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

[MichaelSuave]

So. Just because they found the stone lions, doesn't mean that was the only surprise waiting for them... or does it?

 

[Malcolm Tent]

So. Just because they found the stone lions, doesn't mean that was the only surprise waiting for them... or does it?

Click to shrink...

That'll be addressed actually, but

Spoiler

it's the only surprise from the undertrek at least

 

[Bezarius]

Planting my staff for stability, I bent my knees, and then I activated my new form. "Goetia staff art third form." I intoned. "Mornax." The legend of the minotaur demon known for his invincibility had spoken to me for the defensive form, and as I felt myself shift, I knew it had been a perfect fit.

Click to shrink...

The name of the Ars Goetia was Morax, not Mornax, is it a typo?

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The name of the Ars Goetia was Morax, not Mornax, is it a typo?

Click to shrink...

More of a misread on my part, I'll have my editor fix it in post lmao.

 

[Lone-sith]

This is peak

 

[BJJPanda]

Couldn't the light soul strain been a form of training?

 

[MichaelSuave]

My vote on camden's traitor, the butler did it!

 

[TRm]

Okay, I finished reading volume 3 earlier today and am very much looking forward to seeing what comes next from the way things ended; the cahracter synamics were as fun as a remembered and the chemistry with Callie felt built up well.

 

[Lone-sith]

Damn, he did do it

 

[MichaelSuave]

Last paragraph, stepping INside, not stepping side. Good story still.

 

[Mastersenseinewby]

That's a first, I don't think i ever read about a relationship going this direction it's usually already married or never going past boyfriend and girlfriend

 

[Lone-sith]

Awwwwwwwe I love them so much

 

[BJJPanda]

I need an interlude of Shane playing Doom sovereign and destroying everything, I thought we would get one ages ago. Also, I gotta say it doesn't feel like his skill becoming an ability did much

 

[Lone-sith]

Lovely, great grandma is an opp

 

[Bezarius]

I love it when a plan comes together.

 

[MichaelSuave]

I am very glad to see something go pretty well and close to plan, showing off the power of wishes and thorough planning. So many times authors have to play the DragonBall z game of his power just evolved and everything went to shit the badguy never really dies... thank you for writing with quality and not doing that.

 

[Lone-sith]

Omg omg my goat zeke is so going for to fuck him up. Let's goooo

 

[Bezarius]

Is this what Zeke finally needed to get to A Rank?
His comeback as Janus?

 

[Lone-sith]

Is this what Zeke finally needed to get to A Rank?
His comeback as Janus?

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I really think so. Also let's not forget that we have the daughter of the Vampire here. That's another safety net

 

[koya]

Do we know who his son supposed to be, or is something that is coming up in-story? I mean, my only choice for recent deaths that Shane was involved in is that Magister Weston guy, but I thought that was technically Callen that got the last blow in.

 

[Lone-sith]

Do we know who his son supposed to be, or is something that is coming up in-story? I mean, my only choice for recent deaths that Shane was involved in is that Magister Weston guy, but I thought that was technically Callen that got the last blow in.

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His son is Spencer

 

[koya]

Yeah, but Spencer died just now, I figured there wasn't an A ranker on planet and would normally take some time for one to arrive.

Oh well, I guess he could have arrived with Spencer months ago and just hidden himself or something.

 

[Quenster06]

Yeah, but Spencer died just now, I figured there wasn't an A ranker on planet and would normally take some time for one to arrive.

Oh well, I guess he could have arrived with Spencer months ago and just hidden himself or something.

Click to shrink...

There is already an internal dialog about this.

In fact, judging by how strong A-rankers were and their sheer stat value, combined with how long it took him to get here, he might have come from another PLANET when he found out his son had been killed.

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You alright, friend? Because you seem to be having some trouble keeping up with this chapter.

 

[koya]

Nah, that's fine, I think I was assuming that he was thinking 'it took a long while' i.e. "it's been a few weeks since the death" rather than 'wow, it didn't take any time at all' i.e "we just killed the guy, how did he show up so fast?" since the offplanet thing was explicitly brought up.

