Year One Hundred and Twenty of the Father God Calendar.
Without anyone noticing, more than forty years passed by. Developments happened and transcendents increased in both number and strength. There were finally some results from the miniature spaceship and the whole Scientific Inheritance was successfully reverse-engineered.
So much time had passed that some resources were depleted. However, on the other hand, new resources were being produced constantly to counter the depletion.
But the civilization surprisingly did not lack in electricity which was the main power that fueled the progress of the civilization, because of the result from the miniature spaceship.
“To think that this is possible during our lifetime is amazing. I mean, our lifespan has increased so much that even a century is nothing but like a few years for ordinary people without transcendent energy.”
In the house that was reinforced with the best materials, Charlene commented while looking outside. To be exact, at the controllable nuclear fusion reactor far away.
The change had reached every person in the civilization, and now that change had shown its results.
There was no more smog that had to be produced due to the power plant which used coal or fossil fuel. Instead, it was replaced with the result of a lot of research on the miniature spaceship.
The electricity produced could light up an entire city and that was why each big city had a nuclear fusion reactor connecting the electric line and empowering them.
“But this progress should allow us to be able to fight in another Star Battle.” Tatsumi, whose appearance had not changed since his adulthood, walked in and commented.
‘There is no news yet about that, even there?’ Tatsumi thought. Even though his age should be reaching middle-aged for an ordinary person, he was a transcendent and his lifespan was much longer. Especially since he had reached the Core Formation Realm, further increasing his lifespan.
Usually, ordinary people got a waft of Ether and that alone could rejuvenate people. Gathering them could potentially increase their lifespan by a few years, and increasing the transcendent strength in them could further increase their lifespan.
With such a profit, who wouldn’t want to become a proper transcendent?
The average lifespan for the people in the civilization was one hundred.
‘Sadly, there is no news of the Star Battle yet.’ Chi You informed while Kudungga and Goto were spreading an idea of communal transcendence.
It meant that they would undergo the transcendence together without leaving anyone behind. But Tatsumi had some concerns about that.
But the matter of the Star Battle occupied his entire mind despite resting in his new home, separate from the mansion where the orphanage people used to live. This was his home for five people since he now had children as his responsibility.
“Well, I hope that a Star Battle will soon commence. It is the only thing that has become a constant in our history.” Tatsumi said while hugging Charlene from behind, resting his head on her shoulder.
Charlene chuckled as she placed her hand atop his hand, feeling his warmth as well as his determination to win whatever things in Star Battle.
“Then you should prepare yourself. I believe that you are fully prepared for that.” Charlene opened her mouth and said this with a trust that was quite heavy.
“Yes.” Tatsumi could only let out that reply.
They were enjoying their time when someone added herself.
“Well, well. Who would have thought that you two were enjoying yourself? Let me in.” Ame then inserted herself and also enjoyed hugging the two.
Charlene and Tatsumi laughed at that.
“Alright. Two in one it is!” Tatsumi shifted his position so that he could manage to hug both of them.
After all the time he had been in the wilderness searching for the resources for his transcendent development, he still managed to find some time for his small family that had been formed.
“What are you two talking about?” Ame asked.
Actually, for a transcendent of her caliber, hearing something far away was easy but she still asked. Tatsumi knew that it was actually a sign for him to properly explain things.
“Just a concern for the next Star Battle. It is almost sixty years since the last one and the transcendents are worried about the difficulties that we might face if it were delayed.” Tatsumi explained but also detailed the cause.
“Right. Everything on the planet has changed but the Star Battle is a constant we need to prepare.” Ame nodded slightly.
“That is why he is worrying about it. But I believe that it will happen soon.” Charlene said as if it were a done deal.
“Yeah. Whatever the case, I have prepared many things for the other transcendents to learn from, increasing their might.” Tatsumi said.
“You are giving them so many valuable skills and abilities. For example, the Hall of Myriad Magic that you and the academy agreed to build is keeping the knowledge for the students and teachers there to learn about your research in the transcendent ability and skill.” Ame commented.
“Hahaha. That’s because with more people propagating the knowledge, it can become the new fruits that I can harvest. It is a mutually beneficial thing to do, that’s all.” Tatsumi replied with a satisfied smile.
While the three enjoyed their time together, there was someone else who had come into the room where they would just stand or sit on the sofa.
“Father.”
Hearing that, Tatsumi turned his head and looked at his son born from him and Ame. He had short brown hair and eyes just like his mother.
“What’s wrong?”
“Teach me the advanced Jade Immortal Circulation Technique.”
Tatsumi then separated from Charlene and Ame before going in front of his son. His eyes were examining the circulation of the transcendent energy inside his son with careful analysis.
“Good. You are doing fine in circulating your transcendent energy.” Tatsumi gave him an honest review.
