Starlight Life Of The Sage

Public Release: March 22nd, 2019 - 3:30 am EST

Cara looked down on the mountains below and frowned. Scattered throughout the scenery were splotches of black and brown, where no flora grew. She grumbled to herself at the destruction the unregulated pollution was causing, and she didn't want to see it continued. The further south she looked the worse the damage became, while the north seemed aglow with vibrant greenery.

Far to the north, at the very edge of the horizon she could see, a large wall stood. Cara knew, now, after reading so many books from the Stonelight library that the wall was called the 'Northland Ridge', something that separated the wild south with the civilized territory belonging to the Towers.

The political makeup of the magic world seemed strange and foreign, with individual 'Towers' controlling most of the Northland, stretching their influence for incredible distances.

The Ridge stood as a monument to some hero in the past, a man who founded the first Tower.

Cara didn't particularly care much about the history of the matter, but she did find it a little interesting. She wanted to understand the magic world better in hopes of reforming it and its ways, to show them many of the revelations she knew of from her first life.

She realized that she would need influence and strength, and that Zara alone wasn't enough firepower to handle such a thing. There were Ascendants in this world, that meant that there would surely be some who went Beyond the level of Ascendant as well.

If humans could reach the level of Divinity without mana, Cara couldn't see them failing to do so with it.

Cara crossed her legs on the back of the flying creature and held her halberd in her hands. She focused on all of her cultivations for a moment.

She wasn't very far along towards her next breakthrough in her Outer Cultivation, but her Mage Cultivation was nearing the next level. Her Weapon Cultivation was also increasing at a rapid pace.

She paused for a moment in thought. She decided to wait on increasing her Mage Cultivation further until she found whatever 'legacies' were waiting for her in the training grounds of the empire. She certainly didn't want to ruin her potential as a mage by making a mistake, and more information was always welcome.

One thing Cara absolutely had no questions about was the path of Weapon Cultivation. Even when using mana as a source, Cara knew enough about the subject to reach the level of an upper Ascendant. She did raise a man who reached the level of Divinity within the Path, after all.

Cara focused in on her blade and she worked towards the third Xantian Rung. The first rung was the name. The second was the appearance. The third rung wasn't something so superficial: it was the weapon's lattice.

Within every Xantian realm weapon a lattice of energy 'nodes' would form that allowed them to manipulate Qi or Mana better. The form of the lattice was often based on cultivation paths or techniques.

Cara decided to use her Jade-Dragon Body outer cultivation technique as the base.

A small cyclone of energy formed as the halberd in Cara's hand heated up. She could feel its insides shifting as she poured more and more energy into it. She started reciting a mantra and focusing her energy better.

Zara looked up from her own cultivation. She watched her teacher's weapon cultivation with rapt attention.

Zara, herself, was a weapon cultivator, albeit her skill was lacking in that Path, and so she watched her master, one of the most skillful weapon cultivators alive, despite the two being at completely different realms.

"This mantra," said Zara in a quiet voice. She recognized the mantra as something she tried in the past, only to find she didn't have the talent for it. "Teacher's Jade Dragon technique…"

Zara practiced a different body cultivation method, one that was far simpler and more crude. Her own talent forced her down that Path, and she still felt bitter about it. As she watched her teacher practice, Zara memorized the energy pathways again, and a few new ideas came to her. Ever since she reached the level of Divinity with her alchemy, her other cultivations seemed to be improving too.

Zara wondered if she, too, could practice her teacher's specially created Jade-Dragon Body technique eventually.

-

Sweat formed on Cara's brow as she neared the breaking point. Finally, after a long struggle, her halberd seemed to chirp in joy as its lattice completed. Immediately, Cara could feel her energy flowing better. She could feel every part of her weapon and see through it as if it were transparent.

"I can see at least 1,573 impurities," said Cara as she looked through. In Weapon Cultivation, impurities were forced out during the equivalent to the 'cracked core' stage. Having fewer than 5,000 meant Cara's weapon would have a tremendous advantage in the next stage.

"Teacher, we're near the capital. I can see it now," said Zara from the front of the flying creature.

Cara stood up and walked forward. When she reached Zara's side, she could see the tops of several tall buildings standing above the mountains and trees. A thick haze floated up from the city's skyline, and several smokestacks could be seen. Cara could almost smell the city already.

Nestled between two mountains, the city stood in a long valley and it winded its way along a pair of rivers that met in its center. Just like the cities before, the rivers were segmented by color.

A single castle-like building could be seen in the northernmost part of the city, surrounded by other fancy estates all of about equal size.

Above the city were hundreds of bird-like monsters with riders on their backs. Often, the larger birds had entire carriage-like structures built on them. Some carried wagon-like tools beneath them for transporting cargo.

"They do use flying beasts for everything," said Zara in a quiet voice.

"Though I don't see any bats like ours," said Cara as she looked down at the very sorry looking vampire bat she was standing on. "I hope that won't be a problem…"

Zara replied, "Why would that be a…" but she was interrupted by a loud, amplified voice.

"You two riding the Animo Bat, this is the Boshwa Appointed Police Commissioner Gyros speaking, please stop your mount and descend now! You are riding an illegal beast through a controlled airspace!"

Cara looked over at her disciple and sighed. "You just had to jinx it," she said.

"Jinx? What does that mean?" asked Zara.

"It means… Uh, it's more like a superstition than anything. It means by saying something can't happen, you inadvertently cause it to happen."

"That's dumb. That sounds even dumber than Karma," said Zara as she crossed her arms and 'humphed'.

"Karma is real, dammit," said Cara.

"LAND YOUR MOUNT NOW BEFORE WE FIRE UPON YOU!" boomed the voice from earlier. Several eagle-like creatures approached, each with a uniformed man on the back. Several were wielding tools that resembled guns.

Immediately Zara's aura started to flare to life. Her eyes opened wide and were covered with blood vessels. Her cheeks flushed and she frowned.

"I've about had it with your LOUD OBNOXIOUS ORDERS!" said Zara through grit teeth, her voice thundering through the skies. "Can't you see that we're already lowering our altitude!? And little Zippy here," she pet the bat's head, "can't land very fast! So GIVE ME A BREAK!"

The air started to blow like a storm. A sudden turbulence forced the eagle riders to back away, each terrified of the aura they were sensing from one of the riders on the back of the Animo Bat.

Cara put her palm firmly on her own face and hung her head. She couldn't amplify her voice well enough yet to be heard over the roaring of the winds. She put her free hand on Zara's shoulder and gripped it tightly.

"Why are you so worked up?" asked Cara.

"I'm not sure," Zara replied, "but their voices just really pissed me off."

"Just get us on the ground."

"Aye aye, Captain!"