Chapter 714
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Chapter 714
Within the space behind space, Anton continued to observe the synchronized cultivation of a planet. It was beautiful, really. And as far as he could tell, mutually beneficial to all involved. Perhaps some would benefit more than others, but this wasnt more powerful cultivators drawing from the weak to promote their own interests.
Then after another few days, Anton got to see people in action. The circumstances werent what he might have wanted but danger came to the world, and the world responded.
Anton almost didnt notice it. In a way, it was more difficult to pick out the thing swimming through the void from this side. And when he looked at it nothing was right. His mind refused to accept the distortion beast, more real here but still not something that made sense. It was lines and angles, strange shapes of muscle, and bone. Spikes and teeth and internal organs that he could feel both the internals and externals of at the same time. Long tentacles that seemed to bend but might have also been straight.
It was right on top of the planet when Anton noticed it, descending towards it by the time he was able to comprehend it.
He more felt than saw a streak of absolute cold rising into the sky. First one, but immediately followed by dozens more. Arrows of ice, from which cold spread in strange and disturbing ways throughout the creature. Anton would swear that some of the arrows that hit the front spread chill to the back of the thing, and he was almost certain that had nothing to do with the techniques of the archer. Almost.
The first thing Anton was certain of was that this archer was wielding power beyond Life Transformation. That was true even during the opening volley, after which the planet responded and he felt energy flowing to empower this individual. Ice arrows repeatedly struck the mass of the distortion beast, and seemingly locked in a physical position it was lacking one of its main threats. However, it was durable and continued to reach closer to the planet, extending tendrils dozens of kilometers long as it entered the atmosphere, continuously stretching without the mass seeming to come from anywhere.
The archer continued to attack the creature, especially its intruding tendrils. But it wasnt going to be enough. When one fell, two more approached- sometimes literally, as severing the appendages of the creature didnt always result in there being less of them.
Well, he hadnt wanted to interfere but Anton wasnt the sort who could stand by when innocent people were in danger. Revealing himself might harm future prospects, or it might help- but Anton wasnt considering either when he acted.
In this place, without direct access to his stars, his power was limited. But he still had Fleeting Youth and his alternate energies. Ascension energy was still within his grasp- if slightly muted- and spectral energy was not limited in any way.
He added his own attacks, solar flames burning away outstretched limbs. This wasnt a battle for victory, as he was quite certain the distortion beast would perish regardless. This was to save every life they could. Hopefully the falling pieces of the creature wouldnt damage anything important.
Spectral energy formed arrows aimed for the core of the creature. Anton knew it didnt have a proper outside and inside, so he just focused on what seemed like it might cause the most damage. Organs that might be important, somehow, or anything that looked like an effective weapon.
The distortion beast quickly recognized the danger it was in, seemingly wishing to withdraw. But while it was easier for it to attack those already mostly in the same space as itself, it was also more difficult for such a thing to withdraw. Even as it twisted and turned inside out, its momentum suddenly reversed, Anton and the other archer continued their assault until the thing seemed to be dead. Anton stopped firing at the same time as the other archer.
At some point, Anton had discovered their moons- nearly devoid of natural energy, and not reflecting any significant amount of light. His shot went past one before fading away completely- his attacks werent much good at such a distance, but that was about the limit of controlling any sort of energy. It was quite significant.
Nalinis shot didnt quite make it to the moon, at least not with any energy on it. The arrow did in fact hit the moon, as she had a physical component underneath and nothing was going to stop the momentum unless it was acted upon. Anton couldnt be fully certain if that was her limit or she was holding back. Without any real communication, determining trust or deception was difficult.
Anton held a little bit of sunlight in one hand, pointing to the vague images of stars back in normal space. This was what he cultivated.
Nalini spread out her palm and showed nothing. But a quite cold nothing. She gestured broadly around them. The near absolute zero of space, perhaps.
Anton carefully reached out above her hand, watching Nalini as he did so. He felt no aggression from her, but he didnt want to get hurt on accident either. Rather than suddenly feeling cold, instead he felt the heat drawing away from him as his hand got closer. That would explain how the pieces of the distortion beast had frozen so quickly. As it almost had to be for a high tier ice ability, it was an active freezing rather than a passive. A drawing in of heat, instead of simply having an area of cold that would have to chill surrounding areas based on their thermal conductivity. Cold had an absolute limit, after all- so there was also a limit to what it could do in normal circumstances.
Heat had no such limits, but that was also what made it dangerous. Anton was quite certain his body could have handled a few hours near absolute zero before he achieved Assimilation, but hed almost burned himself to a crisp. Actual absolute zero was another question, because matter itself started to break down at extremely low temperatures. He didnt study it as much as he did heat, but he understood some of the details.
