Elder Cultivator

Nobody had a worse view for his parents’ own advancement than Chidi. Technically, his perspective was tied with the vast majority of people in the system, but for someone who could have been close enough to actually watch it was pretty limited. He would be getting secondary replications of energy signatures and that was it. And he wouldn’t actually be able to see because… he couldn’t.

It was better to be somewhat disappointed at missing out than have any risk of causing something to go wrong. This wouldn’t be a process where his parents could back down, so they needed as clear of a flow of energy as they could. With Chidi’s inner formations meant to negate energy flow, even if he wasn’t intentionally entering a state of negation he could be a confounding factor. So he waited nervously, trying not to think about the odds of a double success.

-----

Timothy and Catarina shared looks. They could feel devotion pouring into them from all around, devotion they had been rejecting along with all forms of energy. Any words they had to exchange had been said long before, and two people could not be so close for centuries without going beyond the need for words most of the time regardless. Not that they didn’t enjoy hearing each other’s voices, even as they changed with age.

They moved with the confidence necessary to become a Domination cultivator. If they weren’t confident, they would have given up before they got so far. Unless they were truly foolish, and even cultivation couldn’t select out certain sorts of fools.

If it were practical, they might not have chosen to be observed- but the Alliance watching was literally going to improve their chances. It seemed impossible that they could end up with too much devotion. If they couldn't handle a certain amount of energy, they couldn’t handle Domination.

They approached their chosen positions where they sat back to back in the middle of a solar teleportation platform. Complex runes spiraled out around them, many of which had been recently added by Catarina’s own hands. Some were simply carved out painstakingly, while others had been inlaid with expensive materials. There were fillings of worldheart and even some specks of starheart dust that had been obtained through much effort by their allies.

Beyond contributing their personal wealth, the Scarlet Alliance had invested heavily in them. In the case of their unfortunate failure, the Alliance would lose out in many ways but they couldn’t afford not to invest in their potential first Domination cultivators. Even the sects that were part of the great powers understood that, despite their frequent jockeying for power.

The tension around them was palpable, nobody speaking a word- even though the platform was empty except for them, and thus any sound would have faded into the vacuum of space unless they intentionally projected it.

The pair took deep breaths, then began to allow the torrent of devotion to flow into them, absorbing the ambient upper energy and the greater quantities prepared around them in various forms.

Symbols began to light up beneath them, only those with the quickest minds able to comprehend the pattern. The order was somewhat abnormal, but that was in part due to Catarina needing the formations to work a specific way at the moment while maintaining their standard effects into the future. If she could have pushed the standard formations onto another layer of reality to reduce complexity, she would have happily done so. Though only after spending the effort to figure out how to make it work anyway.

Torrents of energy poured into the two of them, but after only a few moments Timothy’s eyes opened. “It’s not enough.”

“You’re right,” Catarina confirmed regretfully. “Our calculations were naive. Do you… have a plan?”

He paused for a moment. “Not a sane one.”

Catarina shrugged. “There’s no point in doing things by half measures. I certainly don’t intend to survive this in any way except advancement. Do you think there will be enough energy for us both?”

“Absolutely. If we can convince our friends to give us some help.”

Timothy stood up, the surge of energy through his body reminding him what it was like. His movement surged, carrying him to the edge several kilometers away. The distance itself wasn’t as important as his positioning. He placed his hand on the barrier as he extended his aura. “Uzun, we need more energy. As quickly as possible, and at the greatest rate you can achieve..”

“... I can try to rig our ships’ batteries?” Uzun replied cautiously.

“I’d suggest shooting us. If you could coordinate the distribution of any high-intensity energy attacks, it would be appreciated.”

“That barrier won’t hold, you know,” Koralo commented.

“That’s what I’m here for,” Timothy said. “Moral support. Now quickly.”

Uzun nodded, sending the impression to Timothy. “Got if. You want… everything? Including the fleets?”

“As quick as you can.”

A few moments later, an alarm went off all over Xankeshan. It was a warning of an incoming attack, telling people to scramble for their ships, or to otherwise prepare themselves.

All of the Augmentation cultivators were near Uzun, watching the event. They each spread their aura, giving commands to those who they were best connected to.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“We need every ship with energy based weapons,” Uzun said. “This is not a drill. Kinetic weapons, remain on standby.” He couldn’t know if they would need them… and maybe there would be an actual enemy attack. It wouldn’t hurt to have people ready.

Alva simply began firing arrows as quickly as she could. Prospero called upon the rest of the Order as he and Hoyt began launching Falling Stars at the barrier, trusting the assessment of their allies.

Tauno sighed. “Man, I was hoping for a monster.” He sort of looked awkwardly at his hands and began flinging his energy toward the platform, something he clearly was not familiar with. His usual method of attack all involved imbuement into physical mediums, and they’d asked for just energy.

Everyone understood the true intent. High intensity energy, but a lack of control was actually preferred. Attacks began to strike the barrier, breaking into free energy which was rapidly absorbed by the two on the platform, as well as the platform itself. That enhanced the barrier, but it could only sustain a certain energy flow before burning out.

