Chapter 645


    The Sergeant was feeling much better about her mission, after having spent a whole year without beingpromised twice. And being able to openly visit Anishka made everything easier. Such as the transition to another location. It would have been possible to sneak onto another ship going towards the poles, but that would have required waiting around in the proper location for a long time. And she would have had a difficult time finding Anishkas location in such a situation, except for the particr circumstances they were in.


    Specifically, the Northern cier Sect was located exactly where one would expect, and with as much poption and traffic as could be expected. Which was to say, they had a sizable poption of cultivators making up their sect and few other permanent residents.


    Everything was cold. The area was cold. The people were cold. Their energy was cold.


    The only thing that warmed the Sergeant up was nibbling on Anishkas energy, unless she was training- which was kind of the whole point of her being in the area. If only Patka were around, she was doing a good job of learning the basics of cultivation, and thus was half fire. But sadly, she had not been able toe with them. The Northern cier Sect was willing to ept a visitor from Ceretos, but not some random peasant from their own.


    Technically, they didnt say peasant- but the Sergeant knew what people were thinking. And for an anting from a society with a defined group of queens, the local ss structures were both insulting and inefficient. That might put Ekict on the uninhabitable list.


    There wasnt really much for the Sergeant to do, so she put up with the freezing cold and chomped on people energy. Cold. Cold. Cold. Existential. Cold.


    Wait what was that one?


    The Sergeant focused on the feeling. She had been carefully inspecting the upper echelon of the sect. The energy was a bit strong for her, so she wasnt digesting it. She went back just in case.


    Her initial impression hadnt been wrong. There was an icy tint over the existential uncertainty, but the vor was quite clear. It reminded her of nothing she had ever tasted. But was somehow familiar. What <em>was</em> it? And why was it so potent?


    This wasnt the first odd source of energy. There was the nothingness and one more thing while she was in Arioron. An impossibly powerful taste that shed convinced herself was a mistake both times, given how far apart they were. This could be the third mistake. But it was easily replicable.


    Who was this person? A young woman. Too young, for her strength. Except that was never true. Human cultivators had the possibility to grow with frightening speed on asion, based on natural talent and circumstances. This, then, should be the same.


    But it was still highly suspect. How could she find out more? Obviously it was too risky to ask Anishka for information. That would only lead to many questions, and people looking for answers that couldnt be given along with danger for the young woman.


    She had to think. Who could she follow, to learn this information? Then she remembered something. Something very human, yet so useful shed forgotten. Writing. Humans did that, and she even knew how to read it. Mostly. She hadnt thought she would be sent off on a spy mission, and it wasnt necessary around the colony.


    So, written records. Those would have to exist- Ekict didnt have technology, like everywhere normal. Though many sects kept their records apart from technology anyway. That gave her a goal, and it only took a day of wandering the overlyrge halls while freezing her lower limbs off. But fortunately, her durability had grown during her mission, possibly due to eating such powerful energy. And that wasnt counting the three anomalies. A little bit of cold wouldnt actually kill her, which was a serious concern if she had been a normal ant.


    She found the records, and proceeded to walk under the door. It almost worked, too. But a formation extended beyond the door itself. Chewing through it didnt work. It replenished the damage too quickly. If the Sergeant was bigger and stronger no, that wouldnt work. The gap was really quite small. Stronger, then, without growingrger. That gave her a goal, though she wasnt sure if she could aplish it.


    -----


    Shutoll. Chidi remembered the great relief he had felt upon reaching it. That relief didntst long, however.


    Not because the city waspromised, or anything of that nature. No, because even as Captain Tiras was giving reports to the local leadership with Chidi waiting out in the hall, Chikere decided she was done holding back with training.


    It was silly of him to ever imagine Chikere cutting a city in half. She didnt even scratch the walls as she came for him, avoiding all coteral damage if the strings holding his storage bag didnt count. Which for her, they must not have.


    That was fair enough, because she wouldnt let something stop her attacks. On the other hand, Chidi was fairly confident that the grandmaster could maneuver her weapon around any obstruction without slowing. That was what it felt like every time his sword came up to block, or parry, or <em>anything</em>.


    Then Chidi had to give a report while covered in blood- not dripping, because his wounds were stitched up. But he didnt have time to clean.


    We really need to step this up, you know, Chikeremented afterwards. Im not saying youre learning slow. But if you want to achieve your stated goal of defeating Rakiya in twenty-five years, we cant afford to waste time.


    That was <em>your</em> goal, Chidi said.


    Even more important, then.


    He would haveined, but everything hurt and he <em>did</em> want to be strong. Anything to let him sort through his actions to conclusively determine whether everything had been a big mistake.


    -----


    Even at his age, or perhaps especially at his age, Anton needed to take some time for himself. Hed spend one lifetime focused on others, and he couldnt say that his second had been all that different. But he still recognized <em>some</em> difference. Perhaps it was just that he was more capable of doing what he thought he should be able to do. He hadnt dealt well with getting old.


