Elder Cultivator

As nice as it was to provide a much needed source of light and heat for an entire planet, Anton would really prefer to be done with it. This was probably the greatest good he could do at the moment, but once they got Bounty properly placed around a real, sustainable star then they wouldn’t need him. In fact, it would be downright selfish to attempt to be the sole source of life for an entire planet if he had any other option.

They were still quite some distance from crossing the border of the lower realms, not even quite halfway over the divide between the upper and lower. However, Anton felt himself coming to a point of balance. Beyond that point, he should grow stronger every day instead of becoming fatigued. For a cultivator of his level, sleep was not entirely necessary- but some form of rest was.

Anton would never say acting as a sun was easy, but he was able to focus and direct his power from up close- he didn’t even need a billionth of the true power of a star. And despite how trivial that sounded like, it wasn’t actually that small of an energy output. It was also difficult to handle with a human body. And more importantly, outputting such energy in a non-violent fashion took much better control. With all of that said, a direct comparison between Anton and a true star was mostly pointless. One was basically a giant explosion, and one was carefully directed energy. Even Maheg wouldn’t disagree.

Unsurprisingly, constantly performing the same function for years made Anton better at that specific task. If they had to do something similar again- which Anton hoped would never be the case- he would be much more effective from the beginning, not tiring himself out so much. Though he could also hope that the planet would be a little bit better prepared, because the transition from ascension energy to lower energy had been pretty rough for the natives. Even with a good number of Assimilation and Enrichment cultivators watching over them.

Anton had fallen into a good rhythm. During the necessary times of rest, Anishka took over with practitioners of the order that Anton could now say were truly his disciples. They had the spirit down, which was honestly the most important part.

Anton had just taken over for another cycle and was beginning to really get into it. A stable orbit wasn’t the optimal distance for acting as a sun, so he had to do minor adjustments as his energy blanketed the planet below.

He only felt something was wrong an instant before it happened. It might not even have been Anton that noticed something directly, but perhaps one of the others had a fluctuation of energy. Either way, he barely managed to reshape any of his power being output into a defensive form before a needle pierced into his heart.

Everything after that happened through experience and instinct. Anton’s senses flickered along the trajectory of the attack. He reached out for his stars, calling upon them and the people around them. Something told him that drawing his own bow from his back would be too slow.

A vast ocean appeared between him and further incoming attacks. The waters of Paradise and Erin were blown away in an instant, but they prevented further attacks from landing immediately.

A single beat of Anton’s heart. Anton nocked the arrow, stringing his power around all of his stars.

Devon surrounded Anton with a barrier of chains, reaching from where he was on the other side of Bounty. A single attack slipped through, striking Anton in his shoulder.

A second beat. Anton drew the bow, focusing on his target.

Anton took a single step, but could not avoid the incoming attacks. However, without any of his intentions, the people of Bounty responded, taking a hit for him. But one instant was the limit of what the planet could do.

A third beat. The arrow sprang forth, much of its size melting away as it flew to strike its target. It struck, piercing into the belly of a man that looked quite ordinary except for his position. And his power. The arrow quivered there for a moment, neither piercing further nor exploding into free energy, before it faded.

It wasn’t a deadly injury, but in that instant the void ants of Paradise were launched forward. Anton saw the man’s eyes, giving a quick assessment the situation before he disappeared- stealth and speed both.

The fourth beat, Anton’s vision faded.

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“I don’t care if we have to learn to eat subspace itself!” the Sergeant commanded. “If he’s still here, we’re going to devour him!”

Deep down, she knew it was pointless. The lingering scent of energy was strong, but clear in its intent. This was no false retreat. And if the assassin changed his mind… the void ants now had prior memory. Even a Domination cultivator wouldn’t be able to hide from them if they were on alert.

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The heartfelt cries of the phoenixes sadden Erin. “There’s nothing more you can do.” Despite their rumored potency, phoenixes weren’t a miracle cure for all ills. They did have some healing abilities, but they only stretched so far. The Ultimate Phoenix Sect had been able to sacrifice their lifeforce to sustain their own lives, but Anton neither practiced such techniques nor would he wish to sacrifice another for himself. Though he might not have had a choice.

They couldn’t help more, but they had already done what they could. Burning away as much poison as they could- what hadn’t already infiltrated Anton’s system- was probably the only thing that had kept him stable up to this moment. Fostering phoenixes so long ago was probably the most surprising and ultimately best thing Paradise had ever done… but it might not have been enough.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

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Everyone knew Anton was injured. The shock of a grievous injury to a Unity cultivator was something that hadn’t been experienced before, but nobody needed a message telling them. They just knew. The stars that brought life and hope to people also informed them of fear and death. But he wasn’t dead. Not yet.