His son’s dream was to become a transcendent like him but that made him worry about the safety issues.
But he also knew that there would be a time when he needed to let his son go to the wider world. He could build his worldview to help but to walk the path was solely on his son’s shoulders.
“Then…”
“Let’s do it now. I am afraid that the Star Battle will come and you are unprepared so I was reconsidering teaching you but you have reached this solely by yourself.” Tatsumi nodded before gesturing to his son to sit cross-legged.
Because this learning session needed his son to focus on his internal.
Charlene stood still while watching closely. She also became a transcendent and knew the importance of the circulation technique.
Ame, on the other hand, was just silently looking at Tatsumi as he guided his son on the advanced form of circulating the transcendent energy.
It took some time but when it was done, an improvement could be seen by the way the transcendent energy was drawn from the surroundings to the body.
“So this is the advanced form of the circulation technique.”
“Tetsuya, listen to me!” Tatsumi grabbed Tetsuya’s shoulders, gripping them with power that could hold a hill.
“What’s wrong?”
“Don’t use the forbidden section casually. Only when your life is threatened can you consider using it. You know that by learning the advanced form of the circulation technique, you also realized another usage.” Tatsumi looked at him with a focused gaze unlike his casual attitude.
“Alright.”
Tetsuya nodded solemnly and knew that this was a heavy topic.
“Look at the time. I should prepare lunch.” Ame clapped her hands and said loudly.
“Is it almost time?” Tatsumi felt that time passed so fast that he lost track of it sometimes.
“Let me help.” Charlene said while the two were going to the kitchen while Tatsumi went to his room to contemplate things while waiting for lunch.
-
“Shouldn’t you already initiate a Star Battle?” Frie was the one who asked since it had been quite some time.
“There’s no rush. We need to make sure that we are fully prepared. Doing things rashly often leads to unfavorable results.” Dian replied.
“But this is quite a long time for a Second Rank Planet Master!” Frie protested.
“True but this is necessary. We need the races to understand what they lack in their rapid development. That is why I postponed initiating another Star Battle.” Dian said with some justification.
“Their development is rapid but the threat from the Star Battle will always be as great. It is not a matter of effort but luck.” Frie said.
“Luck is also part of skill, at least some people would say. That is why we need to be thorough. Furthermore, the Star Child has been preparing the Star Battle in his own way and that showed results.” Dian said while giving Frie the current situation of the Star Child.
“Well, he is having an enjoyable time with his family who have been created. So that is why you are postponing it.” Frie then came to an understanding.
Dian was watching the Star Child grow physically, intellectually as well as spiritually. He wanted to make sure that his Star Child grew to be someone who could accomplish many things while having a family to tie him down to his current life.
Frie understood that to be the case and why Dian postponed the Star Battle. Having a strong conviction to protect was a strong drive for someone to do things.
“But now that he has reached maturity in all aspects, let’s just initiate a Star Battle.” Dian then called the rest to convene right before initiating another Star Battle.
Leif, Ghylea and Chikara came into being in the Planet Master space as Dian stood from his throne.
“What? Is it the time?” Leif looked at Dian who was standing and knew that he wanted to do something big.
“Are you sure we are prepared?” Ghylea asked despite the swift and massive developments of the Transcendents on the planet.
It was not confidence but prudence. He wanted to make sure that they could win through the Star Battle and ascend in ranks.
“At least my race is prepared for the Star Battle. How about you all?” Chikara was cheerful because the development of her race had gone quite well.
“We are faring well. It is just that the Star Battle is adjusting to the condition of the development of the race under us.” Leif said calmly, knowing a bit about the mechanism of the Star Battle.
“Why are we doing this when we are already this developed?” Ghylea asked.
“Because we need tempering and self-introspection of our own lack of something. Postponing initiating Star Battle is because of this consideration.” Dian explained.
He knew that there was no way that there were no consequences of rapid development of the civilization and he wanted to cover the weakness of the races and perhaps could even include the enemy’s Technology or the Transcendent Tree into his own.
That way, we can know what we lack and what we need to develop to be able to cover every aspect in life.
Dian thought as he looked at the people on the planet enjoying themselves. Deep in their subconscious, they knew that they needed to prepare for another Star Battle, specifically since the period of each Star Battle became longer from this point onward.
Each transcendent knew that the Star Battle was a constant and prepared themselves for it, learning many things as well as searching for resources for increasing their strength and skills.
“Well, the final preparation should be done, right?” Dian asked this time because the preparation took decades to form.
“Of course. The weaponry of the civilization just got updated along with their chain of command.” Leif said confidently.
He knew just how much the infantry of the civilization had developed and even combining their capability in land, sea, and air. Add the Scientific Inheritance affecting the development of some weapon, Leif was confident that the civilization was ready.
