Wish upon the Stars (Original Superhero cultivation sci fi litrpg)

[Malcolm Tent]

Arriving on the surface of the heirworld was surprisingly simple. The drop pods were fairly cushy, and the impact wasn't too intense. We emerged into the hills of this new planet unscathed and ready for a fight…which we didn't get.


"So this is homey," said Abel slowly. "If your home is a dirt hole. Please tell me the whole planet isn't like this."


It was pretty bleak. We were standing on the side of a massive rocky hill. I would have called it a mountain if the slope had been a bit steeper or if it went a bit higher, but it was pretty clearly a hill, as were all the OTHER hills surrounding it. Beyond those hills, I could see…well, more hills. I frowned. Holding up my arm, I whistled, and there was a flash of green fire as Archie materialized.


He'd been learning how to leave Bethy's Domain on his own (as long as she allowed it, of course) and could even feel when I called him through our bond. "Hey bud," I told him casually as I scritched under his chin. "I need a bird's eye view, do me a favor and take a lap?"


He trilled, then took off into the air. As he did, I got a good look at the sky above for the first time. It looked weird. I could see the lines of fire crisscrossing the atmosphere, but there were dim and further apart than I'd expected. I frowned at them, but after a moment of thought I got it. The interior of the defenses was spatially expanded. The WHOLE planet. That was really impressive, especially since I was positive the buildings would still be enlarged.


The sky was a gorgeous unearthly purple, shot through with thin strips of red, and between those I could see planets and stars, whole galaxies spinning through space. I wasn't sure what was causing that effect, if it was the spatial expansion or just the local interstellar layout, but it was very distracting. It took me a moment to focus on Archie and push my vision through the bond so I could see through his eyes.


"So, we're in some kind of…hill range? On either side of it there seems to be empty space, almost to the horizon. But I do see what looks like trees in one direction and in the other…maybe rocks? This would be the equatorial ring, I guess. But we need to head for one of the poles and I don't know which one. Nat, spot me a scroll?"


Now that we were here, some of the prohibitions against using each other's wishes weren't as important. But at the same time, we needed to save them, because we'd be dealing with an endless number of possible wish problems and we needed wishes to counter wishes. But we needed a heading, and the most reasonable way to do that was a wish. Nat had way less stats than I did so her scrolls were less valuable. I pulled out a D-ranked chit, making a quick and easy wish, and with a flash, I was holding a compass that didn't point north.


Or it did. But only because north was the right way. I didn't actually know which way was north, I'd always been bad with directions. I shared my thoughts with my wife, and she just shrugged. "I mean, we're heading for one of the poles of the planet, so realistically, we have a fifty fifty chance of going north."


Bethy perked up. "But what if they don't even HAVE the word north here? What if we're inventing cardinal directions, and by choosing one now, we're creating north for the first time, and our actions will decide the fate of this entire planet!" Her eyes were shining and her fists were clenched tight as she got more and more excited.


My sister rolled her eyes. "Bethy, cardinal directions DO exist here. The people here are all from the WCP originally. They HAVE north in the WCP."


The vampire pouted. "Buzzkill. I was gonna be the savior of the world. Saving them from bad directions. But now im just a boring direction follower. You made me a nerd. Only nerds follow directions. Or eat broccoli."


"I'm not having this argument with you again," Chelsea said acidly. You can't JUST drink blood and eat candy. It's bad for you. It is not NERDY to ask you to eat vegetables sometimes. Or to eat them myself."


"Yuh huh," Bethy said stubbornly. "Because carrots make your eyes better, and if you eat vegetables but not carrots you're going to have bad vision and end up with glasses and that makes you a nerd. That's just science."


Benny looked up sharply. "That is NOT science. It is, in fact, the opposite of science."


"Really," Bethy said archly. "Because I thought the opposite of science was doing the same exact actions over and over again to totally random and unrepeatable results and learning nothing that impact future applications of information."


We all turned to stare at her, and Benny staggered back as if struck. "That's…shut up! It's MAD science. It's different!" He looked around at us imploringly. "Right? Tell her it's different."


I rolled my eyes, turning to orient on the arrow and then headed away from the group at a leisurely stroll. The others followed, my best friend having a minor existential crisis as he tried to explain away the complete invalidation of his entire life's work so far.


"Like it IS still science," he was saying defensively. "I have to identify what materials do and how they interact to combine them to make things. And the better I get the more control I have."


Jessie hummed in disagreement. "I mean, it's not really the same thing. You're cheating with soul strength. You're MAKING the results do a certain thing. That's not science. In fact, it's almost magic. Which IS the opposite of science."