The closest and fastest interstellar ships would take five days to arrive, though most of those couldn’t leave the bounds of the lower realms. Nobody intended to let that stop them. Even the deeper systems sent some of their resources. Those further sent their knowledge, though whether it would help was mere speculation. The people knew less than Anton, and he had only known it was poison.

There were three who felt the wounds more personally, either through mutual stars or happening to be one of those stars. Three Squeaks, Varghese, and Maheg all reached out to Anton. Just like many others, without them he would have died. With a loss of consciousness, Anton lost active energy control- but they had some slight connection through the stars. They reached into him, augmenting his body as much as they could. They couldn’t feel things precisely, so they could not root out the poison, but they did everything they could.

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Anishka bit her lip. She had just recently finished her ‘shift’. She was exhausted.

But Bounty couldn’t be without a star. How many days would people last, before they began to freeze to death? Though perhaps… they could stand to be a bit cooler.

Heat and cold… only one was helpful here. Or was it?

She might have already missed the proper timing. In moments of crisis, thoughts weren’t always clear. Everyone wanted to try everything. When nobody had a perfect solution, they just had to try things.

Bounty would be fine in the dark for a few minutes. Anishka suddenly cut off her flow of energy, feeling waves of surprise from the planet below. The crisis had barely started, so a bit of instability was to be expected.

Anishka arrived just as Erin was talking about sending Anton back to the Lower Realms with Paradise. “We can meet people halfway, perhaps. At the very least, we’ll be going towards proper help.” The Island Tenders had doctors, but they didn’t have the very best healers in the lower realms. And that was what Anton needed.

“I’ll freeze him,” Anishka said. When everyone gave her a look, she shook her head. “Should I call it cryogenics? You know what I mean. I can do it safely, without cells expanding and bursting. Quick and easy. And I can reverse the process when we get to help.”

“Then you’d have to stay here,” Erin said.

“I could just leave Bounty. For a day or two.” It would probably be more, realistically. Anishka knew that.

Devon shook his head. “You know he wouldn’t want to survive like that.”

“Does it matter?” Anishka asked. “Do you really think that these people will make it anyway?” Anishka gestured. “I can’t do it. I don’t know of anyone else who can.”

“Three Squeaks or Varghese?” Erin suggested. “Perhaps both together. We should have already brought them.”

“Nobody expected this,” Aerona said. “We must simply choose what we do now. I can ask the people.”

“What will you ask?” Erin said.

“I’ll be honest. Anton might die. It would risk all of them freezing to death to take him away. Or, we risk other methods of keeping him stable which won’t be as good. It’s not the only option. And if he gets to safety… there were preparations made for Shelach. If that was who that was, we have some idea of what poisons. If we can identify them…”

“That only works if Anton survives to get to help,” Anishka said. “But… I suppose you have to ask.”

Aerona nodded. She extended her power, speaking not with words but directly to the hearts of the people. Anton was dying- their best but not only hope for survival. But if he was brought away, it meant great immediate risk to themselves.

The responses were mixed. The people were filled with fear. Nobody wanted to die, cold and in the dark. And yet, they were generally leaning towards saving Anton even at the cost of themselves. There was only one voice among the many that spoke more loudly than all the others. Since the voice was from the heart, it did not need to belong to a conscious person.

There were no words, no specifics, but it was extremely clear. If Bounty was sacrificed for the sake of Anton, neither would survive. That was not something Anton would accept. Prioritizing their lives was most important- and if that happened to involve saving Anton, then it should be done.

Which didn’t help them come to an easy solution, but Anishka hadn’t been idle during those moments. Any amount of time could make all the difference to Anton. While Aerona spoke to the hearts of the people, Anishka froze Anton’s heart. Cold bloomed outward from the center of Anton’s body, though it was a cold that appeared to come with no ice. He was flash frozen with no opportunity for expansion. The main problem was that Anishka wasn’t sure it would hold stable without her.

“I can hold him like this, but I don’t know that the danger won’t progress at all. The poisons… they also have Shelach’s energy in them,” Anishka explained. “However… I can freeze and heat at the same time. It might even be better.” Or it might exhaust her more quickly.

“How long can you last?” Erin asked.

She wanted to proudly declare ‘a year’, but she wasn’t sure she could hit another month. “Three weeks.”

“We can get Three Squeaks here before then. And more cultivators from Akrys.”

“Good.” Anishka said, snatching up Anton. “I should get out there.” She looked to Devon and Erin, also vaguely glancing down at Paradise. “Make sure to cover us.”

The void ants should prevent Shelach from returning, but one could never be too safe. Anishka was still considering just dragging Anton away, but she had the feeling that even unconscious and frozen he’d somehow do something about that.

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