I spent the next few hours stabilizing my new realm and taking stock of everything.
My body, already refined and purified since I had reached the Second Rank of my body cultivation technique, became even better. Black sludge oozed from my skin as I purged impurities from my physical vessel. I grew stronger, faster, tougher.
Likewise, my mind was also elevated. My senses sharpened and the limits of my divine sense expanded once again, though I wouldn’t know by how much until I tested it out. Still, I knew I had reached the point where I could communicate telepathically through my divine sense.
The changes to my soul and my Circles, however, caught me by surprise. The wound in my soul healed all the way, until I was whole once more. My Circles widened a little bit, increasing my mana control and the amount of mana I could channel. They also attached themselves to my first pillar, forming a more complete system. From what I could tell, they would do the same for each pillar of my foundation that I created.
Fascinating. I would need to study this phenomenon in more detail when I had the time.
Thanks to the Foundation Building Pill, I had an excess of mana, so I used it to immediately start building my second pillar. By the time I finished, I was about a tenth of the way towards finishing it.
I wasn’t the only one who changed. Aurora went through her own metamorphosis. Her coloring became a mix of silvery blue and violet like my foundation. She also grew stronger. In terms of power, her aura became similar to that of a Second Circle magic beast.
However, Aurora’s appearance went through the most dramatic change. Before I reached the Foundation Establishment stage, she looked similar to the dragons from Spirit Earth, albeit with a pair of wings; long, sinewy, and serpentine. Now she looked more like a slimmer and more slender version of Shattering Thunder, which was still thicker and bulkier than her previous form. Her overall size remained the same.
“Gabe!” Aurora cried out, her voice filled with despair.
She flew out of my dantian and hovered in the air in front of me.
“My body!” she exclaimed. “Look at what happened to my beautiful body! I used to be so sleek and slender. Now look at me! I look like that asshole, Shattering Thunder. I’m ugly!”
Aurora started crying. Tears of mana filled her eyes, before dripping down her cheeks. I just stared at my familiar, before doing the only thing I could think of to console her. I pulled Aurora into an embrace. She hugged me tight with her front claws and her wings, and then spent the next few minutes sobbing into my shoulder.
“There, there,” I said when her crying started to die down, speaking in a gentle voice. “It’s not so bad. In fact, I think you look just as beautiful now as you did beforehand.”
Aurora pulled her head back and looked me in the eyes.
“Really?” she asked, before letting out a little hiccup. Despite her ferocious appearance, the sound was adorable.
“Yes,” I said with a smile. “Really.” I wiped her eyes. The tears of mana sublimated into the air as soon as they lost contact with Aurora. “While you look similar to Shattering Thunder, it’s like comparing a swan to a toad. You are much more elegant and graceful looking.”
Aurora nodded while sniffling.
“Of course I am,” she said. “I used to be a World Serpent, you know. We were always more beautiful than the Storm Dragons, those arrogant show-offs.”
I arched an eyebrow at her.
“I regained some of my memories,” Aurora explained. “Ones from before my Ascension, back when my name was still Dusk of the World. Tempest’s storm dragons always thought they were better than us just because they could fly.” She let out a malicious chuckle. “Of course, they changed their tune whenever my sisters and I caught one of them within our coils. One time, I managed to keep Shattering Thunder pinned down for an entire century.”
I raised both of my eyebrows at this. There was a lot to unpack there.
“‘Dusk of the World?’” I asked, starting with that one.
Aurora’s face darkened, and she looked away.
“It was the name I gave myself,” she said. “Mother named me Dusk, which I thought was lame, so I added to it.”
“Still,” I said. “You chose ‘Dusk of the World?’”
“I thought it was cool,” Aurora grumbled. “Cut me some slack, will you? I used to be a young and stupid World Serpent.”
Fair enough. Even the oldest of beings went through a “young and foolish” phase. Rather than focus on Aurora’s old name, I focused on this Ascension that she mentioned.
“Ascension?” I asked. “What’s that?”
That was the thing I was most curious about. From what I inferred, it sounded similar to achieving immortality. If nothing else, according to Aurora’s words, it was a method of reaching the heavens.