It was probably just subconscious assumption that even A rankers can't just jump planets willy nilly, guess I was wrong.

 

[chrnno]

It was probably just subconscious assumption that even A rankers can't just jump planets willy nilly, guess I was wrong.

Click to shrink...

You might be right anyway. This guy and his son clearly got lost on the way to a typical Xianxia story so for all we know he lives his life just waiting for the moment some child or disciple of him inevitably gets killed so he can have the time of his live by jumping in, claiming face, and telling people they are courting death.

 

[Bezarius]

Zeke is definitely one of my favorite character from this story. Best uncle too, strong, helpful, and have a good carong relationship with Shane.

As if stating an afterthought, he tossed one last comment over his shoulder. "Oh, by the way. Forming a Chronicle isn't something just anyone can do. The more perfected the Skill your Solid Path is based on the better your chances of managing." He stopped talking, teeth snapping shut so loudly I heard it from where I was sitting.

Click to shrink...

This will be helpful for Shane to build up his DS skill to be more solid.

 

[Mastersenseinewby]

I'm looking forward to Shane to drop kick his father in the face

 

[MichaelSuave]

The Cult is definitely going to either invade or just attack at the wedding... because we aren't allowed to have nice things.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Four months went by faster than I'd expected. Our last journey had been almost eternal in comparison, probably because aside from wishes I hadn't really done much training at all. I'd just…lived. Spent time with Callie, gotten to know my sister. The small bit of actual training I'd done had mostly been fun stuff like the occasional spar with Abel or Gabe or Bethy.

Benny had spent most of his time with Celine, not that I blamed him, though he did join us for some of the sparring sessions when he was free. It was peaceful and, as I slowly came to realize, necessary.

The Empire had been a great experience and one that had taught me quite a bit, but it had also been extremely draining. Constant learning and fighting. We'd been given our own armies basically (we'd rented them to Nat while we were gone for forty D-rank chits which Celine had footed the bill for, leaving me at eighty and Callie at twenty) learned to command them, fought against some terrifying people, and even killed a D-ranker.

After all that, taking a few months to decompress and relax was just what the doctor ordered,our month of downtime before leaving was nice, but it still felt…fraught. The journey was just that. A journey. Nothing we had to concern ourselves with.

Now we were finally arriving, and it was sad to see an end to all the leisure time, even if the thought of what was coming was both exciting and terrifying. Which was how I found myself standing next to Callie and Chelsea in the same room we'd used to view Zeke's fight with the elven archer all those months ago.

"So…that's Tricorn huh?" I asked, staring at the colossal three cornered continent floating in space. "It reminds me of the bazaar we went to for the moonsong glade."

"Not even close." Said Zeke as he stepped up next to me. "Tricorn is a permanent structure, unlike the bazaar. It's C-ranked, like Stratholme, and is considered one of the most integral trade hubs in the five faction alliance. It sits on the corner of Church, Fairyland, and Imperial territory. This is where some of the most important business in the universe gets done."

I nodded. "I can understand the need for a place like this, since all the most powerful artifacts and objects are made and sold in galactic centers where forces have the strongest grip. What about the WCP?"

"Not really a factor." He shrugged. "The WCP exists across faction lines, and are sort of an alternative to this kind of place. You'll note that the Cult and the Conglomerate aren't connected, and while they have people here too, their presence is less solidified. Not to mention all of this is monitored by the main governmental entities of the three factions, which means it all has to be legal."

That was one thing about the WCP that hadn't sat well with me at first. The whole 'criminal' vibe. We weren't, really, we were just pretty much unbound by any ethical or moral restrictions, which lots of people claimed was criminal because of the stigma. Still not ideal, but we weren't breaking any laws most of the time, at least that I'd seen. The reminder that some aspects of the organization was extralegal wasn't exactly a welcome one.

I took a long breath. "I think I might try to change that aspect of things. Not completely, granted, because we need the networks to function, but trying to limit the activities of the Palace a bit might endear us more to other forces."

