Travel

[Astral Realm]

Gliding through the astral realm under Vorthos' control, the Starweaver carrying Darganth and his group continued on its path for almost two weeks after they had left Ikrus.

As they moved through the astral, streaks of energy in the colors of the different elements regularly splashed against the barrier covering the vessel. And despite the protective veil of mana that contained the elemental energies while inside a universe not existing out there, these impacts didn't even rattle the ship for a moment and only managed to briefly illuminate the upper deck, though that is merely owed to their low concentration.

Because when elemental energies gather in large enough quantities, they form phenomena similar to mana storms. Whereas the former can, at least in rare cases, devastate planets, these astral storms can even crack the walls of universes if they manage to accumulate enough energy, meaning they could easily shatter the shields of a Starweaver.

And while astral storms of such magnitude aren't all that rare, they are easily detectable and highly predictable, making them just another factor for Vorthos to consider in planning the route they'd take. In fact, compared to universes and the so-called realm fragments, astral storms were of comparatively little importance for it.

While dangerous, the impact they had was limited to just the area they covered at any given time. Universes meanwhile also stretched the fabric of space around themselves, not just increasing the distance they had to fly when they came too close but also possibly diverting them off course due to the inconsistencies in this effect, with more random but weaker impacts further away from the universe while the space near it was expanded more uniformly but also stronger.

As such, the question of what distance to keep from a given universe was one that often came up for Darganth and Vorthos. Not only was it hard to say when the indirect path would actually be shorter distance-wise when compared to the straight path, but the fact that this distortion phenomenon appeared as a sight akin to a look through a reversed magnifying lens made it hard to detect when there wasn't another universe behind the area one looked at, something that was especially troublesome at the edges when it wasn't the case.

Realm fragments meanwhile posed the same problem and did so more often, even if the individual effects were often less pronounced. Consisting of an aggregation of physical matter large enough that it emits its own crude and inefficient imitation of the energy shell that protects universes from the highly diluted elemental energies that were ever-present in the astral, these masses were often remains of destroyed or damaged universes were in many ways similar to miniature versions of the same.

And while all but the largest of realm fragments didn't have permanent inhabitants, not to mention life that developed there on its own, as below a certain size the barrier was still too fragile to be reliable, they all still held worth to mana users. Thanks to the near-constant presence of elemental energies, mana resources in the form of both minerals and metals were far more abundant on them.

But despite finding multiple of the latter, they hadn't yet encountered other vessels, contributing to their smooth and quick journey. As such, when Darganth stepped onto the upper deck with Vagha, the ship's surroundings had once again changed drastically, with universes that were distant specks of light the day before now being only minutes away were it not for the spatial distortions that surrounded them. Meanwhile, sights from just two or three days ago had completely vanished from view, with the uncountable, often empty or at least lifeless, universes that floated in the astral obscuring them.

"I doubt I'll ever get enough of this sight." Vagha said while letting his gaze sweep across the astral as they stepped outside. Only focusing enough on his immediate surroundings to follow Darganth toward the steps leading up to the elevated quarterdeck on which the control console for the Starweaver stood, it took him a moment to notice Darganth's subdued reaction to his words.

"Well, for you it's probably a downgrade. After centuries of flying through the astral without help, the sight from a ship might no longer be as impressive." He added in response.

"The sight certainly pales in comparison, but the restrictiveness is the really bothersome part." Darganth said while letting his gaze sweep across the dark expanse in search for Neandra who had stepped out to stretch her wings with a mix of longing and frustration in his eyes a few hours earlier.

Reacting with an empathetic smile, the solar dragon added, "Yeah, scouting out one or two universes on the way would've been great, especially if they are inhabited. Not that the company on board is bad, but only seeing the same twenty people for half a month takes its toll and some variety in the available activities also wouldn't be too bad."

Nodding, Darganth understood exactly what he meant. And not just they, but almost their entire group was starting to experience what he has often heard as being called cabin fever. In the past, he never had to deal with it himself, but he had heard from members of various species that the first trip to the astral in a Starweaver almost always caused an especially bad case of this phenomenon. On the open sea, passengers could at least still experience the wind on their skin. In the astral meanwhile, there wasn't even a day-night cycle anymore, while the vessel also had to be fully enclosed to all sides.

"Like, imagine getting everyone together for an evening around a campfire or so with this view." Vagha continued, his excitement palpable as his thoughts became lost in the fantasy, "Optimally my brother would also finally be back for that but I'm not so sure how realistic that is."