“I’m not sure,” Aurora said with a frown. “My memories of it are muddled, but I think it’s a means of leaving the mortal world behind.” Her frown deepened. “Not just the mortal world. One’s mortal form. I wasn’t always a divine being. I used to have a physical body, but I left it behind when I Ascended.”
I blinked at her. Now that was interesting. This “Ascension” sounded similar to what happened when a cultivator reached the Nascent Soul stage. At that point, a cultivator’s soul could operate independently of their body. This allowed Nascent Soul cultivators to survive even after their bodies were destroyed. Sufficiently powerful wizards could do the same, though I wasn’t sure how powerful they needed to be for that. I assumed it was the Sixth Circle, which was roughly equivalent to the Nascent Soul stage.
That said, leaving or losing one’s body came with several downsides. The biggest one was that a soul was much weaker without a body. They became vulnerable to creatures that preyed on disembodied spirits, including other disembodied spirits.
However, this Ascension sounded much more powerful. World Serpents were powerful spirits, mighty beings who were second only to the gods themselves. If Aurora became one through Ascension, then perhaps it was akin to becoming an Immortal.
“Is there anything more you can tell me about Ascension?” I asked.
Aurora shook her head.
“No,” she said. “My memories are still a mess.” She grimaced. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t be of more use. I know you’re dying of curiosity right to know more. I feel the same way. It’s frustrating to know that you know something, but you can’t actually remember what you know.”
I chuckled at her grumpy expression.
“It’s fine,” I said, before shaking my head. “As interesting as Ascension sounds, we have more pressing concerns, such as leaving seclusion and getting back to our lives.”
I looked up at the glass ceiling. It was late afternoon. So late, in fact, that it was almost evening. The clear sky was painted various shades of red, orange, and pink. I don’t know how long I had spent breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, but from the way my stomach protested, I figured that it had been a few days at least.
That was one of the dangers of going into seclusion and losing track of time. Some cultivators forgot their physical needs and died as a result. It was rare, but it happened. That was why cultivators below the Golden Core stage didn’t go into seclusion for too long.
While I was tempted to alleviate my hunger with a food pill, since we were leaving soon anyway, I figured that I would just eat actual food.
“Do we have to?” Aurora asked, looking a little shy. “I don’t know if I want to show this form to the others. What if they laugh at me?”
For a former divine being, she was really concerned about her physical appearance. I had such a silly familiar. Good thing she had me around to help keep her grounded. I wouldn’t get hung up on something like this.
“You have nothing to worry about,” I said. “You’re beautiful.” I nodded at her. “However, if you’re still bothered by your appearance, you can always hide in my dantian.”
Aurora paused, before shaking her head.
“No,” she said. “I’ve done enough hiding. I’m powerful enough that I can now actually help you during fights, instead of just watching you get hurt.” Her expression darkened. “Watching you die was the worst moment of my life. I hated it. I never want to go through anything like that again.”
I caressed her cheek, to let her know that I understood where she came from. Shame filled me. Not only had I let the Great Horned Wolf catch me off guard, but I also gave up on living. How foolish. I should have followed Aurora’s words back then and fought harder to survive, even if it was impossible.
What was cultivation if not struggling against the impossible and spitting in the face of infinity?
***
I spent the next few minutes cleaning up the meditation chamber and gathering up what little I had brought in with me. I also used my cleaning technique to clean myself off, as well as my clothes. After I sorted everything out, I left the meditation chamber.
True to her word, Aurora didn’t hide inside my dantian again. Instead, she rested on my shoulders and wrapped herself around my neck, like some kind of weird scarf.
A stairway spiraled up the center of the meditation tower, with a landing for each floor. People could access the meditation chambers from the landings. The top of the meditation tower was sealed away by both physical and magical locks, to prevent anyone other than members of the Sturm family from entering.
I unlocked the door and made my way down. The tower was solemn and quiet. Rather than stifling, the silence felt sacred. With my divine sense, I saw that a few of our Clan's outer disciples were cultivating within the tower.
Without disturbing them, I made my way out of the tower. To my surprise, Grandfather Gabe stood near the entrance, waiting for me. I hadn’t expected anyone to greet me at all after I left seclusion.