Zeke just chuckled. "Won't work kid. Sorry." At my confused glance, he just shook his head. "The standing Wishmaster isn't really the leader of the WCP. I mean, he is, but not unilaterally. The position is there to help a promising talent rise quickly by way of entry to the Unlucky 13. Everyone on the Unlucky 13 is an up and comer who needs the renown to grow."

"Wait." I said, crestfallen. "So I won't be able to change things? I can't fix the cuckoo bird bullshit that the family does?"

He waggled a hand. "That you might be able to swing. It's related to the candidacy and as the Wishmaster your say over matters of selection for the next round is pretty much absolute. But stuff like instituting wide reaching trade and political engagement policies? That has to go through the council."

"The council of….?" I said, having not heard anything about this before.

"Elders." He said with a shrug. "Branch leaders one and all. The S-rankers, both family and close associates. They're the strongest forces in the clan outside the old man, and we don't really bother him if we can help it."

Something about that caught my interest. "Wait…not all the S-rankers in the clan are family?"

"Of course not." He snorted. "The Wyndhams have the wish ability. Think about Benny, about me. Our clan has the most advantage in creating powerful Ascendants. Only half of the council are Wyndhams. The other half are close friends and proven associates. All under geasa to ensure loyalty, of course, but not particularly restrictive ones."

I knew there were only about a hundred S-rankers in the universe, at least ones that we'd been able to dig up information about, and knowing we had a whole council of them really shed light on how we were able to keep our autonomy despite not having our own territory.

Then again, I didn't know a lot of things, and it had been implied before that some of the clans had their own S-rankers who had retreated from public view for one reason or another, presumably to make the attempt at godhood. How many demi-gods like Morgan Lark were out there?

Come to think of it, how did that even work? Impact was the necessary step to reach godhood. I couldn't imagine how much you'd need to spend trying to acquire more than five hundred points of Impact. Was regular renown even necessary after S-rank? Was that why most of them faded into the background?

I felt a soft bop on my head, and turned to see Callie smiling patiently at me. "Chit for your thoughts?" She said casually.

"Sorry." I said, shaking my head. "Didn't mean to space out." I glanced at the stars outside the viewing panel. "I mean…get distracted. I was just thinking about how big the universe is. Tricorn is huge, but it's nowhere near as big of important as some of the central planets. The galactic centers have main planets right? A-rank worlds?"

Zeke shook his head. "No need to worry about that. It won't be relevant to you for quite some time. Just focus on Tricorn, and why we're here." He pointed out into space where I saw other ships slowly fading into view. White and gold monoliths, dark metal monstrosities, red steel beasts, and dozens of other strange and spellbinding transports I couldn't even put words to.

"That's a lot of expensive ships." Said Zeke. "The Necromedes is a total boondoggle and some of those are even worse. No Saintships, thankfully,. Apparently even the faction leaders have enough common sense not to dangle an entire ship made of S-rank material out in the middle of space."

Killian stepped up on his other side. "The wealth on display there is worth more than one or two Saintships from an objective standpoint. Though no one would be willing to piss off that many high ranking faction members from that many forces. There are S-rankers on board I'm sure. The gods will have sent their best."

"Old man Anders is here." Zeke grimaced. "Sasha warned me before I showed up. He's never liked me much. Always considered Eli and I a bad influence. Not that he's going to do much about it here. Good to know ahead of time though."

My head jerked up. "M-My friend Chelsea's grandpa is here?" I said, catching myself before I blurted out something stupid. "That's…interesting. What about mine?"

"Malachai didn't come." He said with a sigh. "Which is a shame, because we could have used a friendly face. They sent Harrison. He's the youngest branch clan leader. Aiden's father. He likes to think that gives him a lot of influence, even though it doesn't."

Aiden was the name of the current Wishmaster, the one who was retiring to make way for whoever won my candidate selection. "Is he…like an enemy of ours?" I said carefully.

He waggled a hand. "He's not a friend. But not an enemy. I don't think he's going to try anything in such a serious situation. As the only witnesses to what happened in the Aetherbright Academy, you'll be expected to testify. We passed on everything you told us, but the bigwigs want to question you themselves."

