Wish upon the Stars chapter 1037

Power. A recurring theme in my life for the last few years. More than any other, honestly. Love, family, choice, I’d grappled with some heavy things in my time as an Ascendant. But power was perhaps the heaviest. What it meant. What it required. How it changed you. Because all power changes a person. Or perhaps as Zeke said had said, power just revealed.

And now I was faced with a choice. With the option to obtain more power. And what did that reveal about me? What would this choice show the world, and myself, about what kind of person I was going to be.

The bookshelf was lined with manuals. Some thick and imposing, some so thin they were almost invisible shoved between the larger volumes. I took them out, scanned through them for answers, and all I found was more questions. There was a dizzying array of options, each of them with strong potential moving forward.

Some were elemental, some based on animals or mythological figures. Racial traits were the fast version of Body Forging, and I could definitely see the influence there. But it wasn’t JUST that. Some of them were based on music, or gems, or stars, or emotions. Each of them was complex and profound, touching on concepts I barely understood.

Of course, I had needs of my own here. I needed a demon that would be easy to reincarnate, that could encompass the power of the art I chose. I glanced over to Azazel. “Alright, who do you suggest for this?”

He hummed consideringly. “Well you have a few tier one and two subjects. Those would be the best. Reincarnating them would be simple, and because of their low level no part of them should need to be destroyed in the remaking. Still, if you want to keep them as close to their current selves as possible, I have two suggestions. Your tier one skills are Piano, Guitar, Fire Manipulation, and First Aid. I would suggest one of the latter two.”

I blinked. “Fire Manipulation. I don’t even remember where I learned that one. From Mel maybe? I never bothered to train it, which seems stupid in retrospect. But fire DOES thread a lot of needles for me. First Aid…I could see the utility, but it just doesn’t feel right. Fire Manipulation, that’s the one.”

“That was my pick as well,” added the old man from the side where he was casually leaning against a wall. “The fire based Body Forging techniques are towards the bottom.”

I nodded my thanks, then knelt down and started sifting through. Eternal Sun Body, Stareater Bone Physique, Infernal Torment Body Forging Scripture. I stopped at that one for a second, but it felt too on the nose. Stars and hellfire weren’t right for this. I wanted to create something more meaningful to my journey so far. This was going to represent the continuation of my Path.

Demons were an option, and there was certainly enough demon related material on the shelf. But it felt…nondescript. Like a hat on a hat. This wasn’t going to be just another part of my Domain. This was going to represent my personal physical advancement. My evolution into something greater.

I leafed through one book after another, discounting option after option…until I stopped. I reached down to pick up an old leatherbound book with a red cover. Complex gold symbols were etched into the leather, but it was so old and worn down that it had mostly become illegible. I flipped open the first page.

“Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art,” I read aloud. Phoenixes. The phoenix was a powerful beast, one that was considered an equal to a dragon in a lot of stories. Dragons were scary enough that their corpses and descendants were already some of the scariest things around. Not to mention I had personal experience with them. Archie, my companion, was a Life Nova Phoenix. I held up the book. “How does this work?”

The old man chuckled, grabbing the book and leafing through it. “I forgot about this one,” he said idly. “The concept is fascinating. You know how phoenixes can rise from their ashes nine times right?” I nodded. “Well, this is supposed to create a Ninefold Phoenix Physique. Essentially, each rank before Divine condenses one of the reincarnations. And the final level merges them into the flesh. Rather than having nine lives, your body has the strength of nine versions of yourself all at once.”

I blinked in shock. “So it makes you into some kind of mega phoenix?”

He waggled a hand. “Not exactly. You don’t become a phoenix, just a ninefold phoenix version of yourself. But supposedly, once it's achieved, the bonuses are equivalent to being a real phoenix. This is notable, because there IS no phoenix racial trait. Or dragon. You can become a hybrid or a rider or learn to channel their power. But a human can’t become a beast so easily.”

That was interesting, but not important right now. What WAS important was simply the fact that this would make my body nine times stronger. Or something. The exact mechanics I’d need to learn over time. But I had an advantage with Archie. I was guessing the reincarnation process was going to be a lot easier with him as a reference. I turned to Azazel. “Call Fire Manipulation over,” I instructed him calmly. “We’ve made our decision.” I looked at the old man. “I assume you want to stay and observe?”

“Or I can leave,” he shrugged. “I’ll see anyway, but if it makes you feel better we can pretend.”

I rolled my eyes, ignoring him as Azazel returned with a person I hadn’t ever really seen before. Fire Manipulation (I was going to call him Manny for ease of remembrance) was a short, red haired kid. He was young, with wide ears that stuck out to the sides and clever green eyes. He looked…excited? Wary? A bit of each. I smiled at him reassuringly.