“It’s good to see you again, Gabriel,” Grandfather Gabe said with a grin on his face. “You’ve reached the Foundation Establishment stage, I assume?”
“Yes, I have,” I said.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Grandfather Gabe nodded with a pleased expression on his face.
“Impressive. I think you’re the first cultivator I’ve met who managed to reach the Foundation Establishment stage in less than a year.” He paused, looking thoughtful. “Then again, this is your second time around, so I don’t know if it counts. Regardless, let me be the first one to congratulate you.”
I gave him a bow of respect.
“Thank you, Grandfather,” I said, speaking in a formal tone. “Your praise fills me with the greatest joy.”
Grandfather Gabe rolled his eyes and pulled me into a quick embrace.
“None of that, you smart ass,” he said.
I grinned, before chuckling.
“Sorry,” I said, not feeling sorry at all. “I couldn’t resist.”
Grandfather Gabe chuckled as well, before turning his attention to Aurora.
“I see that you aren’t the only one who’s gotten more powerful,” he said. “Has your familiar finally decided to come out to play now that she looks like a proper dragon instead of a spindly noodle?”
Aurora hissed at the insult to her previous form. The air crackled, and I smelled ozone. If this bothered Grandfather Gabe at all, he didn’t let it show.
I started rubbing the top of Aurora’s head to calm her down. It didn’t work at first, but after a while, she settled down. However, she kept throwing glares Grandfather Gabe’s way.
“I wouldn’t bring that up in front of her,” I said to him. “She’s still sensitive about the change.”
Grandfather Gabe looked between the two of us, before letting out a snort.
“You two really are a match for each other,” he said.
Well, yeah. That was the whole point of the familiar contract we forged.
“Even your eyes match,” Grandfather Gabe continued, squinting at us. “You’ll have to find some way to conceal them or cover them up if you want to hide your draconic heritage, Gabriel.”
What did he mean by that?
I studied my eyes with my divine sense.
Huh. Nevermind, I saw it now.
Originally, my eyes were storm gray like Father’s. Now, however, they were silvery blue with a vertical slit for a pupil, similar to a serpent’s. I hadn’t noticed them earlier, when I checked my body over, since I focused on the internal changes rather than my appearance. The change to my eyes must have been the result of the synergy between my divine storm dragon core and my body cultivation technique. I knew they would change my physical appearance, I just hadn’t known how.
While my eyes were beautiful and striking, they were clearly inhuman. Given the prejudice intelligent magic beasts and their human descendants faced in the Solarian Empire, having eyes like mine were a mark against me. However, after regaining the memories of my previous lives, I started to care less about my reputation among the Houses, so this wasn’t that big of a deal to me. In fact, it might be a boon if used right.
Assuming I wanted to reveal them at all. As I grew in power, both in spiritual cultivation and body cultivation, the changes to my body would grow more and more drastic. While I would still look human, it would become obvious to anyone who saw me that I had storm dragon blood running through my veins. I’d grow scales, claws, maybe a pair of horns.
If I wanted to avoid attention, I would need to find a way to conceal those changes.
“Let’s head to the training hall,” Grandfather Gabe said, heading in that direction. “If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll make it before the tournament ends.”
Despite his words, he walked towards the training hall at a sedate pace. At this rate, it would take us a while to reach our destination. Still, I didn’t mind. It wasn’t like I was in a hurry.
“Tournament?” I asked.
Grandfather Gabe grinned at me.
“While you were in seclusion,” he said. “Your Mother and I decided to make things interesting by holding a tournament for your Clan’s disciples. Nothing too fancy. Just a series of single-elimination matches with a prize for the last one standing.”
I gave him a despairing look.
“You two decided to hold a tournament without me?” I asked in mock outrage. “Why would you hurt me so?”
My antics got a chuckle out of Grandfather Gabe.
“We didn’t know when you would leave seclusion,” he said. “Besides, it wouldn’t have been fair to the others if you participated. You’ve reached a level of power where you can easily defeat any one of your Clan’s disciples in single combat.”
“Yes!” I exclaimed. “That’s the point! I like winning, especially if there’s a prize involved.”
Grandfather Gabe rolled his eyes and didn’t respond. As the two of us walked towards the training hall, I took in the changes all around me. I could have looked ahead with my divine sense, to witness the tournament going on, but I decided not to. Instead, I focused on my immediate surroundings.