“The transcendents on my side are developing well. They have reached the sixth heavenstage of the Core Formation Realm and are achieving greater might in their mastery over their transcendent energy as well as learning skills and magic.” Ghylea said.
He had seen with his own eyes the Second Star Child developing magic that initially held by the Elves to be operable to all who wielded transcendent energy. That was why he felt confident that the transcendents could tackle the problem quite well.
“The Sovereign Beasts and the Thearch Nymphs are all calming down during this time but I can’t say for sure that it will last long. I hope that this could ease the difficulty of the Star Battle.” Frie reported her part.
Dian nodded, hearing all of them reporting things to him. He could summarize things himself but managing things had its limits when done alone. That was why he needed someone with a similar mindset to manage the part that he could not do in detail for not to miss important details.
“If there is nothing more to report, let’s just start the process. Inform anyone that a new Star Battle is going to be initiated.” Dian said while the four disappeared to quickly informed every race about the incoming Star Battle.
Initiate Star Battle!”
[The Planet Master has initiated Star Battle]
[The Planet Master has entered the Second Rank, adjusting…]
[Matching with a random opponent of the same rank…please wait]
[Adjusting the condition to be more balanced….]
[Match found!]
[The opposite Planet Master has accepted your challenge!]
[Star Battle for the Second Rank Planet Master is commencing…]
[There will be a rift that connects the planets of the two battling Planet Masters during the Star Battle on the first and second rank Planet Master]
[The win condition is to subjugate all the occupied territory of the opponent, or if the Planet Master of the opposing side surrenders.]
[The Universe Council wishes every participating Planet Master luck.]
With the announcement from the Planet Master System, the Fourth Star Battle finally began.
“We need to inform the rest of the civilization and the races on the planet that the next Star Battle has begun.” Kudungga said while looking at the congregation of Nafs in front of him.
They all were gathered here because they were the ones who would bring the news to the people.
“Of course, some familiar faces will inform our Star Child about the situation. After all, he has a Perfect Connection to this place.” Kudungga added because some would ask about it.
“Spread out and inform everyone!”
With the order, they all spread out and informed the living through their faint connection. It formed something like a strong feeling for the living.
But for a certain someone, the information he received was more accurate.
‘What? The Star Battle has commenced?’ Tatsumi was surprised to hear that, but fortunately, all his preparations were in place in case this happened.
‘Yes. We are informing the rest of the civilization but…’ Kudungga said but cut off in the middle.
‘The Father God doesn’t inform us anything else.’ Chi You interjected.
‘Figures. I mean, we are living beings with our own capability to make decisions. He probably doesn’t want to make it seem like babysitting us.’ Tatsumi replied with a smile.
It was obvious to him that the Father God did not want to help them because such help would make one dependent on it. That was why the decision was sound from Tatsumi’s perspective.
‘Well, I need to contact important people for this.’ Tatsumi said before doing what he wanted to do.
-
The Cerulean Defense Force was shaken since everyone suddenly had a strong feeling of the coming of the next Star Battle.
Worse, their reliable source of information told them about the incoming Star Battle which commenced the moment he told them.
Meaning that they had only some time to figure out where the Rift was. A search was conducted as it was an emergency.
Then the next step was to properly set up supply lines for logistics. This was important because it was the only lifeline the Cerulean Defense Force had. They had to consider where the Rift was before doing this and that was why they could only prepare.
Announcement of the Star Battle could be heard whether one was in the Comberth Continent or the Heavensend Continent.
They were looking for the place where the Rift should appear by satellites image on the surface of the planet. Quickly, they were looking at the result of the pictures taken but so far there was no sign of the Rift.
“Have you found the Rift?” General Wazowski was the one who asked the question in the headquarters of the Cerulean Defense Force.
“Not yet, sir. It looks like the Rift has appeared in another place we did not expect!”
“The new archipelago?” Wazowski then remembered the new archipelago where there was a presence of a Sacred Tree along with the Elves there.
That place became the place where Elves could roam on the island where they resided. But there was also an island where Pterosaurs resided. It was a perfect place for them as they could hunt smaller fish in the sea while getting the necessary heat for ascending to the sky.
There was also a human population there but it was still in development and barely communicated with the civilization on the Comberth Continent or the Heavensend Continent.
“It looks like things are as we feared. The Rift…has appeared on the archipelago.” Suddenly one who managed the picture from the satellite said with difficulty.
“Get the Navy to move to the location to isolate the Rift and anything that comes in! Looks like we need the logistics on the sea this time.” General Wazowski said out loud in the communicator before he ordered the rest of the divisions to move out.
Whatever it was at the other side of the Rift, he would make sure that they would not cross to this planet easily.