Wish upon the Stars chapter 1038

After I finished talking to the old man, I went home and went to bed. I was…so exhausted. The kind of exhausted where you actually pass tired and loop back around to be being energetic, only with a brain that works hilariously badly for any complex tasks. Like you passed your sleep window and were now “post-sleep” and the entire experience made everything feel raw and painful like a jagged wound.

I dropped into bed and then slept. I don’t know for how long, but judging by the reactions to me waking up, it was a while. I knocked out my scrolls for the day then went to meet my friends and family, who were all having dinner.

After filling them all in, I expected serious questions, legitimate discourse, and maybe a conversation about me rushing into things. Instead, Abel turned to my wife and handed her a chit. 

She scoffed. “Easy money. The fact that you all thought Shane would stop getting new powers when he got his Domain is ridiculous.”

“Hey!” I said, feeling offended for some reason. “That’s-” But I didn’t know what to say. She was kind of right. Albeit, I hadn’t actually gained much from the Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art Yet. But still. Nobody likes being pigeonholed. Phoenixholed? That sounded way worse. “Shut up!” I finally said lamely.

“Piping hot comeback babe,” Callie giggled. “But seriously, it’s a good thing. Your physical limitations have been pretty worrying. This is a good thing. I’m still not sure I get how the whole thing works though. You’re going to condense nine phoenix templates, but like…what do they do, exactly? Like the Life Nova Phoenix I can guess, it heals you. You’ll get enhanced regeneration, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, the phoenix templates give me a baseline level of enhanced physique when completed. Namely, a multiplier to a stat like you have from your racial trait. They also give me a unique ability specific to them. So, yeah, Life Nova gives me a powerful regeneration factor. I still haven’t picked out the next template though. I need to pick another kind of flame to condense it from, because it’ll take me a while to actually complete the first rank of my Ninefold Phoenix Physique.”

Life Nova was actually the gentlest flame I could have picked. That had upsides and downsides though. It would make the process easier, but the passive effect was less powerful because of that. I already had decent healing, and regeneration was less useful than something more directly applicable to combat.

Which was why my second choice was Mephistopheles black fire. With that, I would get a modifier to Might, and while I didn’t know exactly what unique ability I would end up with, but it would probably be something related to damage or armor penetration.

Each new layer would be a building block for my final Ninefold Phoenix Physique. The tenth level would be forging them all together into a single phoenix to temper my body. I’d officially BECOME a nine colored phoenix when I finished. I had a long way to go before that, of course. I needed to choose nine flames and condense nine different templates. I hadn’t even properly formed my first yet.

Speaking of which, I finished my last bite of waffle and stood up. “I’m going to go start on my Body Forging,” I told Callie. “Want to watch? It shouldn’t be too painful given the flame I’m using.”

She perked up. “I AM kind of curious.” She stood up and stretched, then winked at the others. “Let’s do it. Bye all, I’m gonna go watch my husband set himself on fire.”

That got a laugh, and the two of us headed to the nearest training room, ready to start. “Alright, so a racial trait is similar to a bloodline, but backwards. With a bloodline you take your power and imprint it on your body, and with a racial trait you kind take your body and imprint it on your power. Since Body Forging is that but slower, the process involves bodily transformation.”

She nodded, strolling over to take a seat against a nearby wall. I stripped off my mask and armor, leaving me in only my pants, and Callie whistled dramatically. “Whoo! Take it off!”

I gave her a flat look. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”

“Beefcakes and pretty colored fire, what’s not to like,” she grinned back smugly. “You think you could do a little dance for me while you’re forging?”

I sniffed loftily. “Hey, I’m not a piece of meat you know. Now keep it down while I slowly grill myself to an even temperature. A quick thought summoned Beelzebub. The tall, grey haired man was unnaturally thin and really pale, and his eyes flicked back and forth as if expecting an attack. I flicked my fingers again and Zagan appeared. Beelzebub bowed, and at my gesture, split into thirteen copies of Zagan.

Then I gestured to them to begin. The thirteen copies of the green haired man all raised their hands, channeling their green flame into spheres in the manner of Life Nova’s use. As they built it up, I prepared, summoning Manny and incarnating him, and then, finally, I told them to begin.

There was an eruption of vital power, waves of green flame exploding from every angle to converge on my body. I’d expected at least SOME pain, but it didn’t come like I’d expected. As the flames struck me, the Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art revolved. It took the fire, swept it up into a sort of vortex, and then spun it through my body in a complicated pattern I wasn’t sure I could have memorized normally.

Fire surged through me, whirling and singing through every inch of my body, coating every cell in a shifting pattern that outlined a transformation unlike anything I’d seen before. Each time it finished a circulation, the excess life energy poured into me, and it seemed to be collecting in my blood. Power began to fill my veins, just a bit at first, then more, then more. I closed my eyes, letting it wash over me. This was the easiest one. It was the first and most direct temper. I had to do this nine times to complete the first layer, and as my body acclimated to each one it would get harder and harder.