    Now, when he was away from a bound star he was weaker than normal. That hadnt proved disastrous in the brief battle involving Shrenn and Tenouna, but the siblings could have certainly caused him to be in real danger had either focused on him for some reason. Even though he considered himself above Life Transformation cultivators, he was no so far ahead of them that the difference could be ignored. Outside of the proper radius of one of his stars, at least.


    For his own sake, he had taken the rtively short hop over to Azun. Inistra was only a few systems over, turning the trip from a lengthy process to a short vacation measured in weeks on the top end. His ability to move through the void between stars was always improving, especially having traveled four hundred lightyears and back, then out again. Even if he hadnt necessarily been in all of the intervening space, it was a truly unfathomable distance that meant nothing to him except for that it was between systems. The same was not true of travel in other ways, with roads built on the hard work of those who came before.


    Star roads. There was a thought. Not something he would actually get much done with, of course, but perhaps someone else could determine if there was a viable concept there. Though the various methods they had worked far better than he could have anticipated even when he was in Life Transformation. Assimtion was a big leap forward.


    Azun was a greatfort. It was a roaring fire in winter, a heavy nket coating him. And, yes, he understood that such a fire could overwhelm him and turn him to ash. The weight of the neutron star could crush him with himself. But the same was true for many interactions Anton was involved with on the other side. He simply trusted that it would not do such to him, as he avoided doing to others. Though of course, Azun probably didnt think or have will.


    Anton couldnt bepletely certain of that, even if he hadnt seen any real signs of it from Azun or any other star. Because anything of such vast power could quite possibly have a consciousness he was unable to understand. If so, Anton was d it did not mind sharing a little bit of itself.


    He reveled in the fire and weight, as well as the maism which was so powerful as to reveal how it affected anything with the slightest notion that it was maic, the field affect it all with so much vigor that his clothes felt like metal weights holding him back. But as he moved around through it, he felt how it resisted the motion and cataloged insights to share with Varghese. Anton wanted to bring the young man to this ce some day, but he would have to be able to survive the trip. Anton could manage most of that, but to be safe it was better if he was stronger. And perhaps facing the overwhelming power of it would have the opposite effect, if he was not ready. Some people were discouraged by what they felt they could not reach. Anton had never been the sort, and now he was not truly convinced there was any height he couldnt reach.


    Even if Domination was another order of magnitude beyond hisprehension, he could still envision reaching such a level of power at some point in the future. Assuming he lived that long. He was no longer considering that as a factor in anything he did, but it was an important point. He was <em>fairly</em> certain that his lifespan was growing and depleting at simr rates, or perhaps expired but somehow not falling over the threshold. Thetter seemed more unlikely, but he wasnt truly sure.


    He should set up a farm. The thought went through Antons mind anything he was <em>not</em> on a farm, admittedly. But it was particrly ridiculous where he was. Azun wasnt exactly a good source of anything but gravity, and it didnt haves anyway. Unless he could get something to grow in space, orbiting around the star


    But Anton was not a creator of life. Even selective breeding of nts didnt reveal new traits, only rbining what was already possible. Anything beyond that was not in Antons wheelhouse. But should he stumble across something so miraculous, he would consider putting some here.


    -----


    Though there were no messages going off at the moment, Chidi still gave one to be delivered should the timee. It had alternated between asking his parents for rescue and telling them he was fine and without worry. Ultimately, he just noted that he was alive along with Aconite.


    He was unsure if the message would reach them. Technically, he didnt even know they were alive- he just believe they would be, despite intending to go up against saints. And if they could n to take down Augmentation cultivators while only in Intregration, couldnt he do the same thing? It was just he wouldnt even be peak Life Transformation in twenty-five years. In fact, he might not even be <em>early</em> Life Transformation. Did Chikere not remember how long it took? If he recalled correctly, she took around the full century that was the minimum training time of those from Ceretos. Though information on her was often sparse, her ascension had not been subtle.


    All of those thoughts were forter. Training, too. For now, he needed to enjoy the small break that Chikeres absence provided, before he had to contribute to missions for Shutoll. They would still be scouting, of course, but Chidi wasnt sure if he would be part of the same squad, or what would happen with any of the others. He would still help train anyone who wanted it while they were together, if either side was up for it.


    How do you feel about all of this, Aconite? Chidi asked. Weve survived. For now, at least.


    And we will continue to survive, she dered. We cannot leave, not without considering our ability to engage in spacebat, but I also do not think we must. This is what you wanted, a good tempering ground.


    It is, isnt it? Chidi sighed. I wish it didnte with so much death. On our side, of course. Though he wasnt fullyfortable with the enemies hed in either. He had to do it to survive, but aside from a few of them, were the Harmonious Citadel disciples really here by choice? Even more reason to kill those leading them. But he was not going to hold back in abat situation, especially not with how close things had already been.