I rolled my eyes. "Bethy, do not slowly erode Benny's sanity by exploiting information you've gathered over years of knowing him. Jessie, don't pile on. Benny, powers are bullshit, get over it. Now can we FOCUS please, because I have some concerns about our game plan going forward, and I'd like some feedback. Namely, should we let all the others out of Bethy's domain or leave them in as a last resort."


Abel snickered. "I was looking forward to watching him slowly unravel. At least it means she isn't doing it to me. But you make a good point. What are you leaning toward?"


"Keeping them in," I shrugged. It seems like a good ace in the hole. But then again, if we do we're leaving ourselves open if any other candidates landed nearby and spot us. They might target us for looking like easy prey, and honestly I'd prefer to avoid a straight conflict for as long as possible, since we don't have any of our scrolls prepped and even if we GET them prepped we'd be wasting them."


Abel hummed. "I'd say that it's probably safer to travel in force. If there are more of us, we're less likely to have to fight since we'll scare off scavengers."


"Or DRAW them," my sister pointed out archly. "More people are more noticeable. I say we keep them in and Shane cranks his Murmur domain to cover out movements." She glanced around worriedly. "I don't like being so exposed with so many enemies falling to earth possibly nearby."


"That's a good idea actually," I mused. "I didn't consider cover on top of minimizing our footprint. Everyone get in close so I can cloak us."


They all did, drawing near so I could trigger Murmur. It hummed to life easily, the domain slowly wiping all traces of us from the face of the planet as it worked. The first to go were the obvious traces, like footprints and ground disturbance, and without that, I didn't think we really needed much more obfuscation in the middle of nowhere like this.


We set off, following the compass, and as we did, I started thinking out loud. "Alright. So we need to get to the C-rank area. But before that, we need to get THROUGH the D-rank area, and possibly do some local recruiting. The local forces in the different zones have connections higher up, so recruiting someone lower down is a good way to get invitations to consult with the big players."


"But that assumes we can actually connect with them easily," my wife cut in. With the C-rankers, we might have an easier time, since our forces will be there interacting with them over time building rapport. Down here we're flying blind, and we need a way to differentiate ourselves from the other candidates."


"We have exactly one of those," I said grimly. "Combat power. We've got more muscle than any other candidate. Me personally, but also Bethy, Abel, and now Callie. Not to mention the Chelsea, the Angels, Gabe, and the animals. We have a ton of top tier combat power."


Callie shook her head. "I'm not sure the difference is as big as we'd like at this level. All of these candidates have been raising their strongest fighters on a steady diet of wish juice for years. Bethy and Abel might be leagues beyond them, but they probably have people at about the same level as the rest of us. Our biggest advantage isn't Bethy or Abel though, it's YOU. You're unique among the candidates. Having two abilities makes you a force in your own right, which means you can do things they can't.


"What that means is that factions entirely predicated on martial strength will be more disposed to you, since you're both our leader AND a strong combatant," she said brightly. "We just need to find strong factions who prioritize combat and you can prove yourself in battle, winning them over for us."


I hummed in interest. "That's a good idea too. And for ones that are just pure strength without caring about leaders, we can have Abel kick their asses. But we need to FIND some of them first. I didn't see any cities or anything. This planet is big. We have a heading to the proper destination, but who knows when we'll intersect with any locals along that line. Not to mention the succession war. We're supposed to start getting tas-"


My voice cut off as a scroll, appearing in a puff of purple fire and unrolling in the air. "Ok…does everyone else see that?" I asked slowly. "Because I'm pretty used to those being invisible to everyone else, but this is…new."


"Announcement: The Mammoth Hunt Begins! All candidates will compete to see who can slay the most mountain mammoths. Mammoth kills will be tallied as points that can be put towards prizes at the end of the competition. Remember, even if you lose the war, you can still win the battle. For resources. Now onward heirs of the palace, to victory! Hint: Look down."


"Not just you," Callie confirmed. "Though I'm not sure what it means. Especially the end. What does it mean, look down?"


I shrugged. "Who knows. We need to find some mountain mamm-" I paused, a slow dread creeping into my gut. "Mountain Mammoth," I said again, chewing on the word as I slowly started backing down the hill. "Do you think the mammoth might BE a mountain, rather than be ON a mountain?"


Everyone else paled, looking down as I turned and triggered my waltz, wings extending. Callie took off in a blur, and everyone else scattered just as the ground started to shake, and the massive hills around us began to move. It wasn't all of them. Just several. But I was still blown away by how fucking BIG they were.


Everyone joined back up near me, reconvening under the Murmur domain as we watched the former hill we'd been standing on raise its giant earthen trunk to the sky and trumpet its fury. "I don't think avoiding notice will be an option," I said dryly. As the chorus of other mammoths joined in with the roar, I sighed. Fucking WCP never made things easy.