Anton was glad to finish the interaction without anyone getting attacked. He felt that Nalini was cautious, but ultimately friendly. And in this place, she should be significantly stronger than him. That was without considering allies. Would she be alone at her stage, or were there others like her?
Anton pointed to himself, and to his ears and mouth, gesturing at the cities around them. Could he continue to stay to learn the language? Or should he leave? Nalini was slow to respond. She reached out towards his energy bow, slowly squeezing it out of existence. Anton didnt really fight that. Nalini dusted off her hands and nodded to him.
Right, so he could probably stay. But no violence. That was perfectly acceptable to Anton.
Anton could have left and returned later- perhaps with some Ruteran translation technology. But he couldnt be certain to find this place again. It was on a fairly understandable trajectory, but if he was even a tiny fraction off in his estimates and more than a few days passed it could be gone forever. No, he thought it was best to make sure he took the chance while he had it. And while it might not help people directly, the knowledge of this places existence would be of great interest to many.
Then there was the possibility that they were trapped here, and if so Anton could help. Having to face distortion beasts, it wasnt like they were living in some sort of idyllic paradise. Had they chosen to be here? Did the current generations have that same choice, and share the same opinions? Just because they had made themselves able to live on with what they had didnt mean this was how things should be.
Every day, he felt the same flows of cultivation, from the smallest villages through the towns and into the large cities- and then back, filling the people. The plants were nourished less directly, but Anton couldnt say his understanding of how to raise crops translated to a planet such as this. So he wasnt going to even attempt to touch them until he could speak to people and ask them about it.
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Chapter 714
Within the space behind space, Anton continued to observe the synchronized cultivation of a planet. It was beautiful, really. And as far as he could tell, mutually beneficial to all involved. Perhaps some would benefit more than others, but this wasnt more powerful cultivators drawing from the weak to promote their own interests.
Then after another few days, Anton got to see people in action. The circumstances werent what he might have wanted but danger came to the world, and the world responded.
Anton almost didnt notice it. In a way, it was more difficult to pick out the thing swimming through the void from this side. And when he looked at it nothing was right. His mind refused to accept the distortion beast, more real here but still not something that made sense. It was lines and angles, strange shapes of muscle, and bone. Spikes and teeth and internal organs that he could feel both the internals and externals of at the same time. Long tentacles that seemed to bend but might have also been straight.
It was right on top of the planet when Anton noticed it, descending towards it by the time he was able to comprehend it.
He more felt than saw a streak of absolute cold rising into the sky. First one, but immediately followed by dozens more. Arrows of ice, from which cold spread in strange and disturbing ways throughout the creature. Anton would swear that some of the arrows that hit the front spread chill to the back of the thing, and he was almost certain that had nothing to do with the techniques of the archer. Almost.
The first thing Anton was certain of was that this archer was wielding power beyond Life Transformation. That was true even during the opening volley, after which the planet responded and he felt energy flowing to empower this individual. Ice arrows repeatedly struck the mass of the distortion beast, and seemingly locked in a physical position it was lacking one of its main threats. However, it was durable and continued to reach closer to the planet, extending tendrils dozens of kilometers long as it entered the atmosphere, continuously stretching without the mass seeming to come from anywhere.
The archer continued to attack the creature, especially its intruding tendrils. But it wasnt going to be enough. When one fell, two more approached- sometimes literally, as severing the appendages of the creature didnt always result in there being less of them.
Well, he hadnt wanted to interfere but Anton wasnt the sort who could stand by when innocent people were in danger. Revealing himself might harm future prospects, or it might help- but Anton wasnt considering either when he acted.
In this place, without direct access to his stars, his power was limited. But he still had Fleeting Youth and his alternate energies. Ascension energy was still within his grasp- if slightly muted- and spectral energy was not limited in any way.
He added his own attacks, solar flames burning away outstretched limbs. This wasnt a battle for victory, as he was quite certain the distortion beast would perish regardless. This was to save every life they could. Hopefully the falling pieces of the creature wouldnt damage anything important.
Spectral energy formed arrows aimed for the core of the creature. Anton knew it didnt have a proper outside and inside, so he just focused on what seemed like it might cause the most damage. Organs that might be important, somehow, or anything that looked like an effective weapon.
The distortion beast quickly recognized the danger it was in, seemingly wishing to withdraw. But while it was easier for it to attack those already mostly in the same space as itself, it was also more difficult for such a thing to withdraw. Even as it twisted and turned inside out, its momentum suddenly reversed, Anton and the other archer continued their assault until the thing seemed to be dead. Anton stopped firing at the same time as the other archer.