For now though, it was simple. As my body built up power, my blood began to boil. Not in a painful way, not with this flame. It felt…glorious. Like I was slowly ascending to a higher plane. The boiling energy started to converge, driven by the whirling fire, condensing and collecting. I closed my eyes and I could see it within me. Energy racing inward, slowly aggregating inside my heart.

Blood and fire coalescing together in a cacophony of rioting life energy. In my mind, I watched the process complete. The results of the first attempt. A single point where all the fiery green blood energy collected. A single drop of blood. 

This wasn’t human blood. After being tempered with the power of the Life Nova and the mysterious pattern of the Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art, it had transformed, changed. This was a single drop of Life Nova phoenix blood. It collected more and more power, growing and changing, until finally, with a dramatic pause, the energy inside BURST, pouring through my body, changing the blood in my veins, altering it until it was the same consistency as the drop.

The drop itself remained, floating inside one of the chambers of my heart. The flames faded, the noise receding. I opened my eyes, staring down the the glowing green force permeating my veins, and I let out a long, slow breath. The exhalation turned to green steam as it came out of my body.

Callie clapped enthusiastically. “That was VERY pretty,” she said teasingly. “What exactly did you do?”

I chuckled. “Basically, the Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art harnesses the fire and my blood energy to condense a drop of phoenix blood, which produces a qualitative shift in my bloodline. Once I’ve condensed nine drops, those qualitative changes will be complete and my body will fully adapt to the first template.”

“And you did this in what, ten minutes?” she said skeptically. “Won’t take long to finish.”

I laughed. “This was the first tempering. My blood is just normal human blood at the moment. The amount of fire I need to saturate it is pretty low. The NEXT drop will take roughly ten times more flame energy. Which means ten times as long. I ALSO cheated, because without Manny to operate the Reincarnation Art, it would have taken me like twenty years to learn a pattern that complicated and be able to use it dynamically during forging.”

“Still, pretty cool,” she commented. “You seem…more vital. Energetic. You think you’re already seeing some results from that blood change?”

I flexed my hand. “A little,” I admitted. “I do feel a bit wired. Unfortunately, this is the gentlest possible flame, and is already heavily skewed towards human optimization. That felt really good actually, like a massive energy surge, but my NEXT few flames…” I trailed off. “Well, the old man said the pain would be beyond what most people could endure.”

Still, I was more than human now. It hadn’t actually changed me fully yet, but I was growing and changing. I dismissed Manny, Zagan, and Beelzebub. I considered calling Sammael. My new changes combined with his qualitative boost would probably produce amazing results, but I’d have to look into that later. For now, I just walked over to plop down next to my wife. “So, what do you think of all this?”

Her face softened, her smile becoming something warm and intimate. “I think you’re distracting yourself,” she said gently. “I think you don’t want to dwell on what happened with Roland, or on the coronation, which by the way is tomorrow.”

My expression fell. “Is it that obvious?”

“Only to me, love,” she said quietly, resting her head on my shoulder. “This is certainly an interesting new ability. I’m excited for you. Also kind of curious what the hell our kids are going to be when we have them. Like your mom jokes about it, but half archangel nine color phoenix babies sound KIND of terrifying.”

I burst out laughing. “Oh gods, I didn’t even think about that. Those poor kids. You don’t mind me changing myself like that?”

“Be kind of hypocritical of me if I did,” she giggled. “Just don’t get stuck as a bird and I’m fine. Do you think you’ll get natural wings? Like consistent ones? Or will you still need Sammael to fly in human form?”

“Probably the latter,” I mused. “I think I’ll get an ACTUAL phoenix form, but not anytime soon. The changes are to the bloodline until the Art is complete. Until I finished the tenth level I’m closer to a phoenix blooded human than an actual phoenix. It’s part of the process. But hey, I can turn into a giant flaming bird eventually I bet. That’s pretty cool.”

She eyes me speculatively. “I want a blanket stuffed with your feathers,” she decided. “Not pinions either. Down. The soft stuff.”

I gaped at her. “What? I’m not even a bird yet and you’re already stripping me for parts? Why don’t you try to get down for a blanket from Archie? I bet his feathers are pretty soft, and probably great for getting a good night’s sleep. Maybe as a pillow.”

She paused. “That…isn’t a bad idea. I’ll consider it. For a pillow. But he’s too small to make a proper comforter. You’re going to be a GIANT bird. You’ll barely miss it, I’m sure.” Her tone was smug and teasing, and I let myself fall into the banter, enjoying the back and forth with my wife about something meaningless. Because she was right. Tomorrow was coming fast, and once it got here, moments like these would be few and far between. Best to savor them while I could.