Cyrus Solaris
I was no longer in the temples of the past; I had returned to the astral realm, lying in the same spot as before, surrounded by a litany of stars.
This Solaris constellation was no longer here. Instead, there was a dark celestial body that served as a void, swallowing the surrounding light. An invisible force pushed toward the ominous object before me.
My astral body slowly began to stretch the closer I got. It was terrifying, and yet I found myself resonating with this dark celestial object. It embodied everything I desired: raw, uncontrollable strength.
I placed my hand on the celestial body, forging a tether to its mysterious source of power.
As soon as the connection was made, a surge of cosmic energy coursed through me, flowing into my new core and spreading throughout my body.
Unlike before, the sensation wasn't painful—it was comforting as if my very essence were rewriting itself.
When the connection was complete, the dark celestial body shifted. Its form dissolved and reassembled into a pattern of concentric circles, each made of smaller celestial bodies. The structure had a magenta glow and projected itself towards me.
It stopped at my chest.
Then, it shrank and shot directly into my core.
A burning sensation flared in the chest of my astral form.
Once the burning sensation subsided, markings manifested.
Is this my astral tattoo?
The tattoo was intricate, its patterns embedded with runes. As I gazed at it, the phrase Even in death, a star is dangerous echoed in my mind.
Drawing back on the days I spent in the planetarium back home. A realization blossomed in my mind. Is my fate constellation a black hole?
Excitement surged within me—I had obtained an extraordinary new power. But the excitement was tempered by frustration. Years of grueling training had prepared me to inherit the power of Solaris, and now I was starting over.
After my revelation, I studied the runes embedded in the astral tattoo. My father had taught me that the paths of insight typically unlock runes after each astral trial. But the rune on my tattoo was unlike anything I'd seen before. Though I couldn't read it, I instinctively understood its meaning: gravity.
"So, this is tied to my new constellation," I said aloud, frustration coloring my voice. But how am I supposed to use this? It's not like it came with an instruction manual.
Then, an idea struck. Recalling how my father wielded his abilities, I channeled cosmic energy into the astral tattoo. The inner circle shined with a magenta light.
At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Nearby celestial bodies in the astral realm were slowly being drawn toward me.
"Oh, I can have some fun with this," I said with a grin. But I should probably head back and fill Father in on what happened.
I settled into a meditative position, focusing on the tether that would guide me back to my physical body.
Ezra Solaris
An astral behemoth of the third rank appearing in our camp was a surprising case of events. Behemoths of this rank normally only come out to feed on strong cosmic energy signatures. For the past two years, I concealed my presence at all times, so I could only assume their target was Cyrus.
When I took another glance at Cyrus in the barrier, I noticed his position was lower than before. There was a little crater where he was sitting.
That's not normal, the Stellarfiend noticed as well. The behemoth flapped its wings and propelled itself toward Cyrus, eager to drain my son of his cosmic energy.
"Oh no, you don't," I yelled, transforming my solar sword into a javelin and hurled it towards the flying beast.
I clipped one of the wings of the chimera, stopping its momentum as it crashed into the ground. The behemoth picked itself off the ground and shifted its focus back to me, "Now what type of creature attacks a defenseless boy?"
The creature let out a deep growl as it shook off debris from its crash. "See, I was going to let you go with a warning, because I know you don't know any better," I said to the behemoth, slowly walking towards the towering creature.
"But you see that boy you were trying to feed on, is my son," I said, now standing in front of the chimera.
Forming a solar long sword in my hand, "What would you do if something tried to kill your offspring?"
The astral behemoth swiped me with one of its claws, but I blocked the attack with my forearm. I countered with a descending slash of my long sword, cutting clean through its massive paw. Wailing in pain, the chimera blasted a fireball at me in retaliation.
I let the fireball hit me and just stepped through it as if it were a light breeze.
I concentrated cosmic energy into my feet and propelled myself to the head of the chimera.
I grasped the hair around its central head. The monster snarled again, firing another fireball.
But it was too slow.
I sliced through its neck before it finished its charge, and gently floated down to the ground.
The two other heads of the chimera stared at the decapitated part of themselves as if they were contemplating their next options. It was a normal action for a behemoth of the third rank.
They had a great deal of intelligence compared to their lower-ranked counterparts, but the behemoth before didn't seem to be using its wits wisely.
The chimera exerted more pressure than before, releasing more of its cosmic energy as it underwent a transformation.
The transformation resulted in the split of the monster's heads, each forming its own body. Now I was faced with the task of keeping both of them away from Cyrus without drawing too much attention to the area.
One of the behemoths sent multiple fireballs my way, while the other vanished. I ignored the fireballs and let them hit me, focusing on sensing the cosmic energy of the other beast so I could intercept its attack.
The other behemoth reappeared behind me and took a slash at my back. I perceived the attack a second before it landed and side-stepped it.
The chimera that shot the fireball dashed towards me and tried to sweep my legs with its tail. I evaded, my legs tucked, and threw kicks at the beasts. Both of the behemoths slid multiple feet away from me.
As I landed, the behemoths shared a glance at each other. They sent a barrage of fireballs at me and vanished from their positions.
"When are you guys going to learn that these don't work on me?" I yelled, waiting for the fireballs to dissipate after colliding against my body.
I expected more, but the attacks never came.
Then I remembered what their true goal was from the beginning.
They wanted Cyrus.
I dashed to where Cyrus was stationed. One of the beasts had thrown multiple strikes at the barrier, creating several cracks. The second chimera wound up its tail and slammed it against the barrier with all its momentum.
The barrier broke, and Cyrus was left defenseless.
My stomach dropped.
I'm not going to lose anyone else. I threw caution to the wind, condensed solar energy into my palm, and released a wave of energy at the behemoths.
The monsters stopped in their tracks, no longer pursuing Cyrus.
When my solar wave reached them, it seemed to have been redirected by an invisible force and slipped past the monsters and Cyrus, as if it were slingshot from orbit.
The closer I got to Cyrus, the more my movements were suppressed. The behemoths struggled to stand and fell to the ground, by whatever created this strange resistance.
Is this what created the crater underneath Cyrus earlier?
I pushed through and got a closer look at Cyrus; his free-form locs were flowing upward as if the pressure were not affecting him the same way.
Then his eyes opened; his dark brown eyes disappeared, replaced by vibrant magenta.
Cyrus stood up and walked towards the struggling behemoths. He kneeled next to them and placed both hands on them.
"Begone, you pathetic creatures," Cyrus's voice echoed, unbothered. The pressure increased further. The behemoths began to fold in on each other until they exploded, sending blood flying everywhere.
With the astral behemoths defeated, Cyrus's eyes faded back to their normal color, and he collapsed to the ground.