While Sturm Hill looked the same, there was an air of life and vibrancy that hadn’t been there before. The servants hurried about, attending to their chores. Most of them wore bright smiles on their faces. The ones that didn’t at least looked content, if nothing else. The saplings that flanked the stone pathways had grown a little taller, and all of them had sprouted leaves.
We passed by one of the lots set aside for gardening. I could just barely make out the little sprouts and shoots poking out from the earth. It looked like they had gone ahead and planted the magic herb seeds we received from Grandfather Gabe. While the herbs didn’t look like much now, they would soon become bright and brilliant plants filled with potent mana.
The warmth of spring filled the air, though it contained hints of winter’s cold bite. A myriad of scents teased my nostrils. The smell of freshly turned earth, the scent of green growing things, a sweet fragrance as someone baked some kind of dessert nearby. I breathed them all in, and joy filled me.
I wasn’t the only one either. Aurora swiveled her head around to take everything in. While she could see perfectly fine from inside my dantian, it was different from seeing things with her own eyes. She let out a little purring noise, which I interpreted as a sign of happiness.
The servants started when they saw Aurora, given her ferocious appearance. However, since she acted like a contented cat and didn’t attack anyone, no one panicked. Given everything they must have seen already while serving Clan Sturm, it would take something pretty spectacular to surprise them.
This year’s spring was already a marked improvement over last year’s. Back then, I had been mired in jealousy and resentment. Annabelle had caught up to me in power, and the friends and connections I made at the Solarian Imperial Academy distanced themselves from me. Whether it was because of my own actions or because of Annabelle’s, I didn’t know. Nor did I care. Back then, I wanted nothing more than to see Annabelle brought low. If I killed her in the process, all the better.
I grimaced as I remembered those dark times. It was as if madness had consumed me, leaving nothing behind but a beast filled with hate and rage. If it was possible for wizards to form inner demons, that was probably what had happened to me back then. Now, the mere thought of harming Annabelle sickened me.
I shook my head to clear those dark thoughts from my mind and focused on the present.
“Oh, before I forget,” Grandfather Gabe said. “Here.”
He handed me a letter. From the handwriting, I saw that it was from Annabelle. Before I went into seclusion, I told her that I wouldn’t be able to write to her for a while. I hadn’t wanted her to worry since she wouldn’t hear from me for a bit.
A small smile touched my lips, before I put the letter aside. I would read it later. Grandfather Gabe gave me an amused look, before his expression turned sober.
“Gabriel,” he said. “There is something you should know.”
From his expression, I could tell it was something serious.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“A letter from your father arrived not too long ago,” he said. “The Inquisition made a formal request to House Sturm, asking to speak with you.”
I stopped in my tracks and stared at him.
“The Inquisition wishes to speak with me?” I asked, befuddled. “Why?”
I racked my brain, trying to think of why the Inquisition would be interested in me. The only things I could think of were that I was a cultivator, and that I sold talismans to the Adventurers Guild way back when. The Inquisition knew about cultivators and wanted to keep their existence, as well as cultivation in general, a secret. Had my actions caught their attention?
If so, I supposed I was lucky that the Inquisition requested a meeting rather than demanded one. They had a lot of power, since they were backed by the Church of the Sun. Even the Houses had to tread lightly around them. If they suspected a House scion of dabbling in Dark magic, they could even take them into custody, by force if necessary.
I wondered if they had the same authority when it came to cultivators.
“They didn’t say,” Grandfather Gabe said. “However, I do have my suspicions. Since you’re going back to Sturm Manor, I thought you should know.”
We reached the training hall at this point. All of our Clan’s cultivators were gathered here. Mother, the outer disciples, my personal disciples. Given they were covered in cuts, bruises, and other minor injuries, it was clear that they had all participated in the impromptu tournament. I assumed drinking healing potions wasn’t allowed.
Everyone gathered around one of the sparring arenas, watching the match currently taking place. Leroy and Lorelei faced off against each other. It was a ferocious match as sword met gauntlet. While the former had stronger magic, the latter still managed to hold her own.