I nodded, letting out a long breath. "Do we know who is coming from every faction? Or just those two?" I wanted to be as prepared as possible for what was coming, even if that wasn't going to be all that much in the grand scheme of things.

"No idea." Shrugged Zeke. "And they won't be here yet anyway. We made good time, we're still about a week out from the start date. You can do some shopping and make inroads with some of the other visiting factions. Maybe meet up with some old friends. I suspect several of the people you met during the Moonsong Glade incident will be present, since it's related."

I turned back to stare out at the rapidly approaching continent, and I felt Callie take my hand and give it a squeeze. It was a lot, but at the same time, knowing we'd be seeing old friends was definitely a bonus.

"What about independents?" I asked, realizing I hadn't really thought to ask. I knew they existed. The Vampire was one, and there were more than a few unaffiliated clans, like smaller versions of the WCP, that I'd learned about recently. "Are they going to have representation here?" That would be yet another powerful person I'd have to deal with meeting.

Grinning, Zeke raised a hand, pointing out the panel and into the distance. I blinked in shock at the sight of a familiar floating black metal coffin in space.

Bethy, who had just gotten to us, saw what he was pointing at and squealed with joy, bouncing up and down in place. "Daddy's here!" She cheered. "I can't wait to tell him all about my time in the army. I was the best soldier ever, he's going to be so proud!"

I was unsure Bethy had even technically BEEN a soldier, though I certainly wasn't the one who was going to tell her so. I was more worried about why the Vampire had made an appearance. Was he some kind of de facto leader for the independents?

Whatever the reason, I couldn't imagine his presence was going to have a pacifying effect on things. The gods had sent their strongest, but they were all still just S-rankers. Morgan Lark was the closest being to godhood, able to take on even a deity (albeit a young one) in pitched combat and come out ahead.

Him being here signified both how seriously everyone was taking this and how dangerous it was going to be. I knew the Vampire hated being sucked into politics and tried to avoid interacting with anyone.

Was he here because of the danger? The opportunity to fight unknown gods? I knew he could siphon stats. Could he drain a god's Impact to help himself ascend. Would they allow him a position among the factions if it meant getting his support? This was all way above my paygrade, but I knew it would be important in the future.

Regardless of all that though, I knew that this conclave was going to be a mess. This many high rankers and children and disciples of gods? The winds of fate around this place would be whipped into a frenzy, it would be like my life times a million. I just hoped they were all ready for it. I was sure I would be. I didn't have a choice.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Stepping back onto a suppressed landmass after four months on the Necromedes was a bit jarring, but we adapted much faster than the last time. "This place is…big." I said in awe. The continent was triangular, with each of the three main factions taking up a corner. The Church, The Empire, and the Fairyland. Each of them had their own section of town, and we were headed for the first.

"I can't wait to see mom!" Gushed Chelsea, pulling me along. "She's going to be so jealous I found out about the wedding first!" Zeke trailed behind us, eyes scanning the crowds lazily as if expecting an attack. I hadn't seen him this tense outside combat.

Laughing, I pulled back, forcing her to slow down. "Might be a good idea to bring my fiance along instead of leaving her to get lost in the crowd."

"Thanks." Callie said as she caught up to us. "Inhuman speed is less useful in a crowd like this. Is there a way to clear a path?" She looked uncomfortable around so many powerful Ascendants, and I didn't blame her. Everyone nearby was at LEAST E-rank, and I counted more masters than hairs on my head.

Zeke shook his head. "Not smart." He admitted. "I could probably make a hole, but these are faction elites. Chances of one of them having a spare Arch-Bishop or Duke kicking around aren't low, and I'm pretty new to this rank."

Benny jumped, spinning around with his hands coming up in a fighting stance. "Someone just tried to pick my pocket." He patted his pants and then pulled out a small rectangle. "Wait, no they put something into my pocket." He squinted at. "Karen Carllson's Kidney Collection." Grimacing, he shredded the card and dropped it on the ground. The paper turned to ash on contact, and a small lightning bolt leapt up and shocked Benny who leapt back with a yelp. "What the fuck?"