At some point, Anton had discovered their moons- nearly devoid of natural energy, and not reflecting any significant amount of light. His shot went past one before fading away completely- his attacks werent much good at such a distance, but that was about the limit of controlling any sort of energy. It was quite significant.
Nalinis shot didnt quite make it to the moon, at least not with any energy on it. The arrow did in fact hit the moon, as she had a physical component underneath and nothing was going to stop the momentum unless it was acted upon. Anton couldnt be fully certain if that was her limit or she was holding back. Without any real communication, determining trust or deception was difficult.
Anton held a little bit of sunlight in one hand, pointing to the vague images of stars back in normal space. This was what he cultivated.
Nalini spread out her palm and showed nothing. But a quite cold nothing. She gestured broadly around them. The near absolute zero of space, perhaps.
Anton carefully reached out above her hand, watching Nalini as he did so. He felt no aggression from her, but he didnt want to get hurt on accident either. Rather than suddenly feeling cold, instead he felt the heat drawing away from him as his hand got closer. That would explain how the pieces of the distortion beast had frozen so quickly. As it almost had to be for a high tier ice ability, it was an active freezing rather than a passive. A drawing in of heat, instead of simply having an area of cold that would have to chill surrounding areas based on their thermal conductivity. Cold had an absolute limit, after all- so there was also a limit to what it could do in normal circumstances.
Heat had no such limits, but that was also what made it dangerous. Anton was quite certain his body could have handled a few hours near absolute zero before he achieved Assimilation, but hed almost burned himself to a crisp. Actual absolute zero was another question, because matter itself started to break down at extremely low temperatures. He didnt study it as much as he did heat, but he understood some of the details.
Anton was glad to finish the interaction without anyone getting attacked. He felt that Nalini was cautious, but ultimately friendly. And in this place, she should be significantly stronger than him. That was without considering allies. Would she be alone at her stage, or were there others like her?
Anton pointed to himself, and to his ears and mouth, gesturing at the cities around them. Could he continue to stay to learn the language? Or should he leave? Nalini was slow to respond. She reached out towards his energy bow, slowly squeezing it out of existence. Anton didnt really fight that. Nalini dusted off her hands and nodded to him.
Right, so he could probably stay. But no violence. That was perfectly acceptable to Anton.
Anton could have left and returned later- perhaps with some Ruteran translation technology. But he couldnt be certain to find this place again. It was on a fairly understandable trajectory, but if he was even a tiny fraction off in his estimates and more than a few days passed it could be gone forever. No, he thought it was best to make sure he took the chance while he had it. And while it might not help people directly, the knowledge of this places existence would be of great interest to many.
Then there was the possibility that they were trapped here, and if so Anton could help. Having to face distortion beasts, it wasnt like they were living in some sort of idyllic paradise. Had they chosen to be here? Did the current generations have that same choice, and share the same opinions? Just because they had made themselves able to live on with what they had didnt mean this was how things should be.
Every day, he felt the same flows of cultivation, from the smallest villages through the towns and into the large cities- and then back, filling the people. The plants were nourished less directly, but Anton couldnt say his understanding of how to raise crops translated to a planet such as this. So he wasnt going to even attempt to touch them until he could speak to people and ask them about it.
Chapter 714Within the space behind space, Anton continued to observe the synchronized cultivation of a planet. It was beautiful, really. And as far as he could tell, mutually beneficial to all involved. Perhaps some would benefit more than others, but this wasnt more powerful cultivators drawing from the weak to promote their own interests.Then after another few days, Anton got to see people in action. The circumstances werent what he might have wanted but danger came to the world, and the world responded.Anton almost didnt notice it. In a way, it was more difficult to pick out the thing swimming through the void from this side. And when he looked at it nothing was right. His mind refused to accept the distortion beast, more real here but still not something that made sense. It was lines and angles, strange shapes of muscle, and bone. Spikes and teeth and internal organs that he could feel both the internals and externals of at the same time. Long tentacles that seemed to bend but might have also been straight.It was right on top of the planet when Anton noticed it, descending towards it by the time he was able to comprehend it. He more felt than saw a streak of absolute cold rising into the sky. First one, but immediately followed by dozens more. Arrows of ice, from which cold spread in strange and disturbing ways throughout the creature. Anton would swear that some of the arrows that hit the front spread chill to the back of the thing, and he was almost certain that had nothing to do with the techniques of the archer. Almost.The first thing Anton was certain of was that this archer was wielding power beyond Life Transformation. That was true even during the opening volley, after which the planet responded and he felt energy flowing to empower this individual. Ice arrows repeatedly struck the mass of the distortion beast, and seemingly locked in a physical position it was lacking one of its main threats. However, it was