Corie stood off to the side with her arms crossed and a grumpy expression on her face. The left side of her face was swollen. She must have lost to one, or both, of her fellow disciples.
However, Grandfather Gabe’s words from earlier occupied my thoughts, so I didn’t pay as much attention to the match as I would have otherwise. The two of us didn’t join the others. Instead, we found a corner away from everyone else to continue our conversation. No one noticed us, except Mother. She glanced our way when we entered, flashed me a smile, and then turned her attention back to the match between Leroy and Lorelei.
“What suspicions?” I asked.
“Keep in mind that these are only rumors,” Grandfather Gabe said. “So, take my words with…What was the Otherworlder saying? A grain of salt. Yes. Take my words with a grain of salt.”
I nodded and waited for him to continue.
“Do you remember how Scarlet Blazing Phoenix’s adopted brother acted when he showed up here?” Grandfather Gabe asked.
I frowned and nodded.
“Yes,” I said. “According to Priest Sinclair, he had been under the effects of a Dark magic spell that strengthened his negative emotions, to the point of driving him out of control.”
“It turns out that he may not be the only one afflicted with such a spell,” Grandfather Gabe said. “Over the past few months, I overheard rumors about other House scions acting like Lord Miles. At first it starts off mild, but soon they lose control of themselves. It has gotten to the point where the Inquisition is investigating the situation. I don’t know the veracity of these rumors, since I didn’t look into them too deeply, but I think they have some merit. The Houses involved are trying to keep things quiet, but it’s only a matter of time before the truth is revealed one way or another.”
My frown deepened. In that case, did the Inquisition wish to question me about Lord Miles’ behavior? That made sense, but it didn’t feel right.
“One thing that all of the House scions involved had in common,” Grandfather Gabe continued. “Was that they were all the heirs of House that were at least middling in status and strength, if not more.”
That’s when it clicked for me.
“They think that the same thing happened to me?” I asked.
Grandfather Gabe nodded.
“I suspect as much, yes,” he said. “Your actions last year fit the pattern.”
That…I wasn’t sure what to make of that. If I had been afflicted with a Dark magic spell that strengthened my negative emotions, to the point of driving me insane, then what happened last year wasn’t entirely my fault. Maybe none of it would have happened at all. Or maybe it would have anyway.
As far as I knew, the Dark magic spell that afflicted Lord Miles strengthened negative emotions. That meant those emotions had to have existed in the first place. The spell didn’t make Lord Miles angry and hateful towards me, it just strengthened what was already there.
While it made sense that a Dark magic spell affected me last year, pushing me towards more and more drastic actions, I didn’t know if that was me trying to excuse my behavior. Maybe I hadn’t been affected by a Dark magic spell. Maybe I really did go mad and try to kill Annabelle.
That was assuming that the rumors Grandfather Gabe heard were all true. They could have been nothing more than a fabrication. When it came to House politics, gossip and rumors were potent weapons when wielded by the right people.
However, if the rumors were true, then that painted a disturbing picture. As someone on Earth once said, “Once was an accident. Twice was a coincidence. Three times was a pattern.” If Lord Miles, the other House scions, and myself had all been afflicted by Dark magic spells, and they all came from the same source, then something rotten was going on in Sunheart. Someone, or multiple someones, was up to something nefarious.
If, if, if.
Just as I had that thought, cheers ranged out as Leroy defeated Lorelei, but I paid them no mind. I had other concerns at the moment.
The problem was, this was all speculation on my part. Without more information, that was all I could do. If I wanted to know more, I needed to head down to Sunheart and find out for myself. Talking with the Inquisition seemed like a good place to start.
Ugh, as if I didn’t have enough on my plate. Not only did I have to deal with House politics, Clan politics, and House Thorne, but now I had a potential conspiracy involving Dark magic. Oh, and Church politics since I was the Chosen of Master Tempest.
And all of that was on top of my cultivation and training.
A part of me wanted to avoid all that by staying in Sturm Hill for the foreseeable future. Maybe if I buried my head in the sand, it would all go away.
I snorted.
As if.
The only way to get rid of a pile of shit was one shovelful at a time, metaphorically speaking. Delaying things would just let it rot and fester.
It was time to return to Sturm Manor.