"Anti-littering enchantment." Said Zeke boredly. "Maybe don't drop your trash on giant continents co-owned by literal deities."

Benny glared at him. "You could have warned me?"

"I guess so." Said my uncle innocently. "I could also warn you that fire is hot or that you can't breathe underwater. Some things should be common sense."

I rolled my eyes, stepping between them. "Alright that's enough. Zeke is messing with you. Any of us could have made that same mistake." I paused. "I mean, we didn't, so we're definitely all going to make fun of you for it, but we could have. Thank you for your sacrifice."

"That started out so nice too." Sighed Callie. "Can we get going? I'm super nervous about this meeting." She picked at her sleeves. "Like I know she liked me fine last time, but this is totally different." She cut off, not wanting to mention my family relation directly out in the open like this. I put an arm around her as we started walking again.

"It'll be fine." I told her, giving her a squeeze with the arm I had over her shoulder. "I can't think of anyone who wouldn't be excited to have you in their family."

Chelsea grabbed her other arm. "Definitely. You're awesome. Isn't she Callen?" She glanced at her D-rank guard, who nodded lazily, not bothering to speak. The big bearded swordsman wasn't one for chatter. Gabe would have been more verbose, but he'd gone with Bethy to see her father.

That left me, Jessie, Callie, Benny, Celine, Abel, Mel, Chelsea, Zeke, and Callen. Plus assorted pets. Specifically Chalk and Randall. Ten people. It was objectively a decent sized group, but somehow it felt…small. Incomplete. Nat and Valk were missing, and they'd been a part of us. It seemed wrong.

We chattered for a while, talking about nothing, and I kept an eye on our surroundings, taking things in. As we moved toward a corner, the streets eventually started to change. Not that it was a short trip. The Tricorn was huge, and we had to take large public conveyances I hesitated to think of as busses (they were so fancy) more than a few times on the way.

Soon enough though, the streets started to change. The buildings got fancier, the construction materials used leaned more towards white stone and gold trim, with lots of columns and intricate scrollwork. Somehow I knew this was Church territory without asking.

"It's just like home!" My sister beamed. "Oh I missed the architecture. Grandpa's palace has the most lovely atrium, full of beautiful plants and wonderful fountains. The whole place is a karmic gathering formation the Judgement Pope designed for him and it's supposed to bring good luck to people who walk through it."

I couldn't even imagine what something like that was probably worth. Considering the very brief limited good luck wish back in the scavenger hunt had been so pricey…I supposed it was harder to do things like that to more powerful Ascendants and in more powerful places, but still.

"Is his palace one of those places on higher ranked worlds where the Impact is blunted to let lower rankers walk around?" I asked curiously. "If you spent a lot of time there I'd assume he made arrangements."

She shook her head. "No, that was considered a security risk. I had minders growing up who escorted me. You can use your own Impact to shield someone nearby from the pressure if you've practiced it. Sometimes it was mom, sometimes it was others. We did have our own manor in a lightened section of the city though."

It fascinated me to hear these little tidbits about Chelsea's life growing up. I'd heard some here and there, but she tried to avoid bringing up stuff like this because she worried I'd be jealous. I'd mostly moved past that though, the engagement helped put a lot of things in perspective. If I hadn't had my life I wouldn't be who or what I am now, and that sounded pretty terrible to me.

Finally, we stopped in front of a particularly fancy looking building. Chelsea checked…something on the building and then nodded. "This is it. She'll be here."

I was curious how that worked. "How can you tell where she is just by looking at the building? Is there some kind of energy signature there I can't detect?" It would be useful to know more about how that worked in case we ever had to come back on our own.

"Nope." She said cheerfully. "It's the building itself." She pointed up at the facade, where I could see the delicate scrollwork that graced all the buildings nearby. "Those little stylistic flourishes look decorative, but they're actually carefully constructed and contain messages. It's an identifier that shows what the building is for and instructions on its usage. They're a bit complicated, and they change based on a variety of factors, but knowing how to read them makes it easier to identify important strategic locations."