“This isn’t going to hurt you,” I said gently. “We picked you because you’re still early enough in your progression to change easily. Your essence will be the same, you won’t lose any of who you are.”

That had been a concern from the start, actually. I was worried about destroying one of my demons. Despite not knowing them all well yet, they were my subjects, part of who I was. I wasn’t comfortable erasing someone who worked for me for a new Skill. But luckily, the less power they had, the more malleable they were, especially for something like Fire Manipulation, which could be considered a direct relative of something like the Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art.

I looked at Azazel. “So…how do we do this? I don’t exactly know how everything works yet, and this is my first demon reincarnation.”

He jerked his head toward the throne room. “We need to consult the tree. In order to properly alter Manny’s essence, we need to have the staff deduce an alternate growth trajectory. Luckily, elevating someone past tier 1 is simple, and we have a catalyst to use in the form of Archimedes.” He frowned. “Actually, where IS Archimedes.”

As if on cue, a loud trill echoed through the air. I grinned, pointing up and out the door. “That’s him now. I called him after I picked the book. Luckily he’s pretty fast.” There was a gust of wind, and the double doors to the palace slammed open, a gale of wind crashing into us as a glowing green form streaked inside, wings spread and green flame burning as my companion announced his arrival.

“Are we sure you’re a phoenix?” I asked him archly. “Because you’re doing a pretty decent impression of a ham.” He screeched at me reproachfully and I shrugged. “I call em’ like I see em’.” Holding out my arm, I let him land on it as he approached. "Let's head to the tree.”

Azazel nodded, then put his hands on Manny’s shoulders and steered him into the throneroom. The old man trailed behind, and we approached the throne, above which floated the illusory image representing the Ten Demons Tree. I glanced down at the throne. “Manny, come sit here,” I said after a moment. He looked spooked, but after I reassured him, he cautiously walked over and sat in the chair.

I stared up at the tree, and I felt..something. A pulse. I nodded. This process was much easier to accomplish at low levels, and now I knew WHY. The easiest way to incorporate new information into a demon, much like into a Skill, was on rank up. Tier 1 demons could be forcibly elevated to the next rank easily (ranking up Minor Skills was absurdly simple), and then the new information could be included as they advanced.

Communicating with Archie, I felt my companion rise into the air, screeching in joyful abandon as he exploded with the flames of life. The tree, waiting for this phenomena, simply activated the Wisdom of Solomon and began the process of reincarnating Manny.

The young demon’s head flew back, slamming against the throne with a resonant thump, and I winced at what must have been a deeply uncomfortable experience. The flames around Archie were ripped away, leaving my phoenix upset and screeching at the tree indignantly. Predictably it didn’t respond. The green flames enveloped Manny, creating a cocoon, and the process began.

“So, how will this work?” I asked the old man. “It’s not automatic right? So why is it so important that he learn it instead of me doing it directly.”

“Think of Body Forging like working out,” he said casually. “You need to exercise to get stronger, but there are right and wrong KINDS of exercise. Doing a perfectly designed professional workout tailored to your physical condition is tens of times more productive than just hammering out random exercises. With your incarnation ability, you’ll be able to utilize the most effective forging methods. Not to mention because of the way your demons advance there won’t be any bottlenecks.”

Azazel, who was flipping through the book that had just dropped out of the air where it was being analyzed by the staff, nodded. “This is a fascinating technique. The hard part is normally creating the phoenix template, but you have that. After that, you have to use nine different kinds of flame to reforge your body into a phoenix incarnation. Archie himself can supply your flames, and then once you complete the first reincarnation, you can advance.

“Like he said, the upgrade capabilities mean that Manny can rank up and condense the next phoenix template before you reach completion of the first layer, meaning you won’t be stuck at the peak of the first rank like almost anyone else.” He shot the old man a concerned look. “Has anyone ever COMPLETED this?”

My ancestor snorted. “Of course not. It’s completely implausible for any weaker Ascendant to master a technique like this, and a high ranked cultivator deciding to pick up a Body Forging technique and cultivate it from scratch would be insane. Not to mention you need nine types of flame to condense the nine phoenix templates, which NORMALLY have to be painstakingly designed rather than copied verbatim from a live subject by a soul based supercomputer. I have to say, I’m extremely intrigued to see what comes of this.”

As he finished speaking, the cocoon dissolved, and the man on the throne opened his eyes. Manny, that is Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art, the tier 2 demon, grinned at me, his bright green eyes several shades more vivid than they were previously, and an exact match to his glowing green feathered hair. “Hey boss,”

I laughed, offering a hand to help him up, and I was shocked to feel the power in his grip. I was fascinated by the idea of what I’d be capable of once I began working on my own Body Forging. I had a feeling the results would be something extraordinary.