durable and continued to reach closer to the planet, extending tendrils dozens of kilometers long as it entered the atmosphere, continuously stretching without the mass seeming to come from anywhere. The archer continued to attack the creature, especially its intruding tendrils. But it wasnt going to be enough. When one fell, two more approached- sometimes literally, as severing the appendages of the creature didnt always result in there being less of them.Well, he hadnt wanted to interfere but Anton wasnt the sort who could stand by when innocent people were in danger. Revealing himself might harm future prospects, or it might help- but Anton wasnt considering either when he acted.In this place, without direct access to his stars, his power was limited. But he still had Fleeting Youth and his alternate energies. Ascension energy was still within his grasp- if slightly muted- and spectral energy was not limited in any way.He added his own attacks, solar flames burning away outstretched limbs. This wasnt a battle for victory, as he was quite certain the distortion beast would perish regardless. This was to save every life they could. Hopefully the falling pieces of the creature wouldnt damage anything important.Spectral energy formed arrows aimed for the core of the creature. Anton knew it didnt have a proper outside and inside, so he just focused on what seemed like it might cause the most damage. Organs that might be important, somehow, or anything that looked like an effective weapon.The distortion beast quickly recognized the danger it was in, seemingly wishing to withdraw. But while it was easier for it to attack those already mostly in the same space as itself, it was also more difficult for such a thing to withdraw. Even as it twisted and turned inside out, its momentum suddenly reversed, Anton and the other archer continued their assault until the thing seemed to be dead. Anton stopped firing at the same time as the other archer.At some point, Anton had discovered their moons- nearly devoid of natural energy, and not reflecting any significant amount of light. His shot went past one before fading away completely- his attacks werent much good at such a distance, but that was about the limit of controlling any sort of energy. It was quite significant.Nalinis shot didnt quite make it to the moon, at least not with any energy on it. The arrow did in fact hit the moon, as she had a physical component underneath and nothing was going to stop the momentum unless it was acted upon. Anton couldnt be fully certain if that was her limit or she was holding back. Without any real communication, determining trust or deception was difficult.Anton held a little bit of sunlight in one hand, pointing to the vague images of stars back in normal space. This was what he cultivated.Nalini spread out her palm and showed nothing. But a quite cold nothing. She gestured broadly around them. The near absolute zero of space, perhaps. Anton carefully reached out above her hand, watching Nalini as he did so. He felt no aggression from her, but he didnt want to get hurt on accident either. Rather than suddenly feeling cold, instead he felt the heat drawing away from him as his hand got closer. That would explain how the pieces of the distortion beast had frozen so quickly. As it almost had to be for a high tier ice ability, it was an active freezing rather than a passive. A drawing in of heat, instead of simply having an area of cold that would have to chill surrounding areas based on their thermal conductivity. Cold had an absolute limit, after all- so there was also a limit to what it could do in normal circumstances.Heat had no such limits, but that was also what made it dangerous. Anton was quite certain his body could have handled a few hours near absolute zero before he achieved Assimilation, but hed almost burned himself to a crisp. Actual absolute zero was another question, because matter itself started to break down at extremely low temperatures. He didnt study it as much as he did heat, but he understood some of the details.Anton was glad to finish the interaction without anyone getting attacked. He felt that Nalini was cautious, but ultimately friendly. And in this place, she should be significantly stronger than him. That was without considering allies. Would she be alone at her stage, or were there others like her? Anton pointed to himself, and to his ears and mouth, gesturing at the cities around them. Could he continue to stay to learn the language? Or should he leave? Nalini was slow to respond. She reached out towards his energy bow, slowly squeezing it out of existence. Anton didnt really fight that. Nalini dusted off her hands and nodded to him.Right, so he could probably stay. But no violence. That was perfectly acceptable to Anton. Anton could have left and returned later- perhaps with some Ruteran translation technology. But he couldnt be certain to find this place again. It was on a fairly understandable trajectory, but if he was even a tiny fraction off in his estimates and more than a few days passed it could be gone forever. No, he thought it was best to make sure he took the chance while he had it. And while it might not help people directly, the knowledge of this places existence would be of great interest to many. Then there was the possibility that they were trapped here, and if so Anton could help. Having to face distortion beasts, it wasnt like they were living in some sort of idyllic paradise. Had they chosen to be here? Did the current generations have that same choice, and share the same opinions? Just because they had made themselves able to live on with what they had didnt mean this was how things should be.Every day, he felt the same flows of cultivation, from the smallest villages through the towns and into the large cities- and then back, filling the people. The plants were nourished less directly, but Anton couldnt say his understanding of how to raise crops translated to a planet such as this. So he wasnt going to even attempt to touch them until he could speak to people and ask them about it.