That sounded…complicated. "And you use these back in the Holy Dominion?" I wasn't sure why anyone would need a system like that in a protected location.

Sure enough, she shook her head. "No, only in battlefield conditions. But mom insisted I learn to read facades before I went to the Ruined Soul Temple. It's standard procedure for important officials or their family members when leaving the dominion. If you want I can teach you later, I find a lot of the symbolism fascinating."

"That sounds fun." I agreed. "We're going to be here for a while probably, so being able to navigate would be helpful, not to mention it might come in handy in the future."

Chelsea beamed at me before heading for the entrance to the building. As she approached, there was a flare of light, and a pair of lightly armored guards (both D-rankers) were suddenly standing there. "State your purpose." One of them intoned.

"Chelsea Anders." My sister said confidently. "Here to see the Saintess."

I was pretty amazed at the two guards. Not because of their ranks, I'd seen D-rankers before, but because from what little I'd just seen they used stealth in a way I hadn't seen before. I knew objectively that stealth wasn't really elemental. It was the erasure of Perception from the senses of others to allow you to move unseen.

That said, the method of that erasure tended to be flavored by certain external characteristics. When Callie used stealth she did it with the mental image of cloaking herself in shadow, as did I because the stealth I used was hers.
The guards, however, clearly used a stealth based on LIGHT. The flash had been them allowing themselves to be seen. They bent the light around them to remove themselves from visibility. How that worked with sound or other senses I had no idea, but then, I didn't really get how darkness could do it either, it just kind of did.

The whole thing made me seriously reconsider a lot of things about stealth. Rather than a discrete Skill, it seemed stealth was more of a meta Skill, a way of applying other Skills you had similar to a manipulation Skill like Callie had. I wondered how many other ways there were to erase presence, and if there was just a basic application of the stealth skill unflavored by others.

My sister, while I was having this epiphany, had approached the guards and handed them some papers to prove her identity. They had a quick back and forth before the guards retreated, allowing her inside, the rest of us on her heels.

When we passed the threshold we found ourselves inside a colossal palace, decorated in austere white and gold. "What was that about?" I asked as we followed Chelsea down a large hall she turned us into. "Why would mom need guards, especially D-rankers?"

"She wouldn't." Said my sister cheerfully. "But in order to confuse anyone trying to find and bother her, the Church put guards on every building in this district. D-rankers were the most plentiful pool of troops to draw from. If there were D-rank guards outside this building and no others it would be too obvious."

Callie blinked at her from where she'd been taking all of this in. "Wait…your mom assigned dozens if not hundreds of MASTERS to guard duty so no one would notice she was under protection and bother her?"

"Of course." Said my sister in confusion. "She's meeting with her children. Family time is important, especially since we just got Shane back. Oh, and you can all talk freely here. No one can eavesdrop with mom here, at least not without her knowing about it. Now come on, she's probably waiting for us."

At one time I might have asked how she would know we were coming, but I knew that well enough by now. She was an A-ranker. I only barely had an idea of what that entailed or the sheer volume of stats (not to mention the methods to apply them) A-rankers had. I'd seen a glimpse of it when watching Zeke fight, but I knew my uncle was much subtler than most of his peers.

Finally, we came to a doorway that led out into a large open courtyard. Above us stretched a blue sky that shouldn't be there, trees surrounded us and birds sang sweetly in the branches. My mother sat at a table near a small pond, set with plates heaped with sandwiches and other foods.

She beamed at Chelsea and me when we came in, and I felt…warm. Seeing her so happy to see us was new to me, but not unpleasant. I was still a bit conflicted about my mom, but nearly a year of time to reflect and contemplate the things I had in my life had allowed me to put everything in perspective.

Walking over I dropped into one of the chairs, Chelsea and Callie sitting on either side as I grinned at my mother, deciding to remove my mask completely rather than retracting the mouth. Raising an eyebrow at her, I simply asked. "Hey ma, what's for lunch?" I guessed there was more than one way to feel like you were home.