"I know you, Averyla, and the rest of your clique miss him, but he'll know best when he is ready to return. Without specialized training to get accustomed to his new powers, his growth would be stunted for years to come. And sadly I have neither the time to help him nor do I believe that I could do so even remotely as well as a dragon who experienced this type of transformation himself, so this is the best option." Darganth said with a hint of regret.

"I know." Vagha replied, his frown only lessening marginally.

This had already been a topic multiple times throughout the past two weeks, so the reminder naturally didn't help Vagha much. Even with the knowledge that it wasn't permanent, not seeing the brother he had beforehand always been close with and only occasionally having the chance to talk to him wasn't an easy change. Especially because the over ten years Siurin has been in the demon realm by now wasn't all that short of a time for dragons as young as they are.

"Though I still feel bad for his and Averyla's relationship." Darganth couldn't help but add a moment later, "First he gets captured merely a week after the two get together and after getting freed they barely have a year together before he gets the invitation to the demon realm. Even if nobody forced him to accept it, the timing of the whole situation wasn't exactly optimal."

"Not at all." Vagha said.

Pausing in thought for a moment, he soon after turns to Darganth with a slight hopeful smile and asks, "If our plans to sit down at the bar this afternoon still stand maybe we can invite her too for a toast to him. I know it's supposed to be just a small gathering among us guys, but-"

"That'd be fine by me." Darganth said into the short pause in Vagha's sentence, "Though maybe ask the other three too."

"Of course." Vagha reassured.

Noticing that the solar dragon had managed to distract himself enough with his idea, whether intentionally or not he couldn't tell, to somewhat lift his spirit, Darganth switched to another topic after their conversation had ebbed into a few seconds of silence following Vagha's confirmation.

"Speaking of plans, did you finish thinking about our conversation from two days ago?" Darganth asked.

"Partially. And I also did discuss it with the others, but without knowing your full plans they don't feel like they can make an informed decision so they left it to me. But while I know that having the nine of us act together is overkill for most of what you ask of us, I'm not sure how to split our group."

"Why? They said themselves that they trust you with that task." Darganth asked.

Though his expression and tone remained neutral during his words, internally he had been looking forward to this discussion for some days now. While he felt bad not helping his friend with a decision he clearly struggled with, even if the excuse that he simply didn't know most of the other solar dragons in his group well enough was at least partially true, the other dragon needed to realize what it means to be the leader of his group of friends and do so early rather than later.

Though he hadn't actively chosen that position, or even been officially appointed to it in fact, it was undeniable that his entire group already saw him as their leader. However, while they trusted him, his cautious nature made it difficult for him to decide on anything that wasn't the perfect scenario for every one of his friends. Due to that, he found it difficult to even temporarily separate their group for certain tasks, both out of the uncertainty that comes with a lack of intel and the resulting fear that they might be unprepared for what they face, as well as the unwillingness to decide which of them to group together as they have all formed a multitude of bond between one another.

Seeing Vagha not answer even after a few seconds, Darganth tried to lighten the mood, "You'll do fine. And hey, nobody said leaders can't profit from the position if it doesn't hurt the rest, so just put yourself and Selvi into one team, that solves at least two-ninths of your trouble."

At his words, Vagha was stunned out of his deliberation. Glancing at Darganth with a raised eyebrow, he studied his expression with a questioning look only to be met with a shrug.

"What, don't think I didn't notice how you look at her. And she at you for that matter. So as I said, no harm, what's the matter." Darganth said in response.

"That's an angle I never considered." The solar dragon muttered, sinking into his thoughts.

"I'm happy to help."

Parting with those words and leaving Vagha to his thoughts, Darganth turned back toward the main deck. Descending the stairs leading down to it, he absentmindedly wandered across the ship and let his gaze wander while considering what to do next.

Just as this led him to consider whether he should wake Allaire, Vorthos' voice caused his attention to snap beyond their vessel.

"Unknown ship approaching dead ahead!" The dragon-hydra shouted, clearly as surprised by what he spotted as Darganth was to hear his words.

Immediately coming to a decision in his consideration, he reached out telepathically while simultaneously bolting toward the control console where Vorthos stood. Waking Allaire by jolting her mind into action with his sudden mental communication, he called her, Jennia, and Serania all onto the deck.

Physically meanwhile, he jumped back onto the quarterdeck where he landed next to Vorthos and Enilla. Only exchanging a brief greeting for their first time meeting on that day, his eyes quickly narrowed in on the vessel the former had spotted and he got ready for anything to happen.