It didn’t take long for them to go beyond the threshold, and the platform was being held together more by Catarina’s will than the materials involved in its construction. Timothy focused only on the solidity of the barrier, ignoring the greater complexities at work.

There was a record timing on the fleets scrambling. They began to leave atmosphere within five minutes, and some reached the orbital platform. They were guided into position, matching velocity with the platform. Then they began to unload their energy attacks, trusting in Timothy and Catarina.

Those very acts imbued their energy with greater devotion. It wasn’t of exactly the same sort the Citadel of Exalted Light used. Rather than subservience, unity was one of the primary pillars of the Scarlet Alliance. Everyone was pleased to be part of a greater whole, even if they didn’t understand exactly how they were contributing at first. But it was fairly clear to them that the rate of absorption from the two was tremendous as they devoured the ambient energy, including what was coming off of the nearby star.

At first, they only captured the enemy directly striking the orbital platform- it was close to the star and at great intensity, but as they absorbed more energy they began to reach together, stretching further. If they hadn’t spoken to so many starbinding cultivators about the process, they might not have understood how to deal with the turbulence. They were undergoing an entirely different process, but the shared insights were still critical to their success.

“... Still not enough,” Catarina whispered, her words carrying only to her partner whose energy was intertwined with hers. “Time for the final push.”

She released their final components, the traces of Domination energy that had been drawn out of the two of them. It was only a small fraction of it that had survived to be drawn into storage containers, and some had been used in various tests. But having an example of what they wanted seemed pertinent.

The energy was quite fearsome, but that was not surprising. Energy on its own was simply power, and without the proper intent behind it danger was expected.

The platform around them rippled, moving in ways the material wasn’t meant to. It warped and cracked, but Catarina bent it back into place with her will. Everything began to glow white hot, many materials reaching their melting points or worse as excessive amounts of energy flowed through everything, including the two cultivators.

It still wasn’t enough. But Catarina had one more idea where to get energy. It had already been part of the plan to begin with. The full formation active, Catarina focused on the teleportation properties of the solar platform, reaching out through the wider Scarlet Alliance to draw upon the energy that reached them. The other platforms did not have her personal touch, since she hadn’t intended to incorporate any of them right away.

They were forcibly connected, activating to send not their inhabitants but instead nothing at all. A million security protocols were bypassed as pure energy was drawn through.

Then everything went white.

-----

Chidi was glad that he was down on the planet. He couldn’t do something crazy like trying to cut apart the mass of energy around his parents and save them. And while that also meant he couldn’t save everyone else around them, it just meant he had to trust them. The energy replication device had already been overloaded long before, and people’s screens probably weren’t displaying anything of value if he understood anything about sight.

But he could feel the energy fluctuations as if he were standing up against the barrier. The power kept building, and he had no doubt that it could turn into a massive explosion if anything went wrong. Unfortunately, he had no way to tell if it had as his own path was essentially the opposite. So he waited and did his best to believe at them harder. In theory, that actually helped, though he might be an exception.

-----

The platform exploded. Or at least the outer layer did. The material simply couldn’t handle the power in it. But somehow, everything remained functional. No, Timothy knew he was only concentrating on the barrier. Clearly the rest had been accomplished by Catarina.

But pieces of the platform continued to explode away. Now he could see a hole straight through the solar platform. That had to be bad. But Timothy held the barrier in place. If he didn’t they would be crushed by energy from the outside. Though the energy flowing through him was also somewhat of a problem.

As the platform continued to disintegrate, Timothy noticed something odd. He could see holes through it… but he could also very clearly see the formation markings. It was only when the floor beneath him disintegrated that he figured it out. Gravity was pulling him towards the star, with the platform providing its own buoyancy from the incoming energy. And even with nothing beneath his feet, he felt a firm surface even as everything began to peel away.

That was intriguing. And it explained something about the material of the Citadel. Though Timothy didn’t know if fully transparent was better, worse, or simply different. He could see the star now when he looked down, though it wasn’t particularly different from before as his eyes had long been overwhelmed. The fact that he could tell the platform was clear was already exceptional, in his opinion.

He almost thought it would happen to him too. At the very least, he felt like he should have disintegrated if not transformed into a new material. But he came to realize that wasn’t going to happen. He felt a tug on his energy from Catarina and allowed his senses to be drawn far away. Then he realized he was supposed to connect to the other barriers, at least in part. It was far less intense than his connection to the barrier in front of him- handily keeping the attacks from all of Xankeshan’s forces at bay.

His body ached… but rather than being concerned, he was elated. Because he hadn’t been able to feel anything for a while. And the energy inside him… it was still intense. He would need to get it to settle down. But that was more for the sake of everything else than himself.

He managed to catch Catarina’s eye, and she smiled. The energy inside her was so intense that he almost missed the familiar elements. The same must have been true of him. Now all they had to do was not screw things up at the final step. He steeled himself, focusing internally while still making sure to keep the barrier intact. The flow of energy was likely still necessary until they finished truly transforming themselves, so he couldn’t just ask people to stop.