surrounding him and the red dwarf.
Before long, various dots could be seen, each of them forming recognisable images, lions, tomes, scorpion, bull and countless others could be seen littered throughout the vast darkness.
Placing his hands over his eyes to block off the intense light originating from these stars, Ovid followed the red dwarf completely through his instincts, yet his path did not deviate in the slightest from the red dwarf.
After walking for a long time, Ovid arrived before a truly massive star, dwarfing the red dwarf that appeared like a yarn ball.
The red dwarf informed Ovid that massive could not describe this star, as compared to the Sun of the solar system Ovid had come from, it was at least a thousand times larger in diameter, and one thousand two hundred times greater in mass.
This, was the Betelgeuse, the largest star of the Orion constellation of Ovid’s world.
Ovid looked at the red dwarf that lead him to his star, and gave a brief smile, before saying.
“This star will go supernova at any moment, compared to a red dwarf like you, it’s far too dangerous.”
The red dwarf, upon hearing the words Ovid said, bounced happily as if dancing.
The red dwarf was undoubtedly much smaller than the massive Betelgeuse, but still, it was infinitely larger than Ovid, yet right now, it seemed like a docile animal that just gained approval from its master.
Betelgeuse, as if an old dog on it’s last breathing, rumbled at an incredibly low tone, shaking the entirety of the vast expanses of darkness. After Betelgeuse rumbled, the red dwarf soon stopped bouncing, instead, it forms nudging closer to Ovid as a pet would toward its owner.
“If I recall, the person that found you assigned you the name of SA51,” Ovid mumbled after searching his memories for some time.
The red dwarf’s surface flared slightly, it’s plasma and particles directly blasting Ovid’s face, though since this was merely his mental state, no actual damage was done.
The red dwarf seemed to be well aware of this and had only flared to express its discontent over such a lacklustre name.
“I’m not good at naming things,” Ovid felt helpless and immediately replied
The star removed silent, waiting for Ovid to pick a name.
Ovid massaged the bridge between his nose, before saying, “Tanin, would that be fine?”
The red dwarf rumbled, expressing its delight.
After a moment, Betelgeuse too, rumbled, though not as violent as before, and seemingly a little sorrowful.
Ovid’s hand unconsciously moved toward the star, making contact with Tannin.
The first thought that appeared on Ovid’s mind, was that the star suddenly became incredibly significant to his future.
The fate of those in this world was determined at birth, with the constellation they are born under determining their very nature.
However, Ovid’s fate had been changed.
The second thought that appeared on Ovid’s mind, was that the star was not fuzzy at all.
---
Cai Hua went in and out of the river for a long time, before deciding it would ultimately be the best for Ovid’s body to remain in the freezing conditions of the river.
Many years ago, he had met a very feeble girl with a strong desire to live, at that time, she had begged him to teach her cultivation, so that she may live a few years longer. Though as he was obsessed with cultivation at that time, he did not pay any mind to her, leaving the city, he went into seclusion for many years.
When he felt seclusion, the girl had died, and surprisingly, Cai Hua, upon learning this, cried.
Perhaps that feeble girl had influenced Cai Hua’s decision to become less apathetic.
In this situation, both Ovid and Cai Hua had made the right choice in this situation.
Ovid had chosen not to connect his fate with Betelgeuse, which would be far too calamitous, as the amount of energy within the star, would be far too intensive for him to handle.
While Cai Hua made the right decision for Ovid to remain in the river, as by now, Ovid’s conditions, had largely stabilized, though his internal organs were still completely annihilated.
A large pool of blood had formed on the surface of the river, though it was unclear whether it was Ovid’s or Cai Hua’s blood that had gathered.
A day passed, and Anna was still sitting next to the carriage, through the fire had long died.
Cai Hua, realising that Ovid would never recover, gave off a heavy sigh.
At the same time, a figure, who seemed to be very slothful, appeared many miles away from the carriage, though as the ravine was incredibly long, she still stood at the banks of the river.